Enjoy the Meaning of the Season

Lot’s of folks have taken temp jobs with retailers who have added staff for the Holiday shopping season. It’s much like the saying, “Strike while the fire is hot.” Or, “Make hay while the sun shines.”  A few of my clients tell me that they are really happy for the opportunity to work and get a paycheck. But... they expect that after Christmas their jobs will probably go away.

Yet, I have one client that knows the score and how these jobs come and go, however, she is working as though she is on a 6 to 8 week long interview. She’s “working her butt off” and doing everything she can to do to ingratiate herself on the managers. She looking for this to turn into a full-time gig. She knows that her chances are slim, but she also knows that stores often invite the best of the “Holiday Temps” to stay on.

She reminded me that it’s more than just working hard. I point out to job seekers that a hiring manager will often choose one candidate over the other folks because they like that person better and see them fitting better into their team. This is really true, so if you have a “temp job” this year, think of it as a very long interview where you can prove you value.

Still, just having a job, even a temp job, is like getting a Christmas present. Christmas presents under the tree will be a common site in most households. But the holidays aren’t only about the gifts. The holidays give us an opportunity to stop and think about our blessings.

It doesn’t matter if it is Christmas, Hanukkah or Kwanzaa that you’re celebrating, we need to step out of our everyday lives and experience the meaning of the Season. This is a gift that you can give yourself, regardless of the balance of your check book.

For this year, may you have a blessed holiday. May you wake up in the morning and find that you’ve received a special present under the tree. May you have a fire in your hearth that warms you and your heart. And may you know that you are special, loved and important to our community and the whole world.

Beware of Scams Aimed at Job Seekers

Things are actually improving out there for job seekes, employers and even store owners. Really, it’s true, I’m not just a Pollyanna. Slowly things are getting better. I have clients landing jobs all the time out there. Last week, I had two clients land and two more are having second interviews and they feel really positive about the opportunity.

The week before last, a client told me that she had a job lead that she found through Craig’s List. At first she was pretty excited and then got suspicious when the hiring manager asked in an email if she wanted to work part-time, full-time or temporary, they were open to whatever she needed. It sounded a little too good, even though things are getting better out there, nothing is that good.  

My client, Sharon Zurek, sent me her story to share with you:

I was searching Craig’s list for job opportunities and noticed one for Events Planner.  I sent my resume and cover letter and received a response that I would be hired for the position.  I was instructed to find a 3-5 star hotel, travel accommodations and meal planning for 20-25 people for 12/8-12/10.  When I sent a detailed list of all the questions that needed to be addressed prior to security deposit to hold rooms and contracts for transportation, I received email stating to just book it and the attendee list would be coming shortly.  I would be receiving check to pay for expenses in the near future. I replied back that I wanted no part of this.

The post office tried to deliver a package for my signature but I was not home.   I went to post office and when I opened the express letter (at the post office) inside was a cashier’s check for $2,780 from a credit union in WA, the sender was from Oregon and the envelope was mailed from Atlanta.  I was instructed to deposit check, keep $60 for my work and go to Western Union to send a money order from the remaining balance immediately to someone in CA.  I spoke to postmaster and she took all the documents and will turn them over to USPS Fraud Department.  

So take Sharon’s experience to heart and don’t let the bad guys take advantage of you or your friends. You can contact Sharon, who is on LinkedIn if you have the need of a legitimate event planner and membership manager.

Following Up With People You’ve Contacted Before

Job search coaches tell job seekers that they should start out with a list of 150 contacts and build from there. Oh the groans we hear. “Why so many?” “I don’t know that many people.” “What, are you nutz!” These are some frequent comments; so, let’s look at these objections.

Why so many? Simply that’s about how many it takes. Orville Pierson cites in his book, The Unwritten Rules of the Highly Effective Job Search, it takes talking to 15 decision makers to land the job. Plus, it takes talking to 10 folks to reach a decision maker. 15 X 10 = 150.

I don’t know that many people. Well that’s easy; list all the people you do know. If you have a list of 90 names, that’s a good start. If you have a list of 35 names that okay too, you’ll build from there. Even if all you have is a list of ten, ten is better than zero. What’s important is that you have a list of people to call.

What, are you nutz! Well that remains to be seen. Most job seekers only feel that way in the beginning; after they’ve landed a job, they think I’m a genius! (Yes, I know what you thinking; but it’s my story and I’m sticking with it.)
Okay, let’s say that you’ve got your list of 150 names and you’re an excellent and motivated job seeker. Let’s also say that you listen to all your coach’s directions and you’ve made ten phone calls a day and 15 business days later you’re out of names. (It could happen!) What do you do now?

Again, that’s easy... get more names. One way to get more names is to go back and touch base again with the best folks on your list. What do I mean “best folks?” These are the people who have given you names already. You’ve spoken to their previous leads and given them feedback and shared your appreciation. So, they are going to be happy to share other contacts with you.

If you’re not sure what to say, ask them if they have any contacts or connection at a new target company you’re interested in. Then let the conversation go from there. People like to know how you’ve progressed. They’ll want to help some more if you’ve already utilized their first offering.

Getting a job requires talking to people, and doing it more than once. Sometimes our first conversation isn’t at a time or place where people can help us. That doesn’t mean that they cannot help us later. Be open to repeat visits. Be prepared with something new with which to engage them. Always remember networking is about relationships. Relationships take time and repeated contacts. And if you’re not having fun, do it differently, but don’t stop doing it!

Holiday Parties and Networking

I saw this article and I wanted to share it with you all. I really like it when a fellow professional agrees with me. Click here Please note the first and third bullets. I always say that when you're in a job search you need to, "Be yourself and be prepared."


The final bullet point especially hits the mark. Ivan Mister is the author of this post and he's laid out his points in a simple and easy to do way. Just before Thanksgiving I posted "Football, Turkey & Networking..." that took on the subject from a different perspective.  Take the opportunity to network over the holidays and treat it like a business event. Make connections and follow up.

It's networking so remember to S-E-L-L

Smile, Engage, Listen, LinkedIn

Always smile it make you look confident and intelligent. Engage with the folks at the party or gathering. No one remembers a wall flower. Listen to them and make mental note. It's okay to ask for and offer to exchange business cards. This makes it easy to follow up using LinkedIn. So SELL yourself this holiday season and maybe you'll have a new job for Christmas.

Fear and Trepidation and the Darkside

To quote Master Yoda from Star Wars, "Fear is the path to the Dark Side. Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate; hate leads to suffering...”

In a job search or any aspect of career growth, acting out of fear is a losing proposition. Acting out of confidence is strength. When human beings live in fear, they are not seeing the world in its true light. We make mistakes in judgement and appear to others as afraid and desperate. This just doesn’t help you when you’re going for a new job or a promotion.

For my job seekers we talk in terms of landing a job. If we make land into an acronym:

L: LEARN. Learn all you can.  

A: APPRECIATE. Appreciate what you HAVE.  

N: NETWORK. NETWORK. NETWORK.

D: DON'T DOUBT. Don't doubt yourself, your skills, your abilities.

The D in LAND is an important, an essential point for anyone looking to succeed: staying positive and getting rid of stinkin’ thinkin’ and the worst kind of stinkin’ thinkin’ I know is living in fear.

Fear of failure is a struggle for many. Fear of success is a struggle for others. Yes, fear of success. Being unsure of your abilities is one thing, but being fearful that you won’t live up to others’ expectations is a set up for failure. If interviewers are just getting to know you, you cannot entertain those doubts and fears. It’s poison.

So have faith, You will LAND, you will succeed. Surround yourself with people who build you up. Ask those who can help you, to help you. Be positive: when you’re asked, “How’s it going?’ say, “Outstanding! fantastic, life is good!” And smile, even when you don’t feel like it. Sing or hum a happy song and don’t let fear lead you to the darkside.

Football, Turkey & Networking "Time for a SALE"

Thanksgiving is just around the corner and people are travelling all around America to celebrate the holiday with friends and family. This year the Thanksgiving NFL game with the Lions promises to be enjoyable even for Detroit fans. But for job seekers, large get-togethers are often dreaded. “What do I say to people when they ask me, ‘What’s up, or how’s work?’” runs through many job seekers’ minds.

Yet the coach says, “What a great opportunity to network with people on your list. What a great time to add people to your contact list.” Let’s face it, to career coaches, Thanksgiving (in fact all holidays) are a fantastic opportunity to network. Just remember to 

S-A-L-E (Smile, Ask, Listen, & Eat).

Smile, be warm, welcoming and friendly. Even if you’re visiting and not the host take on the attitude of a gracious host. Greet people upon arrival, the host and hostess are probably busy with everyone so help them out. Smiling will help you to feel good and makes those around you want to smile too.

Ask questions upon your arrival and the arrival of the other guests; engage with everyone at the gathering. Trust in the fact that people like to talk about themselves and will tell you more than you want to know. But they will also tell you things that could help your job search. Remember to ask them about work and things in their community. Trust that they will appreciate someone actually asking about them. When you’re asked about yourself, everything is great!!! The job search is running smoothly and you have some great opportunities... only now isn’t the best time to talk about it, Detroit just scored.

Listen to what everyone says. Listen to responses and look for things that are of interest to your job search. But!!! don’t jump in with a pitch for why you’d be a great candidate to solve the problems they have at work. Mostly they’re trying to forget about work for a couple days. Be supportive and make mental notes. Then ask more questions looking for common interests and listen some more.

Eat your dinner in small bites so that when someone asks you questions about your situation, you don’t choke. Or you don’t have to chew for another 30 seconds and swallow and miss the opportunity to share an interesting insight, story or anecdote. Relax over dinner, you’re not there to give your elevator speech or hand out your resume or handbill. You’re there to celebrate and express thanks for all your blessings.

Then after Thanksgiving, follow up and call the friends and family you saw; use LinkedIn to connect or reconnect. Ask the local folks for some time to meet and discuss what’s going on in your job search; ask for some help and advice. You can utilize the three networking questions then... not over Thanksgiving dinner.

Hopefully during and after dinner you’ll realize all the blessings you have in your life. Maybe things aren’t 100% wonderful... but you’re alive, you’re loved and you probably had some good food, drink and conversation. And who knows maybe the Lions will win a Thanksgiving game this year.

Speak Slowly and Carry a Good Story

Sister played by Whoppi Goldberg 

In 5th grade, Sr. Mary Armond taught us about President Teddy Roosevelt and I remember learning about his foreign policy that was encapsulated in the quotation: "Speak softly and carry a big stick...” However, there was more to this quotation. He added, “...you will go far." 

This worked for Teddy and it can also work for someone who’s looking for a new job. For interviews, Teddy might have made a little tweak to his trademark phrase: “speak slowly and carry a good story, you will go far.” This is really an important consideration in communicating your value to an interviewer. If you have any kind of speech issue this is even more important. I have clients who were not born in this country and have an accent. When they talk to someone who isn’t used to their accent, they are hard to understand. Additionally, when we are nervous we have the tendency to speak faster than normal. Added to an accent, you could lose an opportunity that is a perfect fit because the interviewer doesn’t know what you’re saying. 

Slowing down is a technique I use when I deliver a presentation. I’ll slow down the pace of my speech when I come to a key point I want to impress on my audience. You can also do this in an interview. Having a well practiced and rehearsed set of stories will help you slow down your speech. I recommend using a S-A-R format. Delivering the key point of a story without a lot of extra talking is the best reason to tell stories this way. Situation (what was the problem you fixed), Action you took and Results that you obtained. This format also promotes conversation with the interviewer rather than you carrying on a monologue.  

A good story really needs a good ending more than it need a lot of detail. Think about how an interview works. Most people want to tell all the facts of what the problem or situation was and then move into lots of complicated actions they took. Often people will completely forget to state the end of the story and fail to relate the results.
 

Being too specific in telling a success story forces the listener to picture the exact situation you’re describing. But isn’t that want you want to do? Not really. You really want to tell a story in a way that gets the interviewer to see you doing the same thing for their company. If you leave out the detail, the interviewer will interject his or her own environment into your story. So leave out the name of the companies in your stories. Leave out names of proprietary tools, specific cities, total numbers of lines of code, color of people’s clothes or the name of the divisional VP. If you drop a name, they cannot picture themselves in the story.  

So speak slowly and carry a good story and you’ll be successful.

Opinions and Career Growth Don't Mix

Keep Your Opinions to Yourself... If you want a promotion or job offer.

We live in America, arguably the best place in the world to live. And the Occupy Wall Street movement is one example of why. We have constitutional rights. Regardless of which side of a question you are on, Americans have the right to voice their opinion. Yet, if you are going for a promotion or looking for a new job, your opinion could lose you an opportunity.

While we all have the right of free speech, hiring managers tend to make hiring decisions on more than just skills. There are three things that hiring managers are looking for from the candidates they consider.

1. Can you do the job?
2. What motivates you to do the job?
3. Will you fit into the culture around the job?

These are all very legitimate aspects to the hiring manager. Notice that only one has to do with your capability to do the job. Voicing your opinion about anything from politics or the greatest sporting contest ever can put you right out of consideration for the promotion or job.

In Chicago we have a great rivalry between the Sox and the Cubs. One place I’m aware of asks the question at the end of their interviews: “Sox or Cubs?” For them it’s not a serious question, but the best answer I ever heard was: “I really don’t follow football.” In fact she was joking and got the job, but more importantly she avoiding annoying anyone.

That’s the problem with sharing your opinions; you never know who will be annoyed. A prospective co-worker or future boss could have a problem working with someone who “thinks that way.” Especially in this time of polar opposition in our society, it’s best to save your opinions for when you are at home.

F. U. Interviews

Bev Rautenberg

I have a client that always reminds me that I was the first to tell her to F. U. I’m always a tad nonplussed when she says this until I remember that F. U. is not an expletive.

Following Up (F. U.) after interviews is one of the more neglected aspects of a job search. Some research have cited 60% of job seekers fail to follow up after the interview. Client’s have told me...  “They said they would be making a decision is two weeks I’ll check in then.” Other’s say, “I don’t want to look too desperate.” And still others say, “The ball’s in their court, if they want me they’ll call me.” Sitting by the phone waiting for the phone to ring is a sad and lonely task. “But the interview went very well; I thought I hit a home run. Why haven’t they called? Maybe I should call them, but it’s been too long for me to follow up now!”

Following up is sometimes scary for the job seeker. “What if they tell me that I didn’t get the job?” or “I don’t know what to say.” So what if they tell you that they decided to go a different direction! Is that really bad? Sure, it doesn’t feel good to be told you didn’t get the job, however, two things are available for the job seeker if they give you this message.

First, express your disappointment, and wish them success with their choice. Then ask if they know of anything else that could utilize someone with your skills and abilities. “Gee, I’m sorry to hear that I didn’t get the job; I wish you success with the person you selected. You and I spent enough time together that I’m wondering if you would know of any other opportunities that could utilize someone with my experience and talents?”

Second, the job seeker can continue to create networking opportunities and follow up with other job leads. Just because you have an interview doesn’t mean that you will land the job. Having several so called irons in the fire allows you to relax a little. If you get a no, you have something else to follow up on. It’s just one more no which brings you closer to the yes. The sales adage goes, you have to get through the nos to get to the yeses. “So I’ve got another no, yea!!! I’m that much closer to the job offer.” Maybe that sounds a little Pollyannaish, but that really is the right attitude to have in times like today.

Success comes out of persistence and constancy. Doing what you need to do and staying the course when you meet defeat or disappointment is the path to success. Thomas Edison once said, “Many of life's failures are men who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.” So even though you’ve not heard back from the interviewer or the HR rep; don’t quit and give up. Call them back with a positive expectation that you’re the right candidate... it may be that they are too busy because they don’t have you on their team.

The coach says, keep  following up (F. U.) until you get a definite yes or no.

Do Elevator Speeches Work?

Elevator Speeches... The old sales adage says that you should be able to communicate the core message of your product in the time it takes to go up a couple floors in an elevator... You have between 30 and 90 seconds to tell the person locked in the elevator with you why he should buy what you have to offer. Yes, I know what you’re thinking... People don’t talk in elevators. You walk in, turn to face the front of the box and try not to touch anyone who is also in the elevator with you. Saying hello will get you a strange look. When would you ever use an elevator speech? Even if you’re in the middle of a discussion with someone, when you enter an occupied elevator the automatic reflex is to stop talking.

So if you’re in sales or in a job search, when are you going to use an elevator speech if not in the elevator? Some unemployment professionals may disagree with me; I believe that elevator speeches are a tool to help folks prepare what to say when asked questions while networking or interviewing. However, if a person took 60 to 90 seconds to recite a whole elevator speech, it would come off as pretty artificial and contrived.

Picture this: you’re in line at a wedding reception either for the bar or the buffet. A person walks up behind  you--the line isn’t moving all that fast--so you say “hi.” They say ‘hi” in return. “Great wedding,” one of you say. The other says “yes, (as the line moves up a step) they’re a beautiful couple. By the way, (holding out a hand) my name is Jim Jameson.” (Shaking hands) “Hi Jim, I’m Jacqueline Daniels, how do you know the lovely couple?” Sooner or latter as the line get closer to the desired end, someone asks the other, “What do you do?”  So what do you do?... you dive right in with your well practiced elevator speech. And what do you hear next? The guy behind your new friend saying, “Hey buddy, you going to order a drink or what?” Your new friend darts over to the other open bartender and says, “Make it a double!” and you never see them the rest of the night. Why? Because they are there to dance, eat and drink, see friends and remember how wonderful it was when they were married.

If social occasions aren’t the best place to use your elevator speech, where do you use this all important tool that people have been telling you needed or you’d never find a job? Job Clubs, Networking Groups and Professional Networking Events are the best. I go to an early, breakfast networking event where after forty minutes or so of informal networking we circle up and go around the circle giving our elevator speeches. It’s a smashing time, really great fun! Then people mingle some more to exchange cards with those they hadn’t met before the circle. We exchange leads and asks questions and the group slowly dwindles as people go to work.

At the wedding, it’s better to tell them what you do and then ask what they do. Develop a rapport where you can learn something about the person. If you realize that they are someone you can network with, find a means to follow up with them after the wedding. “Well Jim, we need to get back to the party, it was great meeting you. Maybe we can get together sometime for coffee? I’d like to learn more about your company... are you on LinkedIn? Would it be okay if I sent you an invitation to connect? Great! Enjoy the rest of the evening.”  

BTW, next week I’ll not be posting, I’m off to St. Paul, Minnesota to visit with some friends and celebrate our 30 year reunion.

"Buzz Words" or Headlines?

There are loads of blog postings, articles and news stories regarding the use of buzz words in your résumé and other job search documents. These postings tell the job seeker that, some “Buzz Words are Bad!” Using phrases like, “team player,” “detail oriented,” “results oriented,” and “problem solver” are examples of word that are overused and need to removed from a résumé. But what if I am an excellent problem solver? What if as a QA/QC professional I have excellent attention to detail? Do I not say these things.

About a year ago, an article was published on CBS regarding Résumé Buzz Words that needed to be in your résumé. And around that same time an LinkedIn Blog posting identified ten buzz words that could hurt your job search.  Now here is where it gets confusing for job seekers: some of these words are in both lists.

If you think about what these folks are trying to say, the idea is that the job seeker needs to move beyond the cliché. However, I am a team builder and problem solver. Is that a cliché? Or is it a headline? Read this morning’s newspaper if you still get one. Or read an “on line” paper like The Patch and I defy you to find a single story without a headline.

Headlines are meant to grab the reader’s attention... so that you’ll move deeper and read the article, get the whole story. This is also what the résumé buzz words are intended to do. They get the reader to dig deeper into the résumé and read about your skills, abilities and accomplishments.

In the job interview, just like the résumé you need to catch the interviewer’s attention and then share the success stories that prove the statements you made in your résumé. I think that a Buzz Word is a cliché only when it isn’t followed up with a good, solid success story with a strong result at the end.

Yes, some buzz words are over used in résumés and in other marketing material. And some buzz words are more descriptive than others. So, if all you use are overused and cliché buzz words, and you have no concise story proving your assertion, then you need to do some work. But buzz words are important, especially when employers are using Key Word Search tools to screen your résumé and cover letter.

Use Wordle or other Word Cloud applications to see what words are most prevalent in your resume and cover letter. In fact, write out your elevator speech and run that through Wordle and see if the most common words appear on the overused list. If not then don’t worry about the words your are using, because the only bad words not to be used in a résumé are the ones George Carlin made famous years ago.

What to do about the numbers?

We have a good-natured competition going on at Harper's Career Stimulus Program. Our Director--or I should say our Dean -- Nancy Wajler has decided to up the number of her contacts in LinkedIn. One of Nancy’s strengths is competition and this is a perfect area to compete in. Very easy to measure and compare the number of our connections.

Whether you have 150 LinkedIn connections or 250 or 500 or over 600 like Nancy, the next questions is, what do you do with them once you get them? Nancy is a LION a “LinkedIn Open Networker.” She sees value in networking or connecting with everyone knowing that at sometime those connections can be utilized to help someone or to connect to someone else who can help her or someone she is connected to.

While I’m not truly a LION, I have many connections, and I will connect with most everyone as long as I know how I may help them and they know how I they can be of assistance to me. If I’ve never met a person asking to connect to me,  I’ll invite them to a 15 to 30 minute meeting or a phone conversation if they are not local. There I find out about them and they learn about me. After all, networking is about relationships.

Sales professionals have an old adage that goes something like this, “Sales is a numbers game.” When I meet a new client, one of the first things I ask them to do is develop a list of contacts. I suggest they start with a list of 150 names. Often I receive a groan of protest, “I don’t know that many people!” they tell me. Some of my clients are on LinkedIn and they say, “Can I start with my LinkedIn contacts?” What’s the difference? LinkedIn has demonstrated to people the power of connecting. Being connected to people gives you a means to finding a solution to a problem.

Lets say you need to talk to (network with) 15 people in order to meet with one hiring manager or decision maker. Now let’s say you need to talk to at least 10 decision makers in order to get one job offer.  The more people you’re connected to the better your chances of landing the next job. But wait!!!! It’s not just about being connected: you need to talk to these folks. Call them up and ask for a meeting so that you can describe what you have to offer them.  So you can ask them who else they know who you can talk to.

It’s an interesting statistic that if you have less than 100 connections on LinkedIn that less than 3% of LinkedIn can find you on LinkedIn. However, if you have over 500 connections more than 90% of LinkedIn members can find you. Like the old saying, there are strength in numbers. Whether you’re a LION or an Alley Cat, the number of people you’re connected with will aid your success in job search or in business. Professional and Social Networking is about helping people find what they need. Connect, Ask, Talk, Succeed!

Having Hope In Job Search

I was speaking to a group of job seekers the other day and I offered them a prophetic statement that someday down the road they’d all have jobs and there would be no more unemployment and then I’d be out of work. There was loud discord from the group, a collective, “Yea, Right! What are you smoking?”  

I understand the group’s reaction; the news about the economy is so dark and dismal, how could I express anything so silly as a world without unemployment? Even a rate of 4% is next to impossible to envision. Yet, there was one person back in the far corner said, “No, you’ll still have work; folks will need someone to help them grow in their career beyond their new job.”

This person had hope. There are people out there who realize that “Yes, we can” is more than a campaign slogan and that we live in a world were anything is possible, but, and this is a big but, nothing will happen without the expectation that it will happen. Having hope is having an expectation that something will change, something will be different, something will be better.

Often when we are suffering from some tragedy or trauma, like a mass layoff resulting in job loss, someone comes along an--whether out of ignorance or a total lack of tact--says something trite. “Buck up, Charlie, you’ll have a job in no time.” Or “Sorry to hear that you’re unemployed, I wish I could help but we’re not hiring at my company.” Recently a 45 year-old Electrical Engineer told me that after two months in job search someone said to him, “Hey, they’re hiring at the Seven-11.”

Folks going through job transition often report that after the first weeks of not having a job that they feel they’ve been tainted. People feel isolated, like they caught a communicable disease or something. Then when they’re feeling the pressure of the job search someone says, “Anyone who really wants a job can get one.” Or “Those people who have been unemployed for over a year are lazy...”

Corporate America is sitting on a bunch of money; some estimates go as high as a Trillion Dollars (that’s 1012 or $1,000,000,000,000.00). Companies across the country are running lean and mean and people with jobs report fatigue and frustration with the amount of work they have to do, and that the pressure is building. They report that the unemployment rate is as stressful on their lives as for those unemployed, maybe more. (My clients find this hard to believe.) But, the pressure is real and something has to give. Everyone is waiting for the shoe to drop.

Let’s have the hope, the expectation that companies will start hiring, slowly at first,  then with greater urgency and gusto. Let’s have the expectation that consumers will begin to consume more and consume more wisely. Then, folks will then be able to pay off their debt and even start saving. And then, there will be no more unemployment and I’ll be working only with folks looking to grow in their career. Let’s have hope!

Do You Have a Vision Regarding Your Career?

I was reading a book the other night and the author quoted Proverbs 29:18 and in his translation it stated: “Where there is no vision, the people perish...”

Now that got me thinking about my clients and career growth. Many of my clients come to me with a vague sense that something is wrong in their life. There is a gap or a hole that is difficult to identify or is producing an anxiety. They report that everything is “okay” but that the joy, pride or excitement they once had in their career is no longer there.

I’ve come to believe that many of us are suffering from a lack of vision. The loss of context to our lives. Many of us work to meet a need, achieve a goal of one type or another. Often these goals are born out of our core values. Say “Family” is a core value in your life and providing for your family is a principle goal... once the family is grown and on their own the reason for working so hard on the job is no longer there.

In a job search, if the job seeker doesn’t have a compelling reason for landing a job, it is difficult to motivate himself. He wakes up in the morning knowing that he has to look for work, but there is no drive, no plan, no vision. Alas the job search falters and the people perish.

Of course there are many other reasons why someone struggles in a job search or moving forward in a career... fear of rejection chief among them. Yet, without a clear vision and definite goals with timelines the person stands still. Whether a career has grown stagnant or the rug was pulled out from under you with a layoff, you’re most likely missing a goal and vision of your future.

Even a person who doesn’t like to plan needs to know where they are going, needs a vision of their life actualized. I think of Chevy Chase in “Caddyshack” when he’s advising one of the movie’s characters about life, “I'm going to give you a little advice. There's a force in the universe that makes things happen. And all you have to do is get in touch with it, stop thinking, let things happen, and be the ball... Be the ball Danny...”

Maybe Chevy Chase’s character isn’t a good example of a Career Coach, indeed he’s not. Still we all need to be in touch with our values and have a vision that is in alignment with our values. This isn’t as easy as it sounds. But with some willingness to look deeply into yourself, working with a coach or a mentor, your career and your job search can be meaningful and filled with passion, enjoyment and excitement.  With a vision, you’ll not perish and will find that hole, that emptiness filled.