life@work

Tips for Handling Career Fairs

Career Fair
Originally uploaded by espy786

Many people who haven't attended a career fair since they were 22 years old are stopping by now. Seasoned professionals who have been laid off are flocking in droves to these events that have traditionally targeted entry level people.

How to cope with the crowds? Career Journal offers some good tips. Here are the highlights:

    * Pre-register if possible.
    * Show up early. Be one of the first people recruiters talk to, not the thousandth.
    * Identify the companies you are most interested in, and visit them first.
    * Research the participating companies online so you know their mission, products/services, and positions they have open.

Talk with the other fair participants while you're waiting in line - everyplace is a good place to meet people and network.

After the fair, plan to do something energizing. You can bet that the very tired recruiters are going to as well!

The Latest Tips on Smart Networking

You probably already know that networking is a top priority in today's employment climate.

What you may not know yet are the answers to your questions about how to be a smart networker. Enter Liz Lynch, whose new book, Smart Networking: Attract a Following in Person and Online is here to help you.

I interviewed Liz recently about her best tips for networking, and here they are:

1.    What's the most critical networking mistake you see people make?

The most critical mistake is having a narrow view of networking—that it’s only for finding a job, or only to be done when you need something. It puts new networkers in a subordinate state, where they feel they have no power and they’re begging for that opportunity. It’s not a great feeling so they put it off as long as possible.

2.    What are three common myths about networking?

1) Only extroverts can be good at networking; 2) it’s all about passing out your business card; and 3) it takes a lot of time. Smart Networking erases all of those myths.

3. What's your most useful tip for introverts who think they hate networking?

I’m so glad you asked this. My biggest advice to introverts is that you don’t have to love networking to be good at it. Don’t set that expectation for yourself. I’m an introvert too, which means I need a lot of alone time. It’s very draining to be around people all the time, and sometimes I have to psych myself up to go to events. But because I know how to maximize every networking interaction I have, I don’t have to put myself out there as much. I know for many introverts too, online networking can be much more comfortable because it can be easier to start a conversation with someone when they’re not standing in front of you, and you can set your own pace.

4. How would you describe a smart networking strategy in ten or fewer words?

“Networking is easier when people come to you.” The strategies in Smart Networking are all about making yourself an attractive networking target, in person and online, and then developing the skills to take advantage of those opportunities when they arise.

5. What trends are emerging in networking that we haven't heard much about yet?

The trends are towards more sharing, more user-generated media and more devices. But in the end, good relationship building skills will never go out of style. So while tools will continue to evolve to make connecting and sharing easier, if you focus on getting good at the fundamentals of networking--on building relationships to be mutually beneficial, and being someone that people know, like and trust—you can adapt to any changes that come at you.

Tips for Surviving the Never-Ending Rounds of Interviews

So you've got a one or two-day interview ahead of you, during which you'll meet everyone from the CEO to the janitor. What can you expect? How can you make your best impression and somehow not collapse from the stress of repeating yourself and smiling for hour upon hour?

Check out this article for some solid advice. More and more, risk-averse employers are investing plenty of time in getting to know you before extending an offer.

The good news is that serial interviews give you a great opportunity to assess critical factors, such as how functional or dysfunctional the environment is, and how kooky the people are. One interview alone often can't give you such an accurate lay of the land.

Thriving during a string of interviews can be tough, but if you keep a few points in mind, you'll be better prepared:

• Try to find out who will interview you ahead of time.

Find out anything you can about them on LinkedIn, the company website, or other networking sites.

• Get into a positive frame of mind.

If you arrive expecting to hate the day, guess what? You'll hate the day and others will pick up on that. Talk to yourself as positively as you can. Expect things to go well. Be gentle with yourself. If you've done some preparation beforehand, you have every reason to be confident.

• Expect to answer the same questions over and over again.

Build on your increasing knowledge of the company to add whatever new elements you can.

• Bring lots of questions.

Some people who interview you may not be folks you'd work with often - they are there to find out if you're easy to work with. If you come with good questions to ask, you'll have a way to fill the silence when they're done with their questions.

Of course you'll want to ask good questions of everyone else, too.

• Use break times to jot notes down about your interviews so you can write good thank you notes later.

The names, titles, and conversations may all be a blur if you rely solely on your memory.

Serial interviews make for long days, but ultimately are helpful for everyone to decide whether there's a good match.

LinkedIn is Essential

The other day I met with a client who's a professional in his 40's who is not on LinkedIn. He admitted this fact rather sheepishly, and was not surprised when I "assigned" him the task of joining it and setting up his network.

It's time to get over your fear of transparency or procrastination or whatever it is that is keeping you from bothering to join LinkedIn! Even if you're not looking for a new job, get on there. Like it or not, LinkedIn has become an incredibly useful tool to build and maintain your contacts, and in today's climate, working your contacts is Job #1.

One caveat: don't join LinkedIn if you're not willing to commit. By commit I mean bothering to set up a complete profile, and by complete profile I mean writing compelling copy about yourself, getting recommendations from others and writing recommendations.

Like any other tool, LinkedIn is only helpful if you use it. Signing up and not showing up gets you the same results as paying for the gym membership and staying home to watch TV.

It's easy to prowl around on the site and learn about its features, but there are also more ways you can learn how best to take advantage of LinkedIn. Here are just a few:

• The official blog
• Linked Intelligence, the unofficial source for all things LinkedIn
• I'm on LinkedIn, Now What? It's a book by Jason Alba, and there's a blog, too.

So what are you waiting for?

I'd love to hear your story about how LinkedIn has helped you in your career.

Don't Stop Doing What You Love

Do what you love and the money may or may not follow.

No, I don't mean to be a downer. But if you're beating your head against the wall because you can't figure out how to make a living wage taking photographs or acting or walking dogs or helping the homeless or playing Scrabble or whatever it is you love to do, take heart.

You're not alone, and you absolutely should continue doing what you love.

Seth Godin offers a take on this philosophy that I find realistic, wise and inspiring. If you can't make money doing that thing you really love right now, then make it your goal to keep doing what you love regardless, and find a way to love what you do to make money.

Who's doing this right now? Please share your story!

When Worry Beckons You

I hope you have at least one friend in your life whom you not only like to be with but whom you admire and learn from.

One such friend for me is Coyote Karrick. We haven't known each other too terribly long, and we now live in different states, but that doesn't diminish how much I appreciate knowing her.

Coyote tells a story in her blog, Place of Possibility, about how she chose to feel positive during a time when worry beckoned (kind of like the piece of bagel on the floor did this morning to my dog, Caleb. Practically irresistible.) She tells the story with such humor and grace that I can't help but be inspired.

I'm good in a crisis. For whatever reason, I naturally move toward calm, measured, reasoned choices and actions. (I save the falling apart for later.)

But if there's no imminent threat of disaster, I'm a worrier. So many of us are. The fretting, the hand wringing, the "what if" thinking - it doesn't get me much besides broken nights of sleep.

I'm learning to postpone worry, to choose to anticipate, to stay more calm on a more regular basis. I don't think it means I'm putting my head in the sand and ignoring reality. In fact I think those practices leave me more skilled at recognizing reality and dealing with it.

What worry are you willing to let go of, even if it's just for today? See what happens when you push it aside and choose to see your situation through a different lens.

I've Got The Bad News Virus

I'm suffering from an illness you may be familiar with. It's called the Bad News Virus, and hopefully you won't catch it.

Symptoms: Feelings of general lethargy and ennui, pessimism, a desire to go on vacation.
Causes: Reading, listening, worrying and talking about bad news.

This blog exists to be a positive, useful, and hopeful bit of writing designed to support you, the person who seeks career happiness. But since the Bad News Virus has hit, creative juices have not been flowing.

I'd be set if this were a social commentary blog, a financial blog, or even just a blog filled with my uncontrolled ranting.

Do I need to go into details about the Bad News I've been ruminating about? Chances are you've been wringing your hands, too. The Bad News these days is seemingly everywhere if you read or listen to the media much, and even if you don't, I'm sure you're hearing some Bad News simply by chatting with your neighbor over the fence.

Viruses need to run their course - unfortunately there's no vaccination. But as I sit here feeling restless and agitated I'm aware that there are things I can do to mitigate the symptoms of the Bad News Virus.

Here are my suggestions for treating it:

Limit your news intake.

It's great to be informed, but if the news is giving you the Bad News Virus, take a break. I suggest skipping news stories about crime and freak accidents, along with the obituaries.

Don't focus on worst case scenarios.

The rumor mill at companies creates incredibly strong strains of the Bad News Virus. Speculating out loud about worst case scenarios quickly spreads it. The Virus lives on extreme drama, so check your catastrophic thinking.

Generate good news.

Help someone out, take action on something important, or simply take care of yourself.

Be grateful.

There are plenty of good things in your life and in the world - they just don't make headlines. Think about those every day.

Be in community.

The Bad News Virus thrives when you isolate yourself. Connect with others, even if it's just one other person. If it's the right person or group, the Bad News Virus symptoms will dissipate.

Attention Job Seekers: Being Is as Important as Doing

I empathize with my job seeking clients who tell me how frustrated they are trying to come up with a "value proposition" and write their resumes.

The language used in securing employment and in transacting business in general in the U.S. is heavy on doing, and light on being.

By doing I mean achieving, accomplishing, completing, winning, trumping, securing, scoring, managing, and so on. We are expected to quantify our value and enumerate our measurable accomplishments in order to be deemed a worthy risk in which to invest (i.e., get hired).

By being I mean those qualities that are not by themselves about achievement, although they often make what we achieve possible. We may be inspiring, authentic, honest, strong, nurturing, competitive, tenacious, creative, optimistic, patient, reliable and so on.

Some of my clients feel frustrated that because so much of their self identity is tied to who they are rather than what they have achieved that writing a great resume and being successful in an interview will be a discouraging process.

The truth is that who you are being on the job is every bit as important as what you are doing (at least in most professional jobs). People experience and evaluate us very much on what we show of who we are.

This is why getting your foot in the door of a company or new career through personal contacts can be so much more successful and gratifying than applying to a posted job opening as an unknown quantity. Who you are is immediately part of the conversation - the decision to bring you there is based on it. Articulating the details of all of your spectacular career achievements comes second.

If you are relying on your resume to secure an interview, then I advise that you pay attention to how the job search game is played and make sure your resume is filled with all kinds of doing.

But the good news is that there is room on your resume for plenty of the less quantifiable but equally critical qualities you bring to the table. A good professional resume writer understands this and is able to make your resume a more three-dimensional portrait than a mere list of accomplishments.

Heather Mundell

Dream Big Coaching Services

www.dreambigcoaching.com

What Work Rules Do You Play By?

As a life and career coach I read and write about job searching, happiness, change, decision science, and productivity, to name a few of my favorite topics.

My favorite productivity/simplicity blog these days is Zen Habits by Leo Babauta. There's always something smart, cool, or, well - Zen - on this blog. Just knowing that Leo is a father of six and somehow manages to do what he does with an inspiring attitude makes it slightly more likely that I will become mellow someday (when I can fit that in!)

A few days ago he wrote about how traditional work tools and customs are being replaced more and more by new tools and new rules. It strikes me that many of these newer ways of working are much more likely to contribute to career happiness than the traditional ways.

Highlights of the new rules include:

• Collaborate on documents rather than email them.
• People don't have to be in an office.
• Small teams are better than large teams.
• Reduce meetings because most of them are a waste of time.
• Rest is as important as work.
• Focus, don't crank through a million tasks while multi-tasking.
• Consider that communication is a "stream" in which you wade, take what you need, and get out.

I love this last rule. We can't possibly process everything in our in-boxes like the olden days. There are too many emails, blog posts, IMs and Tweets to keep up with. We all need to admit that we're going to miss some stuff, and move on. Revolutionary!

There are work opportunities that offer some or all of the new rules. It's worth it to think about which ones resonate with you and see what you can do to adopt them!

Heather Mundell
Dream Big Coaching Services
www.dreambigcoaching.com
heather@dreambigcoaching.com

How to Choose the Right Career Coach

I'm a life and career coach, and if you're looking for someone to coach you about something in your life or career, I may be a good match for you.

Then again, maybe not.

Coaching, as you can imagine, is not a one-size-fits-all service. That's why it's important to know before you start shopping for a coach what specifically you want. For example:

• Are you having trouble in your job search?
• Are you thinking about changing careers and have no idea where to start?
• Are you looking to advance to the next tier in your company?
• Do you know what you "should" be doing but just aren't getting it done?
• Are you wanting to take your business to the next level?

These are very different challenges. Most coaches will have great interest and experience with some of them and not as much interest or experience with others.

Good coaches will only accept clients who are looking for results the coach is adept at producing. No one benefits from a client-coach mismatch.

This article from Career Journal offers great advice about how to find the right career coach for you.

I'm best at helping people make important career decisions and create and follow through on a plan of action. Want to leave your organization? Propel your career forward? Decide on a career after college? Change some habits so that you'll be a better manager or a better parent away from work? Start a business? Call me and let's talk.

If you've tried everything in your job search and it's still not working, I've got someone in mind for you to talk with. If you need your resume re-written, I know just the person. If you need inside contacts in a particular industry or city, I suggest you find mentors.

When you're highly motivated to move forward toward your goals and are paired with the right coach, you'll be amazed at what you can accomplish in very short order.

Heather Mundell
Dream Big Coaching Services
www.dreambigcoaching.com
heather@dreambigcoaching.com