On choosing a career path

Haven't posted for a while... because I've been struggling with this subject, as it relates to young folks trying to decide. I think back to my own story and realize that my early choices were absolute nonsense. How many, I wonder, have the same issues? From my experience, many, if not most people make wrong choices, especially the young.

I have read many books on the subject, plus a whole bunch or articles published on the internet. Most of what I see is not particularly helpful, or just plain not believable. And the books - What Color is your Parachute,The Passion Test, Pathfinder, Now What?, to name a few... while quite good and insightful, they are daunting in their length and depth. Few teens that I know of would ever spend the effort necessary.

Which leads me to a project which I am now undertaking - can I create a simple, straightforward, easy to read, effective guide for teens to help them choose a career path that has a good chance of being right?

If any of you have ideas along these lines, please share!! I will keep you informed as I go.

Thanks.

Interview Tip: Listen Well

I found this in my files this morning – this advice is really on target.

Interview Tip: Listen Well

by Carole Martin 

If you thought interviewing was only about answering questions, you’ve been missing the point. You’ve also been missing an opportunity to gather valuable information. Listening is one of the most underused skills in a job interview. Most candidates go into an interview thinking about how they will answer the questions, and they forget they are also there to learn about the job and company. They fail to listen, observe and read between the lines.

A List of Questions Isn’t Enough

Reena sat in an interview answering questions. When she was asked, “Do you have any questions?” she was ready and took out her list of questions.

Sounds like she did everything perfectly, right? Not quite. She forgot to listen to what had been said during the interview and then follow up with related questions. If she had been listening, she would have heard the emphasis placed on retention. There were two questions asked about her plans for the future: How long she planned to stay with the company and why she had only stayed with her last employer for two years. If she had been listening, she might have been struck by the focus of these questions and followed up with something like, “I’ve heard some concerns about retention. What is the turnover rate for this department?”

She might have discovered the turnover rate was quite high. In fact, retention was a big problem for the company. Once that fact was discovered, her next question should have been, “Is there a specific reason employees leave?” She may have, or may not have, received a forthright answer, but she would have been able to make her own judgment and observe the interviewer for signs of discomfort with the question.

Put Up Your Antenna

Jerry listened throughout the interview and picked up the series of questions pertaining to stress and long hours. When the time came, he asked, “On a scale of one to 10, with 10 being high, how would you rate the stress and pressure levels in this department?” And then he could have asked, “Is this the norm or a seasonal workload?”

He had already worked in an office where he was expected to work 60-plus hours a week. He didn’t want to walk into that situation again. He noticed the two interviewers look at each other when he asked this question, and they rated the stress levels at six. After noting the interviewers’ responses to his first question, Jerry continued to ask more questions about the subject. He listened carefully, reading between the lines. He gathered information he wouldn’t have gotten had he not been tuned in and listening. He now had enough information to make a decision as to whether he wanted to work for this company or in this particular department.

The Rewards

When all you can think of are your answers to the interviewer’s questions, you miss a premium opportunity to garner information about the situation you will enter if you take the job. Just as importantly, you miss an opportunity to impress interviewers in a way few people do. Listening tells the interviewer you have heard what was said -- and sometimes what was not said. The best questions you can ask come from listening.

There are few better ways to make an impact with a perspective employer than by catching the details of what the interviewer is saying, and then spinning those points into observations or well-crafted questions. Smart employers see curiosity as a valuable trait, and you accentuate your curiosity by listening intently.

So turn up your listening and intuitive skills, and read between the lines. You’ll be surprised by what you hear.

I found this in my files this morning – this advice is really on target.

Interview Tip: Listen Well

by Carole Martin 

If you thought interviewing was only about answering questions, you’ve been missing the point. You’ve also been missing an opportunity to gather valuable information. Listening is one of the most underused skills in a job interview. Most candidates go into an interview thinking about how they will answer the questions, and they forget they are also there to learn about the job and company. They fail to listen, observe and read between the lines.

A List of Questions Isn’t Enough

Reena sat in an interview answering questions. When she was asked, “Do you have any questions?” she was ready and took out her list of questions.

Sounds like she did everything perfectly, right? Not quite. She forgot to listen to what had been said during the interview and then follow up with related questions. If she had been listening, she would have heard the emphasis placed on retention. There were two questions asked about her plans for the future: How long she planned to stay with the company and why she had only stayed with her last employer for two years. If she had been listening, she might have been struck by the focus of these questions and followed up with something like, “I’ve heard some concerns about retention. What is the turnover rate for this department?”

She might have discovered the turnover rate was quite high. In fact, retention was a big problem for the company. Once that fact was discovered, her next question should have been, “Is there a specific reason employees leave?” She may have, or may not have, received a forthright answer, but she would have been able to make her own judgment and observe the interviewer for signs of discomfort with the question.

Put Up Your Antenna

Jerry listened throughout the interview and picked up the series of questions pertaining to stress and long hours. When the time came, he asked, “On a scale of one to 10, with 10 being high, how would you rate the stress and pressure levels in this department?” And then he could have asked, “Is this the norm or a seasonal workload?”

He had already worked in an office where he was expected to work 60-plus hours a week. He didn’t want to walk into that situation again. He noticed the two interviewers look at each other when he asked this question, and they rated the stress levels at six. After noting the interviewers’ responses to his first question, Jerry continued to ask more questions about the subject. He listened carefully, reading between the lines. He gathered information he wouldn’t have gotten had he not been tuned in and listening. He now had enough information to make a decision as to whether he wanted to work for this company or in this particular department.

The Rewards

When all you can think of are your answers to the interviewer’s questions, you miss a premium opportunity to garner information about the situation you will enter if you take the job. Just as importantly, you miss an opportunity to impress interviewers in a way few people do. Listening tells the interviewer you have heard what was said -- and sometimes what was not said. The best questions you can ask come from listening.

There are few better ways to make an impact with a perspective employer than by catching the details of what the interviewer is saying, and then spinning those points into observations or well-crafted questions. Smart employers see curiosity as a valuable trait, and you accentuate your curiosity by listening intently.

So turn up your listening and intuitive skills, and read between the lines. You’ll be surprised by what you hear.

The Meaning of Life: Discover Your Purpose

The Meaning of Life: Discover Your Purpose

Posted using ShareThis

Discover Your Passion

After a 90-minute dialog with a client recently, I sent her an email summarizing our observations. I include it here so you can get the “flavor” of this process.

Hi, Rachel,

It was good talking with you this morning! I hope at some point in the not too distant future you’ll find a way to come back here for a visit!

As we discussed, networking to find the type of position you want is going to be a whole lot more effective than searching in newspapers and the Internet, and then submitting a resume. That is what most people do and it really puts everyone of them, including you at a disadvantage - you are in competition with all those other people for a single job, via a resume and no personal interaction (unless you happen to get an interview). But in order to network effectively, you need to be able to express clearly what the ingredients of an ideal position should be.

Here are some observations from our talk:

1.   All three events you mentioned reflect the importance to you of interactions with people. The first one you mentioned was the selling of lingerie at Macy’s. The particular aspects of this that have meaning for you appeared to be: that you are able to intuitively connect with people, that you are sensitive to their “place” - i.e. being able to read people, their moods, needs, what will help them fulfill their need; that you are able to fulfill that need, and receive feedback that this indeed occurred. You got enjoyment from being able to meet the needs of the customer.

A Probing Interview – Unusual, but Effective. Worth Thinking About

You won’t often hear these questions in a job interview. But the way you answer reveals a great deal about you, and how you would fit into an organization’s culture. It is worthwhile to consider this possibility and prepare for it.

• Take a minute and think about your most outstanding, significant professional achievement.  What about you made this achievement possible?
• What do you value deeply?  How are those values reflected in your work?
• We all seem to have events in our lives that turn us in a new positive direction.  Sometimes they are the things that make us go “aha!”  What was one of the most memorable experiences for you? 
• As a result of that experience, what would you bring to our organization?
• Tell me about a time when you were a member of a group that collaborated to achieve amazing results, perhaps even in the face of many challenges.
• I know that I have had some great experiences as a customer and as a provider.  I would like to hear about the most memorable experience you had as a customer.  Now can you share with me the most satisfying experience that you had serving someone else? 

Unusual? You bet. Be prepared!

Job Objective

An effective resume needs a clearly stated Job Objective.  And it must be focused on the employer, not on yourself.  Let me explain.  I have seen many resumes with an objective that focuses on

“opportunities for advancement”

“contributing to the company while improving my skills”

“allow myself to grow”

“to obtain long term employment with growth potential”

“put to use my diversified abilities to advance with the company”

Excuse me?  This is all just a bunch of gobbledygook.  If  I were an employer reading this resume, I would immediately drop it into “file 13”.  Why?  Because it says nothing about my expectations as the employer.

The Job Proposal

Nearly every applicant for a job submits a resume, and usually a cover letter. The resume is a tool to market you to an employer.  It describes the successful application of your competencies. It provides insight about your motivation, commitment and degree of expertise. And it indicates a level of performance that you have already achieved, and therefore should be able to repeat and build on for a new employer.  The cover letter more clearly connects you to the requirements of the position. 

Let’s go a step further. What if you were to demonstrate to the employer how you would perform in this job if it were offered to you? You can achieve that by preparing a Job Proposal that speaks to the specific  needs and interests of a specific person in the company. Here is an example.