Who owns your career?
by Debra Magnuson ~ May 18th, 2012Many of our clients tell us that, other than actually losing a job, the worst part of working through the recent deep recession was the uncertainty of job insecurity. Not knowing if their jobs were safe, wondering when the other shoe might drop. This uncertainty is hard on us emotionally, and it causes us to act out of fear rather than true engagement. How likely are we to take the risks of innovation if that risk exposes us to failure? A “cover your behind” work culture doesn’t bring out the best in anyone.
The best job insurance is a mindset of taking responsibility for your own career–a commitment to staying aware of your personal value proposition and to strengthening that value, wherever you are. Ownership of your own value proposition means taking an honest, eyes-wide-open look at yourself:
What do you contribute that is unique?
What would your company lose if you weren’t there?
Who knows what you do?
How much is it valued? Are you sure?
This empowering career ownership point of view means that you take charge of your development, build networks of people who can help and support you, and act as your own best advocate. It means that you don’t wait for a boss or HR to tap you on the shoulder to give you a raise or promotion. Consider these 5 Best Actions to be more powerful in owning your career:
1. Do an honest evaluation of your value to the organization (see questions above).
2. Create a feedback loop with someone you trust—perceptions are reality, and each of us is accountable for the impact we make, both in the results we achieve and the quality of our relationships.
3. Think about your career in terms of where you’ve been and where you want to go. Are you on the path you’d planned for? Are you heading in the right direction? If not, what are you willing to change to correct the course?
4. Take advantage of development opportunities in your workplace. Take relevant classes if they’re offered, and volunteer to be on a task force or project team. Be seen as someone who takes action!
5. Update your resumé. Resumés aren’t just for people looking for a new job outside the company. They are a valuable tool for internal positioning, too, and you need yours to be ready when the next opportunity comes up. For most people, the work of updating the resumé is an eye-opening, affirming experience of what they know and what they’ve accomplished.
Too often, an employee’s IDP, or individual development plan, is a piece of paper or a computer file that HR requires and managers and employees go through the motions to complete. The challenge is to make our own development plans real-world, living documents that represent a meaningful, exciting course of action to take us where we want to go. Whose career is it? That’s up to you.
Effective Executive On-Boarding Practices
by Tamara Tasche ~ May 3rd, 2012Depending on the source, 40% to 60% of executive hires fail in the first 6-12 months on the job. It has been said that the failure and departure of a newly placed executive can cost between two and three times the executive’s annual salary. For every leader that fails, there are many others who survive but never realize their potential. Implementing an executive on-boarding program is critical to the successful integration, retention and performance of new leaders.
Effective executive on-boarding programs have certain common denominators. They tend to be long-term (up to 12 months). They provide multiple sources of support (internal and external). They are customized to the individual and often provide coaching resources to shore up development areas that surfaced during the selection process. Key stakeholders are identified and held accountable for creating and implementing a clear plan to integrate the newly hired executive within the organization. During the on-boarding period, an individual plan for growth and performance is developed, deliverables are jointly defined for the first three months, and ongoing feedback is given so that course correction is possible. New executives are also placed on cross-functional teams to gain strategic perspective.
Emphasis is placed on helping the new executive understand the history and culture of the organization, assessing the current state of things, building relationships and pursuing easy wins during the first three months versus putting a “stake in the ground” by driving major change. Often a mentor is assigned to the new leader to support the on-boarding process and learning plan, identify or develop structured networking activities, and assist the newly hired executive in navigating the cultural and political landscape of the organization.
Hiring managers play a key role in the successful on-boarding of executives. This includes delivering proactive communication – messages that address underlying emotions and help to create buy-in among internal employees who will be directly impacted by the hire – and minimizing surprises to eliminate potential distrust toward and avoidance of the new hire. They should facilitate relationship-building with established team members. They should create and articulate clear role definition for team members to avoid confusion, overlap, and turf wars.
New executives should also create a plan to facilitate success during on-boarding and discuss it with hiring managers. Plan components may include:
1. Assessment of Current Situation – Stakeholder meetings; team / employee meetings; business or function and team assessment; short-term and long-term objectives; early wins
2. Accelerated Learning Plan – Cultural dynamics; industry knowledge; technical Knowledge or skills; transition to the next level of leadership
3. Alignment Strategy – Goals and timelines; communication plan; team member role clarification
4. Followership – Team-building; on-going stakeholder relations
5. Corporate Championship – Identification and relationship-building
Given that many executives fail in their new roles, we believe that executive on-boarding is an essential process to avoid unnecessary anxiety and cost, and to facilitate the successful integration, retention and performance of new leaders.
Preparing for an Interview
by Judy Galt ~ April 19th, 2012Here at CPI we stress adequate preparation for an interview. That means researching the company and having a thorough understanding of who it is and what it does and where it does it, among other things. Another part of the preparation is trying to gather some information about the person with whom you will be interviewing. If you can find that interviewer on LinkedIn, huzzah! You can probably use any of the information on the profile to break the ice as the interview begins. And you would probably be safe in mentioning that you found him/her on LinkedIn. After all, if the interviewer didn’t want you to know something, s/he wouldn’t have included it on LinkedIn!
Another approach is to search for information on the Internet. Do you know the best way to do that? Perhaps I can share some tips. The best way is to use your favorite search engine such as Google, Yahoo or Bing. Create a search using the interviewer’s name in both the “firstname lastname” and “lastname firstname” formats. This will cover finding the name in a news article as well as on some sort of list that is alphabetized by last name. You’ll want to put the name is quotation marks to ensure that the search engine looks for the first name in front of and next to the last name and vice versa. Connect the two formats with the “or” Boolean operator, entered all in caps.
Sound confusing? Here’s an example: “John Doe” OR “Doe John.” Enter that simple query into the search engine’s search box and see what comes up. If there are too many results, go back to the search box and add a qualifier such as the name of the company or Minnesota to whittle the list down.
Now what? You look through the results to see what you can learn about this person that you can use in an interview. And here’s where you need to start being careful. Remember, just because you find it on the Internet doesn’t mean it’s true. AND, just because the information uses the name of the interviewer, it doesn’t necessarily mean that it is the right person. For example, if you search for me, you’ll find an entry on the IMDB website (Internet Movie Database) that announces to anyone who is looking that Judy Galt has had a starring role is a somewhat sleazy looking movie called “Ilsa, the Tigress of Siberia.” Now I can guarantee you that if you come to me for an interview and try to break the ice by asking me about that movie, I’m not going to be a happy camper and you might very well slide to the bottom of my list of candidates. Why? Because I’ve never been in that movie or any other movie! You got the wrong person! And you don’t look good as a result. So when you find an interesting tidbit that you’d like to bring up in an interview, be sure to do some additional searching to make sure you’ve got the right person. If you can’t verify it, you shouldn’t use it.
But what if you can verify it? Then you need to be careful how you introduce it so that you don’t freak the interviewer out with tales of your cyber-stalking skills. You would never say, for example, “I spent all last night searching for you on the Internet and I discovered that you…” and hope for a good result. If the positions were reversed, wouldn’t you be a little turned off by an opening gambit like that? Instead, try to think of a non-threatening way to introduce the topic.
I’m a fan of Sam Richter and his book “Take the Cold Out of Cold Calling.” In that book, he gives several ideas of non-threatening ways to break the ice. An example he gave in a workshop I attended was that of an executive Sam was calling on in the early fall. Sam’s research had turned up an announcement of the man’s son’s wedding during the summer. So Sam hoped to use that topic to get the conversation rolling along. Rather than ask specifically about how the wedding went, Sam instead asked the executive how his summer had been. So if the son had stood his bride up at the altar and the executive didn’t want to talk about it, he didn’t have to AND he didn’t know Sam knew. If the executive DID want to talk about it, he could and he STILL didn’t know Sam already knew, so he had no reason to be concerned about Sam’s research.
We have “Take the Cold Out of Cold Calling” in our library, so feel free to look it over for additional tips and strategies for researching people on the web. And be sure to add this step to your other interview preparations.
Try 3 New Job Search Tools: Pintrest, BrandYourself and PayScale
by Anne Pryor ~ April 12th, 2012Last week I was on vacation in Murrell’s Inlet, SC. What a beautiful place. That didn’t stop my morning Google Alert reads. I spotted three interesting things that I want to share with you:
Pintrest – a Resume / Portfolio Site
Pintrest is the new Twitter, it’s cool, fun and fresh. Those of us that are “visuals” are really enjoying pinning and sharing our books, photographs, quotes and resumes, yes, it’s even an interesting and effective place for resume portfolios.
Alison Doyle, About.com editor, posted a Discussion in her LinkedIn Group, About.com job search around the new Pintrest resume that she spotted. Check out Rachael King’s Living Resume on Pintrest. It’s a perfect way to post your writing samples, brochures, speaking engagements, inventions and visuals. I’ll be watching this trend.
Increase your SEO with BrandYourself.com
This is really cool, it’s the only do-it-yourself platform that makes it easy for anyone to take control of their own Google results. You get to see your standings on Google searches and easily increase your search results on three of your links (select carefully, because with the free service you only get 3 links).
This site was created by co-founder Pete Kistler who couldn’t get an internship in college because he was being mistaken for a drug dealer in Google searches. I’ve already increased my search ranks in Twitter because of two slight changes to my profile just by adding my name, Anne Pryor, to my bio.
PayScale and LinkedIn
LinkedIn has partnered with The PayScale Instant Salary Report application to allow LinkedIn members to log in with their LinkedIn account on the PayScale site (this was a paid service previously). LinkedIn users can then select a current job title from their LinkedIn Profile and automatically see a salary report based on what similar professionals are currently earning. Signing in to PayScale with a LinkedIn account, PayScale will import relevant career details to provide an instant look at whether you’re being paid what you’re worth. You’ll get to add additional information and ask to clarify your skills for more accurate salary information. Read more: http://bit.ly/payscaleannepryorblog
A Tribute to the Movies
by Irene Rossman ~ April 5th, 2012One of my great passions in life is going to the movies. I don’t mind renting movies but I truly love seeing movies in the theater. This is a spiritual experience for me—the darkened theater, the hushed anticipation of the audience, the aroma of fresh popcorn, the glory of cinematography, watching great actors transcend their art into reality. I find it all thrilling. I read all of the movie reviews, and carefully evaluate movies based on the credibility of the reviewer. Academy Awards season is as important to me as any holiday and I give it my full attention. So with all of that said, you can understand my interest in W Magazine paying tribute to the movies in its spring publication. The article discusses how movies this year mirror the mood of the culture—and that we are living in a cautious, alienated, and uncertain time.
This article greatly intrigued me as I thought back on my favorite movies of the year: Moneyball, The Help, The Descendants, The Artist, Young Adult, Bridesmaids, and A Separation. The article mentions that 2011 was not full of happy endings in movies. The author describes the main character in Moneyball (wonderfully portrayed by Brad Pitt as Billy Beane, the real-life manager of the Oakland Athletics) “as evoking the pain of men everywhere: the startling realization that, after a lifetime of believing otherwise, your best may no longer be good enough.” Rather than the typical happy Hollywood ending, the main character successfully initiates change but comes up short in the big win. He’s faced with choices regarding his values, not necessarily popular and accepted choices. The Academy Award winner for Best Picture this year went to The Artist, a throwback to the era of black and white cinema. Jean Dujardin, who also won the Best Actor award, played George Valentin, a silent movie star who is unwilling to adjust to talkies. “Like individuals everywhere who feel replaced by the innovations of the modern world, he fights the system. He loses. George’s happy ending is not perfect. He makes certain adjustments that allow him to return to the spotlight. It might not be what he imagined, but it is the reality he has to accept.”
We are all faced with these dilemmas in our lives. Dealing with change, adjusting to innovation, living with uncertainty, realizing the world we grew up in is a different place than what we knew, the complexity of relationships, doing our best while maintaining our values. The world of work is a microcosm of the larger culture. Where do I fit in? If I do my best, is it good enough? Am I keeping up, and am I adapting quickly enough to change? And, many times, things don’t work out the way we had hoped. But we plug on.
Albert Einstein said that “imagination is more important than knowledge.” Despite uncertainty and disappointment, our imaginations allow us to persevere in finding a great job or career and never giving up on our dreams.
Going to the movies will continue to exhilarate me. It is my time to escape into magnificent story telling. Like other great art forms, movies convey the essence of our culture and the dilemmas of individuals. We can learn a great deal by reflecting and integrating some of these lessons into our own lives.
