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3 Mistakes to Avoid
When Trying to Find Your Dream Job
“Luck is a matter of preparation meeting opportunity.” ~ Oprah Winfrey ~
Are you trying to find your dream job? One approach is to have a solid online presence and online marketing strategy. With that said, how you project yourself online can make or break your job search efforts. Here are 3 deadly mistakes you can’t afford to make when using the Internet to find your dream job:
- Relying on just online marketing. If you think applying to hundreds of jobs online gives you a better chance of landing your dream job, you’re dead wrong. Imagine thousands of applicants aspiring for the same job–this could spell disaster for you and for the employer who posted the job. Could this mean many employers may choose not to post the job online? From my experience I know this: the best jobs are never posted but are found through networking and contacts. That’s something to think about.
- Focusing on quantity not quality. There are literally hundreds of social media portals out there. Trying to post your online profile on all of them is like spreading your net out as wide as you can but not catching anything at the end of the day. A better approach is to focus on building your online profile on some of the most populare and well-respected sites out there. LinkedIn is a good example. Focus on one or two sites to demonstrate your skills, experience, make contacts and build positive relationships online in your industry.
- Playing the waiting game. One of the worst things you can do is to build your online profile and NOT do anything after that. Don’t assume people will land on your profile, contact you and hand you your dream job on a silver platter. You’ve got to work hard with online networking. Connect with people offline and tell them to connect with you on LinkedIn, for example. Join industry-related groups and be a part of the conversation. Leave helpful comments on other people’s posts. Demonstrate that you’re an expert in your niche. All of this will help increase your visibility at work, which just might catch the eye of a headhunter or your future employer.
Understand that without a doubt, potential recruiters are going to look you up online. Maintaining a strong online profile is essential to finding your dream job. However, a successful job search program or plan does not only involve having an online presence and using online marketing.
Traditional methods like using influence, getting others to perceive you positively, and building your brand are equally if not more important to get ahead in your career.
So the next time you connect with someone online, also remember to network face-to-face, recruit a person of influence to hand-deliver your resume to the HR manager, and assume that your prospective employer will be conducting a search for you on Google. With all the right elements put into place you’ll be well on your way to finding the job of your dreams.
Looking for concrete tips on building your online profile? Read this blog post or schedule an appointment with Joel Garfinkle to get the dream job coaching you need to succeed!
Image: Phaitoon / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
5 Questions to Ask Yourself
Before Pursuing Your Dream Job
“When we dream we make meaning of life, discover the essence of ourselves, truly grow up, and most importantly, model for children how to dream.”~ Whitney L. Johnson ~
Years ago, an associate of mine was working in a job that had already made him more money than most Americans earn in a lifetime. Right out of college, he landed a position with a major tech company and helped design several iterations of the world’s leading networking equipment.
Some might call my associate’s career a study in success—a perfect example of how a smart, hard-working, enterprising individual could still do great things in America. Only, the man wasn’t happy. In fact, he was miserable. He was tired of networks and technology and wished his life had taken a different direction. In other words, he felt trapped.
He was also paralyzed by fear. He attributed most of his success to luck, circumstances, and youthful enthusiasm. More than halfway through his life, how could he dramatically change its trajectory, yet still meet all of his financial obligations? More importantly, did he have what it took to do something new?
The man eventually hired me as a career coach, and several months later he made the transition into a C-level position at a leading nonprofit organization. When he and I reflected on his success, he said, “I think it’s the questions we discussed, the ones right at the beginning, that made it all possible. Once I realized I could answer them all in the affirmative, I knew I had what it took to make a change.”
Those questions are reproduced here:
- Can you invest hours of your free time in learning something new? Most people’s dream job—whether it’s a director of marketing, a boarding school history teacher, or a chief information officer—requires a high degree of expertise in a diverse set of specialized skills. Those skills take time, effort, and intentional practice to master.
- Are you willing to accept rejection? It’s the extremely rare individual who lands his or her dream job on the first interview. Just as J. K. Rowling received dozens of rejection letters before having her first Harry Potter manuscript accepted, most dream job seekers will have to deal with being turned away by HR.
- Do you know how to talk with people? Whether it’s fair or not, few people will recognize your expertise and value if you don’t introduce yourself to them. Old-fashioned networking is essential to landing most dream jobs. The more people know or hear about you, the more likely they will be to hire you—or point you in the direction of the perfect opportunity.
- Can you discipline your thinking and achieve emotional detachment? For most people, one of the biggest barriers to landing their dream job is self doubt. The human subconscious has a negativity bias by default, which leads us to constantly question our plans. Thankfully, practice and mindfulness can transform our thinking and dramatically decrease self doubt.
- Are you willing to put happiness above money? According to psychological researchers, earning more than $75,000 per year (adjusted for local COL) doesn’t contribute to the average American’s overall level of emotional well-being. While not every dream job comes with a pay cut, some do; others may require substantial education or relocation costs.
If you’re interested in reading more about landing your dream job, my friend Whitney Johnson has a new book out titled Dare, Dream, Do: Remarkable Things Happen When You Dare to Dream, which is available at bookstores nationwide, as well as on all major online retailers, including Amazon, B&N, and Indiebound.
Talkback: Are you working at your dream job, or is it “just a job”? How would you answer the five questions above? Are you willing to do what it takes to start pursuing your dream job?
3 Warning Signs That You Need
to Increase Visibility at Work
Even if you’re on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there.~ Will Rogers ~
Are you asking yourself the question, “How do I increase visibility at work?” If you’re not, you should be. According to executive coach Joel Garfinkle, increasing your visibility and getting known in your organization is critical to landing the promotion you want, getting others to value your work, and getting ahead in your career.
So how do you judge if you’re visible enough or not? Here are three warning signs to help you determine whether you need to work on being more visible:
Warning #1: You pay no attention to branding.
Branding or creating a unique identity for yourself is crucial. Without creating your personal brand it can be incredibly difficult to stand out. Let’s face it: Your firm may be saturated with talented people just like you doing the exact same thing. So how do you stand out? Identify the key areas that you shine at and become known as an “expert” in those areas in your firm. By doing this you can very easily become the first person people go to when they need help in that area. This helps increase your visibility at work.
Warning #2: You’re afraid to take risks.
Do you speak up in meetings? Do you hold back at expressing an innovative idea you have for a new product? If you’re more comfortable taking on a passive role—staying in the safety of your comfort zone and hiding in the shadows while others take the limelight—don’t be alarmed if they’re the ones who land promotions and get ahead of you at work. To increase visibility you must be willing to take a risk. That means not being afraid to share your ideas and take responsibility for new tasks.
Warning #3: You rarely talk to senior executives.
Do you hang around the water cooler with your co-workers and have lunch with the same people every day? Do you ever try to strike up a conversation with upper-level management or attempt to get them to know you? Well, that’s definitely warning sign number three. Associate with people whom you aspire to be like and show them the value you provide to them. Try to get to know your boss’s boss and volunteer for opportunities that will give you a chance to interact with those above you.
To read a case study on how a senior director at a large corporation increased his visibility at work to get the promotion he wanted, head over to a recent blog post I wrote titled: Stand Out! Seven Ways to Increase Your Visibility at Work.
To learn how to use visibility along with perception and influence to get ahead in your career, read my new book, Getting Ahead: Three Steps to Take Your Career to the Next Level.
Image: David Castillo Dominici / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
3 Questions to Ask
Before You Jump into a Career Change
For many people a job is more than an income—it’s an important part of who we are. So a career transition of any sort is one of the most unsettling experiences you can face in your life.~ Paul Clithero ~
Do you feel like your career has reached a dead end? Or is it that you just aren’t motivated to do your job anymore or you find you’re not making best use of your full potential, talents, and skills?
There can be many reasons for a career change and the constant hope of finding your dream job—a job that you have a strong passion for—can actually make the process of a career transition seem all the more daunting. Here are three questions to ask yourself to help you decide if your career change reasons seem valid or if you’re not really ready to jump into a career change right now:
What makes me “me”? Start by evaluating yourself. What do you have to offer? Make a list of what you like to do outside work—your hobbies or interests, talents, special skills that make you stand out, and even your values and beliefs. This will help you discover your areas of interest and serve as your passion guide to help you find the job that best suits you. The better you understand yourself, the more clear your career goals become.
Do I believe I will succeed? If you don’t truly believe you will succeed, then chances are that you won’t. Being passionate and having the motivation for a job change is as important as believing you will find success in your new career. For you to be truly successful you need to have three key things: faith in yourself, influence to get things done, and skills. Your skills, knowledge, and influence can help you get ahead but without conviction in your own abilities you won’t get far.
Am I ready to do what it takes? Understand that the perfect job opportunity is not just going to magically manifest. You need to make a constant effort to research careers that best fit your talents and interests. Start by making a list of top 10 companies you’d like to work for and check to see if they have openings. Use influence to get someone to deliver your resume with a special recommendation to a person of hiring authority. Don’t leave your job until the right opportunity comes by.
The final and most important question to ask when contemplating over all your career change reasons is, “Will I be happier and will my life change for the better if I make this choice?” If you answered yes to this question and all of the above but are still feeling anxious, don’t worry—enlisting the help of a coach who provides effective career transition services can give you the clarity you need to realize your goals and keep you motivated.
Read more tips on how to ensure a successful career transition and discover a career coach who delivers practical tips for career change you can implement right away to inspire you to take action toward your career goals!
Top 7 Reasons Why Executive Meetings Fail
“Meetings are indispensable when you don’t want to do anything.”~ John Kenneth Galbraith ~
Did you know that there are over 11 million formal meetings held every day in America? According to a study conducted by the University of Arizona, that comes to more than 3 billion meetings per year. Most managers spend an estimated 20% of their working hours in formal meetings of five or more people. A meeting between several executive leaders may run a firm over $1000 per hour or more in salary costs alone. Ineffective or unproductive meetings could cost Fortune 50 companies losses of more than $75 million per year.
A New York consulting firm, Communispond, Inc., conducted a survey of 471 management leaders and found that well over one-half of the managers surveyed considered most meetings to be a “waste of time.” Almost 90% recognized the failure of most meetings to be due to a “lack of advanced planning and organization,” and over 75% of those polled pointed out that they received no proper training on how to conduct a meeting in the first place.
If you’re looking for answers on how to make executive meetings more productive, it’s important to understand the top seven reasons why executive meetings fail:
- Lack of a goal or objective. If you’re unclear on what you need to achieve in the meeting, the end results of the meeting will also be loose-ended. Establish a purpose or objective for the meeting. This way you know what to expect as a proposed outcome. Clearly identify the issues you want to resolve or discuss and what you want to achieve.
- Not preparing an agenda beforehand. Not preparing a meeting agenda in advance can lead to a meeting that lacks focus. With your goal in mind, prepare and distribute an agenda with the objectives outlined to the participants of the meeting. Request them to read this in advance. This makes the most efficient use of time as they don’t have to skim through the agenda in the meeting itself and it also gives them a chance to think through and make their own individual preparations ahead of time.
- No facilitator and mote taker roles assigned. Without someone to lead the meeting and someone to take notes, the meeting can go in any direction and waste precious time. Learn how to delegate effectively and determine who’s going to be in charge of facilitating the meeting and who’s going to be taking notes prior to the meeting. Both of these individuals will be responsible for issuing the minutes of the meeting. Different participants can take on these roles in future meetings.
- No start and end times established. A meeting can go on for hours if you don’t set a fixed time for it to finish. Respect those who got to the table on time and start (even if others are late). Don’t start over when others arrive, and end the meeting on time. You’ll be surprised on how much you can accomplish in shorter, speedier meetings than long meetings that seem to go on forever.
- Using technology ineffectively. Using technology for the sake of using it can lead to an unproductive outcome. There are just so many ways to conduct meetings today–everything from PowerPoint presentations to webinars and white boards to video conferencing. A flip chart, a black marker and post-it notes might be all you need to get the interactive participation you need to make the meeting a success.
- Unorganized discussions. Many meetings deviate from the agenda and focus on other issues. Although those issues might be equally important, it’s the facilitator’s job to stick to the agenda and keep the meeting on track. Remember, your aim is to make sure you maintain clear and effective communication to resolve or discuss the goal you started out with.
- Not assigning deliverables and following up. Failing to recap and assign responsibilities at the end of the meeting makes the entire goal of the meeting pointless. Follow up by sending out the minutes of the meeting with the assigned deliverables and timelines. Make participants accountable by scheduling a short follow-up meeting to track whether everyone is going in the right direction to meet the objectives.
If you really want to understand how to make executive meetings a productive success, start by finding a solid facilitator or take the lead yourself to encourage participants to be open to adhering with the organizational improvements you suggest.
Once you know how to organize and run a meeting the next step is to understand how to express yourself in meetings and how to disagree at meetings in a positive and productive way.
Hosting an effective meeting starts with being an effective leader. Get more leadership development tips or contact me directly for executive leadership skills training today!
Not Getting the Success You Deserve?
A Personal Leadership Coach Can Help!
“A mentor is someone who sees more talent and ability within you than you see in yourself, and helps bring it out of you.” ~ Bob Proctor ~
Personal leadership coaches will help you convey confidence as a business leader. You’ll learn how to be respected as an authority, create impact and provide value at work. Leadership coaches will help you develop your executive presence so you can operate at the highest level and become an influential business leader.
An executive coach will discover your strengths and weaknesses personally and professionally, developing strategies to take advantage of your strengths and determining ways to counter your weaknesses.
Personal leadership coaches help you when you are seeking career and job advancement. An executive coach will act as a sounding board for professional challenges, giving you an outsider’s perspective on the situation and helping you develop solutions. Your coach can help you create an action plan for your professional success and help you stay on track. If you desire ongoing support and feedback, as well as enhanced work/life balance, which results in both personal and professional growth, you want an executive coach!
Call Joel Garfinkle right now at (510) 339-3201 and become the leader you were meant to be with Joel’s executive coaching services.
Image: basketman / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Google Study Reveals the
8 Characteristics of Successful Leaders
“I suppose leadership at one time meant muscles, but today it means getting along with people.”
~ Mahatma Gandhi ~
The Internet is chock full of articles on leadership skills, studies on management styles, and theories of executive efficacy. A search for a keyword as specific as “leadership and management skills” yields 15.8 million results. With so many differing models of leadership and competing management frameworks, it’s difficult for executives to know where to turn for true research-based advice.
Ironically, Google has the answers for us—but not via one of its searches. A 2011 study by Google’s Project Oxygen found that virtually all of the company’s best-performing executives demonstrated eight core leadership skills. Google’s social scientists and statisticians based their findings on over 10,000 observations across more than 100 variables. Here’s what they found:
Google’s Eight Characteristics of Successful Leaders:
- Be an effective coach. Effective leaders facilitate their entire team’s success by bringing out the best in everyone and helping them work together as a team.
- Don’t micromanage. Give your team a chance to stretch and show their creativity.
- Focus on results and productivity. Your team’s job—not yours—is to determine how they will achieve their objectives.
- Demonstrate a clear vision and strategy. Micromanaging is bad, but teams expect their leaders to provide overarching principles and guidance. Offer your team a clear vision of success, and they’ll follow you along that path.
- Pay attention to your employees’ career development. While you may not be their personal career coach, diligence in helping your team members with career advancement will earn their loyalty.
- Demonstrate your interest in the team’s success and each member’s personal well-being. When your employees know you want them to succeed, they will be much more responsive to you.
- Listen to your team and stress the importance of communication. Help your team members communicate more effectively at work and you’ll see marked productivity gains.
- Maintain your technical skills. Employees value supervisors who can help them with technical questions or point them in the direction of useful resources.
The results of Google’s Project Oxygen may not be especially earth-shattering, but they reinforce the importance of management fundamentals—which is always an important reminder. For more information about specific management techniques, articles on leadership skills, and tips on leadership development , check out my executive coaching website. Or order my book Getting Ahead: Three Steps to Take Your Career to the Next Level for practical advice on jumpstarting your career.
Image: sheelamohan / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Recession-Proof Your Career in 2012
“You cannot always control circumstances, but you can control your own thoughts.”
~ Charles Popplestown ~
Are you worried about keeping your job in 2012? Let’s face it; there are many things out of your control, from the sad state of the economy to downsizing and cutbacks to the worry of putting food on the table and getting your kids through college.
But that’s not what worries me. What concerns me more are not the looming factors beyond your control, but the casual attitude towards the things that are within your control. Many people who come to me for help have the attitude, “I’ll just have to work hard and hope for the best.”
Have you heard the old saying, “If you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always gotten?“ Carrying on hoping for the best is just not good enough. No matter where you are in your career you have to learn to enhance your skills and change with the times or you most certainly will be left behind.
The first step to recession-proofing your career is to make your company see you as a valuable asset. How do you achieve this? Head over to this blog post, Desperate Times, Different Measures and read about the three key things you must do to increase your worth and protect your job in 2012.
Just because it’s a recession doesn’t mean your career has to stagnate. Read my book, Getting Ahead, to find out how you can achieve career and job advancement—even in tough times.
Don’t Be Broken, Be Golden and Stand Out
“There is nothing in the world so much admired as a man who knows how to bear unhappiness with courage.”
~ Seneca ~
As the country struggles to recover from the recession, the job market is currently the best it has been in three years. Still, hiring is low, wages are flat, and new graduates and seasoned professionals are both adrift. Some industries have disappeared altogether and many jobs have gone offshore. How do you ensure your success in these perilous times?
No matter what level you’re at in your organization, the last thing you should do is to go unnoticed by burying your head in the sand. Those who think being “invisible” will somehow protect them from losing their jobs are highly mistaken. Now is the time that companies are looking for leaders to come forward and create massive change to turn things around. Do you have something to offer? By all means, come forward.
Many believe we are heading toward a jobless recovery, but I disagree. This is your opportunity to set yourself apart from the crowd and show the world what you’ve got. If you can perfectly position yourself to take advantage of the current situation and create real organizational change, you will prove yourself worthy to your employer and gain job security.
Are you ready to get ahead but don’t know where to start? Learn the skills you need to get noticed, gain authority, and get ahead in your organization. In this recent blog post, Patricia Faulhaber reviews my new book, Getting Ahead, in which I reveal the exact 3-step model you need to get started.
Joel Garfinkle is an executive coaching career coach who has been developing effective leaders for years. Contact Joel to find out how executive coaching can lead the way to career and job advancement.
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3 of the Most Effective Ways to Provide Feedback
Feedback is the breakfast of champions.~ Ken Blanchard ~
I’ve come across many star employees, even those with top executive leadership skills who find the area of performance reviews a mundane, tiresome task. It doesn’t matter if they themselves are being reviewed or if they are the reviewers; some people just shun the idea of giving and receiving feedback.
Why? Maybe it’s because they don’t want to face a difficult, uneasy situation if it may arise. Some feel they might be humiliating their colleagues or there are those who don’t want to voice their opinion because they fear being disliked. Then there is the defensive type. These people find it hard to take criticism. Others can’t give honest feedback because they don’t want to hurt their co-workers’ feelings.
Whatever the reason, one important point to keep in mind is that there is no such thing as positive or negative feedback—it’s just feedback. If you give and receive feedback with this mindset, you can do a much better job at providing quality feedback without having any “hard feelings” attached.
The Most Effective Ways to Provide Feedback
- Make sure all answers and suggestions are being delivered in the right way. Give constructive criticism regarding negative actions and behaviors and offer career development tips the individual can implement right away.
- Feedback is feedback. Don’t think of feedback as positive or negative. This can actually inhibit your ability to say what you truly want to say. Just as an art critique is of the painting and not of the artist, you’re giving feedback on the behaviors that need to be corrected not on the individual’s character.
- What information would help this person do a better job? This is an important question to ask yourself as you give feedback, as your ultimate goal is to encourage behaviors that will ultimately help the individual get ahead and have a positive impact on co-workers and the firm at large.
If you’re on the receiving end, it is imperative to ask the right questions to make sure you get the best possible advice. Business Management Daily has published a post entitled, “How to Ask for Feedback,” that includes some tips from my book, Getting Ahead. Follow these tips to get constructive feedback to help you improve your performance at work.
Discover more effective ways to provide quality feedback or order my book Getting Ahead: Three Steps to Take Your Career to the Next Level for more practical tips to help you advance in your career!
Image: Grant Cochrane / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
