Saturday 10 November 2012

Three Easy Ways to Research Different Jobs

Looking for a Career Change or Shift?  Overwhelmed by all the options when you start looking into jobs and sectors?  Don’t worry…. you’re not alone! 

Too often we think we’d like to change jobs or career paths yet once we start looking at all the choices, we quickly get overwhelmed and give up.  It’s hard to know where to start and it can take a lot of time to do this essential part of figuring out what you’d like to do and then how to go about getting there. 
So often, high school career counselling falls short in truly explaining all the different fields of work.  And a really important piece of the puzzle to help make sound career choices early (and later) on in our lives is often overlooked.  Primarily because people don’t know how to research.  And where to look to find the key pieces of info that will help them make a considered and informed decision.

As a Coach who specializes in Career Change Strategizing, I can narrow that research down significantly.  It still requires time and energy on your part, but these “go to” places for finding key information will help you avoid the often daunting task of networking (if I had a nickel for every time I’ve had a client say they HATE networking, I wouldn’t need to work!). So this is the easiest networking you’ll ever do… and some of it doesn’t even require you to talk to another human being.

First, you need to put on your Investigative Reporter Hat!  And leave the job seeker at home.  All the resources I’ve laid out here require you to be seeking information, not jobs.  Because, if you approach with a hidden agenda, you may find your reception becomes less than warm.   
Here are 3 resources through which you can access valuable, career-specific information easily and quickly without feeling like you’re imposing on someone’s time or to find people in the field to talk to.

1)      The disciplines/career paths’ designated Professional Association. This is always your first stop on your investigative process for the least biased information. Many associations will provide you oodles of excellent information about their profession and what courses/schools are required.  And, if you screw up your courage and call them after reviewing their website in depth, they will often provide members who are ready and willing to chat with you about the specifics of the industry and their personal experiences in the field.  They often also run conferences, workshops and regular networking events that you can attend (often for free for at least a couple of times).

2)      Training/educational institutions that are teaching the skill/discipline also are great resources for finding out important information about the industry/sector/career pathway.  They should know what (and if) companies are hiring and what salaries one might expect at various milestones down the road.  Some, of course, even offer co-op and internship opportunities as part of the training and this can be invaluable for getting much needed first-time experience with the profession.

FYI: Both Professional Associations and Educational Institutions “should” have and freely offer names/ contact info for members and/or past students who have taken their training and are currently working in the field.  These are people who have agreed to talk to people like you who want to know more details about what the courses are all about, how useful they were and what the credential will get them once completed.

3)      Read job postings related to that field.  You can learn a heckofalot from job postings as to what different job areas/sectors and actual positions will require of you.  You can also find people who are in that field of work on LinkedIn and, through joining Groups they are in, you can research their work history online through their profiles, then, if you see a match, reach out to them via email and ask them if they’re willing to share some of their knowledge with you.  They’ll also give you lots of valuable clues for preparing resumes for those types of positions!

These activities all fall under the heading of what we, in the career coaching biz, call Informational Interviews. Like job interviews they require preparation and professionalism.  And a polite awareness that these folks you’re asking questions of are busy people and probably can’t spend more than 20-30 minutes with you, max.  So be clear and direct and, when that time has passed, double check with them as to whether it’s okay to continue.  Also ask them for another referral so you can keep the ball rolling and dig deeper into your chosen career environment.   More information is good… one person’s job love can be another’s hate.  So take all info with a grain of salt and find a few more people in the field to make sure you’re not throwing out the idea after one less than stimulating interview.

Cardinal Rule #1:  DO NOT take your resume with you.  (This way if they ask to see it, it gives you an opening to send it after the fact, and get their email address, if you don’t already have it.)  And again, you’re doing RESEARCH here, not JOB search!

And always – always – send a thank you email. 

Hopefully, if you found their assistance helpful, and you’d like to keep in touch as you proceed forward, it’s always a nice idea to let them know when you’ve followed through with a suggestion/idea they gave you.  This way you start developing a very useful career support group, for now and the future.

If you’d like a copy of a really great e-workbook on how to conduct Informational Interviews, which includes a few scripts and a list of questions you might consider asking, email me, mention this blogpost and I’ll send it to you.

Saturday 25 August 2012

5 Phases of Career Exploration & Change



Phase 1Assessment:  helps you learn about you in a quick way so you can move forward with aligning yourself to applicable jobs/career paths/educational avenues. 
  • Bonus:  Builds your self-awareness and confidence so you are better equipped to make your own decisions about your future path, in addition to helping you communicate your strengths more specifically and accurately.
Phase 2 – Narrow the options down and start researching/networking to gather deeper information about the career path and/or companies you are interested in investigating.

·         1) Informational Interviewing:  This is where you get to play Investigative Reporter or Detective to develop research skills which will serve you well now and in the future in discovering more about and then narrowing your chosen fields of interest. 

·         2) Networking is a key piece of the puzzle and, for many, it is often the most difficult aspect of the job revisioning process.

o     Find more useful networking contacts and start to develop this skill as it is the 2nd key component for this step of your career but also in any subsequent steps you might want to make in your work and life moving forward.
Phase 3 – Hopefully, you have now narrowed your path(s) to pursue and are ready to really start retooling the resume to match your new direction/goals.

·       The way you rewrite the resume also prepares you for the interviewing process.

·       Suggestion:  do an inventory of ALL your skills at this point so your new MASTER resume will be very flexible and adjustable, since career change can require a few different yet similar approaches to a variety of job sub-categories.

·      Often using a Functional Resume is the best way to create a document that will showcase the skills you want for a position in your new career zone.   Try to use headings related to hard skills not soft skills as most employers will prefer to know what you can do, not what qualities you have.  A well-developed resume will provide subtext which will fill in the soft skills angles anyway.

·      Hit them with your best stuff in the first half of the first page.  Consolidate and use a hard-hitting, eye-catching format.  Think:  blurb on the back cover of a book.  Make it impossible for them not to want to buy!

·      Use Accomplishment Statements that align seamlessly to the needs of the new job. Use the job posting as your Bible.  Echo keywords, demonstrate transferrable skills using examples and make a strong pitch using experience you’ve done in and outside of work. 

·      Put it all together and your resume will light up with possibilities and professionalism!

·       Don’t get frustrated.  This is an ongoing process and, each time you review/adjust your resume for different postings, you’ll edit and rewrite and make it a nice tight document that really sings your praises!

 Phase 4Strategize your shift.

·       The Step Approach:  consider staying in your current line of work, but changing the environment you work in – ie. the company, industry or sector!

o   This can work when you….

§  Make a step into a new work environment that is more open to you developing new skills and showing them off to your best advantage and where you can be recognized and create new pathways of development moving forward.  This is an excellent way to maintain salary and status while making a significant change in career direction.  Only drawback, it usually takes more time.

§  Learn while you Earn!  Get/take additional training (either self-directed, through volunteering, or by online or traditional schooling methods of learning) while still enjoying what you’re doing.  Proven plus: distracting yourself with a new project of any kind that stimulates you outside of work can help you feel as if you’re moving forward and take the sting out of a humdrum job. 
Ongoing:  Keep applying for jobs or reconnecting to the network you developed during your Investigation process.  Write down the questions you get in interviews and develop/practice your answers until they flow off your tongue like butter.  There will always be questions you hadn’t expected in just about any interview.  The key to being poised is being prepared.

Phase 5  Once you’ve landed a new gig, keep QUESTING.  Keep broadening your network.  Dig deeper.  Investigate career pathways that intersect your own.  This process is critical to maintain for the life of your career, and can prove useful in many other areas of your life, as well.  The people who do this never have to look for jobs – jobs come and find them! 
And, if you’re the type who needs to regularly learn new things and grow beyond, well then his next step on your career trajectory likely isn’t the last you’ll ever take.  So enjoy the journey and expand your horizons!  It’s amazing how serendipity steps in and pulls it all together when you least expect it.  Just believe it’s possible and make it so!

Sunday 15 July 2012

Making a Memorable Impression!

Personal branding!  In a world where there are so many products and choices, it’s not uncommon to feel overwhelmed!  Now job candidates strive to be remembered in much the same way you hum those catchy jingles for your favourite car or candy bar. 

So take some time to figure out what makes YOU stand out!  Get clear about what your values are and why you are the best possible match for the company or industry you are aligning yourself to.    

From the Experts:  how to leave an indelible impression in any chance meeting, networking event, conference or interview!

·         Personal Branding: 5 Secrets of Success from Guy Kawasaki
·         Fast Company Magazine:  The Brand Called YOU 

And all of this comes together in that good old Elevator Speech (or 60 Second Sell).
VIDEO/Article:   5 Real People Giving … 5 Truly Adequate Elevator Pitches  (with commentary by author.)  Non-intimidating!  You, too, can do this!!!



Thursday 5 July 2012

How to Compose a Stand-Out LinkedIn Profile

Part 1:  Put on the EMPLOYER’s GLASSES and read other people’s profiles. 

There are many ways to write effective, job-catching profiles.  And it’s always good to put your own spin/flavor on it.  If you’re a fun, light-hearted person, you can find ways to inject that energy into a profile, carefully, of course, as this is a Business/Professional site and you don’t want to sound too flippant or irreverent.

But read with another purpose, as well.  Read it fast; assess for impact and memorability.    Was it densely written or easy for your eye to move over and pick out important information?

Read it quickly – just the Profile section and Specialties, not the “resume” part.

Then ask yourself:

1)      Was it easy to scan?  Did you pick get a clear sense of this person’s skillsets and talents in a 5-10 second scan of the profile section?   If not, why not?   

2)      Was it densely written… with not enough white space?  In this world of computers and calculated content writing, we won’t read wordy text sections.  So keep it targeted and concise, otherwise people just won’t read it. 

3)      Which profile was the most memorable?  Break it down and figure out why.
Once you’ve done this exercise, you’ll get a lot more ideas about how you want to write your profile and what you want to say about yourself.

Next: Using your LinkedIn Header to Make a Standout Impression

Monday 9 April 2012

Avoid looking like an A**.... just ASK!


Was inspired by a Charles Adler radio show discussion earlier this week about older workers and the difficulty many are having finding good jobs. I wrote this in response:

As a self-proclaimed Career Matchmaker, my favourite work revolves around helping people reinvent themselves and, ideally, find really enjoyable and rewarding work (whatever that means for them!  Everyone is different).  As luck would have it, I developed a very strong speciality working with transitioning workers when I became the first civilian Career Transition Counsellor at CFB Esquimalt, where I worked for 8+ years with retiring (40-50 something) military members.  Many of those folks created their own beliefs around why it would be hard for them to find jobs when they left the military, but most of those beliefs could often be banished with the right information and an open mind.   

As a result, I have many stories of clients who thought they were experiencing age discrimination.  And, often, with some perspective shifting and by pro-actively seeking feedback after (or before) their interviews, this misconception could also be turned on its ear.     

·         One of my newly IT-certified career changers tried and tried to get a job but to no avail and he was feeling pretty hopeless.  He was certain it was because of his age (and he was all of 45!).  Not that he’d ever actually asked anyone but, still, he was convinced.   I encouraged him to check out this assumption during his next interview (with a little coaching as to how to ask a possibly delicate question).  As it turned out, there was another unchecked assumption happening in the busy HR manager’s mind.  And, indirectly, it did have something to do with age.  Or more correctly, my client’s numerous years of experience.  The interviewer assumed he would be bored because their job was an entry level position.  Once he knew this, he was able to address the unspoken question and quickly got a job which was exactly what he’d been looking for. 

·         Another client had applied to Canadian Tire for a bookkeeping job that he felt he could easily fulfill.   After he received no reply to his application, he did go and ask why he hadn’t been shortlisted, as he was certain he had the skillsets required.  He was told that they didn’t bother calling him because they took it from his resume that they wouldn’t be able to pay him what he was used to.  Again... assumption city!   

Communication and clarification of expectations is a critical piece that is often left on the curb by both the job seeker and the interviewer.  Therefore, I teach my clients how to ask these types of questions and I attempt, whenever possible, to anticipate objections before the interview.  Cover letters can also go a long way to heading assumptions off at the pass.     

A resume overhaul is often a worthwhile endeavour, as well... because job seekers can get kicked off the top candidate pile merely because they haven’t downshifted their resume to match the career requirements of a lower-levelled job.  Many feel they have to include EVERY job they’ve ever had.  And they show levels of expertise far and above what is being asked for.  This doesn’t always work in their favour, and leads to many disappointments.   

Just to add another perspective, many older workers lack certain modern workforce skills and, sadly, some tend to resist updating those skills.  Often, the company they were employed by for many years neglected to offer them upgrading, too, which is unfortunate.  I encourage all my clients to invest in themselves and keep their skills ‘pumped up’ so they can compete with the more techno-savvy younger generation.  You don’t have to Tweet every hour of the day, but you should be conversant enough with the concept of social media to ‘sound’ like you understand it.  There are oodles of free online tutorials on the web that you can teach yourself everything you need to show you’re ‘in the know!’   

Attitude is everything!  And keeping abreast of the times (ie. in technology and a few other basic modern workplace skills) is also really critical for older workers to be seen as viable candidates for more jobs.   

In closing, here are a few of my favourite news stories on people working happily and well into their  ...




A year or so ago, I spoke at a conference on this subject.  Here’s an abridged version of the PowerPoint presentation I gave in case you want to delve into it deeper. 

Stay tuned for more specifics on how to find work by thinking “outside the box”!




Sunday 1 April 2012

How to Figure Out What Job You Want!


For Career Seekers, Changers & ReInventioneers … but these tips work for any job researcher!

5 Ways to Catapult Your Job Choice Research to the Next Level!

1)   The obvious but not always overly effective methodNational Occupational Classifications (NOC)… it’s a starting place but it’s not the be all and end all of career and job research.  For every one of the 40, 000 jobs listed in the NOC (and goodness knows how many in the US version:  Occupational Outlook Handbook), I’m convinced there are another 40+% more jobs that are not listed or for which the titles can convey a dozen different job descriptions.  And I think I’m underestimating there, it’s just we’ve never really had anyone do the stats on it so it’s anyone’s guess.   

a.    Alberta’s Learning Information Service (ALIS) is a great resource for occupational research and many other fantastic career reinvention information.  Sure, it has some specific Alberta only related info, but tons of it is universal to any career development question.  Check it out!

2)   Use job search sites to find out about jobs!   Read job descriptions in your area of interest, current industry and all around the edges of anything else you’d like to align your talents to.   Monster, Workopolis, Indeed/Wowjobs or any other targeted sites you like.  And, what better place to go look for the requirements of any number of jobs than the job posting, itself.

a.    Don’t forget that companies you’re interested in may NOT post on job search sites;   many of the biggies don’t feel they need to or they may have a longer job posting on their own site, so always check those out, as well.  And create a bookmarked/favorites list to monitor them and track their jobs, even if the job doesn’t seem to be a fit for you… you can gain valuable insights from watching similar, not just exact job matches.

3)   Ask!  For every job you see advertised, when they have a contact listed, follow up and ask them for a more detailed job description.  Any client that I’ve ever encouraged to do that has met with an easy way to really tailor their resume to match the job.

4)   Read Resume Writing books!  Yes, Virginia… that’s what I said.  You’d be shocked (well, I am!) at how many people never think to go read a How to Write Resumes kind of book.  There are usually dozens in most public libraries.  Amazon and all the other usual suspects have oodles to choose from.  And they can be delivered right to your door!  Re-sellers like Abebooks and the amazing Powell’s in Portland, Oregon (one of my favourite spots to pick up my own career related resource books) have them in great shape at greatly reduced prices! 

a.    Proviso:  not all resume books are created equal: IE. have excellent well-developed, “give you a hope in h-e-double toothpicks of getting an interview” samples.  And career change resumes are really hard to find viable samples of because the chance of you finding one that is similar to what you want to do is around slim and none.  That’s why I recommend hitting the library.  You can photocopy the ones you want and take them home. 

b.    Remember, most Career Changers have more to prove than someone who is already in the chosen profession!  I haven’t written a career change resume yet that wasn’t more densely packed with details and specifics and accomplishments than one I wrote for someone already on that career path.

5)   The Horse’s Mouth … a tried and true approach for finding jobs, but it’s also amazingly helpful for figuring out what kinds of jobs might be out there for you and how to make the switch. Since many folks decide on a career change while they’re still ‘in’ a job, that old “networking” thang is still one of the best methods of doing research. As much as we all know we should network regularly, few of us do.  So, to find out about actual jobs, this is a necessary evil.  But do the other homework above first, so that you aren’t wasting time.  And then, once you’ve shortlisted your career path research down to 3-4, plug into your network to get an information interview so you can find dig down deeper.

Of course, there’s more involved in this process (It’s such a hub and spoke kind of thing, career development and change.  You do a few things over here in research, then you play with your resume, then you do some informational interviews, then back to research again, and so and an so forth.  It’s like lifting weights.  You do some reps on one machine, then switch to another and another and then start the circuit all over again, but maybe in a different order.)

Another great resource for finding out about jobs and their specific requirements is good ol’ LinkedIn (LI).  Stay tuned in later posts for more effective ways to do Passive Networking (yes, it means you don’t have to cold call!) with people you find in cool jobs on LI.

If anyone you know needs help with any of the aspects of ReInventing themselves, please check out my website!  I look forward to helping you find a more rewarding life at WORK! 

Sunday 4 March 2012

PART III - How to Shore Up Critical Shortfalls in Your Business Brain Trust!

Save time and money - Use the Internet to train YOURSELF! 

Often when you’re launching a business, there are a few areas where you are not the “Subject Matter Expert”.   And, as nice as it might be to hire people to fill every gap in your resume, that usually is less than feasible.   As someone who has always ‘trained herself’ in the business aspects of many part-time and full-time self employment pursuits, I’m in love with how the internet gives me access to tons of free or inexpensive, high quality learning options.

Online tutorials and webinars, in varying levels of complexity, are everywhere on the internet, covering such subjects as cloud computing, blogging, software usage instructions, social media, Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and a whole bunch of other subjects which can be essential to any newly launched entrepreneur who needs to learn on the fly and develop his/her business skills as inexpensively as possible.  In essence, with the resources available to us today online, you can teach yourself anything! 

So, next time you think you need to take an expensive upgrading course, or some 8 week community college course, use your nimble search engine fingers to see if you can locate some ‘free’ online training instead!  (Caution: many of these free offerings have a promotional backdrop to them and want you to purchase another service/package from them after you’ve sampled their wares.   As a result, as more businesses jump on this bandwagon to build their brands, you may find less and less is available for free.  That said, there are still many highly talented and reputable specialists out there sharing their expertise gratis.   And, for that, we applaud them!) 

BONUS:  Many of these folks also offer free e-books when you subscribe to receive their newsletters. 

And never underestimate the luxury of having a good old library card as a means of upping your business know-how!  Or Amazon books, who will deliver books and other resources right to your door.

·         Citrix Online is a fabulous resource for HR and other business-related topics of interest.

·         Youtube has experts in many fields offering videos on how to do practically anything.

·         Free Site Engine Optimization (SEO) tools in webinar form from Jason McDonald 

·         Social Media Guru, Mari Smith, on Using Social Media to Promote your Business and one of her webinars   

·         Small Business Bliss features a great little newsletter/blog by Vancouver marketing specialist, Martina Iring, where she shares lots of inexpensive tips on how to make the most of your small business marketing $$$  

·         Various IT and Business Instructional Tutorials:  http://tutorials.freeskills.com/ 

·         Social Media Examiner’s – free e-book on Facebook Marketing

·         Goodwill Community Foundation - free how-to’s on all manner of software and basic life and business skills

Thursday 23 February 2012

PART II - Networking and Growing your Business through Blogs, Websites and Social Media!

Business Websites and Blogs – Do I Really Need Them?

The answer is a resounding YES!

Website Templates can be a great way to get a website up and running quickly and inexpensively. Various online site-builder options are available for non-web designers, ranging from basic to fairly complex. But any business these days, new or old, at the very least needs a professional looking web presence to be competitive.  It’s practically replaced brochures and other printed marketing tools.  

So, instead of paying a web developer anywhere from a few hundred to thousands of dollars to create a site, why not first try out one of the many pre-built template sites?  They’ve done most of the hard work for you already.  Many businesses can start with something more generic – because the goal is to get potential customers to contact you -- and then decide when (or if) the time is right to go to a more expensive website solution.

Here are a few well-known DIY website-builders:
For those who love to share their ideas and advice, there are a number of easy to use blog creation sites. Wordpress (you can create a website here but – be warned – give yourself some time as it can be quite a project depending on how complex a site you want) and Blogger from Google are the two biggies.  This PCMag.com article, Best Free Blogging Sites outlines those sites and a few more.

As for ramping up your Social Media marketing savvy, here are a few excellent resources to get you up to speed on that increasingly popular method of advertising:

·         Social Media Examiner (your guide to the social media jungle) – fun site, easy to read, great info and advice. Very prolific as Michael blogs every day, so you’ll want to just scan it for key articles of interest… or check the archives.

·         Mari Smith -- the online guru for Facebook marketing. (check out Part lll in this series for more on Mari Smith and plugging into online tutorials and webinars to teach yourself how to build and grow your business.)

·        LinkedIn the primary professional networking site to be on. Google+ is trying to compete but LinkedIn is still miles ahead of anything Google has put together (don’t get me started on Gmail – hate it!) Anyone who would like to read an article I’ve written on Painless Networking using LinkedIn, write to me, mention this blog, and I’ll show you how to initiate valuable contacts on LinkedIn without cold-contacting.

Coming in Part lll - How to Shore Up Shortfalls in Your Business Brain Trust!