Step 2: Drink some coffee or tea…

Last weeek, College Seniors, we discussed that the time for your career is now!  You need to develop and hone your pitch and start talking – and listening – to others about your career.

While it really is that easy to get started, it is also a little daunting figuring out your best path to your career and going about finding the people who you think can have a great impact on your career.

That’s why Step 2 is easier – and makes things a little less formal.

While it may seem counterintuitive that you should relax with a beverage of your choosing (I suggested a couple, but you probably know of a few more…), that is exactly what you should do next to take charge of your career and maximize your results.

No, I’m not suggesting that you go and have a coffee to think about your career.  Thinking is good, but you need to interact. The point is this – you need to set some informational interviews.

Informational interviews are short meetings (to respect the time of the person you are interviewing) where you gather information about successes and suggestions on paths you may consider when making your own career plans.  That’s it – plain and simple.

Look at your pitch and identify your goals.  Now make a list of 3-5 people that accel in the field that are in your immediate circle of influence and who you admire and invite them to coffee.  You want to be an engineer?  Great!  Who in your circle may be a good person to invite for a 15-20 minute meeting to learn more about how they are successful?  A professor? A top classmate? The guy you met at the career fair who told you about future opportunities? Your local IEEE membership?

I love this brief informational interview article over at the New York Times on informational interviewing.  For a more in-depth look, go over to the Quint Careers site as they pretty much lay it out from start to finish.

This is probably one of the easiest things you can do to begin to identify some of the ways that you can be successful in your career.  Take the stories of others and identify what works for them.  Think about what you’d like to incorporate for you.  And then go and do that.

Step 3 of the 5 things you can do in 5 hours for your career right now is coming soon… make sure you are ready!

College seniors – the time for your career is now!

Attention College Seniors! I know you don’t believe me, but the time for your career is RIGHT NOW.

It’s August, you say. We’re buying books, going to parties and figuring out how to fit classes into our busy social lives.  Isn’t August beer time?

Ok, enough stereotype.  Truth is, just as many of you are holding down several jobs, juggling family and working toward your graduation where you will stand and show the world what you earned.

I’ve talked with many seniors who don’t want to plan for their career until after graduation when they start job searching.  After all, isn’t career planning all about updating your resume and applying for jobs by the dozen? This has to be how to do it, especially now that the national unemployment rate is down from last year and several employment sites such as Indeed, CareerBuilder and Monster are trending growth in leads posted. Anecdotal feedback from the front lines indicates companies are projecting growth. They are posting leads. They are interviewing. They are networking. And they are hiring the people who have worked hard to be ready to be hired.

So what hard work are you doing to be ready?

You may not have that degree until next spring, but over the next two weeks, I’ll be posting 5 things you can do in less than 5 hours to make sure you land where you want to be once that degree is yours.

First and foremost, Spend an hour honing your stump speech

Politicians have talking points – so should you. You need to know your strengths and a bit about the industry where you want to work. This should be a well-rehearsed 30 to 60 second pitch about where you want to go and should solicit advice when appropriate.

Three things to remember about this networking intro:

-       Keep it simple, focused: Name, degree, experience/relevant expertise, open-ended advice question.   Example: “Hi, I’m Jason Ortega and I’ll be graduating next year with my Bachelor’s in Communications. My passion is PR and I also excel in writing and editing. I write for our school paper and wrote a media plan for XYZ Company in my internship last year. What are your thoughts on what I can do to prepare for the professional communications market next spring?”

-       Hone this speech, and use it daily with professors and classmates, in networking associations and fall career fairs, and even in line in at your local coffee roaster.  Adapt it, make it conversational and make it yours.  Then start talking to people.

-       Listen and engage.  Listen to the responses and internalize what they mean for you and how you can implement relevant suggestions.

Doing this will help you meet someone to help you with the next thing you can do for your career…which I’ll post soon!

The Courage to Do What You Want

I’ve been thinking a lot about courage lately.

There isn’t a lot of talk about courage in your career, but it is one of the foremost places where you need to have it.  Careers require stamina, hard work (yes, actually following up and doing the work instead of delegating or assuming someone else will handle it), risk and tenacity.  Many of the workplace advice articles I read have catchy titles about dealing with difficult co-workers, how to get a raise and advance your career and how to land that new opportunity all boil down to one thing: you need courage.

Even my own mantra about being a “marketeer” and building and selling your brand requires it.

What courage will you show today?

The courage to question and not accept everything that is told to you in meetings or by your boss.  If you even think you know of a better way – a    different way – question the process and suggest an alternative.

The courage to do the right thing - especially when someone is doing the wrong thing.  At the core, you know the right thing to do – for you, for your business and your career.  Don’t waver.

The courage to make things happen.  Compelling work doesn’t just happen, it is cultivated.  You can procrastinate, put off, slack, do a half-job and accomplish mediocre “wins” by just showing up.  To truly drive your work, you need to think, plan and most importantly – follow through.  That voice in your head that says, “I’ll just do this tomorrow?”  Shut it up by taking action and not thinking about it.

Most importantly, I wish for you the courage to do what you want. This does not mean sitting in front of your TV with a bag of Doritos.  Specifically, this means that when you get up in the morning you are making the conscious choice to want to do what you have to do.  It is a choice you make daily.

Using SM in your job search?

Ask yourself if you are using the right medium for the right activity.

Chances are you already have a presence on many channels.  If you haven’t already, it is important to determine which tools are going to be used in a professional capacity. 

LinkedIn, Quora, Twitter and blogs are all good ways to showcase your talents and the value you can add to a company.  You must be able to be found online, and the things you post help define that you have a brand beyond your resume and cover letter.

At minimum, your LinkedIn account should be robust with a professional picture and showcase your professional highlights.  If you haven’t already, consider using Twitter to share industry-specific information, link to articles and join in on job seeker chats.  Also, check out Quora to answer questions and show your expertise on a topic by topic basis.  These tools will help you maintain contact with your network and could potentially help you connect with like-minded professionals.

How do you use social media in your job search?

Are you maximizing your social media channels for your career?

Check out this quick piece I wrote for the great folks over at Women’s Ally.

Even if you are a social media pioneer, it’s important to follow a few simple steps to help maximize the benefits and be aware of the risks of social media as you build your professional brand: http://www.womensally.com/articles/Your-Social-Media

And be sure to follow @WomensAlly on Twitter.  Diahann is fantastic!

New Year, New Resolutions?

A friend told me about a discussion she overheard at the gym yesterday.  Two ladies were talking about their overbooked Spin class and how they were vying to get a seat.  At the end of the exchange one lady remarked to the other, ”Just wait.  This class will be empty again by mid-February.”  Similarly, many people who are searching for a new job or career path often vow to begin their search anew come January.

While many people resolve to do better in the New Year, the truth is that sometimes those resolutions don’t stick.  And sometimes new resolutions aren’t needed to find your next opportunity.  The best career advice I can give you for 2011 is to follow the SMART methodology for setting your goals, commit to a plan, execute according to your timeline and reflect and refine at key milestones.

While this is hardly revolutionary, it is often overlooked as we are enchanted with the thought that the New Year has somehow transformed us.

Start SMART: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Timebound

Don’t be too broad in your goals.   As yourself of each of your goals if it follows the SMART model.
-          Is it specific? What is the objective you want to accomplish?
-          Can it be measured?  How will you know when you have achieved it?
-          Is it attainable and plausible for you to achieve your goal?
-          With the resources and abilities you have, is this goal realistic?
-          What is your time limit?  Be realistic and be sure to set milestones for your goal.

Also, you need to apply the SMART model to all of your goals as a whole once you have run each of them through the SMART test.
-          Are all of them specific?  Are they compatible and work together?
-          What is the overarching measurement for all of these goals?
-          Are they attainable and plausible together? Can you achieve all of these goals simultaneously?
-          Do you have too many goals to achieve or are you at a realistic number?
-         Did you map out your timeline for each of these goals?  What are the major milestones to achievement?

Plan your work
After your goals are set and have passed the SMART test, it is important to come up with your project plan on how you are going accomplish your goals.  Think of this as your blueprint that you will follow throughout the entire process.  Do this for each goal separately, but be sure to incorporate onto one timeline on your primary calendar.

How do you start a project plan?   There are numerous software and web tools to help with this endeavor, but you can keep it simple as well.  For each goal, list the steps needed to achieve success.  Ask a trusted colleague or mentor for input after your first draft.  Write out each of the steps needed to get to your goal – and then schedule them on your calendar.  Put in all of the major milestones and your deadline.  For more in depth help, check this reference site housed on the Free Management Library which discusses basic project planning.

Work your plan
This is where the real work comes in – the execution stage. No, there isn’t a way around this step, but you can make it easier.  Go back to basics and use your ABCs to help work your plan.

Accountability: In addition to your calendar, enlist the help of colleagues, family and friends to help keep you on track.  If you have periodic check-ins, you are more likely to stick to your plan and keep working at each step.

Bend and be flexible:  You will have things that do not go your way.  Do not give up.  The less rigid you are, the more likely you will continue on your way toward achievement.

Celebrate:  Take time to celebrate the milestones, wins and even the learnings from setbacks with your accountability partners.

Reflect, reassess and recommit
Throughout the entire process, you must reflect, reassess and recommit regularly.  For some goals, this may be daily – and for others, weekly.  The key thing to remember is that your commitments must be revisited and sometimes revamped in order to ensure success.

The Holiday Hiaitus (and why you shouldn’t take one)

The halls are decked and the shops are packed.  Job seekers everywhere are uttering the phrase, “I’ll just wait until the new year – no one is hiring through the holidays, anyway.”  Truth is, many major companies have begun to shut own recruiting efforts to close out the calendar year.  Well, maybe.

The real truth is that just as many companies are still looking to hire now.

Here are 3 compelling ways to continue searching during the season:

Network, network, network

Holiday happy hours and parties abound in the professional association scene.  This is an ideal time to go out and meet and greet as many people as you can.  Also, you may catch some members you’ve missed who have come out to celebrate.  Can’t afford to attend?  Contact the meeting host or president and ask for a guest pass or one-time discounted rate.  Offer to help out in return.  Then, practice your pitch before you go.  Think less sales-y and self-promotion and more toward sharing stories and how you can help others.

Apply Now! 

Chances are, your competition is taking a holiday hiatus.  This means that your error-free, tailored resume has a better chance of being seen by a recruiter.  This doesn’t mean you should apply for everything you see, but that you should continue to look and apply for those well-suited opportunities.  It also means that you can follow up a little bit sooner with the recruiter as they are trying to get positions filled before the new year.

Pay it Forward

Taking the time to volunteer is always a good idea.  One of the added benefits during the holiday season is that in addition to helping to pay it forward and giving back to your community, you will also be more likely to meet a different group of people than some of the  volunteers who regularly work throughout the year.  Also, it is important to note that you are taking the time to make a difference in someone’s life.  Sometimes we need to hear that when job search motivation and personal confidence is low.

No matter what your job search situation is during the holiday season, know that there is something out there for you.  Don’t lose hope and if I can help you in any way, please let me know!