Which way are you going?

There is no time like today to think about your career.  Do you know what you want for the next step in your career?  How’s the atmosphere where you work?

May I make a suggestion?  Think about your dreams for the future.  Do you want to be a mystery writer or race car driver?  Realistically, that may not happen as too many people want to be another Jonathan Kellerman or James Patterson.   Who isn’t envious of Jimmy Johnson, the race car driver, or Lance Armstrong and his bike (not to mention his increasingly visible philanthropy, Livestrong)?  But you can move to a new career.

Are you climbing the corporate ladder or lattice?  We are seeing more in the research on careers that a career lattice may be more enticing than the ladder.  Think about this:

Replacement for the traditional “corporate ladder” enables employees to move in several directions rather than just upward. This gives employees a chance to explore new areas of the company and add more diversified tools to their toolbox”

Why don’t you seriously consider supplementing your income with a new business idea?  Many, many creative ideas evolve at the kitchen table or in the garage workshop.  Your creative idea to earn a little extra money may be helpful, if your boss one day swoops into your office with a sorrowful look on his face and a package from HR saying, “Bye, now!”  By developing a plan, you’ll be ready.  I’m a huge advocate of multiple streams of income.

Many people love their jobs but insecurity reigns in today’s job market.  Perhaps your group developed a hot new product recently.  You love your job.  But you can see that your manager seems infatuated with the work of the new grad from Harvard, Texas Tech or Ohio State

If you have the proverbial “golden handcuffs” which keeps you tied to the ladder, think again.  Take a look at your finances to determine what your passion is and start your plan to achieve that goal.  You may not arrive on the new rung on your ladder or lattice quickly, but we all need to dream which includes a plan to implement at the right time.

Many are facing the reality that retirement may need to wait until age 70 or longer with the loss in life savings.  Others try to determine how much is enough.  You hold the keys to what happens in your life.  Layoffs, career change and taxes are the realities in most lives.  What will you do when it happens to you?

Richard Bolles, the author of What Color Is Your Parachute, the job hunters’ bible, in the 2009 edition of his annually updated book, indicates people over age 35 change careers about three more times in their life.  And it may be more by the time you reach retirement.  So you’d better get busy!

As a friend of mine at her retirement party said, “Life is too short to spend it in the middle seat of coach.”  Are you sitting in coach?   I urge you to start your plans for improving your career, whether your career takes a step up, over or back.  You can do it!

If you’d like to read more career transition articles by Ruth Glover, please click here.

Candidate with no employment gaps

“…I’m very optimistic about our future, but it is full of change and surprise.”

Quote from Bill Gates

A recent article I read frightens me, as some employment advertising has started to say, “No unemployed should apply.”  What a tragedy!  The assumption is that everyone who was laid off was a poor performer or had less than adequate skills.  How very sad!  If a company lays off 3000+ people, I am quite sure there are many wonderful candidates in that pool.  Entire departments were sacked.  No one in the department was a poor performer but the product line could not survive.  A fabulous new product bombed and the department disappeared.

Small companies may only terminate a few.  The hiring manager and executives may have struggled to decide to lay off their star performer, as she made more money than they could afford.  You miss the boat, if you ignore unemployed people when you are hiring.

Others may have lost jobs because of a personality clash.  Let’s face it.  John may not have wanted to work for Harry as Harry was unreasonable and overly demanding.  Now John faces the reality that people are suspect that he can’t relate well to managers, which is definitely not the case.  His boss was an ogre.  He deserves a chance.  To improve our economy you need to hire the unemployed.   With workers losing their unemployment benefits because Congress declined to authorize an extension, you can help by considering all candidates, despite the gaps in employment.

During John’s gap, his father became very ill and his mother has Alzheimer’s.  He made a conscious decision to take the time to help his parents. Now that his mom resides in an Alzheimer’s Unit and his dad is deceased, he urgently needs to talk with you about his skills and abilities to help improve your bottom line.

Many hiring managers terminated people in the past year or two.  Firing, reduction in force or laying off (whatever you want to call it)  individuals may be the most difficult of all your tasks as a hiring manager, human resource professional or staffing manger.  But it’s a business decision.  You didn’t make the decisions in a vacuum.

Now, months later, you know that Bill or Jane or Susan or Jack still hasn’t found a job.  You have a new opening.  Can you re-hire the person?  Some companies welcome employees who wish to return, while others can’t reach first base.  Questions must be addressed before re-hiring a person.  Will s/he fit the current organization?  Were there any performance or personal issues which you wouldn’t want in your organization again?  What is the policy your company has?  Do the skills fit?  Of course you have to be very careful you don’t say anything illegal, so be prepared.  Know what you are going to say when the individual calls you.  Both the legal issues and the public relations are at stake.

If the individual took early retirement and has been receiving retirement benefits, you will need to ascertain what the rules are.  If you can’t re-hire the person, you may find it difficult to know what to say.  Some individuals have a difficult time “cutting the umbilical cord” to move forward.  Others move forward quickly and find new, rewarding careers.  You need to think how to handle these various situations.

When you start advertising new openings, preparation is paramount.  You will probably receive more candidates than ever, as disgruntled, overworked employees start exploring new options. Knowing what you should say to candidates is quite important.  Looking at all candidates is more critical than ever.  It’s a very small world and you may one day want to work for that person who called a minute ago!

Ruth Glover is author of MORE than a Paycheck: Inspiration and Tools for Career Change.  She will be speaking at Preston Trails Church in Frisco, Texas this Thursday, July 8, at 6:30 p.m.  The title of her interactive presentation is The “Magic” of Career Change.  The event is free and open to the public.  You can reach her at rglover@hotcareers.com.

Image from Flickr

Let’s call it the GIG Syndrome for the”Grass is Greener.”  News about the economy is erratic.  Competition is fierce for jobs.  But when your job interferes with your work/life balance, the GIG Syndrome may affect your thinking.

Let’s take Daniel, for example.  After graduating with a degree in Electrical Engineering, he went to work for Texas Instruments, well known for a great work atmosphere.  After a few years, he wanted to return to graduate school.  His boss urged him to advance his career opportunities by achieving the new degree.  TI assisted with the tuition but he thought the grass would be greener elsewhere.  He went to work for a monstrous computer company after he graduated.  He thought earning more money, plus living in Colorado near beloved mountains would assuage his desire for change.  But disappointment reigns for him in his present environment.  Recent corporate acquisitions and a lack of internal structure in this company contribute to his current misery.  His new job, which is near the college where he received his MBA, is not in a major metropolitan area.  He likes the town but few opportunities exist which would mean a better work environment.  Could this be you?

Daniel Pink, the prolific and provocative writer about work, has a new book, titled Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us, but fails in his attempt to convince me that he has all the answers.  Although his cartoon book, called The Adventures of Johnny Bunko: The Last Career Guide You’ll Ever Need provides a quick study for career change, finding more job satisfaction requires focus and diligence.

In a recent quick blog by Gavin Davis on RecruitingBlogs.com this week, he stresses the need to brainstorm before you ever start moving forward.  What do you like about your current job?  What is critical for your happiness?  Could you live like a pauper while you attended the certification classes for another career?  All too many times people don’t realize career change often means less money, at least for awhile.

The big question is why do you really want a new job?  Creative thinking about your skills, experience and education should be examined carefully and courageously.  Too many times our egos hinder us from moving into something else.  But the truth is that stories abound about people who move their careers one way or another.

We are fortunate that career ladders are no longer in vogue.  Be aware that the career “lattice” where you can move up, down or over allows you to find your dream job.  If you can’t say, “I love my job,” then it is time to think about what would bring you more happiness and satisfaction.

I wrote the book MORE than a Paycheck: Inspiration and Tools for Career Change to give readers role models and ideas to motivate them to change.  The book provides 20 stories about people who have moved their careers in various ways.  Life is too short to be unhappy in your job for more than a little while.  Do you have to travel too much?  Is your boss an ogre?  Do you hate to go to work?  Then get going!

Career change is rarely easy and may take a little longer than looking for the same job in a different company.   Finding passion in your work will bring amazing rewards.  The grass may seem greener on the other side of the fence, but serious introspection and planning are required to help you do more than just look for greener pastures!

If you would like to read more articles on career transition, please click here.

What rewards are you offering your managers?

“Whether the recovery emerges at breakneck pace, moves at a slow crawl, or even takes the much-discussed double-dip, opportunistic business leaders increasingly are shifting their focus away from survival and toward a new vision of innovation and growth.”

Over the week-end I read a white paper, from which the quote appears, published in partnership with DDI and HCI Research.   The article, titled Mid-level Managers: the Bane and Salvation of Organizations, provides mission critical information for you to consider before our economy improves much more.  The Dallas Business Journal stated last week that more new companies started in 2009 than during the tech boom of 1999 and 2000.  Will your company and especially your department keep pace with the emerging global economy?  How will you keep your mid-level managers working towards the goals?  Are they ready to move to a more creative atmosphere?  Are you prepared to lead your group with the innovation for survival?

If your work group is engaged as diligently as players on the Wimbledon tennis court, you must be rewarding the individuals appropriately.  But if you see that the team is not cohesive with a clear understanding of the mission, immediate attention should be given to your strategic plan.  Did you know that a recruiter probably talked with one of your key employees within the last week?

What can you do to prevent the departure of the talented people you’ve mentored and trained?  What are some of the key ingredients to establish now, rather than wait for the inevitable churn in your organization as the economy improves?

According to the article, four major challenges you face include:

1. Driving strategic execution
2. Change management
3. Motivating your direct reports
4. Leading boldly

The phrase I hear too regularly in my consulting business is, “That’s how we’ve always done it.”  And we wonder why companies fail!  The company which fails to focus on the market and take advantage of new opportunities is doomed.  Nimble entrepreneurs frequently succeed by close attention to what the market wants.  Fortune 500 companies may have a little more challenge to, as they say, “turn the steamship around.”  The book Good to Great by Jim Collins ought to be required reading for every professional, whether executive, manager or individual contributor.  He cites case after case where companies rose to the challenges and others who failed miserably because they didn’t listen or pay attention to reality.

Both Jim Collins and the white paper encourage us to develop new skills for ourselves and our employees.  If a person is not productive in your group, moving him or her to a different group may help.  If, after a few attempts at rectifying the performance, the employee needs to be terminated, take action.  Keeping the unhappy, unproductive worker on your team is unkind to everyone, especially that employee.  You want an employee with passion and a desire to execute the new mission daily. You want someone who loves the job.  And you, as the manager, must put the best employee on the best project, not the project most likely to fail, according to Collins.  Establishing a new product with potential for high profitability will work wonders for keeping the middle manager motivated.

Are you demonstrating the leadership this new, evolving economy demands?  Are you ready for change?  Or are you one of the 51% who say you will achieve your goals, but with difficulty?  If you have doubts, you’d better start working harder and smarter to plan a new strategy.  For you need those middle managers.  They are the ones who actually implement the change.  You are the catalyst for our future.  Are you ready?

A special thanks to Bryan Humphreys of Collin College for sharing the white paper mentioned in this blog.

If you are in transition, please click here for Ruth’s online articles on www.examiner.com.

Claudia Phillips - Styling Hutch

With the volatility of our economy, customer service becomes more than just a term; it becomes absolutely critical to assure you don’t have an exit of top talent.  Did you notice in the news that hiring exceeded the expectations recently?   We all want the economy to improve but much to our surprise, the unemployment rate did not readily recede.  Why?  More people re-started job search!  People who dropped their search for jobs began looking again, as well as unhappily employed workers.  What can you do to keep your workforce in tact as the economy improves?

I’d like to ask you to watch for good customer service this week.  See what happens at work and in the community that scores points for you.  Here are a few I’ve recently observed.

A friend referred me to a new hair dresser at the Styling Hutch on Coit at Legacy in Plano.  I didn’t realize she’s the owner, when she accepted me as a new customer.  She made me feel comfortable.  I was not only impressed with the hair cut, but also the conversation, which is important in a beauty shop.  We had a memorable business discussion.  The best quote from my new friend was, “I must customize my conversations with every customer.  Each person is unique and I must find a way to relate quickly.”  She understands the wisdom in keeping a fresh approach with each new encounter or challenge.   She laughed that she has 200 different personalities for 200 different clients.  Now I’m a walking advertisement for people with curly hair, which is their specialty.

When I decided to paint some lawn furniture, I was pleasantly surprised by the eagerness of the clerk at Lowe’s when he walked with me, rather than continuing a conversation with another clerk, to the right section to find what I needed.  With the current competition between Lowe’s and Home Depot, I may drive a little farther for good service.

And then, when I got that yellow paint on my new glasses, the optician assistant at Costco did everything she could imagine to help me overcome my embarrassment with how dumb I’d been to paint the lawn chairs in windy weather.  The paint was guaranteed not to chip (according to the man at Lowe’s) but this lady managed to joke with me about the error.  We avoided having to return the glasses. Otherwise, I would have been blind for a couple of weeks.  Returning the glasses would have been costly for Costco as the glasses were still in warranty.  She found a way to accommodate the customer (me!) and help Costco’s bottom line.  She didn’t respond with, “Oh, well!”  She solved the issue.

A few ideas I hope you’ll remember when you face internal and external customer service issues:

-Don’t make it adversarial.  Your mother probably told you, “You achieve more with sugar than vinegar.”  She was right!  Raising your voice, becoming dictatorial, only aggravates the situation.

-If you are interviewing people, spend enough prep time to assure everyone knows their roles and surprises are limited.  Make the hiring process seamless and user friendly.

-Be sure your attitude is welcoming.  If you don’t want interruptions, put a sign on the cube or shut the door.

These suggestions are simple, yet powerful, for you to implement.  The little accommodations, like friendly gestures and body language that welcomes others, increase your chances for keeping your employees happy.  If you don’t want an exodus, you need to look for ways to express your thanks, every day in many ways.

Thanks to Claudia Phillips of the Styling Hutch for allowing me to share one of her business techniques for success.

If you are in career transition, please click here to read my articles on www.examiner.com about career transition.

Picture by John Baldessari

In a recent conversation with a Senior VP of Human Resources and gifted consultant, we discussed the challenges of finding top talent in the technical world.  His comment almost surprised me as he said he thinks when engineers interview, they have no clue, even when coached, what will come out of their mouths.  Although engineers tend to be more left brained (organized, analytic, great problem solvers), when it comes to interviewing, they are often lost in the quagmire of questions, even when they prepare.  Interviewing requires quick thinking.  Some engineers would rather ponder the questions, research the responses and put the possible answers in a spreadsheet.

According to Mark Bregman, an executive in talent management in his recent blog:

Most top executives admit that they have repeatedly hired people who are “B” or “C” players, who have had an adverse impact on the company, who needed to be replaced.  Most will admit they have someone on their staff right now that fits this description.  Many studies have shown that without a formalized, professional approach to evaluating candidates, employers can expect 50-60% hiring accuracy, no better than flipping a coin.

Herein lays the challenge: the creative, right brained engineer may answer your prepared questions more quickly as verbal communication flows from his lips (which may become a problem in meetings, when he wants all the attention).  The left-brain engineer is far more comfortable with data than talking with the hiring manager across the conference table in an interview.  And he may only speak in meetings when he knows the answer, rather than talking to hear himself.  Which person do you need for your team?  Although unemployment is high, finding the technical gurus you want and need is, and will continue to be, very challenging.

Asking the right questions is critical for you.  Nick Tuback in his recent article says:

According to a recent study by the US Department of Labor, 62% of all U.S. jobs in 2010 will require higher skill levels. While 97 million people will be needed, only 43 million Americans will have the educational qualifications for these jobs. On the other hand, 38% of all U.S. jobs in 2010 will still be low-pay/low-skill and require 61 million workers. About 115 million Americans will be competing for these jobs.

The improving economy may cause heartburn when you think about the current difficulties in finding the skilled people you need and will need.  How can you do this?

Interviewing, not just for the right skills, but the personality factors enhances the chances for success.  Prepare the questions in advance, not only for the on site interviewing, but for the phone screens.  When you assign different questions to your team members before an interview, consider whether they are right or left brained.  No one is purely one way or the other, but let the analytical team players ask the more technical questions and encourage the right brained or “creatives” tackle the questions on dealing with difficult people, moving projects to deadlines and other questions where judgment, not finite answers, will improve the possibilities of hiring the right person to fit your team.

When you have a chance, I strongly recommend you take the time to listen to the video presentation where Dr. Jill Bolt-Taylor, a medical doctor and professor, talks about her stroke and what it means for all of us.  It is very powerful.

(Please ignore any pop-up ad.  I’m too creative to figure out how to eliminate it.)

What should I do when the hiring manager accepts calls, texts and seems distracted? This has happened to me in several interviews.

The man wanted to strangle the interviewer with good reason. He prepared for hours as he wants the job. Now, even if he’s given an offer, he’s not sure he would want to work there. Is this the corporate culture of the company? Are people considerate to each other? Would the candidate last on the job if his presence is discounted repeatedly when talking to this manager? If you haven’t assessed your corporate culture, you might want to read What is Corporate Culture by Deborah L. Knox and Sandra S. Butzel.

(See the funny interview. This is not a paid advertisement!)

In this electronic age, most of us hear a text message and/or email when it arrives. If we allow ourselves to read each message as it arrives, our production is affected. Distractions abound and we, as intelligent and considerate individuals, need to focus on the primary concern. If Joe-the-interviewer has a business crisis he needs to handle, he needs to reschedule the interview, rather than try to multi-task.

You may take pride in multi-tasking, but reading a memo in a boring business meeting may cause you to miss what is being said. The same phenomenon happens in an interview.

According to a recent article on an interesting website:

Multitasking decreases your memory ability. Each task that you’re engaged in drains part of your mental energy. This drainage is why multi-tasking breeds absentmindedness. Your complete mind isn’t present when you shift from one task to another and back again.  You could say that your mind is absent.

I feel sure you would never treat a candidate in this manner, but if you recognize someone on your hiring team who repeatedly “tunes out” in your presence, chances are he or she will treat candidates the same way.

The other night as I left a restaurant, trailing behind a young couple with a child about four years old, the dad was texting as they walked to their car. The four year old teased his dad, calling him “I-Phone Man.” Needless to say, the dad wasn’t a wonderful role model for his son for respecting others.

Take a few minutes to think about your team and personal actions. Are you sometimes inadvertently inconsiderate of others? When it comes to interviewing, you need total concentration on the candidate. Your behavior reflects the corporate culture and your management style. Good luck! I’m out of time. I have a text message I must answer!

Several years ago while recruiting on site for a growing company, the hiring manager kept a candidate waiting more than two hours, as he had a “customer crisis.”  I understand customers are critical but the hiring manager had no clue that this candidate is also a customer, one that will never forget the long hours he prepared only to see the hiring manager for twenty minutes and never receive a rejection letter after the long wait.   Later, working for a competitor, do you think he will  select products from that company to integrate for his current employer?  Do you think he’d recommend that company to any colleagues who are looking for new jobs?

John’s article mentions the importance of the application process.  Have you viewed your company’s website to see how many clicks it takes to arrive at the search area?  Have you tried using the search buttons?  Can you find your openings posted on your website?  Candidates sometimes must spend two hours or more to apply online.  Our government application process is so labor intensive many people simply give up.  And candidates rarely hear a response, even after an interview.  An automated response email is the absolute minimum for a company.

Candidates want feedback, if at all possible.  Human Resource people are trained to say, “Not a good fit.”  I understand that term. Candidates not only need the skills but the personal fit with the hiring team.  Many times you must respond in that manner.  But if a required skill is missing, what harm can there be to provide that information?  “We have candidates who more closely match our requirements in queue” would help the candidate far more than no response.  Share details with your recruiter after each candidate interview.  That will certainly improve results.

Are you watching your cycle time?  I have a candidate in queue with a major company who was identified the day before Christmas and the company is still interviewing other candidates, trying to find the perfect candidate.  The candidate has a job, but the unemployed candidate needs income and you risk one of two situations with this scenario: either he’ll go to work for a competitor before you decide or your manager will decide you don’t need to fill the job and cancel the requisition.  I’ve seen this happen repeatedly.

With the up tick in the economy you will see people within your company looking for other jobs.  They are tired of working excessive hours with the responsibilities of three people.   Before this happens, take a good look at your hiring process.  How could it be improved?

Call me.  I’ll be happy to do the research to help you prepare for the upcoming onslaught.  Do it now before the churn starts.

Ruth Glover is the author of MORE than a Paycheck: Inspiration and Tools for Career Change, available online at www.morethanapaycheck.net.

My friends, you need to take advantage of the powerful tools that Linkedin, Facebook and Twitter provide.  Determine what you want to gain from the experience and how much time you will devote to the endeavor.  Minimally, you need to learn to use  one of these social networks.  Let’s consider Linkedin.

Advantages

1. Job security is very low, even if you are an entrepreneur or have 20 years of experience with one company.  The economy is improving, which increases the chances you will want to use social media in different ways.  Whether it’s to hire or find a new opportunity for yourself, you owe it to yourself to learn about social networks.
2. Linkedin is very useful for research.  For example, you may want to know if a friendly competitor is paying relocation in a lump sum or reimbursing expenses.  By posing a question on a Linkedin group, you will have responses quickly. Or find your colleagues online and contact them by phone, thereby maintaining an ongoing relationship for your next process improvement project.
3. Finding top talent is enormously successful through social media.  You can post jobs on Linkedin.com with reasonable cost but better yet, you can find someone with the skills you need without even posting.  For instance, you may want an individual with analog, power management and design experience for your Dallas location.  Linkedin.com is a living database of people in other companies with those skills.  Identify the person, find his or her company phone number and call the individual.  This person may not be interested but can refer you to others.

Social networking is not like Monster, CareerBuilder, Yahoo/hotjobs or Dice.  Profiles on Linkedin.com are both active and passive candidates.  People who post their profiles on Linkedin.com are not necessarily looking for jobs.

You should pose  and respond to questions to keep your reputation visible and vibrant.  Join relevant groups like your alum group or the Telecom Executives Business Network.  If you are in the semiconductor world and search for a group to join on Linkedin.com, you will find 95 groups available.  You can contact anyone in the group directly without email addresses.

Disadvantages

1. You will need to learn the technology.
2. You might become addicted to it.
3. You don’t have the time to call or write to your mother, let alone play with social networking tools, such as Linkedin.

Without at doubt someone will arrive on a white horse with a newer, better, quicker way to improve social networking capabilities.  Room here prevents delving into the merits of the other two social networks mentioned, but currently Linkedin is the best for connecting business professionals.

I strongly recommend you take two hours to play with Linkedin to understand the power of connecting with others online.  Or take a short class, online or in person.  Not only will it enhance your professional reputation, but you will enjoy connecting with your colleagues.  Be sure you include enough information on your profile that others can find you.  You want to be found as well as you finding others.

Send me a request to connect on Linkedin.com.   I’m online daily for my recruiting efforts.

I am speaking at the Dallas IEEE meeting tonight at the Holiday Inn Select in Richardson, TX., starting at 6:15 p.m.  The topic will be updating your resume or avoiding the $10,000 resume. Click here to register.

To read my articles for those in career transition, click here.