Career Chaos

PERSONAL EMAILS AT WORK: BE CAREFUL!

Before hitting the send button on your work computer, read what you have written. That's the career advice coming from the CCN report of a survey of almost 300 companies with at least 1000 employees.

If you send an email with any confidential information or obscene/offensive language from your company computer, you may find yourself among the 1 in 3 employees fired - or at the very least, disciplined - for this type of behavior.

Employers mean business where their property and image are concerned. This applies to your email, blogs, instant messaging and any Internet activity you engage in at work on company computers. Note: nothing you do on your company's computer is private - everything is subject to company review at any time. Did you realize that your emails will last forever? Even long after you have forgotten that you even sent them?

As a career coach, I see many of clients use their company email accounts to communciate with me. Makes me wonder how many employers actually know that their people are looking for new jobs.

Top 5 Ways to Jump Start a Stalled Job Search

1) Have your resume critiqued by a professional and certified resume writer. Ensure your self-marketing materials are promoting you in the most up-to-date manner with a spotlight on your proven results.

2) Seek out a career coach for a "career review." Most career coaches offer complimentary initial consultations. If you see the value in this service, you may be pleasantly surprised at the results you can get when you create a strategic career plan.

3) Get out of the house at least 3 times per week! This is critical - I know you've heard this before, but MOST jobs are landed through networking. Just as in dating, they don't come knocking on your door.

4. Make yourself "findable" on the Web. Write professional articles and publish them; post to a variety of professional boards (not just job search boards); and start blogging in a professional and informative way (beware of your digital dirt!).

5. Assemble a core support team of colleagues and friends on whom you can count to 1) introduce you to key people, 2) notify you of job openings in your field, and 3) offer you cheese to compliment your "whine."

6) I know, I said 5 ways, but this is a bonus I just had to add. TAKE CHARGE! It is possible to control your own job search instead of turning the reins over to recruiters and hiring companies. How? Get proactive by developing a lifelong career plan that includes an interactive/reactive/proactive network of the "right" people in your field. Don't fall into the trap of "career by default" instead of by choice. Instead, imagine your career as a chess game. Each of your moves is strategic and critical to your success.

BEWARE YOUR RANTS & RECORDS

What's happened to the hiring process? Not only can HR check out your credit report before extending an offer, they will Google your name to find out everything they can about you before even interviewing you. According to the March 27 article in Business Week Magazine, "Your Are What You Post",  learn how to "clean up your digital dirt" so that you have a chance to get the job you want. (View online at the link.)

There are no more secrets that you can keep from employers who want to know. They'll find it all out, so just beware of your Internet rants and records. Your career depends on it.

JUGGLING JOB OFFERS - WHAT TO DO?

In today's work world, where we expect employers to treat us ethically, a growing number of job candidates (even at the executive level) are facing a huge dilemma - do I take the job offer on the table or hold out for the one I really want?

The Wall Street Journal ran an article January 24 that offered advice from experts on this: "Juggling Two Offers Takes Special Skills." My .02 were included. Although it's easy for all of us "experts" to say what's the right thing to do, until you're facing it yourself, what's most important is hard to define.

One of my local ExecuNet networkers emailed me: "I read your quote a couple of days ago in the WSJ talking about what to do when you get an offer from your second priority employer and have to make a decision. I'm in that position today, and as opposed to letting a soon-to-be-offer go, I intend to take it. It's with (a Fortune 500 company) and is really a pretty good job anyway. Thanks for your advice!"

I hope it works out for this exec. What would you have done?

FLIPPING THE JOB INTERVIEW

Cracking Your Next Company's Culture is a must read for anyone embarking on a job search. Instead of spending all your prep time rehearsing your answers to tough interview questions, read this article and note what you need to do to ask the right questions.

One strategy that grabbed my attention is to ask the interviewer to give an example of how the company "lives and breathes its value statements." Of course, you have know what the company value statements are, so your research is highly critical.

Tired of all those behavioral and situational interview questions? Turn the tables by asking the interviewer to "walk you through a recent initiative." Wow! This is great stuff!

MANNERS MATTER

"Being gracious in life will carry you far," espoused United States Poet Laureate, Ted Kooser. Attending my son's college graduation ceremony, I listened intently as Kooser delivered the keynote address. Speaking to the graduates, he assured them that his words would be brief and forgave them in advance if they didn't remember much of his speech. I was instantly attracted to the manner of this 35-year-career insurance man turned poet, so hurriedly reached for a scrap of paper to scribble a few notes.

Kooser told the graduates that when they left the university with diploma in hand they needed only one other thing to enter the world - a box of blank thank you notes. He asked these young achievers to heed his one bit of advice as they began their new lives. Yes, they needed thank you notes to acknowledge their graduation gifts, but more than that, they would need thank you notes throughout their journey of lifelong learning.

Graduates aren't the only ones who can go far by being gracious. How many bridges can be built with a simple thank you! Looking back over the years since I launched my coaching business, I can point to several instances when doors were opened due to my thank you notes. One particular time stands out.

After finding my website on the Internet, a local television reporter contacted me for an on-camera interview about career coaching. Immediately following the interview, I wrote out a thank you card and mailed it to her. She called me a couple days later, pleased to get the thank you note, saying this was the first one she had ever received for doing an interview. We chatted briefly, and she asked if she might refer another reporter to me who was doing a feature series on career challenges. Meeting with the second reporter resulted in my being interviewed two more times on local TV in one summer! Would this have happened if I had not sent a thank you note? Maybe, but I believe my thank you note to the first reporter caused her to refer me.

Everyone wants to feel appreciated, even a television reporter who finds herself in the spotlight everyday. When we omit the "thank you," we take people for granted - in a way telling them that they don't really matter. Showing your appreciation is not only a matter of expressing good manners, it is a gesture that will help you reap many rewards.

GET KNOWN TO GET RESULTS

Since the demise of job security, YOU are in charge of your own career as if you were in charge of your own company: CEO of Me, Inc. (Branding Guru, Tom Peters, first labeled this workplace shift in 1997.) Just as entrepreneurs are advised to build business by integrating four key strategies - publishing, public speaking, networking, and creating a website - these actions can also work for you!

To close a business deal (i.e., get a job!) as CEO of Me, Inc., do the following:

• Publish - Write expert articles to attract interest in YOU, your personal brand. Research what your target market (i.e., potential employer) reads, then submit articles to print and online publications. Get acknowledged!
• Present - Develop expert presentations using the above approach. Contact event organizers to offer your speaking skills. Professional groups welcome presenters who don't charge fees. Get seen!
• Network - Meet and greet hiring authorities where they hang out: civic organizations, nonprofit boards, fund raising events, the golf course... Get involved!
• Create a Website - Put your resume on its own website, then list the URL on your business cards used for networking. Get connected!

Visibility builds credibility. Become a commodity a company must have!

STUPID INTERVIEW QUESTIONS?

There seems to be a contest among HR folks as to who can ask the most innovative interview questions. Some of them pop up over and over again. Others appear to be a stretch to ask, let alone answer. Business Week recently offered its own commentary on what are stupid interview questions. My only question is this: If you really want the job, can you afford to NOT answer the question just because you see it as stupid?

A RESUME TELLS ALL - EVEN WHAT'S NOT LISTED

Once again a resume trips up the person it was meant to help. Whether by intention or by accident, FEMA's Michael Brown has now had his entire career compromised in part due the false information in his resume. Was he aware that his resume had untrue statements in it? I don't know - only he can tell. But we all know the difference between listing one's self as an Assistant City Manager vs. Assistant to the City Manager.

When was the last time you looked at your resume? Rest assured that there is no part of your resume safe from scrutiny. Your work history, educational background, professional credentials, even your community involvement - all can be verified by resume checkers - and it WILL be verified in today's age of integrity.

LATE STAGE CAREER CHANGE

Retire? Never! But how do you convey that intent to employers? I found this article that quotes experts on how to keep your skills current, Tips for Those Nearing Retirement. Don't lose your cutting edge - keep your computer skills sharp - this is one message. Read the comprehensive list of career tips.

"The 14th national conference of the Australian Association of Careers Counsellors recently heard that to succeed in today's world older workers must cultivate a new personality type: the change catalyst." What is a change catalyst? Read Take Another Swing at Life.