Job Search Tips from People Who’ve Actually Landed

We’ve all read the news about the job market, and none of it is very good. Even though the broad economy looks like it’s moving into a recovery, everything out there indicates the job market may lag as much as a year behind. So – we are going to be looking a little longer than maybe we’d planned. That’s the pits, but there is some hope out there. In fact, we are seeing a genuine increase in positive job search activity among clients. People are landing interviews, finding leads and accepting offers at a much better rate than even 3 months ago. So while the job market may not rebound as soon as we’d all like to see, we can take great comfort from stories and advice from people who actually landed jobs in the last few weeks.

The stories and advice can be grouped into a few broad categories, and in order of prominence in the advice and stories, here are tips from successful job seekers in this market.

1. Networking. It really is all about networking. Every single story we’ve heard reinforced this theme. One successful person said, “Talk to anyone and everyone since you don’t know where the discussion and networking might ultimately lead.” Here’s a direct quote from another success story. “Network – Tell everybody. Don’t be embarrassed to admit that you’re unemployed and looking for a new “opportunity.” (Notice, I didn’t say I was looking for a job.) I wasted 2-3 months early on hedging my bets about “who to tell.” Use “Linked in” and alumni resources to network. Have your “elevator speech” down cold. Be specific and don’t hedge about what’s important to you in your next job. Networking opened up doors that were otherwise closed and led me to explore opportunities that I would otherwise not have known about. Networking is NOT overrated!” Other successful job seekers found membership in networking groups helpful and another suggested using job fairs as a networking vehicle. The bottom line is that networking is the single best job search method. Nothing takes its place. But – there are tools to enhance your networking efforts.

2. Networking, Part 2 – Social Media – Linked In is the social media outlet of choice for most of our successful candidates. One person said, “Absolutely use Linked-In. This was one of the most useful tools for me during my job search.” Another told us, “Utilize all internet networking opportunities including Linked-In, Facebook, Plaxo and Twitter amongst others.” We continue to see people getting great value from a variety of social media sites, but for professional networking, nothing seems as good as Linked In. But we are seeing an explosion of effective networking at Facebook and Twitter, so make sure you take a hard look at every available networking tool, and make good use of the ones with which you feel the most comfortable.

3. Maintain a Positive Attitude. I love this quote from a recently landed client of the firm. “Most importantly, maintain a positive attitude. People don’t want to talk to or hire people who wine, vent, blame and dwell in self-pity.” It’s true. While you’re in transition, you need to remember that you are “on an audition” for how you might behave as an employee 100% of the time. Keeping a positive, upbeat attitude sends a powerful message that you will make a positive upbeat contribution to your next employer, too. But – the down days are going to come. One person told us, “There will be down days and periods … it happens so anticipate it will and be ready for it when it does happen.” Make sure you find things to do that help with these dark days. Volunteer, exercise, read, listen to music, or anything else that helps you cope with down days will work. I can’t really say it better than this client. “Stay Positive and Be Flexible – Rejection is hard. Sometimes you just want to give up, especially if you make it to round 2 or 3 and THEN get a “thanks but no thanks” response from a prospective employer. You can quickly fall into a desperate or “woe is me” funk that is definitely not the kind of attitude you want to display (even subtly) with any prospective employer. When I found myself getting down on me, I took a break. I walked. I read a book. I listened to my smooth jazz albums. I watched a DVD movie. I did anything to get my mind off being rejected by a prospective employer. And, I also reminded myself that my sense of self-worth is NOT defined by not currently having a job. I also reminded myself of all my previous successes–so I can’t be all THAT bad. I repeated this mantra: ‘Your day will come, your day will come, your day will come. ‘ That’s how I got through it.” And a final great reason for staying positive – especially about your former employer: “Resist the temptation to feel bitter toward your employer and the people who work there, they may have helpful leads and contacts.”

4. Set Your Priorities and Be Organized. “You do need to prioritize your activities and time so you don’t focus too much on low payback probabilities,” is a nearly perfect piece of advice in any endeavor, but it’s especially true in job search mode. It’s very, very easy to get pulled into activity that might feel good in the moment, but has little long term chances of yielding a good lead, contact or useful information – such as simply surfing the net. One client found that maintaining a structured day helped. “From day one, continue your personal schedule and routine (get up at the same time, shower, get dressed, etc.)” Another aspect of getting your priorities set is that you can take ownership of your search and have a sense of purpose or direction for your efforts. One successful client told us, “Creating a list of the top 10 criteria (prioritized) for a job situation early in the search helps a lot when situations arise and you could get swept away in the moment.” The same client also said, “You’re the one in control of the process — how fast or slow it move depends on you. Many people are more than willing to help but you need to set the pace and take the initiative.” When you stitch these tips together, you get some really helpful advice. It’s your search. You own it, and if you can establish a set of priorities to guide your efforts, you set yourself up for success, not failure. Another client offered a tip that really blended the positive attitude idea and focus into one very interesting statement. “Step back and take stock — what do you really enjoy doing, where have you had the most success, what area created a real sense of energy and excitement. Focus on opportunities that align with those areas.” I could not agree more. There is no reason NOT to take a good look at what you really want, and then seek that out in your next role. Here’s a great quote from a successful client that summarizes the whole point very well: “Narrow the focus of the search to the job/role where you will be the most attractive as a candidate. Build on your strengths.”

5. Stay Focused on Others. This sounds counter-intuitive, but it’s really great advice. Networking is the single best method to finding a new job, but you can dry up a network very quickly if all you are doing is asking for a job. You need to work on the relationship building part of the process, and that means paying close attention to the people you meet. For instance, one client said, “Help others more than you get helped — what goes around, comes around.” Another client said this, “Maintain regular contact with your network, send frequent status emails reminding them of your situation, however, don’t simply ask them to provide you with an opportunity, include humorous and/or informational content, also it’s not all about you, look for ways to help the people in your network as well.”

6. Persevere. Each of the successful clients who helped us with this great information looked for their current jobs for at least 4 months. It’s a long process in today’s market, but you simply cannot afford to give up. You really need to think in terms of a marathon and not a sprint. One client said simply, “Don’t’ give up!” Another way to look at the process is to remember, “It only takes one YES.” And, “Don’t take the no’s personally.” Other very specific tips included staying on top of job boards and company sites, keep close track of everyone you talk to during the search, and to stick to a routine – no matter the day-to-day results.

7. For Older Job Seekers – Make Age and Asset. Admittedly, this tip doesn’t apply to everyone currently looking for a job, but I loved the comment from our client. “Don’t hide the fact that you’ve got some experience. Be upfront. Don’t put everything in minute detail on your resume but don’t try to make yourself out to be 35 if you’re 55–or older. The workplace is changing. Experience is valued–assuming you’ve also got the personality and “fit” that goes with the specific work environment/job that you’re pursuing. Of course, it goes without saying you have to keep your skills current. I joined Yahoo Groups (Human Resources, Organization Development, Training, Job Search, among others) and did everything I could to read, search the Internet and, in general, keep myself up-to-date on what’s happening in my functional specialty. That’s important.” Amen. It’s one of the biggest challenges for older job seekers – proving they are in touch with current “best practices” and market trends. So maintain a willingness to learn new things, stay current and keep plugging away.

Characterisitics of Innovative Organizations, Pt. 3 of 3

We’ve seen a lot of writing over the last 50 years about business leadership. Only a small percentage of any of the traditional writing and research is likely to have true staying power for one simple fact – the pace of change is far greater than our collective ability to research and write about what works best. So what I’ve been looking for as I’ve put together this 3-part series about The Characteristics of Innovative Organizations are those traits that – at least in our current world – really seem to be common in this organizations. So far, I’ve talked a little about optimism and risk taking, structure and collaboration, and now for the last characteristic common to innovative organizations (I’m borrowing a great term from Sarah Caldicott Miller here) – charismatic leadership.

We have learned enough about leadership to know with a high degree of confidence how important leadership is to an organization’s vitality and success. We have learned what traits people value in their leaders, and we have some good leadership models for leading through change, leading by example, etc. But what we don’t have a lot of is an explanation of how leaders can drive true innovation and why leadership is so critical to successful innovation. There are some writers now contributing to a growing body of work in this area, but this research and work is all relatively new. So I’ll offer my take on the current state of research in the area, what I believe makes sense and a brief description of three excellent books I recommend on the subject.

I want to start by focusing on the word choice I am using here – “charismatic leadership.” I am not arguing or positing that “charismatic leadership” about a management team or structure. It’s not. It’s also not always about the CEO, COO or any other specific member of the top management team. While there are great examples of leaders in those roles who fit this emerging model for innovation leaders, leadership does not always rest in the management structure an organization provides.

We take our leaders where we find them, and frequently, innovative leaders are NOT the people our organizations tell us have “authority.” In fact, innovative leaders are frequently a little scary for traditional management types. Innovation is about driving new ideas and concepts forward, frequently with an evangelistic fervor and little hard evidence to support the notion the “it” will work. Traditional management methods require metrics, data and proof. So innovation frequently flies in the face of business school management teaching, and as such, results in innovative leaders being left out of the “ladder to success” in a traditional career advancement model. Traditional management, therefore, frequently doesn’t “get it,” and move innovation leaders to roles outside the formal management structure of their teams and organizations.
But – there are those organizations that do “get it.” And it’s in these organizations where passionate people find positive reinforcement, encouragement and a place to apply their passion to their ideas. So, here are the traits we most often find in truly charismatic leaders:

1. Generation of lots of ideas. One idea – even a great one – is not an indicator of creativity or innovation. It’s one idea. No more – no less. Innovative people have lots of ideas. Ideas are the currency of innovation, and we need to look for people who have numerous ideas.
2. Curiosity – where do you think ideas come from? Ideas generally are the product of stimulation from a wide range of sources, and to be exposed to lots of different things, innovative leaders are relentlessly curious. They read, the see film, they explore, they think, they exchange ideas, they seek out new things for the pure pleasure of the new experiences that result from these events, things or ideas. Too many traditional management types are unfailingly NOT curious. They do the same things over and over. They get their news from the same two sources, etc. Look for a different sort of leader. (A good interview question for this – “How many books are you currently reading?” Not that I am a model here, but I am usually digging through 5-6 books at a time – fiction, politics, economics, leadership, etc. During a corporate interview I had several years ago, I was asked about THE book I was reading. When I answered truthfully, I got a raised eyebrow or two. After hired, I was told my answer scared them a little. I should have walked out the door on the spot, but – hey – I was optimistic I could help shift the culture a little. WRONG!)
3. Collaborative – this trait is so critical, it is an absolute requirement in my opinion. Truly innovative people are constantly working with others. They share ideas. Refine ideas. Look for improvements. Look for obstacles, etc. And you cannot do this in isolation.
4. Able to see patterns and connections – this is one of those key traits or competencies that many current management methodologies seek to stamp out. There are patterns and connections all around us. Innovative people put things together in ways others of us don’t quickly see. Don’t discount any suggestion that some unusual things are – in fact – connected. Discounting these sorts of observations can lead to missing some terrific new markets, new products or new processes that can really help drive bottom line results. Too many organizations have structures in place to actually discourage people from sharing information across business units or divisions. Those organizations – and those at the very top of such organizations – lack the ability to see broad interconnections and patterns. So they build structures designed to keep people in silos. These companies are frequently successful for a time, because they push on the things they do best to the exclusion of new ideas. And they are rarely innovative over the long haul.
There are other crucial leadership traits, but these (and they are NOT exclusive in my view) seem to be common to the innovative leaders I’ve met and studied. I’d LOVE to hear your thoughts on the subject.

Now – here are three books you should read ASAP about these ideas:
A Whole New Mind – Daniel Pink. This is – hands down – my favorite business book ever. I’ve read it 4 times, and am now working on some ideas inspired by this amazing work. We ALL owe Mr. Pink a debt of gratitude for getting his ideas on paper and to all of us to enjoy and read.
Innovative Like Edison – Michael J. Gelb and Sarah Miller Caldicott. It’s really impossible to top Thomas Edison for innovation leadership. This is a must have read for those of us interested in this subject.
The Seeds of Innovation – Elaine Dundon. This another terrific read, and Dundon gives us some great information about how innovative organizations work. LOVE this work!

Characteristics of Innovative Organizations, part 2 of 3.

First – sorry for the long hiatus between posts here. I’ve had a great last few weeks including a wonderful trip to Paris and a week in Chicago doing some certification training. In the meantime, I’ve also been doing some more thinking about innovation, creativity and how organizations can align talent to improve the chances that innovation can occur. So now it’s time to talk about the next two characteristics I see in most innovative organizations.

Collaboration and a “flat” structure that facilitates information exchanges seem to be present in innovative organizations. I am not talking about a free form, wide open floor where everyone is chattering with everyone else. While such a structure might be fun and entertaining, it’s not a structure that really encourages true collaboration, and it’s not what I mean by “flat.” Most of this extremely important work will occur in team situations, and that will lead us to our last (3 of 3) post on this topic which will be ready next week.

Collaboration

We all have ideas. Right? How many good ideas do we develop in isolation? I’d wager that number is low; at least it is for me. But collaboration with no guiding principles or direction will be a disaster.

This is a bit like releasing thousand monkeys into a room of word processors and hoping they’ll produce Shakespeare. If you are lucky enough to have it happen once, you surely wouldn’t expect it to be repeatable.
The Innovator’s Guide to Growth, p. 121 Scott D. Anthony, Mark W. Johnson, Joseph V. Sinfield & Elizabeth J. Altman

Collaboration can occur in many forms. Organizations can build teams. Formalized “collaborative” opportunities can be made to work, but it’s much more difficult to direct innovation in these circumstances. On the other hand, teams can be vitally important as innovative ideas are brought forward towards production or execution.
The sort of collaboration that really helps drive innovation has its roots in the organization’s culture. Its’ collaboration by, among and between people empowered to think expansively and communicate with people across traditional organizational boundaries, that drives innovation.

My most recent experience with a corporate job illustrates just how true collaboration can help drive innovation. When the project was in its start-up phase, there was a lot of excitement around it. Multiple people all over the organization and outside the organization made themselves available for discussions, brainstorming and ideation. This open ended collaboration lasted about 18 months, and it resulted in the introduction into the market of a completely new way to reach the location level management at client organizations about ways to improve margins aligned with the vendor’s third-party administrative services.

Over the next 18 months, relationships became more formal and the open ended culture of free communications and information sharing ended over turf disputes and certain internal players demanding control over the project. The free exchange of ideas ground to a halt. Outside resources were dismissed as irrelevant or inconsequential, and a sort of internal arrogance began to seep into the project. The end result was a stagnant sales effort and an end to the project. The culture surrounding the initial effort changed into a culture dominated by a total lack of collaboration and failure.

Flat Structure

On some levels, a “flat structure” and collaboration are so closely intertwined; it’s hard to separate the two elements. But I believe the two concepts are separate and should be addressed as such. Collaboration has to do with the way in which the people within an organization see themselves and their relative ability to reach out for ideas and assistance as needed. The “flat structure” concept refers to organizational choices related to command/control and the flow of information.
At the terrific blog, The Heart of Innovation, http://www.ideachampions.com/heartofinnovation/ there was a post on June 5, 2009 about how CEO’s sabotage innovation efforts. It’s a provocative read and highlights the dangers of a rigid, hierarchal structure with a short-term view of “shareholder value.”In other words, when organizations are set up with a strong “top-down” management (NOT leadership!) structure, innovation will usually be little more than an afterthought. These sorts of organizations also tend to work in silos with little knowledge and information flowing across structural “boundaries.” All of these factors combine into a management, structure and cultural mix that are toxic and hostile to innovative initiatives.

In Winning Through Innovation, Tushman and O’Reilly advocate for a management problem solving method they call a “congruence approach.” One of the elements the authors argue that needs to be identified and fostered to accomplish the innovative problem solving is for organizations to identify and leverage the informal networks that move information around the organization. These networks, in innovative organizations, are generally informal, defy operational identities (not in silos) and evolve naturally around the abilities of key individuals who serve as connectors between colleagues and for ideas.

Starting Point

It’s people. Innovation always has been and always will be about your people. How do teams within your organization function? Do teams evolve on their own? Are they formally created? Do leaders emerge or are leaders designated? How are your leaders handling the needs and requirements of an innovative culture?
If you have answers to these questions, I’d love to read about them. In the meantime, we will post the third and final installment of the characteristics of innovative organizations next week. Stay tuned!

Characterisitics of Innovative Organizations, Part 1.

We know innovation when we see it – iPhone, X-Box, Wii, Prius, Twitter, etc. And we are seeing a great deal of chatter and a fair amount of good writing about the critical importance of innovation to sustain organizational success and vitality. But what are the characteristics of truly innovative organizations?

There are several things that truly innovative organizations have in common. For today’s post, I am going to focus on two characteristics or traits I believe are at the core of both creativity and innovation – optimism and a willingness to take reasonable risks. Optimism is vital. If an organization goes into an initiative without a belief that it will work and yield positive results, the organization runs the risk that this core lack of belief will dominate the thinking and approach, and you end up with a self-fulfilling outcome of failure. Now optimism alone will not mean every innovative initiative will work, but optimism about the project and its objectives must be present throughout all participants, or the initiative will fall flat. Risk taking is likewise, vital. But its not about recklessness. The risks organizations must embrace to be innovative must be rooted in their long term objectives and linked to their core value system, otherwise there is no framework for determining whether risks are reasonable or not.

The i-Pod serves as a perfect illustration of these two crucial traits in action. The development team at Apple did not build the I-pod in a vacuum. In fact, when the i-Pod hit the market in the late fall of 2001 (yes – just weeks after 9-11) someone (Steve Jobs among others) had an optimistic perspective that THIS MP3 player would make an impact into the portable, digital music playback device market. (Now doesn’t “i-Pod” sound better?) There were other players on the market, so the i-Pod was not an entirely new concept. But the i-Pod introduced a completely different user interface and a truly unique software application that enabled users to buy and organize their music in a truly innovative way. It was this link between an application and a specific device that represented the disruptive innovation Apple sprung on the market in 2001. Who wanted to buy a device that could ONLY link to ONE application? Well – as it turns out, quite a few of us!

But think about the risks Apple took. Apple dropped millions into the development of a product that would not work with any music applications Apple did not sell and deliver. Would we even consider another device that would could not link to generally available music download and organization applications? Probably not. Anyone remember the Microsoft Zune? But Apple had already carved out a niche in the desktop and laptop computer space delivering products that were not compatible with other applications. So i-Tunes and the i-Pod weren’t so far outside their organizational experience as to be unreasonable risks. In fact, the very foundation of the concept was entirely CONSISTENT with Apple’s already successful business model. The results of Apple’s marketing and product development are pretty clear. They now occupy a dominant market share in the MP3 player space, and i-Tune is as common as – well – it’s just everywhere.

The great lesson we can learn from Apple is how critically linked risk taking and a sense of optimism are to innovation. Organizations simply cannot afford to be defensive or afraid to take reasonable risks – especially in this economy. But we are seeing a huge majority of organizations hunker down, button down the hatches and try to “survive” this downturn. This rather pessimistic outlook cannot foster an environment where creativity and innovation can take root. We need more. We need a view to the future that sees possibilities, not threats. We need organizations willing to move their culture to a place where people are free to pursue the ideas and concepts that can position organizations for true success going forward, not mere survival.

I will be posting on another pair of key characteristics in a week or so, so stay tuned!

It’s All About Community – New Job, Social Media & Innovation

It’s all about community. It’s true. It really is. Are you searching for a new position? If so, the answer lies in your community. Are you trying to build your business? That next great referral or lead will almost certainly come from your community. Are you looking for that next great idea? It’s out there. Just ask your community.
I’ve been doing a lot of thinking, reading, and research into three areas lately: job search (especially in this market), social media and innovation. Most of us get the connections between looking for a new job and social media. If you read the TIME cover story about Twitter http://tinyurl.com/nh3kky, you are aware of some of the ways social media is driving the development of some truly innovative communication and research tools. And I’ve written (and so have many others) about the need to be creative and innovative if you’re looking for work in this economy. (You can read more about that in a post here from May 13, 2009 – Networking for a Job – What to Do When Traditional “Networking” Fails http://tinyurl.com/qbeo7u)
There is a very clear thread that runs through all of these topics and ideas. It’s the value and importance of community.

JOB SEARCH

We know the single most effective tactic to locate and identify the best job leads comes through our contacts and connections. Some of us call the process of adding contacts making connections “networking.” [The negative connotations of that term could fill many blog posts, and I’ll save that for later.] I sense a lot of people in the job market are “networking” very effectively. They find people to talk with about opportunities, organizations, etc. But are these same people looking at this process in a broader and more permanent context?
I hope so, because meeting new people and having conversations with a single goal in mind (job lead, sale, consulting referral, etc.) is short sighted. I attended a terrific social media workshop in April. Another attendee said, “You need to build your network before you need your network.” I loved this simple and elegant way to state this idea.
Social media has clearly changed the job search playing field. TIME magazine’s cover article for the week of June 8, 2009 was about the huge impact Twitter is having. Other sites like Linked In and Facebook provide quick access to our contacts and connections like never before. But – the key to success using social media is to quit thinking about simply being “on” Linked In or Facebook. You have to be “in” Linked In and Facebook. In another article from the on-line version of TIME from June 8th, Barbara Kiviat tells a great story about Brian Ward. http://tinyurl.com/ndkak6 Brian lost his job, and using Facebook and Twitter, found a new job in a matter of days. But here’s a telling passage which includes a quote from Brian:
As the sole breadwinner for his wife and three kids, Ward knew that he had to get a new job quickly. He found himself unemployed at 5 in the afternoon; by 8 that night, he’d called four people he knew in Ohio who did the same sort of computer work he did, as well as his college buddy Lyell, down in North Carolina. “I’d been using Twitter and Facebook and LinkedIn, but in a very passive, extracurricular way,” says Ward. “I knew Lyell was big into the Twitter scene. He immediately began blasting information out to contacts he had, sending them back my way.” Over the weekend, Ward updated all of his online profiles. He uploaded a fresh résumé to LinkedIn, the professionals’ networking site, and sent out a message to all 200 of his Facebook friends, letting them know he was looking for work.
One of them, a pal from high school, wrote back Sunday night. He now worked for a tech company in Louisiana, and asked if Ward would be interested in being put in touch with the Web-development group. Ward eagerly agreed and had a phone interview the next day. “Here I was four hours into being unemployed and I already had a phone interview,” he recalls. “I was like, Wow, this is going to be impressive.”
Brian had obviously been maintaining a decent network on Facebook and Linked In, and he realized he really had to hit his connections to generate action. None of this would have possible if Brian decided he needed to sign-up at Linked In and Facebook the day he lost his job. While he describes his involvement as “passive”, he had 200 Facebook connections and at least a few of them were ready and willing to help him. It’s a great endorsement for the power of social media, and Brian’s story tells us why we need to stop thinking g about “networking” in terms of transactions – how many people, how many meetings, etc.
Looking for a new job – in this market for sure – is much easier if we are engaged with the communities around his – like Brian. So if networking is only about looking for a job, you are missing out on a great opportunity to become – on a permanent basis – a member of new communities where your involvement can make a difference.

SOCIAL MEDIA

I am not an early adopted of social media – far from it actually. I started this blog in late 2008, joined Linked In only after clients were asking me about it (Aug. – Sept. 2008), and set up a Twitter account (@cosbornsspbpi – just in case you want to follow me) a few short weeks ago. So – now I’m becoming a bit of an evangelist within my organization for the power of social media. How did this happen? In a word – I learned something very valuable.
Social media as a series of web-based applications standing alone doesn’t mean diddly-squat. But social media as a means to become part of a broader community is amazing. I admit freely that it’s taken me months to become aware of the communities to which I now belong. But now I do my best to be active, offer ideas, share information and add value to my colleagues, friends, followers, etc. here, at Linked In and Twitter. I also utilize my connections to assist clients and friends who I meet in my daily work –in some part by using social media.
Am I surprised that I now see myself as part of “communities” separate and apart from my physical communities? Well – yes. I am surprised. But I am truly part of newly emerging “communities.” Now if you go to a traditional definition of “community,” maybe these communities within social media venues aren’t really communities. After all, we’ve traditionally defined community as having a “place” and a physical component. But what if we defined the term “community” differently? Maybe community is a collection of people drawn and bound together by common interests, needs and commitments to be engaged. If this is a workable definition, then the groups to which I belong at Linked In, my networks at Facebook, my followers and the people I follow all constitute communities. I think – no – I know I am part of communities within these spaces. And that’s a very comforting realization.

INNOVATION

Read anything out there on Twitter, or social media more broadly and you will learn quickly just how much true innovation is emerging. One very visible example has been the information coming out of Iran after the disputed election of this week. The broad media couldn’t get anything out. But images, ideas and information were still available – on Twitter. I saw an article recently in Business Week that claimed American innovation was dead. http://tinyurl.com/oasorr Right. With all due respect to Michael Mandel, the thinking he exhibits in his article is exactly what CAN be wrong with organizations. But Mandel is focused on only one thing – money. What did innovation “earn” that we can benchmark and measure? Well – ironically – that’s hardly innovative or creative thinking.
Innovation can’t be forced, rushed, hurried, put into a box, kept neat and tidy or benchmarked. Americans are enormously innovative, but Mandel missed it all because he’s too busy looking for a traditional measurement that Wall Street might report about the Fortune 500. Instead, innovation has been bubbling up all around us. Just in the past 10 years or so, Americans introduced the world to “America Online, Netscape, Amazon, Google, Blogger, Wikipedia, Craigslist, TiVo, Netflix, eBay, the iPod and iPhone, Xbox, Facebook and Twitter itself.” Stephen Johnson, TIME, June 8, 2009. Innovation is here all right, it’s just not where traditionalists are looking.
But look at the list of amazing innovations cited by Johnson. Most of them – if not all of them – are about connections and community. These innovations are helping us see the world – as it happens – on our own terms. And these innovations are helping shape a whole new way of thinking about and being members of communities.

SUMMARY

Well – I certainly blew the 140 character limit at Twitter. Sorry. But I wanted to gather these ideas into something a little more cohesive than a series of short notes.
Communities matter and are enormously important, and it does NOT matter where we find them or even if they exist is a physical space. Communities exist because WE make them exist. We belong to them. We shape them , and we frame them. So for your job search or next career move, gather ideas, information and help from your communities. For your next research exercise, seek information and inspiration from your communities. And most of all – be “in” your community, not “on” one or simply “at” one.

Personal Benefits of Volunteering

Volunteering Benefits YOU!

In an article from October 2005 at World Volunteer Web, called “Benefits of Volunteering” http://tinyurl.com/nu2stz, the unattributed author makes a compelling case for the benefits of volunteering. And the article isn’t about the benefits to the recipient organization. It’s about the benefits to you.

In this job market, I can think of no better way to boost your chances of success than volunteering. The general headings that follow come directly from the article I mention above, and I encourage you to read the original using the link above. Below, I lay out the same benefits as they relate to your job search.

Learn or develop a new skill

The job market has not been so competitive in generations, and candidates with current, market ready skills remain in demand. So – what’s preventing you from building out your skills? In a word – nothing. Volunteering provides a great chance to develop a new skill or even learn something new you really like and enjoy. Being in career transition is absolutely no reason to stop you from learning something new. And volunteering can provide numerous opportunities to stretch yourself. You can planning and implementing a major fundraising event, you could hep with a web page, you could develop data bases and reports, you can even train or teach others. Do you need supervisory skills to reach that next job? Do you need to learn some specific applications or programs like Flash, or Access? Here’s a chance to lead a program or initiative or learn those new programs and applications. These are just a few examples of new skills you can learn or improve in a volunteer setting.

Be part of your community

We are advocates of networking to your next position. In this market, it really is the best way to find that next great opportunity. But too many people looking for a new job treat networking as a means to an end. That’s really too bad, because your contacts, friends and professional resources (i.e. your network) ought to be something far more important than that. You ought to be thinking about these people as a community to which you now belong. This broader sense of “belonging” and engagement will have long term, positive benefits. As I’ve said before, it may take a village to raise a child, but it takes a community to relaunch a career. Volunteering in your community and giving back helps cement this concept both for you and in the eyes of the people around you. Volunteering moves you from a place where you are in need to a place where you are giving. It’s a much better place from which to launch a job search campaign.

Motivation and sense of achievement

“Fundamentally, volunteering is about giving your time, energy and skills freely. Unlike many things in life there is choice involved in volunteering. As a volunteer you have made a decision to help on your own accord, free from pressure to act from others.” I love this direct quote from the 2005 article. This outward, external focus on the world is a very healthy thing. One of the real issues we confront after losing a job is a loss of purpose. We normally get up, go to work and have a huge part of our day filled with tasks and things to do at work. Now what? Volunteering really helps fill that void by providing a sense of purpose to our daily activity and as we accomplish things, we also enjoy a sense of satisfaction and achievement. These are very healthy feelings.

Boost your career options

Here’s some data from directly from the article:

A survey carried out by TimeBank through Reed Executive showed that among 200 of the UK’s leading businesses

a. 73% of employers would recruit a candidate with volunteering experience over one without,
b. 94% of employers believe that volunteering can add to skills, and
c. 94% of employees who volunteered to learn new skills had benefited either by getting their first job, improving their salary, or being promoted.

Have you thought about exploring a whole new career? If so, volunteering can provide a great way to explore career options. Try volunteering at an organization closely linked to possible career alternatives. Looking at the medical industry? Are there hospitals that could use a helping hand. You may need to get a little creative to find some things, but volunteering can be a great way to try out something new with little real risk.

New experiences

I am a big believer in the value of experience as a teacher and guide. Our careers frequently catch us in a rut of the same experiences and the same routine. Volunteering can be a great way to get out of this “comfort zone” and seek out totally new experiences. Think about this a minute in job search terms. Ultimately, who gets hired? It’s the person who – with the right skills – feels like the best “fit” to the hiring manager. Whether we lie it or not, there is a social element to landing a new job. So we want to present ourselves as open to ideas and able to bring a variety of life experiences to the problems we face at work. Wide ranging experiences also help us with conversations. Face it – people with lots of interesting experiences are simply more fun to talk to, and that’s a part of the successful search end game – being liked and sought after by a hiring manager. So – get out of your shell, find a volunteer activity at a new and different place and see what you might learn!

Meeting a diverse range of people

I can’s paraphrase or re-work the article to improve its message for us in a job search, so here it is:

“Volunteering brings together a diverse range of people from all backgrounds and walks of life. Both the recipients of your volunteer efforts and your co-workers can be a rich source of inspiration and an excellent way to develop your interpersonal skills. Volunteering also offers an incredible networking opportunity. Not only will you develop lasting personal and professional relationships but it is also a great way to learn about people from all walks of life, different environments, and new industries. Networking is an exciting benefit of volunteering and you can never tell who you will meet or what new information you will learn and what impact this could have on your life.”

Well – yes. I believe that’s right!

So – what’s holding YOU back? Volunteer!

You Call This Job Search Progess?

Okay – we in the first part of June, and you never thought it (your job search) would take this long. The phone isn’t ringing, no one responds to your on-line applications, and you haven’t sniffed an interview in over three weeks. It is depressing. Right?
Hey – the job market is slow, and a search can be too long and very frustrating. But I’d bet you’ve gotten more done than you think. I have exactly these types of conversations with clients, and I’ve been in several just this week. There’s something about these calendar holidays that heightens the stress of job searching. No doubt about it.

So – let’s take a deep breath and review all of the real progress you’ve made in your search.

You Call This Progress?

1. Resume. Completing a first resume is an important accomplishment. If you’ve done the next (4) things as a part of that process, then you really have gotten a lot of hard and important work finished.

2. Story. Well – maybe stories. If you’ve read Daniel Pink’s wonderful book – A Whole New Mind, you learned that “story” is one of the “senses” we need to master to succeed in a new world. I’m no expert on that. But I will state that gathering and knowing your own unique success stories is extremely important to a successful search. A good way to think about these stories is to ask your self, “What story or event would I most like to talk about during a job interview?” These stories ought to be based upon events that left you with a strong feeling of professional and personal satisfaction (I call these “peak experiences”). After you have developed these experiences into stories you can tell, you should be able to pull together a broader sense of what you do best, and that sense can – and should – help you build a “master” story to offer as a message or “brand” for the market.

3. Message. Refining and honing your message is a huge step. By this, I mean have you determined what your value proposition is for future employers. Can you tell someone what it is you do well, why you do it well and explain how you’ve done those things in the past. You get a good sense of what this can be by working through your stories (see accomplishment #2 above).

4. Discovery that people will help. They will. Really. We all remember the old line, “It takes a village to raise a child.” Well – it takes a community to re-launch a career. You will need to find a community with which you can connect. Your unique community can start with friends, co-workers, family, classmates, etc. It doesn’t matter where or how you start. But you must start. The world is more interconnected than ever before, and these connections are invaluable resources as you identify organizations where you might like to work or with actual job openings. So – it all comes down to the people you know.

5. Make a plan and work it. I am a big believer in developing a search plan based upon a commitment to work the plan for a set number of hours per week. Let’s say you can commit 30 hours to your search. What might that 30 hours look like? Here’s one way you could organize that time. Internet use – 10 hours, networking activity – 10 hours, volunteer activity – 5 hours, and skills enhancement – 5 hours. Using the internet ought to include looking at job boards and researching target organizations. The networking activity should be actions and steps designed to get you face-to-face or telephone meetings with new people. Obviously, the meetings themselves are a part of this block of time, too. This area is one that can and should GROW to be a bigger part of your plan, by the way. Volunteering is a great way to help set a routine, get out of the house and interact with others. Do it. I promise it will help you feel better, and might lead to job leads. (I had a client THIS week land a great lead from her first stint as a volunteer.) Build out your skills. The market is changing. Are your current skills ready and marketable for the jobs you are seeking? If not – enhance them. Go to a class, seek a certification, find ways to learn new ones (volunteer?), etc.

So – do you call this progress? I do. I am very uncomfortable with job search advice that lists progress as a series of “markers” like job interviews, job offers, etc. You cannot control those things no matter how hard you try. But you CAN control your effort and your commitment. Each of the 5 indicators of progress I outlined are yours to own and control. One of the worst parts of being in job search mode is a feeling that your world is beyond your control. By focusing on these items, you can impose a structure and sense of control upon your search, and THAT is real progress.

Wordle Word CLoud from Last Post – Innovation Lessons from “Up”

Innovation Lessons from “Up” – Disney & Pixar’s Latest

I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about innovation, and it seems like half the known universe is doing the same thing. This isn’t bad. In fact, seeing innovation all over the media, net, blog world, Twitter, etc., encourages me. Maybe – just maybe – we (as in a huge swath of people in organizations & business) are finally coming around to the realization that we can’t sit back and wait for “the way things used to be” to come back. Traditional thinking and business models either are, or will soon be, obsolete. We must move forward with new ways of looking at things and new ideas to not only suceed in this “new world order.” I suggest that innovation for all of us is necessary to simple survival.

I saw the Disney/Pixar animated film, “Up” over the weekend. I won’t rehash the well-deserved rave reviews here. But I will explain some valuable innovation lessons contained in this terrific story.

1. Persistence. One of the most important lessons great innovators teach us is the stick with the effort. You simply can’t give in to frustration, or apparent dead ends, or being tired. You have to keep at it and keep at some more until that great idea gets refined to the point that it represents real innovation. In the film, the hero (voiced by Ed Asner) had several chances to give up his dream of taking his beloved Ellie to a mystical world. First, he could have simply gone to a retirement home. Instead, he tied balloons to his house and flew away. Then, after he landed, Carl could have just settled for the spot the wind chose. Again, he acted and took matters into his own hands and found a way to reach his dream.
2. Optimism. Balloons tied to a house? Yes. Carl believed, and it worked. But other characters showed optimism in the face of circumstances that looked desperate. Russell, a young “little mailman” (see the film!) was optimistic every step of the way. This trait helped keep Carl and Russell moving when it would have been easy to simply sit down and call it a day.
3. Curiosity. The whole adventure would not have happened but for Carl and his wife’s curiosity about a world they’d never seen. It was this willingness to try new things that provided the spark for Carl’s rather daring adventure. And when things looked their darkest (a near disaster of a fire), Carl’s willingness to seek out even newer experiences and explore new adventures moved the story past what could have been an easy out for the old man and young boy.
4. Open Minded. Kevin, the bird Carl and Russell befriend, turns out not be a boy at all but a mother. Russell and Carl never batted an eye. So what? Kevin she was, and Kevin she stayed. But more than that, both Carl and Russell remained open throughout the entire story to whatever came their way. Dug the loyal (and very funny) dog was originally shunned by the “pack.” But Dug’s open and kind heart led him to discover a whole new pack to join. If only we could be open to new opportunities with the same optimistic, open minded view of the world!

“Up” may not be the best movie ever made, but it’s certainly an entertaining one. It also helps illustrate just how some simple traits can foster an environment where new and different ideas can flourish.

Personal Brand – How Do You Build Yours?

We are seeing clear examples of why personal branding is important in this job market. A good way to think of your brand is to ask yourself, “Why would an employer buy me or my value proposition over a competitor for the same position?”

We use the term “personal brand” to communicate a fundamental concept related to job searching or career changing. Basically, your brand is another way of expressing your unique and personal value proposition.

How do you define your brand? First – think about what you do best, and a great way to figure that out is to answer this question. What stories do you most want to tell during an interview? For these stories, identify:

1. What motivated you in the situation?
2. What did you enjoy most about the outcome or actions you took?
3. Are there any recurring themes across several “first choice” interview stories?

For instance, maybe all of your best stories revolve in some way around building relationships or solving customer service problems. You most enjoyed the feeling you got from seeing rough relationships smoothed over. From these elements, you might be able to start fashioning a personal brand around being a world class client relationship professional who is the “go to” person for the most difficult customer and client issues and problems.

Let me use myself as a possible example. I really get a charge out of seeing that “ah-ha” moment when I explain a new concept to someone and they get it. I enjoy trying different things, and I like to be a part of start-up projects and initiatives. From this snippet of information, we could start building a brand around driving new concepts into implementation.

Once you get a solid handle on your “brand,” the next challenge is to get that brand out there. Take a look at the post here about what to do when traditional networking stalls and the pages on job searching issues facing baby boomers for some ideas about how to get that part of the process off square one.