Sorry folks for the slight delay in blogging, but my time has been taken up with other more important things. Does that sound rude to you? IF SO, you definitely need to read this blog!!!
Recently I have been pondering the question of whether I am time effective or defective a great deal: a) because I have been uber busy and (b) several of my coaching clients have wanted coaching on “time management”. So I decided that it would be a great idea to do a 3 part series on this thing fascinating thing we all call time management!
Have you ever had a day where you got to the end and was very, very busy, but felt like you had achieved nothing much! Everyone has these days, if you have them more than a couple of times a year, I’d suggest you need to review your time effectiveness strategy.
What is a time effectiveness strategy you may well ask? Well let’s review the whole time management concept. How exactly do you manage time, given that you, nor I, nor any human can technically control it, let alone manage it! And what exactly are we managing? Do people who manage time have more hours in the day, less, what? The FACT IS time marches on whether we do anything or nothing!
So who came up with that ridiculous concept? Anyway, it is more correct to ask “are you time effective and time efficient rather than do you manage your time well?” What makes me say that? Well here’s the bottom line – as we've established, you cannot manage time per se, but you can manage yourself to be time effective and time efficient.
This took me many years to figure out!! As someone who used to be highly time defective and having managed at least 20 other time defectives, I learnt that you CANNOT learn TIME management if you are a time defective! I, like all other brainwashed managers on the planet, used to send myself and my time defective staff on ‘Time Management’ courses at great cost and with great enthusiasm. Only to have one after the other fail and the disappointment mount!
This prompted me to consider the concept in more detail. When I really observed what was going on for myself and others who worked for me, I discovered something very interesting! You cannot become more effective or efficient simply by using someone else’s quick tips or processes! If that were true then everyone on the planet would be super efficient and effective time machines! But alas, look around, who is? You? Your employees? Your boss? How many of these people have been on courses or read in detail about 'time management'???
Well if a course or other people's tips isn't the answer, WHAT IS?? The answer is simple! We can all CHOOSE to become ‘Time Effective’ and ‘Time Efficient’. What I mean by Time Effectiveness is working on things of high importance that move you towards your outcomes and goals. Time Efficiency is about how well you manage those tasks (i.e. completing them in the most productive/economical way).
TIME EFFECTIVENESS is about your belief systems and how you manage the stuff that big thing that sits in between your ears (your mind/brain)! As you will discover in this process, being effective is all about how you think and perceive the world and your underlying belief systems!
As anyone who knows me will tell you, I do NOT advocate training courses for behavioural change unless it is combined with Coaching using Cognitive Behavioural Techniques and/or NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming). The reason for that is that what really works to make you more Time Efficient and Time Effective is to identify YOUR personal patterns, behaviours, actions, thoughts and beliefs and take full ownership of them.
It is as simple as you can’t change that which you do not acknowledge! Continual and sustained behavioural change is best achieved through a structured change process like coaching! Our minds and patterns are very strong willed and it takes a great deal of awareness to spot the subconscious/unconscious cleverness of our strategies and to make appropriate adaptations.
So here’s your first exercise....
All I want you to do in the next 5 - 10 working days is observe yourself at work and ask yourself three questions regularly throughout the day (and record as much data as possible). I have developed a simple TIME EFFECTIVENESS Template to assist you: -
• How do I spend my time at work?
• How effective am I being (see above)?
• How have I created this situation?
The more you observe and record the more insight and useful this exercise will be to you!
Good Luck UNTIL next blog :)
Vanessa
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Friday, July 31, 2009
FOCUSED JOB SEARCHING
Over the past couple of months, through coaching a number of new clients, I’ve discovered that people don’t necessarily use the best job searching strategy. So here are my top 5 tips for effective job searching:-
1.Be clear on what you want to do. What is important to you? What type of roles are you inspired to do? What type of companies are you inspired to work for? If you are sitting there saying to yourself ‘INSPIRED???’, then I suggest you are not appropriately motivated and that is something you need to address quickly! I strongly suggest you work with a career coach to find your inspiration and motivation. See previous blogs for some inspiration
2. If you are unsure about what you want or what you are suited to, conduct your own market research. Print off 100 jobs that appeal to you on Seek/Career One of any other online job board. Highlight elements of the job that appeal to you. What patterns are there? What feels right to you? What is inspiring? What sounds fun and enjoyable?
3.Network! Use the social networking tools (like Linked In, Twitter and Face book) and don’t forget the old fashioned grapevine to let people know that you are looking for a role. When you do network for this purpose, do everyone a favour and be crystal clear about the type of roles you want and the type of companies/industries! Just to highlight how important this channel is - 60-70% of vacancies are filled through personal networking – so DON’T UNDERSESTIMATE this valuable process. See previous blogs for more tips!
PS- If you are going to use social media tools, clean up your profiles. I’m often amazed at what people have openly on their profiles. Know that clever future employers these days will check out your online profile – so do yourself a favour and project a professional image. Once online – it’s difficult to undo, so think strategically!
4.Make sure you apply for roles that you are inspired by and that you are a good fit for. As highlighted in previous blogs, you need to work out your SDOT and only apply for roles that you fit and are qualified for. There is no point in this current job market applying for roles that you have a 60/70% fit for, unless of course you have a nasty unconscious desire to want to deal with constant rejection!
Take your market research and assess yourself objectively against the job criteria. If you were an employer looking at 300-400 applications, what is it about you that makes you stand out in the crowd?
5.Make sure you have your elevator pitch (Brand You) ready. See previous blogs. Where you can pick up the phone and speak to the advertiser DO SO! This has numerous benefits: a) it enables you to ask some great questions to tailor your application, (b) you can refer to your conversation in your application (making it very personalised) and (c) if you have done a fantastic job, you become TOM (top of mind) for the recruiter.
Make sure you end with something along the lines of ‘my name is XX and I’ll be applying this afternoon. Thank you for your time today’. Then ensure you have a great resume and application letter that is tailored to the job and the company you are applying to (see previous blogs).
My Performance Coach specialises in Career Coaching for professionals. http://www.myperformancecoach.com.au/coaching-solutions/career-management-coaching.html We help you get unstuck, positively motivated and inspired to create the career of your dreams! Our aim is to empower and enable each and every client to develop a compelling vision, inspiring goals and to achieve the success they wish to create in their lives. Our qualified coaches do this through a structured and professional process combining profiling tools, supportive environment, a variety of different coaching methodologies, and sophisticated one-on-one training to expand and inspire growth and learning for our clients.
1.Be clear on what you want to do. What is important to you? What type of roles are you inspired to do? What type of companies are you inspired to work for? If you are sitting there saying to yourself ‘INSPIRED???’, then I suggest you are not appropriately motivated and that is something you need to address quickly! I strongly suggest you work with a career coach to find your inspiration and motivation. See previous blogs for some inspiration
2. If you are unsure about what you want or what you are suited to, conduct your own market research. Print off 100 jobs that appeal to you on Seek/Career One of any other online job board. Highlight elements of the job that appeal to you. What patterns are there? What feels right to you? What is inspiring? What sounds fun and enjoyable?
3.Network! Use the social networking tools (like Linked In, Twitter and Face book) and don’t forget the old fashioned grapevine to let people know that you are looking for a role. When you do network for this purpose, do everyone a favour and be crystal clear about the type of roles you want and the type of companies/industries! Just to highlight how important this channel is - 60-70% of vacancies are filled through personal networking – so DON’T UNDERSESTIMATE this valuable process. See previous blogs for more tips!
PS- If you are going to use social media tools, clean up your profiles. I’m often amazed at what people have openly on their profiles. Know that clever future employers these days will check out your online profile – so do yourself a favour and project a professional image. Once online – it’s difficult to undo, so think strategically!
4.Make sure you apply for roles that you are inspired by and that you are a good fit for. As highlighted in previous blogs, you need to work out your SDOT and only apply for roles that you fit and are qualified for. There is no point in this current job market applying for roles that you have a 60/70% fit for, unless of course you have a nasty unconscious desire to want to deal with constant rejection!
Take your market research and assess yourself objectively against the job criteria. If you were an employer looking at 300-400 applications, what is it about you that makes you stand out in the crowd?
5.Make sure you have your elevator pitch (Brand You) ready. See previous blogs. Where you can pick up the phone and speak to the advertiser DO SO! This has numerous benefits: a) it enables you to ask some great questions to tailor your application, (b) you can refer to your conversation in your application (making it very personalised) and (c) if you have done a fantastic job, you become TOM (top of mind) for the recruiter.
Make sure you end with something along the lines of ‘my name is XX and I’ll be applying this afternoon. Thank you for your time today’. Then ensure you have a great resume and application letter that is tailored to the job and the company you are applying to (see previous blogs).
My Performance Coach specialises in Career Coaching for professionals. http://www.myperformancecoach.com.au/coaching-solutions/career-management-coaching.html We help you get unstuck, positively motivated and inspired to create the career of your dreams! Our aim is to empower and enable each and every client to develop a compelling vision, inspiring goals and to achieve the success they wish to create in their lives. Our qualified coaches do this through a structured and professional process combining profiling tools, supportive environment, a variety of different coaching methodologies, and sophisticated one-on-one training to expand and inspire growth and learning for our clients.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Dealing With Rejection
Lately I have heard from friends and coaching clients the despair they feel about the current labour market. For the most part, the people who are despairing missed the last difficult labour market (from a seller’s point of view – i.e. you) of the late 80’s, early 90’s. These folk have only ever experience a seller’s market and have rarely voluntarily been out of work in the last fifteen years. Now they are finding themselves 3 – 9 months plus unemployed. This of course can be disheartening, but it is not uncommon in this type of market.
So I figured there must be a few people out there in internet land facing regular rejection and feeling frustrated and worried.
I cannot stress enough that the key to all success is having and maintaining a VERY POSITIVE MINDSET! Yes I understand that times are tough, but once you start focusing on negatives it is a quick downward spiral. Trust me, the spiral is like a spinning top and can easily get out of control. SO STOP IT NOW! And once you find yourself in a good negative state, everything will appear to go wrong and then you’ll get what you expect (your worst fears), because that is what you insisted on bringing into your reality by continually focusing on it.
I take a Quantum Physics approach to coaching, which put simply means “YOU CREATE YOUR OWN REALITY”. You create your own reality by the thoughts you chose to focus on, the actions you choose to take and the reactions or responses you choose to have to your experiences. Put simply, you get what you expect or what you imagine. So IMAGINE BIG and HAVE POSITIVE EXPECTATIONS. PS – you can’t just kid yourself into this state you need to fundamentally believe it to convince your unconscious mind of your buy-in (see later).
So what can you do to keep POSITIVE in such an environment?
• Firstly, I’d ask you to read my previous blogs and make sure you are giving yourself a fighting chance in the first place in this labour market by utilising the advice so far.
• If you are currently in a very negative space you need to understand you WILL NOT get a job. No employer wants negative staff! So if you are feeling down or low on motivation, get a Career Coach NOW (see below for special offer).
If you have already allowed the negativing to develop into a depressed or anxious state for you, you need to get to your doctor ASAP! PLEASE, take action NOW!
• DON’T take rejection personally. IT IS NOT PERSONAL! So stop making it about you! When you make things about you, you feed your sense of not being good enough and very soon you will start a negative spiral which will take your self esteem and confidence with it!
• Every NO THANKS is an opportunity for you to LEARN FORWARD! What I mean by that is to consider why you didn’t get shortlisted and put the learning forward into future applications. Take the time to reflect on your application. Did you meet 100% of the selection criteria (experience, industry, qualifications, skills, knowledge)? If not, then that’ll be the reason. REMEMBER that the market has changed. Employers are no longer desperate and taking 60-70% of the suitability, now the tables have turned they want 100% suitability, because they know they can easily get it now!
• So take all NO THANKS as feedback that you are applying for the wrong type of job or as a need to improve your application technique. If you feel like you have put in a great application and meet 100% of the criteria, get on the phone and ask for some honest feedback. Most people are happy to provide this.
• Get PERSPECTIVE! Remember there are at least 400 applicants per job vacancy so it’s not unusual to get more rejections in this market! So take it in your stride. A great response to each rejection, is ‘FANTASTIC, I’m getting closer to my dream job, what can I now learn?’
• Release all negative thoughts now!!! Start noticing your negative self talk (thoughts running through your head) and reframe them to positive thoughts. If you are in a negative state of mind, your family and friends will notice, but may not be game enough to say anything! So, ask someone you trust to notice when you say or infer negativity in the moment you say it, so you can start to spot your negative self talk. This is where a NLP/CBT coach like My Performance Coach has a phenomenal and lasting impact on clients. We assist you to quickly reshape your self-talk, behaviours, actions and response both consciously and unconsciously to strong, empowering, positive positions.
• Take control of your application process. Make sure you follow my tips and apply for roles you have a good chance of getting and are also excited about. There is nothing worse than applying for loads of jobs because you are desperate. Firstly you are asking for more rejections and secondly you might get caught out in your desperation! Do you think a clued up employer could spot desperation? Well, let’s take a recent example of one of my new clients.
This client recently applied for a job in a very bureaucratic organisation. The one big de-motivator for her is a lot of bureaucracy. But she was desperate for a role, and decided consciously she could deal to it. But she underestimated her unconscious mind (where her true beliefs reside)! The interview was going phenomenally well and she felt like she had a great shot at the job. It was a second interview and between her and one other. Then the employer asked her – what frustrates you?
She said bureaucracy and then went on to talk about her dislike for it! Now this client is highly intelligent, but she was not paying attention and her truth came out and she got caught out in her desperation! What’s more she didn’t realise what she’d done until later! When she didn’t get the role she rang and asked why. Lo and behold, the employer said ‘because you get frustrated with bureaucracy and we are a very bureaucratic organisation and we don’t feel like it would be a good fit for us’.
So, the moral of the story, apply for jobs that fit with you and do everything possible to ensure you maintain a strong, positive, self confident disposition.
If you have any questions, please email me or post a comment.
My Performance Coach is offering 15% off our standard fees for career coaching for anyone who quotes this blog. But be quick, OFFER ENDS 10 July 2009.
Good luck!
So I figured there must be a few people out there in internet land facing regular rejection and feeling frustrated and worried.
I cannot stress enough that the key to all success is having and maintaining a VERY POSITIVE MINDSET! Yes I understand that times are tough, but once you start focusing on negatives it is a quick downward spiral. Trust me, the spiral is like a spinning top and can easily get out of control. SO STOP IT NOW! And once you find yourself in a good negative state, everything will appear to go wrong and then you’ll get what you expect (your worst fears), because that is what you insisted on bringing into your reality by continually focusing on it.
I take a Quantum Physics approach to coaching, which put simply means “YOU CREATE YOUR OWN REALITY”. You create your own reality by the thoughts you chose to focus on, the actions you choose to take and the reactions or responses you choose to have to your experiences. Put simply, you get what you expect or what you imagine. So IMAGINE BIG and HAVE POSITIVE EXPECTATIONS. PS – you can’t just kid yourself into this state you need to fundamentally believe it to convince your unconscious mind of your buy-in (see later).
So what can you do to keep POSITIVE in such an environment?
• Firstly, I’d ask you to read my previous blogs and make sure you are giving yourself a fighting chance in the first place in this labour market by utilising the advice so far.
• If you are currently in a very negative space you need to understand you WILL NOT get a job. No employer wants negative staff! So if you are feeling down or low on motivation, get a Career Coach NOW (see below for special offer).
If you have already allowed the negativing to develop into a depressed or anxious state for you, you need to get to your doctor ASAP! PLEASE, take action NOW!
• DON’T take rejection personally. IT IS NOT PERSONAL! So stop making it about you! When you make things about you, you feed your sense of not being good enough and very soon you will start a negative spiral which will take your self esteem and confidence with it!
• Every NO THANKS is an opportunity for you to LEARN FORWARD! What I mean by that is to consider why you didn’t get shortlisted and put the learning forward into future applications. Take the time to reflect on your application. Did you meet 100% of the selection criteria (experience, industry, qualifications, skills, knowledge)? If not, then that’ll be the reason. REMEMBER that the market has changed. Employers are no longer desperate and taking 60-70% of the suitability, now the tables have turned they want 100% suitability, because they know they can easily get it now!
• So take all NO THANKS as feedback that you are applying for the wrong type of job or as a need to improve your application technique. If you feel like you have put in a great application and meet 100% of the criteria, get on the phone and ask for some honest feedback. Most people are happy to provide this.
• Get PERSPECTIVE! Remember there are at least 400 applicants per job vacancy so it’s not unusual to get more rejections in this market! So take it in your stride. A great response to each rejection, is ‘FANTASTIC, I’m getting closer to my dream job, what can I now learn?’
• Release all negative thoughts now!!! Start noticing your negative self talk (thoughts running through your head) and reframe them to positive thoughts. If you are in a negative state of mind, your family and friends will notice, but may not be game enough to say anything! So, ask someone you trust to notice when you say or infer negativity in the moment you say it, so you can start to spot your negative self talk. This is where a NLP/CBT coach like My Performance Coach has a phenomenal and lasting impact on clients. We assist you to quickly reshape your self-talk, behaviours, actions and response both consciously and unconsciously to strong, empowering, positive positions.
• Take control of your application process. Make sure you follow my tips and apply for roles you have a good chance of getting and are also excited about. There is nothing worse than applying for loads of jobs because you are desperate. Firstly you are asking for more rejections and secondly you might get caught out in your desperation! Do you think a clued up employer could spot desperation? Well, let’s take a recent example of one of my new clients.
This client recently applied for a job in a very bureaucratic organisation. The one big de-motivator for her is a lot of bureaucracy. But she was desperate for a role, and decided consciously she could deal to it. But she underestimated her unconscious mind (where her true beliefs reside)! The interview was going phenomenally well and she felt like she had a great shot at the job. It was a second interview and between her and one other. Then the employer asked her – what frustrates you?
She said bureaucracy and then went on to talk about her dislike for it! Now this client is highly intelligent, but she was not paying attention and her truth came out and she got caught out in her desperation! What’s more she didn’t realise what she’d done until later! When she didn’t get the role she rang and asked why. Lo and behold, the employer said ‘because you get frustrated with bureaucracy and we are a very bureaucratic organisation and we don’t feel like it would be a good fit for us’.
So, the moral of the story, apply for jobs that fit with you and do everything possible to ensure you maintain a strong, positive, self confident disposition.
If you have any questions, please email me or post a comment.
My Performance Coach is offering 15% off our standard fees for career coaching for anyone who quotes this blog. But be quick, OFFER ENDS 10 July 2009.
Good luck!
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
GETTING THAT INTERVIEW - CREATING CUT THROUGH WITH AN AWESOME RESUME
Did you know in this environment that your application is at least 1 in 400 and depending on the role, potentially up to 1 in 1,000!!!
So if you are using a bog-standard approach to your application process, it could be why you haven’t got those interviews. In the last blog I gave you my top 6 tips on how to cut through. Today I’m going to focus on creating an awesome Resume.
1. My number one tip with your Resume is not to lie! There is nothing wrong in talking up what you have done but I warn you not to try and pass off lies, even small ones. Lots of people do and if you get a highly experienced interviewer like me, they’ll catch you out within the first ten minutes without even trying! And if you get caught out, it’s game over (especially when they are other great candidates to choose from)!
2.Next, research the type of roles you want to apply for. What are employers asking for in terms of behavioural and technical competencies, knowledge, qualifications and experience? Under each role, list the key points.
This of course assumes you know what you want. If you are unclear about your key motivators or you are in a rut, get a coach now.
Did you know that the cost of coaching is outweighed by the significant increase in your confidence, positivity, knowledge, skills, tools and clarity, which enables you to get the job you want often in less than half the time you would on your own. Also, in most cases, you can claim the cost of coaching on your tax!
3. Measure how you fit. Complete my SDOT template. Compare your strengths to your research. Ensure you play your strengths up in your Resume.
4.Develop a specific Resume for each type of job you wish to apply for. For example, your might be experienced as Executive Assistant and Customer Service Trainer and you are happy to do either of these roles. So you would develop a Resume focused on each role, highlighting the key competency areas and experience specific to the role.
5. The first page of your Resume needs to read ‘I AM PERFECT FOR THIS VACANCY AND YOUR COMPANY’!
Therefore your first page should include the following:
A Personal Profile – Sell who you are, your values, what you want and what you contribute to an organisation in one crisp and punchy paragraph.
An Overview of your key competency, skills and experience areas (both behavioural and technical for the role). Remember to include relevant skills, knowledge and experienced gained through voluntary work, sports, university
If you have had more than three jobs in your career, include a Summary of the roles
6. Your Resume should not be more than 4 pages long, ideally 3. List jobs in chronological order (i.e. newest first)!
7. Detail each role - Be specific about dates, job title, type of company, key responsIbilities and above all key achievements/outcomes. Notice the word key – this means substantial, not everything you ever did!
8.Briefly explain big gaps in history (i.e. six months or more). Don’t just leave gaps hanging out there.
9.On the last page detail RELEVANT training and education
10.Do not put referee information on your resume. This should be provided once you have had a successful interview.
11.Be original, but drop the humour, useless anecdotes and overly personal information. Sometimes what you think is amusing is inappropriate and you will end up on the REJECT pile.
Remember your Resume is YOUR major SALES & MARKETING tool - it is a call to action to the employer to get you in! Ask yourself if you received this brochure in the post would you think it is appropriate and professional and does it catch your interest? If not, ditch the bits you are unsure of.
12. Avoid too much graphics, colour, crazy fonts etc. Certainly jazz your Resume up to stand out, but keep it professional. If sending through snail mail, use high quality paper
My Performance Coach can assist you in developing a powerful strategy to get the job and career you want through our first class career coaching programs. All our programs are highly competitively priced and you will be dealing with highly experience HR professional Coaches.
We are offering our blog readers a special 15% discount of all coaching programs until the 30 June 2009 (just let us know you read the blog). Contact us now for a free, no obligation phone coaching session.
Thursday, April 23, 2009
ARE YOU GETTING THOSE INTERVIEWS? TOP 6 TIPS
In a tight labour market (as is currently the case) everyone, including high flyers, need inside track help if they are going to cut through and get those interviews.
As job vacancies get fewer, getting cut through is the key to your success. Remember, assume at least 400 other people (sometimes up to 1000) other people are vying for that job! Are you in peak condition to get the job you want or need?
Here are my top 6 tips to get you onto the short-list pile and not on the REJECT pile.
TIP 1: Develop and articulate your Personal Brand - Your personal brand needs to be portrayed in your covering letter/email, Resume and Interview process (including recruitment consultant interviews). Here is what you need to focus on:-
o What is your brand? Who are you? What are you selling?
o What is your unique selling proposition?
o Why should I employ you for this job?
o Do your SDOT – sell your positives. Find YOUR specific opportunities.
TIP 2: Develop a KILLER covering letter/email - NEVER apply for a job or approach a consultant without a cover letter/email. Your cover letter should portray:
o Be original, but drop the humour and useless anecdotes
o Portray your Personal Brand
o Tell them what makes you PERFECT for the role (do not just copy & paste criteria)
o Show you know their business and personalise the letter accordingly
o LESS IS MORE!
Remember you have about 30 seconds to make a great impression and avoid the REJECT pile, so ensure you are succinct, interesting and to the point! It should SCREAM – I’M PERFECT!!
TIP 3: Have a Resume for each type of role - If you are applying for more than one type of role DO NOT use a generic Resume! Your Resume MUST be tailored to the type or role you are going after. If you are failing to get interviews, this is likely to be your biggest problem! So make sure you have a killer Resume and that you have customised it.
TIP 4: APPLY FOR JOBS YOU ARE QUALIFIED FOR – Six months ago you could take a chance and apply for jobs that you had 60-70% fit, and potentially get an interview because it was an Candidate market. In case you haven’t notice, the tables are turned and it is absolutely now an Employers market. So don’t waste yours or their time on a job you aren’t well qualified for. Besides wasting time and effort (which needs to go to the great jobs you are suited to) it is de-motivating not to hear back!
TIP 5: NETWORK - I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again – GET NETWORKING! Most jobs will now be word of mouth or on online boards. HR’s best strategy is always through their own employees. Never underestimate people you meet/know. Get talking and selling yourself up at every opportunity. Go to free/low cost social events in your industry or professional group! You can’t rely on recruitment agencies to sell you, as they always struggle to create value in an Employers market and will have few jobs.
TIP 6: GET YOURSELF A KILLER CAREER COACH LIKE ME :) A career coach should be able to assist you to get the very best quality applications and to get interviews. When you get interviews, then they will help you to get the job! Make sure your career coach has a very strong HR background as this is an invaluable resource to you! A HR orientated career coach gives you the inside fast track and will ensure you get the outcomes you want!
If you would benefit from a free career coaching session, contact us on 02 9789 5110!
As job vacancies get fewer, getting cut through is the key to your success. Remember, assume at least 400 other people (sometimes up to 1000) other people are vying for that job! Are you in peak condition to get the job you want or need?
Here are my top 6 tips to get you onto the short-list pile and not on the REJECT pile.
TIP 1: Develop and articulate your Personal Brand - Your personal brand needs to be portrayed in your covering letter/email, Resume and Interview process (including recruitment consultant interviews). Here is what you need to focus on:-
o What is your brand? Who are you? What are you selling?
o What is your unique selling proposition?
o Why should I employ you for this job?
o Do your SDOT – sell your positives. Find YOUR specific opportunities.
TIP 2: Develop a KILLER covering letter/email - NEVER apply for a job or approach a consultant without a cover letter/email. Your cover letter should portray:
o Be original, but drop the humour and useless anecdotes
o Portray your Personal Brand
o Tell them what makes you PERFECT for the role (do not just copy & paste criteria)
o Show you know their business and personalise the letter accordingly
o LESS IS MORE!
Remember you have about 30 seconds to make a great impression and avoid the REJECT pile, so ensure you are succinct, interesting and to the point! It should SCREAM – I’M PERFECT!!
TIP 3: Have a Resume for each type of role - If you are applying for more than one type of role DO NOT use a generic Resume! Your Resume MUST be tailored to the type or role you are going after. If you are failing to get interviews, this is likely to be your biggest problem! So make sure you have a killer Resume and that you have customised it.
TIP 4: APPLY FOR JOBS YOU ARE QUALIFIED FOR – Six months ago you could take a chance and apply for jobs that you had 60-70% fit, and potentially get an interview because it was an Candidate market. In case you haven’t notice, the tables are turned and it is absolutely now an Employers market. So don’t waste yours or their time on a job you aren’t well qualified for. Besides wasting time and effort (which needs to go to the great jobs you are suited to) it is de-motivating not to hear back!
TIP 5: NETWORK - I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again – GET NETWORKING! Most jobs will now be word of mouth or on online boards. HR’s best strategy is always through their own employees. Never underestimate people you meet/know. Get talking and selling yourself up at every opportunity. Go to free/low cost social events in your industry or professional group! You can’t rely on recruitment agencies to sell you, as they always struggle to create value in an Employers market and will have few jobs.
TIP 6: GET YOURSELF A KILLER CAREER COACH LIKE ME :) A career coach should be able to assist you to get the very best quality applications and to get interviews. When you get interviews, then they will help you to get the job! Make sure your career coach has a very strong HR background as this is an invaluable resource to you! A HR orientated career coach gives you the inside fast track and will ensure you get the outcomes you want!
If you would benefit from a free career coaching session, contact us on 02 9789 5110!
Saturday, March 21, 2009
ECONOMIC DOWNTURN?! GET A CAREER HEADSTART WITH COACHING OR MENTORING
I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but governments and media talk countries into recessions. We have seen that over the last several months in Australia. Are things really as bad as they appear? Mmm I wonder!
Having worked in HR and as a Coach to organisations over the last 20 odd years, I know that a recession is used as a fabulous excuse for everyone to externalise blame for avoiding and more importantly not making appropriate choices, decisions or actions.
Governments do it all the time. In particularly this Rudd government is using it to spend a truckload of money and enable legislation (Fair Work Bill) that is not great for small-medium business, which in turn affects the Economy. If the bill succeeds, there will be less permanent jobs that can be guaranteed. But will any worsening of the economy be blamed on the Bill or actions of the government? Of course not silly, it’s that pesky recession (which by the way isn’t his fault either lol)!!!
Companies play the game (strategic PR moves) as well: down-sizing, right-sizing, off-shoring & outsourcing. They take advantage of a situation (i.e. blame the good ole recession) to enable the things to get fixed in organisations. Why not, it’s as good a reason as any!
And then we have individuals who also use the recession as an excuse to keep themselves in their comfort zones. Perhaps they were contemplating leaving their job this year, but now have decided to ‘stick it out’ due to the economy, despite being unhappy and probably disengaged. Or they were thinking of going into business or changing careers, but its ‘now not a good time to make such a risky move’.
Oh really, there’s a perfect time? If you know of the mysterious future perfect time you should be making trillions by sharing the secret :)!
I’ll tell you a universal secret about the perfect time – IT’S NOW. AND IT’S ALWAYS NOW! The future is a figment of your imagination. The only thing you have control over is what you do in the now, so take some free advice and work it baby right NOW!
I was speaking to someone today about career management in a downturn economy. And they said, it’s like advertising in this environment. You get the best bang for buck as there are fewer companies advertising, therefore you achieve higher cut-through and Brand awareness.
That is exactly right! It is the same principle that I am arguing. NOW is the time to accelerate your career by investing in a Career Coach or a Mentoring Program and getting ahead of the game! To get ahead, you need a well thought out strategy.
Now, I know all you high flyers out there are going DOH! But the rest of the population are unlikely to be seeing it that way. They’re all sitting around waiting for something to happen to them or for them. That’s why they’re not high flyers and you are.
Do high flyers have a problem finding work in any economy? The answer there will be no! High flyers commit to their career, invest in themselves and grow and promote their brand. They are always in demand in any economy.
Everyone can do it! You just need a helping hand.
So you have a choice - are you going to be a sheep and get herded about with the other millions, or are you going to take a stand now, make a commitment and take action to accelerate your career, right here, right now.
Career Coaching, like that offered by MyPerformanceCoach, helps you work through your blockages (perceived barriers like the economy, limiting beliefs, skills, confidence and knowledge deficits); broadens or validates your thinking about your current situation and future career situation; helps you gain significant mileage by developing a strategic game plan (when everyone else has buried their heads in the sand and riding out the economy); and above all ensure you get to the front of the employment job line and become TOM (top of mind) to the employers you want to target.
I also have the great privilege to sit on the FITT (Females in Information Technology and Telecommunications) Steering Committee and lead their development program. The FITT Mentoring Program has been hugely successful in helping over 30 women so far gain a head-start in their careers. The program is well structured, with a fantastic matching process that ensures we attract high quality mentors. So, if you are a female in the ICT industry and are based in Sydney, check out our fabulous program. You’ll need to hurry as applications close 7 April 2009!
NOW is the time to act! Get yourself a good head start and Good Luck!
Vanessa
Having worked in HR and as a Coach to organisations over the last 20 odd years, I know that a recession is used as a fabulous excuse for everyone to externalise blame for avoiding and more importantly not making appropriate choices, decisions or actions.
Governments do it all the time. In particularly this Rudd government is using it to spend a truckload of money and enable legislation (Fair Work Bill) that is not great for small-medium business, which in turn affects the Economy. If the bill succeeds, there will be less permanent jobs that can be guaranteed. But will any worsening of the economy be blamed on the Bill or actions of the government? Of course not silly, it’s that pesky recession (which by the way isn’t his fault either lol)!!!
Companies play the game (strategic PR moves) as well: down-sizing, right-sizing, off-shoring & outsourcing. They take advantage of a situation (i.e. blame the good ole recession) to enable the things to get fixed in organisations. Why not, it’s as good a reason as any!
And then we have individuals who also use the recession as an excuse to keep themselves in their comfort zones. Perhaps they were contemplating leaving their job this year, but now have decided to ‘stick it out’ due to the economy, despite being unhappy and probably disengaged. Or they were thinking of going into business or changing careers, but its ‘now not a good time to make such a risky move’.
Oh really, there’s a perfect time? If you know of the mysterious future perfect time you should be making trillions by sharing the secret :)!
I’ll tell you a universal secret about the perfect time – IT’S NOW. AND IT’S ALWAYS NOW! The future is a figment of your imagination. The only thing you have control over is what you do in the now, so take some free advice and work it baby right NOW!
I was speaking to someone today about career management in a downturn economy. And they said, it’s like advertising in this environment. You get the best bang for buck as there are fewer companies advertising, therefore you achieve higher cut-through and Brand awareness.
That is exactly right! It is the same principle that I am arguing. NOW is the time to accelerate your career by investing in a Career Coach or a Mentoring Program and getting ahead of the game! To get ahead, you need a well thought out strategy.
Now, I know all you high flyers out there are going DOH! But the rest of the population are unlikely to be seeing it that way. They’re all sitting around waiting for something to happen to them or for them. That’s why they’re not high flyers and you are.
Do high flyers have a problem finding work in any economy? The answer there will be no! High flyers commit to their career, invest in themselves and grow and promote their brand. They are always in demand in any economy.
Everyone can do it! You just need a helping hand.
So you have a choice - are you going to be a sheep and get herded about with the other millions, or are you going to take a stand now, make a commitment and take action to accelerate your career, right here, right now.
Career Coaching, like that offered by MyPerformanceCoach, helps you work through your blockages (perceived barriers like the economy, limiting beliefs, skills, confidence and knowledge deficits); broadens or validates your thinking about your current situation and future career situation; helps you gain significant mileage by developing a strategic game plan (when everyone else has buried their heads in the sand and riding out the economy); and above all ensure you get to the front of the employment job line and become TOM (top of mind) to the employers you want to target.
I also have the great privilege to sit on the FITT (Females in Information Technology and Telecommunications) Steering Committee and lead their development program. The FITT Mentoring Program has been hugely successful in helping over 30 women so far gain a head-start in their careers. The program is well structured, with a fantastic matching process that ensures we attract high quality mentors. So, if you are a female in the ICT industry and are based in Sydney, check out our fabulous program. You’ll need to hurry as applications close 7 April 2009!
NOW is the time to act! Get yourself a good head start and Good Luck!
Vanessa
Friday, January 30, 2009
TOP 7 TIPS – WHAT TO DO IF YOU ARE MADE REDUNDANT
Unfortunately in the current economic climate, some of you are going to hear the words ‘I’m sorry, but your job has been made redundant’.
Is it the end of the world? No, of course not!
In fact, I would boldly suggest that the company has just done you a great favour ;)! Often, people are already thinking of looking for another job and this situation gives them the impetus to get off their butts and get a move on :). However, there are also others, who love their job and their company and are greatly taken aback when they hear those words.
Whatever your situation, here are my top 7 tips to get you through this period!
TIP 1: Expect strong emotions!
Often regardless of whether you were expecting to hear of the redundancy or whether you were already planning to leave, there is something about a ‘redundancy situation’ that is very upsetting for people. I suspect it is the idea that this is happening unto you as opposed to your choice.
I remember when I first realised I had to make myself redundant back in the early 90’s. I was very upset with myself and the company, even though I knew for a period of six months that I would be required to make the decision! Go figure!
The first thing you need to understand is that hearing this type of news is akin to hearing any kind of shocking news, such as a bereavement situation. Therefore, you should expect to go through a number of strong emotions ranging from anger, frustration, disbelief, shock, sadness, denial, fear, anxiety, stress or confusion in the first few days. This is perfectly normal. However, if after a week you are still feeling strong negative emotions, please seek help immediately!
The longer you experience strong negative emotions the more entrenched they become. Get help to move you beyond those emotions quickly.
Larger organisations often have a Free Employee Assistance Program. These programs are excellent and I would strongly suggest you take full advantage of them. Many reputable companies also choose to arrange an outplacement service provided by organisations like My Performance Coach for their redundant employees. If you are offered Outplacement, you should always utilise this, both from an emotional support perspective as well as giving you career coaching. Alternatively, you can also see your doctor and ask for a referral to a counsellor (which you will receive a Medicare benefit for) or contact a qualified CBT coach to assist you.
It is critical to your job search success to be at the top of your game, in a positive emotional state and looking forward to the future! All too often I see people spend months and even years lamenting about how bad their lives are and gradually working themselves into a depression. PLEASE, do not fall into this trap! Everyone has options, no matter what your situation. So get help to get you into a positive state.
TIP 2: Don’t Panic!
Often the negative emotions experienced are due to people panicking about the future. Will I get another job? When? How? What if I’m not good enough? Will I be able to meet my obligations? These are all reasonable questions to ask.
However, panicking doesn’t help anyone, least of all you! In fact, if you allow this thinking to continue, you will start to notice your thoughts will denigrate to catastrophising, for example: I’ll never find a job; I’ll be homeless; the kids will starve. And once you start that kind of thinking, you are setting yourself up to fail.
Remember we get what we expect! So expect more from yourself! Keep your emotions positive and keep yourself tapped into reality. This again is where a great career coaching program provides indispensible value to people! Having a strong vision, clear goals, clear understanding of motivation and values, clear and focused action and staying positive is essential to getting another great role quickly.
TIP 4: Get some Financial Advice!
Consider how best to use your lump sum pay-out.
Did you know that if you are in a company superannuation fund, you will have a financial planner attached to your fund? Often the fee you pay to them includes services to assist employees with financial planning. Find out who they are and explain your situation. Tap into this resource as they often have great advice about tax minimisation! Your HR or Payroll department can give you more information.
Alternatively, to help you keep tapped into reality, prepare a three month expenses budget. Cut down on all luxury items. Where are you at? Can you afford to take some time off? How long? When would be an ideal time to have a job by? Set your goals.
If you were already in a serious financial crisis prior to being made redundant, please discuss your situation with Centrelink. Also, there a number of not for profit organisations that do a fabulous job of advising and assisting people in financial crisis. Please be careful about diving into a ‘debt reduction company offer’. Ensure you get quality, independent advice before making any key financial decisions.
TIP 5: Get Prepared!
Often, redundancy is a blessing in disguise, as it presents a fantastic opportunity to re-evaluate yourself, your motivations, your career and your drivers.
This is a great time to spend some quality time really evaluating and preparing to get back into the job market. Here are the key things to do:
• Get into a positive, high energy state
• What rocks your world? What motivates you?
• What are your career drivers? What do you really want?
• Do you want to work for a company? If so, what type of company?
• Do you want to work for yourself? Do you have the attributes, knowledge and
skills to do so?
• Complete your SDOT
• Update and tailor your CV
• Work out the types of roles you are looking for
• Get together a list of quality recruitment agencies specialised in your
industry
• Develop your brand and brand plan
If you are unclear on what you want to do or you don’t have a very clear career plan (like 75% of people), I strongly enough recommend a career coach. Do I recommend a career coach because My Performance Coach does this? Well yes :), but it’s more than that! I only provide and recommend services or products that I know fundamentally impact and add value to people in their lives.
In my 20 odd years of HR, I can tell you that those who have had career coaching clearly stand out in the crowd and is one of the best investments you can make into your career!
TIP 6: Get in the game
You know how you were doing all that networking (and if you weren’t, here’s why you should have been), well here’s where that becomes absolute GOLD!!!
I’m sure you know that there is a whole hidden job market. In the economic times, organisations will be looking for EVERY opportunity to reduce recruitment costs.Most organisations have an ‘introduce a friend’ scheme and they will be milking that process now. Recruiting Managers will also be putting out feelers with their networks.
So, draft yourself a positive, upbeat email, succinctly stating what you’re looking for and availability, attach your Resume and get it out to EVERYONE you know (including all your contacts on sites like linked in). DO NOT underestimate who can lead you to a fantastic role!
Many candidates dislike dealing with recruitment agencies (me included). However, they are a necessary evil. So put aside all your negative stuff about it and find 3 - 4 great consultants who specialise in your field or industry and make sure you are TOM (Top Of Mind).
TIP 7: Work it Baby!
Remember that in this environment you need to cut through the competition. For example, one of my clients were lucky to get between 10-15 applicants for one role a year ago, last week, for that same role they got 358 applicants! However, 340 were put in the reject pile.
What does this mean? It means that everyone is trying their luck and are not focusing their efforts. What that means for you is that if you don’t catch the recruiters attention in terms of your suitability within the first 30 seconds to a minute of reading your application goes in the reject pile!
This is where BRAND YOU pays off. Sell your brand. Prepare a thoughtful, professional, tailored application designed to catch the recruiters attention and cause them to keep reading after the first two paragraphs.
Ensure that at all engagement points with the recruiter and the company that you are ‘on brand’ and selling the best of you. A career coach again will help you with this, in particular cutting through the competition.
Good luck and if you have any questions, please post a comment!
Vanessa
Is it the end of the world? No, of course not!
In fact, I would boldly suggest that the company has just done you a great favour ;)! Often, people are already thinking of looking for another job and this situation gives them the impetus to get off their butts and get a move on :). However, there are also others, who love their job and their company and are greatly taken aback when they hear those words.
Whatever your situation, here are my top 7 tips to get you through this period!
TIP 1: Expect strong emotions!
Often regardless of whether you were expecting to hear of the redundancy or whether you were already planning to leave, there is something about a ‘redundancy situation’ that is very upsetting for people. I suspect it is the idea that this is happening unto you as opposed to your choice.
I remember when I first realised I had to make myself redundant back in the early 90’s. I was very upset with myself and the company, even though I knew for a period of six months that I would be required to make the decision! Go figure!
The first thing you need to understand is that hearing this type of news is akin to hearing any kind of shocking news, such as a bereavement situation. Therefore, you should expect to go through a number of strong emotions ranging from anger, frustration, disbelief, shock, sadness, denial, fear, anxiety, stress or confusion in the first few days. This is perfectly normal. However, if after a week you are still feeling strong negative emotions, please seek help immediately!
The longer you experience strong negative emotions the more entrenched they become. Get help to move you beyond those emotions quickly.
Larger organisations often have a Free Employee Assistance Program. These programs are excellent and I would strongly suggest you take full advantage of them. Many reputable companies also choose to arrange an outplacement service provided by organisations like My Performance Coach for their redundant employees. If you are offered Outplacement, you should always utilise this, both from an emotional support perspective as well as giving you career coaching. Alternatively, you can also see your doctor and ask for a referral to a counsellor (which you will receive a Medicare benefit for) or contact a qualified CBT coach to assist you.
It is critical to your job search success to be at the top of your game, in a positive emotional state and looking forward to the future! All too often I see people spend months and even years lamenting about how bad their lives are and gradually working themselves into a depression. PLEASE, do not fall into this trap! Everyone has options, no matter what your situation. So get help to get you into a positive state.
TIP 2: Don’t Panic!
Often the negative emotions experienced are due to people panicking about the future. Will I get another job? When? How? What if I’m not good enough? Will I be able to meet my obligations? These are all reasonable questions to ask.
However, panicking doesn’t help anyone, least of all you! In fact, if you allow this thinking to continue, you will start to notice your thoughts will denigrate to catastrophising, for example: I’ll never find a job; I’ll be homeless; the kids will starve. And once you start that kind of thinking, you are setting yourself up to fail.
Remember we get what we expect! So expect more from yourself! Keep your emotions positive and keep yourself tapped into reality. This again is where a great career coaching program provides indispensible value to people! Having a strong vision, clear goals, clear understanding of motivation and values, clear and focused action and staying positive is essential to getting another great role quickly.
TIP 4: Get some Financial Advice!
Consider how best to use your lump sum pay-out.
Did you know that if you are in a company superannuation fund, you will have a financial planner attached to your fund? Often the fee you pay to them includes services to assist employees with financial planning. Find out who they are and explain your situation. Tap into this resource as they often have great advice about tax minimisation! Your HR or Payroll department can give you more information.
Alternatively, to help you keep tapped into reality, prepare a three month expenses budget. Cut down on all luxury items. Where are you at? Can you afford to take some time off? How long? When would be an ideal time to have a job by? Set your goals.
If you were already in a serious financial crisis prior to being made redundant, please discuss your situation with Centrelink. Also, there a number of not for profit organisations that do a fabulous job of advising and assisting people in financial crisis. Please be careful about diving into a ‘debt reduction company offer’. Ensure you get quality, independent advice before making any key financial decisions.
TIP 5: Get Prepared!
Often, redundancy is a blessing in disguise, as it presents a fantastic opportunity to re-evaluate yourself, your motivations, your career and your drivers.
This is a great time to spend some quality time really evaluating and preparing to get back into the job market. Here are the key things to do:
• Get into a positive, high energy state
• What rocks your world? What motivates you?
• What are your career drivers? What do you really want?
• Do you want to work for a company? If so, what type of company?
• Do you want to work for yourself? Do you have the attributes, knowledge and
skills to do so?
• Complete your SDOT
• Update and tailor your CV
• Work out the types of roles you are looking for
• Get together a list of quality recruitment agencies specialised in your
industry
• Develop your brand and brand plan
If you are unclear on what you want to do or you don’t have a very clear career plan (like 75% of people), I strongly enough recommend a career coach. Do I recommend a career coach because My Performance Coach does this? Well yes :), but it’s more than that! I only provide and recommend services or products that I know fundamentally impact and add value to people in their lives.
In my 20 odd years of HR, I can tell you that those who have had career coaching clearly stand out in the crowd and is one of the best investments you can make into your career!
TIP 6: Get in the game
You know how you were doing all that networking (and if you weren’t, here’s why you should have been), well here’s where that becomes absolute GOLD!!!
I’m sure you know that there is a whole hidden job market. In the economic times, organisations will be looking for EVERY opportunity to reduce recruitment costs.Most organisations have an ‘introduce a friend’ scheme and they will be milking that process now. Recruiting Managers will also be putting out feelers with their networks.
So, draft yourself a positive, upbeat email, succinctly stating what you’re looking for and availability, attach your Resume and get it out to EVERYONE you know (including all your contacts on sites like linked in). DO NOT underestimate who can lead you to a fantastic role!
Many candidates dislike dealing with recruitment agencies (me included). However, they are a necessary evil. So put aside all your negative stuff about it and find 3 - 4 great consultants who specialise in your field or industry and make sure you are TOM (Top Of Mind).
TIP 7: Work it Baby!
Remember that in this environment you need to cut through the competition. For example, one of my clients were lucky to get between 10-15 applicants for one role a year ago, last week, for that same role they got 358 applicants! However, 340 were put in the reject pile.
What does this mean? It means that everyone is trying their luck and are not focusing their efforts. What that means for you is that if you don’t catch the recruiters attention in terms of your suitability within the first 30 seconds to a minute of reading your application goes in the reject pile!
This is where BRAND YOU pays off. Sell your brand. Prepare a thoughtful, professional, tailored application designed to catch the recruiters attention and cause them to keep reading after the first two paragraphs.
Ensure that at all engagement points with the recruiter and the company that you are ‘on brand’ and selling the best of you. A career coach again will help you with this, in particular cutting through the competition.
Good luck and if you have any questions, please post a comment!
Vanessa
Friday, November 28, 2008
TOP 7 TIPS to keep your job in hard times
Top 7 tips to keep your job in hard times
The key to keeping your job in these hard times is being a great employee, a high performer and a value-adder to your organisation. What does that mean? Well, here are My Performance Coach’s Top 7 tips on what you can do to ensure you are highly employable. The key message is that you OWN your career and create your reality!
So do the work, make the necessary changes and see the pay-offs materialise! If you implement all 7 tips, you cannot, help but be successful!
Hot Tip 1: Prepare your SDOT (Strengths, Development areas, Opportunities & Threats)
Doing a self assessment is both a powerful and proactive act and will stimulate your creativity. The tool enables a proactive evaluation of your current situation and your future. It will help you come up with some great ideas top implement the rest of our hot tips.
The first step is to review objectively, any information you can get your hands on about your skills, performance and behaviours at work! E.g. recent performance reviews or peer feedback. You can also review any recent behavioural or personality profiles.
Use a variety of information sources to complete your SDOT. A SDOT is a complete review of your Strengths, Development needs, Opportunities and Threats. Be sure to ask your current manager and trusted colleagues about your strengths and development areas to assist you to answer the necessary questions
Get your free SDOT tool and further information here:
http://www.myperformancecoach.com.au/freebies.html
My Performance Coach also has useful tools to assist you with your self assessment.
Hot Tip 2: Raise your profile within the organisation
I’m not suggesting here that you develop a huge ego and shout out at the top of your lungs how wonderful you are! However, many of us (particularly women) do a poor job of self promotion, letting people know subtly who we are, what we do and what our achievements are. So, know your strengths and being clear on your performance and contribution to the organisation.
The next step is to work out ways to get Brand YOU top of mind for the people that count. How do the people that need to know how fabulous you are, get to know that?
The first place to start is your boss and their boss! What is their impression of you? If you don’t know, simply pluck up the courage to ask. At least you’ll know where you stand and can figure out what you need to do to be successful. Think about your key clients, do they spontaneously provide feedback about you to the people that count? What about your immediate work colleagues, what do they say about you? What about other departments or key stakeholders?
Start proactively working on Brand You. You already have a brand in the workplace. The question is, it is your best possible brand? What are the key messages about you that you want the key people in your organisation to know about you? Take the time to come up with the key messages that make up Brand You. Be clear on what these are, make sure they are powerful and ensure that reality matches (i.e. your behaviour and actions reflect these core messages 100% of the time). If reality does not match, then get a plan to sort it out.
Key messages might include: No 1 sales rep; Service Excellence; Customers rave about them; Retained our top ten clients this year; Best people manager in the department.
When you have your top 5 key messages which should be all about how valuable you are to your employer, then test them out with people who know you. For example, you may ask your key clients, on a scale of 1 – 10, 10 being the highest, how would you rate my customer service skills?
Then take time to think about how you can develop your network, internally and externally, continually building Brand You as you go. The key to branding is consistency! Have a plan, write it down, take actions and continually review your success!!
Hot Tip 3: Avoid negativity and the ‘wrong’ crowd
It’s all very well and good to build a great Brand YOU, but you can undermine it in a second if you fall into the negativity trap!
Make sure you keep your thoughts focused on positives at all times. What you focus on is what shows up! So if you focus on the negatives, guess what, that’s what you will create. Everyone knows this at a deeper unconscious level and therefore avoid people who are deeply negative. So create the right reality, reframe situations and get yourself in a positive state and a positive state of mind.
Avoid the doom and gloom crowd. They’ll just bring you down and more importantly those that are in positions to make decisions will note negative behaviours, attitudes and groups. In hard times, the negative people are always top of the list for the exit lounge. When times are tough, what you need are people to rally, to be positive, and to go all out to get through the crisis. Negativity breeds negativity and bosses usually make the smart play or cutting loose negativity first up.
Note: if you think you can hide your negativity by not voicing it, think again! You’ll come across as passive-aggressive and you will definitely increase your odds of being escorted to the exit lounge!
Hot Tip 4: Know What is Important to Your Organisation
Consider these questions and answer them honestly:
• Do you know what your organisations vision is?
• Do you know what your organisations goals are?
• Do you know what your organisations values are?
• Do you know what your organisation considers to be of key importance?
If you don’t know the answers to these questions find out!
Ask your manager or HR. Check out your intranet. Many organisations have formally articulated this information, but just as many have not! Whether formally articulated or not, find out what is important around here! I.e. What are the key behaviours expected of employees?
Once you know what these things are, write them down and self assess yourself against them. Update your SDOT. Where are your strengths and development needs in relation to the expectations? Where are your Opportunities? Where are your threats?
Hot Tip 5: Make sure you are performing in the top 25%
Are you in the top 25% of performers in your team or department? Do you understand your performance and how you are rated? Do you understand your contribution to the business?
Employers do not normally cut their noses off to spite their faces! So think from an employer’s perspective. Who is the most valuable to you in times of crisis – the bottom 25% of performers or your top 25%! Ah, no brainer folks!!
If you are in the middle, i.e. a solid citizen, there is certainly nothing wrong with that! But sometimes, when hard decisions are required, some solid citizens need to be let go. So give yourself every opportunity to avoid the exit lounge.
Start now! Find out about how your performance is perceived, particular from your direct boss. Find out what they think you could do to improve your performance. Look around, who is considered the highest performer? What do they do, that you don’t do?
Hot Tip 6: Engage with the business and add value to it
Continuing on with our theme, when you know the business, when you’re passionate and positive about what you do and what your organisation does, when you operate at level 10 energy, then there is no chance that you will be on someone’s exit list! All organisations need highly engaged people to make them successful, particularly in crisis times!
Ask yourself these questions, honestly. On a scale of 1 – 10, 10 being highest, where are you right now?
• I love my job/work. I jump out of bed 95% of the time, looking forward to the day
• I am passionate about what I do, it’s my calling
• I love this organisation and want it to be successful
• I operate with level 10 energy, everyday to get the best possible outcomes
• I go all out, including extra hours to get the job done, because it’s important to me
• I continuously come up with smarter ways of working
• I continuously come up with great ideas to make this organisation more successful
If you answered less than a 7 to any of the above, you have some serious self reflection to be doing! Because the facts are, if you did not, you are not fully engaged with your job nor your organisation. And if that is the case, you may risk being put on the exit lounge list.
Assess what you can do. How can you re-engage? What do you need to do to get back in the game? How can you get yourself fired up?
Top Tip 7: Invest in yourself
What constantly amazes me is the number of people who leave their careers and livelihoods in the hands of others. If you do not have a strong independent Career and Development plan, then you are consciously or unconsciously assuming someone else will take care of this for you.
The facts of life are that you create your reality! Sure some organisations invest a lot in their people, but many do not! More importantly, and very unfortunately, in times of crisis, training and development budgets are the first thing to be cut. The last thing on your boss or the executive team’s mind is your career and your development.
People often find career coaching very powerful and it is certainly a proactive investment in Brand You! Don’t leave your brand or your future in someone else’s hands. Take charge NOW! Review your development needs. What do you need to do? By When? Come up with an action plan and implement it.
The secret to most successful people/high performers- They invest heavily in themselves and keep themselves top of their game and field. As a minimum, a professional should invest an average of 100 hours per annum on professional development, and be prepared to spend at least $3,500 in developing your skills, knowledge and competencies. It is no coincidence that people who employ coaches are highly successful!
Good luck!
Remember, Life is not about finding yourself...
Life is about creating yourself!
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