Four Things to Keep Your Career On Track

1. Keep your network fresh and dynamic. Continuously expanding your network is essential in today’s business environment. If you don’t’ your career is doomed.
2. Maintain your professional personal brand. You are marketing yourself everyday. If you don’t have a personal brand, start building one. If you don’t, your career is double doomed.
3. Continue your involvement in professional associations and industry groups. Industry contacts are a great way to spot trends and opportunities. If you don’t, your career is on its last breathe.
4. Keep up with your social networking. Keep your name in front of people. You never know when you’ll be in job search mode. If you don’t, you can order a coffin for your career!

Take Back Your Career-How To Play Today's Career Game

In May of 1990, I was laid off for the first time. That was my introduction to the world of career transition—a world I have experienced three times since then. I wish I could say that with each merger or downsizing it got easier . . . but it didn’t. What I can say is that each time was different. Each time, I learned something new about myself—and the process of job hunting and career management. And each time, I kept saying, “There has to be a better way.”

For the past five years I’ve been on a mission to discover a better process for managing my career. I decided that one way to learn what was needed to devise a better process was to volunteer at the local community career center. I’ve also been a senior advisor and consultant to major outplacement firms. I’ve coached over fifteen hundred people who were searching for new jobs. I’ve learned so much from all of them, but one client in particular has always stuck with me.

Tim was a COO who told me that he wanted to “get back in the game.” He was tired of being on the bench. He said the longer he was out of the game, the more the game changed and he wasn’t in the thick of it. I didn’t understand what he meant until he explained that, for him, work and career were THE ultimate competition sport. He saw it as a competitive game where you had to stay in shape, continuously work your game plans, scout out the competition, know the field of play, and, above all, craft your winning plays.

Tim was so right in his sports analogy of career management. Once I started looking at the process from a competitive, contact sports angle it became obvious that the disciplines needed for sports are also necessary when managing your career. When you start to understand this concept, you see that you want to be able to lead and play on a team, remain marketable in a competitive environment, and develop and execute game-winning plays.

So, what happens when you look at career management as THE ultimate contact sport? First, you declare that you want to get into the game and win! Then you want to know the following:

• How the game has changed
• What the playing field looks like
• The rules
• How to form your winning team
• What uniforms and tools you’ll be using
• How to get into peak shape
• What plays you’ll run
• How to keep up a winning streak

I’m writing this book to give you a better understanding of the new career management game. Because here’s the thing: Everything about this contact sport has changed in the last few years. There are new rules, new playing fields, new team members, new competition. I’ve always believed that learning a new sport from an expert is crucial; for this game, I’ll be your coach. This book is your playbook. It will supply you with the necessary information, exercises, and examples to guide you in creating your personalized career management game plan. You’re closer to a breakthrough career than you think.

Ready? Game on!

Teeter Lessons

I'm hooked on an application on my phone called Teeter.

I find myself playing this game when I’m waiting to meet with a client or on the train going into Chicago. I think what has me hooked is the hand and mind maneuvers I go through to win the game.

The object of the game is to get the ball in the green hole, but there are various wrong turns and twists which can end the game when your ball goes into the wrong hole. As you master the game, the challenges become harder and more complicated. I’ve made it to level 12. It’s taken me two weeks and far too much time. At least that’s what I thought until I decided that what this time-suck game was really all about was patience and ingenuity.

I’ve learned that in order to get the ball in the right hole, I need to slow down and finesse the ball,....slowly, slowly, lightly, SCORE! I’ve figured out that I have to try out different ways and paths to win. Once I’ve figured out the best moves, I have to practice and keep trying to score. I’m sure this game is easy for kids who play games all the time, but it’s a new experience for me. I'm also realizing that this little app is teaching what it takes to win in life as well: strategy, flexibility, stamina, practice, patience and how to try, try again.

Our guest blogger is Pam Waits. Pam is an HR executive who is passionate about her work. She's very good at it! Pam is expanding her reach through writing and as you'll discover she's an excellent writer as well. Enjoy!

This blog is directed to all of you employers out there and it’s from those of us who are seeking new employment. There are a lot of us on the market so please pay attention. The list is long but if you take at least some of these resolutions seriously, just might find yourself with an incredibly talented, loyal batch of new employees who will help you outpace your competition. Here goes.

I, Employer, will:

1. Treat you with respect. I will never lose sight of the fact that even if I don’t hire you, you could be my customer. And while I’m at it, I will be sure to treat the people who already work for me with respect, too.

2. Keep you the job seeker informed throughout the process. I know that your timetable is different than mine. You have a greater sense of urgency and I shouldn’t keep you hanging. Specifically, here is what I plan to do:

A. Acknowledge receipt of your resume/application. At the very least, I will use some form of auto response. I know that you often feel like you are sending information into a black hole and I want you to know that your effort has been successful.

B. Let you know after completing a phone interview if you are moving on to the next step or if it’s the end of the line. By doing this, we can both move on and you won’t need to take your time or that of my recruiters by leaving messages.

C. Provide as much information to you as I can if I decide to interview you face-to-face (e.g., job description, work environment, company culture). In return, I expect you to review this information before the interview and withdraw your candidacy if you aren’t qualified for or interested in working for me.

D. Provide you a status report if you go through face-to-face interviews. I will let you know if there’s another step, what that looks like, whether you will be participating and the expected timeframe.

E. I will notify you even if you didn’t get the job so you can move on. I will make every effort to do this on the phone instead of e-mail as a sign of my professionalism and respect for you. I think this will enhance my reputation as a top employer.

3. Return your calls and/or e-mails if I somehow fail to keep the lines of communication open. If nothing else, I will let you know that I got your message and that I don’t have an update to give you. This demonstrates that I am courteous and respect you. I expect you to show me that same courtesy and respect in return.

4. Start and end appointments (phone and face-to-face interviews) with you on time. If there is a schedule change, I will let you know as soon as I know.

5. Keep the interview process as simple as possible. If I need multiple interviews with you, I will only ask if you are one of my finalists.

6. Interview you only if I am interested in hiring you – not to tap into your expertise or benchmark your salary.

7. Not interview you until I have approval to fill a position or until I know what I want. I don’t want to waste my time or get your hopes up.

8. Not check your references unless I intend to make you an offer. To do otherwise wastes my time and the time of your references. It also sets an inaccurate expectation with you that I intend to make an offer and that just isn’t fair.

9. Consider you if you meet my qualifications, even if you don’t have experience in my industry. I will be open to the fact that you could bring a fresh perspective that would benefit my organization. I will even take that one step farther and start interviewing people from “outside the box” to see what new dynamism I can bring into my organization. I think I have been missing talent and opportunity by limiting myself given that many talented people are trying to transition to new careers and news areas of expertise.

10. Not discount you just because you are currently unemployed. I will be mindful that many people are out of work through no fault of their own and that the talent pool of the unemployed is very rich.

11. Not take advantage of the fact that you are unemployed. If I make you a job offer, I will compensate you fairly in line with your experience and qualifications.

12. Talk to you about my opportunity if I think there might be a fit, even if I think you are overqualified or the pay I am offering is too low. I will have an open discussion with you about my concerns and give you the opportunity to respond.

13. Vow to be realistic in my requirements and to make a decision. I won’t keep positions posted for months trying to find the candidate who “walks on water”. I will choose the candidate who meets my qualifications and will fit in with the culture of the organization.

14. Broaden my sources for filling positions to include networking (both formal and informal channels). I realize that in many cases posting jobs on Internet job sites only seems to create work for my HR staff. Many times the best candidates are found through referrals, not online.

Thanks to the people who contributed to and inspired this list of resolutions - may we inspire the employers who read it!

Your Secret Sales Weapon for 2011

You're the best salesperson in your organization. You continuously meet or exceed your numbers. You're at the top of your game and hot! So, how are you going to keep building on your success? What have you got in your back pocket to start off the new year?

YOU and your personal brand are your secret weapons.

Your clients are spending more time online researching solutions and exchanging information. You want to be squarely in the middle of those online conversations. That means a powerful personal brand highlighting you as the resource and answer person for them. Your Linkedin profile is a great place to start building your brand if you haven't done so already. Invest in a professional head shot, update your profile regularly to stay in front of your organization and join and participate in Linkedin Groups. I dedicate one hour weekly to Linkedin and building my business. I believe in being ubiquitous for clients. It's paid off in the form a 40% increase in referrals and sales.

Treat yourself or someone very special to a unique holiday gift!

To celebrate this holiday season, High Gain Companies, Inc. is offering you 50% off our Personal Branding program which is normally a $500 value for just $250.

This program is four one-on-one sessions which focus on building your personal brand and learning how and where to market yourself. The program also enables the recipient to discover what differentiates them from competition. A dynamic personal brand is a great way to start the new year!

Contact: Jan Marino 630-270-9233 jan.highgainco@gmail.com

So What?

Your personal brand is how you package yourself for the marketplace and, in turn, how others perceive you. You want to elicit positive emotions in the market so that when people think of you they do so positively. Branding includes how you describe yourself, how others see you, what need you fill in the marketplace, and what makes you stand out.

There are three steps in the personal brand development process:

• Features: Who are you?
• Benefits: What makes you different?
• Value: What do you contribute?


From now on, you are the product and your job is to sell yourself. In order to do that effectively, you need to know who you are and know your features. ”Features” might include your experience, talents, education, goals, ethics, and accomplishments. “Benefits” are what you bring to the market because of your features (i.e., because of your experience in a particular discipline, you won’t need to be trained and will save the company money and time). Your accomplishments prove that you produce results and you can deliver consistently. Because you set goals, you are disciplined and a self-starter, which saves a company time and money.

What you contribute is the value proposition that you bring to the table. What do you possess that sets you apart? A good way to answer this question is to list your top 10 accomplishments throughout your career and then ask yourself, “So what?” after each accomplishment.

Accomplishment:
Led team of six engineers in a major software conversion project. The project affected 250 clients and was projected to take three months to complete. We finished the project two months earlier than scheduled.
So What?
The “So What?” is that you saved money because the project was finished earlier than scheduled. Providing an exact dollar amount or percentage saved is even more powerful.

List Your Top 10 Accomplishments

Ask "So What?" after each accomplishment