GadBall Blog

Most people launch their careers in their twenties and thirties with the focus of career development mainly on early adulthood. And what is the ambition at this age? For many, it’s getting to “the top” as soon as possible. Some people achieve this goal in their early forties with twenty to thirty career years still ahead of them. Others perhaps do not use goals in their careers; their careers just evolve!

Nonetheless, middle-adulthood, those years from 40-60, are often overlooked in career plans. Some of the thinking goes like this: If I make it to the top by forty I won’t have to worry about anything else. But what do you do when you make it to “the top” and still have all those years ahead of you? To this writer, it is a prescription for mid-life crisis!

Consider this: In our Twenties we go through the trial and exploratory stage of career development where we search for direction. In our Thirties we are in the transitional stage, synonymous with movement and advancement. The Forties and beyond are considered the stability stage; ongoing with a sound foundation. The irony is that as we move into our forties (middle adulthood) most of us have not done it all. Some of us are forced to restart our careers due to downsizing, soft industries, red flags in our company, being passed-over etc. In some cases we need to get away from a not-so-perfect situation or jump-start a stalled career. In others, we are searching for personal self-development or for a second career or to strike out on our own.

For these reasons and any number of others, most professionals will experience changes, or even upheaval, in mid-life.  The answer in not “to buy a Harley”.  According to the U.S. Department of Labor and the Job Search Handbook, most professionals will undergo seven to eleven job changes and two to three career changes over the course of their careers. Not only is the market demand for selected skills and career fields changing, but so are our roles as professionals and the way we manage our careers. Thus, career planning is more important than ever.

If you are in middle-adulthood and wondering what to do for the remainder of your career (and assuming that early retirement is not in the picture), don’t panic. I have a simple three-step process that I have found in my many years in career marketing to make all the difference in the world.

First, you need to get to know yourself and what it is that you enjoy most; what it is that when doing it does not feel like work. Dr. Charles Ehl, former Dean of Continuing Education at Stonehill College in Easton, MA: “Regardless of past industry or direction, people can be empowered to control their professional destiny through an approach that fuses self-needs analysis, good targeted research and tactical planning in the use of certain techniques beginning with getting to know themselves.”  By that Dr. Ehl means understanding for themselves–about themselves: What it is that they really value; what they feel they stand for; what it is that drives them to do what they do; what it is they enjoy doing most–are most passionate about; and finally, although it doesn’t necessarily end with this, where they are looking to take themselves, why, and with what end in mind.  Through this exercise, the notion of your optimal market will emerge. For example: If you find that your interest in creative writing is so great, you find you are happiest when you are engaged in it, perhaps a move into editing or speech writing, or a move into the publishing industry at large; or developing newsletters for an association, entering the advertising arena or other creative industries may be best.

Second, you need to figure out how to attract your audience - contacts that can help you move towards your goals. Do what politicians do: Get outside impartial viewpoints to provide you with some idea of how others (your audience) may perceive you, and learn about them–do your research. Developing a networking communication strategy and your “talking points” with this knowledge and the fresh ideas about you that others can provide; and with a focus on the needs of your target audience, you will separate yourself from the average person and ultimately paint your own landscape.

Finally, once you have your audience’s attention, you will need to talk about yourself.  I suggest the Story Technique. Compelling stories which incorporate specific examples of your experiences, achievements and contributions that relate to your market and put you in the right light will be remembered well after the interview is over.  People remember your stories more than duties and responsibilities.  Here are three concepts that will help you when developing a communication strategy and talking about yourself:
Success concepts:
You must have a purpose, a personal philosophy. In today’s uniquely competitive job market the lifespan in an executive position may only be 5 years in some cases (clearly, not as Evergreen as it once was).  Jim Sabin, a CIO with The Shaw Group, Inc. the leading Global provider of services to the power industry: “With executive positions in IT, for example, as interchangeable as mouse pads, the need for a sharply honed purpose for ‘Plan A’ and stratagem for ‘B and C’ for that matter, has never been more apparent.”  “Purpose” could be hat you feel is important in running a business or what you feel is the business of business; it must be carefully thought out and presented. Think in terms of a one-page presentation to the company directors. You will need to come up with as many success concepts as you can from your past professional experiences and when you begin to assemble your thoughts for your presentation, try to include as many of them as possible.  Here are some relevant themes to consider:

1. A personal mission statement
2. Core values; core strengths
3. Driving factors; motivations
4. Level of integrity
5. Value you place on quality
6. Visioning, strategy and facilitating
7. Performance standards you hold for yourself
8. Professional goals
9. Leadership philosophy
10. Management style
11. Communications capabilities
12. New technologies
13. Strategic client relations
14. Level of organization
15. Practiced client/public relations
16. Leveraging skill-sets
17. Creative expertise
18. Your business knowledge base
19. Your market intelligence
20. Managing resources (people; money; technology; personal knowledge…)
21. Your community outside of business

Trigger Concepts
The easiest way to attract people’s attention and to help them get to know you is to adopt simple words and phrases which will have an immediate “trigger” effect, such as:

1. Strategic partnering
2. Managing deadlines
3. Impact presentations
4. Leadership value
5. Success bringing products to markets
6. Entrepreneurial talents in seeing opportunity
7. Driving revenues; growing profits
8. Structuring or restructuring
9. Building responsible teams
10. Balancing business practices and people dynamics
11. Enterprise development
12. Bringing ideas to utility
13. Business-oriented intuition
14. Staying ahead of the curve
15. Crafting solutions
16. Driving “large dollar” projects
17. Managing talent
18. Managing change-driven environments
19. bottom-line results-oriented
20. Start up; high growth; rapid improvement
21. Sense of command
22. Leading into new markets

The combination of a Philosophy, along with Success and Trigger Concepts is a winning one. It provides you with some control and sets the tone for all future discussions and posturing for negotiations.

Story Technique
One of the most important tenets in product marketing applies here in career planning: Differentiate your product from others in the marketplace.

John Folcarelli, Labor Attorney and Human Resource Manager for Laidlaw Education: “Most people involved in planning their career tend to fly by the seat of their pants rather than exercise control over the process as it unfolds. For instance, in the interview, instead of simply reacting to questions imposed by the interviewer, the job candidate can and should attempt to take on more responsibility for influencing the direction of the interview.”  The story technique does just that. It is a method for bridging your qualifications and past successes to the needs the targeted company. It is also a great example of how to use your Success and Trigger Concepts in presenting the right image and distinguishing you from the competition.

Your stories should tell about actions that you took to bring about a positive change. Story techniques cover the “before”, the “action” and the “after.” You can begin by first explaining what had existed that required your attention: Situation. Next consider how this new challenge may benefit the enterprise and you: Opportunity.  Briefly describe what you did: Action. Lastly, describe the outcome and its benefits to you and the company: Results.  Here are examples of the use of the story technique–“S.O.A.R”:

Example 1:
(S) I was selected by top management to lead a corporation into the US market and…
(O) recognized an opportunity to have a big impact on operations at a wholly owned subsidiary.
(A) Over a two-year period I developed a cohesive staff which went on to develop 1.5 million square feet of office properties at $350 million which…
(R) produced over $25 million of net operating income and $4 million net cash flow for the corporation resulting a promotion to President of the wholly owned subsidiary.

Example 2:
(S) The ownership of a physical therapy and sports medicine company recruited me to…
(O) lead, grow and concurrently stabilize a $4.7 million health systems company staffed by 85 professionals.
(A) I developed and executed all business plans and opened new markets in industrial and corporate health promotions…
(R) positioning the company for its very profitable $6.6 million sale, $2.5 million more than the ownership had anticipated.

A strong, well-articulated Philosophy, sound Success and Trigger Concepts, and persuasive examples of your successes using the Story Techniques (SOAR) are essential for securing a quality position. 

MORE THAN JUST A TASK
There is certainly more to consider beyond these concepts. Nonetheless, the purpose here is to stimulate your thinking if your situation calls for a serious look at your career. There are times when a simple career adjustment may be called for and other times when a complete change is necessary. In any case, restarting your career in middle-adulthood can be one of the most rewarding experiences in your life.  Approach it with enthusiasm, dedication and confidence (but for goodness sake, don’t forget “technique”).

Rob Taub, a native of New York residing in Boston MA, is the Director the RLS Executive Group N.E. of RL Stevens & Associates, a corporate and private career marketing firm.  He has also been active as a fund-raiser for Technology in Education, an auctioneer with WGBH Public Television, a debate moderator with Community Access Television, an instru
Author Website: http://www.ExecutiveCareerSolutions.com

Article courtesy of Recruiting Blogswap a content exchange service sponsored by CollegeRecruiter.com, a leading site for college students looking for internships and recent graduates searching entry level jobs and other career opportunities

If you’ve ever asked yourself this question, ask yourself a different question - how hard is it to ride a bike? The answer is simple: If you know what you’re doing, it’s easy.

So, how do I ride into the right job for me? You’re on the internet, and this information superhighway has many paths to the right job. All you need to know is what direction to go.

Before you set off on your journey, you should know something about where you’re headed. The individuals who do the hiring (let’s call them “Hiring Managers”) are people just like you and me. In most cases Hiring Managers have this hiring responsibility only for as long as it takes to fill a position, then they go back to their other work. Yet, once they’ve made a hiring decision their superiors will continue to evaluate them based on the performance of the new employee.

And so they want to find someone who will make them look good, and they want to do it quickly and efficiently so they can get back to their own jobs.

Hiring Managers have many candidate searching tools available to them; the efficiency of the internet pretty much assures it will be used in virtually every search to fill a job. If you want to get to the point where you can make an impression (the interview) you need to understand how Hiring Managers find people to interview.

There are 3 common ways Hiring Managers use the internet:
1. Post Jobs
2. Search for Resumes
3. Network (with people they know)

Of course every Hiring Manager is different, but each will use some combination of these resources. Let’s look at how each is used.

Hiring Managers who Post Jobs.
This means the Hiring Manager reviews resumes as they come to him/her. To handle the volume of resumes received most companies use technology to “rank” resumes based on the skill sets required for the position. As a result, Hiring Managers only need to review the first 30 - 50 resumes.

To give your resume a better chance of review by a person, your resume should highlight your skills. And don’t just list your skills (aka “keyword padding”) - because many of the “ranking engines” evaluate the words around the skills keywords to weight the importance of each. Highlighting your skills means you describe how each enhances your ability to perform the duties of the position. Do this by describing how you have used each of your skill sets in previous positions, or how you expect to apply each in the position for which you are applying. You should also list your proficiency with each.

Hiring Managers who Search for Resumes.
This is the same as addressing Hiring Managers who post jobs, except the specific words used by Hiring Managers when they type in their search may have synonyms. When highlighting your skills you should also include some of the more common variations of the word(s).

For example, if you are a “web developer”, you should also describe yourself in your resume as a “web site programmer” even a “website programmer” (notice the omitted space); or if you are a “truck driver”, you should also describe yourself as a “Class C Driver” or “Certified Driver”. You know your abilities best, and you know how they’ve been described by others - make sure your resume has EVERY variation of each important skill you possess.

Hiring Managers who Network.
The simple truth is this: A Hiring Manager is a person (just like you and I) who needs to fill a position, AND will be evaluated in the future based on this hiring decision.

EVERY Hiring Manager is concerned about your ability to make them look good. This is worth repeating: The individual who hires you WILL be judged by how well you do your job. As humans we make decisions based on our comfort levels. And we’re more comfortable making a decision when others approve of what we are doing.

This means - you need to let everyone you know that you are looking for a job and encourage them to tell their friends. When there are 2 or 3 potential people to hire, and one who is recommended by a friend (or a friend of a friend), the person with the recommendation is given more thought. This is basic human psychology.

Contact all of your friends, get them a copy of your resume, and ask them to let their friends know what you are looking for. And be proactive – ask your friends who they know who is doing a job similar to what you seek, and expand your network by getting in contact with those people. Your friends have friends who have friends (and so on…) who have friends who need to rid themselves of their “Hiring Helmet” and find someone they can trust to do the job right.

In another article we’ll discuss other methods of circulating your resume. With a resume highlighting your accomplishments and skills, you are on the path towards finding the right job for you.

A good job is one that you love. Loving a job means that you like what you are doing, and you like the people you work with on a daily basis. We are all the happiest we can be when we enjoy what we are doing so much that it is no longer “work.”

Interview preparation begins today, right now.
Evaluate yourself by learning what it is that YOU like. Take a few minutes to ask yourself these questions:

• What do I like doing?
• What do I enjoy doing when I’m not working?
• When was the last time I was really having fun? What was I doing then?
• What do I like about my friends; what types of people are my friends, and what qualities do they have that I like?
• In previous jobs, or even when working on previous projects, what stood out about the people I liked?

As we all know, the world is not always about what we like. Now ask yourself the same questions from above, but ask yourself what you do NOT like.

These questions (what I like and what I dislike) are the foundation of finding a good job. Your answers to these questions will change from day to day, and over time. Continue to ask yourself these questions, on a daily basis; as you grow older and experience more things, your answers to these questions will change, and so should your career.

What the interviewers know.
It is a natural human instinct to migrate towards other people who enjoy whatever they are doing. When you sit down for an interview, you must recognize that the people who hire you will not only evaluate you, but your job performance will also reflect upon them. If you are a good, contributing employee, it reflects positively on them; if you are not a good employee, it reflects negatively on them.

What you, the job seeker, needs to know is that no one is 100% qualified for any job; the interviewers know this. An interviewers definition of the “best person for the job” obviously takes into account your skills, but more importantly, they are looking at your past performance, and how well you will fit in with their company.

Make every day a GREAT day.
It’s a lot easier than it sounds. An interviewer will see through a fake smile; every job seeker has one. What will set you apart is what you have accomplished (or in interviewer terms “past performance”). A job seeker who is able to speak about things that he/she has accomplished radiates excitement, fun and competence.

And it is also a natural human instinct to feel pride in our accomplishments – it shows that we enjoy what we do, and we’re not just “collecting a paycheck.” Interviewers are looking for a new employee who will contribute to the company and will work well with others.

Creating Accomplishments
Ask yourself this question:
Over the past 3 months, what is one thing that I have done that I feel was an accomplishment – something that made me proud of myself?

Your answer is either business related, or something in your personal life (non-work related). Both answers are acceptable.

Now, preparing for an interview, think of what this job will require of you, and find at least one business and one personal accomplishment that you can relate to this job. How might your accomplishments help you to do this job better than any other candidate for the job?

You may find it necessary to create an accomplishment, and this is easy. Whether you are a fork lift driver, painter, accountant, or doctor, every day there are things that you can do that will help your company, or help others. You do and see things that no one else does. When you wake up in the morning, think about making a difference.

As a fork lift driver you are told where to pick up pallets, and where to put them. You may find that you can travel less distance (saving the company money) if the pallets are first unloaded in a different area of the warehouse. As a painter you may notice that a newspaper advertisement from a competing paint store (to your supplier) is offering your supplies at a lower cost. You can point this out to your manager, who can either purchase from the lower cost supplier, or negotiate lower costs with your current supplier.

Everything your company does, it does for a reason – the reason for doing things may have changed, but the old processes are still being used. Change brings opportunity for you to make a difference.

Desire to make a difference is a sign of success.
Interviewers want to hire people who want to succeed. Demonstrate with your accomplishments that you are someone who wants to exceed. The truth is, the majority of people just want a job, and these are the people who, when hired, reflect negatively on the interviewer.

Desiring to make a difference changes your day for the better.
When we “want” to do something, we are much happier, and ultimately better employees. Complaining about our jobs is the most common topic of conversation with our friends and family, and it’s negative conversation. But discussing ways to improve things is intriguing, and will lead to even newer and better ideas for change.

The first few weeks of a new job are usually our happiest times. After the job becomes “normal” we revert back to “collecting a paycheck.” It doesn’t have to be this way.

If you were, or are, just “collecting a paycheck” – who do you think will want to hire you?

Accomplished people “choose” their jobs.
It’s true. If you desire to make a change, and you continue to create accomplishments for yourself, you are different from the majority of people, and there are HUNDREDS of new and better jobs for you.

Focus on making a difference, and having fun, even if the job you are doing isn’t what you really want to do. As you become more and more accomplished in making a difference, continue to ask yourself what you like to do. This attitude of making a difference will open your eyes to many new possibilities for yourself, and your career. And when jobs in your chosen field are available, YOU will be the one who is hired.

Preparation is when “luck” meets “opportunity.”
Make every day a GREAT DAY by focusing on making a difference.

Welcome to GadBall Blog, a new blog from all of us here at GadBall.com.

As far as we know, GadBall is the only free resume distribution site on the internet. Using our automated distribution technology and our job board contacts, we built a site to take the pain out of looking for a job. Let’s face it, looking for a job is no fun – and it requires a lot of repetitive work. We feel you should only have to type your resume once, then have the ability to distribute it and manage it throughout all employment sites in cyberspace.

Does it sound good so far? We want GadBall to be more than a resume distribution site, we really want to help you get a great job. So, we give you a free GadBall email account – actually you get 2 email accounts (1 for personal use; 1 for your job search). All email responses to your GadBall distributed resume come back to your GadBall Career email account.

We’ve been doing this for a few years, now, and we help an average of 10,000 new job seekers every month.

Searching for a job is temporary for most people – helping people search for jobs is a career for us. With this blog we hope to provide a window into the chaotic world of searching for a job.

Please contact us with your thoughts on how we can improve.

Thanks for stopping by,

Keith Duarte
Founder, GadBall