Career Opportunities

Many years ago, I could almost forgive people for not being as heavily into email as I was. Email was somewhat new. It was a bit technical to use. Sure, people who opted out using email made my life a little more difficult. They made it harder to coordinate group activities like parties, snacks for the Little League team, etc . You always had to make sure you called certain people on the phone to make sure they were in the loop and such. Still, you knew that not everyone “got” email. These days are long gone, though. Today, someone who doesn’t use email is akin to someone who doesn’t know how to dial a telephone. Email is now a basic life-skill — a basic tool in organizing our lives and coordinating and communicating with others.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Listen to this Podcast

Does this sounds familiar? It should. Social media — like Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and more — is now no longer something you can ignore. Opting out of social media is no longer an option unless you wish to ignore one of the most important career and life-enhancing tools available today. Sure, you can get by without social media, but ignore it and you are making a decision to stop progressing in your career. If you do not engage in social media, you will see your work peers and your family progressing far beyond you as they use these tools in enhance their lives. You won’t just be standing in place. You won’t be maintaining the status quo. You will be falling behind at an ever growing rate.

It is a harsh world

Does this sound harsh? Yes, I agree that it sounds harsh and a bit unrealistic. Surely social media can’t be that important? It is just a fad, right? It is important to remember that the train was just as fad. The telegraph was just a fad — the phonograph — the telephone — the “taking picture” — the automobile — just a fad — until it became an integral part of our lives. The Internet — and social media as part of that — is much the same. It is a fad until the point where it ultimately and dramatically changes our lives. Surely we have learned by now that there comes a time when a new technology ceases to be a fad and becomes a fact of life. For social media, now is that time.

This doesn’t mean, of course, that you can’t control your usage of social media. You still get to decide when, where and whom you connect with. Opting out, though, is not an option. If you try, you will be punished. You will place yourself on the sidelines. You will be less informed and less available to opportunities. It would be liked opting out of using the telephone, radio, computer, television or other useful tool.

…But…

Of course, even with my plain speaking about social media and the effects that opting out can cause, I often get a lot of push back from people. “It’s dumb. The people on social media are stupid. it rots your mind. It wastes your time. it has no value.” Say what you like, I think that social media has proven its effectiveness for me and others. Do people use it for stupid things? Can they spend too much time there? Do they annoy other people? Sure, but then again, people do that in the face-to-face world, too. Why should social media be any different? These are issues with the human race in general, not specifically social media.

Over the years, I have tried to gently bring people along on this crazy journey that is technology, and specifically the Internet. I have tried to show them the value and usefulness of new media, podcasting and social media. We have now reached a time though when one must be blunt. I must be direct, because you, or someone you know, needs to hear this message. Opting out of social media is no longer an option if you want to build the career you deserve. While there can be a few issues with using social media, the benefits to be had far outweigh them. At my own age of 47, I know I have decades of my career ahead. I know that I cannot ignore the power of social media any more than you can. For one final, over-dramatic flourish, opting out is like the caveman opting out of this dangerous new technology called fire. After all, it was only a fad.

iTunes Review | Podcast Alley

Reader/Listener Line @ 818-804-5049

ex·trin·sic/ikˈstrinzik/Adjective

1. Not part of the essential nature of someone or something; coming or operating from outside.

in·trin·sic/inˈtrinzik/Adjective

1. Belonging naturally; essential.

While engaging in the weekly #careerchat a few weeks ago, I was once again reminded of how much has changed in the work world over my last 25 years as a worker and careerist. We were discussing networking for job leads and career development and a lot of the advice seemed old fashioned to me. There was a discussion of setting up informational interviews, resumes, references and such and it seemed that many people were missing the deep changes that have taken place in the work world. After chatting for a while, I was finally able to put my finger on the nature of these changes.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Listen to this Podcast

We used to think of job hunting as an extrinsic activity — one outside the normal realms of work and life. We only really engaged in networking and resume development when we were actively looking for a job. Once happily ensconced in a company, all our focus turned to moving up the ranks with little thought towards what might be happening at other companies or even, more dramatically, in other careers. We stayed happy in our cocoon until something forced us to once again enter our job search mode.

Today that world no longer exists. Job search and career building are not something we do just when we are out of work, it is (or should be) intrinsic to our lives. In today’s hyper-connected world we never know where our next job, project or even career is coming from. We could just as easily find a new job through a Facebook contact as a classified ad. We might make a connection at the coffee shop that changes our entire life. You never know, so you must always be engaged and aware of opportunities. Career building is not something that exists outside your daily life — it is a deep and dramatic part of it.

In the chat we discussed setting up informational interviews with people who work for companies, or in careers, that might interest you. I would say, though, that you don’t need to do that in some formal way based more in the 1960’s than 2011. Every person you meet potentially has some information you want or need. If not, they might have a friend that works in a business that deeply interests you. Instead of making the networking process extrinsic, make it a part of your everyday life and more importantly a deep part of you.

This can be a big change for some people who like to compartmentalize their lives. In the past, work was work and life was life, but for better or worse, those lines have blurred. Instead of trying to keep them apart, you need to learn how intertwined they truly are. Once you understand this integration, you will be better prepared to take advantage when opportunity strikes — better prepared to respond intrinsically — when an opportunity appears.

Starting today, abandon the concept of job search as something you only engage in at specific times and places. Building the career you deserve is an intrinsic part of your everyday life, not some outward set dressing you put on when needed. You don’t need specific times and places to network, to hand out resumes to engage possible employers. The fact is that is happening around you everyday whether you are aware of it or not. Become more aware of these basic changes in the work world and open yourself more to them. In this way, I think you will find that your opportunities will grow, your contacts will deepen and your job search will be much more productive.

iTunes Review | Podcast Alley

Reader/Listener Line @ 818-804-5049

Back in the day, your Rolodex™ was your breadbox, your money maker and in some cases your lifeline. Today, whether you store your contacts on paper, in Gmail or some fancy CRM system, these descriptions are still valid. A lot of life and business is still about who you know.  Those contacts — both online and face-to-face — are golden. While the image of the smarmy salesman making endless phone calls is stuck in many minds, using your virtual rolodex to build your career and your income is as important as it ever was. Use your rolodex for good, not evil, and you can take your career to new heights.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Listen to this Podcast

These days your contacts and network are about much more than just sales. In a large way, the success of your career depends upon relationships — who are you connected with can help you achieve your goals while also, hopefully, achieving some of their own. Will there be sales involved? Of course, but as every good salesman knows, you have to connect before you can sell. You will also find that sharing and helping others often results in big returns to you in ways you sometimes can’t imagine. Relationships that lead to income are just as important, and maybe more so, than the income itself. It is often these relationships that lead to larger projects that far outweigh the more immediate rewards of a quick sale.

First, if you don’t have a decent contact list and contact manager, get one. There are a host of software programs and online services out there to help you stay connected to your friends and business contacts. Since I am a big Gmail user, my contacts tend to reside in my Gmail contacts list, but this list also syncs up with all my computers and, most importantly, my iPhone, so I can access it wherever I am. With the recent addition of the CardMunch app, I now often enter contact information when I meet someone or very soon afterward. All it takes is a quick photo of a business card and all that information is captured.  Don’t get me wrong, it doesn’t require any technology at all to maintain your contact list. You can do it on paper, it just might be a little easier electronically. It is far more important, though to maintain your list than to worry about how you do it.

Second, make a point, everyday, to randomly select someone from your list who you haven’t spoken with recently and contact them. If you have something useful to share with them, all the better, but even a simple “follow-up” email is useful. So often when I do this, I receive a response like this: “I’ve been meaning to talk to you about a new problem, project, partnership, but I haven’t found the time. It is great that you called!”

Follow-up emails are a way of gently reminding people that you still exist — that you are still working — and that you might have something they need. We all get tied up in our own busy worlds so a quick “poke” is often what is needed to generate that new project — and hopefully new income.

Third, do the same not only with your standard email contacts, but also with those people you only know through social media. I have been randomly choosing one of my Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn contacts each day and checked out their profile, their recent updates (which I might have missed in the timeline as it streamed by), their photos and any other information I can find. This is so important if you want to deepen your relationship with these far flung contacts. You won’t run into them at the local coffee shop, but maybe they will be at an upcoming conference. The more your know about them — and the more you interact online — the more you can make of your face-to-face meetings.

It doesn’t take much time to connect with your contacts, but it can be dramatically effective in improving your work and career. Take a minute, right now, to find someone in your contact list, or among your Facebook friends, and reconnect with them. Ask them what recent projects they have been working on. Let them know what you have been doing. Work your contacts like a salesman whose income depends on it. Your goal and reward, though, is a closer relationship, not necessarily the big sale. Relationships are what will bring the money down the road and should be cultivated on a daily basis.

iTunes Review | Podcast Alley

Reader/Listener Line @ 818-804-5049

This weekend was the 4th of our free CareerCamp unconferences here in the Los Angeles area. You can learn more about what happened there on the web site at http://careercampscv.wordpress.com.

My first session of the day was a breakout discussion on social media and your career. (The audio from this session should be available both here on Career Opportunities and the CareerCampSCV web site.) During that discussion, I heard a common refrain, “What do I have to share, discuss, write about, blog ab out?” I have heard this many times before and I always work to dispel this myth.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Listen to this Podcast

Unfortunately, most of us often undervalue or devalue the unique knowledge that we have developed over the years. Even someone starting out in a career has learned some important lessons that could benefit others. Still, many of us hang our heads and proclaim we have nothing to offer to the world. Sometimes, in a slightly mean fashion, I will point out to people that if they have nothing to say about their work or their life, then they have much larger problems than just building their career. Most immediately understand what I mean. It is my effort to get them thinking about what they know and how important it might be to others.

What is an expert?

My definition of an expert is someone who has one more piece of information or one more experience than someone else. In reality, this means we are all experts at something — to someone. There will always be those around us who can benefit from our experience and our unique, specific knowledge. No two lives are the same and we will always have different experiences from those around us. Sure, we might think we all move through the same world and experience the same things, but it simply isn’t true.

We each have our own perception of experiences, even if we experience them at the same time as others. It is simply a part of being a unique human being. We might see the same concert, the same movie, work in a similar job at a similar company, but we experience them quite differently. Everything in our past and present effects how we perceive the future and changes it — sometimes in dramatic ways. This uniqueness is exactly what we have to share with others and exactly what they want most.

Your blog to the world

One of my first prescriptions for most people seeking to build their career using social media is to start a blog — start sharing their unique knowledge and experiences with others. As I am sure you have seen on occasion, though, many people start by simply sharing other people’s information. Sharing neat items you discover is great — you are acting as an information curator for those reading your blog — but it is more important to share your opinion, your analysis, your gut feeling of why something is important enough to share. People read your blog to hear YOUR opinion, not simple restatement of news that can be found elsewhere. Make sure you offer your take on the info to make it as useful as possible.

One amazing thing that occurs when you start a blog is that you start to finding things to share there. The mere act of having a place to put stuff lets you see exactly how much you have to share. It is easy to not share something if you have no place to post it. Your blog makes it easy and you will suddenly find yourself blogging more than you ever thought possible — simply because you have “a place for your stuff” as comedian George Carlin once said.

Don’t undervalue your own knowledge and experiences. I know it is very natural and very easy to do, but if you want to build the career you deserve, you must learn to recognize exactly what makes you unique — exactly what makes you special — and, more importantly to share that with those around you. Your goal in using these tool is to build your career by showing people “what you do and how well you do it.” Doing this on a daily basis, both face-to-face and online, could be the single most important thing to do for your career today.

iTunes Review | Podcast Alley

Reader/Listener Line @ 818-804-5049

I must confess that I didn’t watch the launch of the final Space Shuttle mission today. I couldn’t bring myself to be in a celebratory mood since I see today’s launch as yet another step in a long list of “can’t” in today’s America. We can’t do this. We can’t do that. Even worse, we can’t afford to do this or that. Can’t often has nothing to do with external realities of money or knowledge. It has much more to do with a lack of will. Can’t allows us an easy excuse to stop doing those things that are most important. Can’t allows us to continue a long, slow slide into mediocrity, seemingly without blame. “It’s not my fault, we can’t afford it!” We can do these important things if we are innovative and creative and if we find the ability to see the value that is often found in these long-term programs.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Listen to this Podcast

CareerCampSCV is just a week away! July 16, 2011 College of the Canyons

 

Get your FREE tickets today!

Not in the Southern California area? Organize your own CareerCamp in your area. Visit CareerCampInternational.com for more info!

Talk to any businessman or business expert today and they will constantly repeat the word innovation. I truly believe we need to innovate dramatically and in every way, but can’t is the enemy of innovation. Why innovate when we can simply abdicate our responsibilities to ourselves and others by saying, “It can’t be done!” Throughout its history, America has often been a place of infinite possibilities. In just my short lifetime we have gone from a black and white television to high-definition and 3D. We went from driving automobiles to putting men on the moon, to placing probes into the deepest parts of our solar system. We went from mechanical calculators to the home computer to the smart phone. We have proven we can innovate, if we want, but it seems we have lost our desire.

We can find a solution to hunger, the national debt, homelessness, unemployment, global competition and a host of other challenges facing us — or we can simply give up now and say we can’t do anything about them. I, for one, will not “go gently into that dark night”. Down that path lies madness and ruin as surely as anything that can be known.

Disinfecting ourselves from this can’t virus starts at a very personal level. In our own lives and work, we need to reject “can’t” as an answer and see it as the excuse that it is. We might not be able to accomplish something today, but it is almost guaranteed that we can accomplish it in the future if we want it enough.

If you fall into the trap of the constant can’t, your life and work will suffer. Your boss doesn’t care what you can’t do. Say can’t enough and you are likely to be out of a job — and that is probably the way it should be. Each day should be dedicated to doing something important, building something better, not an endless repetition of meaningless paper-shuffling. Facing adversity is part of every life. How we deal with it is unique. We can crawl back into our hole and ignore the problem or continue to look for a solution that we know is out there, waiting to be found.

Fight against can’t at every step. Question every can’t that enters into your life and work. There is no need to be angry or threatening about it, but figure out if the problem truly can’t be solved — today — or if someone simply doesn’t want to do the work to solve it. There is a deep difference between these two positions. Too often can’t arises out of lack of motivation or simple laziness. It is always easier to complain about something than doing the work to fix it. As a dedicated careerist, though, you must avoid it at all costs.

Next, attack the can’t that occurs in your groups, your departments, your unions, your businesses, your governments. Yes, some problems are very, very difficult and require bridging the gaps between dramatically different ideologies. That said, we can never let these differences prevent us from doing something. The first agreement that must be found is that something needs to happen or change. We must agree that it is in everyone’s best interest that something be decided. To sit still and say can’t doesn’t just hold up the status quo, it holds us back, leaves us behind and makes it even harder to get to where we need to be. Gridlock isn’t standing still — it means moving backwards at an ever more rapid rate.

I mourn the end of the Shuttle program and the can do attitudes of the people involved in its creation. When faced with can’t, they replied “maybe not yet, but soon. Then they went out and did it. We should all take a great lesson from the innovators that have changed so much in the last 40 years. We need to let them and their actions mentor us for the next 40 years and beyond. Even more important, we need to let them show us the way out of our can’t addiction and back to a more innovative, productive and simply better world.

iTunes Review | Podcast Alley

Reader/Listener Line @ 818-804-5049

Ah, the sweet smells and sounds of Summer are here. Hopefully, the pressures of life and work have eased up a bit, at least for the next few weeks. With my wife teaching at colleges full time and a son in junior high, our life tends to revolve around the school schedule, so right now we have a few moments to slow down and review our lives and see where we might be headed next.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Listen to this Podcast

CareerCampSCV is just over a month away! July 16, 2011 College of the Canyons

 

Get your FREE tickets today!

Not in the Southern California area? Organize your own CareerCamp in your area. Visit CareerCampInternational.com for more info!

It is easy for thoughts, tasks and projects to get lost during the height of the work and school year. There is simply so much competing for our time that it is inevitable that some things get shuffled off into storage or forgotten entirely. I realized the other day that I hadn’t picked up my guitar in months. I love playing guitar, but finding the time — any time — to sit and play just wasn’t in my schedule. I was busy, and due to being so busy, more tired than I normally might be. This is a dark road that leads to hours spent staring at the computer or the television.

If you have found yourself a little overwhelmed lately, now is the time to sit back with a cool beverage in a nice quiet spot and reflect on what the rest of the year has to offer. Sure you might be running around doing vacation worthy things, but there are always those down times in the evening when things get quiet and you can take a little time to think. For some of us, the beach is calling, but what a wonderful place to kick back and spend a little time on yourself, instead of your work.

First, take an inventory of those things you haven’t done in a while. I mentioned my guitar, but I am sure you have missed out on baseball games, gardening, bike rides, cooking and a host of other activities that you love. Think back over the last 12 months and try to see where they fell off your schedule. I can guarantee you that as you remember one thing it will trigger a host of other activities that have completely slipped your mind. Write them down and then, if you can, do one of them immediately. Pull out the guitar. Grab your tennis racket. Pick up your pen and have at it.

We hear a lot today about how we have to focus on one task, one job, one career with laser-like precision in order to be successful. I know that, for me, it is the moments away — the breaks — that enhance my productivity the most. Sure, I can hammer away a project for hours when needed, but I also need those frequent breaks that refresh and recharge me so I can go back and do even more and better quality work. I think you can benefit from that, too.

There is a law of diminishing returns when we are pushing for a deadline. We might be able to pull and all-nighter, but I question the quality of the work that results. This is often where errors creep in — bugs in programs, typos in documents, driving accidents. As humans we need breaks, both mental and physical. Don’t deny yourself or you might reduce both the quality and quantity of your work.

What haven’t you done lately that you really enjoy? Make a list and take the time to do one of them today. I am sure both your head and heart will benefit!

iTunes Review | Podcast Alley

Reader/Listener Line @ 818-804-5049

I have often said that I have some of my best ideas when I am talking with others. This seemed to be in effect this week when I was involved in the online Twitter chat #careerchat. As part of the conversation about networking I said,

“Sometimes we overthink networking, too. Engaging with people is simply/or should be, part of your life. #careerchat”

For whatever reason, this message resonated with many people in the chat and beyond. I was re-tweeted many times and it got me thinking about not only networking, but the host of other tasks we over complicate in our lives.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Listen to this Podcast

CareerCampSCV is just over a month away! July 16, 2011 College of the Canyons

 

Get your FREE tickets today!

Not in the Southern California area? Organize your own CareerCamp in your area. Visit CareerCampInternational.com for more info!

The fact is, we often make simple things complicated in our lives. During my college career, I was required to take a course, several actually, in Interpersonal Communications i.e. talking to one another. It sought to apply psychological science to the very human act of conversation. We even had these exercises called “dyadic encounters” where we had to converse with a student partner and notice all sorts of things about the conversation, beyond what was actually discussed.

Now sure, there is some benefit to studying things scientifically, but we can easily take this to ludicrous extremes. We can spend so much time analyzing something that we begin to ignore the very reason why we were doing it in the first place. This is certainly true with networking. I see people worry so much about connecting with X number of people or, even worse, X number of the “right” people that they ignore, if not offend those around them. For them, networking quickly becomes a game of numbers rather than a process of growth.

Networking, and other career-building efforts, should be an integral part of your life, not something you strap onto the side. Instead of worrying about numbers or specific people, learn to engage others, all others, in conversation. If you can do this with any regularity, you will find that the quantity and the quality of the people you meet will take care of itself. This doesn’t mean you don’t have goals of people you would like to meet and network with, only that this isn’t the driving force behind your networking.

We have all met people who are consumed with networking as a task. They dash from group to group, interrupt the conversation to hand out their business card and then dart away to the next group. How do you feel when someone does this? I know that I barely remember these people, beyond the fact that they annoyed me in some way. When people network in this way, they are showing what they truly believe — “this is all about me!” Rather selfish of them, if you think about it. In many ways, they are insuring that their networking efforts will fail. For me, without conversation, there is no networking, there is no benefit.

So, if you are headed to a networking event, or better an event where you will find networking opportunities, what should you do? First, walk in, pick up a beverage and join in the first conversation you meet. Listen first to gain the tone and topic of the conversation. Introduce yourself — by name, not some 30 second elevator speech — and simply converse. If this group of people isn’t discussing topics of interest to you, excuse yourself politely and join another conversation. Work your way around the room in this fashion. If you find one particular conversation that deeply interests you, don’t be afraid to stay there. Your deeper conversation with these people will far outweigh lighter conversations with many others. You are looking for those connections, those relationships that most interest you, not some fixed number of people.

If you want to know if you are networking in a way that I find most useful, check your own attitude. Are you enjoying yourself? Are you having interesting conversations? Are you meeting interesting people? This is how I know I have had a successful event. On the other hand, if you are worried because you didn’t hand out enough business cards — or get enough business cards — there might be a problem. Did you leave the event early because you had handed out all your cards? Are you unable to remember people’s names or anything you talked about during the evening? This is a clear sign of “hit and run” networking and you might want to adjust your methods.

Anything in life can be over-complicated if we let it. We constantly need to be evaluating how we are engaging with the world around us and not let the method of an activity subsume the value of the activity. Think beyond hard numbers — like business cards and resumes — and start thinking more about engaging with those around you. I think you will find that conversations are far more interesting and far more beneficial.

iTunes Review | Podcast Alley

Reader/Listener Line @ 818-804-5049

Watching your child move through their school years can always be quite illuminating. It brings back memories of your own childhood while also allowing you to learn a bit more from these experiences than you ever did as a child. Today’s lesson came from the student council elections at my son’s school. Watching parents and children alike discuss the results, I realized that too many of us think that doing good work requires some sort of title. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Listen to this Podcast

These thoughts arose from parents discussing how disappointed they would be if their child — who was a current member of the student council — lost the election and wouldn’t be able to do the fun things they enjoyed as part of that role. Without even thinking, my first response was — if they enjoy doing it, why should they stop. Even without the title of “class historian” they could still go out and take pictures and store memories for their classmates. While the current council member would get first priority of having their photos displayed at school, there is no reason the other child should stop doing something they enjoy.

Still, many people, not just children, think they need some official blessing to do something — whether in their life or in their work. They don’t feel they can, or should, take initiative until someone else, or some organization grants them permission. In my mind, this is why many people fail — or at least, fail to achieve everything they might. While I think the old adage of “It is better to ask for forgiveness than permission” is typically used to cover a number of interpersonal and corporate sins, there is a bit of truth there. If you find something useful, or fun, or interesting — do it! Don’t wait for someone else to give you permission. Give yourself permission and then run with it.

Sometimes, locked in our world of cubicles, offices or the shop floor, we severely limit our own capabilities. “I can’t offer up my idea on how to improve the supply chain. I am just a line worker. I shouldn’t point out these problems with the cash flow. I’m not an accountant. I’ll just keep my new product idea to myself. They wouldn’t listen to a receptionist like me anyway.”

We do this in our personal lives, too. “Why should I learn to play guitar? No one would want to listen to me anyway” or “I can’t start a catering business. I’m just a home cook. No one would hire me.” Leave the titles and official blessings behind and just do something that makes you happy. You don’t need the magic Blue Fairy to come down and turn Pinocchio into a real boy. You just need to do something you enjoy.

Sure, there will be some people around you who try to keep you in your pre-defined box. They will give you all sorts of reasons why you shouldn’t do this or that. The worst of them will make fun of you or actively try to sabotage your new activities. Ignore them. Their actions say far more about them than they say about you. Those around us can be threatened when they see us growing, changing or really being happy about something. Understand their fears, but don’t let them stop you from pursuing the things that make you happy. That would be the worst thing you could do. You would be actively limiting your own life simply because someone else doesn’t like it.

(As an aside, watch for signs that you are actively trying to limit someone else. We all can fall victim to envy, spite and fear from time to time. If you do this to others, they will almost certainly do the same to you.)

iTunes Review | Podcast Alley

Reader/Listener Line @ 818-804-5049

Many of the readers and listeners of Career Opportunities have been working for a long time. They have had several jobs and maybe even a few careers. It seems to take a few years before most people start to consider their work and how to build the career they deserve. That said, I am always excited when I meet someone at the beginning of their career that, for whatever reason, has the foresight to see that their career and their life are intimately intertwined. For these people, today’s column focuses on the things I would love to say to every person just starting out in their career. Take these lessons to heart and your career may become much easier.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Listen to this Podcast

Click the Products link at the top of the page for a complete list.

A second item is now available. A 4,600 word transcript from my talk, Career Compass: Finding Your Career North from CareerCampSCV.

No one looks after you better than you

When we are young, we are used to being looked after by those around us. Our parents guide and protect us. School limits our options to keep us on track. Our first jobs are little more than rote repetitions of the same, limited task.

It is important to remember, though, that no one cares about us as much as we care about ourselves. No one could, or should, be making the big decisions in our lives. Our friends and family often unknowingly have their own interest in directing us one way or another.

We can listen to advice, sure, but we need to make the final decisions for ourselves. If we turn over our lives and careers to someone else, they will make those decisions that are best for them, not necessarily for you. If you abdicate control over your career, there are others that will gladly tell you what to do. It isn’t out of evilness or spite, but rather because each individual can only make the best decisions for themselves.

Long term, not short term

We live today in a world filled with short term thinking. What will happen, tomorrow, this afternoon, an hour from now? You must remember, though, that your career is a long haul not a short hop. The work you are doing today is almost assuredly NOT the work you will be doing next week or next month. Job stability, for all its benefits and faults, is a long, lost dream. The only stability in your career today is that which you impose yourself. You need to be constantly planning for the future. You will, after all, eventually arrive there. You want to be prepared.

As you navigate through your career, think about how each job fits into the progression that leads to your future. Are you taking a job simply to have a job? Is this slowing, or reversing, your progress towards your future goals?  Are you doing what is in your best interest or fighting against it? Don’t let short term setbacks, family issues or bad decisions get in the way of your future career. Like building blocks, each job builds on those that came before. If you are constantly inserting bad blocks into the tower, you can’t be surprised when it comes tumbling down.

Do everything in your power to be financially secure

Many of the social safety nets we have grown-up with are in danger of collapsing, or being dismantled. Not since the 1920’s have we had to be so focused on our own finances and building our financial security. From the beginning of your career you need to build your own safety nets so that you don’t end up in a career-ending, life threatening crisis.

The first concern is actually the easiest. Start saving today! I know. Saving 10% of a $100 paycheck might seem worthless, or even impossible, but every cent you save buys you a tiny bit of career freedom. When you have money saved, you are protected from making bad job or career decisions simply because you need money.  There will come a time, perhaps several times, when you need your, for lack of a better term — Screw You Money. We can all be led astray by bad jobs, or jobs that turn bad. Panic can cause us to make some of the worst decisions of our lives. Being able to comfortably detach yourself from a job when needed limits the damage and allows you to move on without panic.

Being financially secure also allows you to address what I consider the largest issue facing workers today — lack of affordable health care. For the foreseeable future, the burden of health care is going to fall more and more on the individual. Company provided health care is often difficult to find and increasingly expensive. Know you options to carry you over between company or group health care plans, prepare for those times when you may not be covered directly. Having these plans in place will dramatically ease the stress  involved with moving from one job to another.

If you put some thought into each piece of my advice, you will be well on the way to building the career you deserve from the very start. It is never too early to start, but you will find that there can be major issues if you don’t start soon enough. There is really no excuse to not starting today. Don’t be afraid to address these issues. Don’t think you can ignore them because you are just starting out. The beginning of any endeavour is always a critical time. Don’t miss the opportunity to start out on the right foot.

iTunes Review | Podcast Alley

Reader/Listener Line @ 818-804-5049

I have been advising you to take control of your career for over 12 years here on Career Opportunities. I continue to believe that it is of the utmost importance that you manage your career instead of letting it manage you. Today, I am extending that advice beyond your work and your career. Starting today you must also take direct responsibility for your own education.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Listen to this Podcast

Click the Products link at the top of the page for a complete list.

A second item is now available. A 4,600 word transcript from my talk, Career Compass: Finding Your Career North from CareerCampSCV.

Through budget cuts and legislation, our American system of higher education is being priced beyond reach or destroyed entirely. While I will rue the day it occurs, there may come a time when many of you, or more likely, your children,  will find it difficult, if not impossible, to gain a college degree. In such a world, you may need to look to other, perhaps older, methods to gain the education you need to succeed.

Your self-directed education

Regardless of whether you are able to follow the traditional college route, or find yourself unable to attend school, you must take a self-directed approach to your education. While I was able to attend a state college in Ohio due to both federal and state grants, the official part of college only took me so far. I often tell others that I learned as much, if not more, during my time outside the classroom. I spent most nights managing or performing in theater productions during my time in college. During the day, I deeply explored my new found interest and skills with computers and technology. My class time gave me a good grounding in the educational basics that everyone needs, but it was my own self-directed behaviors that deeply effected my later life and work choices.

This self-directed education has continued ever since. While I have never returned to school for a graduate degree, I find that I have constructed my own, personal, degrees in business, technology and writing through my own initiative. Each of my days is filled with self-directed education, such as reading the current literature, following the wealth of Internet-based information, organizing projects and running my own business and household. Whenever I find myself interested in a topic, I dive in wholeheartedly, learning everything I can about the topic. You should do the same.

What interests you most, right now? Art? Politics? Literature? Management? Business? Pick a topic and dive deep. The knowledge and skills you gain will be very important for your current work and your overall career. Even if you don’t have a diploma stamped with your name and degree, if you are able to demonstrate knowledge and skill in a particular area, you will find opportunities available to you. Don’t dismiss the power of a self-directed education?

Mentors, Internships, Apprenticeships and more

As a college education becomes more difficult to achieve, the importance of personal mentors, apprenticeships and guilds increases. Are we returning to days of old, where an apprentice learned at the knee of their master for several years before striking out on their own? It is hard to say, but it is still worth your time to explore these ancient arrangements to direct your own education.

Who do you know, or who can you contact, that has the knowledge you desire? Are there professional groups dedicated to your area of interest? It is your job to find out. It is your job to pursue the information you desire and need. You may have to get very creative in developing your own apprenticeship. You will have to educate people about how these arrangements once worked and how they can be updated for the 21st century. Still, you must do it in order to take responsibility for your own education.

The fact is, you should probably be doing this even if you are enrolled in a traditional college environment. I firmly believe the combination of both methods will better prepare you for any career you might decide to pursue. Just as I learned much outside the classroom, you should, as well. Never ignore an opportunity to expand your education.

The world is changing and we must all change with it. It is impossible to say what will become of the higher education system over the next 10-20 years. Regardless of what occurs, though, you can help to insure your own career success by taking as much responsibility for your education as you do for your career. Direct your own education or others will do it for you. To paraphrase my constant admonition here at Career Opportunities, you need to “Build the Education You Deserve!”

iTunes Review | Podcast Alley

Reader/Listener Line @ 818-804-5049