Assessing Your Career Plan

Is This Your Dream Job? If Not, Why Not?

June 7, 2013 By Katherine Burik

When I was hiring people, I often asked this question, “Why did you get into that field?”

The answer could be very revealing.

Think about these different responses from an engineer:

“I was always taking stuff apart and putting it back together when I was a kid. My folks didn’t like it much. But my high school science teacher suggested engineering and it really fit me well.”

“My dad is an engineer and he said this would be a good field for me. So I took engineering in college and here I am.”

Which candidate would be a better engineer in your company if you were hiring?

Which engineer is living his/her dream? Which engineer is living someone else’s dream?

Why did you get into your field? Is it your passion? If not, what is your passion and why are you not doing that now?

We will be working an average of 30 or 40 years. Can you imagine doing your current job every day for 8+ hours a day for the next 30 years? If you just groaned, maybe you need to consider whether this line of work is your passion or if there is something else you would rather do with your life.

How can College Graduates Avoid the Minimum-Wage Trap?

April 2, 2013 By Katherine Burik

An interesting article points out that 240,000 college graduates had minimum-wage jobs last year. What a shame. How can that be? I decided to look into this phenomenon.

I needed a pool to consider. I have had recent college grads as clients at The Interview Doctor who are unemployed and working at minimum wage. I also checked in with my 24 year old college graduate daughter for an informal assessment of her friends.

Marissa has worked steadily since her graduation in her chosen profession. Most of her friends are also working in their chosen professions as teachers, doctors, college professors, political operatives (like Marissa), and various business specialties. Some of her friends have gone to graduate school.

Two factors seem to separate recent college graduates who are fully employed in their chosen profession and those under employed or working at low wages: Networking and knowing exactly what you want.

Networking is critical. In Marissa’s circle of political operatives the folks who called everyone they know and leaned on connections with persistence are currently working at good jobs.

She and her friends all finished the last election cycle at the same time at the end of November. Marissa was on the phone constantly and landed a great job in Washington DC. Tia called her old bosses repeatedly and also found a good job in DC a few weeks later. Rob and Andrew have done no networking and are still unemployed, living on friends’ couches. They will get a job eventually but picking up the phone and making some calls will speed things up.

Know exactly what you want. Marissa and her friends know exactly what they want. They don’t just work in politics. They do very specific jobs with specific titles that are valued by specific people and organizations. This is critical.

No one can help you with this. You must say exactly what you want and you must say it loud and confidently.

I had an inquiry from a young woman with a marvelous educational background. She just finished an assignment with AmeriCorps after college and decided she wanted to work in non-profit. That is not enough. Until she decides exactly what kind of job in non-profit she wants and why, she will probably not find a job. How can she network? Who will she call and what will she say when she calls? Her resume and LinkedIn profiles will be generic and not attract any attention.

Something is missing. Notice I did not talk about the kind of degree these folks have? I do not think degree matters that much. Why does an engineer have an easier time finding a job? A small portion of the reason is that engineers are always needed in American business. A larger part of it is that an engineer college graduate already knows exactly that they want to do. They are an engineer. More than that, they are a specific kind of engineer whose education means they can work in a very specific kind of job.

Knowing what you want and networking to get it trumps degree any day.

Five Ways Job Seekers Can Avoid New Hire Failure

March 25, 2013 By Katherine Burik

5 ways new job seekers can avoide In our last blog (“Get the Right Cultural Fit in your Next Job”, March 21, 2013), we talked about a 2005 study by Leadership IQ showing that “46% of newly hired employees will fail within 18 months while only 19% achieve unequivocal success.”

According to the study, poor interpersonal skills are the primary reason these new hires fail. It breaks down like this:

26% cannot accept feedback

23% are unable to understand and manage emotions

17% lack the necessary motivation to excel

15% have the wrong temperament for the job

11% lack necessary technical skills

This is kind of scary to job seekers. From the job seeker point of view, job seekers have almost a 50/50 chance of accepting a job that is wrong for them, a job that will end in termination. No one wants that.

Although the hiring manager has the power to extend an offer, job seekers have a responsibility to themselves to make sure they fit. Consider it self-defense.

Here are five ways job seekers can avoid new hire failure:

Do your research. What is the company reputation? Financial results? Who do you know who works there? Can you talk to them? What is it like to work there? Learn about products, marketing, and the website.
Be prepared. Know what you want to share and what you want to learn. Have your questions already prepared. Know how you want to answer the frequently asked questions and practice so your responses are smooth.
Know who you are and what you have to offer. Take responsibility for making sure the hiring manager knows too so they can test whether you will fit. Try to meet other people on the team to see how well you will mesh with them.
Ask good questions. How do they set objectives and provide feedback? Probe beyond standard performance appraisal processes to find out more. How does the team operate? Who do they interact with? What defines success? What happened to the last person in the job?
Evaluate carefully. Listen to your gut a little. Do you feel comfortable? Do you like these people? Can you imagine spending hours upon hours with them? How do they set objectives? How will you be evaluated? How do they communicate? Does the way they communicate with each other match with the way you like to communicate?

Take responsibility to make sure the job you accept is a great fit for your skills, ability, and behavior. Increase the odds that you will be an unequivocal success!

Does your job search plan leak?

March 18, 2013 By Katherine Burik

boat picture The email came across my desk. “All Boats Leak” by Seth Godin. Intriguing. You see I am on an extended boat trip. “All Boats Leak” is not in our lexicon. All boats do not leak. Our boat does not leak. You don’t want a leaky boat when you are in deep water. So I had to open this email.

All boats leak

There’s always a defect, always a slow drip, somewhere. Every plan, every organization, every venture has a glitch.

The question isn’t, “is this perfect?” The question is, “will this get me there?”

Sometimes we make the mistake of ignoring the big leaks, the ones that threaten our journey.

More often, though, we’re so busy fixing tiny leaks that we get distracted from the real goal, which is to go somewhere.

I was thinking literally and Seth, as usual, was thinking metaphorically. He is right too. “There is always a defect, always a slow drip, somewhere.” It is a concept worth exploring for job seekers.

Every job seeker needs a plan. Without a plan you just flounder around wasting energy. You don’t get anywhere. At least with a plan you have a valid chance of finding the job you want. Your plan outlines your goal and the tactics you plan to use to achieve the goal. Your plan is as detailed as you want it to be.

Seth’s point is valid. Every plan probably has a hidden defect somewhere. You don’t create a glitch on purpose. You don’t want a leaky boat. My boat never leaks. Until it does. Then what do you do?

The measure of a person is not making a mistake (getting a leak in the boat). It is what he does with it that really counts. How do you react to problems and distractions – leaks if you will? Do you beat yourself up and throw in the towel? Or do you figure out how to respond and go forward anyway? Fix the leak and start again.

Small leaks can be just as distracting as big leaks and often turn into big leaks if neglected. So you have to pay attention to what is going on around you. Adjust to the subtle messages you pick up about leaks, distractions, and roadblocks that must be acknowledged and accounted for.

There is always a glitch somewhere. Don’t let glitches, leaks, and problems distract you from your ultimate goal. Create a plan, adjust for minor changes, but stay the course. You will get there eventually maybe a little damp but smarter nonetheless.

Solving the Job Search Puzzle

March 1, 2013 By Katherine Burik

I have a guilty confession. It is embarrassing really. I love Free Cell Solitaire. I grew up playing Solitaire with a deck of cards. My grandmother taught me. We would sit at opposite ends of the dining room table and play for hours, talking quietly about this and that. She knew lots of games. When I got my first computer I started playing Solitaire to learn how to use the mouse at first. Sure. That’s what they tell you. Then I got addicted.

Playing Solitaire on the computer is different from playing with a deck of cards. For one thing, you can’t cheat in computer Solitaire. Go figure. How do you win then? And the computer keeps statistics. If you can’t cheat that means you lose sometimes. How can you look like a winner when you can’t cheat?

Then I became intrigued with the strategy of the game. I want to win all the time in everything. So Solitaire without cheating is difficult and challenging. Free Cell Solitaire is totally strategic. Cards are dealt randomly. There are only a few ways to win each game. If you mess up you can press Control Z to go back to the beginning and start all over again without counting the game as a loss. I have a 98% success rate right now!! I feel great about my ability to solve problems.

Sometimes I play Solitaire while I am on the phone. It helps me concentrate better. Really! There is an active training technique that says adults concentrate better with their heads when their hands are busy. That is true with me. When my hands are busy with Solitaire my mind works better and I can concentrate better on what I am hearing.

Finding a job requires a lot of concentration. It is like a puzzle. There is more than a single way to solve the puzzle. This is true whether you are job hunting while employed or unemployed.

You have many options. You must knock on many doors before you find the right combination of people, opportunities, and chemistry that is right for you. You can’t just follow one lead until it plays out then develop another lead. Sometimes a lead is a dead end. You should have lots of balls in play at the same time so dead ends don’t bother you as much. Sometimes you have to press Control Z to restart the game. It does not count as a loss unless you give up, so do not give up. Just restart.

While you are searching you have to keep your hands busy. You have to find something productive or maybe not so productive, to do while you are searching. Here are some ideas how to stay productive with your hands while your mind works on the job search strategy:

Exercise. Regular exercise releases endorphins that make you feel better. It fills you with positive energy. It also forces you to work with one part of your body while your unconscious mind works on the puzzle.
Get out of the house. Go to a museum on free day. Walk in the park. Focusing on something with your eyes refreshes you while your mind works on the puzzle.
Do something else productive. Join Toastmasters and learn how to speak in front of groups. Volunteer at a local charitable organization. Choose something you love and something you can schedule into your week.
Attend regular business networking groups like your business association or a job seekers club. You will meet new people, expand your network, and open new opportunities.
Meditate. Clear your mind completely for a few minutes every day. See where the energy takes you.

Keep your mind and body active and stimulated so you can solve the bigger puzzles in life. The Interview Doctor offers proven techniques to shorten your job search. It is worth the investment.