career search tips

What Career Nugget is Growing Inside You?

January 30, 2018 By Marta Goertzen

Did you know that your career transition answers could be right inside you?

Isabel called the other day. She is frustrated in her job as a dentist. Putting her hands in disgusting mouths all day makes her gag. I wonder how she made it through dental school but that is neither here or there. She wants to do anything else. Maybe something involving science, maybe something sales-ey. Anything without spit.

HELP!

I get a lot of these kinds of calls. Insert any profession. I hear this from teachers, supply chain folks, accountants, sales people, marketing folks, HR people – just about anyone can be that frustrated with a career choice or with their current job. I sympathize with the frustration. I’ve been there myself.

I remember my frustration after getting laid off for the umpteenth time earlier in my career from a job I hated. A sympathetic friend, Stuart, an industrial psychologist came to my aid. He administered a battery of career assessments that revealed that I was in the right profession after all!

He wisely said, “You are in the right church, wrong pew!”

Sort of like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz, I had the ability to solve my own problem and find my own happiness. I knew all along that I wanted to solve people problems with humor and creativity so people and organizations would thrive. That is now my personal mission. But it is hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel when you are in the stew.

Enough with the clichés already!

Sometimes it takes an outsider to make sense of this frustration. I am eternally grateful that Stuart was my guide to discovering I had chosen the right profession but the wrong place to practice it. I felt an immediate sense of relief.

We can help you find your path. After helping many clients discern their paths I realized most of us are already in the right path. Ok maybe not Isabel the dentist. She needs to get out of dentistry right now. But just about everyone else I meet actually has that nugget of truth inside them already. They already know what they need to do. They just need help bringing that nugget to the surface.

That is where we come in. I listen. I have a few stupid simple exercises to help you find that nugget that already exists.

Many times clients are like me, right profession but wrong company. Actually that happens more often than you would imagine. The change of scenery makes all the difference.

Sometimes clients need to switch to a slightly different usage of their skills, a career tweak if you will. Like a teacher who wants to work for a publishing company or an HR person who wants to specialize in talent acquisition.

Less frequently clients like Isabel need a total refit. I suspect even Isabel has a nugget of insight in her that needs to be brought to the surface.

If you are interested in exploring your own nugget of insight, let me know. I bet I can tease that nugget to the surface so you hit 2018 with a career plan that makes sense for you. Check out “10 BE’s to Grow Your Career” to some ideas on how to grow your career.

The Stories you Share Build Career (and Job Search) Relationships

January 9, 2018 By Marta Goertzen

We are more similar than different.

Who would have guessed?

This insight unexpectedly popped up at a workshop I led the other day. I have the privilege of conducting a three session workshop with folks who are mentoring 8^th graders in the Cleveland Public Schools. I am very impressed with this program and these wonderful volunteers. They signed up to help 8^th graders figure out the path they want to follow for the rest of their lives, beginning with the important choice of which high school to attend and which career path they want to explore.

This is a big deal. Like the mentors, I had no idea what I was signing up for.

I was asked to present three workshops on how to confidently speak in front of a group. I ended up learning so much more.

Like any public speaker or trainer, I consider the outcome I want to achieve then find exercises, activities and stories to allow the participants to make observations that result in change. But you never know what will happen!

The room was loud with laughter and conversation as these folks learned from each other, sharing life stories that will influence their relationships with the young people they mentor. Many people continued to talk long after the session ended even though these volunteers had already worked all day. The enthusiasm was contagious!

Here are some observations from the participants:

Importance of story and being personal
Learned speaking from the heart is the best method
We are all similar
Communicate with passion and relatable stories fetch the best attention
Sometimes you have to go with the flow of the audience
Even in a group of diverse people, we all have similar stories
Not everyone hears the same things the same way because we have different perspectives driven by different experiences.
Experiences are all relatable despite everyone taking their own unique path

I share this experience because I see strong similarities with folks seeking to advance their careers or find a new job. We are most successful when we are relatable. The stories you tell from the heart, with passion get attention. Realize that even diverse groups of people have similar stories and you have the power to connect with other people. It is that connection that moves you forward in your career or in your job search.

Be brave. Share your stories with passion so you can relate to other people. Relationships build careers. Use this information to your advantage!

Are you struggling with your co-workers? Grow your career through the relationships that you make at work. Get your free copy of the “10 Be’s to Career Growth” list.

Five Easy Steps to Research a Target Company

June 6, 2017 By Marta Goertzen

If you are looking for career advancement outside of your current company, you need a list of target companies.

These are companies that seem, on the surface, to meet your main criteria regarding size, geography and industry who employ people like you. You can create that list easily enough. Heck, you can use Google Maps’ search function to identify companies in your industry in your geography.

The trick is knowing what to do with that list. You have to research the companies! Your goal is to understand the issues facing the company and the players who work there. Are they your kind of people? Can you extrapolate the big hairy problem facing the company?

Here are five steps you need to take to dig into a company to identify the issues, people and culture to determine if any individual company is right for you. At every step reflect on the issues raised by what you observe.

Company website. Read every tab and link. Check out the media posts and news. What is going on recently? What people have come and gone? What new innovations are they sharing? Look for business direction and changes. Dig for leadership lists and email addresses.
LinkedIn. How robust is their company page? A basic page without any information indicates a company that might not be up to date on social media and technology. Go to “See all” the employees with LinkedIn profiles. Start reading profiles to see what kind of people work there – hobbies, interests, background. Who are the leaders? Find the people who could be your boss and the folks who could be your colleagues. Are these people interesting to you? What would you talk to these folks about?
Facebook. Check out the company page. Is the page active? Any fun activities noted? Does it look like you would like working there with those people? Check out the LinkedIn profiles of the people who post frequently.
Google. Google the business leaders and perhaps the person who might be your boss for any interesting news and issues for those individuals and the company in general.
Talk to people who used to work there or who work there now. What are the big issues? What do they like or dislike about working there?

This research might take you at least an hour for each company. An investment of time that bears dividends. Now step back and use your professional experience to understand what is probably going on in that company.

Michael used these steps to research the company down the street from his home. He added this research to his observations that the parking lot is fuller than it used to be and folks seem to be working every Saturday and most Sundays. He extrapolated that the company was either implementing a new system, had process improvements that could be made to reduce overtime, and/or possibly was facing an employee relations problem related to work/life balance. Michael has experience in all these issues.

Michael can use this information when he reaches out to the Plant Manager or Operations Manager. He can talk professional to professional about how to address what is likely happening in that plant. Now Michael has something to talk about with business leaders other than asking “Do you know about any open positions?” The conversation might turn around to what Michael is looking for (a new job) but in the meantime he can talk professional to professional about something meaningful to the business leaders in his target company. All because he did a little research!

What kind of investment are you willing to make to get what you want? Invest a little time, be a little curious and use your experience to understand the big issues at the companies you target. It is worth the effort!

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