Jill MacFadyen's Career Coach Blog » job

SO WHAT ARE YOU MAKING UP ABOUT THAT?

Jill — Sun, 23 May 2010 18:05:56 +0000

So you didn’t get the job or didn’t get the interview or didn’t hear back about the application or interview? As my friend and fellow coach Teri (www.thewinnerwithin.com) would say, “So what are you making up about that?” Our fertile minds get very creative and not always helpfully so. I suggest that you take these thoughts out of the dark recesses of your mind and air them out. You might make a chart. On the first column, put in what you might be making up about the situation. Title the second column “Is This Really, Really True.” The third column can be titled “Alternate Perspectives” and a potential fourth could be “Solutions.”

A good book along these lines is Loving What Is: Four Questions that Can Change Your Life by Byron Katie with Stephen Mitchell. You might also refer to Katie’s web site, www.thework.com.

SOME NEWS TO SHARE

This week I was delighted to be included among “50 Brilliant Business Coach Bloggers” at www.onlinedegreeprograms.com. Here’s a link: www.onlinedegreeprograms.com/blog/2010/50-brilliant-business-coach-bloggers/.

It’s always rewarding to have one’s work recognized, and that’s the kind of reward I want for you, my readers, in your own work lives.

QUOTES

“It’s a poor sort of memory that only works backwards.” Lewis Carroll

“Sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.” Lewis Carroll

PLEASE COMMENT

Once again, I would appreciate any experiences, comments or questions that will help other readers. I would particularly enjoy some humorous experiences and success stories.

HOW TO REACH ME

jill@careercoachjill.com

www.careercoachjill.com for career coaching

www.limitlesshorizon.com for personal life coaching

www.leadercoaching.org for leadership coaching

Thanks to tech guru David Behrens (http://neptunestudios.net), and editor M. C. Pastoret.

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Thoughts about Work

Jill — Tue, 18 May 2010 02:53:21 +0000

My blog editor, the talented MC Pastoret, asked me this week what purpose I had in mind for my blog and I couldn’t give her a satisfactory answer. I think she was disappointed that someone who had the privilege of having readers didn’t know. So when a friend, Sebastian, sent the poem below, it made me think not just of what the poem elicited but of MC’s question. What I want for you is both to have the tools to get a job, and to have that job be the kind of work that makes you look forward to getting up in the morning. Therefore, at times I want the blog to trigger ideas and thoughts, and at times the blog will be about tools. Ponder the following:

What is your motivation to work? (It might be the work itself and it might be to support yourself and your family.)
When were you most energized at work? (Since it is difficult to get what you don’t want, you need to find work that will make you happy.)
However, if you are currently employed but not finding the work fulfilling, how can you change your perspective to make this work satisfying at least in the interim? (The work might not change but you can choose to change, which can shift the dynamic. I find that many people who are not happy at work, take it out on the job by withholding some portion of their effort or themselves which then comes back to bite them in less than stellar reviews.)

POEM

To Be of Use

The people I love the best
jump into work head first
without dallying in the shallows
and swim off with sure strokes almost out of sight.
They seem to become natives of that element,
the black sleek heads of seals
bouncing like half-submerged balls.

I love people who harness themselves, an ox to a heavy cart,
who pull like water buffalo, with massive patience,
who strain in the mud and the muck to move things forward,
who do what has to be done, again and again.

I want to be with people who submerge
in the task, who go into the fields to harvest
and work in a row and pass the bags along,
who are not parlor generals and field deserters
but move in a common rhythm
when the food must come in or the fire be put out.

The work of the world is common as mud.
Botched, it smears the hands, crumbles to dust.
But the thing worth doing well done
has a shape that satisfies, clean and evident.
Greek amphoras for wine or oil,
Hopi vases that held corn, are put in museums
but you know they were made to be used.
The pitcher cries for water to carry
and a person for work that is real.

Marge Piercy

from Circles on the Water (Knopf, 1982)

PLEASE COMMENT

Once again, I would appreciate any experiences, comments or questions that will help other readers. I would particularly enjoy some humorous experiences and success stories.

HOW TO REACH ME

jill@careercoachjill.com

www.careercoachjill.com for career coaching

www.limitlesshorizon.com for personal life coaching

www.leadercoaching.org for leadership coaching

Thanks to tech guru David Behrens (http://neptunestudios.net), and editor M. C. Pastoret.

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Transition

Jill — Sun, 02 May 2010 16:29:13 +0000

Life is difficult. Transition, job search or being stuck in an unhappy job can be very stressful. Stress is worsened by our feeling that things should be different. Things are what they are. This doesn’t mean that we can’t make efforts to change our situation but railing against ‘what is’ doesn’t help.

I have heard clients say that they feel lost or empty. For those of us who have been highly goal-oriented, job search might seem that way. However, this might not be bad. Fields that lie fallow for a time are better able to support growth. If you were burned out by your last job or succession of last jobs, what is this time period telling you that you need?

Transition or job search means that we have to bring in a whole new set of attitudes as well as skills. What made us successful in prior jobs might not be what is needed in search mode. I can remember one of my two wonderful daughters-in-law telling me about holding a payroll training class shortly after the birth of her first child, my first grandchild. She told class participants that something was a “no-no”.

So we need different mind sets, different skills, different vocabularies during transition. When you are with groups of others in transition, stop the circular negative talk about the economy, the search, the unfairness. Find someone who has successfully made the transition and ask questions about how they managed. Ask questions similar to the following:

What helped you the most?
What do you wish you had known early in the search?
If you had to do it over, what would you do differently?
What did you learn about yourself?
What advice can you share with me about my search?

QUOTE

Stand still. The trees ahead and bushes beside you
Are not lost. Wherever you are is called Here,
And you must treat it as a powerful stranger,
Must ask permission to know it and be known.
The forest breathes. Listen. It answers,
I have made this place around you,
If you leave it you may come back again, saying Here.
No two trees are the same to Raven.
No two branches are the same to Wren.
If what a tree or a bush does is lost on you,
You are surely lost. Stand still. The forest knows
Where you are. You must let it find you.

~ David Wagoner

PLEASE COMMENT

Once again, I would appreciate any experiences, comments or questions that will help other readers. I would particularly enjoy some humorous experiences and success stories.

HOW TO REACH ME

jill@careercoachjill.com

www.careercoachjill.com for career coaching

www.limitlesshorizon.com for personal life coaching

www.leadercoaching.org for leadership coaching

Thanks to tech guru David Behrens (http://neptunestudios.net), and editor M. C. Pastoret.

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HOW TO ANSWER BEHAVIORAL OR SITUATIONAL INTERVIEW QUESTIONS

Jill — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 13:55:57 +0000

Many firms use Behavioral or Situational Interviewing. The premise is that past behavior predicts future behavior. If you are given a statement to react to, and it is not asked in the form of a question, your interviewer is probably using this technique. Your interviewer might begin by saying, “Tell me about a time when you….”

Your answer will have three parts:

Situation (what happened),
Action (what did you do)
Response (what was the result for the company or client).

You are being pushed to think of a specific example. Speaking in generalities (“Oh, I always take care of clients. It’s one of my strengths,”) will not work. On one assignment we interviewers were to ask candidates, “Tell me about a time you didn’t get along with a coworker.” If your answer was the general comment of “I get along with everyone,” you failed. At the very least, you missed an opportunity to promote a key skill.

I worked on a recruitment project with a group trained by government psychologists. We were instructed to give no positive feedback to candidates because it would mean that we might be giving unfair advantage to one over another. This “no positive feedback” extended to not using the words “thank you” or “okay.” We were not to smile or nod our heads. So don’t take it personally or think you are not doing a good job, if this is the case.

For most of the interviews that I conducted either by phone or in person, I asked at least one or two behavioral questions. I would talk to the decision maker and ask what traits he or she wanted in the eventual hire and then formulate a situation for the candidates to react to. The responses then became a large part of my feedback with a recommendation of which candidates to further consider.

To recap, some interviews might be strictly behavioral and some might be regular interviews with a few behavioral questions. In either case, it is best to be prepared.

So how to prepare? When you have an interview set up, look at the job posting and make a short list of traits that you think the employer will want. A few possibilities might be: leadership, initiative, customer service, proactive problem solving, teamwork. Then think of a story to show how you have the desired quality. Write it out in situation, action and result form. Prepare examples in that form—situation, action, result–for each of the traits you think might be required.

It would be best to use a different story for each question. So the rule of thumb is, “don’t repeat a story even to different interviewers within a firm.” They will compare notes.

Mistakes I see clients make are:

Getting so lost in the details of the situation that they run out of time for the important part which is how their actions brought about a good result.
Using a story which does not have a good result for the company or the company’s clients.
Being so team-oriented, that they forget to showcase themselves.
Rambling because they weren’t prepared.
Repeating the same story.
Making up a story.

This preparation is helpful even if you are not asked a behavioral question. There are some interviewers who have no clue how to interview and so ramble on because they just don’t know how to question or because they like the sound of their own voices. If the Clueless One rambles about how the firm needs leadership but doesn’t ask you any questions about your abilities, you might interject with an example of your leadership. You could introduce this with, “May I tell you about a time when I demonstrated leadership similar to what you are saying is needed here?”

QUOTE

Just to be clear, this is an example of a rambling bad answer.

“I’m a people person, very personable. I absolutely insist on enjoying life. Not so task-oriented. Not a work horse. If you’re looking for a Clydesdale I’m probably not your man. Like I don’t live to work, it’s more the other way around. I work to live. Incidentally, what’s your policy on Columbus Day?”
You, Me and Dupree (2006) – Randy Dupree (Owen Wilson)

PLEASE COMMENT

Once again, I would appreciate any experiences, comments or questions that will help other readers. I would particularly enjoy hearing about the most difficult interview question you have been asked.

HOW TO REACH ME

jill@careercoachjill.com

www.careercoachjill.com for career coaching

www.limitlesshorizon.com for personal life coaching

www.leadercoaching.org for leadership coaching

Thanks to tech guru David Behrens (http://neptunestudios.net), and editor M. C. Pastoret.

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INTERVIEW–THE WEAKNESS QUESTION

Jill — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 20:41:01 +0000

Candidates are frequently asked “what is your weakness?” This is not a time for true confessions. It is time for a well-thought-out response that doesn’t “sink your battleship.” There are several possibilities.

One is a weakness you can overcome easily. This could be software that you don’t currently know but is similar to others that you have easily mastered. You might even mention how you are going to do so before beginning the job. Another is a weakness that is not vital to the job for which you are interviewing.

And still another is a strength turned inside out. Look at your own personal strengths and see how they might have been carried too far.

For example, you might be very analytical and this might have in the past caused you to ignore the big picture but now…..
Or you might say that you are very goal-oriented and this has caused you in the past to not communicate with your team as much as they would have liked but now….
Or you might have been so loyal that you stayed with a firm even though there were signs that it was in trouble.

QUOTE

“Our strength grows out of our weaknesses.” Ralph Waldo Emerson

PLEASE COMMENT

Once again, I would appreciate any experiences, comments or questions that will help other readers. I would particularly enjoy some humorous experiences and success stories. I will respond to the first three who send me their weakness statement for review.

HOW TO REACH ME

jill@careercoachjill.com

www.careercoachjill.com for career coaching

www.limitlesshorizon.com for personal life coaching

www.leadercoaching.org for leadership coaching

Thanks to tech guru David Behrens (http://neptunestudios.net), and editor M. C. Pastoret.

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INTERVIEW–THE FIRST QUESTION

Jill — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 00:41:48 +0000

In the next few blogs, I am going to write about interviewing, including behavioral interviewing, the infamous weakness question and questions you should and should not ask. Whether the interview is by phone or in person, after a few pleasantries, the first question frequently is, “So tell me about yourself.” An alternate version is, “Walk me through your resume.”

The response to this question is sometimes called the 90 second personal commercial for a reason. The answer should be as close to 90 seconds as possible. Fill out the steps below so that you don’t ramble. Pretend you are using a filter when you look at your answer. That filter should be “Is this information necessary to the interviewer and does it help me land the job.”

You do not have to follow the pattern below word for word. However, I suggest typing your final commercial on a separate piece of paper and then practicing it until it flows.

You start by

giving your name if necessary,
and your function. (Function, not title. E.g., Human Resources Professional, IT Professional.)

2. Next you name your prior or current company and title at that company. If useful, you summarize your responsibilities. You list one or two memorable accomplishments in that position. You mention briefly why you left that firm. (Look at the blog on “Leaving Statement” for help on this if needed.)

3. Then you mention the second company, title, experience and accomplishments. You might be asked the reason you left that firm also. So be prepared.

4. You continue doing the steps in #3 for all the companies on your resume. (However, do remember that it is suggested that your resume cover only the last 10-15 years. Therefore, your 90 Second Personal Commercial would parallel that time period.)

5. If you have time, you might list your strengths and give an example of how you have demonstrated one of those strengths at work.

6. It is helpful to end up by summarizing how you meet the needs of the firm or match the job posting.

QUOTE

“We are always more anxious to be distinguished for a talent which we do not possess, than to be praised for the fifteen which we do possess.” Mark Twain

PLEASE COMMENT

Once again, I would appreciate any experiences, comments or questions that will help other readers. I would particularly enjoy some humorous experiences and success stories. Once a month, I will choose one commenter to contact for a free coaching session.

HOW TO REACH ME

jill@careercoachjill.com

www.careercoachjill.com for career coaching

www.limitlesshorizon.com for personal life coaching

www.leadercoaching.org for leadership coaching

Thanks to tech guru David Behrens (http://neptunestudios.net), and editor M. C. Pastoret.

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MINOR BUT IMPORTANT POINTS

Jill — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 02:09:39 +0000

I’m devoting this weekend to a training program, so I thought I’d take an opportunity to post a brief reminder about an important point. So many of us in transition are unhappy that we don’t hear back from HR and that our messages seem to disappear into a black hole. There may be several reasons why HR is not returning calls, but I want to have you think about the messages that you leave. I just received a voice mail from someone who left an unintelligible phone number. I know my hearing is not the greatest, so I had a relative with superb hearing listen; he said that it seemed as if two digits were missing. We all know our phone numbers, so when we get to that part of the message, we probably take a deep sigh of relief and just rattle off the number. I suggest you write out what you are going to say, so that you don’t ramble or have to call back because you have forgotten something vital. Speak your name and phone number distinctly. It is helpful to say both name and phone number at the beginning and end of the message. This way the recipient doesn’t have to listen to a very long message twice if your name and number weren’t written down at the beginning. Don’t assume that Caller ID is available to provide your number.

Your e-mail and voice mail are important links to those who have jobs to offer. Does your e-mail system let you know when a message is undeliverable? If not, do you double check to see if you have the address correct?

Is your voice mail message professional? A least favorite is, “I am not here. You know what to do.” Is your message brief and to the point? I am sure your children are charming but not on your voice mail message if you are in search mode. Your religious holidays are not of interest to the caller. If you have a choice, make and receive calls from a land line because it can be clearer. And finally, be very aware of background noise whenever you make a call or leave a message: turn off the TV and stereo, and step out of the room if there are other people around chatting away. The only sound the other party should hear is the sound of your own voice.

QUOTE

“If e-mail had been around before the telephone was invented people would have said “hey, forget e-mail-with this new telephone invention I can actually talk to people.” www.thinkexist.com

PLEASE COMMENT

HOW TO REACH ME

jill@careercoachjill.com

www.careercoachjill.com for career coaching

www.limitlesshorizon.com for personal life coaching

www.leadercoaching.org for leadership coaching

Thanks to tech guru David Behrens (http://neptunestudios.net), and editor M. C. Pastoret.

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LETTING GO OF FEAR CAUSED BY LIMITING BELIEFS

Jill — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 23:47:34 +0000

When I watched the snowboarders on the brink of the half pipe, I couldn’t imagine myself in that situation. How many of us before networking, before an interview or before sending off a resume, feel as if we were about to descend to the half pipe with our feet strapped to a board and with millions of watchers in person and on TV? Yet, we are not being televised, no one is critiquing us and we won’t get physically maimed or injured. However, our own thoughts can make what we need to do seem insurmountable.

There is real fear of danger and fear imposed by self-limiting beliefs. If we are asking ourselves “what if” type of questions, then it could be that fear caused by self-limiting beliefs is beneath them.

What if I fail?
What if I look stupid?
What if I say something stupid?
What if the recruiter thinks I am stupid?
What if I am older (or younger) than the recruiter?
What if the economy is so bad that I never will find a job?

If you are uncomfortable or stuck in some aspect of your job search because of self- limiting thinking, try writing the words that have been going through your mind. (E.g., I am so stupid. I always make mistakes. I am not good enough. No one is going to hire me.) Then ask if these negative words are really, really true in all instances. Ask how it makes you feel to think these words. Ask if you would use these words against a friend or loved one. If these words you frequently say to yourself are not 100% accurate, make you feel crummy and would never be used about a loved one, THEN STOP THINKING THEM. An interesting book on the topic is Loving What Is: Four Questions that Can Change Your Life, by Byron Katie. You might also check out Katie’s web site, www.thework.com for helpful information and exercises about this.

For some of us, negative words from childhood or school stick in our minds and become “truths” that we live by. These voices in our heads which diminish us or keep us from success could be called saboteurs or gremlins. Stress (and many aspects of job search can be stressful) really activates them. When you notice that you are caught up in negative circular thinking, try the following:

Notice—simply notice. Become aware of the here and now. Notice your breathing, the tension in your body and where it is.
Breathe deeply several times. Feel your emotions.
Tell the voice to go away.

The first two suggestions are from a good book on the topic, Taming Your Gremlin: A Surprisingly Simple Method for Getting out of Your Own Way, by Rick Carson.

QUOTES

"Most of the shadows of this life are caused by our standing in our own sunshine." Emerson

"What you think of yourself is much more important that what others think of you." Seneca

“It is of practical value to learn to like yourself. Since you must spend so much time with yourself you might as well get some satisfaction out of the relationship.” Norman Vincent Peale

PLEASE COMMENT

HOW TO REACH ME

jill@careercoachjill.com

www.careercoachjill.com for career coaching

www.limitlesshorizon.com for personal life coaching

www.leadercoaching.org for leadership coaching

Thanks to tech guru David Behrens (http://neptunestudios.net), and editor M. C. Pastoret.

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OTHER NETWORKING TOOLS

Jill — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 19:20:47 +0000

Here are two useful tools for networking and job search.

Get a business card. Early in my career search, I found myself in the embarrassing position of writing my name and contact information on a yellow sticky note to hand to a potential contact. Your business card can be a simple one with your name and contact information on it. You do not have to include your address. Instead of a title, you put your function under your name. For example, Human Resources Professional, CPA, Engineer, IT Professional, Administrative Professional, Electrician. This correlates to the function you used in the summary of your resume and in your personal commercial. You can get them professionally printed relatively inexpensively or even do them on your home printer.
If you haven’t joined LinkedIn, do so. LinkedIn is free, and I have seen it be very helpful to clients. It helps you develop and manage your network of professional connections—people you know or should know in your field of interest. Just as important, LinkedIn lets you create a profile for yourself that communicates your value to those contacts. Your profile is one more way to let the world know what you do uniquely well. It is worth spending some time writing it. Then, when you start to build your network, you can ask friends and co-workers to write a recommendation for you. You might also then do the same for them.

I will write about the Networking Brief next week and include a sample.

QUOTE

“More business decisions occur over lunch and dinner than at any other time, yet no MBA courses are given on the subject.” Peter Drucker

PLEASE COMMENT

HOW TO REACH ME

jill@careercoachjill.com

www.careercoachjill.com for career coaching

www.limitlesshorizon.com for personal life coaching

www.leadercoaching.org for leadership coaching

Thanks to tech guru David Behrens (http://neptunestudios.net), and editor M. C. Pastoret.

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Are You Sure I Have to Network?

Jill — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 00:25:00 +0000

“…the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too.”

–Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

I am reusing last week’s quote because it is so powerful and because it is also apt for this week’s topic about networking. If one is committed to something—like finding a job—one tells others about it.

To put it simply, networking works. It doesn’t have to be complicated. It can be conversational. It doesn’t have to be scary. It can run the gamut from telling the local butcher that you are looking for a job to conducting informational interviews and everything in between. I think it is especially important after you have applied for a position you would really like. Then certainly ask contacts if they know anyone at that firm who can help you.

The days when people were embarrassed about looking for work are long over. I had one wonderful client who used as a tag line after her signature line on e-mails, “Looking for a Project Manager Position.” That certainly is networking and you will have to decide if it works for you or not.

In next week’s post, I will outline the steps to writing a 30 second personal commercial—also referred to as an elevator speech—which is the first step. For right now, I would like to give you two examples:

Friend A told me of her dream job. Shortly thereafter, I called Friend B about a different topic and Friend B mentioned that her firm had a need for skills that fit Friend A’s dream job and for help in finding a project management employee. I called Friend C to see if his wife might be interested in the project management position and he said that he was having trouble filling positions for his firm and he needed someone who would fit Friend A’s dream job skills. So in two serendipitous phone calls, I had two possible leads for Friend A.
A client in another state had been a bookkeeper for an automotive credit company for decades. She is a quiet woman who didn’t think she would like to network. However, we prepared her 30 second personal commercial and had her practice it until it just flowed. She went to the local grocery store where the deli manager while slicing ham asked why she was there in the middle of the day. She replied with her personal commercial which ended with the words, “at this point, my ideal job would be as a bookkeeper for a local car dealer within five miles of my home.” He responded, “You want I should have the VP of Sales from the Caddie dealer down the street call you?”

You never know who knows the right contact. So you help yourself by spreading the word. However, “the word” has to be sincere, positive and upbeat. It cannot ramble. If you are still feeling negative or down about your situation, go back and read some of the earlier posts.

PLEASE COMMENT

HOW TO REACH ME

jill@careercoachjill.com

www.careercoachjill.com for career coaching

www.limitlesshorizon.com for personal life coaching

www.leadercoaching.org for leadership coaching

QUOTE

"... the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too."  Goethe

Thanks to tech guru David Behrens (http://neptunestudios.net), and editor M. C. Pastoret.

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