A Gift That Keeps On Giving Throughout Your Career

GiftAs you’re madly rushing around this holiday season, remember, this is a good time to take a moment and give a gift to yourself. The gift of introspection and reflection. Things generally tend to slow down as we approach year-end, making it a perfect time to stop and assess where you are in your career and where you want to be.

I’ve had many successful clients who contact me, saying they’ve let their careers drive them and while this has led them on a great course thus far, they now want to look ahead, take control of their careers and choose their own paths.

As you’re thinking through the direction in which you’d like to go, a great thing to think about are your past accomplishments. Looking back at prior achievements will help you in two ways: not only will it assist you in identifying what you’re most passionate about and when you most enjoyed your job, it also highlights your best skills. Having this insight will help you move through the career transition process.

Keeping track of your accomplishments, complete with quantitative figures (i.e. dollar amounts for sales and revenue growth or reduced expenses) will help you better market yourself to future employers. These accomplishments are the stories that you can use on your resume to illustrate your prowess. They are also the anecdotes you’ll tell when you’re interviewing for potential new positions.

Whether you’re thinking about a career change now or in the future, chronicling your success stories is a gift that keeps on giving. It enables you to be prepared at any time to speak about your strengths and highlight your career history. That way you’re ready for that unexpected phone call from a recruiter, the unanticipated downsizing, or the planned and well thought out transition as you take control of your career.

~Linda

 

How Important is Having a Degree in a Job Search?

I read a recent blog post that got me thinking about my own clients. In the post, Eight Reasons Startup Incubators are Better than Business School, the author makes some very compelling arguments, including making $100,000 rather than spending $100,000 to acquire the “handy” degree.

I have worked with hundreds, actually close to 1,000, executives over the years. Many of them not only did not have an advanced degree, they didn’t have an undergraduate degree either.  The reason, they were able to jump into a great position, making a significant amount of money and it was an opportunity that was just too enticing to refuse.

Others went the path of joining a startup company and growing with that company. That meant wearing many hats and getting a comprehensive “schooling” it what makes a successful company tick.

These professionals went on to have long careers, full of accomplishments and successes and yet when they hit the job market, even now that they’re executives, they’re often worried about their lack of a degree.

I counsel them that their experiences and knowledge gained in the school of hard knocks, can trump a degree, but that they have to use different techniques in their career transitions to be sure they’re seen by decision makers and not screened out early in the process.

That means not relying on things like job boards and typically requires going around HR. In most cases these two channels (which are often inundated with candidates) are screening people out based on a list of selected criteria with a degree frequently being a part of that list.

I agree that real world experience, including startup incubators, can be better than business school. But a case can also be made for having those “handy” degrees. There’s more than one path to the top and a combination of education, giving you a solid foundation on which to build, and real world experience will also help you reach great heights.

~Linda

LinkedIn: Updating When You’re Unemployed

I’m frequently asked by my clients how soon to update their LinkedIn profiles when they are no longer employed. That’s why I read with interest a post from the Wall Street Journal’s “Ask At Work” blog. The question involved how soon after leaving a company should one update their LinkedIn profile, especially in light of a bias by recruiters for people who are currently employed.

The answer to me is, it depends. I do believe that honesty is the best policy, but I also believe the world is not black and white and there are extenuating circumstances. For instance, some executives are retained by companies as consultants to ensure a smooth transition, while others are still on the payroll due to their severance packages. In each of those instances you might want to keep the box checked that you’re still with the company. Why, because there is still a bias against people who are unemployed.

This is in opposition to the post.  The author refers to Nona K. Footz, managing director of executive recruiting firm RSR Partners. According to Footz, in the past recruiters often passed on candidates who were “on the beach” (A.K.A. out of work). “But the market has changed, and as long as there is a positive story as to why you were let go, you should not be afraid to be transparent with your situation.”

I commend Ms. Footz for being open minded with her recruiting candidates, but have spoken with several recruiters who’ve confided in me that they prefer candidates who are currently employed. While there are some exceptions among recruiters, like Ms. Footz, who understand that the current economic conditions have left some very talented people on the market, for the most part, the bias still exists.

Ms. Footz also says, “it looks worse if a recruiter calls you thinking you’re still at Company X and you have to break the news that you’ve left.” I disagree. The goal is to get the call and once you have the recruiter on the line, you have control over telling your transparent story while building rapport with the recruiter.

The post also suggests that you should update your profile immediately with the information that you are no longer employed so your network can be your eyes and ears and refer jobs to you. However, if you’re actively using LinkedIn (actively being the operative word here), you can still reach out to your network and achieve excellent results.

Finally, should you use the months and years indicating the time you worked or just the years. Again, it depends. Which makes you look more appealing? LinkedIn is your marketing brochure, using either months and years or just the years are both being truthful, but you need to go with whichever tells the better story about you. Remember, its about being honest but also about being smart with the goal of getting the phone to ring.

~Linda