What do you need to do to find the kind of enjoyment or progress you want in your career? Joel Garfinkle, founder of Dream Job Coaching, a consulting firm specializing in personal fulfillment and professional transformation based in Oakland, California, offers these suggestions.

Determine Which Aspects of Your Job You Like

Then find a way to do more of whatever that is. When you are engrossed in a project you like, your workday will be energizing rather than draining. You may also find that the tasks you enjoy are the same ones a coworker or boss dislikes. Find out if you can work out a win-win situation.

Learn from the Best Around You

Who in your office seems to really enjoy — and excel — at their work? What can you learn from them? People who like coming to work radiate positive energy, and their spirit can be infectious. Let the energy rub off on you.

Determine Your Career Signature

If you had to write down one statement that would encompass who you are (or want to be) professionally and personally, what would it say? Take some time to clarify your unique signature, and use this statement as a guiding force in pursuing what you want to do and whom you want to be.

Recognize What You Can and Cannot Control

Write down the things that stress you out at work. Circle the ones you have control over, and cross out the ones you don’t. Vow to stop spending energy on the crossed-out items; redirect your energy on finding solutions to the problems you can change.

Do the Job Above Your Current Position

Offer to take on some of the responsibilities in the position just above you. Becoming familiar with that role makes you an obvious choice for future promotion.

Accomplish Projects That Directly Affect Your Resume

When taking on new projects, try to select those that will most likely benefit you. Be sure to quantify the results of your work and add these accomplishments to your resume, which you should be updating regularly.

Cultivate Friendships at Work

Your coworkers can understand and appreciate what life is like in your office better than anyone else. Take the time to develop friendly relationships with them. You’ll benefit personally and professionally from the time you invest in getting to know them.

See the Big Picture and the Little Pictures

What is the big picture — your overall vision — for your professional life? Now what are the small daily steps or little pictures that will get you there? Make a small goal, like joining a professional organization or finding a mentor – something you can accomplish today.

Make Sure You’re on the Right Path

Are you really doing what you want to do? Does what you think you should be doing interfere with what you want to be doing? None of the above suggestions will work if your career isn’t aligned with your true interests, personality traits and natural abilities. If a career assessment is in order, make this your first priority.

Originally posted 2009-12-10 06:23:37. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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How? You can start even before you arrive at work. Set up a Web news-alert account that emails you news stories relevant to your new employer, says Danielle Leyland, a recruiter in the information technology department at Sherwin-Williams, the paint company. That will help prepare you to engage your coworkers when you get there, especially if there’s big news–and it’s also a way to find out about potential opportunities. Even if it’s bad news–a round of layoffs or company downsizing, for example–it will affect the entire company and will be important to know about.

To take it a step further, stay up-to-date on competitors and the industry as a whole, too. That will give you perspective on where your employer is heading and why certain decisions get made. Your colleagues will take you more seriously when they see how dedicated you are to the profession.

Good first impressions
When your first day on the job arrives, show up at least 10 minutes early, and don’t leave as soon as the clock strikes 5 p.m. That could come off as doing the bare minimum, which is not the first impression any employer wants to receive.

Also, dress professionally, even if you’re sure most people dress casually. Men should wear slacks and a button-down shirt; women, either slacks or a skirt with a top that covers their shoulders. “You can assess what everyone is wearing during the first few days and then tone it down,” advises Kathryn Santers, a staffing manager for the higher-education division of the educational publishing firm Pearson.

The right questions
Once you settle in and are given projects to work on, be sure you’ve got a clear understanding of what’s expected. If you’re not completely sure about something, ask. “It’s better to ask a question and be cautious than to do it wrong,” says Santers. And when you ask, have pen and paper with you to write down the details so you don’t have to ask more than once. If you don’t agree with an assignment you’re given, don’t say so until after you’ve completed it. Even then, do so tactfully, suggesting alternatives or slight tweaks without antagonizing your manager.

Along the same lines, never behave as if some tasks are beneath you. At some point, everyone needs to file or make photocopies. Your goal is to make your boss’s job easier. If doing clerical work accomplishes that, do it without complaining. “It may seem menial, but it’s a part of a big picture,” says Santers. “Not every day on your new job will be glamorous, but there’s always a point to what you’re doing.”

Effective communication
Don’t try to impress your manager by saying you’ll finish a job quickly if it means you’ll have to get too hasty. Be realistic in what you can accomplish, and keep your manager up-to-date on your progress. During your first week, discuss with your boss how he or she prefers to communicate. Not every question requires popping into her office, so ask if she prefers email or instant messages. As you work on your first assignment, check in to update her on your progress. Ask if you’re approaching it right. When you’ve completed it, ask for feedback. Did you get it done successfully? Was there anything you could have done to improve your work?

Don’t be shy about this. Your manager has a vested interest in your success, since it’s much easier for her to help you as you go along than to retrain you.

This takes balance, though. Before you run to the boss with a problem, always try to find a solution on your own. You want to be solutions-oriented, says Diane Borhani, national director of campus recruiting at Deloitte & Touche, and bosses always prefer it if people who bring them questions also bring suggested answers. So try to come up with a fix, and discuss it with the boss.

When you’re in a meeting, share your thoughts and opinions, albeit in a respectful way. That’s why they hired you. When there’s an opportunity to take on a new challenge or additional people are needed for a project, volunteer.

“The people who are happy to raise their hand and go above and beyond what they’re doing are the people I want on my team,” says John Campagnino, senior director for global recruitment at the consulting firm Accenture. “That’s a differentiator for managers.”

Originally posted 2010-07-04 22:07:35. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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Yet most of us give little thought to our nonverbal actions while these verbal activities are going on. We may consciously raise our voice, or use anger to try to carry the day, or even stand up to physically dominate the room. But beyond that, we’re clueless about nonverbal means of persuasion.

We miss some of the most powerful means of persuasion humans have when we don’t consciously use nonverbal gestures to support our arguments. Nonverbal persuasion is subtle, it works more slowly, and it works mostly on the unconscious. As such, it can allow all sides to save face and avoid getting too deeply dug into a difficult negotiation. Try the nonverbal argument right from the start. It may save you a lot of time and trouble.

Here are three basic steps for winning the nonverbal argument when emotions are running high. All must be done so subtly they are not consciously noticed.

First, mirror your adversary. Mirroring builds agreement; you can often head off potential trouble by establishing a strong basis of nonverbal agreement before the real negotiating begins. But you mustn’t be obvious. The idea is simple enough: When the other party adopts a certain seated or standing position, try to adopt a similar one yourself. You want to move slowly until you more or less match the other person’s stance.

The idea is to take some time standing or sitting in roughly the same position as the other person. That will send an unconscious message to the person that you are on an equal level and generally in agreement with them. They will begin to trust you. But remember not to be obvious about it.

If they start arguing, heckling, or violently disagreeing with you, don’t mirror; align. Often strong verbal argument comes from a desire to be heard and acknowledged. If you align yourself with the person–that is, sit or stand facing in the same direction–you’ll be surprised how often all protest will cease. Alignment looks and feels different from mirroring. With alignment, you stand shoulder to shoulder with someone, looking in the same direction.

This action can be quite difficult to undertake; your natural instinct is to back away from anyone who is heckling you–or move in very close to pick a direct fight. But try alignment and watch the confrontation fizzle.

If tension still remains high, use the hands-down gesture to dampen it. When tempers flare and feelings run high, spread your hands out, palms down, at about waist height, and gently push them down a couple of inches. If you’re sitting at a table, you’ll have to bring your hands above the horizontal plane of the tabletop. Again, this must be done so subtly that it probably isn’t consciously noticed. Repeat as necessary. This gesture sends a clear message that it’s wise and safe to calm down now.

These gestures won’t remove the need for hard verbal bargaining, of course, but they can begin to defuse tense situations more easily. Use the power of your nonverbal messages before you have to resort to verbal fisticuffs.

Originally posted 2010-08-14 18:56:29. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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Nowadays, it’s up to you to take control of your professional future and make sure that you are progressing wisely down the right career path. Here are 10 proven strategies to help you get started:

1. Talk to your boss. Sit down and have a very direct and pointed conversation with your boss about your future in the company. Stress that you want your job performance to meet the company’s goals. Share your own career goals with him or her. Your boss will respect this display of confidence and maturity.
2. Ask for more. Volunteering to help out other departments or teams — or simply asking for more responsibilities — increases your value within the organization. Asking for additional work shows an interest and desire to help your department and company to succeed. It also puts a spotlight on your value to the business.
3. Volunteer for boards. If you have your career set on something beyond what you are doing in your present position, seek out opportunities to volunteer or serve on advisory boards, where you can build a reputation as someone who is passionate and dedicated to your particular industry.
4. Sharpen your people skills. Strong interpersonal skills play a crucial role in gaining the respect of your boss and coworkers; they will also attract the notice of outside influencers who might open new doors of opportunity for you. Be friendly, outgoing, and personable. Listen carefully to people, and practice being a clear and effective communicator.
5. Be innovative. Never be afraid to think outside of the box and put your business acumen to work. Stay on the lookout for creative solutions to problems that will make you — and your boss — look good.
6. Find a mentor. Develop mentoring relationships, either inside or outside the company. Recent studies have shown that four out of five promotions are influenced by a mentor higher up in the company. Mentors are also great sources of information and career guidance.
7. Sell yourself. Learn the fine art of self-promotion. If you have had major accomplishments or created successful programs, make sure people know about it — especially those in influential positions who could help you advance professionally. Let it be known that you are seeking a promotion or the next step up in your career.
8. Keep learning. A proven way to advance in your career is to be continually acquiring new knowledge. Stay on top of trends or developments in your field and make sure that your current résumé reflects those needed skills.
9. Network. Strengthen your personal network and join professional organizations, attend industry conferences, or even volunteer. The more people who are aware of your strengths and abilities, the better your chances of hearing about any new opportunities that might arise.
10. Build your reputation. In business, your reputation is the most valuable thing you own. Be known for being dependable, professional, and cooperative. Act and look the part by dressing professionally. Make a name for yourself by attending conferences, delivering speeches, or writing articles.

Originally posted 2011-01-29 21:20:13. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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When it comes to connecting with the right job opportunity, timing isn’t everything, but it’s certainly something. Tuning into industries’ and employers’ annual recruitment cycles just might give you a decisive edge.

That’s the consensus of recruiters and employers with fingers on the pulse of seasonal variations in hiring. Here’s a quarter-by-quarter summary of how these hiring dynamics play out.

First Quarter: A New Year’s Wave of Hiring

Sometimes peaks of hiring correspond with workplace factors that are only loosely related, like when people take vacation. “Hiring seems to be done by consensus more than any other decision,” says Scott Testa, chief operating officer of Mindbridge Software in Norristown, Pennsylvania. “So most hiring decisions have to be made when people are in the office.”

Major hiring initiatives may follow close on the heels of the holidays and summer. “The big months for hiring are January and February, and late September and October,” says Testa. “Job seekers who make contact right at the start of these cycles have the best chance of being hired.”

Strong hiring periods like the first quarter, when demand for talent may outweigh the supply of qualified candidates, may be a good time to go for a job with more responsibility or higher pay. “If you’re currently employed and looking to improve your status, you’ll want to look during the peak hiring season,” says Glenn Smith, president of search firm Precise Strategies in O’Fallon, Illinois.

Second Quarter: Gearing Up for Summer

For those whose livelihood depends substantially on fair weather, spring is when hiring peaks. In the construction industry, hiring in April, May and June proceeds at double the pace of December, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS).

Tourism and hospitality hiring is also very strong in the spring. And businesses looking to hire professional workers before fall often do so now, before key decision makers start rotating out for summer vacation.

Third Quarter: Recruiters Relax a Bit, and Vacation Plays a Role

Hiring slows down in July before picking up at the end of August. For those with nontraditional but impressive employment backgrounds, there’s an advantage to looking in relatively slow hiring months like July and December, says Smith.

For example, recruiters, less pressed for time than in peak months, may be willing to take a longer look at an experienced professional woman seeking to return to work after taking years off to care for children.

Fourth Quarter: A Rush, Then a Lull

The fourth quarter presents the most complex hiring dynamics of the year, with its mix of fall activity, holiday retail hiring, Thanksgiving-to-New Year’s slowdown, and end-of-year financial and budget maneuvering.

“Hiring managers and bank CEOs will typically try to reduce their operating profits by incurring search fees towards the end of each year, to avoid paying taxes,” says Josiah Whitman, an executive recruiter with Financial Placements of Lake Oswego, Oregon. His firm’s job orders are distributed this way: first quarter, 23 percent; second quarter, 21 percent; third quarter, 20 percent; fourth quarter, 36 percent.

Although December hiring is at low levels in many industries, recruiters are determined to fill the year’s remaining openings by December 31, and the supply of applicants dwindles as Christmas and the new year approach.

Major industries classified as information, financial services, and professional and business services, having hired heavily in the second quarter, see their lowest level of hiring in December, says JOLTS.

But December isn’t as slow as it used to be, say some observers. And applications tend to slow down during the holiday season more than openings do — tipping the balance in favor of those who do apply.

“It seems that business just keeps going through the holidays,” says John Challenger, CEO of outplacement and search firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas in Chicago. “There doesn’t seem to be the kind of letup that there used to be.”

So playing the recruitment peaks doesn’t mean waiting out the rest of the year. “You need to be out there looking for opportunities, not finding excuses to avoid looking,” says Tom Johnston, CEO of SearchPath International in Cleveland.

Originally posted 2009-12-10 05:43:48. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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