Article Category : Interview Tips, Resume Presentation

This is one of those broad questions that can take you down the wrong road unless you have done some thinking about what to say ahead of time. This question deals with your ability to sell yourself. Think of yourself as the product. Why should the customer buy? 

Answers that WON’T WORK -

‘Because I need a job.’ — This answer is about YOU — ‘they’ want to know what you can do for ‘them.’

‘I am a hard worker.’ — This is a really trite answer — almost anyone can say he or she is a hard worker.

‘I saw your ad and could do the job.’ — This answers lacks passion and purpose.

STRONGER ANSWERS that would get the interviewer’s attention –

‘Because I have three years experience working with customers in a very similar environment.’

‘Because I have what it takes to fill the requirements of this job - solve customer problems using my excellent customer service skills.’

‘Because I have the experience and expertise in the area of customer support that is required in this position.’

This is a time to let the customer (the interviewer) know what your product (YOU) can do for them and why they should listen to what you have to offer. The more detail you give the stronger your answer will be. This is not a time to talk about what you want. It is a time to summarize your accomplishments and relate what makes you unique and therefore a viable fit for this position.

Product Inventory Exercise

Start by looking at the job description or posting. What is the employer emphasizing as requirements of the job? What will it take to get the job done? Make a list of those requirements on one side of a piece of paper.

Next, do an inventory to determine what you have to offer as a fit against those requirements. List your skills on the other side of the paper. Think of two or three key qualities you have to offer that match each requirement that the employer is seeking. Don’t underestimate personal traits that make you unique — your energy, personality type, working style, and people skills.

The Sales Pitch — You are the Solution

From the list of requirements and your matching list of what you have to offer, merge the two into a summary statement. This is your sales pitch. It should be no more than two minutes long and should stress the traits that make you unique and a good match for the job.

Example

‘With my seven years of experience working with financial databases, I have saved companies thousands of dollars by streamlining systems. My high energy, and quick learning style enable me to hit the ground running and rapidly size up problems. I have the ability to stay focused in stressful situations, and can be counted on when the going gets tough. I know I would be a great addition to your team.’

Preparing this statement ahead of the interview will give you the edge when asked questions like, ‘Why should we hire you?’ or ‘What can you bring to this position?’ This will be your chance to let the interviewers know that you are the solution to their problem.

About The Author

Carole Martin is a celebrated author, trainer, and an interview coach. Her books, ‘Interview Fitness Training Workbook’ and ‘Boost Your Interview IQ’ (McGraw Hill) have sold thousands of copies world-wide. Receive Carole’s FREE 9-week job interview e-course by visiting her web site at: http://www.interviewcoach.com or http://www.interviewfitnesstraining.com.

Recruiting Excellent Job Candidates

Article Category : Resume Presentation

An independent recruiter, recruiting agency or executive search firm is charged with tracking down excellent potential candidates for available job positions. Despite the fact that there are innumerable people seeking positions of employment in the 21st century, it often seems to a typical recruiting agency that qualified men and women are few and far between.Here are six easy tips that recruiting services, staffing firms, or executive search firms should keep in mind when on the hunt for outstanding potential job candidates in the 21st century.

These tips are equally applicable to companies undertaking their own search without the help of recruiting agency services. Indeed, the headaches associated with finding qualified personnel is magnified for a company undertaking its own recruitment efforts.

1. Post an Ad on an Industry-specific Job Board. Oftentimes, a recruiter will take a scattershot approach to finding candidates that are worthy of consideration for an available position. They broadcast far and wide the fact that a certain position is open and available, in big city newspapers and on major Internet job boards.

If a recruiting agency were more thoughtful about its recruitment efforts, it would realize the benefits of positing an announcement of an available position on an industry-specific Internet job board. By posting in a selective and admittedly limited manner, recruiters and staffing firms would be reaching out precisely to the pool of people most likely to be qualified for an open position.

One excellent tool for finding industry-specific job boards can be accessed at the Online Recruiters Job Board Directory.

2. Use Recruiters that Specialize in a Given Field. As with advertising, choosing an effective recruiter might be just a matter of targeting, particularly for a managerial or executive position. These positions can be very hard for in-house personnel directors and human resource managers. While these people do have responsibility for hiring, the search for a new employee with skills beyond the norm for their company can best be targeted by a professional executive head hunter.

The same can be said for specialized fields, such as accounting or information systems. In-house human resources staff might know all about pharmaceutical skill-sets required for a multitude of research and administration positions, but they might rarely have to deal with hiring staff to track money or to keep the computers functioning. That’s when recruiting agency services specializing in IT or in accounting can come in handy.

3. Develop an In-House Referral Program. In many instances, exiting staff members can help speed up the search for quality job candidates. Employees often have contacts elsewhere within the industry, some of which may be looking for a change of employment.

By cultivating this internal resource, a personnel director can develop a wealth of ready information about prospective employees who might well serve the organization as valued employees.

4. Search Resumes Posted on Job Boards. In addition to advertising on an industry specific job board, a diligent personnel director or recruiting agency will want to take the time to search and consider resumes that have been posted on job boards.

Often, a person pounding the pavement looking for employment may not have the time to take in and review all of the various available positions that have been posted on a every job board. This is even more true if a given prospect is a highly sought-after candidate, who might be still busy in a current position of responsibility.

5 .Use a Directory of Recruiters. Because there are so many different type of recruiters in business in the 21st century it can often be difficult for in-house human resources staff to pinpoint the recruiter that will be best able to meet the needs of a given employee recruitment campaign. But there are resources available, such as directories of recruiters. One such directory is the Online Recruiter Directory.

By using a professional directory, in-house human resources staff will be able to identify the most appropriate resources for their company and for the recruiting task at hand. Even staffing firms can benefit from such a recruiters directory to seek help in a specialized field they don’t often work with.

6. Don’t Rush the Process. Finally, while it is an overused saying, “Rome wasn’t built in a day.” In the same vein, 99 times out of 100 there is no need to rush the process of seeking, identifying and hiring a new employee, particularly an executive level employee.

A personnel director should take his or her time to identify, screen, interview and hire the best candidate. Throughout this process, a human resources manager or specialist will rely on the services and support tools identified in this article.

By using these tips, in the long run the best possible candidate for a given position will end up being hired, and the company will benefit from the best possible employees.

David Leonhardt is an effective SEO consultant from Canada.

Why a Professional Resume?

Article Category : Resume Presentation

As a job search tool your Resume is your main calling card. It explains who you are and what you have to offer. Your Resume is your best chance to make a first impression. An exceptional Resume will help you Stand Out from the crowd. A solid, well-crafted Resume will get you interviews. That’s the Resume’s job - to get you the interview! The professional Resume Writer’s task, in creating that Resume, is to present and sell your skills, abilities and experience in the most professional and appealing way!Your Resume has to capture the reader’s attention within 15 seconds! That’s where a professionally crafted Resume stands above the rest. Your Resume’s main theme and supporting value messages are what capture that attention, inviting the reader to look more closely at your Profile and Background. You need to Stand Out! That’s what your Resume has to do, help you put the best face on your skills, accomplishments and experience.

There are No Second Chances to make a First Impression! Do you want to leave your future to chance with a haphazardly assembled Resume that does not capture Who You Really Are? A professional resume will help You secure that next career move you are now ready to make. It’s called Branding. You are a Brand of One, with a collection of skills, work experiences and training that make You unique in all the important ways.

How Do You View Yourself? Your Resume says a lot of important things, but the one thing it says above all others is How You View Yourself. Yes, you heard me - How You View Yourself! If your Resume is just a cookie cutter collection of facts, figures and dates outlining your work and education history, then this tells the reader you view yourself and your experience as Not Too Important. Which for them means: Not Particularly Valuable.

That’s Why You Need to Stand Out! Don’t expect hiring professionals to read between the lines. Hiring professionals only read what’s on the lines and pause on those statements that send a value message to them. If you care about yourself and value what you have to offer, then a Professional Resume will communicate that and more. The days of using someone else’s Resume as a guide, or relying on some cookie cutter model of resume writing, are over.

Qualifications and Experience are one thing, but Attitude is equally important. You can have all the training and experience that a position calls for, but without a winning attitude, your Resume lands in the pile of “also rans.” What will set you apart from other candidates is that Winning Attitude which is essential to communicate. A Positive Winning Attitude represents Energy. A professionally crafted resume will convey that energetic attitude.

To sum up, you need a Resume that: 1) can sell your qualifications and experience effectively; 2) tantalizes, excites and prompts the reader to want to know more about you; 3) begins to answer the question: “Why should I hire you;” 4) goes beyond the standard formats and presents You as that one of a kind candidate; 5) takes your professional training and experience to the next level, showing commitment, dedication, ability and value; 6) and accurately reflects your positive, energetic attitude.

Maurice Turmel PhD has an established background in Resume Preparation, Cover Letter writing and Interview Coaching. Knowing what Hiring Managers want comes from 25 years experience as a therapist/counselor overseeing dozens of corporate and orgzanizational Employee Assistance Programs and dealing directly with their Human Resources Departments. He is trained in Chronological, Functional, Hydbrid, Strategic and Targeted Resumes, IT (Technical Resumes) included. Curriculum Vitaes and Student Resumes are a specialty. His company “Your Best Resume” provides powerful and distinctive Resumes that consistently win Interviews. All of this can usually be accomplished within 48 hours. Online inquiries should be directed to: drmoe@yourbestresume.com

Experience Hear-See-Do - Careers-Employment

Article Category : Others

Research indicates that we retain only 10% of what we hear; 20% of what we see; 65% of what we hear and see; but 90% of what we hear, see, and do.Every day at work we demonstrate Hear-See-Do when we use a combination of our knowledge, wisdom and skill to perform a task or plan what we will do at a later date. This combination of intellect, insight and ability is called experience.

Experience

One of my favorite sayings is, “It’s not what you know that counts; it’s what you do with what you know that counts.” In other words, knowledge by itself is useless and unproductive. It’s only when we act on the data, facts and information and apply them in a particular situation or circumstance that we in fact gain experience.

Here are a few simple yet profound truths about experience:

What About You?

Your work related experience is an integral part of who you are, and consists of every job or assignment you have ever had. Over the next week, take a small career break-a time-out to reconsider, reflect and focus on your career direction.

You determine how much time your break will be. Timing is not as important as actually taking the break itself. Here are a few thoughts to get you started:

• Reflect on the last time you took a good look at your work experience.
• Identify 3 things you could do differently on your job to positively impact your career.
• Develop a plan to overcome the obstacles that are holding you back at work.

Althea DeBrule, entrepreneur and seasoned human resources executive, has focused for more than 30 years on helping people achieve their career goals. Creator of The Extreme-Career-Makeover? and a founding partner of RADSGroup Organizational Consultants, she is recognized for her bottom line and practical application of career development and management strategies in a way that penetrates hearts and compels action. She speaks and teaches with inspired talent, humor and contagious zeal at management conferences and leadership retreats nationwide, and has been featured in CFO Magazine, Strategy@Work, Human Resource Executive Magazine. Althea is the author of Bosses & Orchards, a compelling and candid book about how to make your work relationship with your boss succeed. To discover how you can take your career to a new level, visit http://www.extreme-career-makeover.com/.

Tales from the Corporate Frontlines: Career Opportunity and Employee Retention

Article Category : Others

This article relates to the Career Opportunities competency and explores issues such as internal growth opportunities, potential for advancement, career development importance, and the relationship between job performance and career advancement. Evaluating the Career Opportunities competency in your organization will determine whether your employees believe they have a chance to grow within the organization. Studies show that lack of career opportunity is one of the top reasons why employees leave an organization. Also, continually hiring open positions from outside the organization can be detrimental to morale when a qualified candidate is available internally. Topics covered in this competency are: perceived opportunity for advancement, existence of a career development plan, and organizational commitment to staff development.This article, Career Opportunity and Employee Retention, is part of AlphaMeasure’s compilation, Tales From the Corporate Frontlines. It tells how one company changed procedures to offer new kinds of career opportunities to its workers and improve overall employee retention.

Anonymous Submission

Career Opportunity and Employee Retention

Over the past decade, the company where I work has been through plenty of changes with regard to the way it hires, promotes, and utilitizes its greatest asset—its workers.

“Human capital” is the phrase often used in corporate literature. I’m not sure that I like the sound of it, but I must admit, it’s an accurate description.

As a human resources manager, I was asked to review the results of our recent employee satisfaction survey and choose one category of interest and prepare a report outlining possible solutions. I chose employee retention, because the survey indicated that many employees were leaving or looking for new positions elsewhere because they felt a lack of career opportunity in their current positions.

Upper management had recently issued a directive—No new promotions into management for the foreseeable future. We were already overstaffed and the budgets would not permit any more spending in this area.

So, I set out to find some ways to make changes that would allow employees to learn, grow, and feel fulfilled without becoming a member of management. Together with a few HR coworkers, I conducted a focus group. The findings may be valuable to companies in similar circumstances.

* Employees don’t expect a lifetime commitment from your company. But they do appreciate the chance to learn new skills on the job that will make them more marketable in the future. Practices like cross training and adding increased responsibility give employees the opportunity to show what they can do, and if they are eventually chosen for management, they will be better qualified. * Employees want to learn more about the business they work for, as a whole. Once they learn the big picture, they feel empowered to make valuable contributions in terms of how they can perform more creatively and efficiently.

Eventually, we developed a series of policy changes that brought our company current with the changing structure of business today. To create more opportunity for our employees, we offered cross training and lateral job move options, as well as information groups and training sessions to let employees in on company wide business practices, procedural changes, and new opportunities as they became available. As a result, morale, retention, and productivity have improved greatly.

?2005 AlphaMeasure, Inc. - All Rights Reserved

This article may be reprinted, provided it is published in its entirety, includes the author bio information, and all links remain active.

Measure. Report. Improve your organization with AlphaMeasure employee satisfaction surveys.

Josh Greenberg is President of AlphaMeasure, Inc.

AlphaMeasure provides organizations of all sizes a powerful web based method for measuring employee satisfaction, determining employee engagement, and increasing employee retention.

Launch your employee satisfaction surveys with AlphaMeasure.

Job or Career

Article Category : Career Management

>At this present time I have a job. It pays some of my bills, and again I have a job. I don’t think of my job as a career because I don’t have a passion for it. I dread going to work at times, so I know this isn’t a career for me. I’m working at a clinic at the present time, and it’s a stressful job, and not really my cup of tea.

A job is defined as a series of tasks or activities that are performed within the scope of what we call work, according to The Career Fitness Program, Exercising Your Options by Diane Sukiennik, William, Bendat and Lisa Raufman. They also define career as a sequence of attitudes and behaviors that are associated with work and that relate to our total life experience. An integration of our personality with our job activities can also be called a career according to the authors above.

A career, the dictionary continues, is defined as "an occupation, a way of making a living, especially with opportunities for advancement or promotion," and progress through life." It also means waking up excited, and ending the day with a feeling of accomplishment and satisfaction.

A job defined by The Oxford American Dictionary, is "a paid position of employment?got a job at the factory," and "something one has to do, a responsibility, it’s your job to lock the gates."

The dictionary mentions that job happens, but careers are planned down to the last detail. The development and implementation of a sound and detailed plan distinguishes the successful enterprise from the failure; the individual we admire from the one who has never earned or achieved anything.

"Many had been lulled to sleep by the gold handcuffs their companies placed on them; good earnings, good benefits, lots of vacation and an economy that seemed it would never end." Most people are comfortable with just having a job, and they have no intention of moving up the ladder of a career. I know a lot of people in this boat. I have a job, and it pays the bills, so why should I think about going back to school, and begin another headache all over again? I’m blessed to have a job and I’m going to keep it for as long as I can. I had to admit that I felt this way for a long time until writing came into my life, and I knew there was something out there better for me. I can have a career in writing, and then have it all.

Today according to Oxford hundreds of thousands of these individuals recognize they have a job, never had a career. They suddenly had to face the reality of life; their futures are their problems.

I think of a job as going to work and paying the bills; a career is something that I dream about doing, and being, and it’s a constant tumor in my brain. I think about it all the time, and it constantly nags me when I’m not doing it. This is a career.

I have friends who dream of being nurses, court reporters, attorneys, and doctors. Some made their career goals come true, but others went down the path of working because they needed a roof over they head. They had no choice but to defect because something to eat was much more important than going to school to pursue that diligent career.

We all dream of having that one career where we can get paid and still do what we love. It’s not a burden getting up every morning and going to work because this is a career.

My career goal is becoming an established writer. I’m pursuing this goal with my published novel, and a number of short stories, but I’m not writing on a full-time basis. I’m not making enough money to quit my full-time job, so this isn’t a career for me. I work on a job, and the bills exceed my pay check. I’m blessed to be working with the employment rate being high and then low, so I should be grateful. I am, but I dream when I can still pay my bills, and spend my time working on new novels, and new short stories. This is what I want to do for the rest of my life. I don’t treasure leaving my house to go to a building to work. I want to work at home, and get paid for doing it.

Consider the path you have chosen and your current job. Ask yourself these questions to see if you master up to a job or a career:

1. Do I love getting up every morning and going to work?
2. Am I challenged on my job?
3. Does the pay equal my experience?
4. Can I still pay my bills, and be creative?
5. Do I enjoy this position?
6. Do I have a job or a career?

In the real world today everyone is busting their butts to make ends meat. We have to feed ourselves and make sure the children have the necessities to survive in this world. A lot of times we have to sacrifice our dreams for a husband or children. Along the way we forget about becoming a doctor or lawyer because the realities of life are more important.

My friend since the 9th grade of high school had this dream to be a nurse. She spoke about being a nurse, and she never stopped focusing on her dreams. When she was in high school she bought every book she could on nursing, and volunteered her services in hospitals to work with nurses so she could have a better understanding to see if this was the career choice for her. She did a lot of networking and reading to make sure she was making the right choice.

When she graduated from high school, she went right into a nursing program at the age of eighteen. She was thrilled to finally be making her dreams come true. I am her best friend, and I thought along the road of her growing up she’d change her mind about five or six times, but my friend was adamant in her dreams. She wanted to become a nurse.
She graduated from nursing school as a LPN, a RPN, and a Surgical Nurse. She also became the head nurse at her hospital. I admired her, and kept in touch with her as she got married right after high school, and still continued on with her dreams. She made sure that her husband understood that she was bent on being a nurse, and he was very supportive of her dreams. He had dreams to become an attorney. As their marriage progressed, the two worked diligently on making their dreams come true, and they both succeeded with a passion.

The children came along, but she was a certified nurse, and he was a pass the bar attorney. My point in this part of the article is to let you know that you can get married, and still keep your dreams going, especially if you marry someone who has the same goals in mind.
If you’re passionate about being a nurse, and an attorney, then nothing is going to erase that option from your lives. My friend and her husband had careers, and currently they’re still married with two children, and still a nurse and an attorney. Of course they have hobbies to keep them creative, but their main goals are still a part of their lives. My friend chose a career path, instead of a job path.

I chose the job path because I needed to make money, and I went wherever I was sent by joining an employment agency. I was a typist, secretary, legal secretary, teacher’s aide, office manager, etc. I never gave up on my writing dreams, but I spent more time concentrating on my job, and keeping it. It was a stressful and draining opportunity of a waste of precious time. I always admired my friend, and at one point I wanted to be her. I’m shaking my head now because you never have to wish to be someone else. If they could pursue an interesting and satisfying career, then the same success can happen to you.

It’s 2005 now and I’m living my career because my book is published, and I have a lot of short stories published also. I have another book coming out in 2006, and my writing is progressing very well for me. I can’t quit my day job just yet, but one day I’m going to do just that, and go from a job to a career. I have the drive, and it’s going to work for me. I just have to be patient because patience is definitely the key. I also have to keep telling myself that careers are made from determined and persistent people. I belong in that category.

So after reading this article, ask yourself do I have a job or a career? If you have a job and you’re satisfied at this point in your life, then more power to you; but if you’re like me, and want to turn that job into a career, then you better get moving. It begins with a career, education, and the will to make it happen. Let’s get paid for what we’re worth in our careers, and let’s love getting up every day and going to work. Life is just too short to be miserable.
I have a job now, but one day I’m going to have a career! Yes I am! (1,614)

My name is Carol Ann Culbert Johnson. I love writing, so I hope you check out my current articles as you check out this one. Also my debut novel, I CONFESS can be purchased at http://www.publishamerica.com

Visit my website to learn about me and my book at http://www.freewebs.com/jcarolann.

The Dog Days of Job Hunting

Article Category : Others

Does a headline like this scare you?

it should because the consolidation is not over yet.

Don’t despair just because we are in the “dog days” of job
hunting there are action items you can do now to keep yourself primed for.
FYI: Dog Days is the name for the sultriest period of summer,
from about July 3 to Aug. 11. Named in early times by observers
in countries bordering the Mediterranean, the period was reckoned as extending from 20 days before to 20 days after the conjunction of Sirius (the dog star) and the sun.

First and foremost is to learn to create your own opportunity
you have to get your name out there. Just don’t sit around
wailing for the phone to ring.

Start with a vanity search and type your full name into GOOGLE.
Get any results? If you have ever authored any articles hers is
an insiders tip.

To see where your articles are posted go to GOOGLE and type “your name” + articles. Yes, use quotation marks around your name, then add the plus sign. You’ll find articles you’ve written and articles written about you but not other references.

Disappointed??? Ready to get started with more visibility?

Here are some self promotion ideas for consideration:
Write an article.
Make a speech.
Write a press release.
Enter a competition.
Get an interview.
Start an e-zine.
Get a personal website.
Pick up the phone and call old contacts.
Send out a clever “how are” you card.
Give a testimonial.
Attend a conference.

Does that give you enough ideas? Every day you should schedule
at least one of the above activities. The summer is an ideal time to get started because work is a little less hectic.

So the next time I hear from you I don’t want to learn you “have gone to the dogs”.

JoAnn Hines’ specialty is PACKAGING PEOPLE. Whether you want to be paid more, you just lost your job, or you want to progress in the one you have, Ms. Hines advice and expertise can help you transform your personal brand. She can show you how to package yourself and make your brand a hot commodity. It’s easy once you know the ropes and begin to utilize her insider’s secrets. She shows you step by step how to increase your visibility, credibility and marketability with easy to use tutorials and templates.

It is time to get started “Packaging Yourself.”
Email me the Chief People Packager @ pkgcoach@aol.com

Work Is A Four-Letter Word

Article Category : Resume Presentation

>I can hear the jokes already and most of them are not politically correct. Let me throw out a word that we often don’t attach to work and yet I think it is a word of redemption, of contribution, of achievement, of community, and ultimately, of legacy.Here it is: LOVE.

Kahil Gibran proclaimed, “Work is love made visible”. I would further clarify his position by insisting that a job is what you do for a paycheck.

Work is what you do for a life. It is that energizing, all-encompassing activity that allows you to bring skills to bear in ways that are satisfying beyond a pay period. It is that activity that saves you from being a faceless number in a mechanistic wheel-hence it holds redemptive powers. It is that activity which makes a contribution to a larger world order. It is that activity from which you sense a measure of accomplishment and achievement. It excites you. It gives you joy. It binds you to a community of people who are stakeholders in what you do.

Ultimately, it has a ripple effect and the potency of a legacy for those who follow.

“Ah come on!” you insist. “How about a garbage collector? A waiter? A store clerk? Who is going to love those jobs?”

Great question. And at face value, it seems that not every employment opportunity has such grand potential. Just take the money, leave it as soon as you can for greener pastures. Screw those miserable bosses. Thumb your nose at the customer.

And tomorrow you die.

That’s it. Plain and simple. While you are looking for the dream vocation, the better work environment, the nicer boss, reality can step in and your one moment on the Planet is gone forever. It’s a reality made even MORE real by current events.

There’s an uneasy shift that has taken us by storm and rattled our plod-along workaday world. Many are paralyzed by the insecurity of the times. The terror of 9-11 and the subsequent global aggressiveness pushed us over the edge. With a wobbly U.S. economy, unsettled change continues to bombard us.

Mega-mergers boggle the mind with the endless zeros streaming behind a behemoth’s financial size. We gasp at the number of employees who are cast off from a consolidated giant. We see plant closures and layoffs in everything from clothing manufacturing to banking. Overnight web companies turn almost under-age youth into millionaires and executives at age 40 are left scratching their heads. Then, dot.coms fail, leaving bewildered employees in the rubble. Wall Street meltdown, corporate greed, and icon-like presidents who crash as fallen idols make daily headlines.

Despite statistics that indicate employment is coming back, there’s pain and inaccuracy behind these cold numbers. We are working more but feeling as if we’re earning less and living in time poverty. Affluenza is an all too common word. The consistent notion that work should be a 24/7 event is being challenged by a rising number of strident voices. And with those voices comes a cry for the most urgent answer to sustainable success: finding meaningful work that makes an impact and lets us live in the bargain. Answer that plea and we’ll unleash a productive and creative power akin to a tsunami.

In short we want to LOVE what we do, who we do it for and who we do it with AND love the life we create outside that work. That’s the essence-the Holy Grail-the mysterious work/life balance piece. Finding that Holy Grail is done by parallel processing, working on two tracks. The first track is to make work “work” for you in your current situation.

Wouldn’t it make more sense to transform wherever you find yourself-even while continuing to search-so that if and when you leave, there’s a faint footprint of achievement, community, contribution and yes, even the memory of a beneficial interaction. Such a transformation allows you to love yourself in the process. It keeps bridges from burning and strengthens a network of relationships that one day you might call upon.

The critical question becomes: how do you turn a “job’ into a “work”-into something that gives you more than a paycheck? No, you might not be able to alter the corporate strategic plan, paint the garbage truck peppermint pink or change a boss from a toad to a prince. But, there are specific action items you can take within your sphere of influence. Too often, we expect management to lead us in career directions, to provide us with recognition, to make “it” a better place.

It’s just like a marriage: there’s responsibility on both sides. Using the tools offered by Bev Kaye and Sharon Jordan Evans in Love it. Don’t Leave It (available at major bookstores), you’ll find a literal alphabet soup of specific action steps to help you take ownership for your life at work

Don’t wait. Time is too precious to squander. You CAN fall in love again.

(c) 2004, McDargh Communications. All rights in all media reserved. Reprints must include byline, contact information and copyright.

About The Author

Eileen McDargh, CSP, CPAE is one of top-ranked women business speakers in the United States. She’s authored numerous books the newest of which is The Resilient Spirit, radio commentator, and serves on the Board of Directors of the National Speakers Association. You can find Eileen at http://www.EileenMcDargh.com.

Eileen@EileenMcDargh.com

Are You Sabotaging Your Career?

Article Category : Resume Presentation

My experience working with thousands of leaders world wide for the past two decades teaches me that most leaders are screwing up their careers.On a daily basis, these leaders are getting the wrong results or the right results in the wrong ways.

Interestingly, they themselves are choosing to fail. They’re actively sabotaging their own careers.

Leaders commit this sabotage for a simple reason: They make the fatal mistake of choosing to communicate with presentations and speeches — not leadership talks.

In terms of boosting one’s career, the difference between the two methods of leadership communication is the difference between lightning and the lightning bug.

Speeches/presentations primarily communicate information. Leadership talks, on the other hand, not only communicate information, they do more: They establish a deep, human emotional connection with the audience.

Why is the later connection necessary in leadership?

Look at it this way: Leaders do nothing more important than get results. There are generally two ways that leaders get results: They can order people to go from point A to point B; or they can have people WANT TO go from A to B.

Clearly, leaders who can instill “want to” in people, who motivate those people, are much more effective than leaders who can’t or won’t.

And the best way to instill “want to” is not simply to relate to people as if they are information receptacles but to relate to them on a deep, human, emotional way.

And you do it with leadership talks.

Here are a few examples of leadership talks.

• When Churchill said, “We will fight on the beaches … ” That was a leadership talk.
• When Kennedy said, “Ask not what your country can do for you … ” that was a leadership talk.
• When Reagan said, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!” That was a leadership talk.
• You can come up with a lot of examples too. Go back to those moments when the words of a leader inspired people to take ardent action, and you’ve probably put your finger on an authentic leadership talk.
• Mind you, I’m not just talking about great leaders of history. I’m also talking about the leaders in your organizations. After all, leaders speak 15 to 20 times a day: everything from formal speeches to informal chats. When those interactions are leadership talks, not just speeches or presentations, the effectiveness of those leaders is dramatically increased.
• How do we put together leadership talks? It’s not easy. Mastering leadership talks takes a rigorous application of many specific processes. As Clement Atlee said of that great master of leadership talks, Winston Churchill, “Winston spent the best years of his life preparing his impromptu talks.”
• Churchill, Kennedy, Reagan and others who were masters at giving leadership talks didn’t actually call their communications “leadership talks”, but they must have been conscious to some degree of the processes one must employ in putting a leadership talk together.

Here’s how to start. If you plan to give a leadership talk, there are three questions you should ask. If you answer “no” to any one of those questions, you can’t give one. You may be able to give a speech or presentation, but certainly not a leadership talk.

(1) DO YOU KNOW WHAT THE AUDIENCE NEEDS?

Winston Churchill said, “We must face the facts or they’ll stab us in the back.”

When you are trying to motivate people, the real facts are THEIR facts, their reality.

Their reality is composed of their needs. In many cases, their needs have nothing to do with your needs.

Most leaders don’t get this. They think that their own needs, their organization’s needs, are reality. That’s okay if you’re into ordering. As an order leader, you only need work with your reality. You simply have to tell people to get the job done. You don’t have to know where they’re coming from. But if you want to motivate them, you must work within their reality, not yours.

I call it “playing the game in the people’s home park”. There is no other way to motivate them consistently. If you insist on playing the game in your park, you’ll be disappointed in the motivational outcome.

(2) CAN YOU BRING DEEP BELIEF TO WHAT YOU’RE SAYING?

Nobody wants to follow a leader who doesn’t believe the job can get done. If you can’t feel it, they won’t do it.

But though you yourself must “want to” when it comes to the challenge you face, your motivation isn’t the point. It’s simply a given. If you’re not motivated, you shouldn’t be leading.

Here’s the point: Can you TRANSFER your motivation to the people so they become as motivated as you are?

I call it THE MOTIVATIONAL TRANSFER, and it is one of the least understood and most important leadership determinants of all.

There are three ways you can make the transfer happen.

• CONVEY INFORMATION. Often, this is enough to get people motivated. For instance, many people have quit smoking because of information on the harmful effects of the habit.
• MAKE SENSE. To be motivated, people must understand the rationality behind your challenge. Re: smoking: People have been motivated to quit because the information makes sense.
• TRANSMIT EXPERIENCE. This entails having the leader’s experience become the people’s experience. This can be the most effective method of all, for when the speaker’s experience becomes the audience’s experience, a deep sharing of emotions and ideas, a communing, can take place.

There are plenty of presentation and speech courses devoted to the first two methods, so I won’t talk about those.

Here’s a few thoughts on the third method. Generally speaking, humans learn in two ways: by acquiring intellectual understanding and through experience. In our schooling, the former predominates, but it is the latter which is most powerful in terms of inducing a deep sharing of emotions and ideas; for our experiences, which can be life’s teachings, often lead us to profound awareness and purposeful action.

Look back at your schooling. Was it your book learning or your experiences, your interactions with teachers and students, that you remember most? In most cases, your experiences made the most telling impressions upon you.

To transfer your motivation to others, use what I call my “defining moment” technique, which I describe fully in my book, DEFINING MOMENT: MOTIVATING PEOPLE TO TAKE ACTION.

In brief, the technique is this: Put into sharp focus a particular experience of yours then communicate that focused experience to the people by describing the physical facts that gave you the emotion.

Now, here’s the secret to the defining moment. That experience of yours must provide a lesson and that lesson is a solution to the needs of the people. Otherwise, they’ll think you’re just talking about yourself.

For the defining moment to work (i.e., for it to transfer your motivation to them), the experience must be about them. The experience happened to you, of course. But that experience becomes their experience when the lesson it communicates is a solution to their needs.

(3) CAN YOU HAVE THE AUDIENCE TAKE RIGHT ACTION?

Results don’t happen unless people take action. After all, it’s not what you say that’s important in your leadership communications, it’s what the people do after you have had your say.

Yet the vast majority of leaders don’t have a clue as to what action truly is.

They get people taking the wrong action at the wrong time in the wrong way for the wrong results.

A key reason for this failure is they don’t know how to deliver the all-important “leadership talk Call-to-action”.

“Call” comes from an Old English word meaning ‘to shout.’ A Call-to-Action is a ’shout for action.’ Implicit in the concept is urgency and forcefulness. But most leaders don’t deliver the most effective Calls-to-action because they make three errors regarding it.

First, they err by mistaking the Call-to-Action as an order. Within the context of The Leadership Talk, a Call-to-action is not an order. Leave the order for the order leader.

Second, leaders err by mistaking the Call as theirs to give. The best Call-to-action is not the leader’s to give. It’s the people’s to give. It’s the people’s to give to themselves. A true Call-to-action prompts people to motivate themselves to take action.

The most effective Call-to-action then is not from the leader to the people but from the people to the people themselves!

Third, they error by not priming their Call. There are two parts to the Call-to-Action, the primer and the Call itself. Most leaders omit the all-important primer.

The primer sets up the Call, which is to prompt people to motivate themselves to take action. You yourself control the primer. The people control the Call.

The primer/Call is critical because every leadership communication situation is in essence a problem situation. There is the problem the leader has. And there is the problem the people have. In many cases, they are two different problems. But leaders get into trouble regarding the Call-to-action when they think it’s only one problem, mainly theirs.

For instance, a leader might be talking about the organization needing to be more productive. So, the leader talks PRODUCTIVITY.

On the other hand, the people, hearing PRODUCTIVITY, think, YOU’RE GOING TO GIVE ME MORE WORK!

If the leader thinks that productivity is the people’s problem and ignores the “more work” aspect, h/she’s Call-to-action will probably be a bust, resulting in the people avoiding committed action.

Let’s apply the primer/Call dynamic to the productivity case. The leader talks PRODUCTIVITY: but this time uses a PRIMER. The primer’s purpose is to establish a “critical confluence” ? the union of your problem with the problem of the people.

In this case, the leader creates a critical confluence by couching productivity within the framework of MORE MEANINGFUL WORK.

The primer may be: LET’S GET TOGETHER AND SEE IF YOU CAN COME UP WITH AN ACTION PLAN THAT WILL ENSURE THAT THE PRODUCTIVITY GAINS YOU IDENTIFY AND EXECUTE WILL ENABLE YOU TO WORK AT WHAT’S REALLY MEANINGFUL TO YOU.

Note what we’ve done: The primer is LET’S GET TOGETHER AND SEE IF YOU CAN COME UP WITH AN ACTION PLAN.

The actual Call is from the people to themselves: LET’S INCREASE PRODUCTIVITY BY WORKING AT WHAT’S MEANINGFUL.

With that Call, the leader moves from just getting average results (YOU MUST BE MORE PRODUCTIVE: i.e., you’re going to solve MY problem) to getting great results (YOU COME UP WITH WAYS TO TIE PRODUCTIVITY INTO MEANINGFUL WORK: i.e., you’re also going to solve your problem.)

So, here’s what the leadership talk Call-to-action is truly about: It’s not an order; it’s best manifested when the people give themselves the Call; and it is always primed by your creating the “critical confluence” — they’ll be solving their problem as well as yours.

The vast majority of leaders I’ve worked with are hampering their careers for one simple reason: They’re giving presentations and speeches — not leadership talks.

You have a great opportunity to turbo charge your career by recognizing the power of leadership talks. Before you give a leadership talk, ask three basic questions. Do you know what the people need? Can you bring deep belief to what you’re saying? Can you have the people take the right take action?

If you say “no” to any one of those questions you cannot give a leadership talk. But the questions aren’t meant to be stumbling blocks to your leadership but stepping stones. If you answer “no”, work on the questions until you can say, “yes”. In that way, you’ll start getting the right results in the right way on a consistent basis.

2004 ?The Filson Leadership Group, Inc. All rights reserved.

About The Author

The author of 23 books, Brent Filson’s recent books are, THE LEADERSHIP TALK: THE GREATEST LEADERSHIP TOOL and 101 WAYS TO GIVE GREAT LEADERSHIP TALKS. He is founder and president of The Filson Leadership Group, Inc. ? and has worked with thousands of leaders worldwide during the past 20 years helping them achieve sizable increases in hard, measured results. Sign up for his free leadership ezine and get a free guide, “49 Ways To Turn Action Into Results,” at http://www.actionleadership.com

You Should Interview the Interviewer, Too

Article Category : Interview Tips

I know what you are thinking. You’re thinking, “Wait a minute. Wouldn’t that be somewhat presumptuous if I were to ask the interviewer questions?” No. The truth of the matter is they want to see that you have enough intelligence and business sense to ask questions requiring informative answers. Most human resource professionals and hiring managers believe having an applicant ask questions is one of the most important aspects of the interview. They are able to tell more about you by the questions you ask than the answers you give in response to their questions.Most everybody expects to have an opportunity to ask questions. However, many assume the interviewer is expecting questions that consist of compensation matters and they don’t want to appear to be focused on self centered issues. Invariably, they pass up the opportunity to delve further for more information about the job.

What they don’t realize is they should be asking questions regarding what will be expected of the employee and opportunities for growth in order to learn more about the job offered. Finding the right job and finding the right applicant is a two way street. The employer is looking for somebody that can and will meet their needs. You, on the other hand, are looking for a job that will fulfill your career aspirations.

The interviewer will obviously get to question you and your abilities so they can decide if you will be a good fit for them. You need to ask the questions to determine if the position is the right fit for you and this stage of your career. They want to know that you are coming into the employer/employee relationship with them with a good understanding of the expectations on both sides. Posing your own questions also demonstrates your communication skills in addition to showing your ability to accurately assess matters at hand.

Here is a list of five questions to ask that will show them you are someone they can count on to dig deeper for more answers, especially in high pressure situations.

1. What are the top priorities of the position?
2. What are the major challenges facing the company in the next few years and how does this position contribute to overcoming them?
3. What do you believe my weaknesses to be and how do you think they will affect my performance?
4. What do you see as my strengths and how beneficial do you believe they will be for the company?
5. Does this company value employee growth and, therefore, provide opportunities to further one’s training or education and career advancement?

This is another chance for you to show your willingness and desire to be prepared for the job. If asking intelligent questions of the person conducting the interview seems to put them off, it could be a clue to you that this isn’t the right job for you. If you see them sit up, take notice, and answer your questions readily, it’s a clue that your input as an employee will be valued and respected.

Go ahead. Now that you understand the importance of interviewing the interviewer go prepare your own list of questions. When it’s your turn to pose your questions, pay as much attention to body language as you do the verbal answers. By the time you leave the meeting you will probably have a good idea whether or not the position is a good fit for you if you are offered the job.

Compelling, targeted resumes that will open doors to interviews developed by Angela Betts. For more career and job search tips sign up for our free newsletter at http://www.resumeritr.com. Contact Angela at 501-467-8768 or info@resumeritr.com to request a free resume critique or resume development services.

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