Work Babble

Career Services Professionals - 52 Strategies for 52 Weeks of Career Business Bliss in 2010

Guest post by Laura DeCarlo, President & Executive Director, Career Directors International

-I am pleased to post one of many valuable strategies coming from Laura at CDI. I joined CDI a few years back to augment my skills in internet recruiting and career coaching. What I found was an organization of the most talented, professional, and caring group of people I’ve ever come across in industry affiliations. Everyone is ready and willing to share their expertise. Laura prepared the following article to help career service providers prepare for the New Year and demonstrate CDI offerings. Take a look and see if these tips can help in your planning. More information about CDI at the end of the article.

Article
During the next few weeks, you might find yourself with a little bit of time on your hands, waiting for the next client or dollars to start rolling in. Here are a few ways to get your business in shape for the New Year:

1. Learn about Outplacement Opportunities by finding out which companies are downsizing: (a) Sign up for free AIRS outplacement newsletter for advance notice of companies planning to downsize. (b) Courtesy of Sharyn Hancock of Workforce Alliance, Inc.: "You can find companies that are going to be laying off by looking at Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN) notifications for each state. Each State has their own list, for example, I am in Florida, so here is the list from my State. You can see that the notification was posted, but the actual lay off will occur in the future."    
2. Set up the client e-newsletter you have been meaning to create to get in touch and stay on the radar with your clients. A few favorite resources for low-cost e-newsletters include www.aweber.com, www.1shoppingcart.com, and www.constantcontact.com. CDI members only area also has a free MS Word newsletter content template.
3. Create simple messages now for your upcoming newsletters (consider one tip each) and schedule them 1-4 a month now.
4. On Twitter? Sign up for www.socialoomph.com (formerly www.tweetlater.com) and schedule a series of daily educational Tweets in advance to carry your message and grow your following.
5. Motivate job seekers to sign up for your e-newsletter by creating a free tip sheet, report, or short e-book they will receive by signing up. Add a sign up box to your website (tools like www.constantcontact.com offer such a widget).
6. Offer clients a 10% discount for resume or coaching updates in January in your e-newsletter - this is a great way to get traffic flowing in January.
7. Earn a new credential to enhance your skill set, services, earning power, and value to clients - (www.careerdirectors.com/cert.htm).
8. Write a news release to announce a new credential, award, or to simply educate job seekers. Use free submission tools like www.przoom.com and check out www.ezinearticles.com for articles.
9. Research your local newspaper's business and life section writers and introduce yourself with a press kits (keep it simple with an introductory letter on the topics you can quote on, biography, and, if you have them, samples of your articles or quotations).
10. Create a page for the press on your website to make your site media-friendly (check out CDI's Press Room at www.careerdirectors.com/press.htm).
11. Spice up your outgoing voice message with a call to action that makes prospects more eager to leave a message.  
12. Sign up for Job Fairs and other opportunities for 2010 (www.careerdirectors.com/fairs.htm).
13. Write some new articles for your website and for some of CDI's partners (http://careerdirectors.com/partner2.htm).
14. Post your articles on Business Week's Business Exchange on resume writing (hosted by CDI).
15. Start assigning key words to the properties of your resume so you can easily search through them for key words and templates to help streamline future projects. Also, take time now to sift through your resumes and find 'best examples' for categories you most often write so you can refer back to them as needed.

16. Create your best learning opportunity for CDI's 2010 Summit by making a session suggestion.
17. Get ready to win an award - CDI's Toast of the Resume Industry and Career Innovator Awards both open in January.
18. Enhance your Web identify, get your ebook for sale online, and bring visitors and prospects back to your website with the free strategies in CDI's Web Power! Web Profit! Playbook.
19. Contact local professional associations to get on the schedule for presentations to their groups in 2010. Your local Chamber of Commerce can usually direct you.
20. Make sure you have the best rates available through your credit card provider. Most services allow a rate review and adjustment as much as four times a year.
21. Raise your prices! It doesn't have to be a lot - do what feels comfortable, but do it!
22. Review your contracts and make sure they are up to date. Check out some of the contracts in CDI's Member's only section and go to Business < Business Forms.
23. Get important business functions on your calendar now for the New Year! You can write a book (I did) in just 30 minutes a day if you will just plan for it. Need motivation? Read I Could Do Anything if I Only Knew What it Was by Barbara Sher.
24. Organize for your accountant or tax software so you are not scrambling in April.
25. Make it rain ($$$) by following up with all the prospects who had to 'think about it' when you consulted. Reaching out months later can frequently be when the time is right and they realize they really need you.
26. Shift from selling the service that is asked for to selling solutions with packages. You will find the article I wrote on how to do this in the CDI Member's only section under Business < Marketing & Sales < Articles < A Three-Step Process to a 97%+ Close Rate and a 6-Figure Income.
27. Build your business network and your skills by getting involved as a CDI Mentor or Committee Volunteer.
28. Start saving now to attend the 2010 CDI Summit in October. Check out what attendees are saying this will do for you on the testimonial page.
29. Buy a headset (if you don't already have one) to make client consultations and coaching a breeze. Thanks to member Mary Elizabeth Bradford's suggestion, I LOVE The Boom (www.theboom.com). I can stand in high intensity wind or have a vacuum cleaner running one foot from me and my client cannot hear it - no sound disturbance at all! Amazing!
30. Move existing clients who are still job searching back into your services with a free tip teleclass where you provide advice and then recommend your group or individual coaching programs. Favorite free teleclass tool - www.freeconferencecall.com and favorite free webinar tool - www.vyew.com.
31. Evaluate gaps in your services and create partnerships with CDI colleagues for affiliate relationships and service agreements. You can search for members at CDI's Find a Career Pro link. 
32. Spend an afternoon in the CDI Member's Only section; if you have not figured it out from the suggestions above, there are hundreds upon hundreds of resources available, including over 30 hours of free audio on demand teleclasses.
33. Submit a proposal to speak on an area of expertise at an upcoming career conference (such as CDI's 2010 Summit).
34. Turbo-charge your existing or new business with CDI's Entrepreneurial Wisdom program - 15 sessions, 22 hours, 13 team presenters, and 194 pages of goodies!
35. Gain different perspectives on your most pressing challenges with the CDI Elists (CDI Resume, CDI Career, and CDI Chat).
36. Create a career support group or fan page on www.Facebook.com or a client social network for your business on www.ning.com.
37. Link with like service websites to enhance your web (Google) ranking.
38. See who is talking about your business by setting up Google Alerts (www.google.com/alerts).
39. Enhance your LinkedIn presence - link with clients and colleagues, join the CDI Group, and start sharing news.
40. Make yourself searchable by job seekers on the CDI website - login and personalize your profile with a bio and searchable categories (under My Profile in left-hand page navigation).
41. Find services, programs, and products to enhance your career services with CDI's Service Providers.
42. Share your expertise with your colleagues - write an article for CDI's newsletter. You can contact us for more information at info@careerdirectors.com.
43. Keep carpal tunnel at a distance - adjust your chair height and get a natural keyboard and rollerball mouse. Dragon Naturally Speaking Software is also excellent if you do extensive typing. I have Dragon Standard, the lowest-cost version, and find that once I click the cursor I can dictate in any program and even format by voice. Plus, it will open Word and surf the Internet, hands-free. Get the software new on Amazon or Ebay at a low price.
44. Make sure your business card is a selling tool; if it's not, create a new one with one of the full-color, low-cost templates at www.vistaprint.com. Need a designer? You can get an entire branding package done at an extremely low cost through www.guru.com.
45. Contact your phone service provider to ensure you still have the best price and package for your needs.
46. Set up a retirement savings/investment plan such as a SEP or SIMPLE.
47. Shelter your business by converting a sole proprietorship into a Limited Liability Company (LLC). You can usually do this very simply and inexpensively through your own state. Google 'State of _____ incorporation'.
48. Visualize your pitch going perfectly - the mind cannot differentiate from real and imagined - spend 15 minutes twice a day seeing yourself, detail-by-detail, gaining the reviewer's trust and closing the sale at your deserved rate. Need advice? Check out the book The One-Minute Sales Person by Spencer Johnson.
49. Read the best how-to coaching book - Co-Active Coaching by Laura Whitworth.
50. Catch up on Trends You and Your Clients need to know by reviewing CDI's Career Expert Trends.
51. Share your expertise - put your PowerPoint on www.slideshare.net. Then, you can also add it via www.linkedin.com and www.facebook.com as well as put it on your website.
52. Write down the goals you want to achieve in 2010 and don't stop, step-by-step, until you reach them!

 

About Laura
Laura DeCarlo offers 16 years of expertise in resume writing, career coaching and career management as Executive Director of A Competitive Edge Career Service, LLC and President of Career Directors International, an innovative association of career professionals. 

She holds nine industry certifications from Certified Expert Resume Writer to Master Career Director along with a dual BA in Creative / Technical Writing and extensive HR, Training and Counseling graduate studies.

She is resume writing expert for 54 professional associations such as PMI, AMA, AJST, ASAE, ASME and ASCE. She is the author of the highly acclaimed Interviewing: The Gold Standard program and co-author of Job Search Bloopers; she has also been published in 15+ resume / cover letter compendiums. She has won seven prestigious resume writing and job placement awards, and has pioneered numerous industry education, outreach and recognition programs such as the Certified Employment Interview Consultant and Certified Web Portfolio Practitioner programs.

Other accomplishments include nationwide transition programs for organizations such as the US Treasury, national conference speaking engagements, former 2-year employment guest columnist for The Florida Today newspaper and Director of Placement for Herzing College. She has been quoted in publications such as Forbes (IMPRESS), Working Mother and the Wall Street Journal, and appeared on NBC 7/39 News in San Diego and Wall Street Journal Radio.

Web site: www.acompetitiveedge.com

Email: laura@careerdirectors.com

About CDI
CDI was originally founded in 2000 as the Professional Resume Writing and Research Association (PRWRA) to provide a venue for global career professionals to access educational, networking and personal / professional development opportunities in the careers industry.

Since its inception, the association has continued to grow from a resume association to that of an innovative and comprehensive, multi-discipline career association that has embraced all types of career professionals from around the world.

In 2005 the decision was made by the association's leadership to adopt the new name of Career Directors International (CDI) in order to provide an accurate portrayal of the depth and breadth of the association's membership and benefits. As of January 2006, the association has been known as CDI.

Driving the success behind CDI is the vision, energy and efforts of current President, Laura DeCarlo, the Advisory Board of Sr. Directors, Committee Directors, and numerous committee and focus group volunteers. The Advisory Board of Sr. Directors and Committee Directors guide CDI members and programs by providing complementary expertise in career services, employment, business, and marketing/PR. Founding leadership of the original PRWRA was under President, Laurie Roy, and CEO, Todd Holthaus.

Quick Gen X and Y Comparison – What Do You Think?

By Tony Deblauwe

Looking at the age diversity conversations going into 2010, I came across articles by Sally Kane of About.com to compare Gen X and Gen Y characteristics (click on each header link to read full article). Each description creates a unique perspective of how the generations are summarized and profiled.

Gen X traits:

• Individualistic
• Technologically Adept
• Flexible
• Value Work/Life Balance

50M estimated population

What’s been said about Gen X?:
 
Wisegeek.com post: “Members of this generation, wrought in the shadow of the Baby Boomers, felt alienated and disenfranchised by the cultural icons of the time. “X” described the lack of identity that members of Generation X felt — they didn’t know where they belonged, but knew for sure that they weren’t a part of the overbearing generation of Baby Boomers. The media played its part in promoting the Generation X stereotype by portraying them as grunge-listening, Starbucks-drinking, flannel-donning slackers who were quietly revolting against their overachieving, conservative Baby Boomer parents or older siblings. While Gen-Xers probably feel passionate about some things, in general they have been portrayed as apathetic, disaffected twentysomethings with no course in life.”

Gen Y traits:

• Family-Centric
• Achievement-Oriented
• Team-Oriented
• Attention-Craving

80M estimated population

What’s been said about Gen Y?:

Sciencecareers.sciencemag.org post: “More than any earlier generation, millennials have had nurturing parents, and they expect that nurturing, and the personal growth that results, to continue. They want to be closely mentored and to be given opportunities to gain new skills. Many watched their parents remain loyal to a company only to be made redundant in the 1990s recession.”   

Overall what is the shift between the generations? Is the nurturing and over-attention paid to Gen Y a reflection of creating an identity that Gen X craved but lacked? Is it really a shift in technology to collaborate and communicate easier that is the bridge? Or is it changes in jobs and working arrangements that allowed parents more flexibility in family time?

It’s interesting to note how societal and technological shifts impact generational behaviors and stereotypes. For employers dealing with generational flux, the key is to get ahead by leveraging your assets – in this case the greatest asset – people. By understanding the similarities in approach and style between the generations, not the differences, employers can maintain competitive advantage.  

 

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

Post your comments on the similarities between Gen X and Gen Y

Smart Leaders Ask Provocative Questions

Here are some questions often ignored by many; asked by a few?

What would happen if we:

1. Connected pieces to show the “big picture?”

2. Created a visual map making it easy for everyone to know where we’re headed?

3. Shared more success stories?

4. Showed stories of how problems were solved?

5. Showed stories of how ideas failed?

6. Learned to be more trusting?

7. Invited employees to share their personal leadership tips?

8. Listened by asking what matters most to them?

9. Simplified complex business ideas with personal experiences?

10. Encouraged and told stories that point to something bigger than ourselves?

11. Presented more personality and humanized our company?

12. Started thinking “community” instead of “corporate?”

13. Saw or heard stories of leaders capturing our imaginations?

14. Told employees why we are in business in the first place?

15. Demonstrated our values in action when recruiting potential candidates?

16. Stopped using or creating strategies that don’t work?

17. Simplified things?

18. Considered today as the first day we had a communications department?

19. Integrated employees regularly in our communications?

 

What about you? What questions have you used to drive employee conversations?

 

About Glowan

The Glowan Consulting Group was formed in 1993 on the premise that individuals and organizations needed more than just pre-designed, prescripted "training" to meet their human development goals. Organizations and our societies are changing at a rate never seen before in our experience and we need tools, techniques and support systems to meet those new challenges. Glowan has been meeting those needs via our broad and deep offerings of Leadership and Management Development Services and Products. Visit www.glowan.com for more information.

Gen Ys Top 5 List for How We Think and Act at Work

By Jason Ryan Dorsey, Author of Y-Size Your Business: How Gen Y Employees Can Save You Money and Grow Your Business

Employers always seem to be asking me, "What in the world is Gen Y thinking when they do some of the things they do at work?" As a researcher and member of Gen Y, which I define as being born from 1977 to 1995, I think it's important to shine a spotlight on what my generation is thinking when we show up to work (and then immediately ask for a coffee break). The more employers understand Gen Y's perspective, the easier it is to identify the strategies and actions that can transform us into high-performing, loyal employees.

GEN Y'S TOP FIVE LIST FOR HOW WE THINK AND ACT AT WORK

1. No expectation of lifetime employment

Gen Y is the only generation in the modern workforce that has never expected to work for one employer our entire career. In practice this means that Gen Y expects to change employers throughout our lives, because it would be abnormal for us to stay with one company. This doesn't mean Gen Y won't or can't stay with one employer, just that we see nothing wrong with switching employers if a job or company no longer fits us (or our sleep schedule).

Though we may not expect to be with a company for 20 years, we are willing to work extremely long hours for an employer if we feel a genuine connection to the company or its mission. At one online education company I visited, the Gen Y employees were working seven days a week, and some were taking showers in the office building in order to meet deadlines. One of the Gen Y employees told me, "That's just what you do when your company is counting on you."

2. A feeling of entitlement along with big expectations

The biggest complaint I get from employers of all ages -- including Gen Yers who manage other Gen Yers -- is that many in Gen Y feel entitled. We show up to work and act as if our boss owes us something for our presence. I know how off-putting Gen Y's attitude can be, but before we condemn my generation as a bunch of spoiled brats (something that I find personally offensive and plan to tell my mom about) we should consider for a moment that entitlement is 100 percent a learned behavior. You are not born entitled. You have to be raised that way.

This might hit a bit close to home if your twentysomething child is still on your car insurance and carries one of your credit cards for emergency use only, which could mean a sale on cherry-flavored Pop-Tarts® at Target. In fact, many of us in Gen Y were told, "As long as you're in college, we'll help you out." Seven majors and one study abroad semester later, we're graduating with 196 credit hours and an Associate Degree -- and courageously entering adulthood by returning home.

3. A hunger for instant gratification and tangible outcomes

Gen Y has come of age with almost instantaneous access to just about everything and everyone -- from instant meals to instant messages. This constant immediacy has taught us to have little patience, short attention spans, and to seek ongoing progress in every aspect of our life. We hate waiting in lines at the grocery store (Can you say self checkout?) and don't want to show our work on math problems, especially if you already told us our answer is correct. We will even walk into a fast food restaurant, see a line at the counter, and leave to go somewhere else. 

However, rather than brand us as the "instant everything" generation, my research shows we are simply outcome-driven. This observation changes the conversation, because it shows we are not about having everything now, we simply don't see -- and therefore we do not appreciate -- the steps involved in creating the outcomes we want. We literally do not connect the dots or consider our plans in terms of policies and procedures -- that's an older generation's way of approaching work. Instead, all we want to know is what you want us to do. Then get out of our way so we can get it done. In the workplace, this makes us extremely project-oriented rather than job-description focused.

4. A new relationship with technology and communication

Since Gen Y grew up during the Internet boom and mobile communication revolution, technology has become an extension of ourselves. However, older generations have a big misconception when it comes to Gen Y and technology. Older generations think that Gen Y is tech savvy. This is 100 percent not true. Gen Y is not tech savvy, we are tech dependent. Important difference. We don't know how technology works. We just know we can't live without it.

5. A need for ongoing feedback

When it comes to employing Gen Y, if your company only gives annual reviews, then you can change the name. Call them exit interviews, because Gen Y won't be there. We need feedback on a much more regular schedule, ideally twice a month, but don't confuse frequency with a major time investment. We don't want an in-depth 360-degree performance review, complete with personality assessment. Just a five-second check-in that says you notice we exist. All we need is for you to pause outside our cubicle and say, "Jordan, I saw how you helped Mrs. Booker solve the billing problem. Good job." That's it. Nothing more.

TURNING THESE GEN Y CHARACTERISTICS INTO A COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE

As a member of Gen Y, I admit that all five of these characteristics do not initially appear as workplace strengths. However, I have seen time and again how employers have made every one of these Gen Y characteristics into a workplace advantage when Gen Y is managed correctly.

The key is to start with an understanding of our mindset, find a common ground with your company's goals, and build on it. In fact, the breakthrough moment for many of my clients who employ Gen Y is realizing that what their Gen Y employees want in order to put forth their best effort is often less expensive and easier to give than their current employment practices. Now that is something you will want us to text our friends about -- but not until our lunch break.

Copyright 2009 Jason Ryan Dorsey, author of Y-Size Your Business: How Gen Y Employees Can Save You Money and Grow Your Business

Author Bio
Jason Ryan Dorsey, author of Y-Size Your Business: How Gen Y Employees Can Save You Money and Grow Your Business is an award-winning entrepreneur and an acclaimed keynote speaker often referred to as "The Gen Y Guy". He has been featured as a Generation Y expert on 60 Minutes, 20/20, the Today show, and The View, as well as in Fortune magazine.

For more information about the book, please visit www.JasonDorsey.com

Assessments – An interview with Learning Expert Jay Orlin

By Tony Deblauwe

I’m happy to take a few minutes with Jay Orlin who submitted a post on front-end-analysis. I’ve known Jay for several years and he has a wealth of experience in the Learning and Development and Organization Development areas. I asked him a couple of questions about assessments which is timely considering that in 2010 companies need to revisit their talent plans both internally and for hiring. Assessments can provide key data points into the talent profile.

1. How long have you used personality assessments?

Being that my education was in psychology, I have been using personality assessments for decades. I have used them for both clinical/therapeutic purposes and for organizational development.

 

2. Why should organizations or individuals use assessments?

This question offers a wide variety of responses. Beginning way back in my Intel days, we used assessments to identify the best fit for newly hired operators in the manufacturing areas. This actually worked quite well, producing measurable improvement in both job satisfaction and turnover.

Assessments are also an excellent team-building tool, when used in the right contexts. I have had positive experiences in several companies, where intact teams experienced improved performance as a result of using these. What occurred was decrease in “personality-based” tensions, after understanding both the general principle of personality types and learning which types one another were.

For the enlightened leader, understanding this provides a practical tool for allotting resources to the appropriate tasks. This has the potential to increase job satisfaction and organizational performance.

And of course for 1-1 coaching, these assessments provide an excellent platform for commonality in communication.

 

3. What’s the best way to leverage the data from assessments?

I would caution against the use assessments to address individual performance issues (unless it is being used confidentially by a coach).

For team building, the practitioner would have to determine if there was sufficient trust in the first place and if not, find ways to bolster that before going into the particulars of member’s personality types.

I prefer to position these exercises as genuine discovery opportunities for individuals and teams. They are usually a positive and fun experience

 

4. What are the top 3 personality assessments and what do they measure?

My overall preference is for the Keirsey Temperament Sorter. It provides an in-depth report on one’s type. It basically explains how you most naturally will behave in a variety of circumstances. The Keirsey breaks down to four major Temperaments and four Types within each. While the number of Types, 16, parallels Meyers-Briggs, they are not the same.

Meyer-Briggs is another very widely used tool. I am certified in this tool as well as Keirsey. The Meyers-Briggs, in my opinion, is more difficult to use. It describes “personality” as opposed to “behavior”. So the practitioner must do a lot of interpolation of what they believe someone is thinking, based on Type, before they can move ahead to behavior matters.

Birkman is the third of what I think are the major assessments. It sorts out interests, strengths and weaknesses and peer relationships. Birkman, in my opinion, provides more applicable data “user-friendly” than Meyers-Briggs.

Of the three, Keirsey is the most accessible to people who are not already trained in the behavioral sciences and definitely the least expensive.

 

-Thanks Jay, and how can people get more information about you and your services?

The best way to do that is with a conversation. My email address is orlinjay@aol.com

Jay Orlin – Full Bio

Jay has been recognized for his accomplishments by employers and peers for many years in Silicon Valley. His style is to work proactively and collaboratively to produce measurable improvements and results.

He has extensive management experience leading departments and programs at Intel, Nortel, Tandem, Altera and Philips Medical. In addition, he has serviced many well-known corporations with performance improvement engagements. He created and managed an in-house coaching practice portfolio for a 3,000 person company utilizing internal resources, including himself, as well as external coaches.

In addition to his in- house experience, Jay has provided performance improvement services to many large and small companies, such as; Hewlett Packard, Sun Microsystems, Oracle, Pacific Bell, Charles Schwab, Pro Business, Aspect Telecommunications, Avery Dennison, Bayer Pharmaceuticals, Cisco Systems, and Raychem and Gilead Life Sciences.

Jay brings hands-on experience with most corporate functions; leadership development, sales, finance, marketing, technical services, manufacturing, R&D and customer service. He has personally conducted coaching for over 100 people. He is certified with several assessment tools, including ECI 360, Meyers Briggs, Keirsey Temperament Sorter II, and CPI 260, as well as numerous other instruments. He also is certified to train in several programs, such as Situational Leadership, Influencing, Negotiation and his own custom programs.

Jay has leveraged interpersonal skills developed over his entire career. He has been licensed as a Family Therapist for many years, and has delivered coaching to executives and senior management, as well as to private individuals. He contributed generously to the betterment of the profession via published books, numerous articles and presentations at professional societies.

He has personally started up training programs for three major corporations and is expert in building strategies, identifying critical needs, and designing curricula, and implementing programs.

Jay is a pioneer in the use and development of elearning and the sophisticated use of blended learning practices we accept as common in the L&D world today.

He holds a Masters degree in Psychology from the University of West Georgia.

EXPERTS – If you’re interested in being interviewed by Tony please use the contact form to submit your information.