OWNing your career!

Mass Application Dash, MAD: I’ve applied for hundreds of jobs and had no replies! What’s the problem? In my professional diagnosis, there are a couple of directions we could go here. If you’re at all familiar with business process mapping, can’t stand it myself, it might look like this (minus the visuals):       A.       You – apply – no response (repeat cycle). What you want it to look like is:       B.       You – apply – interview request – job offer. How do you get from point A to point B? Start by analyzing what you’re doing and looking for opportunities for success. So, the problem is you have applied for hundreds of jobs. Stop there and ask yourself, has applying for hundreds of jobs helped me? Just because you don’t have a job or an interview doesn’t mean the answer is no. Big picture, perhaps now you realize that merely flooding the system with your resume is not sufficient and the ...

Managing for the first time By Daryl M Williams Beaded sweat on my forehead drips on the small of my back, sleep wracked by erratic motion and an inability to relax, doubt plagued thoughts imagining catastrophe and ruin. Not the beginning of a poem, if it were it wouldn’t be one of my better examples, but this is a slight exaggeration of how I felt the days and nights leading up to my first step into the managerial arena. Why was I so despondent when this is something I wanted, badly? I’ve always considered being in management the opportunity for ordinary people to have an EXTRAORDINARY responsibility. Now, I didn’t join the police or become a firefighter, I didn’t become a Ranger, Delta Force or the team lead on Seal Team Six but I realized I potentially had the opportunity to decide the following: 1.       Who was interviewed 2.       Who was hired – Are your kids eating today? 3.       Who w...

I’m a Career Changer and it wasn’t easy! By Daryl M Williams I work with people, some are career advancers, others are career launchers, but my goal today is to talk about the career changer. I am qualified in that I went through this process not that long ago. Won’t bore you with the specifics, but it required me to take some steps. Step 1: What’s my brand?  I’ve never really liked the term brand as it relates to us humans much like some of my students recoiled whenever I said ‘Sell yourself!’ I still needed to discover what my BRAND would be. I recognized I likely wasn’t going to be as familiar as the Target bulls-eye , Nike  or Apple but that was and is OK with me.  I decided that what I enjoyed doing was what I intended to do moving forward and that was helping and teaching others and specifically on career related topics . That discovered, I needed to figure out ways to communicate my worth and experience. Step 2: Developing my identity I worked on d...

Advice to a younger me By Daryl M Williams Full disclosure…. …I haven’t always been a model employee. Sometimes the truth hurts but writing that doesn’t hurt me although I know I have potentially prevented myself from achieving in some areas and opportunities in other areas. How is not important and you don’t have to tell me how you may have sabotaged yourself but knowing is half the battle. Right? So, what would a mature Daryl tell a younger Daryl? Lots of things, like Peeps really don’t taste good, avoid certain types of beverages and try and align your jobs with your career. Please see below for some relevant specifics: Learn at every opportunity: Whether from a direct report, peer, customer or leader make sure to take the opportunity to learn. I think I’ve done this for the most part but it is worth mentioning and I certainly could do it better. Don’t take things so personal: Now I come across nice enough, in fact a former co-worker once told me “Ever...

Career Toolbox Tip: Find Your Advocate By Daryl M Williams I’ve fielded some excellent questions along the lines of: ·          “Why aren’t I advancing, moving up, being promoted?” ·          “What should I be doing?” Now, I can give a simple answer and this is a blog post so perhaps something microwavable would be best as opposed to a seven course meal but I still want to offer something useful. Here are some thoughts I have on this topic I am increasingly hearing. ·          Find out where you stand in the organization? o    Have you worked in the same role for four plus years? You might be typecast. http://goo.gl/IWeRH o    Do you have a bad attitude? How would you know?        §   Do people run SCREAMING the other way when you approach? §   Do you generally not speak to any...

10 Things You Should Always Bring with You to an Interview By: Resumebear The current state of the economy and the job market has made it almost impossible to find a job. If you want to be one of the “chosen” to land an interview, you must be at the top of your game. No longer is it enough to simply appear at an interview dressed in a suit and armed with a positive attitude. Today’s candidates must be thoroughly prepared for each interview they attend. An important component of that preparation is knowing the ten things you should always bring with you to an interview. 1. Five copies of your resume – even if you have submitted your resume electronically, it is still important to bring along hard copies. In many cases, candidates will find themselves interviewed by multiple managers, so it is always important to have enough resumes to go around. 2. Professional references – be sure to bring a list of 3-5 professional references. Include each reference’s contact information including em...

OWNing your career!: Marketing 101: You are the Product By Daryl M Will... : Marketing 101: You are the Product By Daryl M Williams Think back to the past several Super Bowls and some of the companies that ...