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Words of Wisdom from the Taoists?

Tue, 30 Mar 2010 19:01:19 +0100

“Life is like a stream. Go with the flow and you may be buffeted by its rocks, brought down by its whirlpools and caught up by its rapids. But, ultimately, when you reach the great sea you will have experienced everything life has to offer.

On the other hand, you may cling to its banks and always be safe. But you will never cry with all your tears and never laugh with all your laughter.”

According to Wikipedia, Taoism “refers to a variety of related philosophical and religious traditions that have influenced Eastern Asia for more than two millennia”.

The word Tao can be literally translated as “path” or “way” [of life]. So it shares its meaning with “career” if that word is taken back to its roots. However, whilst this homily is one of those interesting “comfort props” that seem to occur in many philosophies, I’m not sure just relying on “the flow” is the best plan as far as your career is concerned. My experience tells me it is a good idea to give some thought to where you would like to be in, say, three years time and to how you are going to get there.

Where I do agree with this though is that clinging to the banks is not a good idea. I’ve interviewed people who have indeed clung to the banks, or put another way, stayed in their comfort zone until something traumatic, like redundancy, have happened. They then try to convince people recruiters they have good experience gained over 20 years. Unfortunately, they do not. They have one year’s experience repeated 20 times. Even more unfortunately they then find the world has moved on, leaving them behind and because their skills are out of date and no longer wanted in the market place.

So, if you don’t want that to happen to you, at the very least you should put some shape around where you would like to be in a few years time. Then set out a plan to develop the skills and expertise you will need to get you there.

A job for the future?

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 16:33:46 +0100

Seeking a a job with long-term prospects? In these straitened times that obviously makes sense. So a recent research paper* offers some suggestions, which you might find helpful. On the other hand, you might not!

Do you fancy becoming a nano-medic or replacement body part manufacturer? Or perhaps a career as a “memory surgeon” would be more to your liking. Apparently, in the near future the amount of digital information and knowledge the brain will have to accumulate will be massive. So “memory surgeons” will be needed to install extra capacity for senior citizens.

Career opportunities like those, which deal with the expected increase in the number of elderly people, are identified as among the growth areas for jobs in as little as ten years time.

But if travel rather than caring is more your scene you might find your niche as a space station architect or space tour guide. Just imagine! Charging purposefully through space waving a brightly coloured umbrella with your little flock of tourists in tow!

Playing at being a space-age Mary Poppins doesn't appeal? Well, think about the career opportunities climate change and food sustainability might provide. The research predicts a requirement for “weather modification police”. Their job will be to curb attempts by people in one area to seed clouds to steal rain from their neighbours. Or what about a future as a a vertical farmer feeding the citizens of tomorrow's mega-cities? How? By growing food crops on the outside of buildings.

Don't like the sound of any of these jobs? Well, don't worry too much. This research could be totally wrong. So your best plan is keep a sharp eye on the market place. Then develop your skills and expertise to keep in tune with changing requirements. Think where you would like your career to be in three years time, which is a manageable timescale. Now work out how you are going to get there.

And, of course, if you would like help with that your first call should be to Career Arena.

* Research commissioned by the UK's Department of Business, Innovation & Skills.

Planning A Career Change

Thu, 11 Feb 2010 17:23:45 +0100

In today's economic climate planning a change of job presents a challenge. Planning a change of career may seem like climbing a mountain. However, the ability to manage change is a very marketable competence so demonstrating it in your approach to developing your career will have a double benefit.

And remember, a desire to change your career is a sign that you are still developing as a person so approach it in a positive frame of mind – even if you are feeling pretty negative about your current situation.

A starting point is to put together a structure around which your career change can be planned and organized. So here is an outline to help your thinking:-

Develop an understanding of yourself and what you have to offer in the job market. That will be a combination of the core attributes that come from your personality, learned skills and experience.
Group those attributes, skills and experience into Skill Sets that illustrate your competencies and expertise.
Have your eyes on the horizon but your feet on the ground and temper aspiration with realism. If your aspiration is to work in, say, deep sea fishing and you also dream of living on a Swiss mountain you might just need to recognise that you could have some complicated – and expensive – commuting challenges.
Carry out some simple market research to identify jobs that “spark” you. Then analyze what the people recruiting for those jobs are actually looking for.
You will then have some idea of the gaps between where you are now and where you would like to be.
Think in terms of stepping stones to enable you to bridge those gaps.
Now put together a CV. That will be a key marketing tool so make it a pointer towards the future rather than be merely a list of the tasks you have performed in the past.
You should now be ready to sort out your marketing plan. Tips on how to do that will form the basis of a future article so keep watching this site!

And yes, all this will take time and effort. But that time and effort will be an investment in your future. Surely you owe that to yourself.

[f you would like some help with this just send me an e-mail]

I'm Back!

Wed, 10 Feb 2010 13:59:26 +0100

Sorry I went AWOL. We've had a family trauma and some things are more important - even than blogging!

I'll start making posts again within the next few days.

Success!

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 16:10:09 +0100

"Success is getting what you want. Happiness is wanting what you get".

Warren Buffett, the world's second richest man on Radio 4 this morning.

Survival!

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 16:11:02 +0100

“It's not the strongest or the most independent that survives. It is the one most able to change and adapt to new environments.” [Charles Darwin]

And the world of work is changing ever more rapidly. So how well equipped are you to cope? Actually, there is a balance between changing so often that your career [and your life!] lacks focus and even becomes unstable and changing so little that ossification sets in. Have you achieved that balance?

CV Basics: Part 1

Wed, 30 Sep 2009 10:49:10 +0100

Your CV is one of the most important documents you will ever put together. So let's have a quick look at things to avoid if you want yours to end in the recruiter's pile for the “short list” rather than in the bin.

Going on, and on – and on!

Curriculum Vitae may, literally, mean the course of one's life but recruiters are not interested in that. They are interested in what you can do for them. So keep it short, succinct and relevant. Whilst two pages are the standard, very senior executives may get away with three. But no more.

Using fancy paper

Unless you are in some way-out fashion or PR business don't use coloured paper. You might think bright green or even purple paper will make yours stand out from the rest. Perhaps. But, that might easily make the recruiter decide your CV is not worth looking at in detail. After all, they are are just as likely to be looking for someone to fit in rather than someone who wants to stands out.

Plastic folders

Most CVs are sent by e-mail these days but if you do happen to post yours don't be tempted to clip it inside a plastic folder. If the recruiter wants to pass a copy on to someone else – the appropriate line manager for example – s/he will have to dismantle the whole thing. If s/he decides to take some CVs home to digest over the weekend the bulky one is likely to be the one to be taken out if the briefcase is too full to shut.

Highlighting old qualifications

Recruiters are unlikely to be interested in exams you passed 20 years ago. What have studied recently that is relevant to their requirements?

Overdoing the italics and bold type

Both italics and the use of bold type can be useful in small doses but don't over egg the cake. If you try to emphasise everything you end up emphasizing nothing.

Coloured fonts

Highlighting with colour draws the reader's eye to that word or phrase – and away from everything else.

Including a photograph

This was a trend a few years ago, especially in the States. One guy sent me a CV with a picture of his face chopped off at the chin. It reminded me of those executed heads displayed on spikes on London Bridge in medieval times. Perhaps I had been reading too many historical novels but the damage was done as far as his image was concerned. Best to leave the photo in the family album.

Emphasizing irrelevant points

At the height of the last recession some poor guy sent me a CV with just a very, very brief paragraph on the front page. It told me his name, his age and that he was divorced with two grown up children. Nothing else. He might have had a brilliant job record but a busy recruiter would have read no further than that page and put his CV on the “reject” pile.

Giving the wrong message

Another guy contacted me to say he was interested in a job around 200 miles from his home. Pity his house was called “Dunroaming”. If he really had “done roaming” why was he applying for a job so far from where he lived? Yet another sent me a CV with a graphic of his house on the top right of the first page. Was he trying to promote himself or sell his house?

Listing peculiar interests

If your hobby is talking to aliens on a distant planet, it's perhaps best to keep quite about it. Whilst recruiters do actually like to see some “interests” listed you do need to be careful. I once met an MD who claimed he automatically rejected someone who listed “golf” as a hobby. Presumably, he thought golfers are likely to sneak off to the club for the afternoon. However, this does illustrate that “interests” need to be thought through.

Above all, remember that in a competitive job market like the one we have today recruiters are likely to do the first “sort” on the basis of “reasons to reject”. Make sure your CV presents you in such a way that you will be included when s/he moves on to the “reasons to select” stage.

[CV Basics: Part 2 to follow soon]

Autumn - Job Blues Or Time To Plan For The Future?

Tue, 29 Sep 2009 15:46:59 +0100

Like the New Year, autumn - or Fall if you prefer – is one of those times when job-related blues can really hit home. The holiday period is over and it's a long haul to the next break. You are back at work and nothing has changed. You are bored or under pressure. Your boss is unreasonable and your career seems to be going nowhere fast.

At recessionary times like these, it can seem that the only option is to sit tight and wait for the employment market to pick up so that you can move to a new job. Unfortunately, the indications are that, this time, the pick-up will be a slow one. But that doesn't mean you have to just sit there and wait. And wait. All that will do is to send your motivation on a downward spiral.

Instead do some positive planning so that you are ready to take advantage of opportunities when they occur – and there are some around even now. So how do you do that? Well, Career Arena programmes are underpinned by some wisdom from Peter Druker, one of the 20^th century's most respected management gurus: Success .... comes to those who know themselves, their strengths, their values and how best they perform”.

So, go on! - make a start on building a self-picture based on those points. You may just surprise yourself and discover talents you didn't know you had. And that, in turn, may lead you to opportunities you hadn't realised existed!

Great Minds?

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 16:06:01 +0100

There's a saying that great minds think alike but here are two slightly different slants on how to get on in life.

"People are always blaming their circumstances for what they are. I do not believe in circumstances. The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and if they cannot find them, make them."[George Bernard Shaw, Playwright, 1856-1950]

"Success in the knowledge economy comes to those who know themselves, their strengths, their values and how best they perform." [Peter Druker, management guru]

If either of those strike a cord with you why not contact me to talk things through?

Taking the Plunge!

Wed, 26 Aug 2009 10:46:12 +0100

Most of my clients are business managers who work in the corporate environment. Some though, generally after experiencing difficulties in the corporate world, have gone on to set up their own businesses. So let me tell you about Joe*.

He has minimal educational qualifications and, when he first came to see me he was working in a garden sundries warehouse. As a first step out of that I guided him towards a job selling garden equipment. He then moved on to work for a company providing floral displays for town centres and shopping malls.

One Friday evening, after a particularly busy, tiring but successful few days at a trade exhibition, he arrived back at his firm's HQ expecting to be asked how things had gone. Instead, his boss started to bitch at him over something that had happened several weeks earlier.

During the weekend Joe mulled over a conversation he'd had with me some time before about the possibility of setting up his own business. On the Monday he gave his notice to his employer and is now, indeed, running his own business making specialised accessories for motorbikes, which he exports to America and Japan. He also lives in a beautiful part of the country in a house he has renovated, has a lovely family - and is very proud of his Porsche, albeit a second hand one.

He has told me that, after his wife, I have been the most important influence in his life. That is very flattering - and he may change his mind as his children grow up!

* To preserve confidentiality I have changed Joe's name though his story is a real one.