ORCMS Career Blog

I’m on a mission.

The more I work with people to help them develop their career, the more strongly I believe that there is NO REASON why anyone in our culture should not be doing work they absolutely LOVE.  In fact, I will go so far as to say, “If you don’t LOVE your job, quit!”

Now I realize that this is a radical statement, and that most people will ignore me.  Some might even get angry.  But I’m willing to stand firm in my mission until EVERYONE IN AMERICA finds their perfect career.  Even in this economy.

As a Career Consultant with an international outplacement firm I work with lots of people who have recently been laid off or downsized.  Once they get past the initial shock of not having a job, many of them tell me that getting laid off is actually a blessing.  They haven’t been happy in their current position for a long time.  Many haven’t been happy for years.  They have wanted to make a change, but they’ve become complacent and comfortable.  NOW they have an opportunity to do what they’ve always wanted to do.  Some decide to change careers.  Others retire or work for non-profit organizations.  Some stay in their industry and find a company whose corporate culture is more in line with their own personality.  Losing a job can be devastating, but for many of my clients they also find it life-giving.

That’s why I’m on this mission.  Wouldn’t it be better if you quit now and go find your perfect career before you are forced to?  What if you had a chance to do some UP-PLACEMENT before your company forced you into outplacement?  Well, you have that chance NOW.

I’m on a mission to help everyone in America find their perfect career.  So, if you don’t love your job, quit. Take a risk and see where it leads you.  I bet you will be happier for it!

Here’s a link to an article about what kind of salary one could expect to make as a blogger and/or a Web 2.0 consultant.  @MarshallK conducted this research in his “ReadWriteWeb” blog last week.  The information may be a bit anecdotal, as the survey group was limited, but this kind of information really isn’t showing up anywhere else at this point.  If you love writing, this may be the career position for YOU!

A study conducted by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), concludes that “employees are clearly not benefiting from management efforts to support their careers.”  (From 2000 HR Trendbook)  Out of 1000 employees interviewed, nearly half said their employer’s approach to career development failed to meet their needs.

Here are some of the statistics:

• 44% said their career aspirations are supported by a system for career development through their employers.
• Nearly half (38%) felt that their employers are only concerned about the career development of their “high potential” employees.
• 30% feel their employer is not committed to helping them achieve personal career goals.

Why does this matter?

Well, it matters for both employers and employees.  The coming years will see a shortage of talent in the workforce due to retirement of Baby Boomers.  Most companies have not yet developed a succession plan (42%) or only have an informal plan in place (29%) to meet their needs.  If employees are not given assistance to enhance their career within their current companies, they may find it necessary to move to a different company that provides these services.  Failing to provide programs for retaining and developing employees is a clear case of myopia.  Companies who do not step up to this challenge will find it difficult to keep their brightest and best employees.

It matters to employees, because in today’s work environment you can plan on changing careers every three to 5 years.  You are responsible for “You, Inc.”  Nobody else will manage your company (”You, Inc.”) for you, so the smart money is on managing your own career development.

There are several things YOU, as an employee, can do to enhance your own career from both inside and outside the organization.  Here are a few great suggestions:
1 - Consult your HR or Training department to find out what is offered through your current company. SHRM says that “a lot of unhappiness over career development programs is a communication issue.”
2 - Look elsewhere for career development opportunities.  Check out the local chapter of your professional organization to see what certification or continuing education classes are offered.
3 - Get a degree.  Your employer may offer some form of tuition assistance for this.  Check your employee manual or ask your HR department.
4 - Change companies.  Chances are good that your company’s competitors care more about their employees than yours does.  Why not take a look at working for them?

Are you one of the 44% of employees who feel their employers do not support your career development needs?  If so, what will you do to enhance your own career goals?

I got this email from a friend who has been doing ALL THE WRONG THINGS in her job search. I think she is finally realizing that her quest to find a job by answering ads on the Internet will simply NOT work. Here’s a tongue in cheek look at the job search process from someone who has a sense of humor about what she is doing.

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“Dear Sean,

I have a friend who is looking for a serious relationship, and she is now trying Internet dating.

This week, I had a very positive job interview (one of those very rare moments when I found a truly great fit on a job board!) and I am on pins and needles, waiting for a “call back.”

The two experiences seem very similar in many ways, so I wrote my friend the following e-mail, with the intent of cheering her up. I thought you might enjoy it, too:

Top 10 Reasons Why Job Interviews Are Like Internet Dating

10. You talk to a guy on the phone for an hour, and keep wondering if he really likes you or if he was just stringing you along.

9. It takes hours to compose a two-paragraph e-mail to HIM.

8. After you send the e-mail, you think of a million things you should have said instead.

7. You keep wondering who else he might be talking to, and whether any of them is smarter or more interesting than you are.

6. You Google him twice a day, just to reread his bio and look at his head shot.

5. More than anything, you want him to call you again!!!

4. He e-mails you — FINALLY!!! — but he still hasn’t scheduled a face-to-face meeting.

3. You start checking to see whether any of your friends knows someone who knows him, so you can get some details.

2. You think that if you and he hit it off, that one meeting will change your life.

And the number-one reason why job interviews are like Internet dating….

1. Your odds of finding the perfect relationship online are about one in a million…but you keep trying anyway!”

We see it all the time. People with 5 to 10 years of business experience as an individual contributor go to graduate school with the intent of getting a degree and moving into management. The problem is, when they come out of their program their resume basically looks the same as when it went in — with the addition of a year or two of graduate school. When they use this resume to apply for a position, they find they are basically qualified for the job they left in order to go to graduate school. What to do???

When we work with graduate students we try to get them to focus on what they want to BECOME, rather than on what they HAVE BEEN. They must re-focus their “unique selling proposition” in order to reposition themselves for the NEXT gig, rather than the one they just left. Here are a few tips we recommend:

1. As much as possible, choose school projects that help you focus on your next career.
2. Try to get an internship in your new area of expertise.
3. Quantify your results as much as possible.
4. Network. MANY professional organizations offer a student discount. Join if you can. This will help you re-position yourself in the new area.
5. Volunteer. It’s a great way to gain experience and network.

With a little bit of strategic planning several things can be done to help you leverage your graduate degree.

Our blog post today comes from a close friend — Angela Todd. Angela was stuck in a job that diminished her quality of life until she decided to “her bliss” and go to Interior Design School. NOW, she LOVES her job! While Angela was not a client of ours, her story is what we encourage EVERYONE to do — live your passion! You can find out more about her and her business at: www.nwinteriordesigner.com

THANK YOU for sharing your story with us Angie!

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I was formerly in business to business sales where I sold services to medium and large sized companies. I have a natural knack with people, and that was the foundation I used to become successful at sales. I didn’t seek corporate sales. They came to me. While the position had a lot of perks - base salary and benefits, steady commissions, an expense account, time outside the office visiting clients, and an office with a view, I was unhappy for several years knowing it wasn’t an ideal fit for me. To put it in the simplest way, I knew deep down I wasn’t given the passions, ambitions and creativity to work in a corporate sales position.

I got caught up in my work life even when it wasn’t fulfilling. There were bills to pay, meetings to run, proposals to send off, and besides, what the heck was I going to do if I did leave my job anyway? I sat in this quandary for literally years. Most people I came into contact with on a regular basis had no idea how unhappy I was at my job. Enthusiasm sells, and since that was my livelihood, I always tried to have plenty of it.

I was stuck. I was never going to leave my comfortable career path – at least I saw no possible way out. I lived occupational hell with a false smile and enthusiasm.

As surreal as it was, my job and life surrounding my career eventually became so unbearable and miserable that I was left with no alternative but to leave and follow my bliss. If you are in the wrong place or field, I believe this will eventually happen to you too. A dear mentor put it to me this way, “When you don’t answer the phone, eventually rocks will start hitting the window.” My phone had been ringing for years. There were signs all along and even if you don’t believe me I will tell you without question, something pushed me to get out.

If you are unhappy with your current career perhaps this is good news for you. You don’t have to make the hard decision to leave, because it will probably happen for you. But, you haven’t heard the rest of the story.

I left my corporate sales job to pursue my greatest life passion — interior design. From the moment I began this journey I experienced a joy that is indescribable. My soul had found its home! Work was no longer a “four-letter-word”. School was almost effortless. Starting my business has been sheer fun, and new clients just find me. I definitely have worked on my business to have these results, but it hasn’t felt like work at all.

The worst part is that I am this happy now, but didn’t make it happen sooner. I spent so many years miserable, on autopilot, unwilling to take action, when I could have been this happy much sooner.

What are you waiting for? For your soul’s sake, get some help to take the plunge and pursue your bliss. People DO love their jobs. You can be that person too.
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Angela Todd is the owner of a full service interior design firm in SW Portland. To learn more visit her web site at www.nwinteriordesigner.com

In a recent Yahoo Education article Chloe Dowley lists “8 Careers to Help Lower Your Stress Meter.”

Here’s Ms. Dowley’s list:

• Accountant
• Preschool Teacher
• Nursing Assistant
• Financial Planner
• Massage Therapist/Physical Therapist
• Pastry Chef
• Graphic Designer
• Desktop Support

WOW! I wonder where she is getting her information.

Perhaps Chloe has never met an Accountant during tax season – high stress!

Or seen a Preschool Teacher tying to read a book to a room full of ADHD students – super high stress!!

Or been on the other end of the Help Desk phone call when someone has just lost critically important business data – how much more stressful can you get?!

My point is this, don’t base your career decision solely on one person’s perception of the job. We encourage clients to conduct a series of Informational Interviews with people who are ACTUALLY doing (or who have recently done) the job you are looking at as a new career. ONLY by talking to people in the position will you be able to make an honest assessment as to whether the position is right for you. Each job has it’s own set of rewards and opportunities. In order for you to assess them properly for yourself you need to talk to some folks who are doing it on a daily basis.

Last night Starbucks closed the doors in EVERY one of its stores in order to retrain Barristas on the art of making coffee! Brilliant! Not only did they retrain 137,000 employees to make the perfect cup of coffee, they also gathered tons of free publicity from local and national sources. What a great move at re-enforcing the central message of the Starbucks brand! Starbucks has been losing money and market share due to the dilution of its brand by focusing on something other than its core competencies. This training session was an effort to get back to doing what it does best — coffee. Even more importantly, they let all of us know that they are SERIOUS about re-focusing on what they do best — coffee.

What can job seekers learn from Starbucks? A ton!

Too often I see job seekers trying to be all things to all people. They don’t want to shut out an opportunity for a job by focusing too narrowly on their job search. They apply for every job they see that even remotely feels like it might fit. They re-do their resume (many say “tailor” their resume) to match each job posting. Then they wonder why they are having “no luck” on the job search. Use this approach enough times with negative results and many will begin to blame themselves — “I’m too old”, “I’m too young”, “I don’t have the right skills”, “I’m such a loser, I can’t even get hired at Home Depot”, etc. . . Of course this defeatist attitude doesn’t do much good for the job search process. The entire thing becomes a cycle of defeat and failure. THIS APPROACH SIMPLY DOES NOT WORK MOST OF THE TIME!

What job seekers can learn from Starbucks is this: 1) discover (or re-discover) your CORE COMPETENCIES and 2) focus your marketing efforts (i.e. your job search) to promote yourself. We say this is “creating a career marketing campaign based upon the knowledge, skills, abilities and training that you are both CAPABLE OF and WILLING TO USE in your next career position.” When job seekers make the mind shift from “looking for a job” to “marketing their core competencies” they begin to enjoy the process and have more “luck”!

Focus on your core competencies and market yourself accordingly.

This is what it takes to be successful in your job search. This is what it takes to find the perfect career. This is what Job seekers can learn from Starbucks.

What will YOU do differently TODAY, based on what you saw Starbucks do last night?

Here’s a quick link to a story from Yahoo that tells about a couple of guys who hated their jobs . . . until they invented new ones for themselves.

Check out the story: http://potw.news.yahoo.com/s/potw/61209/how-to-make-a-zombie-for-50-or-

Now check out their website: http://www.indymogul.com/

NOW, go do it for yourself!

I had a conversation with a friend yesterday who is discouraged about applying for jobs through job boards on the Internet. “Is there a better way,” she wanted to know?

“YES!” Almost any other way of looking for work is better than going through the job boards. While many people DO find a job through these boards, the vast majority of people DO NOT FIND A JOB THAT WAY. Only 2 out of 100 job seekers find their job through Monster, Jobdango, HotJobs, etc. Perhaps as many as 1 in 10 job seekers will find their position by posting on the company website, but that’s still a very inefficient way to go about it.

When you submit your resume online you are one in a million . . . literally. To the hiring manager or recruiter your resume looks like this:

The problem is that conventional wisdom tells us that applying for jobs online is the ONLY way to get a job these days. But is that true? Is there another way? Is there a better way?