ORCMS Career Blog

How do people in your profession establish credibility?  Years of experience?  Higher education?  Professionalism?  Knowledge of your industry? All of the above?

What “tickets” do professionals in your field need to “get punched” in order to be counted in the upper echelon of your field? Accountants sit for the CPA or CMA exam.  Lawyers have to pass the Bar Exam for the state(s) in which they practice law.  Project Managers can get  a PMP certification.  Human Resource managers can go for the PHR, SPHR, or GPRH.  For some professions these certifications are required.  In other fields they are a way of gaining status.  Sometimes these certifications require education and a certain number of years in practice.  Others can be achieved straight out of college or grad school.  Do you know the certification requirements and opportunities for your profession?

Many professions REQUIRE continuing education or advanced certification of their members.  Professional certification is a great way to keep up on the changes happening in your field.  It’s a way to learn more about what’s happening in your industry or profession, and a it’s also a GREAT way to distinguish yourself from others who do the same thing  you do.

You should note that there is a difference between certification and certificates.  Many universities have certificate programs for anyone who wants to enroll.  They provide a certain level of knowledge about a profession,  and they sometimes will help prepare students for taking the certification exams.  Certification, on the other hand, is usually provided by the profession itself.  Certification is often a more rigorous process and is more widely recognized among the members of the profession granting certification.

If you want to advance your career, look into obtaining a professional certification.

My mother used to caution me about the people I hung out with.  If their character was “questionable,” she would warn me that I was destined to become like them — because our friends, and those we spend time with make an impression on our own character.  I used to think she was just being a “naggy-old-mom”, but then I realized she was right!  Our friends DO influence who we become!

If that’s true for you, then the question is: “are you spending enough time with the people you want to become?”  If you are an Architect you need to spend time with others who share your passion for drafting and building buildings.  If you are a marketing professional, you should spend time around other marketing professionals.  If you are an engineer you will want to be around people who speak your same language and read the books, articles and blogs you need to read in order to grow in your professionalism.

But what if you are new to the profession and you know only a few people in your field?  Where can you go to find others?  Where do people in your field hang out and how can you meet them?

One of the best ways to meet people in your specific field is through a professional organization.  Most professions have them.  In fact, some require membership in order to maintain a license or  qualify for career advancement.  I recommend you find out which ones are most important to your field by talking to someone who has been in that profession for longer than 10 years.  Another option is to conduct a web search to find out what is available.  Most groups will allow you to sign up through their website and many have student rates if you are still in school or a recent graduate.  A lot of these professional organizations hold monthly events, and some have smaller group sessions for networking and professional development.  You will also find that most of them have a job board of some sort for people in your field who are looking to make a career change.

A great way to make a name for yourself in your profession is to volunteer in your professional organization!  In every organization their is an 80/20 rule at work — 20 percent of the people do 80 percent of the work.  You can take advantage of the 80/20 rule by volunteering.  Being part of the 20 percent will put you front and center of the organization where you will meet important leaders, other professionals, and potential employers.  YOU should be part of the 20!

There are many reasons to join a professional organization:  you will brand yourself as a professional in your field, you will grow in your knowledge and skill-set, and you will meet some people who could influence the direction of your career.

By now you should know that we recommend blogging for job seekers, because blogs will help you increase your ranking on search engines. 80% of all hiring managers have said that they will do a Google search prior to talking to a candidate. They simply want to know what the Internet says about you BEFORE they invest any more time talking to you. If the Internet presents you as an “expert” in your field it is much more likely they will take the time to talk to you. Blogging can help you be seen as an expert in your field — so long as your blogging enhances you “brand”.

Unfortunately blogging is a real commitment. If you aren’t going to commit to blogging at least once a week, then you really shouldn’t start a blog. It will be a waste of time.

We don’t all have the time or commitment level to keep up a blog, however, there ARE ways that you can use blogs to enhance your Internet presence and increase your search engine rankings without making the commitment to write a blog. Here are 5 things we recommend:

1. Comment on popular blogs related to your area of expertise — be sure to leave your name and email address in the post so others can find you
2. Find a Bulletin Board or list serve relating to your target industry or profession and become an active participant
3. Become an expert on LinkedIn by answering pertinent questions
4. Ask to write a guest post for your favorite blog — this helps you and the blogger!
5. Read lots of blogs and forward appropriate info and links to other networking partners (”I just read this post and was thinking of you” — while it won’t specifically jump your rankings on Google, it WILL help your colleagues know you are serious about helping them.)

Finally, and I’m sure I don’t really have to mention this, be 100% CERTAIN that in every posting you make online extends and enhances your “brand”. Otherwise, your Internet presence may be more confusing that helpful to your potential employer.

Here is a link to a video short done by Sceaming Frog Productions and is showing at a number of film festivals around the country this year. Check it out on YouTube here!

This short video pokes fun at immigration — a real political hot button. However, I think it says a lot about the shifting job market as well. Nobody is entitled to a job — not even CPAs, CFOs and Sr. Marketing Directors. We live in a capitalistic society where one’s “commercial worth” (like it or not) is determined by the value that is brought to the corporation. How will you help your employer make money? How will you help them save money? If you can’t answer these questions with quantifiable numbers, then YOU are on the verge of becoming obsolete. Too many workers (executives included) have forgotten this in our current culture, and, as the video shows, if we don’t do something soon our jobs will become outdated and worthless.

What do YOU do to measure YOUR value in the company you work for? How do you let those to whom you are accountable see the value YOU bring? I’d love to get your response to these questions .  .  .  .  and to the video!

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.

One of the mistakes people make when they lose their job is to stop connecting with people in their profession. Perhaps they are embarrassed by their situation. Or maybe the grief of job loss has made them too tired to stay in touch. Whatever the reason, if you aren’t able to stay in touch physically with your profession you can still stay in touch by READING. Reading helps you keep up on major developments as well as minor changes that may be important to know in an interview setting.

One way you CAN stay in touch with what’s happening in your profession (or learn about a new profession) is to read the trade journals. Each professional organization has a trade journal and many of them are published online. You may have to join the organization in order to subscribe, but most good libraries should have a copy in their periodical section.

Read the websites of major organizations and companies in your industry. Sure they are using their websites to market themselves, but you can read through the biases and learn what’s happening.

Read business journals. Most major cities have newspapers and magazines devoted to economic news, business development, and other information important to job seekers.

Reading can help you keep up on import information in your industry and profession. What are YOU reading?