Happy New Year everyone!

I’d like to start the new year in the spirit of resolutions, with some goals. But not so much goals about what to accomplish in 2010 (get fit, learn to play the piano, etc), but more goals about how to approach the year.

Goals for activities and accomplishments can be great – they give us tangible things to do. But they aren’t the only kinds of goals that can help us make positive changes in our lives and careers.

We can also think about goals for our attitude and approach. How do you want to approach 2010?

In my book, I talk about these attitudes as “anchors” – beliefs and approaches that anchor us and keep us on track.  So here is a brief look at 3 possible anchors for how we approach our careers and job searches (for more discussion on anchors see pages 81-94 of Not for Sale!)

Outlook: Optimism versus pessimism

Your outlook for the future has a significant impact on your job search. There are two basic options for outlook, and they couldn’t be more different from each other. You can look to the future with hope and optimism, or you can look forward with despair and pessimism. When presented with these two choices, I can’t imagine anyone saying “I choose despair and pessimism.” However, when listening to discussions about job search, there’s a whole lot of pessimism around. And while these may be outlooks for the future, they have a strong impact on your feelings and behaviours in the present as you job search.

Opportunity: Abundance versus scarcity

Your beliefs about opportunity – how many opportunities are available, what those opportunities are, and where and how those opportunities are found – are very influential in your job search. If you listen to a lot of people talking about the world of work, you’ll hear it described as a place without enough for everyone. This “scarcity of opportunity” belief is quite popular – and can be quite depressing. The world of work is described as if it is a place with a finite number of job options – and if you can’t grab one of those, then you are out of luck, and that’s all there is. An alternative view of opportunity is that it can never be finite - there is an abundance of opportunity. New work and opportunities are being created all the time.

Job search culture: Cooperation versus competition

Often the culture of job searching is seen as one of fierce competition. Disadvantages of see job search as competitive can include stress from feeling constantly in competition with others and concerns about “not measuring up;” missed opportunities for collaboration because other job seekers are seen as rivals; and the all-too-common experience of feeling isolated and alone in your job search. Instead of maintaining this competitive job search culture, we can choose a different culture – one that focuses on the potential of cooperation. The advantages of focusing on cooperation, such as support, shared resources, and community, are many.

I’m choosing to approach 2010 with optimism, abundance, and cooperation.

What attitudes and outlooks are you using to anchor your career in 2010?

Attitude and Approach, Choice abundance, approach, attitude, job search, Optimism

“With competition for good jobs at an all-time high, candidates who conduct their job search as a sales campaign consistently win out over those who don’t.”

So starts an article called “Win Your Next Job With Three Essential Interview Skills.”

Now, if you’ve been reading my blog or book, you can guess my reaction. I don’t agree at all. There is nothing noteworthy about that -  all over the internet there are thousands of articles with similar arguments and content that I disagree with. What makes this one worth notice is this fascinating opening line.

“[C]andidates who conduct their job search as a sales campaign consistently win out over those who don’t” is quite a claim. Bold, assertive – very sales-like?

The biggest problem with this is that this is opinion presented as fact. There is NO evidence that this claim is true. There is no evidence for this provided in the article, and as far I can tell from my research, there is no evidence anywhere. Perhaps anecdotally many people feel that this has been their experience. And certainly there are legions of people who believe this to be true. But to present this as fact should require far more than anecdotal stories and beliefs.

Too often job search “experts” tell us the right way to do things. But a lot of this (if not basically all) is  based on opinion. There is nothing wrong with opinion - we should just be up front about it being opinion and not fact.

I’ll use the same analogy as used in the article in question. When you go to buy a new car, you listen critically to the salesperson’s pitch (and you know it is a pitch, you know they are using “closing techniques” and looking for your “hot buttons”). You try to step back and evaluate if the offer is really as good as it is presented as being. You know the job of the salesperson is to get the sale – which may or may not be in your own best interest. So you question all claims.

Let’s do the same thing when being sold on the “correct” way to job search. Question all claims. Beware of opinion masquerading as fact. 

Thank you to Christine Fader for sending me the link to this article – you were right  Christine– I did enjoy reading it!

Choice, Criticisms/questions, Interviews, Job search as sales & marketing job interviews, job search, job search as sales and marketing, sales

I’ve been writing about networking recently, and will get back to that soon, but want to take a one posting break off that topic. I saw Michael Moore’s new movie “Capitalism: A Love Story” and have found it has stimulated a lot of interesting thoughts related my concerns about how people are commodified as products for sale (in our job searches and beyond).

Spoiler alert – I am going to write about a reaction from something in the movie – if you do not want to hear about it until you’ve seen the movie yourself, please do not read on!

As is clear from the previews etc, this movie is a critical look at how the current economic system in the United States impacts its citizens. In watching the movie, I kept thinking about how people (not just when job searching) can feel like mere commodities. Watching some of the stories Moore tells, it’s no wonder we can feel like products for sale. It’s no wonder so many people feel so disenchanted, not just with job search, but also with work in general. There are so many examples in the movie about how the system  dehumanizes people.

One example – have you ever heard of “dead peasant” insurance? No, I hadn’t either. Apparently many large companies take out life insurance on their staff. This insurance is referred to (privately and not publicly I think) as “dead peasant” insurance. So if that staff member dies, the COMPANY MAKES MONEY off their DEATH. Flabbergasting really. People as commodities? Seems like.

I don’t want to give too much of the movie away, so won’t share a bunch more examples. If you’ve been wondering as I have about how the current system we live in impacts how we feel as humans, I really recommend this movie. You may or may not agree with Moore’s take, style, or stunts, but I’m pretty sure it will give you lots to think about. It certainly energized me to keep trying to stop people from being  “for sale.”

Choice, Criticisms/questions commodification, not for sale, products

Ever think “but I can’t get THAT job! I’m not x” or “I don’t have y”?

For a fun story about someone getting a job you might never have believed they could get, take a look at Doctor By Day, Fashion Blogger By Night. It’s a first person account from Jennifer Nachshen who has a PhD in Clinical Psychology and does some work in that field, but who has also become a fashion blogger. She managed to get over her worry “Would [the editor] hire a psychologist to write about fashion?”

Great parts of her story:

-          How she applied for the fashion blogging role with her “11-page academic CV and a copy of a recent publication outlining Canadian guidelines for autism screening, assessment and diagnosis” – and got the position

-          Her reflections on how she went from not sure how to fit into the fashion world, to feeling comfortable there. “You’re only an imposter if you’re pretending to be something you’re not. And I’m not pretending.” She followed her genuine interest – and that must show.

If you’re thinking you’re trying to make an impossible change into a new field (one that may be of real interest to you, but that you’re not yet experienced in) and want to see that it just may be possible, check this out.

Authenticity, Choice, Inspiration, Optimism

I get a little nervous when I know a book review is coming, but also really curious and excited - what will it say? And each time my book’s been mentioned somewhere, it has given me pause for reflection, and for refining my own thoughts after reading someone else’s interpretation and perspective. My book Not for Sale! was just reviewed in Suite101 by Paym Bergson and I’d like to remark on one of her comments.

Re: we should all follow the RIGHT way to find a job:

“One size does not fit all … in her preface it is made clear this book is to get the reader to think and not just accept: to decide on a personal approach rather than go the route of sales - that in itself is worth the effort.”

I hadn’t really appreciated how much most job search advice advocates a “one size fits all” approach until I started receiving feedback about my book and talking with people after some recent presentations. Too much advice is given as if it is the yellow brick road – the one way to get what you want, and this is just not the case.

So many people comment about one size NOT fitting all – so some readers really like discovering this Not for Sale approach because they want to have an alternative to a Sales Mindset. Others have remarked that they think that a Sales Mindset works really well for some people so while it’s good to be aware of this Not for Sale alternative, they argue that we still need to recognize the Sales Mindset as an approach that some people might choose.

I myself am not comfortable advocating for anyone to “sell” themselves.  But I also recognize that if that is what someone has chosen for him/herself, it is their choice. I just worry that that has been presented as the ONLY choice. Instead, I want us all to make INFORMED choices - knowing that there are options and then picking the one(s) that appeal most to us. I hope each of us as individuals can take some time to sift through all the advice and discover what works for us.

Choice, Job search as sales & marketing

Every so often a new story about creative advertising in job search comes out. Recently in Toronto it was a woman who handed out business cards on a commuter train. This week it is someone in Dallas with “Hire Me” and his phone number written on his van (as covered in the Career Diva blog).

Creative these may be, but effective? Some considerations:

Too little information:

If you were (or are) an employer, would you be likely to find someone this way? I know I am impressed by their spunk and willingness to take risks and try something new. But if all I know about someone is what can fit on the window of their van, I don’t think I’d go out of my way to see if they were what I needed. Unless, and it could happen, if I was so very desperate for someone for a particular role that I then decided it was worth the phone call.

What does it communicate?

Just as the blogger, CareerDiva, thought that the man with the van was feeling very desperate (he wasn’t) might not a lot of people assume this when they see someone trying (or do they think “stooping”) to use a strategy like this? Whether or not that is true.

Untargeted:

Both a roaming van and handing out business cards on a commuter train are very unfocused – who knows who is sitting on that train or who might see that van. Of course there is also the chance that there could be just the someone you need to meet. According to the article in the Toronto Star, the job seeker did get 8 contacts – who either took her resume or set up an interview. But when looking at how to best spend your time, targeted conversations with people is probably #1, this type of untargeted activity lower on the priority list.

Publicity

Both job seekers got a lot of publicity – which might be a good thing. But now this kind of thing is no longer news – been there, done that. If more people do this, will it still get press?

Sales-y?

The ad on the van seems sales-y. The conversations on the commuter train may or may not have been. Really depends on how they were done. It is certainly possible to have a real, authentic, and interesting conversation while commuting. Interestingly, in the online comments to the Toronto Star article, someone has complained about being approached on the train by other people job searching - that writer must see it as selling as they believe it violates a no-soliciting policy which they say the commuter train has. Another compares it to being regularly bothered by telemarketers and door-to-door sales. Interesting!

Results:

In the end, the job seeker in Toronto found a position through reconnecting with a former colleague, not through a connection established on the train. The gentleman in Dallas is still looking.

These kinds of out-of-the-box techniques garner a lot of attention, but I’d hate anyone to feel like you have to be this out-there to find something. Most success is not about billboards and doing something that gets blogged about, but is about connecting with people through good old fashioned conversations (on or off line), shared projects, outings etc, and keeping going until the right opportunity opens up.

Choice, Job search as sales & marketing