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After a 3 month search Paul just got a new job.
It had all looked hopeless only a few weeks ago. The number of advertised jobs was shrinking every week, thousands of new people being made redundant, the queue in the Job Centre was getting longer and longer.
So, what did Paul do to create his lucky break?
He made two important changes which made a huge difference.
It was after he had been to a personal development seminar that the first change came about. He had been asked to do an exercise which convinced him that he had to value himself more. The results of the exercise made him realise that he had been too harsh in the way he felt and thought about himself, blaming himself for not having a job that brought income into the home.
From the moment he realised he had a value he found it easier to go out into the world and really promote himself. He started to network more. He contacted old business acquaintances and worked through his LinkedIn contacts.
One of these contacts referred him to someone who needed a manager with the skills Paul possesses and he was on his way.
It was the belief in his own value that brought about the change in Paul’s job-hunting behaviour. Once he changed his habit of searching for jobs in newspapers and on Internet job boards he was able to take control of his future.
Try to look at the picture in this way. Millions of people are looking for jobs. The vast majority of those people will be looking at the advertised jobs. So when a new job appears in a newspaper or magazine it is immediately seized on by hundreds, if not thousands of anxious job seekers.
The advertiser will be flooded with applications. No matter how diligent that advertiser, it is likely that applications get to the top of the pile largely as a matter of chance or good timing. Or, as is the case with many government jobs, it will take a very long time to cull the pile and start the interview process. (It is not unknown for a period of 9 months to elapse between advertisement appearing and appointment being confirmed for a government job.)
The competition for advertised jobs is fierce. Paul was sensible to avoid such competition and look for his job by networking.
The combination that worked was self-belief and networking intelligently.
This is a heartening true story, however it should not end there. Paul has a job, which is important. He is now bringing income into the home. He feels better because he has rejoined the establishment.
BUT…
Has he got a job that gives him fulfilment, make him feel that his life is worthwhile, that he is fulfilling his destiny?
Sometimes short term needs can set our lives off in a direction which can cause long-term issues.
It is really important that now Paul has income and a modicum of security he uses the time to re-assess his life and his options and makes sure that he works, in this job or another, at something that will make good use of his “gifts.”
Is your job satisfying or does it drag your spirits down whenever you think about it?
Exactly what does the term job satisfaction mean? What makes one job satisfying and another a real chore?
For over 12 years I’ve worked as a life and career management coach. During that time I’ve talked to hundreds of people about their jobs. Listening to people who work for charities, service companies, governments, retailers, manufacturers, caterers and wholesalers, in fact just about the entire spectrum of employers, I have developed clear views about job satisfaction.
Does the Employer’s Activity Make a Difference?
Do manufacturers, wholesalers, retailers, service providers, governments or charities make better employers?
The answer is both “yes” and “no.” I have met both happy and unhappy people working for all types of employers. The bottom line is that your happiness depends on the opportunities the employer provides for you to do what you enjoy doing. Some employers will offer such opportunities and others won’t.
So whether you enjoy working for a particular type of employer depends to a large degree on the opportunities that the employer can provide for you.
Does Job Specification Make a Difference?
The answer is an unqualified “yes.”
There are activities that we enjoy and others that we don’t enjoy. One person’s likes are another’s dislikes.
When a job allows you to spend more time doing what you enjoy and excell at, you will find it more rewarding and fulfilling. When you spend most of your time on tasks you don’t enjoy you will find work less enjoyable.
So when you apply for a job it is essential that you:
1. have a clear idea of what you really enjoy doing.
2. Find out whether the job will allow you to spend most of your time doing those activities.
Do not miss the opportunity that an interview provides to find out what you will really be asked to do once you are employed.
Does the Environment in which You Work Make a Difference?
Most definitely “yes.”
Human beings react to their environment. When there is positive energy in the workplace you will feel motivated and excited, which will make work enjoyable.
An employer’s management style makes a clear difference to employees. People need to feel valued and cared for and to be given responsibility to develop their potential.
Good employers create environments in which the Law of Attraction has a positive effect for them, drawing good people into their company.
The need for businesses to make money can cause managers to overlook the human needs of their teams with the result that output suffers and people become disillusioned.
When being interviewed for a job always probe the interviewer to find out all you can about the management style of the employer and their habits regarding the delegation of responsibility.
The Foundation of Job Satisfaction
From what I have written above you can see that it is my experience that the foundation on which job satisfaction is built has very little to do with the product or service that the employer provides and a lot to do with their management style and the work environment that they create.
Find a job where you will be asked to do many things that you enjoy and given the responsibility to get on with it and you will be half way to a fulfilling job. All you need then is a positive and enthusiastic work environment and you are very likely to be happy at work.
Searching for a job can suck if you constrain yourself to the typical tools such as online jobs boards, trade publications, CraigsList, and networking with only your close friends. In these kinds of times, you need to use all the weapons that you can, and one that many people don’t—or at least don’t use to the fullest extent, is LinkedIn.
LinkedIn has over thirty-five million members in over 140 industries. Most of them are adults, employed, and not looking to post something on your Wall or date you. Executives from all the Fortune 500 companies are on LinkedIn. Most have disclosed what they do, where they work now, and where they’ve worked in the past. Talk about a target-rich environment, and the service is free.
Here are ten tips to help use LinkedIn to find a job. If you know someone who’s looking for a job, forward them these tips along with an invitation to connect on LinkedIn. Before trying these tips, make sure you’ve filled out your profile and added at least twenty connections
1. Get the word out. Tell your network that you’re looking for a new position because a job search these days requires the “law of big numbers” There is no stigma that you’re looking right now, so the more people who know you’re looking, the more likely you’ll find a job. Recently, LinkedIn added “status updates” which you can use to let your network know about your newly emancipated status.
2. Get LinkedIn recommendations from your colleagues. A strong recommendation from your manager highlights your strengths and shows that you were a valued employee. This is especially helpful if you were recently laid off, and there is no better time to ask for this than when your manager is feeling bad because she laid you off. If you were a manager yourself, recommendations from your employees can also highlight leadership qualities.
3. Find out where people with your backgrounds are working. Find companies that employ people like you by doing an advanced search for people in your area who have your skills. For example, if you’re a web developer in Seattle, search profiles in your zip code using keywords with your skills (for example, JavaScript, XHTML, Ruby on Rails) to see which companies employ people like you.
4. Find out where people at a company came from. LinkedIn “Company Profiles” show the career path of people before they began work there. This is very useful data to figure out what a company is looking for in new hires. For example, Microsoft employees worked at Hewlett-Packard and Oracle.
5. Find out where people from a company go next. LinkedIn’s “Company Profiles” also tell you where people go after leaving the company. You can use this to track where people go after leaving your company as well as employees of other companies in your sector. (You could make the case that this feature also enables to figure out which companies to avoid, but I digress.)
6. Check if a company is still hiring. Company pages on LinkedIn include a section called “New Hires” that lists people who have recently joined the company. If you have real chutzpah, you can ask these new hires how they got their new job. At the very least you can examine their backgrounds to surmise what made them attractive to the new employer.
7. Get to the hiring manager. LinkedIn’s job search engine allows you to search for any kind of job you want. However, when you view the results, pay close attention to the ones that you’re no more than two degrees away from. This means that you know someone who knows the person that posted the job—it can’t get much better than that. (Power tip: two degrees is about the limit for getting to hiring managers. I never help friends of friends of friends.) Another way to find companies that you have ties to is by looking at the “Companies in Your Network” section on LinkedIn’s Job Search page.
8. Get to the right HR person. The best case is getting to the hiring manager via someone who knows him, but if that isn’t possible you can still use LinkedIn to find someone inside the company to walk your resume to the hiring manager or HR department. When someone receives a resume from a coworker even if she doesn’t know the coworker, she almost always pays attention to it.
9. Find out the secret job requirements. Job listings rarely spell out entirely or exactly what a hiring manager is seeking. Find a connection at the company who can get the inside scoop on what really matters for the job. You can do this by searching for the company name; the results will show you who in your network connects you to the company. If you don’t have an inside connection, look at profiles of the people who work at the company to get an idea of their backgrounds and important skills.
10. Find startups to join. Maybe this recession is God telling you it’s time to try a startup. But great startups are hard to find. Play around with LinkedIn’s advanced search engine using “startup” or “stealth” in the keyword or company field. You can also narrow by industry (for example, startups in the Web 2.0, wireless, or biotech sectors). If large companies can’t offer “job security,” open up your search to include startups.
11. Build your network before you need it. As a last tip, no matter how the economy or your career is doing, having a strong network is a good form of job security. Don’t wait until times are tough to nurture your network. The key to networking (or “schmozing”), however, is filled with counter-intuitiveness. First, it’s not who you know—it’s who knows of you. Second, Great schmoozers are not thinking “What can this person do for me?” To the contrary, they are thinking, “What can I do for this person?” For more on schmoozing, read “The Art of Schmoozing.”
This article was written by Guy Kawasaki and originally posted on his blog: How To Change The World.
There are two directions by which you can describe your path through life. These two ways of working and applying oneself were defined by psychologist Rudolf Dreikurs.
When reading this article it is as well to bear in mind the Dreikurs was a student and colleague of the social psychologist Alfred Adler who believed that the central motivation of all humans is to belong and be accepted by others.
Dreikurs described the two directions as the vertical plane and the horizontal plane.
Those who operate on the horizontal plane want to move towards others, they want to do something for others, they are interested in others, they are motivated by a desire to be of service. They have little concern for what they might personally gain from their actions.
Such people are sometimes called unselfish.
Those who operate on the vertical plane are motivated by the desire to show how good they are, how superior, and to prove themselves to be in some way better than others.
Human progress depends on the efforts of both groups because either group can make contributions and improvements to the lives of others.
Many, on the horizontal plane, serve others well because they simply enjoy doing it. Like Mother Theresa they just work quietly and unselfishly to do good without consideration of what they may get out of it. This is a hard route to follow in today’s society.
Others, on the vertical plane, contribute because they want to show everyone how good they are. They desire to prove their knowledge, status, prestige and worth. Their determination to demonstrate wealth, generosity and superiority has been the motivation behind many a good deed.
In modern society most people are living, or aspire to live on the vertical plane. Knowledge, status, respect and prestige drive them to try to climb up the vertical axis. They measure their progress by their wealth, relationships, career progression and possessions.
The difficulty with striving in this way is that nobody, and I do mean nobody, ever manages to climb continuously. The vertical plane is a slippery pole. It can be climbed, but no one is averse to slipping back downwards occasionally.
The common pattern for those living on the vertical plane is one of constant ups and downs. Up one day and down the next. Constantly evaluating themselves and fearful of making mistakes. Never sure that they are good enough even though others may think them successful.
As a consequence they are continuously unsettled and restless - never knowing whether they are high enough. Tension, fears and anxieties are constant companions. The feeling of vulnerability is with them all the time. Each small failure causes a degree of depression and dents their self-esteem or worse still their reputation with others.
Those on the horizontal plane move quite differently. They cannot go up or down, only ahead in the direction they have chosen. When something goes wrong they try to find a new way to progress. Their motivation is purely their interest in others.
On the horizontal plane individuals are not evaluating themselves. Their sole interest is to function to the best of their ability without concern for status or prestige. They are driven solely by the desire to be useful.
Perhaps now, when the world is in a state of turmoil, would be a good time for more people to try to focus on living with greater emphasis on the horizontal plane and less on the emotionally slippery pole of the vertical plane.
Many who try to live on the horizontal plane say that it is: “remarkably enjoyable to spend my time trying to help others rather than stressing all the time about my own position and possessions.”
Please don’t think that this is the only way to define ambition, but it could be one useful addition to your armoury. It could be a useful way of reducing the amount of stress in your life and creating a feeling that your life is worthwhile.
“My life has been filled with fears, most of which never happened.” Montagne
Client (C): “What’s the use of quotations? Reading a quotation doesn’t make me feel any better.”
David Ferrers (DF): “Have you ever considered using quotations to stimulate your thinking?”
“One approach is to ask yourself questions about the quotation, like: is it true? Is that how it is for me?”
“Is this quotation true for you? Is your life filled with fears?’
C: “Well, yes, I suppose I do have a lot of things that make me a bit jittery.”
D.F. “And is it true that most of them never happen?”
C: “Yes, I suppose it is. Sometimes I lay awake at night worrying about all sorts of things, but when the time comes they nearly always work out all right.”
D.F. “Isn’t it just a bit comforting to know that you’re not alone in worrying about things? That even great men have their fears.”
“President Teddy Roosevelt said: ‘I have been afraid, but I made myself as though I were not afraid, and very soon my fears went away.’ That was his personal recipe for dealing with his fears.”
C: “How do you make yourself as though you are not afraid?”
D.F. “If you think about yourself lying in bed at night worrying and sweating, whereabouts on a time line would you place the feeling of fear? Are you afraid of something that is happening right now, as you are lying in bed, or are you afraid of something that you are worrying might happen in the future?”
“What I mean is this; are you afraid of the lion that is in your bedroom right now, or the lion that you might meet when you’re out in the safari park tomorrow?”
C: “It’s nearly always things that might happen in the future.”
D.F. “Yes, and in my experience that’s true for most people. What we do is let our imaginations run riot inventing scenarios that might happen in the future. That is why fears very rarely happen. Most of our fears are purely in our IMAGINATION and they are in the FUTURE.”
“Things that we imagine might happen in the future very rarely come to pass be they fears or pleasures.”
“In order to make things happen we need to manifest them in the present.”
C: “How does what you’re saying help me to manage my fears?”
D.F. “There are two techniques you can use. The first is to put your fear onto your timeline and move it so far away that it cannot possibly harm you. This is rather like putting your fear on a train and sending it to the furthest destination you can think of. Somewhere so far away that you cannot possibly be harmed by it.”
“The second technique, and the one I personally tend to use when I am assailed by a fear is to move myself totally into the present. So, if I am lying in bed worrying about the size of my credit card debt I will simply force my mind into the bedroom, where I cannot do anything about the credit card debt. I focus totally on the room, on the bed, on my body.”
C: “That sounds quite difficult to do.”
D.F. “It was when I first started. It takes a lot of mental control, but it’s worth it because ultimately mental control is one of the great secrets of life.”
“If you think about it most of your fears, anxieties and worries come when your imagination runs riot, out of control. The moment you get control of your mind you can start to work out solutions to the problems that are worrying you.
C: “How do I get mental control?”
D.F. “It takes practice and determination. As the Buddhists say: ’start and go on.’”
“Can you now see how the practice of thinking about quotations by asking yourself questions can lead you on a useful journey of discovery?”
C: “Um, yes.”
Coach (C): “OK, so you’ve been made redundant; how are you going to manage your outgoings?”
Executive (E): “I have no idea, it doesn’t seem possible to manage my debts unless I have an income of some sort. It’s stressing me out.”
C: “Have you made a list of all your assets? Realism matters, you cannot afford to live in a pipe-dream world. You have to balance your books as best as you can.”
E: “How should I do that?”
C: “Keep it simple. Try two sheets of paper. Head one, ‘My Assets’ and list on it any assets you may have like: your house, savings, redundancy payout, insurance policies etc. Anything that has a value that can be converted into cash or credit.”
“Then on another sheet make a list of ‘My Outgoings” and list the payments you have to make each month like: mortgage, policy payments, credit card payments, Council Tax, subscriptions etc - everything that appears on your bank statement that you have to pay out each month.”
E: “I have a rough idea of what all that amounts to.”
C: “A rough idea is not good enough, you must know exactly how much is going out each month. You have to be realistic.”
“This kind of information will tell you whether you need to take a temporary job, sell some assets or resign some subscriptions.”
E: “All I want is another job and everything will be fine again.”
C: “How long will it take you to get another job?”
E: “I don’t know, but it shouldn’t take too long.”
C: “The crucail point is that you can’t be certain how long it will take. There are a lot of other people looking for jobs at the moment. The competition is tough.”
E: “When you talk like that you make me feel depressed.”
C: “It would be better to feel determined and take a realistic stance.”
“You actually have a great opportunity in your life at this time. Because you are not tied to any one career you can go in any direction you wish. This is a good time to take stock and decide what you would really like to do next.”
E: “Surely my first step should be to get back into employment and start earning again, before I even start to think about a change of direction?”
C: “You are right, your first task is to start earning again. But who says that your best chance of getting a new job is in the same type of work or the same sector as you were in before?”
“It might seem logical to go for the same type of position but some sectors, like Financial and Construction are shrinking fast. What I am saying is that you need to take stock and really put your thinking cap on. I would recommend that you have a chat with our Career Assessment and CV Writing service. They will help you to get a really clear idea of your options and to work out a really good direction for your future.”
E: “What has all this got to do with managing my finances?”
C: “Everything. The longer you spend with an unrealistic attitude, unclear thoughts and no clear plan of how to create a new income stream the more pressure you will put on your Assets.”
“The key to being able to create a bright future for yourself is to have a clear objective and practical plans as to how you will manage your present and move forward into your future.”
“Would it not be a good idea to look at your responsibilities as being to manage your present, which is your finances and to create a new future, which is to manage your career?”
If you are uncertain about your next step why not contact us for a free consultation. One of our coaches will be happy to help you work out your next step. Please use the form below and make sure you include your phone number.
“Hold the thought of what you are,
to guide you into what you want to be.”
Genevive Behrend
These FREE books have proved of great value to me. Along with many others I have found them both practical and motivating. I try to live by the example they set.
The books were a free gifts to me from spiritual marketing guru Dr. Joe Vitale. He has asked me to pass them on you.
You can download pdf copies of both books FREE of charge from these links:
Quotes from Anthony Robbins, Self-Help Expert
“Pleasure is different than happiness or fulfillment. Happiness comes from the feeling that your life matters- from meaningful contribution.”
“The more we pursue happiness the more we miss it. Happiness is the unintended effect of meaningful activity. Find a rich meaning by serving.”
“As a ritual get around people who are filled with passion. We all become like those we spend the most time with and we respect.”
“By either failure or even achievement without fulfillment we numb ourselves.”
“Apathy is really the result of no compelling future. ..we all need something to look forward to.”
If you would like some help to generate happiness in your life please contact us now using the form below:
By Bob Burg
Whenever I speak on the topic of Networking, I always make sure to provide my definition of what the term “Networking” means to me.
By and large, the very concept is misunderstood and carries with it a somewhat negative preconceived notion (i.e., shove as many business cards into people’s faces as you can while telling them all about yourself and your products or services while attending a one-hour business/social mixer).
I define Networking as “The cultivating of mutually beneficial, give and take, win/win relationships.” As you can see, the emphasis is on the “give” part.
“But wait,” the person asks, “Isn’t that just Pollyanna-type thinking that doesn’t
work in the real world?”
“Not at all. Giving works.”
Let me say it again, “Giving works!” and there’s nothing “Pollyanna” about it.
Giving works both from a practical, as well as spiritual side. Let’s look though, at just the practical side.
What I call “The Golden Rule” of Networking is, “All things being equal, people will do business with, and refer business to, those people they know, like and trust.”
When we give to, or do something for someone, we take an important step toward causing those “know, like and trust” feelings toward us in that other person. I’ve often said that the best way to get business and get referrals is to first give business and give referrals.
Why? Because when someone knows you care about them enough to send
business their way, they feel good about you. No, they feel great about you, and desire to give back to you.
Of course, it doesn’t have to be actual business that you give. It could be information, whether that information is something that would help them in regard to their business, personal, social, or recreational lives.
Perhaps you suggested a book (or bought them that book) that you know would be of true value to that person. Maybe you knew their son or daughter was looking for work at a certain company and, knowing someone there who knew the personnel director, you made a call and put in the kind word that helped ensure employment.
It really doesn’t matter. Allow me, if you will, to share one example from my personal life. This took place several years after I had begun speaking professionally. There was one corporate client in particular; one with many divisions I had been trying to “land.”
However, I could not seem to even get a foot in the door. Not only that, I couldn’t
even find the door to try and stick my foot in.
It happened that at a Speakers’ Convention I met a man who had been speaking
professionally for quite awhile. I struck up a friendship with him and his family and looked forward to seeing them at various events.
During that time, despite the fact that I knew he was quite successful, I never
asked him for anything. I did, however, help him as much as I could. Several times, when I was already booked for an engagement on a certain date, I would refer him to the person from the company who had called me.
Having articles published fairly often in magazines, I would refer him as a
contributor to the editor. This was appreciated by ll parties, of course, and didn’t take anything from me in any way. That’s one of the great things about giving, it helps everyone and hurts no one.
It was only a couple of years after meeting him that I found out, through a third
party, that the client I had been unsuccessfully seeking was a major client of this speaker friend of mine.
Now, I probably could have come right out and asked him for help but I didn’t
feel that would be quite right. I didn’t want him to feel that because I had gone out of my way for him that he “owed” me anything. I did feel comfortable however, asking for his
advice on how I, myself, might best pursue them.
I said to him, “I know this is a huge client of yours and am not in any way asking
for you to make a connection for me. I’d love to know, though, how would be the bestway for me to contact the person myself to at least let them know who I am and how I could help them, so that I get the opportunity to establish and develop a relationship?”
Well, to make a long story end, he would ave none of that. He said, “I’ll have the
guy who’s my main contact call you.” And he did.
That client, together will all the spin-off engagements I’ve had wetting that
company’s umbrella over the years has accounted for several million dollars in sales.
That was not the first, and certainly not the only time, that giving first has literally paid big financial dividends. It’s the way I run my business? it’s the way I run my life.
Giving first, works.
There is a major caution here however: You cannot give with the expectation of
direct reciprocation or, for that matter, any reciprocation. This won’t work if you are thinking, “Okay, what is he or she going to do for me?”
Not that you might not get something in return. But that something will more than likely be a one-time something, done out of obligation, and not inspiring the “know you,
like you, and trust you” feelings toward you from that other person, that will elicit this person desiring to see you successful.
No, give because it’s the right thing, without the expectation of direct
reciprocation, and you’ll find this principle to be one of the truest of universal truths.
Bob Burg speaks internationally on the topics of “Business Networking” and “Positive
Persuasion Skills.” His books Endless Referrals and Winning Without Intimidation have each sold over 100, 000 copies. To subscribe to Bob’s free weekly email newsletter, visit www.burg.com
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