Jul. 2, 2018 "Why job seekers need your help": Today I found this article by Eileen Dooley in the Globe and Mail:
Human resources strategist, VF Career Management, Calgary office
Many of us know others who are unemployed, voluntarily or involuntarily, people who are searching for that next meaningful opportunity to showcase their years of earned skills, or advance to the next level of their career.
Especially mid-career, this can be a daunting task: full of disappointment, rejections and, sadly, outright rudeness.
It takes courage to actively look for a job – and by actively, I mean networking. This involves calling people you know, and those you don’t know, asking for information, leads and advice on continuing your search. It takes co-ordination, determination and a commitment to overlook the negativity one encounters, and to focus on the positive feedback.
Those who help people looking for work are usually more helpful than they realize. It takes only one good connection or one good recommendation to help job searchers land the role they’re seeking.
Looking for a new role is often a humbling experience. People believe that years of experience and a record of achievements make the search easier.
Rather, it makes it harder because experience gives people more of a sense of what they don’t want – not necessarily what they do want.
My opinion: Yeah, but you do know what you want, so you go after what you want.
My opinion: Yeah, but you do know what you want, so you go after what you want.
When e-mails and phone calls do not get returned, when interviews go well without the job being clinched, they learn a great deal about themselves, and those around them.
They should never be ashamed to admit it.
Fourteen months ago, a friend quit her executive vice-president position and embarked on a challenging search for a new role in a tough job market.
With 20 years of experience, she searched for the right role, in the right organization. She sought the help of others through her extensive networking strategy. It was fraught with both positive and negative moments.
Ultimately, she landed a terrific role in a startup that is offering her the challenges and satisfaction she was looking for.
To bring the experience full circle she sent a personal note to her network of people – not just about her new role, but articulating what the experience was like for her. One of the most pointed excerpts:
If you’re receiving this e-mail, you belong to a very special group of people that have truly offered their support to me throughout this past year. You supported my decision to make a change, opened doors for me, expanded my network by connecting me with some new and interesting people, offered me work and, more importantly, your words of encouragement on the days when I needed it.
This time has confirmed much of what I knew about myself and shone the light on some things I didn’t. It has also brought into focus the importance of genuine friends and sincerity in business. I’m very grateful to know you.
I hope there will be a time in the future when I can return the same generosity you have extended to me. As I get settled in my new role, I will be sure to forward along contact details.
This was a step many of us do not see often, and especially one that many do not have the courage to admit.
We offer our help, just to see a LinkedIn notification that a change of employment has happened. The personal touch is not there – and it should be.
It tells people that their help mattered, in ways that they may not realize. They had an influence on another person; they may have changed a perspective or sparked a revelation. People may not know they have this power, but they do.
It tells people that their help mattered, in ways that they may not realize. They had an influence on another person; they may have changed a perspective or sparked a revelation. People may not know they have this power, but they do.
A note like this reminds us.
So bring the search full circle: Inform those involved in your search not only where you landed but what impact this time had in your life. It takes courage to do this, but no more courage than it takes to make that first phone call asking for help.
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/careers/management/article-job-seekers-need-your-help/
My opinion: That's a positive article. My favorite part was this:
"It tells people that their help mattered, in ways that they may not realize. They had an influence on another person; they may have changed a perspective or sparked a revelation. People may not know they have this power, but they do."
"If you're not different, then who are you?": Today I found this article by Roy Osing in the Globe and Mail:
Former executive vice-president of Telus, educator, adviser and author of Be Different or Be Dead.
Fitting in has been hammered into our heads our whole lives.
School teaches us to comply and conform to what the textbook says. Our parents reinforce at a very early age that being normal like everyone else is the thing to do, that not being like others gets you noticed and gets you in trouble. Business encourages us to find best practices and copy them as the way to improve performance.
As a result, we have created herds of people who are all alike in some way.
This is a real problem in organizations in which establishing a competitive advantage is the ultimate goal. An advantage isn’t about copying what another organization does; it’s about creating a uniqueness and distinction that is unmatched by anyone else.
And it’s also an issue for individuals who are looking to get a job and start a career. Getting that interview and landing that position is not about looking like every other candidate; rather, it’s about standing out and being noticed as someone who demonstrates special attributes that others don’t possess.
Gecko or chameleon?
The point is this: If an organization or individual does not possess anything unique about them, why should anyone notice and care about them? Why should they be chosen over the plethora of options people have?
If they are not different in a way that is compelling and appealing to others, they will blend into the crowd and will disappear from anyone’s radar.
What do you notice and find more interesting: a chameleon or a gecko?
A ptarmigan or a cattle egret?
Your identity is determined by your context, the frame you live in. It could be the market segment your organization competes in or your MBA graduation class.
In both cases, the challenge is to find a way to gain a competitive edge and be successful given the many others seeking the same result.
If you are indistinguishable from others that share the same context, you will have no identity to those witnessing you and deciding whether or not to engage – other than family, of course, who have no choice in the matter.
Success is achieved for both organizations and individuals by staking out an unmatched position that separates one from their context; that separates them from peers, colleagues and competitors.
The best isn’t good enough
Jerry Garcia, business genius and leader of The Grateful Dead, nailed it: “You don’t want merely to be the best of the best, you want to be the only ones that do what you do.”
Claiming a position like being the best, the leader or No. 1 doesn’t separate you from your context for several reasons. First, it’s not unique – many make claims like this. Second, it rarely can be substantiated with hard facts. Third, it’s not believable.
Stepping away from your context is not about using comparatives like “better” and superlatives like “best”; it’s all about being “the only one” that does something.
It’s a simple expression of what you do that no one else does. It can be observed and it can be measured.
It doesn’t have to be complicated
Finding what makes you uniquely special needn’t be complicated. It’s a matter of discovering what interests people and satisfying it in a special way that surprises others and makes them remember you.
- Strumming a signature long, protracted guitar chord at the end of every song.
- Amazing problem-solving abilities of employees who directly deal with customers every day.
- Having employees who genuinely care about others.
- Offering a personalized video résumé that speaks to your audience.
- Being the first one to put their hand up and volunteer for a project that will take personal time.
- Remembering the names of people you meet.
- Creating a character for your grandchildren – mine was “Papa Troll” – that enriches their lives with fun.
- Giving credit to peers and colleagues rather than wanting to personally grab the spotlight.
- Using uncommon words and your own language that is a bit out there, such as “yummy incoming” and “cut the crap.”
- Having a simple and informal communication style that captures the hearts of other people and makes you real.
- Keeping promises made in a world where this attribute is very rare.
Get it in your head
Stepping out of your context begins with having a mindset that makes it a constant priority; you live and breathe it every moment of every day, whether you are in an organization or in your personal life.
You are always looking for opportunities to surprise others and do things differently than what they expect.
Be the chameleon.
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/careers/leadership/article-if-youre-not-different-then-who-are-you/
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