The Voice of Job Seekers

Mark Anthony Dyson ★ Career Writer ★ Speaker ★ Thinker ★ Award-winning Blog & Podcast! ★ I hack and reimagine the modern job search!

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Here are a Couple of Career Lessons to Learn from Kevin Durant

Here are a Couple of Career Lessons to Learn from Kevin Durant
For those of us who nearly obsessed with Kevin Durant’s move to the Golden State Warriors, we forgot there were a team of champions before Durant arrived. Many of us basketball fans were engaged the entire year with what was going on at Golden State. There was so much intrigue with Kevin Durant making an audacious move to the Golden State Warriors from a relatively good team, the OKC Thunder. It was expected the Warriors would win. And last night they did.
There was so much drama during the year.
First, the story line of the Warriors losing last year’s final after being up 3-1. It was thematic because no team had lost in the finals. Clarity and history collide here: NBA finals, not conference finals. Kevin Durant, one of the best players in the league, has a chance to play with the team with the best record with the only expectation to be the best team.
One high profile sports analyst stated throughout the year it was the weakest move by a superstar he’s ever seen.
Second, the slow start.
Third, the injury to Durant’s ankle.
This analyst defended his position all year. His comment didn’t matter how loud it was, it didn’t matter much to the people involved.

I always asked myself what is a career weak move. I thought about these scenarios:

 Dan Price took a pay cut to give his employees a huge raise a few years back. A CEO who takes a huge pay cut for anything today must be a weak career move, right?

 

Sara Peavy left a Fortune 100 company “to go where the wind takes her” or yet a small start-up company. Surely, happiness is NOT really a valuable commodity.

via GIPHY

Mohamed El-Erian says the reason he left a trillion-dollar company as CEO after his 10 year old daughter gave him 22 events in her life he missed. He called it a “wake up call.” Others may have called it something else.

via GIPHY

The ESPN analyst said he joined a team that beat him instead of carrying his original team to a finals victory. His description of what he thought was a “weak move” was announced to the world. Yet, it said so little about what mattered because Kevin Durant is now a champion.

The career lesson is so valuable here is for us to envision what our journey should look like in the end.

What is the main career lesson for us today? The goals of you and your teammates and the price you want to pay or play for it.
But you should know your teammates, right? Finding out who you want to play for and play with is significant. Maybe more than who is paying you, right? Consider how well Kevin Durant played for the coach and with other players. For us, it would be for our direct boss and with teammates.
Yes. Research the team. The boss. The company.
How well do we digest the role we will play is different? You won’t know until you research the company, the boss, AND the team because of all it matters. What if your prospective team reached out to you? The Warriors’ players reached out to Kevin Durant as some media sites reported in 2016 before Durant joined the team.
I wonder.
What is insignificant–the others who haven’t tried walking in your shoes and your short falls, mistakes, failures mean nothing if you fit with your potential new team.
How complete would your research be if you played against your prospective team?

About Mark Anthony Dyson

I am the "The Voice of Job Seekers!" I offer compassionate career and job search advice as I hack and re-imagine the job search process. You need to be "the prescription to an employer's job description." You must be solution-oriented and work in positions in companies where you are the remedy. Your job search must be a lifestyle, and your career must be in front of you constantly. You can no longer shed your aspirations at the change seasons. There are strengths you have that need constant use and development. Be sure you sign up to download my E-Book, "421 Modern Job Search Tips 2021!" You can find my career advice and work in media outlets such as Forbes, Inc., Fast Company, Harvard Business Review, Glassdoor, and many other outlets.

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How to Make a Personal Business Card for Networking Today (at no cost)

How to Make a Personal Business Card for Networking Today (at no cost)

You need a personal business card today! If you don’t do anything for your job search today, make it easier for any job fair vendor, new contact you meet in person or online, or anyone you are exchanging value. A personal business card shows your serious about opportunities and ready to move forward. Even if you’re not looking right now, why not be ready for any opportunity in front you. Remember if you don’t stand out, you minimize your job opportunities!

 

Most of you may have written off having a personal business card because of the cost and the lack of creativity. Well, I can help you with both. All you have to do is the following:

All you have to do is the following to create a no cost but original electronic personal business card:

  1. If you have a LinkedIn profile photo, snap a picture on your mobile phone of the picture part and headline
  2. Download Canva app, create an account (you can use Facebook to build profile)
  3. Upload your LinkedIn profile picture to Canva
  4. Top of Canva interface you can choose the type of image you’d like to produce, select “card.”
  5. Pick a picture to complement your photo, crop, adjust to fit card
  6. You may need to go to your laptop to write in your LinkedIn customized address, email address, phone number, and maybe a website address.
  7. Once you’ve created an aesthetically pleasing card, save it and download to your phone
  8. Viola, you have an electronic business card to send Bluetooth, email, or post on social media

I think any mobile image will do, but LinkedIn has a nice template for a business card image. Will the ease of producing contact images make a real business card obsolete? Who knows. Whoever you meet, you want to make yourself memorable and make contacting you easy as possible. An electronic personal business card in any image in your phone (since you have it with always, right?) maintains your readiness for any opportunity.

Remember it’s just another tool of many you should be ready to employ for a recruiter, hiring manager, or an employee who can refer you.

 

About Mark Anthony Dyson

I am the "The Voice of Job Seekers!" I offer compassionate career and job search advice as I hack and re-imagine the job search process. You need to be "the prescription to an employer's job description." You must be solution-oriented and work in positions in companies where you are the remedy. Your job search must be a lifestyle, and your career must be in front of you constantly. You can no longer shed your aspirations at the change seasons. There are strengths you have that need constant use and development. Be sure you sign up to download my E-Book, "421 Modern Job Search Tips 2021!" You can find my career advice and work in media outlets such as Forbes, Inc., Fast Company, Harvard Business Review, Glassdoor, and many other outlets.

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It’s all about your personal brand and what you deliver to employers

It’s all about your personal brand and what you deliver to employers

Personal branding takes time, but it has the best return on investment of your time.

I thought you might be interested in a few job search articles around the web:

  1. If you fail to treat everyone well, there will be doubt how you’ll treat others. This principle applies to your job search. 
  2. Preparing for difficult or even tricky job interview questions is hard. This article does an excellent job in helping you prepare for them.
  3. College grads seem to heed preparation advice many of us have shared over the last few years. USAToday reports this is the strongest entry-level job market in years.

New podcast schedule is starting the fall:

I will be going to a new schedule for the fall. I will publish bi-weekly shows instead of weekly ones. However, I will be posting on the blog three times a week instead of twice.

As a reminder, you’ve heard me say recently on the show my podcast summer hiatus is from July 19-Sept. 12. I plan on to enjoy my summer, but I get lots of work at this time too. I have some projects scheduled to need more of my attention. I will continue to publish the newsletter but will every two weeks.

The Job Lab

This past Tuesday night, I conducted the second Job Lab workshop for the Greater Ashburn Community Development Corporation “Aim to Work” initiative. There were five attendees this session and asking about future offerings. We are looking to expand this effort in the future. I hope soon we can do a Facebook Live so we can provide content for those not attending and reach folks who will want to attend live.

Your Degree is not a Golden Ticket

Just because you got a degree doesn’t mean things will just happen. This is the beginning. This is an article I wrote for Job2Careers that tells why and practical things you can do to make the most out of potential opportunities.

About Mark Anthony Dyson

I am the "The Voice of Job Seekers!" I offer compassionate career and job search advice as I hack and re-imagine the job search process. You need to be "the prescription to an employer's job description." You must be solution-oriented and work in positions in companies where you are the remedy. Your job search must be a lifestyle, and your career must be in front of you constantly. You can no longer shed your aspirations at the change seasons. There are strengths you have that need constant use and development. Be sure you sign up to download my E-Book, "421 Modern Job Search Tips 2021!" You can find my career advice and work in media outlets such as Forbes, Inc., Fast Company, Harvard Business Review, Glassdoor, and many other outlets.

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