Career Archives - Page 11 of 28 - The Voice of Job Seekers

How to Get a Great Career Start with Janine Truitt and Chris Fields

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Very few job seekers who are students, graduates, careerists, or career-changers get a great career start. This episode will be an exception as we dive deep in getting a great start or rebooting your career. I have two co-hosts this week: Janine Truitt of TalentThinkInnovations.com and Christ Fields of ResumeCrusade.com. Both of them bring their perspectives in working with young professionals to those in the executive c-suite.

What was some of the best career advice at the start of your career? We would love to hear your thoughts in one of three ways:

Call and leave a voicemail at 708-365-9822, or text your comments to the same number
Go to TheVoiceofJobSeekers.com, press the “Send Voicemail” button on the right side of your screen and leave a message
Send email feedback to [email protected]

Let me share a little about each of my co-hosts:

Janine Truitt is the founder of her company, Talent Think Innovations, LLC is a multi-disciplinary business strategy and management consulting firm. She has been in HR and talent acquisitions for more than 10 years. Her media features include Black Enterprise, Entrepreneur Magazine, and US News and Careers.

Chris Fields is founder of the Resume Crusade, and also an HR professional and resume writer. He helps around 150 people yearly with resume and job search advice. His career advice has been featured in O Magazine, Mashable, and Monster Working!

Here are some of the highlights from our discussion:

Janine believes your career start should be weaved in throughout your childhood, not just college
Chris emphasized many professionals aspire to degrees he or she doesn’t need
We discussed the importance of networking and using it as a main tool throughout your career
Taking time to show up: Go to networking events and be intentional about your connections. Listen more than you talk and learn to identify the fakers from the makers
Living on Purpose! Do work that is meaningful to you instead of ALWAYS chasing dollars and cents

Need help with your career goals, directions, or efforts? Do you need coaching or instruction? I am here for it!

I will be doing other shows with Chris and Janine, so if you have questions for us, let me know.

If you’re in Chicago, you might be interested in an upcoming event on February 12. If you want to join me, send me a note at [email protected] or call 708-365-9822 for more information.

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.

by Mark Anthony Dyson

Make Your Career As Resilient As Your Body

Your career needs your attention as your body does. Many of us act when someone admires our body’s pleasing development or notices our depreciating condition. At first, we do what comes to us naturally as a casual effort until reality hits and the seriousness lingers.

When I pursued my certification in personal training a few years ago, the more I learned about anatomy, the more amazed I became of the human body. I took away life to change perspectives of what the body can endure and what can break it down.

I attended sessions by personal trainers who trained in kinesiology who showed how muscles perform under stress and adapt to training. Your body adjusts to the lack of training (and often weakening) and to high-volume training (strengthening and endurance).

In working with people, most people think weight-loss will only require increase activity without considering a modified diet. Think about it, and it is not the exercise we lack.

If we’re overweight, and our metabolism is slow, and the pancreas is wearing out, we will need to modify our eating habits over time. Our bodies need to re-align a healthy body with a healthy lifestyle.

One of my favorite books in the last few years is “The Rise: Creativity, The Gift of Failure, and the Search for Mastery,” written by Sarah Lewis. Her book offers examples of many heroes who embraced the “near-win” yet showed the power of resilience to survive and eventually experience the gratification of mastery.

She tells the story of Ben Saunders who went to the North and South Pole solo and on foot. Saunders explains it in detail in this TED talk. The idea of surrender and, “…of not giving up but giving over to something much larger than yourself and circumstance and by releasing that resistance, finding the resources that you need to move forward.”

No matter how warm you can perceivably dress for 50 degrees below zero, your body still must resource the ability to resist freezing to death. Someone on Saunders team lost all of his teeth because of the uncontrollable chattering due to the extreme cold.

Your career must resist many changes during a lifetime, as does the body when it’s challenged to survive. As your career grows in resilience, more times than not, will thwart some of the residual of trauma and catastrophe of life. Just remember resilience does not avoid failure, which is a building block of success.

Here are some suggestions to make your job search and career more resilient:

Adapting to changes in job climate

Your body does the best it can to adjust to the lack of or volume of training you provide. You must look at your career trajectory the same. You will see multiple changes in any career path or industry. Today, those who navigate their careers anticipate change and keep fingers on the pulse of their training.

Know when and how to find time for training

When you’re consistently engaging your network via conversations, tea, or social media, training is easy to find. Too many times professionals are behind finding the needed training for career advancement. It costs a lot of money to register late for relevant training. More times than never, the cost discourages them from signing up.

Planning fuels motivation

People do well with nutrition management when he or she plans ahead. When you have budgeted and planned your actions, strategy becomes easier to execute. When you partner with someone who shares your motivation and goals, moving forward is easier.

Comfort is last when change is priority

Eric Heiden, the famous gold medalist skater, trained until he threw and continued his training. Successful careerists find ways to use the time and resources available no matter how scarce. It’s easy to find comfort when there is excess as it often masks the need. When comfort is rare, the power is using all at your disposal. You find rest, but it doesn’t equal comfort!

Similarly, you can control how well it survives even the worse conditions. Being laid off. Or falsely accused of something and you had to leave your job. Or being fired. Or just performing well enough. The good news is we’re all resilient. It’s a dominant attribute all of us have to survive along with grit. What differentiates each person is our ability to deploy it, as we choose to enact it.

No one has had smooth roads to success. Most of us are searching for our success, or an overload of satisfaction, and often the two can mean the same and co-exist in our lives simultaneously. Your body can do it. Your career can do it too. As Sarah Lewis’ book suggests, almost does count. You can use almost and some grit to finish–and land your next job.

image by: pixbay.com

About Mark Anthony Dyson

by Mark Anthony Dyson

I need a job ASAP! I am desperate! What should I do?

Someone I know told me she had been looking a long time and said, I need a job ASAP! I thought I would share my reply so others could benefit.

Well, before we talk about what you should do, we need to diffuse a bomb before it goes off. You will need to deal with the desperate state overflowing from your veins. It will scare everyone you approach. No one likes to talk to an irrational person. When you say, “desperate,” that is what people think. Your reality is you are in a difficult situation where time is of the essence.

The phrase, “I need a job ASAP” is scary. Think before putting it out there.

Companies will not give jobs or even listen to a desperate person. It frightens them and rightfully should. It’s likely you’re overwhelmed but now is the time to overcome it with rationalization. This is a good time to start doing several things to help you focus and conduct a search to achieve quicker results. Unfortunately, most employers are not rushing to hire people.

Write down and carefully consider the following:

Are you clear on the job you want and the company you want to work for? That is the first major obstacle for most job seekers.

Is there a skill you can leverage as an independent contractor?

Is there a job opportunity you passed on applying to because it didn’t seem right? Depending on what “right” is, it may deserve a second look.

Are you signed up with temporary agencies? You should sign up with several. Most pay weekly once you start. Although they will still put you through their hiring process, it is a short term fix.

Do you know any friends who are business owners who can use your skill set?

Have you told most (or all) of your friends and family of your unemployment status? As funny as it seems, people will tell strangers before family. I understand why. If you’re running out of time, then this might be the best rational option.

If you haven’t already, you should be having conversations with people you know who might be in position to refer you or hire you at least temporarily. The caution again is people will bail at the sign of desperation. You can communicate urgency without seemingly irrational.

Dress

Consider dressing business casual wherever you go. This will likely disarm those who don’t usually help anyone. It’s not comfortable during the summer months, but human nature says people are likely to trust someone who looks ready to work. Casual business is much more pleasant than always dress for the interview. The worse is looking like you just got out of bed and saying, I need a job ASAP. The latter is repulsive at best.

Do the basics

Here are some quick suggestions but for more detail, you can find articles all over the web for help. I’ll include a few references
Continue to fill out applications on job boards
If you don’t have a LinkedIn profile, it’s time to complete one. If you’ve completed one, now it’s time to participate in conversations taking place in groups
Contact companies directly. There are many articles on the web to help you strategize and execute.
Set up informational interviews if you’re no longer anxious and desperate. Go for the information not to beg.
Ask for introductions to people in the companies you like to work for. Offer them value and likely, they will offer it back
Create opportunities for great conversations everywhere you go without asking for referrals. Relationships get you referred, not solely the ask itself.
Look for internship opportunities
Look for volunteer opportunities to help you hone untested skills and abilities
Are you a member of professional organizations? If not, are there any you can contact to see if they have any special discounted membership prices? If you’re a recent college graduate, many will give a very low discount for the first year.
Check locally for businesses looking for someone with your skill set. It’s possible they have not posted a position, but willing to hire the right person with a unique skill.

These are a few things you can do. If you have additional questions, let me know.