In this month’s issue of the Harvard Business Review, there was a very interesting article on the mistakes that seasoned C-level executives make when changing jobs.  The article was done following research with executive search consultants, HR Executives and C-level executives and points to five major blunders these seasoned executives make:

Mistake 1-Executives Did Not Do Their Homework

The researchers found that despite executives strong backgrounds in their disciplines, when it comes to job change, they did not do their due diligence in the following areas:

§  They did not research the industry or job function to understand the job-market realities of where they were heading.

§  They did not research the financial stability of the potential employer.

§  They did not research the cultural fit between themselves and the firm.

§  They did not explore the alignment between the job title and their actual job duties or functions.

§  They did not ask how performance in the new role would be measured.

Mistake 2-Leaving For Money

Although C-level executives stated that money/income was not their top “reward” they were seeking with new employment, when it came to decision-making, they always put money first. They forgot to consider other rewards that might be possible with their current employer such as opportunity for advancement, professional development and mentoring.

Mistake 3-Running From The pain

These executives became so unhappy in their current roles that they tended to lurch from one place to another with “artificial urgency”. They were NOT strategic about their choices nor did they evaluate if there were other opportunities for them in their existing firm.

Mistake 4-Unrealistic Self Awareness

The executives who were interviewed tended to have an unrealistic view of their skills, strengths and opportunities available to them. They were not strong in self-analysis and tended to blame their organization for their woes.

They also had very unrealistic expectations regarding how long it would take to find a job and what they could make in the new role.

Mistake 5-Short-Term Thinking

Even though short-term thinking feeds into the other mistakes, this was also cited as a major career misstep on it own.

Recommendations:

The article listed several recommendations to overcome these mistakes, to which I have added in my own comments.

§  Be self-aware and evaluate your strengths, skills and unique differentiators. Also understand your weaknesses, especially if they are blocking you from reaching your goals. (Yes, this is a big part of the work that goes into extracting your Personal Brand!)

§  Do your homework and ask alot of questions before you join a new company. Use social media tools such LinkedIn to find people whom you can speak with to get the inside scoop.

§  Have a back up plan for your career-don’t just think short-term.

§  Try to salvage your current situation by either moving to another role in your firm, if possible, or having an open dialogue with your manager about what is not working for you.

§  If you do leave and make a mistake, don’t jump from the frying pan to the fire.

To read more, visit:

www.hbr.org

Boston is Now Among Top Cities to Find a Job

Today’s Boston Business journal reports that Boston is now one of the best cities to find a managerial-level job. This is measured by the growth rate in online job postings.

With all the negative news we hear daily, it is nice to get some positive feedback on the economy.

To read more:

http://boston.bizjournals.com/boston/stories/2009/11/30/daily8.html?ed=2009-11-30&ana=e_du_pap

You can’t blame the economy for everything!!

After another busy week of helping clients differentiate themselves, extract their brand and find work in our “jobless recovery”, I thought I would share some trends I am seeing.

Many of my clients are frustrated at not being able to find work. However, when we did deeper in our sessions, we discover that there are many things going on that are not working to their advantage and are slowing down their ability to land.

I share my thoughts below on what I am seeing with clients and how you can take small steps to beef up your job search:

§  The job search needs air.  This means that things are not going to happen (interviews, networking meetings), if you do not dedicate time to this process. And I mean significant time-not a few hours a week but 20-40 hours a week. If you are getting distracted by taking care of your children or aging parents, rethink your strategy and prioritize your job search.

§  Social Media is here to stay and is quickly becoming the medium of choice for hiring firms to recruit and research talent. If you are not familiar with these tools, or are resistant to using them, get help. Pick one tool (LinkedIn, for instance) and learn everything you can about how to maximize it for your job search, researching people and companies etc. Find a mentor (maybe a Gen Y candidate would be good) and have them teach you everything they know.

§  Don’t fall into the black hole trap. When contacting people for informational meetings, or firms that are hiring, don’t assume you’ll hear back. Everyone is overworked so if you want to get someone’s attention, pick up the telephone and leave a message. Be crystal clear on how they can help, what you are looking for and please leave all your contact information for follow-up.

§  You must define a targeted list of industries and companies you wish to pursue.  Without this, you have a very unclear and undefined job search target. Think of your job search campaign as sales. If you don’t know who you are targeting and where you can find them, how can you reach them and get their attention. If you need help compiling this list, engage the help of a reference librarian at your library, use the Book of Lists (from the Boston Business Journal), or ask your networking contacts. LinkedIn can also be helpful with this research.

§  Please know what differentiates you from other candidates (yes, this is your Personal Brand). Commonplace and banal expressions such as “I relate well to others”, or “senior managers have confidence in me” are NOT compelling or differentiated. Dig deeper, get feedback from others and define what is it that motivated those around you to collaborate with you. Get crystal clear on these attributes and understand how you can make an emotional connection with your target audience.

Consider Updating Your Job Skills If You’re Unemployed

When you are unemployed, working to find a new job always is your first priority. Yet, it’s also the perfect time to sharpen your job skills because you actually have the time to do it.

There are many benefits for updating your skills while you are out of work. First, it might help you land a job. Your new or updated skills could open the door to a position for which you would not have been previously qualified.

Updating your skills also shows a prospective employer that you are a go-getter, someone who seeks to improve their professional tool kit, and that you are a positive person, someone who is taking advantage of your downtime and turning a negative into a positive. And, improving your skills at this time also will have positive effects down the road, by enhancing your professional development and improving your chances for promotion.

So, how do you update your skills if you have no income and can’t afford to pay for skill-building classes and programs? First, you should check to see if your former company offers any professional retraining as part of its severance package. If so, take advantage of this offer right away because often the offer is valid only for a short period of time.

Next, check with the professional associations you are a member of to see if they provide any re-education or retraining opportunities. These likely would be free of charge or have just a basic, nominal fee because you are a member of their association. Another association that might offer free or very low-cost skills training would be your college or graduate school alumni association.

Also, see if there are any conferences, seminars, or local organizations in your community that might provide no- or low-cost skills classes. Quite often, there are state or municipal benefits to help unemployed workers in the form of classes and seminars for updating your skills. Check with your unemployment office, state agencies, or your city or town halls to determine if there is anything available for you.

Now, if you do have some money tucked away for a rainy day, you could use some of it to update your skills. You could work on attaining a new certification to help you land a new job. You could take night extension classes to improve your current skills or acquire new capabilities in a different field. Or, you could go back to school again to begin working on a new degree program.

Either way, whether you have money to spend or not, the point is: Don’t just sit still, waiting for your next job to land at your feet. Instead, be proactive and start working on updating your job skills. If you do, you will feel positive about yourself and your future. And, your next employer will be impressed.   

Severance Benefits Facing More Cutbacks

One of the next things to watch out for in this time of economic difficulty is a trend by companies to reduce severance packages for laid-off workers. Companies are looking at their bottom lines in this area—even as they are attempting to reduce their overhead by trimming their work force.

One of the most expensive benefits companies routinely offer is health care. So, it comes as no surprise that this is one of the first areas they will look to cut back in benefits to laid-off workers. Companies are offering fewer months of continued health coverage, and/or they’re offering to share the cost of this benefit with the laid-off employee.

Traditionally, many companies also have offered two weeks of severance pay for every year of service. That, too, is shrinking with many severance packages now consisting of only one week of pay for every year of employment. And, many companies also are capping their severance pay package at 26 weeks. So, if you’ve worked for your company for 20 years, you might not see a severance package of 40 weeks of pay.

You certainly can try to negotiate for the best package, but it is quite obvious who has the upper hand. And, while previously companies did their best to avoid the possibility of a disgruntled former employee, now they are taking a tougher stance for economic reasons. To read more about this trend of reduced severance packages, check out this article from The Wall Street Journal at http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124976696013817069.html?mod=djemCJ.

Dare you ask for a raise now?

Recently, I read a great article in Fortune about asking for a raise in this difficult economy. Here are the salient points from this article.

·         A recent Mercer Consulting study of 850 companies states that over two-thirds (67%) of U.S. employers are planning pay hikes for at least some of their employees before the end of this year.

·         Companies realize that they need to retain talent (i.e., keep their best performers happy) and be ready for the economic turnaround.

·         If you are going to ask for a raise, you need to do your homework and be prepared:

o   Prepare and document your achievements (how you have added value) to the company over the last year.

o   Be empathetic and let your higher ups know that you understand how difficult things are now and that you are willing to revisit this discussion in a few months.

o   Be open to others forms of compensation (bonus, paid vacation, paid parking spot, etc.)

To read the entire article, click here:

http://money.cnn.com/2009/06/11/news/economy/ask.for.raise.fortune/index.htm?postversion=2009061211

Without career clarity, social networking and branding, you are NOT going to land a job!

Last week, three prospective clients contact me lamenting that they have been out of work for about 3-9 months and have not been able to find a job. After conversations with each one of them, I began to see some trends; I thought I would share them with the rest of you trying desperately to land a job in this difficult economy:

·         None of these individuals had clear career goals. When I asked them, what they were looking for, I got very vague answers-“Well I could do this or that, or I will take anything”.

o   TIP:  In this economy, you need to be CRYSTAL clear on what you are looking for and the value you can offer a prospective client. And you need to know who your target audience is.

·         None of these people had any differentiation or branding on their resume. All three of their resumes started with “highly accomplished X with 15 years experience in…., seeking  XYZ”.

o   TIP:  Forget “objectives” on resumes and focus on what differentiates you from the crowd-what makes you UNIQUE, special and compelling to your target audience. Add in your brand attributes and strengths using a voice that is authentic to you.

·         Each resume I saw was just a laundry list of “tasks” that each of these individuals had done.

o   TIP:  Employers look for evidence of value-add and accomplishments. Rewrite your resume bullets to focus on your results, and quantity your results the best you can.

·         None of these folks were using social networks to leverage their job search networking efforts.

o   TIP:  Hiring managers and recruiters are using social networks more and more to source and find candidates. They are also using them for background checks as well, performing  due diligence prior to hiring. If you are not on LinkedIn, get a profile up asap. Then  consider Facebook and Twitter as these are the other two that are being used by HR and recruiters.

·         All three of these people were applying to jobs online and using job boards for their job search.

o   TIP: 88% of jobs are NOT sourced through job boards. Companies rely on personal networking, employee referrals and social networking to find candidates. Figure out a way to network with and contact hiring managers, recruiters and employees directly at firms you are interested in working at.