How Important Is Career Networking

At the outset, let's accept that there is no such thing as an ideal candidate, and there is no employer who is ideal for everyone. Still, every time we see someone change his or her career or make an upward move, we say or at least think that he/she is brilliant and was the ideal candidate for the position and that the company is lucky to have hired him or her. But did the candidate really get lucky, or were they just smart?

Is Career Networking So Important?

Don't have an iota of doubt about this in your mind: networking plays an important role in career moves. Despite having reasonably strong work experience and skills, lacking in networking abilities could jettison your chances in finding a good job. Your networking contacts can help you beat the competition and open the door to mostly unadvertised job openings through referrals. That the 'Wall Street Journal' claimed a couple of years ago that '94% of successful job seekers claimed that networking had made all the difference for them' should go on to prove the point.

Let's take a hypothetical case of a person in her middle age attempting a career change. The point of contention is not whether or not that person got a raise or a promotion. That worker was traveling to her job a distance of 12 miles every day for the last twelve years and she was beginning to develop frustrations about the employers and her job. However, she could not afford to just quit. She watched the classifieds of local newspapers and lodged her resumes with dozens of recruiters. She knew there were some companies closer to home, but she had been told that there were no vacancies that matched her job profile.

On a Sunday Mass at the local Church she bumped into her childhood friend. Sometime after a friendly exchange, the conversation tuned to her job situation. It turned out that her friend was working in one of those companies and she knew of one vacancy where she could fit in. What followed next is not of importance but this lady got a job at the company where she wanted to work.

In this day and age, savvy career networking is a must. By growing your network, you will have not only expanded your circle of friends but also work acquaintances who may be able to help you open new doors when you finally decide to change jobs or careers.

Tony Jacowski is a quality analyst for The MBA Journal. Aveta Solutions – Six Sigma Online ( http://www.sixsigmaonline.org ) offers online six sigma training and certification classes for lean six sigma, black belts, green belts, and yellow belts.

[tags]free career advice, career change advice, career choice help, mid life career change[/tags]

Sawbones

I was rushing through the white-tented terminal building at Denver International Airport when my attention was diverted – as if often is -- by a storefront massage business. Checking my wristwatch, I calculated I had just enough time for a 20-minute chair massage.

I settled onto the light gray vinyl chair and placed my face inside the cushioned headrest. The massage therapist introduced himself. "I'm Lee," he said. "But you can call me Sawbones."

He must have seen the cartoon question mark floating above my head in an imaginary white bubble —"Sawbones?"—for he went on to tell me about himself.

Digging his thumbs into the back of my neck, Sawbones explained that massage was a new line of work for him.

"Do you like it?" I asked, my words muffled by the cushioned face rest.

"Yes, ma'am," he said, revealing a slight rancher's drawl. "I get to meet interesting people, especially here at the airport. A few weeks ago, I massaged the lawyer for the Oklahoma City Bomber. He was on his way to his client's execution." Sawbones paused, as if remembering the occasion. "He was a little tense."

Although his comment demanded a sarcastic response, I couldn't think of one fast enough. Instead, I asked Sawbones if he worked only at the airport.

"No, ma'am. I also have an office by the Stock Show Complex."

"The Stock Show Complex?"

"Yes, ma'am. That's because I have another business. Custom cowboy hats."

The cartoon question mark re-appeared. "Cowboy hats?"

"Yes, ma'am. I sell them at the Grizzly Rose, the country-western bar north of downtown."

I inhaled the rosemary scent of the massage oil and debated whether to prod Sawbones for more information. Since I was unlikely to meet another cowboy-hat-making-masseur in the near future, I asked him if his massage business was growing.

"Yes, ma'am. See, I do horses too."

"Horses?" I asked, feeling like I was being sucked down a conversational rabbit hole.

"Yes, ma'am. Horses like massage. They can get testy though."

"I'll bet." I pictured a blonde Palomino lying hooves up on a massage table.

As Sawbones kneaded my upper arms, he asked what I did for a living.

"I'm a writer," I said. Actually, I didn't say that, because just then, Sawbones' fingers pushed my head into the headrest making my answer sound more like "Imamiffer."

Sawbones was unfazed. "Really?!" he exclaimed. "I'm a writer too!" He said this as if we were distant cousins meeting at a genealogy conference. "I write scripts!"

"Scripts?"

"Yes, ma'am. See, I also perform in Wild West Shows."

The rabbit hole was getting deeper by the second. "What kinds of things are in your shows?"

"Shoot-outs. Stuff like that. I have a friend who looks like Abraham Lincoln. He's gonna be in our show tomorrow night."

Now, I've never been that great at history but I've never really pictured Abe Lincoln in a shoot-out, except, of course, for the incident at Ford's Theater. I was about to ask Sawbones how Abe figured into his act when he pulled my arms behind my back and away from my body as if dressing a chicken. "You sure got some knots under here," he said, poking underneath my shoulder blades. I began to comprehend the testiness of his equine clients.

Soon, our 20-minutes was up and Sawbones handed me his business card. "Massage," it read. "For Horses and Humans." "Just for future reference," he added, "I also do home massage. It's only 50 bucks and I bring my own table, oil, and CDs." I accepted the card graciously even though I was fairly certain I'd never pay a man named Sawbones to tote oil and soft music into my house.

It's been a week since my encounter with the custom-cowboy-hat-making, wild-west-show-performing, horse-and-human massage therapist and I can't get him out of my mind.

Now, I know there are people who might find Sawbones a little low brow and unfocused. These people would assume Sawbones was a drifter who hadn't found his true calling. But to me, Sawbones is wise. He can work indoors or out. He works with his hands and his mind. He also has built-in job security. The bottom could fall out of the cowboy hat market and Sawbones would still make it in the world.

Furthermore, Sawbones has already figured out what many of us spend our entire careers learning: How important it is to try new things. "Ma'am," he said, "I do all these things because I promised myself I would never do the same boring thing all day long."

Many people I know have said this same thing to themselves at one time or another. But the difference between Sawbones and most people is that he is not afraid to tackle new challenges, even if those challenges involve tense attorneys and testy horses. So think about Sawbones the next time you're confronted with a new opportunity. Even if the job or project doesn't work out the way you expected, you might end up with good fodder for airport conversation.

Copyright, 2005, Shari Caudron.

Shari Caudron is an award-winning columnist, writing coach, and author of "What Really Happened," a collection of humorous stories about the lessons life teaches you when you least expect it. Shari regularly delivers speeches to women's groups about how to transform ordinary experiences into opportunities for personal growth. Website: http://www.sharicaudron.com e-mail: shari@sharicaudron.com

[tags]career management, job satisfaction, humor, attitude, job security[/tags]

Where Do I Go From Here

Making Your Future Work Better For You

It's the commonest concern people have about their careers. Where am I heading? Is this the right direction for me? How can I tell what will suit me best? Making good career decisions doesn't have to be agony if you clear away a few misconceptions.

Break Out of Your Limits:

Ignore the naysayers. We aren't limited from birth by some trick of inheritance. We make this mistake because we restrict our goals to a few, narrow areas: making that specific promotion, winning those specific sales, being CEO by the time we're 40. The goals may not even be our own; sometimes we pick up unrealistic aims from those around us.

Find New Options:

Setting your eyes on a single goal and achieving it through every obstacle makes a great story, but it's like betting your life savings on a horse. If it wins, you clean up; if it loses, you lose everything. The more possibilities you can see, the more likely it is at least one of them will work out. Everyone has some untapped potential. You just need to recognize the flavor. Find what fits who you are and do that before everything else.

Form Your Own View:

Your future potential isn't defined by other people -- even your boss. All someone can see of us is our past or present behavior, not whether this represents our true selves. We often fall short of what we could do -- or would do, if we remembered to make better choices. So much of our behavior is automatic. Constant repetition of what worked before wears grooves into our minds. We run on railroads of habit, doing what we always do and missing chances to explore better options.

Let Go Of Old Habits:

These boundaries that hem us in are formed of nothing more substantial than habit -- the automatic habit of repeating what worked in the past. They can be tough to let go, even if they no longer serve us well. Give them a decent burial. It's time to move on.

Discover Your Possibilities:

We can make sense of this mass of possible futures by putting them in categories. Do you feel best when you have lots of people around you? Do you enjoy making new relationships and keeping old ones fresh? Are you a social animal? If so, your future probably lies in the category of directions we call Relationship-oriented.

Do you prize fairness? Does injustice make you angry? Are you the kind of person who feels standards of behavior are important? Do you need to feel what you're doing has meaning? Do you like to see things done correctly? If most of these statements are true of you, your direction probably lies in the Ethics-oriented category.

Practical, active go-getters; people who prefer less talk and more action; those who are driven by the need to succeed and the sense of satisfaction that comes with reaching your goals; people of these types come under the category of Achievement-oriented. They flourish in fast-moving roles full of clear objectives and challenges to be overcome.

Learning-oriented people are creative, innovative and prefer to solve problems with brain rather than brawn. They enjoy discovery and developing their abilities. they're more excited by ideas than activities; some are dreamers who see far into the future and bring about radical change.

Do What Comes Most Naturally:

Whichever flavor your future potential comes in, it's yours to relish and enjoy. Stop worrying about weaknesses. Forget so-called gaps in your abilities. Fasten on what comes to you most naturally, pursue it with all the energy you can muster, and wait for the fireworks to begin. Building on your natural strengths is the best possible way to create a life that gives you fun, excitement and the satisfaction of being fully yourself.

We can't always have exactly what we want, but the more you can find ways to use your strengths instead of fretting about what doesn't work so well for you, the more you'll find yourself enjoying what you do.

Adrian W. Savage writes for people who want help with the daily dilemmas they face at work. He has contributed more than 25 articles to leading British and American publications and has been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today and The Chicago Tribune.

Visit his blog on small business life.

[tags]career choice, potential, jobs, careers, futures, personality types, job choice[/tags]

How To Walk Away From An Opportunity That's Wrong For You

Q. I just finished a job interview. Everything went well. But I can't get excited about the job. The people were nice but frankly, I got bored.

Should I withdraw my application or hang on to see what happens?

A. Let me share a secret. I love country music ­ especially the classics. Your question reminds me of Kenny Rogers's big hit, The Gambler. I can't quote even a line due to copyright laws, but you can Google the song. Know when to stay. Know when to put down your cards. And above all, recognize when it's time to walk away and time to run.

I believe that everyone in business should create a goal, "Be able to walk away." Be able to let go of a customer who's a pain and a job that's creating pain. Be able to recognize a business opportunity that's all wrong for you, to say, "That's not a good fit."

Feeling bored sounds like a signal to me. If you (or your interviewer) has trouble staying awake, that's like a red light flashing and a big siren screaming, "Go away!"

So...what's the best way to walk (or run)?

1. Expect your interviewer or client to say, "Thank you! We appreciate your honesty."

They probably won't add, "Frankly, we agree ­ you're not a good fit here." But most likely, that's exactly what they're thinking

2. Plan for the unexpected. On very rare occasions, you'll hear, "Oh no! What can we do to make you change your mind?" or, "We have another option that may interest you."

But don't count on it.

3. Create a neutral explanation that's mutually face-saving and final.

Good reasons: "We don't have room to do justice to your project," or, "I've decided to pursue another option that seems to be a better fit for me at this time."

Bad reasons: "The chemistry didn't seem right," or, "I don't see room for my career growth."

Your contact person might be searching for a new job herself ­ and you may be a terrific match for an opportunity in her next position.

4. Recognize that you will (most likely) be burning bridges.

Be sure you aren't acting out of short-term emotion. Wait a few days after the interview (if you have that luxury) and consider talking to a coach, consultant or other trusted sounding board.

5. Revive your networking, sales activity and application process. Often saying "no" will clear the decks for you to clarify what you really want. Some folks believe you're reflecting abundance and making way for newer, more appropriate opportunities to enter your life.

Bottom Line: Being in a position to decline opportunities means you hold a winning hand. You're well along the road to whatever you define as success and prosperity. Use this option sparingly and wisely.

In any relationship, I've found that saying "yes" to the wrong proposal inevitably leads to a bitter, expensive divorce.

About The Author

Cathy Goodwin, Ph.D., is an author, speaker and career/business consultant, helping midlife professionals take their First step to a Second Career. http://www.cathygoodwin.com.

"Ten secrets of mastering a major life change" mailto:subscribe@cathygoodwin.com

Contact: cathy@cathygoodwin.com 505-534-4294

[tags]careers,education,school,midlife crisis,midlife,career counseling,career consultant,jobs,interview,r[/tags]

Basic Brand Building

A brand is the essence of who you are. The more powerful the brand the more memorable you will become. Think about brands that you can identify with. What impresses you about them and what attributes make you remember them? Brand icons didn't get that way over night and many of them have failed because they couldn't "connect" with their audience. Strong brands will stand the test of time.

After you have thought about strong compelling brands that impressed you start building your own brand statement by distilling down your essential core message: Who are you and how do you want people to identify with you? What values do you represent? When people think about you what image do you want them to visualize? Think about what sets you apart from you associates. This is about building your own image so forget the company or business in your personal brand statement.

Now that you have started thinking about your core message consider ways that you can reinforce your brand. Remember YOU are the brand, not your product or service, so this is essentially about you. Where and how can you demonstrate your brand message? When and how can you reinforce your brand?

Your brand needs to be authentic, from the heart; you can't make a brand statement believable about something you are not. When evaluating your brand message it's important to understand your audience who are you trying to impress with you message? What do you want them to remember? You are creating your own "personal buzz" with your brand so the more you can hone in on your audience the better you can craft your message. It?s important to recognize that you can?t be all things to all people so you want to capture your target audience with your message.

Everything you do should have your brand image, whether it?s giving a speech, writing a letter or the message heard on your voice mail. The brand is a living thing, the more you utilize it the more powerful it will become. Building a brand is like using a set of building blocks. One piece doesn't make much of a structure but 20 pieces will. Think about how you can build your brand by adding pieces to enforce the totality of the structure "you." Getting outside opinions helps your cause. When people think about you what assets to they remember? If it?s different than what you are tying to convey then you need to reshape your message.

Take a moment to study the brand messages of people you admire or hope to model. Using the Internet is a great place to do this. Type in the name of the person in quotation on any search engine and see what turns up. It should give you ideas on ways to craft your own message.

Think about how many places you have your name listed on a piece of paper or the Internet. That?s where you should be building your identity here a short list of places you should be making your brand shine.

Voice mail
Business cards
Stationery
Email address & SIG file
Personal website
Press releases

Personal branding will help you stand apart from your competition. Whatever the circumstances your brand can only enhance your identification in the marketplace. Keep on refining and honing your brand message as you become more comfortable with whom you are.

Recognized Packaging Guru and Chief People Packager JoAnn R. Hines unlocks the secrets that propelled her career from anonymity to world recognized leader. This indispensable workbook will show you specific ways to accomplish your personal branding goals and launch your career into the stratosphere. We have done all the work for you with guidelines, cheat sheets and easy-to-use templates to customize for your own use.

"The Packaging Yourself Workbook" is the only career workbook you will ever need!

This workbook cuts through the clutter in a simplified, straightforward manner and drastically reduces the time it takes to build your personal brand.

The "Packaging Yourself Workbook" is $29.95 plus shipping and handling. Place your order @ http://packaginguniversity.com/pkgustorefront.htm

Don't take my word for it. Hear what Linda has to say "JoAnn provided me with the no-nonsense approach I was lacking in my business. I needed new and fresh ways to promote my business; and JoAnn helped me focus on goal setting and finding concrete ways to reach my target audience.>

[tags]branding,self-promotion,marketing,visibility,credibility,careers,me-marketing,celebrity,expert[/tags]

How To Eliminate The Competition In Your Massage Business

One of the biggest mistakes massage therapists make in trying to promote themselves is that they are mostly doing it the same way as every other therapist. The problem with that is, it then makes their services indistinguishable from every other practitioner in town, and they have thus created for themselves a little problem called.... competition.

Now, don't get me wrong. I don't think that a little competition is all that bad. However when it comes to directly competing with other therapists in getting new clients there will always be someone who is cheaper, has more experience, knows more massage techniques, has a more convenient location, a nicer office, has better connections in the community, is better at networking.... and so on.

When we feel like we are competing with other massage therapists it can create a sense of struggle within ourselves. We may find ourselves getting caught up in poverty consciousness and lack. We may even find ourselves living in a constant state of comparison. Sometimes we think that we have to lower our prices to stay competitive, or accept clients that we don't especially enjoy working on. Has that ever happened to you?

But the good news is there is a solution. And that is, to promote yourself in a way that immediately separates you from the competition in the minds of your prospective clients. It also means setting yourself up to stand apart from all the other therapists in your area.

But in a town full of massage therapists, many of whom are masterfully skilled in their craft, how do you separate yourself from the competition and stand out from the crowd?

How do you set yourself up as being unique, special, one of a kind?

How can you have clients coming to you rather than you chasing them?

How can you charge more for your services and have clients willingly pay?

How can you do all of that and at the same time have more joy, fulfillment and satisfaction in your massage career?

It begins by deciding to take an innovative approach and see things from a different perspective. It begins when you allow yourself to fully be who you are - quirks and all.

When you bring all of your strengths, talents and passion to your work... When you let your uniqueness shine through... When you fully embrace all of who you are and allow yourself to integrate that into every aspect of your business you will have eliminated the competition, because there is nobody in this whole world exactly like you!

This may sound simplistic….. but it WORKS!

It's also important that you fully believe in yourself, and trust that what you have to offer will be of value.

So stop right now and think about what it is that truly makes you unique as a massage therapist. What specific strengths, talents and abilities do you possess? And how can you integrate these into your massage marketing plan?

To your success…

This article was adapted from the free 28-page workbook, 8 Steps to an Outrageously Successful Massage Practice. Available from the web site below.

Elizabeth Fletcher Brown LMT, and a Certified Success Coach is the founder of the Massage Business Center, dedicated to supporting massage therapists and bodyworkers in creating financial freedom through business success. Do you really have what it takes to build the massage business of your dreams? Take our free online assessment at http://www.MassageBusinessCenter.com and find out.

[tags]massage business, massage therapists, massage career, massage therapy, massage marketing[/tags]

Nine Ways To Tell You're Ready For A Promotion

So you noticed the new job board posting on your way back from lunch. They finally decided to fill the assistant manager spot in your department! Trouble is, you've only been in your current position for about eight months. There's also been some talk of hiring from outside. Should you go for it anyway? Here are some ways to tell if it's time to power up the corporate ladder.

1. You're currently one notch lower than assistant manager. If your job title includes the word Senior, then you've likely earned some recognition at your place of employment. Is assistant manager the next step up? Why not give it a shot? The worst thing that can happen is that you don't get the job... and hey, there's always next time. When you go for the gold, people will realize you're quite a gem. Start getting noticed for your ambition and drive!

2. A large portion of the department responsibilities falls into your lap. Don't underestimate your own worth. If you're currently doing the work of two or more people and doing it well, then you should be compensated for it. Is it possible you were overlooked? Don't feel slighted. Negativity holds us back from getting where we want to be. Instead, take a strategic leap forward. Sometimes people get so wrapped up in their own issues, they fail to see what's before their eyes. You know the job like the back of your hand, and that's far more than a stranger off the street knows. Speak up and make your capabilities known!

3. Your manager consistently looks to you for solutions. If you're playing problem-solver at the office, that's a pretty good sign that people value your input. What better indicator of your ability is there than a boss who seeks you out for answers? Does your supervisor come in from meetings and immediately drag you away for a private pow-wow? You've already got a foot in the door! Now get the rest of yourself behind that desk in the corner office for a view of the skyline!

4. Your manager confides in you regularly. Are you the Big Cahuna's main confidante? Good office chemistry is hard to come by. If your boss trusts you with everything from top-secret office rumors to "what to do with that belligerant marketing coordinator," to the fight he had with his wife last night, this speaks volumes about his opinion of you. Sounds like you've very naturally clicked into Position 2 in the chain of command. Time to lock in to more money and an official manager status on paper.

5. You're well-known and respected among your colleagues. Do people smile and greet you by name when you walk into a group setting? Do managers of other departments frequently solicit your opinion? When the boss is away, do your peers appoint you to act in his absence? Being the office social butterfly is one thing. To know that your fellow employees admire and respect you for the job you do is another. One of the biggest indicators you're ready for a promotion is if your boss's boss has faith in your ability. Having a support system in place works in your favor and can be the 'in' you need to get ahead.

6. You're often asked to represent your team of coworkers in meetings. As much as we dread them, meetings are a vital part of daily corporate life. Meetings are where opinions are voiced, issues are hashed out, schedules are coordinated and progress is made in leaps and bounds. A great leader can speak on behalf of a group. A great leader can effectively communicate in all directions- from upper management to lower, from lower to upper, and also laterally. If people place their faith in your ability to get a message across, that means they're willing to let you represent them. There is no better indicator of management potential than being summoned as a spokesperson. Take it as a great compliment, and then take the next step toward your success!

7. You feel personally responsible for the welfare of your department. Do you find yourself thinking and speaking for the group? Are your peers in your best interest? Often, you can sense when you're ready for a position of increased responsibility. The true commandier operates from the point of view of 'we' instead of 'me.' Do you feel genuine pride when a member of your team goes above and beyond the call of duty? Do you act as the automatic diplomat and defender? When a coworker encounters a setback, are you truly moved to help them overcome their problem? Do you empathize with their disappointments? Rejoice in their victories? It's time to heed the call!

8. Your peers look to you as an advisor and comrade. Corporate life is full of folks at cross-purposes. Clashing wills, clashing personalities, misunderstandings, injustices of all kinds. If you have a gift for navigating through the rough waters, smoothing ruffled feathers and healing bruised egos, maybe it's time to seriously think about moving up. Trust is earned, not bought. If you have been offered the gift of others' trust in a setting where people mow over each other to get ahead, that is truly a great thing. Use it for the good of the group!

9. You truly love your job. You know in your heart how you feel about your job. Do you dread getting up every morning? Or do you look forward to facing the challenges of a new day... tackling that project... making your own small contribution to the bigger picture? If your work is your passion and you truly love what you do, it will be very apparent to those around you. Enthusiasm is contagious. If you can light a fire under someone's behind, there is no one more suited for a position of authority. This is your time to shine... so be a star! Get the recognition you've worked so hard to achieve, and step up toward making an even more powerful difference for the future of your company.

Copyright 2005 Dina Giolitto. All rights reserved.

Liked this article? Have more of the same emailed to your inbox each month. Sign up for the Copywriting and Marketing Ezine from Dina at Wordfeeder.com and learn to write search engine friendly web copy and market your web based business for free.

[tags]career, motivation, coach, leadership, manager, management, corporate, promotion, recognition[/tags]

Top Ten Linked-In Do's And Don'ts

If you are job-seeking, you need to join LinkedIn, an essential job-search tool. If you're not on a job search but you're into online networking; or want to acquire new partners or clients; or otherwise want to rev up your networking activity level, you should likewise become a LinkedIn user, in my view. All that being said, there are some iron-clad rules for polite and professional use of the network. Here's my Top Ten list for LinkedIn do's and don'ts:

1) DO connect to your "real-world" friends.

I'm amazed by how many LinkedIn users join up, create a profile, and immediately set to work inviting all sorts of online strangers to join their networks. Sure, it's fun to browse the LinkedIn database and look up people you might want to know better….but what about your friends back in three-dimensional space? The first thing to do as a new LinkedIn user - after creating a rockin' profile for yourself - is to invite your true-blue friends and former workmates to join your network. There are three steps in this process:

a) Download your Outlook address book so that LinkedIn can find your friends who are already members.

b) Use the Find Colleagues and Find Classmates functions to synch up with people you know from school and past jobs; and

c) Invite bunches of "real" friends who aren't already LinkedIn users, to join the network - you'll be helping them get connected at the same time you grow your own network.

2) DON'T become an Invitation Spammer.

It's tempting to start sending "connect to me" invitation to every Tom, Dick and Sally you find on LinkedIn, but it's bad manners. If you want to reach out to someone you've spotted who has an enticing profile, send the person a Contact request rather than an invitation to join your network. A Contact request, to use an offline networking analogy, is like an invitation for a coffee date. An invitation to Connect is like asking someone to go steady. Unless you know a person already, don't spam him or her with a "want to start recommending me to people, and vice versa?" invitation - it's creepy.

3) DO unto others….

It's astounding that a person would send out connect-to-me invitations while proclaiming on his or her profile that no new connection invitations will be accepted. Talk about all take and no give! There are other LinkedIn users who set up a profile and make connections, and then specify on their profiles that they won't act on requests to forward (a key piece of LinkedIn's value). These messages say, I want to be on this site and get its value, but I don't want to deal with other people's requests. A modern-day Dante would design a special, uncomfortable and crowded level of Hell for these folks: no pits of fire, but perhaps a zone where all connections are dial-up, cell phones can't hold a signal and no one helps you with anything, retribution for the me-first approach to online networking that you showed in your most recent incarnation on Earth.

4) DON'T make assumptions about your own irresistibility.

Connection invitations should state clearly why you expect your invitee to link up with you - for instance, because you serve on the same fund-raising committee or because your daughters are best friends in the fifth grade. With so many activities crowding a typical businessperson's schedule and so many people in the mix, it's easy for people to forget how they know you. Likewise, even Contact requests should state your case as plainly as possible. A message that says "May I call you? We could collaborate" is not the world's strongest pitch. People are incredibly busy - if you're job-seeking, or trolling for new clients, you may lose sight of the fact that a person needs a compelling reason to even spend ten minutes on the phone with you.

It's helpful to remember what I call the Happy Life theory of networking: when you reach out to a stranger, that person is presumably leading a happy and fulfilling life without the benefit of knowing you. It's not enough to say "I'll buy you lunch!" or the online equivalent of that offer; a $25 lunch (or a scintillating phone conversation with you) just might not be as hard to pass up as you believe. So lay it out there: here's what I can do for you, or here's what I need, or both.

5) DO keep your profile current.

A pox on the person who lets her LinkedIn profile languish! If you can't be bothered to keep your profile current, why should another person bother to engage with you? If I receive a Contact request, jump over to the requester's profile, and find that its details don't match what's in the requester's email message, I'm already underwhelmed. Bonus: when you update your profile, you can send a one-click blast message to let your entire first-degree network know about your news. Note: please don't abuse this feature! Reserve profile-update blasts for news on the order of a job promotion, book launch or appointment to a national commission….as opposed to news items like "I have started my PMP certification class."

6) DON'T confuse quantity for quality.

If I were a recruiter, I'd build the biggest network I could, on LinkedIn or otherwise. After all, there's zero downside to being able to view, and reach, a massive number of candidates when your job is locating talent. But for the rest of us, it's easy to get the notions "a big network" and "a strong network" confused. The question to ask yourself is "could I recommend this person, and could he recommend me?" If not, the principal value in any individual LinkedIn connection will be your ability to view his network (and vice versa). That's not a bad thing, but it would be a shame to mistake that kind of visibility for influence. Amassing connections can become a kind of addiction, but withdrawal will kick in when these near-strangers begin to ask you to vouch for them to your dearest friends.

7) DON'T pass along questionable requests.

I got religion on this item in an instant last summer, when a fellow asked me to send a friend of mine a spammy invitation to his business conference. "I can't do it," I wrote, "it's purely a marketing message." The gentleman's return message essentially ripped my head off, affirming my initial gut reaction that his request was an improper one. Don't hesitate to stand up for yourself and for your friends when sketchy requests come down the pike (and they will). If you pass along every bit of dreck that finds you, your trusted friends will start to doubt you, and that's a far worse fate than having to write to another LinkedIn user, "I'm sorry, but I don't feel comfortable passing this on."

8) DON'T abuse the Find Colleagues feature.

LinkedIn's Find Colleagues feature allows you to find old workmates and send unmediated connection requests to them, a boon if you've lost their email addresses over the years. Unfortunately, it's easy to abuse the feature by listing false employers or dates of employment on your profile. What can we say about this? If you believe in the wheel of karma, avoid the temptation to claim employers and employment dates you're not entitled to.

9) DO join the PowerForum.

Newbie LinkedIn users have lots of questions, and a great place to get answers is the user group called MyLinkedInPowerForum. Send a blank email message to mylinkedinpowerforum-subscribe@yahoogroups.com to join the group and get LinkedIn (and general) networking advice. MLPF founder Vincent Wright is a helpful guide and mentor to LinkedIn users all over the world - I can virtually guarantee that you'll learn something useful from the Forum's daily conversation.

10) DO disconnect from bad apples when you need to.

Finally, it's worth noting that LinkedIn gives you the ability to disconnect from other users if you find that the connection no longer works for you. If you're plagued by inappropriate requests or other annoyances from one of your connections, you can cut the cord and save yourself from recurring headaches. Some people just don't get the notion of an online community with standards and norms; and it's not your job to teach them how to behave. Just move on.

Liz Ryan is a workplace expert, 25-year corporate (Fortune 500) HR executive, and the founder and CEO of WorldWIT, the world's largest online community for professional women. Liz is an international keynote speaker on workplace, work/life, leadership, and women in the workplace topics. WorldWIT provides internal communication and community-building services, consulting and training to employers seeking to create a diversity culture and to increase retention and engagement of women and minorities. Liz lives in Boulder, Colorado with her husband and five children.

[tags]LinkedIn, online, networking, social, business, connections, internet, career, job search[/tags]

7 Tips For Moving To Self-Employment

What you must understand is that moving away from "traditional" employment entails changing your mentality. You need to make the transition from paycheck thinking and embrace profit thinking. This is perhaps may the hardest thing to do for those used to and brought up in a 'safety' mindset. Before you decide to start working for yourself, you must realize that a few months in the beginning can be very tough if you have not planned for the transition properly. Below are some of the painful aspects of moving to self-employment from employment and ways to cope with them.

Moving From A Job Culture to Self Employment

1. You should have enough money to cover your expenses in the near future. Get into the habit of keeping a close eye on your accounts. Petty expenses can run from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars, and you will run into trouble if you don't account for every penny.

2. Constantly keeping track of correspondence and communications, vendors and customers in addition to managing your business (which is your sole responsibility), can run you crazy. Add to this the frustration of weak sales and cash flow. The only way out, if you can't afford an assistant, is to slog it out, burning the midnight oil and getting up early the next morning. You will have to repeat this for the next few months. This may be tough, but you need to know exactly how things will be going in, especially at the beginning.

3. Resisting the desire to accept each order takes great determination. You want to make as much money as possible, but you shouldn't overextend yourself, or make a deal that will be detrimental to your business in the long run. Have the strength to scrutinize every deal that comes your way, then decide if it is actually worth taking.

4. Seeing your cash flow be unpredictable can unnerve you initially. Try to keep your cool and don't panic. Before you start your work at home business, you must have two things in place so you can ease the financial pressure. Number one: the lowest possible monthly bills; Number two: A viable contingency plan.

5. Legal matters and taxation are two areas for which you should hire an expert unless you are very experienced. These things often change without notice, and you will need professional representation.

6. You need to maintain separate accounts for personal and business transactions. Do not mix the two. If you do, you will make a mess of your finances. If you must borrow from your personal account, transfer the money instead of just spending it outright.

7. Protect yourself when it comes to business transactions. This is just common sense. It is harder to do when dealing with friends or family, but you must do it. If you have to, negotiate payment terms. But keep in mind that business is business and keep all transactions professional and make the terms clear. Set some limitations when dealing with your customers, whoever they are.

Tony Jacowski is a quality analyst for The MBA Journal. Aveta Solutions – Six Sigma Online (http://www.sixsigmaonline.org) offers online six sigma training and certification classes for lean six sigma, black belts, green belts, and yellow belts.

[tags]free career advice, career change advice, career choice help, mid life career change[/tags]

Reframe Your Job Interview Approach

The emotional stress of a job interview is widely recognized. No matter how much self-confidence you try to project, the reality is that it is an occasion where you have little power and where you are being personally scrutinized and judged. It is awkward, uncomfortable, and anxiety-provoking.

Approach an interview bearing a mental tape that keeps repeating "I have to get this job . . . I have to present myself perfectly . . ." and the stress level rises to the point of immobility. You can't think clearly or creatively because of the panic gnawing at the back of your brain. You mumble, fall over your words, and forget what you intended to say because your nerves have overwhelmed your carefully prepared presentation.

If at all possible, approach your next interview as just one more opportunity for practice. Try to convince yourself that this is not the job of your dreams but an expenditure of time to allow you to watch yourself to learn for future interviews when you really want to receive an offer.

Look back at your own history and see how often you were offered positions you didn't really want and, conversely, failed to make the grade for jobs you found exciting and tempting. You may have assumed, as most of us do, that you weren't quite good enough for a prime job and were simply offered positions that no one else wanted.

Then consider whether the difference might have been how you presented yourself, often most effectively when your internal pressure to perform is less intense.

Virginia Bola operated a rehabilitation company for 20 years, developing innovative job search techniques for disabled workers, while serving as a Vocational Expert in Administrative, Civil and Workers' Compensation Courts. Author of an interactive and supportive workbook, The Wolf at the Door: An Unemployment Survival Manual, and a monthly ezine, The Worker's Edge, she can be reached at www.unemploymentblues.com

[tags]job search,unemployment,careers,job interviews,employment[/tags]

How To Receive Multiple Job Offers After You're Fired

Ask survivors of the most popular reality television shows and they'll tell you "If you have to eat a cockroach, don't spend too much time thinking about it." Keep focused on the end-game and move on.

Know yourself, have a plan, make a footprint. After you're fired, the raw power needed to convert a job loss into a high-voltage catalyst that gains multiple job offers is surprisingly simple. Consider these energizers:

Who you are? Detangle your sense of job from your sense of self

Where are you going? Design a five-year plan for career focus / direction

What can you do? Maintain a life-long log of your career achievements

"Getting fired is a lot like getting divorced," says Steve Johnson, Vice President of Information Systems for R. L. Stevens & Associates Inc., http://interviewing.com/ a leading international career marketing firm headquartered in Waltham, Massachusetts. "All you hear is 'I don't want you anymore'," he says.

Own your success and your failures. When he was fired from a multi-billion dollar petroleum company earlier in his career, discernment gave Johnson, a business-world veteran, the inner strength to get up and get on instead of rolling over and playing dead.

Despite an impressive portfolio of documented achievements that solidly contributed to the bottom line through process reengineering, he was still let go. His stellar performance though appreciated, was undervalued by his employers. Johnson made sure that this unexpected event did not end his career or dampen his spirits. "The time I was given the pink slip and told my talents were no longer needed, I faced a decision to either continually bemoan the shut door or look forward and find a new door I could open."

Possess the wisdom to know the difference between opportunity lost and possibility found. Johnson, an avid golfer, expertly swung himself out of his job loss bunker and found customers wanting his talents by taking the same approach in his job search as he does in his sport. "Getting fired is like an awful day on the golf course. You've got to stay in the game, play the holes, and adapt, improvise and overcome," he says.

"Every time a bad thing happened in my career, I always landed on my feet and good fortune proliferated through increased earnings, greater fulfillment and expanded opportunity to learn new skills. Using multiple career marketing strategies simultaneously I made sure that failure was never an option," he added.

Quickly create opportunities for yourself by changing your mental and physical state. Here's what you can do to restore order out of your job loss chaos:

Want to deactivate your fears?

•Take a vacation now to clear your head and get perspective

•Don't feed your anger by calling past colleagues and revisiting the past

•Welcome your firing as an unexpected career advancement to the next level

•Limit your pity party to one business day (8 hours)

•Forgive, let go, accelerate onward

Want to reactivate your confidence?

•Volunteer your time to someone who needs you – a charitable organization

•Convert your resume from a career obituary to a marketing promo piece

•Inventory your portfolio of skills and question their relevancy / currency

•Showcase your business talent by serving on a community task force

•Upgrade your self-marketing campaign to strengthen your branding

Change your focus from retribution to restoration and you'll find the key to layoff survival and increased employer interest. Swallow your pride and take control of your career by morphing yourself into a consultant. You might even be able to reverse your misfortune and sell your talents back to the boss who fired you. Many ingenious job searchers have done just that and leveraged their talents by filling a void left by their departure.

If you limit your choices only to what seems possible or reasonable, you disconnect yourself from what you truly want, and all that is left is compromise.

Got any valid reason to settle for a bad-tasting insect when a juicy steak is just around the corner? Get on with it.

About the Author:
Marta L. Driesslein is a senior management consultant for R.L. Stevens & Associates Inc. http://interviewing.com/. For over 24 years R.L. Stevens & Associates has been the Nation's most successful privately-held firm, specializing in executive career searches generating quality interviews through both advertised and unadvertised channels.

[tags]laid off, fired, outplaced, downsized, career advice, negotiating, interviewing, job search advice[/tags]

Trailblazer Interview With Diane J. Levin, Partnering Solutions

Today is a Red Letter Day! It's special because today is the first edition of the Trailblazer Interviews.

You'll meet some of the most fascinating, talented folks in the ADR world who I call Trailblazers. These women and men have taken mediation and other ADR tools in directions no one ever thought about before. They've enhanced the profession, and our world, with their ground-breaking work. The Trailblazer Interview Series is my way to do a double mitzvah: honor them and bring their wisdom to you.

Today's Trailblazer: Diane J. Levin
Diane J. Levin is a founding principal of Partnering Solutions, LLC, a dispute resolution firm based in the Greater Boston area.

I'm curious. What did you do before your ADR work?

I was a litigator. I worked in a busy general practice firm and handled everything from personal injury to employment discrimination to municipal and public education law, with some probate and family stuff thrown in just to mix it up a little. People who know me now find it hard to believe, but I loved to litigate. I was highly competitive and enjoyed the intellectual challenge of constructing an airtight case, the performance art which constitutes oral argument, and beating the pants off the competition.

I was also fortunate to have a great role model—the attorney who mentored me in those early days. She not only taught me the importance of sound legal reasoning to win the day in court, but she also taught me the value of settlement and the importance of being a skilled negotiator. I learned from her that clients want to get on with their lives. If you can settle a case without going to court, people get results faster—they get to put their past behind them, focus on their future, and move on.

Without realizing it at the time, she taught me the principles of "Getting to Yes"—focusing on interests, using objective criteria in quantifying the value of a claim, creating options for mutual gain. She also reminded me often of how important the people stuff is—that everyone—your own client, opposing counsel and their client—are human beings deserving of respect. Those things have served me in good stead.

What best describes your title and what you do now?

My title these days is "Principal". Nope, I don't work in an elementary school. I'm the founding partner of Partnering Solutions, LLC. My company provides mediation, arbitration, and conflict resolution training services to individuals, families, and organizations.

My own focus is on mediation and training, working primarily with businesses and families, although I'll take virtually any kind of case. Basically if it moves, I'll mediate it. My kids have learned to put up with that. It's the training stuff that really gets me fired up. I love teaching at mediation trainings. It's a blast. I get to hang out with my fellow mediation trainers (who tend to be a fun bunch of folks) and turn people on to valuable life skills that can improve their work, civic and family relationships. How great is that?

What did you do to get your first 5 clients? How did you market then?

I got my first five clients entirely by accident. I had no plan. It just happened. (Kids, don't try this at home—I recommend having a coherent business and marketing plan in place. Don't expect that stuff will just fall into your lap.)

One day I got a phone call out of the blue from a friend of a friend who asked if I was "into that mediation stuff". A nonprofit group she knew of needed conflict resolution training, and she thought of me. At that time I was involved in a lot of volunteer community and nonprofit work. I got to know a lot of people and make contacts. If you do something unusual like mediation, people remember that. Referrals came from those sources. Networking and joining organizations does pay off.

Getting down to brass tacks, what were your initial fees?

My initial fees? Well, when I was a teenager, my mother used to tell me that no one "will buy the cow if they can get the milk for free". I think she was trying to give me advice about men and dating, but since we lived in a rural area when I was growing up, it's equally possible she was trying to give me advice on how to run a dairy.

At any rate, in my very early days I gave away the milk. Sometimes the cow, too. That's not a good business strategy. The problem was that I was known for my nonprofit, community-oriented work. The work that came to me initially was from nonprofits or individuals in dire financial straits. I did the work for nothing or for virtually nothing ($100 as an honorarium for a day of training in one case) to gain experience, build my resume, and increase my network of contacts.

At that time, too, I was only charging $50 an hour for mediation services—and I actually felt guilty about charging that much. I had been so focused on helping people and doing good, and so filled with notions of altruism and social change, that I completely undervalued myself and my services. Not a smart move. Learn from me. Don't ever undervalue yourself as an ADR practitioner. The work we do is valuable and you deserve to get paid for it. Repeat that to yourself each morning twenty times. I have to say though that those good deeds did pay off. I have a great referral network in place, and cultivating those contacts has made a difference.

Which books, websites, organizations helped you get your foot in the door?

Mediation Works, Incorporated; New England Chapter of the Association for Conflict Resolution. The Internet has been tremendously helpful.

Mistakes, I've made a few. What do you wish you knew when you started out?

Take your basic mediation training with an established and respected program, which offers supervised mediation opportunities for individuals who successfully complete the training program, and is taught by qualified, experienced mediators who are employed in the field. It gives you a leg up over the competition—you have available to you mentoring and guidance by experienced practitioners, the chance to get mediation experience right away, and the first credentials that you'll need to begin your career.

The first mediation training I took was taught by a professional mediator in a community setting, but this was not a "brand name" training, and the organization which sponsored the training had no existing mediation program. Although I made great friends and invaluable contacts taking this program, I didn't get the boost I needed at the time because the support and opportunity to mediate was simply not there. At the end of the training we were all told not to quit our day jobs, and that was it.

This was over a decade ago, in the days before the Internet made finding information easy. I simply didn't know enough to ask the right questions before signing up for this or any training. My advice to anyone is to become an educated consumer and do your homework before you take any mediation training program. To help make you an educated consumer when it comes to selecting a mediation training program, please check out "What to Look for in a Basic Mediation Training", an article of mine published at Mediate.com at http://mediate.com/articles/levind1.cfm.

Dina Beach Lynch is a Mediator and Workplace Strategist who owns WorkWellTogether.com. Her blog, Mediation Mensch offers guidance about launching a mediation practice.

[tags]career, mediation, woman, entrepreneur, ADR, startup, training[/tags]