December 30, 2008
Career Change, Change & Uncertainty, Changing Careers, Changing Jobs, Marketing Yourself, Personal Branding, Recession & Downturn, Redundancy, The Inner Game
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As we wrap up 2008, I thought I’d share some of the best posts of the year below. I got the idea from Penelope Trunk, who recently shared her best 18 posts of the year on the excellent blog, Brazen Careerist.
As this is the last post of the year, can I also quickly say ‘thank you’ for reading and commenting on the blog. I understand that everyone is busy and so appreciate you taking the time to read. I hope you’ve found the articles of benefit during a turbulent 2008 and hope to bring you more valuable advice and information in 2009.
So wherever you are in the world, I wish you an enjoyable and relaxing time over the remaining days of the holiday season and look forward to ’seeing’ you in January.
15 Best Posts of 2008
Focus On Reinvention, Not Recession
10 Ways YOU Stop Yourself Getting The Right Job
How To Thrive During Uncertain Times
9 Career Lessons From Richard Branson
13 Ways To Stay Positive In An Economic Downturn
How To Recession Proof Your Career By Developing Your Network
5 Tips For Managing Your Career In A Crazy Market
Why Thinking Like A Consultant Protects You In A Downturn
5 Steps To More Money AND More Satisfaction
The 7½ Tips For Being Remarkable
The Secret To Success In A Downturn: Choosing Your Reaction
5 Tips For Job Searching In A Crazy Market
How To Make Your CV / Resume Stand Out In A Downturn
Lehman Employees: Here’s What To Do Next
Career Changers: 6 Steps To Becoming Unstuck
If you like the post, I’d really appreciate it if you helped spread the word by sharing it on Delicious, StumbleUpon or Digg!
November 29, 2008
Career Goals & Planning, Changing Jobs, Job Searching, Recession & Downturn
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Have you noticed how the downturn and recession have become the great new excuse for, well, virtually everything.
You may even find yourself using it frequently. If you’re struggling to find a job, it’s because of “the market” - or if you’re struggling to create sufficient career opportunities, “it’s due to the downturn.”
But having recruited in the 2002 financial services downturn (which was similar to the current market) and now working with an array of banking professionals - I can assure you that your level of success in finding the right job will have less to do with the state of the economy and the job market and much more to do with YOU.
You can sit around all day complaining about the markets and the recession - but if you’re not making progress with your job search, stop looking at what is happening outside and take close look at yourself. How are you stopping yourself making progress?
Here are 10 ways that you may be stopping yourself - and what you need to do to snap out of it:
Click here to read the rest…
November 1, 2008
Changing Jobs, Recession & Downturn, Redundancy, The Inner Game
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If you have a warm home, a soft bed, food in the fridge, clean clothes, family and friends – then you have a lot to be thankful for. Two-thirds of the world’s population would think they’d won the lottery if they were in your shoes. If you have a college education, own a car, a phone and have internet access then you’re far more privileged than about 90% of the people on the planet.
Keep that in mind the next time you find yourself complaining about the state of the economy, the job market and your prolonged job search. No matter how bad a day, week or year you’re having, you’re still in a pretty privileged place right now.
This is far more than a ‘you gotta stay positive’ message. Developing the right attitude is the foundation of your job search - without it, you will struggle to get back into the right job in the current economic climate.
Click here to read the rest…
October 24, 2008
Changing Jobs, Handling Change, Recession & Downturn
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“Little minds are tamed and subdued by misfortune; but great minds rise above them.”
Washington Irving, 1783-1859, Author
“We’re all f****d!”…… “We’re screwed…”…..”It’s all over”
That’s a series of statements I’ve heard in recent weeks when talking to people across the financial services industry about their career prospects over the coming year.
Whilst the statements reflect the level of anxiety and nervousness caused by what we have seen in the markets, the banking sector and the economy in recent weeks, they are based on the (false) belief that your level of success is solely reliant on what happens in the environment. That you and your career are merely pawns in the events around you.
The truth is that your success is based on how you choose to REACT to what happens to you and the environment around you - not on what events do to you.
Over the coming months, you have two broad choices to make - are you going to act or are you going to be acted upon.
a) Choose To Act
Click here to read the rest…
September 22, 2008
Changing Jobs, Networking, Recession & Downturn
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I received this morning a copy of a note that has been sent out by JP Morgan to all their preferred recruitment suppliers. Essentially the message was
“please don’t call us with candidates - we’re doing just fine recruiting people via referrals and direct applicants”
Over the summer I have written several times here, here and here about the fact that your job search campaign during a downturn or recession needs to be heavily driven via your contacts and network. Spending most of your time talking to recruiters and searching on job boards in the current climate is simply not effective. And if it is, you will find yourself playing the numbers game to make it work for you.
Nothing against my many friends in the world the world of recruitment and head hunting - but it’s just the reality of recruiting in a job market which is flooded with candidates coupled with ever tightening recruitment budgets.
So if you’re a job hunter who thinks working hard at your job search means sending a few emails to contacts, checking in with your head hunter and looking through job boards and job alerts every day - then here’s some advice for you:
Click here to read the rest…
September 19, 2008
Changing Jobs, Market Update, Recession & Downturn
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As a job searcher within financial services, this week’s banking crises is the last thing you could do with. The papers are full of strories about banks collapsing, banks merging and talks of wholesale job cuts across the sector.
But despite all the uncertainty and craziness, you can still find a job - after all you are only looking for ONE position right? One position is out there - you just need to adjust your approach to meet the changing shape of the industry and ramp up the level of effort you put into the search.
Here are 5 tips job for finding work in the current market:
1. Be ready for more competition
In addition to competing with employees from Lehman Brothers, both Merrill Lynch and Dresdner are likely to lose people later this year having been absorbed into Bank of America and Commerzbank respectively. With rumours of further job cuts on the way, you must differentiate yourself from the competition whilst also ramping up the level of activity and effort to market yourself.
Click here to read the rest…
September 17, 2008
Changing Jobs, Making You A Priority, Recession & Downturn, upcoming events
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Do you know anyone at Lehman Brothers faced with the uncertainty about their immediate futures? Or individuals from other financial institutions who have recently lost their jobs?
If so, I’d like to offer them a solution in the form of a complimentary Kick Start Your Job Search Career Coaching Session.
For the next 2 weeks, until September 30th, I am offering a special zero cost one-on-one job search call for a limited number of displaced individuals from the financial services sector.
Here’s the scoop:
- Get clear about what it is you want to do next
- Establish a high level plan for the next few weeks
- Uncover the hidden challenges and blind spots that may stop you achieving your goals
- Leave the session feeling renewed, inspired and re-energised about your job search
This will be a 30 minute phone session at a mutually agreed time.
“Ok, I’m interested - what do I need to do next?!”
To set up a session over the phone please email info@6figurecareermanagement.com and my assistant will book a slot in our diaries at a mutually convenient time.
But there are a limited number of slots which will be filled on a ‘first come, first served’ basis. So act now if you want to kick start your job search and get your career back on track.
“Hey, this doesn’t apply to me, but I know people who would benefit from such a call”
Go ahead and forward this page to them now.
September 17, 2008
Career Change, Changing Jobs, Job Searching, Market Update, Recession & Downturn
1 Comment
Cross posted on the Career Hub Blog
Following on from the collapse of Lehman Brothers on Monday and the continued fall in banking stocks, there is understandably a lot of concern about what is happening in the financial markets. The press and media are full of nightmare stories of what may or may not happen to banks as a period of consolidation begins.
But for Lehman employees looking to get back into work, they would be well advised to stop listening to all the noise, and instead focus on moving forward with a plan that will secure their next role:
Easier said than done, I know. But here are 6 steps that will help:
1. Ensure you don’t lose your Lehman contacts
In a tough market, it’s your network that you will lean on for help and support. Your colleagues, clients, counter parties and internal stakeholders will know what you’re capable of more than most - and so they will always be the best people to recommend you to their contacts. Yes, they may also be looking for jobs, but the more you collaborate in your search, the more successful you will all be.
Click here to read the rest…
September 7, 2008
Changing Jobs, Recession & Downturn, Redundancy, The Inner Game
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Cross posted at the Career Hub Blog
“I’ll do anything - beggars can’t be choosers. Especially in the current market.”
That’s a line quoted by someone I spoke with earlier this week just after she had been laid off. Jane works with a friend of mine who had referred her to me for some advice, a day after being made redundant.
When I pointed out what she had said and how this type of thinking was like poison to her job search and the overall health of her career, she quickly replied “Oh, I would never say that to a recruiter or future employer.”
It doesn’t matter.
The fact that you are talking or thinking like this, even just to yourself, means it matters hugely.
I know that ‘beggars can’t be choosers’ is one of those clichés, but as I have said before, there is sometimes a danger that clichés and stories actually become self-fulfilling prophesies.
As I pointed out to Jane, this type of thinking is faulty because:
Click here to read the rest…
September 4, 2008
Career Change, Changing Jobs, Handling Change
1 Comment
Here’s a tease from the tip in my weekly newsletter ‘Straight Talk’ - if you haven’t already, I hope you’ll sign up
My first ever real job was working as a buyer in the procurement team at British Airways in the early 90s (although I’m sure my dad would convince you that working in his shop at weekends and holidays was a ‘real job’!)
In my first few weeks, an engineer taught me a key lesson about operating any airline:
“It takes more fuel, more energy, more people and more stress to get a plane into the sky than anything else we do.”
But once the plane was in the sky, the level of fuel consumption drops radically - to fly the plane only needs one pilot to fly it - and in fact most of the time it doesn’t need a pilot at all - it’s on autopilot and the flight management computer takes care of everything.
This is just the same as making any kind of job change, career change or adjustments to the way you structure your work life (e.g. trying to improving your work-life balance).
The early stages of making any change - or ‘taking off’ - requires more energy, more people, more stress.
Most people planning any kind of change don’t take this into account and consequently fail make any progress after the initial enthusiasm.
To read the full article, click here to sign up.
See Related Posts
How To Recession Proof Your Career By Developing Your Network
Using ‘Triggers’ To Get Out Of A Rut
Q&A - Are You Pigeon Holed In A Job?
"The Top 10 Career Mistakes To Avoid"
