6 Figure Career Management

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!
 

I’m not a huge fan of reality television or talent shows in general, but for some reason, I do enjoy Simon Cowell’s The X Factor TV show - the UK equivalent of American Idol.

It’s the usual talent show format - members of the general public audition, get selected to perform in front of a live TV audience and one by one, the public vote and eliminate one person each week until there’s a winner who receives fame and a multi-million pound recording contract.

Last weekend saw the surprise elimination of 21 year old Laura White – a talented singer tipped as one of the favourites to win the overall competition. It was quite a shock. Such a shock that it was even discussed in the UK Houses of Parliament by the Culture Secretary earlier this week!

And in fact, Daniel Evans who is by far the weakest singer left in the competition, amazingly survived. Based on singing ability, even a partially deaf person would realise that Daniel, should have been exited from the show.

But this is the X Factor. Members of the public vote to keep you in, not based on who is the best singer, but on who they feel most connected to. Laura was voted off, not because of a poor singing performance, but because of poor marketing and poor branding.

The same point applies to keeping your job during the current spate of restructuring and redundancies across the banking sector. It’s not just talent and ability that will keep you in your job - you also need to be able to market yourself to your internal audience.

I’m no expert on the music industry, but with my career management hat on, I can speculate as to why Laura was voted off and how the same points relate to you and your career during the current downsizing activity across the industry:

1. No clear personal brand

Click here to read the rest…

(Cross Posted On The Career Hub Blog) 

Earlier this week I wrote a guest article for the EFinancial Careers site on how to create CVs / resumes that stands out in a tough job market.

On the back of this, I had the following question and answer exchange in the comments box with one of the readers:

Question

“Sital,
Why even worry about the more traditional versions of a resume?
Is LinkedIn not the new ‘resume’?
John”

Answer

“John,

Your LinkedIn profile does not replace the CV or resume - but instead compliments it by helping you build your personal brand online.

Most recruiters I know use LinkedIn to search for candidates. Many in-house corporate recruiters doing their own direct sourcing use LinkedIn as the first place to go when they have a vacancy. And in business, something like 60% of people apparently do a Google search on the name of a contact before meeting them - a search which invariably takes them to a LinkedIn profile (if they have one).

So yes, if you’re job searching - ensure you have an upto date LinkedIn profile.

But for the moment, most hiring managers will still want to see a full version of the conventional resume. I say ‘for the moment’ as this may well change in the future when online platforms like LinkedIn become more sophisticated and employers decide that it’s easier to use online profiles instead. But for the time being, the cv / resume still remains your primary sales brochure to work alongside online profiles such as LinkedIn - not instead of them.

Sital”

But that’s just my take on things – what do you think? Are the days of the traditional resume numbered?

Feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments box below.

Below is a guest article I’ve had published on the efinancial Careers job site today.

Never has a good CV been more important. If you’ve lost your job recently, you will probably need to re-brand yourself to get back into the job market, as an exact vacancy similar to the one you’ve left is unlikely to exist elsewhere.

Your personal sales brochure

Your CV, or résumé, is the vehicle through which you market yourself and gain interviews – it is your sales brochure. In a tight job market, you need more than a good CV. You need a great CV.

There are some fundamental guidelines you need to follow to make sure your CV does its job:

• It needs to be a suitable length. In the UK/Europe, aim to have a two-page CV/résumé, with three pages at the very most. In the US and Canada, the aim should be one page (two at the most).

• Ensure that the CV is free from any spelling or grammatical errors. This may sound very basic but is critical.

• Keep it simple – no fancy borders or colours. If you’re sending hard copies, use simple black ink on good-quality white or cream paper.

• Use bullet points with short sentences instead of long sentences and paragraphs. Your CV should be easy to read and to extract information from.

Click here to read the rest…

 ”Meltdown Monday,” “Markets Reeling,” “Crash, Bang, Wallop!”

The fall of Lehman Brothers and tumbling of banking stocks this week has been a headline writer’s dream. The press and media are full of the problems and dire predictions. Bad news sells, as they say.

But despite all the uncertainty and craziness, you really can still be successful. The focus should be on making your position as  secure as possible whilst putting yourself in a strong position just in case something drastic happens to your firm

Here are some suggestions on how to accomplish this:

Click here to read the rest…

As I mentioned in a previous post, it’s never wise to just follow the crowd.

Career success, like success in other walks of life, comes from staying away from the crowd, thinking differently and taking a different path.  

Click here to watch a short video clip which captures this perfectly - Flying Outside The Box

Whilst watching the Football European Championships this weekend, I got into a conversation with some friends about football (soccer) coaches.

One name which kept popping up was Jose Mourinho – the ex-coach of London-based Chelsea Football Club (and recently appointed manager of Italian club, Inter Milan.)

Interestingly, 5 years ago, Mourinho was unheard of outside his native Portugal. Today, the self styled “Special One” is one of best known coaches in world football. He is a sought after coach and commands one of the biggest pay packages around.

Of course, part of his success comes down to the trophies and success he has delivered for his employers. But a large part of his reputation and celebrity status comes down to the fact that Mourinho is controversial and so of interest. Love him or hate him, people talk about him. As Seth Godin the marketing author and speaker would say, Jose Mourinho is “remarkable”.

Seth defines remarkable as “worth making a remark about.” Being remarkable and worth talking about is a fundamental part of how you stand out in a crowded market.

Click here to read the rest…

Last weekend I went to a barbeque in North London and met up with a number of my oldest friends.

As is often the case with many social events I go to, I got into a conversation with a friend about his plans to change jobs (occupational hazard or opportunity, depending on how you view it).

He was telling me about his plans when I heard those magic words:

“Oh, I just need to re-do my CV (resume) next weekend and then I will start looking properly”

At which point, I stopped him and said: “Yes, but you’ve been saying that for months!”

Which was true, he had been talking about it for almost a year I think. He knew it too and acknowledged it with a smile.

To be fair to him, he is no different to many people in his situation.

Click here to read the rest…

“What makes you different?”

That’s the question every successful marketeer must be able to answer about their product or service.  The same question every sales person must be able to answer competently to make a sale.

And it’s also a question YOU should be able to answer to accelerate your financial services career.

Regardless of whether you are looking to change jobs or simply to excel within your current organisation, to succeed in today’s job and career market you need to be clear about what differentiates you. And then be consistent in making people aware of it.

To quote from the now famous article on Personal Branding written over 10 years ago by Tom Peters in Fast Company magazine:

Click here to read the rest…