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 thought, I can either feel guilty about surviving, or I can do something positive that will help other people.”
Megan Blunt (Cancer Survivor)

This is 15 year old Megan Blunt from the UK. Megan is a cancer surviver who chose to use her experiences to produce an A to Z guide for children on how to deal with cancer. She turned a bad situation into an opportunity to do some good. She turned lemons into lemonade.

She couldn’t change the fact that she had cancer – that was her situation, her condition. But she chose to attach a very different meaning to her illness – a meaning that involved using her experience of cancer to help thousands of other young cancer sufferers better handle the stresses and pains of the illness.

Megan is one of the inspirational individuals that has been recognised by the “Pride of Britain Awards” in recent years. Pride of Britain celebrates the achievements of the remarkable unsung heroes who make our world a better place. It’s the biggest national event of its kind in the UK.
 
Megan’s story perfectly illustrates how it’s not what happens to you, but about the meaning you give to what happens to you that dictates your level of success.

Click here to read the rest…

Today I’m taking the unusual step of re-posting an old blog post. The following article was published during the summer - but in recent days I’m getting asked so many questions on “how do I deal with all the uncertainty” that I thought it may be timely to reproduce the following ”how to” tips on dealing with all the change and uncertainty in the economy and job market.  

How To Thrive During Uncertain Times

“Uncertainty is the only certainty there is, and knowing how to live with insecurity is the only security.”
- John Allen Paulos (Writer and Speaker)

Over the last 2 years I have been learning comedy improvisation with the excellent London-based theatre company and corporate trainers, The Spontaneity Shop.  I have performed in about 5 shows so far and it’s been great fun.

But whilst I’ve really enjoyed it, it’s not something I have found easy.

You see, in a work environment, I can deal with change, think on my feet and “wing it” with the best of them. But when it comes to walking the uncertain tight-rope of comedy improvisation - on stage with no script and absolutely no idea what will happen next - I’ve found it challenging and consequently been a slow learner.

But earlier this year, I finally started to ‘get it’. Around May/June time with the direction of the tutors at the Spontaniety Shop, I finally started to learn and internalise the key lessons on how to handle (and indeed enjoy) the uncertainty that goes with making it up as you go along on stage.

There are 8 key lessons or rules I learned. Rules which I think apply equally to comedy improvisation as they do to walking the tight rope of managing careers during these uncertain times:

Click here to read the rest…

In just a few hours, I’ll be running our F.R.E.E teleseminar on “How To Find A Job During Recession.”   You can still register by clicking this link now:  

It’s a timely call given the level of job cut announcements this week across the banking sector.  Credit Suisse, Commerzbank Dresdner Kleinwort, Bank of America/Merill Lynch, Nomura and State Street all announced lay offs in the last few days. Coupled with that, we’ve seen the awful unemployment figures announced in the US yesterday.
 
So whether you’ve been laid off and looking for work or just uneasy about your job security during a recession, be sure to sign up to today’s call. I know it’s a Saturday so don’t worry if you’re out Christmas shopping and too busy to call in - just register and we’ll send you an audio recording of the call in MP3 format so you can listen to it in your own time.  
 
Click here now to register http://www.6figurecareermanagement.com/find-a-job-during-a-recession/
 
‘See you’ in a few hours
 
Sital
 
Sital Ruparelia
6 Figure Career Management
www.6FigureCareerManagement.com

P.S. If you know anyone else who would benefit from the call, then please forward this email on
 
P.P.S. Once again, if you can’t make the call at 3.30pm today (UK), 10.30am (New York), just register and we’ll send you the audio recording so that you can listen as and when you like
 
 

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…

Thanks to Scot Herrick from CubeRules for the inspiration behind this post. He’s recent article Every Job Is A Consulting Job got me thinking about how just ‘thinking’ like a freelance consultant (even if you’re in a permanent job) can protect your career during an economic downturn.

You see, there is no such thing as a ‘permanent’ employee in the modern work place - we’re all consultants. Technology, globalisation and increased competition have conspired to create a world where change and restructuring are part and parcel of all our lives - even in a good economy. So even if you have a ‘permanent contract of employment’, in today’s work place the organisation can no longer promise job security. With increased prosperity and lifestyle changes, individuals cannot promise loyalty to a particular employer. Consequently we’re all consultants or free agents - the CEO of Me Plc / Inc.

It is a mindset shift. But once you ‘get it’ and start thinking like a freelance consultant, it pays huge dividends because it completely changes the way you behave. When you think like a consultant, a few things happen:

1. You take much more responsibility for your own career instead of relying on an organisation to manage your career

2. You’re forced to have plenty of other ‘irons in the fire’ in the form of other roles just in case required

3. You become more proactive in developing a wide network.

4. You become very results driven. Results lead to testimonials, repeat business and referals (the lifeblood of an independent consultant). So being focussed on results and the value you create for employers / clients makes of much more valuable in the market place

5. You’re more focussed on managing your personal brand in order to differentiate yourself from competitors

More valuable + Better networked + More career options + More proactive in managing career + strong personal brand = Less vulnerable to downturns

As this little ‘career formula’ illustrates, during a downturn, the typical behaviours of a consultant can protect you and your career. Every market has it’s winners and losers. Thinking and behaving like a consultant can help you become one of the winners.

By the way if you’re looking for further help in protecting your career in the current downturn, you may want to take a look at our FREE teleseminar “How To Find Job During Recession.” In this complimentary call you will discover what it takes to find opportunities in the current market. Further details and information on signing up click here now.

 ’How To Find A Job During A Recession’

 F.R.E.E. Teleseminar
Thursday 4th December at 8pm (London)
(3pm New York)

The last week has been one of the worst for job loss announcements. But with Christmas approaching, it appears that there are many more job cuts in the pipeline.

What started off as a downsizing within investment banking, primarily in New York and London, has now spread across most other parts of financial services and other sectors of the economy across the globe.

With constant rumours that many more firms are gearing up to announce redundancies in the coming weeks, I’m getting more and more requests for support and advice. Whilst I’d love to help more people, I simply haven’t the time to do it on a 1:1 basis.

So I’ve decided to offer a F.R.E.E. one-off solution to offer help to those individuals searching for work in the current market - as well as for people who want to start preparing themselves in case they may need to look for a new job in the coming months.

‘How To Find A Job During A Recession’

F.R.E.E Teleseminar
Thursday 4th December at 8pm (London)
(3pm New York)

During this 75 minute teleseminar, you’ll get the inside secrets on what I do with my 1:1 clients for F.R.E.E.

In this 75 minute call you’ll learn:

Click here to read the rest…

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…

Following on from Goldman Sachs laying off 10% of it’s workforce in recent days, media reports this week suggest that the newly formed Bank of America / Merrill Lynch group is gearing up for a 15% cut across its global workforce. Like Goldmans, the lion’s share of redundancies are rumoured to be in New York and London.  With further reports of Morgan Stanley and UBS planning further cuts and the dire economic predictions from the IMF this week, there’s plenty of bad news around.

If I wanted to, I’m sure I could fill the pages of this blog daily with news stories of job cuts, dire predictions and gloomy announcements. But if you keep following all these stories, they just consume you, paralyse you into not doing anything out of fear or an attitude of “well what’s the point?”

It is much wiser (and so much more effective), to instead focus on solutions instead of all the problems. That means strengthening your network internally and externally, doing some self analysis to get really clear about all the skills and talents you offer, understanding what value you offer employers then reinventing and re-packaging yourself to meet the changing needs of your current and future employers.

That’s what every forward thinking business is to doing right now to survive - revaluating itself and then repositioning the business to meet changing needs of the market. As the CEO of You Inc / You Plc, that’s exactly what you should be doing to succeed in the current market. 

Individuals who are proactive enough to take meaningful action and make changes can potentially thrive and be the winners in this market. For these individuals, the economic downturn could in fact be the best thing that ever happened to their careers. On the other hand, those that sit around watching and worrying about the bad news stories will unfortunately find themselves become the victims of the downturn.

So it’s a choice - focus on the problems or on solutions.

What are you choosing….?

To coincide with National Stress Awareness Day in the UK tomorrow, Wednesday 5th November, I’m pleased to have a guest article below from an international expert on executive stress - Carole Spiers

After twenty years as a stress consultant to blue-chip companies, I could fill about half the internet with my reflections about the present credit-crunch and the countless workplace stressor-elements we can expect to see afflicting everyone right up to boardroom level, in the coming weeks and months.

Instead, let me pinpoint just five less-known stress-symptoms which I believe we shall see bulking-up over the coming months, for all of which there are formal training initiatives for HR staff as part of the stress-management agenda.

Click here to read the rest…