High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: 10 Verbal Skills of the Most Likable People

This is our weekly roundup of some of the best career-related articles, interviews, blogs, etc., we've read during the week. We share them so you have some great resources to prepare you for the coming week. Enjoy!

• 10 Verbal Skills of the Most Likable People: "There isn't a more universal, effective mantra for building real relationships and powerful networks than treating others as you'd like to be treated."

• 5 Career Tips from High-Flying Women: "Remember that perseverance is vital when it comes to success. Don’t be afraid to fail while trying to reach your goal."

• 9 Tips to Start Living: "
  Everything can become so intense and distorted when you're in the middle of it. Sometimes you need to step away and give yourself room to breathe, to think, to get a fresh perspective."

• 10 Powerful Ways to Stand Up For Yourself in Any Situation: "Your beliefs, emotions, thoughts and ideas belong to you, and no one else can tell you what you feel or invalidate your opinions."
• 4 Ways to Reinvent Yourself After Hitting Rock Bottom: "if you don’t let yourself be real and vulnerable when you’re struggling, you will actually hold yourself back from progressing through the tough time."

Reinventing Yourself in a New Position

In my last post, I gave tips on what to do when transitioning out of a position and into a new one. The big theme of that post was "preparation," namely to help the work unit you are leaving prepare for your departure through creating a transition plan with your supervisor, documenting procedures, and training your replacement. The Daily Leap is a fount of knowledge when it comes to transitioning into your new position, with great, timely tips here and here and here. There is one aspect of starting a new job, however, that is critical but understated: the potential for reinvention.

In your current role you are a part of a work culture, with certain norms and expectations. You develop practices that meet those characteristics and that fit your style of doing work. A new position provides a moment to reflect on what you are now and who you want to be regarding this new opportunity. In what areas would you like to improve or change? Do you want to develop new work practices, like saying thank you more? Before you start a new position, spend some time reflecting on these questions:

In what ways did I perform in my old position that reflected my core strengths? 

How did I let good and bad habits infiltrate my work in my old position?

If I start my old position over again, what would I change?

What challenges excite me about this new position?

What do I want others to say about me a month into my new position? A year?

What would initiative in my new position look like?

What key relationships do I need to develop to help me become successful in my new position?

The questions  are endless, and the endeavor important. View a new position as a way to create a new reputation for yourself professionally through changing those aspects of your professional character that need changing.

Have any better questions to share? Do so in the comments below!

Is it Time for a Career Reinvention?

I heard a talk show host talking today about the necessity of reinventing yourself while growing and changing with the evolving economy, market and technology. He was talking in terms of the United States and its need to continue to evolve in order to stay competitive in the global market. However, it made me think about how the same is true about professionals.

If we are resistant to change and growth and we are unwilling to accommodate and adapt ourselves to changing markets and technologies, then we will soon become stagnant. The very essence of our life is change, as we began changing, growing and evolving the day we were born.

Quite simply, we can not have growth without change. Here are some quick and easy ways to help you grow and adapt in our ever-changing job market.

• Evolve the way you connect with the world. I meet so many people who are resistant to social networking. However, I recently spoke with a recruiter that said more than 80% of his candidates come through his research on LinkedIn. With this kind of evidence, today's job seeker can't afford to omit social media from their tool box.
• Commit to constant education to keep your skills and knowledge current. This does not necessarily always mean formal education. However, subscribe to blogs of respected leaders in your industry, follow these same people on Twitter, read new books and take advantage of educational seminars and conferences in your industry.
• Expand your network of contacts. Never count a contact out as being unable to help you just because they are in a different industry. You never know who can make that connection for you until you reach out to them. Simply opening yourself up to new people, new networking opportunities and new contacts can have a major impact on your career.

High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: Older Workers, Second Careers, and Success

This is our weekly roundup of some of the best career-related articles, interviews, blogs, etc., we've read during the week. We share these every weekend so you have some great resources to prepare you for the coming week. Enjoy!

1. The Best Interview Tips for Older Job Seekers
"You have a track record, and it demonstrates your capacity to create further accomplishments if given the opportunity."

2. 9 Great Second Careers that Don't Require 4-Year Degrees 
"You want to make a career change, but you don't have a bachelor's degree and don't have the funds or the interest in getting a four-year degree. Here are nine good jobs that don't require a bachelor's."

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3. 21st Century Career Reinvention for Boomers
"In the 20th century, we thought of life in three broad stages: Education, Career and Retirement. In the 21st century however, I believe that these three need to be replaced by Self Awareness, Creation, and Service."

4. What Successful People Do With the First Hour of Their Work Day
"Remember when you used to have a period at the beginning of every day to think about your schedule, catch up with friends, maybe knock out a few tasks? It was called home room, and it went away after high school. But many successful people schedule themselves a kind of grown-up home room every day."

5. How to Move from a Winning Interview to a Job Offer  
"Prepare to ask about things of interest to you. Learn about the person, position, company, industry, interview process, etc."