High 5 weekly Career Transitions Roundup: Leadership, Mentors, Networking and More

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!

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• Need a Job but Hate Networking? Do This!: "Rather than trying to talk to everyone, make it a goal to establish deeper connections with three to five people. I find this particularly useful at conferences or other multi-day events."

• The Most Effective Strategies for Success: "Focus on What You Will Do, Not What You Won't Do — Instead of focusing on bad habits, it's more effective to replace them with better ones."


• 5 Simple but Strategic Steps for Finding a Good Mentor: "Having a mentor can help you become a better employee, and can help you identify and achieve your career goals. Be open to finding a mentor anywhere, and don't limit yourself to just one."


• The Six Deadly Sins of Leadership: "
  Self-confidence is the lifeblood of success. When people have it, they’re bold. They try new things, offer ideas, exude positive energy, and cooperate with their colleagues instead of surreptitiously attempting to bring them down."


• What Will You Create to Make the World Awesome?: "Ask: What would I do if I could do anything? What would I do if all jobs paid the same? If I could only achieve one thing in my career, what would it be? What do I really want?" 

Interviewing for Jobs After You’ve Been Fired

If you’ve ever been fired from a job, it can be difficult to explain during an interview. However, it doesn’t have to be impossible. Career and job search author, Alison Green, recommends five ways to approach this topic in her article titled, In a Job Interview, How to Explain You Were Fired.

Be Honest with Yourself: Look objectively at the circumstance for which you were fired. If you were partially at fault, be willing to admit it. If the job wasn’t a good fit to begin with, be prepared to say so.

Discuss What You’ve Learned: Ease the interviewing process by preparing an answer, in advance, in case you are asked about what you’ve learned from being fired. Be sure to include how you would approach a similar situation differently in the future.

Be Brief: Most likely, your interviewer has a lot of other information to get through, so be brief and to the point when discussing your firing. Only provide more detail if the interviewer asks.

Practice Your Answer Out Loud: This is one answer that you should practice prior to the interview. Say it out loud and listen to the tone of your voice. Make sure you sound calm and not angry or resentful. Your delivery is key.

Don’t Lie: If you don’t tell the truth up front and the interviewer finds out later, it will tarnish your credibility. Show integrity by always telling the truth.

Many people get fired and go on to find gainful and rewarding employment. In your interviews, be prepared. Pretty soon, the experience will be behind you!

Source: Green, Alison. “In a Job Interview, How to Explain You Were Fired.” Money: On Careers. U.S. News and World Report. October 4, 2010. money.usnews.com.

Tips for Success in Group Interviews

Interviews are often a one-on-one experience or a panel setting where you meet with several members of the company at the same time. However, there are many companies out there that use the group interview concept to screen and select candidates.

The group interview is used to evaluate how the candidate interacts in a group setting. They are used evaluate your social and communication skills and they look at how you can stand out from the crowd in that group setting. They can be a fun and exciting experience and provide valuable insight into the company's culture. Use these tips to ensure your success.

• Don't treat the other candidates as competition - even though they really are. Instead of competing with the other candidates, treat them as you would potential co-workers.

• Make eye contact with the other candidates as you answer your questions. Compliment others' answers and point out areas that you have in common. Use their answers as a springboard to add information of your own.

• Don't hog the spotlight. Give other people time to speak and answer questions. It is never a good idea to make yourself look good at the expense of others.

• Try to be the best dressed in the room. Pay special attention to your attire, your grooming, and your body language to make a positive impression.

• Evaluate the other candidates and find a way to set yourself apart from the crowd. You do not want to blend or fit into the crowd, you want to subtly set yourself apart.

Daily Leap Career Video of the Week: Networking Strategies

Each week we present our Daily Leap Career Video of the Week. The video we share presents news or advice related to career development, searching for a job, the economy and employment, and other career-related topics.

In this video Colleen Debaise provides some simple tips to improve your networking, especially if networking does not come easy for you.

Check out her strategies in the video below:

Three Questions to Ask Yourself Before You Transition From the Military

I teach a monthly class for veterans who are preparing to transition out of the military. I am amazed at how many people go into the transition process flying by the seat of their pants. In this earlier blog post, I put together a transition schedule that starts as far out as 18 months.

The process of transitioning out of the military is long and arduous, whether you have served 4 years or 24 years. Going into your transition unprepared - especially when there are so many resources available - is never a good idea. Here are 3 questions you can ask yourself to help get prepared. These three questions may not be all you need, but take the time to carefully consider your answers in order to get on target to achieve your goals.

What do I want to do?
This is, hands down, the most important question you will ask yourself during the transition process. Chances are that you have held multiple positions in various career fields in the military. If you try to put together a resume that encompasses everything you will overwhelm the reader with unnecessary, irrelevant information. Once you have identified your target, you can do your research that will help you define your transferable skills into your new career in the private sector.

Where do I want to live and work?
It is very important to decide on your geographic location in conjunction with your research in your career field. If you want to be a cactus farmer, you will have quite a hard time if you want to move to Anchorage, Alaska. Use resources such as the Occupational Outlook Handbook (www.bls.gov/oco) and the O-net at onetonline.org to compare labor markets and ensure when and if you relocate, there will be openings in your career field of choice.

How can I demonstrate that I am qualified?
Once you have answered questions 1 and 2, you are ready to start marketing yourself to potential employers. Before you start identifying your selling points, you have to conduct research (bls.gov/oco and onetnonline.org )and do some early job searching to identify what employers really want to know about you.

Keep in mind that we are a distracted society with our minds going in all directions. Therefore, make your resume easy to read by targeting it to the specific hiring manager's needs. Once you know what skills you want to highlight, then you can bring out the Problem-Action-Result formula in order to demonstrate how you can positively impact an organization.

Strong Two-Year Degree or Certificate Programs

Many people assume that a four-year college degree equates to a larger payoff, financially, than a two-year degree; however, many two-year degree or certificate programs can lead to careers with equivalent or even higher salaries. Combined with lower college debt, two-year degree earners could actually come out ahead of their four-year counterparts in lifetime financial worth.

The following are several occupations that require a two-year degree or certificate:

Trade Occupations

Electrical technicians: Trade occupations are still in high demand, and within the trades, electrical technicians have experienced the highest increase in earnings over the past 15 years. Often, paid apprenticeships are available. Median salary is more than $46,000.

Medical Occupations

Radiologic technicians: A radiologic technician is one of the fasting growing occupations. A radiologic technician performs such diagnostic imaging as mammograms, ultrasounds, and MRIs. A two-year degree and a state licensing exam are required, and the median salary is more than $52,000. Often, another advantage is a flexible work schedule.

Dental hygienists and Registered nurses: Both of these in-demand occupations require only two-year degrees. They offer excellent median salaries of approximately $62,000. You can do these jobs no matter where you live, and you can work full-time or part-time. Tuition assistance programs are often available for nurses who later pursue higher education.

Business and Technical Occupations

Paralegal: If you enjoy legal work but don’t want to pursue a law degree, this two-year degree can provide an entry into employment at a legal firm assisting attorneys. Median salaries start at about $42,000.

Computer Support and Information Technology: This field is growing at a rate of approximately 14 percent per year, so demand is high for individuals able to do on-site computer work. Break into the industry with a two-year degree and then gain hands-on experience. Average salaries start around $44,000.

Three questions to get the most out of feedback

Have you ever received positive feedback from a supervisor only to be left wondering what exactly it was about what you did that earned you the praise? You are not alone: research has shown that you are more likely to be given specific feedback about poor performance than for positive performance. Very counter-intuitive, especially for those that pride themselves on self-improvement and exceeding goals. "Good job" just doesn't cut it when you desire to excel.

It's important to remember that the relationship between you and your supervisor is a two-way street. If there is something that you are not getting it could be that your supervisor is not aware of it. Take care of your own development and ask these three questions to get the most out of your supervisor's feedback.

What behaviors did you like seeing? This question hones in on what you specifically did to garner the praise. It could be that your attention to detail was a critical component to the success of your task, or that you were able to put aside other projects in order to focus on the one that needed to get done. Regardless, ask about the specific behaviors in order to hone in on what was important to your supervisor.

How did those behaviors correspond with department and organizational goals? Everything that you do should relate to the goals of the department and the organization. Ask your supervisor how your project and your actions related to those goals. Your idea of what the correlation is could be different from what your supervisor envisions. Either way, you will get a better sense of how the time you put in relates to the broader vision of what your organization has set out to accomplish.

What would you like to see more of, and what would you like to see less of? Ask this question to hone in on what nuances of your work your supervisor finds most and least valuable. Take this feedback for what it is, and be sure to say "thank you."

Create the context for present and future feedback by asking for specific details that will aid your future development.