High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: 8 Tips to Help You Manage Stress

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!

• 8 Tips to Help You Manage Stress: "You can’t fight it if you don’t know what it is. If a certain situation or person at work pushes your buttons, own that feeling."

• Making the Most of Strategic Relationships: "Great products are rarely invented by solo practitioners. Great companies cannot be produced by a recluse. Our increasingly interdependent world makes relationship-building more critical than ever."

• 5 Interview Lines That Make Job Interviewers Cringe: "You should have questions! Asking questions is how you determine if this job, this manager and this employer are right for you."

• 4 Ways You Know It's Time to Make the Leap and Start Your Own Business: "There is no one who can tell you, ultimately, what’s right for your life and your business but you. Trust your gut."
• How to Be Productive During the Summer: "Work hard, rest well. The hard work will keep you from being distracted by the temptations of summer, while the days off will help you enjoy those temptations."

High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: Maintaining Your Network

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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• How to Network When You Hate Networking: "Networking is all about making real, authentic, human connections. Get personal. Get curious. Everyone has a story to tell. Ask questions and listen. It's not about putting on a show or making a sale or getting that one awesome lead."

• The 10 Step 'I Just Got Fired' Action Plan: "Write down every potential job contact you have, including friends, family, former co-workers and any groups or associations you've joined. The length of the list may surprise you."                                                      
• Constructing Your Career Castle: "Finding the right support system as you define your vision is vital to career success. It's important, though, to remember that neither mentors nor sponsors can construct a castle for you. You have to commit to being the architect of your career."


• Simple Ways to Keep Your Network From Growing Cold: "Maintaining a thriving, active network takes time, planning, and even a bit of creativity. But if you put in the effort, the impact it will have on your career will be well worth it."


• How to Become a Great Leader: "There’s a general myth that leaders are born rather than made, that somehow Nature produces a peculiar species of human being who is bigger, more powerful, smarter, braver, and more charismatic than the rest."

High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: Is Grad School the Best Decision and More on Networking

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!

© Bellemedia | Stock Free Images & Dreamstime Stock Photos

• 9 Networking Secrets from a Superconnector: "Always be thinking about the other person, not personal gain. Other people come first. Since most people are concerned with their own personal gain, you'll quickly stand out. Albert Einstein once said, 'Strive not to be a person of success, but a person of value'."

• Good Employees Make Mistakes. Great Leaders Allow Them To: "Great leaders allow their people the freedom to make mistakes. But good employees are those who when mistakes are made 1. Learn from them, 2. Own them, 3. Fix them, and 4. Put safeguards in place to ensure the same mistake will never be repeated again."


• Networking Tips to Land--Or Keep--a Job: "Don’t know where to meet people? Volunteer your time. Volunteer at your church, at charity events such as 5-kilometre runs, fundraisers, your child’s school or other events."


• How to Market Yourself on LinkedIn: "
  The résumé is not the only way to demonstrate what you've done. Today, there are many more options to publish content and create a robust, interactive representation of who you are.
  "


• Grad School May Not Be the Best Way to Spend $100,000: "If you're doing a graduate program just to get the degree on your wall, or if only a handful of classes excite you, it's far better (and cheaper) to take adult ed or extension school classes. Here are a few other reasons why you shouldn't go back." 

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!

© Bellemedia | Stock Free Images & Dreamstime Stock Photos

• 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?" 

High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: Networking, Finding Meaning, and Introverts

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!

© Bellemedia | Stock Free Images & Dreamstime Stock Photos

• 14 Ways to Be Better at Your Job in 2013: "Lending expertise, time and effort to other teams will help you get to know other aspects of the business as well as help you connect with people across the company."


• 5 Interview Mistakes You Can Easily Avoid: "Preparation doesn't mean a quick skim of the job description and a glance at the employer's website; it means at least several hours spent thinking through likely questions and practicing your answers to them."


• 5 Key Networking Tricks to Help Land You a Job: "(m)ake a point to attend industry conferences, so you have a chance to make a good impression. It's even better if you seize the opportunity to make a presentation, organize an event at the conference, or blog or tweet about the program."


• Finding Meaning at Work, Even When Your Job is Dull: "Work can, however, provide an array of meaningful experiences, even though many employees do not enjoy those in their current job. So, what are the sources of meaningful experiences at work?"


• 3 Tips for Introverts in an Extrovert Workplace: "Introverts shouldn't have to succumb or change themselves to succeed or take on a leadership role... Introverts bring different and great strengths to the table, like less micromanagement and more insight and contemplation." 

Turning a New Contact into an Ally in Your Job Search

When looking for a new job it's important to evaluate your resources and a key resource is your network. In your network of friends, family, and acquaintances there just might be that person to make referral that will get you a new job. And when looking for work one should always make an effort to meet new people to enhance that network.

In the video below, networking expert Keith Ferrazzi provides valuable tips on turning that new contact into a valuable member of your network--someone who can help you find meaningful work:



   

Networking Makes Good Business Sense

People in your network can be a valuable source of information that might include job leads, clients, and other resources.  For many, though, networking may not come easy.   Below are some tips that can make networking easier and more productive.

Start Small

If networking is challenging to you, start small.  Set a goal to attend a networking event or other networking opportunity once or twice a month, and then increase it as you feel more comfortable.  For many, networking one-on-one seems easier, so consider inviting a business associate to lunch as a way to get started.  Remember, regardless of how you network, it is important to be yourself.

Be Strategic and Then Evaluate

After attending a range of professional networking events, evaluate your experiences to determine which ones interested you and provided the most value.  These are the ones you want to revisit. 

Leverage the Internet

The Internet offers many opportunities to make professional connections through websites, like LinkedIn. You can also participate online through professional or industry forums and blogs.

Prepare before an Event

Your networking success at professional events will increase if you’ve prepared in advance.  For example, research the speakers and topics that will be addressed.  Investigate current trends or issues that might be of interest to those attending the event.  This preparation may help you generate a few open-ended questions to spark conversation with attendees. 

Reciprocate Assistance

When networking, there should never be an expectation that everyone is there to assist you or vice versa. However, when someone is able to provide professional assistance, it is nice to reciprocate when possible.

Networking Strategically – 3 Steps to More Effective Networking

You have most likely heard of the importance of networking in the job search process. The numbers of varying surveys range from 40% to 85%, but the message is clear, a high percentage of job seekers are obtaining their jobs through networking efforts.

Networking is really nothing more than talking to someone about what you have to offer a company and what you need. However, like anything, the more strategically you approach networking, the more success you will acheive. Here is a 3-step process that will help you optimize your networking efforts.

Step 1 – Assess Yourself to Develop a Focus
It is very difficult to sell a product about which you know nothing. Make no mistakes, the job search process is an exercise in sales and marketing. Therefore, before you can effectively network to promote yourself, you must first get to know what you have to offer. Define your skills, identify your values, clarify the role you see yourself taking in a company, and decide the type of work environment you prefer.

Step 2 – Define your Networking Strategy
Take some time to make a list of your networking contacts. When you open your mind and don’t discount anyone as being unable to help you, the possibilities are truly endless. In addition to the people you know or come into contact with, consider a few other possibilities for networking such as informational interviewing, job shadowing, and internships. Check back on Thursday for some tips and ideas regarding who you can add to your networking contacts list.

Step 3 – Create your Self Introduction
A self introduction – also called an elevator speech or 30-second commercial – is your way of quickly and concisely summing up your background and experience, how you can help an organization, the definition of your target employer, and what assistance you are looking for. This earlier blog post goes more in-depth on how to create a self-introduction. You must at least memorize your key “talking points” so that when you find a networking opportunity – no matter where you are – you can intelligently and persuasively talk about your unique selling points.