Career Management Alliance Blog

One segment of my client base presents me with some especially complex challenges.  This is the over 50 group that has survived myriad layoffs and downsizing, and has an enormous amount of job knowledge and company savvy.  Unfortunately, the fire in their careers has dimmed, and they are casting about looking for options.

Starting a consultancy, or even looking for another job within the same industry are possibilities.  Each option presents its own set of challenges, and a major change should be considered very carefully.  There are especially serious financial considerations, pension implications and risks associated with a major change.  So, what can they do?

One strategy is look at alternatives within the company itself.  Most clients in this age group who are happy with their job situation are very comfortable staying in the same job but are often fearful of change.  At the same time, many understand they are just marking time and need to get moving in some direction for both security and career satisfaction reasons.  After all, a 50 year old can have at least 15-20 more years of productive activity.  Hence, they recognize the need for action, but are very often reluctant to act.

For some, a career or job change within the company may be a viable answer.  Longevity within a company is not just years.  People vastly under estimate the immense storehouse of knowledge, experience and contacts they acquire over the years.  They also tend to underestimate the options for applying that experience to different venues.

A first step is do the research, and do it yourself.  Especially in large companies with new ventures, new products and new markets, growth prospects for multi-talented employees can emerge.  In fact, an experienced employee with a known track record could be a very viable option for growing departments or divisions who need talent, experience and a short learning curve.

If at all possible, enlist your supervisor as an ally.  A discussion on career options could be very helpful, especially in ensuring that the road to an internal transfer is smooth. 

Explore the formal systems through personnel, as well as the informal systems, the internal hidden job market.  Most firms post openings through a formal job board system.  This should not be disregarded.  Most of these jobs tend to be real, and for growing organizations, often critical. 

I would recommend that any formal company system be utilized assuming that your concerns about internal transfer are handled in a confidential manner.  Also do some research outside.  Check and see what others are saying about the company.  Where are the growth prospects and challenges for the future that might provide some insight.  There is an enormous amount of information on every company, from the financial world to chat rooms and blogs.  Blogging can be very helpful and many join Yahoo! groups.

Some long term employees tend to get a bit rusty with the job search process.  When looking for those potential gems, networking is just as important when seeking an inside transfer as when looking outside for a new company.  Look for a mentor or a career coach.  Motivation is critical and advice from a trustworthy advisor can provide the needed incentive to move forward effectively.

I think the most important advice I can give is that if there is suddenly a perception that a change is needed, it probably is.  At this point inertia is your worst enemy.  The more passive the approach, the more likely the boredom and dissatisfaction becomes obvious with all the negative ramifications that implies.

Judit Price

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From time to time a prospective resume client says to me, “I don’t know what kind of job I want. I just need a resume.” Unfortunately, I have to tell that job seeker that they’re not ready to work on their resume.

I know the very thought of diving into a job search can be at once scary, daunting, and filled with unknowns. And the entire job search landscape looks and feels different than even a few years ago. But don’t start out by investing time and/or money in an unfocused, generic resume. You can’t possibly move forward with any success if you don’t know what kind of job you’ll target in your search. You can’t get a great interview-generating resume under your belt without comprehensively targeting it.

Think about the hiring decision-makers who will be reading your resume. If it doesn’t immediately strike a chord with how you’ll fit a specific job they’re trying to fill, they’ll move on to the next candidate’s resume. Everything in your resume has to align as much as possible with the specific qualifications and areas of expertise they’re looking for. With probably hundreds of resumes to review for any given position, they don’t have the time or inclination to figure out how or where you’ll fit into their organization. Your resume needs to immediately tell them you’ll be a good fit.

If you don’t have a clue about what you want to do next, a great starting point is job-hunt.org. This site is a treasure trove of free resources, articles, and links to other helpful websites. I regularly send job seekers here when they’re on the fence about their next career move. Here you can find:

~ Hundreds of informative articles to help you decide what to do next so you can focus your search and your resume.

~ Information on how to target specific employers and find their job openings.

~ Links to hundreds of sites by industry to find job descriptions for practically any kind of position.

~ Advice on how to navigate a safe, informed, and successful online job search.

The site covers so many bases it can be overwhelming. But pretty much everything you need to know about real-life and online job search is there.

Posted by Meg Guiseppi

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On Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court overwhelmingly ruled that two federal civil rights laws authorize workers to sue when they are subjected to retaliation after complaining about race or age discrimination.

In, CBOCS West, Inc. v. Humphries, the justices, voting 7-2, said a Reconstruction-era law known as Section 1981 bars retaliation against workers who complain of racial bias. The ruling means Cracker Barrel Old Country Store restaurants must defend against a suit by a former associate manager at one of the company’s. 

The justices separately voted 6-3, in Gomez-Perez v. Potter, to allow retaliation claims by federal employees who complain of age discrimination. That decision lets a suit by a postal worker go forward.  

We strongly recommend that employers revisit their commitment to building fully inclusive workplace cultures. Companies should evaluate and enhance their anti-discrimination policies, management and employee training programs and monitoring procedures. 

We encourage all employees to speak out when they observe discrimination and harassment in the workplace. You should be proactive in learning your rights and responsibilities under company policies, as well as, local, state and federal enforcement laws. If you are a victim of discrimination or retaliation, exercise your rights with the knowledge that Supreme Court has affirmed two more protections available to you.

Posted by Murray A. Mann

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This weekend we commemorate the U.S. men and women who have died in military service to our country. We also honor all current service members and veterans. According to government statistics, more than 30,000 military personnel serving in Iraq, Afghanistan and surrounding duty station have been wounded in action. Despite their injuries, most disabled veterans leave active duty eager and able to return to the civilian workforce.  

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) recently issued two question-and-answer (Q&A) guides for veterans with service-connected disabilities and companies on employment and workplace issues.  

EEOC chair Naomi C. Earp said “Injured veterans, like everyone else, deserve the freedom to compete in the workplace on a fair and level playing field. Members of the military have bravely sacrificed for America should never have to come home and  face unlawful employment obstacles because of service-related disability.”  

The first guide answers questions that veterans with service-connected disabilities may have about the protections they are entitled to when they seek to return to their former jobs or look to find their first, or new, civilian jobs. The document also explains changes or adjustments that veterans may need, because of their injuries, to apply for, or perform, a job, or to enjoy equal access to the workplace. 

The publication for employers explains how protections for veterans with service-connected disabilities differ under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Right Act (USERRA). the guide further describes how the ADA in particular applies to recruiting, hiring and accommodating veterans with service-connected disabilities. The EEOC enforces Title 1 of the ADA, which prohibits employments discrimination against people with disabilities in the private sector and state and local governments. The U.S. Department of Labor enforces USERRA, which applies to the reemployment of veterans with and without service-connected disabilities.

EEOC Legal Counsel Reed L. Russell said, “The EEOC wants to help our nations wounded warriors and employers alike understand their respective workplace rights and responsibilities under federal laws. The new guides will provide valuable assistance in this effort.”

Russell noted that each guide includes a list of resources where to find more information on USERRA and the ADA; public and private organizations who can assist employers who want to recruit and hire veterans or can helps who are seeking employment; and organizations and agencies that can identify reasonable accommodations for veterans with service-related disabilities.

Posted by Murray A. Mann

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There are three types of public service - government service at the local, state and federal level, non-profit public services, and participation in the political process.  I believe public service has gotten a lot of bad press, undeservedly.  Public service can be enormously exciting and rewarding, especially for young people starting their professional lives.

Not only are the opportunities vast in terms of diversity, but in many cases the pay is good (rarely great).  The fringe benefits; especially in these days of soaring health care costs, are excellent, depending on the sector.  Finally, a successful stint in public service can be a good steppingstone to a. career in the private sector.

I would like to look at one area of public service, government service at the federal level. I know that the word “bureaucrat” has a negative connotation, but the federal bureaucracy, the people who administer our laws and regulations, represent a highly talented, hard working, and honest group of people.

For example, the Los Alamos Labs in New Mexico is one of the greatest research facilities in the world.  The economists in the Commerce Department do extraordinary work.  The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ensures the healthfulness of the medicines we take and the FBI is one of the best law enforcement agencies in the world. Of course, everyone knows about NASA.

No matter what the expertise of course of study, there is likely a federal government agency or department that needs those skills.  Federal jobs span every possible area, and vacancy announcements list the specific knowledge, skills and abilities (KSAs) an agency needs in a candidate.

These KSA factors are extremely important to federal employers.  The ability to successfully match a person with a position is essential.

It is estimated that within the next five years, 50 percent of the federal government’s current work force will retire or be eligible for retirement - a situation that will create enormous demand for new talent, and enormous opportunities for college graduates to career changers.  Look at www.usajobs.opm.gov.  This Web site is packed full of useful information on career opportunities with the federal government.  OPM is the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.  Since, by law, all government agencies must post vacancies open to outside applicants, this is a good place to start.  Use it to familiarize yourself with the depth and breadth of employment disciplines.

Check out Web sites such as www.ourpublicservice.org, www.studentjobs.gov and its e-scholar section.  Internships are everywhere, including the White House, various cabinet departments, independent agencies, and the Smithsonian Institution.

The Partnership for Public Service (www.ourpublicservice.org) sponsors “A Call to Serve,” an initiative designed to educate people about the importance of a strong civil service, create links between federal agencies and schools and provide information about opportunities regarding careers with the federal government.

For students or recent college grads, several organizations help place internships in federal offices. They include The Washington Center for Internships and Academic Affairs (WCIAA), the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU), and the National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education (NAFEO).

WCIAA places  internships with the federal government, private and non-profit employers.  Thousands of interns are placed in federal agencies, the White House and congressional offices.

HACU places undergraduate and graduate students in federal agency internships and serves Hispanic, Asian Americans, African Americans and Native Americans in their HACU National Internship Program. .

NAFEO, affiliated with an association of Black Colleges and Universities, places students in a wide range of federal offices, particularly the Departments of health and Human Services and Transportation.  Other agencies partnering with NAFEO include the Department of Defense, Labor and Interior, and the Environmental Protection Agency.

I would encourage people to explore these programs and opportunities in depth.  There are lots of free resources available and more importantly, here is another option.

Judit Price

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The employment news isn’t all bad - according to a CareerBuilder.com survey, 32% of all employers plan to add full-time, permanent employees in 2008.

But perhaps you are in a company or industry that is suffering and you have good reasons to suspect that a layoff is a very real possibility for you.

This is a scary feeling, yet there are things you can do to prepare for such an upheaval. Doing something feels better than fretting and doing nothing.

Here are things you should do to prepare for layoff, from Kate Lorenz of CareerBuilder.com, as reported in CareerJournal.com:

Get organized. Print and take home personal files on your computer and locate copies of your performance appraisals and other personnel records. Review your status reports and project files to help you update your résumé so that it reflects all of your recent accomplishments and newly acquired skills. Think about what you might want to do next and whom you might want to use as a reference.

Get what’s coming to you. Take advantage of any perks and benefits to which you are entitled. Schedule your checkups and tend to any dental or medical issues while you’re still insured — especially if you’ve already met your deductibles. If you’ve got a flexible spending account, turn in all outstanding claims to avoid forfeiting any balances. In addition, know exactly how much vacation and floating holiday time you’ve used and make sure you’ve taken credit for your holidays. (Most companies will not honor unused holidays, but will pay you for any remaining vacation.)

Get connected. Spend at least one to two hours a day networking. Call your friends, former co-workers and clients. Attend your professional association meetings. Talk to headhunters and corporate recruiters. This is a good time to help others who may be helpful to you in the future.

Get searching. Visit the Web sites of any relevant trade and professional associations as well as companies where you’d like to work. Check print and online job postings to see what requirements are being asked for in your desired next job and note any gaps in your experience or skill base.

Get an exit strategy. The HR folks will be working from a script when they give you the news. Make sure you know what you should say, too. If no information about severance pay has been communicated, check the company policy manual to find out what is standard practice. Do not agree to sign anything then and there; say that you need to review the proposed agreement with your legal and financial advisers. The National Employee Rights Institute contends that employees have more bargaining power than they realize — and not only about the amount of severance pay. Assess your situation, so that you can negotiate aspects of the termination that will have the most value for you.

Get fired up! When layoffs are looming, stay positive and place yourself in a position of strength. Remember, change is an accelerating mechanism. It can bring about hardship and anxiety if you try to avoid it, but tremendous opportunity if you accept and welcome it.

Posted by Heather Mundell

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Continually searching “your name” (in quotes) in Google or other search engines, sometimes referred to as “Googlitis”, is a relentless need some of us have to see where we stand in the search results – monitoring how the results shift and multiply or diminish with each new search.

The practice has become so prevalent that “self-Googling” appears in the dictionary. Some may consider it a vain pursuit, but it’s become a best-practice for job search and ongoing career management. The fact that it’s fun to do is an added bonus.

As Seth Godin said on a Personal Branding Blog post last week,

“Google yourself. If you’re a salesperson, your prospects already do. If you’re looking for a job, your prospective employers already do. If you’ve got a job, your co-workers already do.”

If you’re purposefully trying to build online visibility for yourself – and there are many reasons you should be doing this – you need to track your search results regularly to see what’s happening and what’s working for you. Take a look at which results come up on the first page. Do all the results truly represent you? Is the information on-brand and relevant to the way you need to present yourself now? If you’re not happy with the information people will find about you when they link to the sites, can you change it?

William Arruda categorizes 5 levels of online presence in an article at MarketingProfs, from “Digitally Disguised” to “Digitally Distinct”, the last being the brass ring. If you have results that aren’t consistent with your brand, or are downright undesirable, you’ll have to run damage control and begin repairing the bad stuff by outdistancing it with positive, on-brand content to expand your visibility and build the kind of presence you want. The good stuff will fairly quickly percolate to the top results, hopefully pushing the bad stuff to the tail end of results.

Profiles on online social networking sites (LinkedIn, Facebook, etc.) usually rank within the top few results. If you haven’t joined a few of these groups, it’s a good idea to do so. If you already have, make sure your profiles are hard-hitting and on-brand.

Some other ways to increase your on-brand online visibility include writing articles for relevant websites, contributing to relevant blogs, writing reviews of relevant books (for Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com, etc.), and joining relevant professional associations with websites that have a strong online presence. Consider launching your own website and blog and investing in search engine optimization.

If you are “Digitally Disguised” – no results appear when you Google your name – you have the opportunity to carefully build presence and control what information about you is out there.

posted by Meg Guiseppi

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Is using a social networking site during your job search really networking?

Not according to this post from The Pongo Blog.

Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn and others are great tools to help you keep in touch with your friends and get introduced to new contacts, but they don’t substitute for face-to-face and over-the-phone networking.

Sorry, introverts!

I agree with the post that it’s easy to believe that we as job seekers are networking when we are merely engaging in brief interactions with strangers. It may be fun, it may be amusing, and we may be meeting all kinds of interesting people, but these people are not the ones who are going to think of us and contact us when they hear about a job.

Cultivating and maintaining a network of people who are going to rely on one another for important things, like referring job leads, still requires personal contact. We build trust with people after we’ve seen their faces and/or heard their voices.

If you found out about a great job opening in a different field from yours, wouldn’t you think of the people you know personally before moving on to the people you’ve met online?

Social networking sites are great places to find out about restaurants, what your friends are up to, what’s happening at a certain company, and who might be hiring. They can be excellent tools to help you secure an introduction to someone you’d like to meet.

But the way to effectively work your network as a job seeker remains decidedly low-tech.

Am I just a GenX fuddy-duddy on this issue, or what? Please let me know your thoughts.

Posted by Heather Mundell

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The dynamics of the workplace continue as we enter a period of economic uncertainty. While jobs may be available, these positions are frequently packaged in ways that are quite new, requiring greater flexibility by both employer and the employee. The onus for finding employment is largely, but not completely, left up to the job seekers themselves. The older notion of moving within a narrow band of job opportunities among companies is largely gone.

It is clear job seekers and career changer who master new job search strategies and develop skill in marketing themselves will have more options. They will be of more value to employers and better positioned for employment opportunities. For career changers non-profits can be an attractive option.

As with any profession, the work has its own set of challenges and frustrations. However, work satisfaction can also be huge, and many people have found very fruitful careers doing well by doing good. It is not uncommon for people to find their work passion initially as a volunteer, never recognizing this work can also offer career prospects. As an employee these positions offer opportunities to influence and contribute in ways that are impossible as a volunteer.

Since non-profits tend to be private, with focus on their mission, determining the practical elements important to a job search is more difficult, but still essential. It is important to understand the mission, to ensure compatibility with your interests. Is the staff small and totally dependent upon volunteers for fundraising, or is there a larger professional staff working with public and private firms to raise funds and pursue their mission? Either may be appropriate, but you have to determine that based on your own interests and values.

To what extent would you be responsible for fundraising? This is extremely important because fundraising represents the lifeblood of most non-profits, and the responsibilities are huge. Strong and aggressive organizational and planning skills are very transferable into a non-profit environment. If you are the type of dynamic person that likes objective measurements for job performance, fundraising may be very attractive. Also, fundraisers are highly prized.

Examine the programming and services to determine what new and creative ideas have been introduced. Is this an organization that seeks and values new ideas, new concepts, new programs? Is it looking to expand into new areas, or searching for better ways to deliver services to their current recipients? In the first instance creativity and innovative thinking is important, while in the second strong administrative skills may be more important.

Take a look at how the public views the organization. Non-profits like to do a lot of public outreach. Communications, media affairs, public speaking opportunities and related activities are often crucial elements of success. For someone who has experience in communications, either as a practitioner or a public speaker, these skills and experience can be extremely valuable. Skills in developing marketing communications material, advertising campaigns and promotional activities offer significant opportunities, particularly with non-profit groups that compete for funding from public solicitations.

If you have any type of computer background, look for the organizations involvement in technology. There have been dramatic successes by non-profits in reaching out to prospective donors through the Internet. Compiling lists, building databases and managing the process enables those who have these skills an opportunity to apply them in a totally different environment.

Finally, examine the organization carefully to ensure a match between your interests, skills, and values. Re-structure your marketing tools, create new messages and look for opportunities to gain exposure to the group. Remember, these organizations are also part of the hidden job market.

Judit Price

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You have a “brand” new resume that targets the job you want next, illuminates your brand and pivotal strengths, and clearly defines your value proposition. You’re ready to use it for the jobs that interest you. Why stop there? Put it to work in other ways, like powering your LinkedIn profile (or other online social/professional networking profiles).

Along with colleagues and friends searching LinkedIn to make connections, recruiters and hiring managers are scouring profiles for talent. Lots of people are checking out LinkedIn profiles for various purposes. Build a branded, value-driven profile that will instantly attract attention.

If you’re already Linked In, your existing profile may need re-tooling to align with your current job search and incorporate your personal brand and all the other great things in your new resume. Following the suggestions of Jason Alba in his book “I’m On LinkedIn, Now What???”, here are some ideas to boost your profile for greater impact.

Starting at the very top, pump up the contact section:

~ Brand Your Professional Headline (directly below your name)
This is probably the very first thing people will read about you. There are many ways to approach this, but be sure it’s eye-catching and powerful. Although you’re only allowed something like 120 characters, you can say a lot in that amount of space. Here’s an example of one I wrote for a C-level client:

Senior Global Operations Leader – Entrepreneurial Startups, Corporate Turnaround, and Change Management
 
~ Personalize your public profile URL (immediately above the “Summary” section). The default URL ends in an indistinct jumble of letters and numbers. Change that to your name. Revising it’s a cinch:

1. On the “Edit My Profile” page, next to your existing “Public Profile” URL, hit “edit”.
2. At the top of the page you’ll see “Your Public Profile URL”. Click the edit button next to it.
3. In the box, type in “yourname” and hit “set address”.

Your link will look like this: “http://www.linkedin.com/in/yourname”

Now you have a personalized link to pop into your job search communications. People will know just where the link leads them and can access compelling information about you with one click and without having to open attachments.

~ Down to the “Summary” section, working from a text version of your resume, you can copy and paste chunks of information into this and following appropriate sections of your LinkedIn profile. It’s really as simple as that.

Your resume starts with a hard-hitting profile section which hopefully includes a personal or leadership brand statement. This is how to lead the “Summary” section. Keep in mind that, like your resume, you want to immediately capture the attention of readers in this first section containing major content. There aren’t many options to enhance the formatting, but you can break up the chunks into shorter, brand-focused statements of value so that they clearly stand out. You can also use various characters right on your keyboard for bullet points, such as: *  ~  >  =  -  <>

If your resume profile has sub-headings (like “Key Areas of Expertise” or “Critical Contributions”), set them up similarly in the summary section of your LinkedIn profile.

~ Under the “Additional Information” section, highlight your commitment to community and interesting hobbies or past times. The companies you’re targeting are interested in your passions and want to see the whole picture. Chemistry and good fit are very important to companies these days. Slices of your personal pursuits can help reinforce whether you’ll fit their corporate culture.

~ Plug in appropriate information from your resume for the “Experience” and “Education” sections. Keep building on recommendations within each job you’ve held. Nothing supports your brand and value better than what others have to say about you.

Posted by Meg Guiseppi

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