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What To Do When Your Career Is Disrupted Later In Life. A Stable Job for Life is Arguably a Thing of the Past.

January 3, 2020/in First Sun Blog/by First Sun Team

Despite the various proclamations that we are living in an age of increasing footloose behaviors and we are going to have multiple careers throughout our life, the prospect of losing one’s job still has many of the pangs associated with other forms of grief. Indeed, losing your job is perhaps the toughest thing you can ever face, with damage not only in the immediate aftermath but over a prolonged period of time.

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Overall, 31% of job seekers aged 55 and older report they have been looking for work for 27 weeks or longer.

Around 50% of American workers over 50 years old are at risk of redundancy. The research, which was conducted by ProPublica and the Urban Institute, grimly tells us that this cohort is being pushed out of jobs held for some time before retirement causing the kind of financial damage that is irreversible.

Acting now

At the later stage in your career, the chances are that you may have developed a degree of financial security, and this can hinder your efforts to reinvent yourself as it removes the sense of urgency that is required to successfully transition into a new career. What is more, you may also be lulled into a false sense of security by the skills and experience that you have built up over the years.

Valuable though these skills may have been in your old career, there’s no guarantee that they will be equally valuable in your new one. This narrow focus and intense specialization may have worked in the past, but careers are changing, and the stability and security that typified the work-life when you were growing up are increasingly being consigned to the dustbin of history.

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Now, skills such as adaptability and agility are far more important, with organizations relying heavily on cross-functional teams where collaboration and emotional intelligence will come to the fore. Here are a few things you can do to make a successful transition:

Forget your titles – Chances are that your old career came with a good dose of prestige, with titles and all that came with them attached to your seniority. Those are lovely, but they are holding you back from moving on. It is far healthier to think akin to a film director who goes from project to project. Your past work was nice, but this is a new you, applying yourself in new ways.
Develop your portfolio – As you will no longer be able to rely on your title to open doors for you, it is important that you start to develop a portfolio of projects to showcase your skills. In this transitionary period, these can be projects outside of work. Not only will they give your life a renewed purpose, but you will almost certainly develop a wide range of invaluable skills too.
Adjust your outgoings – If you have high expenses, it can be tempting to jump into the first opportunity that presents itself, just to get some money coming in, but it is quite likely that this will be a bad choice. If you can build up some savings so that you can go for the right opportunity rather than the first opportunity then you are likely to be happier in the long-run.
Embrace the unexpected – Volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity (VUCA) has become a bit cliched in the business world, but the essence of uncertainty and volatility do nonetheless ring true. You will need to be agile and open-minded to make the most of your new-found freedom, so consider fresh ways to stretch yourself and develop new skills.
Develop a love of learning – When you achieve a certain level of seniority it is tempting to rest on your laurels, but the world waits for no one, so it is vital that you are learning each and every day. There are countless opportunities to do this, from books, blogs and massive open online courses (MOOCs). You might even find mentoring young people can be a great way to learn from them as much as they from you. Admit where your knowledge has holes and work to plug them.

The chances are, your previous status gave your life a certain narrative, with your role and title key parts of that story. Now, you have the opportunity to craft a completely new narrative, and it is important that you spend time thinking about what that is. When you meet people, this is your point of entry into the conversation. You will be telling this story as your introduction to you to each new person you meet.

A stable job for life is arguably a thing of the past, so the ability to pivot one’s career and adapt to the changes in the market are likely to be valuable skills to learn. If you have to learn them later in your career, then so be it. In this way, the stability in your life comes not from your employer, but from within you, which is an altogether healthier place to be.

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Your #Career : Experiencing These 5 Things? You Might Be in the Wrong Profession…Sometimes a #Job or Career is just not meant to be. If Any of These Scenarios Sound Familiar, you Might Want to Think about Making a Change.

May 23, 2018/in First Sun Blog/by First Sun Team

While “picking the wrong career is not an uncommon thing,” according to Karen Elizaga, career coach and author of Find Your Sweet Spot, it’s not always easy to tell the difference between a bad position and a bad career. If you’re unhappy and you know it–but you’re not sure whether you need a new job or a new career path–then read on to find out what the wrong career looks like, and what you can do if you realize you need to make a change.

First, according to two career experts, here are five signs that you’re in the wrong career.

1. YOU WORK HARD, BUT YOUR RESULTS ARE UNSATISFACTORY

“You absolutely love the area that you’re in, and you are unceasingly diligent about completing your work,” Elizaga describes, “but you don’t get the results you want or that you see your peers getting.” If this sounds all too familiar, “it’s entirely possible that you don’t have the skill or talent that it takes to succeed.”

2. YOU COMPLAIN ABOUT YOUR WORK A LOT

On the flip side, if you spend a significant amount of time whining about work, you may have chosen the wrong career, warns career coach Hallie Crawford. Another sign you need to make a change? “You spend most of your time at home and at work feeding negative thoughts and expressing them,” Crawford describes.

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3. THE INDUSTRY IS ANTITHETICAL TO YOUR BELIEFS

According to Elizaga, “There might be a job function that you enjoy, or something–like the salary, location, or company prestige–may draw you to make a move in your career.” But, despite those obvious plusses, “ultimately you strongly disagree with the moral or political values of this career,” Elizaga describes.

4. THE CAREER DOESN’T MAKE USE OF YOUR STRENGTHS

You want a career that plays to your strengths and avoids your weaknesses. So, “when you don’t utilize any of your strengths, your career isn’t rewarding or fulfilling,” Crawford says, and it may not be the one for you.

5. YOU FANTASIZE ABOUT QUITTING

What’s more, you’d even be happy if you were let go or fired. “This is a sure sign that your career choice is not a fit for you,” according to Crawford.

If one or more of these signs points to the fact that you’re in the wrong career, take heart: You don’t have to stay in it, and you don’t have to go back to school to get out of it, Elizaga says.

“First of all, take a deep breath and take an inventory,” she suggests. Ask yourself, “Who are you at your core? What are your skills? What drives you? What actually makes you happy? This is a step that so many people skip because they are focused on what the available jobs or seemingly worthy careers may be, rather than looking at their own intrinsic motivation.”

Next, assess your strengths and the skills you have that are transferable to any career, says Elizaga. “You might be surprised at how adaptable you can be to a new career,” she says.

Once you narrow down a few fields you might like to explore, it’s time to reach out to some people in those industries. “Consider conducting informational interviews,” says Crawford. “Gather information about those possible new directions and find out from people in the field what it takes to transition into the field. Are there certain skills or a specific type of experience required? Do you need to take some classes, or volunteer outside of work to gain additional experience in a certain area? This will help you make a more informed decision about if and how much schooling or money that might be required. You may find that you only need to take a course or two instead of having to fully go back to school.”

Lastly, to gain experience in a new field, volunteer before you apply for a position, suggests Elizaga. “If there is an industry you want to move into, but you recognize that you need to learn new skills, carve out some hours during the week or weekend to volunteer, or intern for another company,” Elizaga says. That way, “You will slowly build up your arsenal of tools and ultimately be able to point to your experience in transitioning to a new career.”

FastCompany.com | May 23, 2018 | BY JILLIAN KRAMER—GLASSDOOR 3 MINUTE READ

#Leadership : Why You Should #Recruit #OlderWorkers …Many Older Workers are Just as Tech-Savvy and Eager to Learn New Skills as their Younger Peers.

March 29, 2018/in First Sun Blog/by First Sun Team

As labor markets tighten, finding qualified workers is becoming more of a challenge for many companies. And recruitment missteps may be making it harder to reach older workers.

Carl Dorvil, CEO and president of GEX Management, Inc., a management and professional services company based in Dallas, says there’s good reason to invest in “mentor capitalists” who invest their time and expertise in companies. When he started his company from his dorm room in college, he initially relied on his buddies to fill key roles. Then one of his own mentors reminded him that you can’t fit 50 years of experience into 20.

Since then, Dorvil has made diversity recruitment, including hiring older workers, a priority, both in his company and in the message he spreads to his clients. And now that he’s currently looking at expansion through acquisition, “We want to partner with people who have more experience and are a little bit more mature in their field. They have the relationships and networks that we think can grow our business faster,” he says.

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OLDER WORKERS ARE IN DEMAND

Workers in age groups 65 to 74 and 75 and older are expected to grow faster than any other age segments through 2024, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). But finding those older workers isn’t always as easy as it sounds. For those hanging on to the premise that older workers are sitting around waiting for opportunities in a buyer’s market, the latest BLS data busts that myth: The unemployment rate for adults age 55-plus was 3.2% in February 2018—nearly a full point lower than the overall 4.1% unemployment rate.

Many corporate diversity programs don’t specifically target mature talent and fall into bad habits that actually make it harder to find and attract mature workers, says Peter Gudmundsson, who last year founded Dallas-based Hire Maturity, which produces job fairs and runs a job board for “mature talent”—a term he prefers to “older workers.” One of the company’s taglines is, “Are you ready to hire a grownup?” If you are, there are a few important fixes many companies need to make, he says.

LET GO OF THE STEREOTYPES

If you’re hanging on to the tired notions that workers age 60-plus aren’t tech-savvy or energetic, your bias is showing, says Heather Tinsley-Fix, senior adviser, financial resilience programming at AARP‘s Washington, D.C., headquarters. Steve Jobs would be well into his 60s now, while internet pioneer Vinton Cerf is 74.

A 2013 study from North Carolina State University looked at the reputation scores of programmers in an online forum called Stack Overflow, which has more than 1.6 million members. Researchers found that, on average, programmer reputation scores increased relative to age well into the 50s and that they exhibited expertise in more areas than did younger users.

AARP’s research shows that more than 80% of workers ages 45 to 64 say that the opportunity to learn something new is an essential element of their ideal job. In 2010, a major international study called the Cogito Study compared 101 young adults (20–31) and 103 older adults (65–80) on 12 different tasks over 100 days. Against their expectations, they found that 65– to 80-year-old workers’ performance was more stable and less variable from day to day than that of the younger group. In addition, their motivation was higher than the younger workers’, and they were less erratic. So ditch the outdated thinking about older workers, she says.

A number of job ads on several high-profile digital and social media platforms were age-restricted, eliminating them from the view of many older workers. In addition to ensuring that your job ads are reaching the greatest possible age range on every platform, expand the job boards and advertising platforms you’re using, says Jeff Zinser, principal and founder of Right Recruiting, an executive recruiting firm in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania. Workers in their 50s, 60s, and 70s may have become comfortable using boards like Monster and CareerBuilder earlier in their careers and may default to searching there first. Boards like AARP’s job board and HireMaturity are also good places to check.

When you’re writing your job ads, beware of using inadvertently ageist phrases like “seeking digital natives” or “join our young, dynamic team,” Tinsley-Fix says. Read over your job ads to be sure they’re as inclusive as possible and describe the job specifically. And don’t forget to train your recruiters and hiring managers to look beyond age when recruiting and evaluating candidates.

And beef up your in-person efforts, Gudmundsson says. In addition to recruiting on college campuses, find opportunities like job fairs targeted toward older workers. These environments can help you find the workers you’re seeking and get a better sense of the person and their strengths and abilities.

AVOID THE “CULTURE TRAP”

Many company leaders emphasize the importance of “culture fit”when hiring. Tinsley-Fix says that can be a mistake. Instead, look for “culture add,” she says. “As we know, cultural fit tends to diminish diversity because you’re just hiring people who are like yourself.”

Instead of thinking of cultural fit as age-related, look for people who are motivated to work with your company, dedicated to lifelong learning, and show a history of being creative and adaptable. Those attributes are going to be better indicators that the person will work well with your team than an arbitrary age, she says.

DON’T ASSUME YOU CAN’T AFFORD THEM

Some companies shy away from older workers because they’re afraid that all of that experience comes at a steep cost. And Gudmundsson warns that age should not be a deciding factor in what you pay your employees. While many workers in their late 50s, 60s, and 70s are interested in full-time work and a career track, some are moving to more part-time work or flexible schedules. And workers age 65-plus may choose to opt in to Medicare, reducing health insurance costs.

“All of these groups have very different needs and different requirements. That’s a good opportunity for enlightened employers to show a little flexibility.” And with that flexibility might come the experience, knowledge, and contacts you need at a compensation level that fits your company’s budget.

FastCompany.com | March 29, 2018 | BY GWEN MORAN 5 MINUTE READ

Your #Career : 4 Signs That Your Job-Search Strategy Isn’t Working… IF you’re Not Getting Results, it’s Time to Change your #JobHunting Methods.

March 3, 2018/in First Sun Blog/by First Sun Team

Do you have the feeling that your job-search strategy could stand a few tweaks (or maybe even a substantial overhaul)? When you spot any of the following scenarios, consider them possible red flags worthy of investigation.

As Mathison succinctly points out, “Interviews are hard-won. Bring your best game.”

Here are four signs that it’s time to rethink your job-search strategy:

1. YOU’RE NOT GETTING ANY RESPONSES

Silence is actually a loud shout-out that something in your hunt needs adjusting. Perhaps you haven’t been putting much effort into tailoring cover letters to specific positions (or haven’t been composing them at all). Maybe your resume doesn’t grab the attention of hiring managers because it lacks action verbs and quantifiable examples of your accomplishments. Thoughtfully examining your material, preferably with help from another set of trusted eyes, may make a huge difference.

Another culprit could be relying too much on internet job boards. As noted by Megan Walls of Walls Career Coaching, “By only applying online, you limit your chances of getting a job. It’s estimated that 85% of jobs are filled through networking. So devote a good portion of your job search to contacting your network, such as family, friends, classmates, past employers, and LinkedIn connections.”

Consider too if you might need to up your efforts.

“It is time to rethink your strategy when you are looking for a full-time job with a part-time job search,” says Duncan Mathison, co-author of Unlock the Hidden Job Market. “And don’t confuse time spent worrying or waiting to hear back from an employer as ‘search time.’ Track your actual time in your job search.”

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2. YOU’RE HAVING TROUBLE FINDING “GOOD” JOBS FOR WHICH TO APPLY

Congrats on being specific about what you want and not wasting time applying for any old thing. Now make sure you’re looking in the right places and reaching out appropriately.

“If you have targeted employers, you should apply directly to the website, through networking contacts, or even suspected managers in the functional area of your job,” Mathison says. “Trade and professional associations often have job boards. If you still draw a blank, your professional network may be able to give you insight on any hiring activity.”

3. RECRUITERS ARE REACHING OUT WITH IRRELEVANT JOBS

Hearing from a recruiter can be flattering, but it does no good when the opportunity presented bears little resemblance to what you desire.

Evaluate your resume to ensure clear objectives and eye-catching examples that support candidacy for the type of position you want. And if you haven’t visited your LinkedIn profile lately, be sure what’s there accurately reflects your current career aspirations.

4. YOU GET INTERVIEWS BUT NOT OFFERS

Perhaps the most frustrating of all situations is when employers do call you in but fail to offer a job. Though it can be difficult to decipher the reasons behind their decision, rethinking your interview preparation and presentation is necessary when rejection keeps happening.

Considerations include:

Are you dressing appropriately?
Have you done your homework on the company and the industry?
Are you smiling and using other positive body language? (Videotaping a mock interview with a friend can be revealing.)
Have you prepared a list of thoughtful questions?
Are you ready to answer standard questions, including ones about weaknesses?
Are your references enthusiastic about presenting you in the best possible light?

FastCompany.com | March 2, 2018 | BY BETH BRACCIO HERING—FLEXJOBS2 MINUTE READ

Your #Career : Do These 8 Things If You Missed Out On A #Promotion This Year…It Takes More than Just Being Good at your #Job .

February 14, 2018/in First Sun Blog/by First Sun Team

Getting a promotion takes more than just doing your job well. To move up the ladder to the next step of your career, you have to prove to decision makers and leadership that you are ready and deserving enough to take on more responsibility. This takes consistently working your best, staying dedicated to your work, and much more.

If you’re sick of being passed up for promotions, check out these eight habits of employees that get promoted. Make small changes as necessary if you’re ready to take the next step in your career.

1. SET AND COMMUNICATE CAREER GOALS

Before the start of the year, sit down with your boss to set and discuss your professional career goals. Be open about where you see yourself in six months or a year. A good boss will help you achieve these goals by giving you opportunities to grow and provide support to keep you on track.

“In many cases, he or she truly does want to see you achieve your goals. As a manager myself, I constantly ask my employees, ‘Where do you see yourself in five years?’ because if there’s a way I can help them along, I’ll do it. Whether that means putting in a good word for them in a different department at my current company or assigning them special projects that will help them build new skill sets for a different role, I want to help,” says Katie Douthwaite Wolf, a contributor at The Muse.

The key, says Wolf, is to avoid announcing plans to “jump ship or that you want to take over your boss’s position.” Instead, think bigger and broader and come ready to discuss the ways you think your boss can help.

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2. ALWAYS BE A TEAM PLAYER

Employers don’t like it when employees are focused on “I” rather than “we.” They want team players who are committed to helping the greater good of the team, which ultimately benefits the company:

“A good employee volunteers his or her efforts before even being asked. They volunteer for more tasks and responsibility, and not just because of immediate reward,” according to the article, “How to be Promotable.” “This type of employees simply goes above and beyond and will be the first thought of when promotions are being decided.”

3. MAKE YOURSELF INDISPENSABLE

How can you make yourself an indispensable member of your team? One way is to become the go-to person for something specific, like designing dynamic sales decks to dealing with challenging customers. People in positions like this are not only sought after by coworkers, but also seen by leadership because they naturally stand out as someone people are always looking for.

4. KEEP LEARNING

Show your boss that you’re committed to continuously improving and developing your skills by finding learning opportunities, both within the office and outside of it. This doesn’t mean you need to get your master’s or PhD, unless that’s relevant to your job. Instead, enroll in one webinar each month, use your own money to attend conferences, or ask to be put on projects outside of your department. This shows that you’re serious about your career, and aren’t waiting for someone else to get you where you want to go.

5. DOCUMENT YOUR SUCCESS

When asking for a promotion, leadership is going to want to know what kind of value you bring to the business. Rather trying to think back at all you’ve accomplished, build a “working” portfolio throughout the year. After you’ve completed an important project or performed a record sales month, document it. When noting your successes, focus on the most important details:

“Keep a record of everything you do that enhances the company’s bottom line, that puts the company or your department in a good light, that is creative and innovative, and that shows your loyalty and commitment to the organization,” says Randall S. Hansen, PhD.

This tracking shows that you’ve been successful and improved the company, and are invested in the work you’re doing.

6. DON’T BE AFRAID TO TAKE CHARGE

Do you display passion, trustworthiness, decisiveness, and confidence? Possessing these types of leadership skills is essential for getting promoted. After all, the first step in being a leader is acting like one. Don’t get involved in office politics or develop bad habits, like being late or missing deadlines. Leaders need to be great role models for the employees they manage and work with, and without these skills, it will be hard to get a management promotion.

7. NETWORK WITH THE RIGHT PEOPLE

Take advantage of every networking opportunity you have, even if it’s a small get together with new coworkers at lunch. Networking with others within your organization will allow you to get to know the people who can provide support now and in the future. It’s also a chance to promote yourself and your skills as well. You can reap similar benefits by getting involved with groups in your organization, like those who help plan events or keep the office stocked.

8. BE AN ENGAGED EMPLOYEE

Being engaged goes beyond paying attention or taking notes in meetings–both of which are also important. It means being an active member of your organization, attending every optional “Lunch and Learn,” or coming up with new ideas for sharing successes in the workplace. This shows your commitment to the company and the success of your coworkers.

Getting promoted is not an easy task–it takes time, learning, and dedication to yourself and the business. Successfully manage your own career path by using these eight tips–you might just get that promotion you’ve been hoping for.

A version of this article originally appeared on Glassdoor and is adapted with permission.

Your #Career : Here’s What To Do When Common #CareerAdvice Doesn’t Work For You.. When working with your Former Company’s Sponsored ‘highly processing’ #OutplacementServices & Programs. Here is What you Can Do on your Own.

January 8, 2018/in First Sun Blog/by First Sun Team

“After Cattle Call Meeting to Simply Sign Up on their Website. Now What??”
You’re smart enough to spot bad career advice, but what about when you get good advice that you know works for a lot of people, but doesn’t work for you?

It can be tempting to throw your hands in the air and say “I give up.” But this isn’t your only option. Here are some ideas on what you can do when following common career advice isn’t bringing you much success.

INSTEAD OF: BE SPECIFIC ABOUT WHAT YOU WANT

TRY: BROADENING YOUR HORIZONS AND LOOKING FOR WHERE THE DEMANDS ARE

We’re often advised to be specific and strategic about what we’re after. While this might be great advice for some, others might find that this approach yields little results for them–particularly when they’re trying to land their first entry-level job.

These days, it’s no longer enough to have a college degree, candidates need to have work experience, whether it be through internships or part-time gigs. But sometimes, even that isn’t enough. Marketing professional and freelance writer Brittney Oliver witnessed this when she embarked on her post-college job search. Despite five internships under her belt, it took her eight months and over 100 interviews before she landed her first job.

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As Oliver previously wrote in Fast Company, being a woman of color presented her with additional challenges that her white peers might not have had to face. But considering that the interviewers’ unconscious bias wasn’t something she had much control over, she focused on what she could control. When she started her job search, Oliver had her sights only on PR jobs in New York City. But after struggling to secure a position, she saw her peers turn their degrees into “transferable skills that helped them land jobs outside of their fields.” She began to do the same.

This was also a strategy that Sydney Brunson, a diversity programs specialist at Pinterest, employed. Brunson told Oliver, “had I solely focused on jobs and careers in public relations or communications, my story might be different. I would encourage students to broaden their horizons and scope when searching for jobs.”

Another practical tip could be to look for roles that companies have difficulty filling. Ify Walker, founder of talent matchmaking firm Offor Walker Group, suggested that candidates who are having trouble landing jobs should try to put themselves “in places where others might say, ‘I don’t want to do that, or that’s too hard.’”

INSTEAD OF: EXPAND YOUR NETWORK

TRY: FIGURE OUT HOW YOU CAN HELP OTHERS IN YOUR EXISTING NETWORK

It’s true that having a large professional network never hurts, and you never know what opportunities could come out of new interactions. But if, like most people, your time is limited, making yourself attend three to four networking events a week in attempts to “widen your network” might not be the best use of your time.

Chances are, you probably have a few people in your current network that can help you get ahead. Alexandra Cavoulacos and Kathryn Minshew, cofounders of career site The Muse, listed these types of people in their book, The New Rules Of Work: The Modern Playbook For Navigating Your Career. From those who hold similar positions to you, people related to your industry or role but with different responsibilities, the person one or two levels ahead of you and even the newbie who just started their careers–these are all valuable relationships to cultivate.

Of course, it goes without saying that in order to reap the benefits, you have to be willing to give. For example, you might recommend a candidate to your senior coworker when you hear that they’re hiring. When it comes to those who have a similar job to you, you might share your learnings and lessons and act as each other’s “buddies” when you do attend a big event.

INSTEAD OF: FIND A MENTOR

TRY: FOCUS ON MAKING YOURSELF MORE VALUABLE

No one really “makes it” on their own, so it’s no surprise that many successful people attribute their success to the help of others. Unfortunately, this has resulted in the idea that for our careers to have any chance of flourishing, we need to have a go-to mentor–a leader in our field who we can turn to for advice in times of trouble. Oh and they need to be as equally invested in our careers as we are.

Of course, finding a person like this is definitely great for your career, but busy and important people don’t always have time to be unpaid career coaches. And plenty of successful people have had thriving careers without one consistent mentor (WeWork’s CEO and cofounder Adam Neumann is a great example). Having a mentor is not the be all and end all to your career.

Instead of focusing on what you can get, focus on what you can give. You can start with doing this at work, by making sure that you’re fulfilling every aspect of your job description, and going above and beyond when possible. Then you can also position yourself to “get in on what the higher ups” are saying, as Fast Company‘s Rich Bellis wrote in a previous article.

There are several ways to do this if you’re a junior employee–you can ask your boss directly to see if they can fill you in on what they discussed at the leadership meeting, or you can muster the courage to introduce yourself to the company’s leaders when you see them around the office. You’ll not only gain valuable insights about how your company works, but you might develop a relationship with someone who literally has control over your career.

INSTEAD OF: BUILD AND CULTIVATE A PERSONAL BRAND

TRY: FOCUS ON DEEPENING YOUR EXPERTISE IN YOUR FIELD

In the age of social media influencers, it’s easy to get fixated on making our online presence as polished (and popular) as possible. But unless your job title is social media marketer, at some point, you’ll probably see diminishing returns to all this self-promotion–particularly when the time you spend trying to gain followers on Instagram is cutting into the time you’re spending on your actual work.

In his book Perennial Seller: The Art Of Making And Marketing Work That Lasts, marketer and writer Ryan Holiday stressed that if you want to create a product that will stand the test of time, you have to create a great product. He wrote, “even the best admen will admit that, over the long term, all the marketing in the world won’t matter if the product hasn’t been made right.”

The same logic can apply to our careers. If we’re not good at what we do, no amount of retweets and likes will hide that fact. As entrepreneur John Rampton wrote in a previous Fast Company article, “It’s one thing to tout your best qualities and another to push them so hard that you fall into false marketing.”

INSTEAD OF: PUT YOURSELF OUT THERE

TRY: PUT YOURSELF IN SITUATIONS THAT LET YOU BE YOUR BEST

Many of us have a conventional idea of what success looks like. Go for the biggest job and opportunity, have lots of powerful friends, make a lot of money.

For some people, this “overachieving” mind-set is a surefire recipe for disaster and exhaustion, as Morra Aarons-Mele wrote in her book, Hiding in the Bathroom: An Introvert’s Roadmap to Getting Out There (When You’d Rather Stay Home). She wrote, “If you need more control over your space, pace, and place of work than others, the traditional career-ladder approach to success is all the more daunting–and possibly futile.”

Aarons-Mele went on to write, “But let me be clear: When introverts like me realize that the success they’re chasing isn’t making them happy, it’s not because they’re lazy or unambitious.” Rather, it’s about understanding what environments make you perform at your best, and what environments make you struggle–and embracing it. After all, life doesn’t require you to conform to society’s perceived idea of career success. What that looks like to you is wholly up to you to decide.

FastCompany.com | January 8, 2018 | BY ANISA PURBASARI HORTON 6 MINUTE READ

Your #Career : These Eight Phrases Are Killing Your Chance for a Promotion… Sorry, But I Honestly just Think you Should Read This.

January 3, 2018/in First Sun Blog/by First Sun Team

Words matter more than you might think, especially if you are one of the 43% of employees who works remotely. If coworkers or your manager can’t see your body language, they have to rely solely on conversations you have over email or the phone, and certain phrases could cost you a promotion, says Crystal Barnett, senior human resource specialist for Insperity, an HR service provider for small to medium-sized organizations.

“While most of us manage to avoid making comments that result in a punishable offense, some common phrases can hurt your chances for advancement in the long run,” she says. “You have to choose words carefully to get your point across without being negative or self serving.”

Here are eight words and phrases that can derail your career if they’re uttered at the wrong place or time:

1. “HONESTLY …”

Starting a sentence with the word “honestly” when speaking about others can come off as an attack, and it’s one of the easiest ways to damage your career, says Barnett. “Telling a trusted boss how one truly feels is expected and encouraged at many companies,” she says. “However, in some organizations, giving an unvarnished assessment can be dangerous if done without careful consideration beforehand.”

Using the word “honestly” before offering a critique of another team member’s work in a public setting, for example, can damage your relationship. It can also create the impression that you’re willing to promote yourself by attacking others.

“Only use ‘honestly’ when it applies to you,” says Barnett.

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2. “I THINK”

When you use the phrase “I think,” you immediately lose credibility, says Barnett. “‘I know’ or ‘Based on my experience my recommendation would be’ are much stronger,” she says. “In our world if you don’t know you lose credibility. It can demonstrate your weakness in certain environments.”

3. “I”

Taking credit for your work can be like walking a fine line of what’s appropriate. Instead, always defer to the team when sharing your success, says Barnett.

“It’s better to see ‘I’ in context of we,” she says. “For example, ‘I was part of a team that accomplished this.’ You can use ‘I’ and give yourself credit for being part of team, but touting yourself alone comes across as being arrogant and most companies don’t find that appealing.”

4. “YEAH, BUT…”

If you’re given an instruction or request from a supervisor or manager that leaves you with questions or concerns, starting your response with “Yeah, but” could come off as being combative.

“Asking clarifying questions or proactively identifying issues is not a bad thing,” says Barnett. “However, doing so in a negative-sounding way suggests an unwillingness to follow instruction or, worse yet, a challenge to a leader’s authority.”

Avoid the phrase altogether. If you need to revise the request, start by saying, “I understand your point of view. Let me provide you with another perspective of what we can accomplish,” suggests Barnett.

“This shows that you’re open to listening and you want to following instructions,” she says. “Offering different perspective is a much better way to get that out.”

5. “JUST”

“Just” can be a loaded word in some contexts, says Barnett. “For example, if a manager says to an employee ‘I just want you to finish those reports before the end of the week,’ the comment sounds highly negative on the receiving end,” she says. “It’s a filler word that diminishes your confidence and the importance of the message.”

A better approach might be to say “Be sure to get me those reports by the end of the week,” which is clear and direct.

6. “YES”

Saying “yes” to a request from your supervisor is usually looked at as being a good thing, but it could cause you to stretch yourself too thin, says Barnett. “You can’t produce quality work if you’re saying ‘yes’ all of the time,” she says. “The danger of burnout should always be considered before you answer.”

Instead of saying “no,” answer with “We can do this. Let’s make a list of priorities and see where it can go.” “This way you share responsibility of where the task goes in order of completion so you don’t feel like everything is a burning priority,” says Barnett.

7. “SORRY”

Transparency goes a long way, but simply saying “sorry” isn’t enough, says Barnett. This is particularly important when speaking with someone who has authority.

“You need to follow ‘sorry’ with an offer of a solution,” she says. “For example, ‘I dropped the ball, but here’s what I’ll do to fix it’ is much better than just saying, ‘I dropped the ball.’”

8. “THAT’S NOT MY JOB”

Passing the buck in today’s work environment can be extremely toxic, especially if you’re working with customers or clients. If you receive a request that’s outside your scope, wheelhouse, or expertise, connect the person with someone who can help.

“Say, ‘I have a colleague who knows about this. I’ll get in touch with them,’” suggests Barnett. “It shows that you have confidence,” she says. “You’ve let them know you don’t have an immediate answer, but you’re not leaving them hanging.”

FastCompany.com | January 3, 2018 | Stephanie Vozza

Your #Career : Exactly How To Position Yourself As A First-Time Jobseeker…Here’s what “Personal Branding” Looks Like When you Don’t have Much Work Experience to Draw On.

October 26, 2016/in First Sun Blog/by First Sun Team

If you’re kicking off an entry-level job search, standing out in a sea of qualified candidates can be tough. After all, your work experience is likely limited to internships, and your academic credentials may be a hit or miss as far as an employer’s needs are concerned.

So how do you break through? It’s all about positioning. You simply need to create an identity for yourself that not only sets you apart but that prospective employers find desirable. But what makes that challenge different from the typical advice on personal branding is that new jobseekers don’t have much of an employment record with which to build their profiles. Here’s what to do instead.

“PERSONALITY” MIGHT NOT BE ENOUGH

When I interview entry-level candidates, almost all of them who show up are capable of doing the job. That’s because I’ve screened out applicants who don’t have the basic skills required for the position. So most candidates who make it over that first bar are pretty similar to one another.

Most candidates who make it over that first bar are pretty similar to one another.

Getting from that initial pool of interviewees to actually landing a job offer takes more than just researching the company or doing some mock interviews. You also need to think about how to sell your skill set for the job you’re interviewing for. While that sounds intuitive, it’s part of the interview preparation that many candidates overlook—possibly because to them, their credentials may seem self-evident, especially for an entry-level role that may involve a good deal of grunt work.

But companies aren’t just looking for any old pair of hands to do a low-level job. They’re investing in someone with the potential to stick around and, hopefully, do higher-level work. So in order to drive home what makes you appealing and distinctive in an interview, you first need to understand what the employer considers appealing and distinctive.

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START ASKING QUESTIONS

The best place to start is to figure out what makes employees in that job successful. All you have to do is ask. Entry-level jobseekers may think it’s overkill to sign up for LinkedIn Premium, but it can help. This way you can search for alumni from your school who already have the type of job you’re interviewing for. (Sometimes universities’ own alumni databases aren’t all that up to date or comprehensive, whereas most people are pretty good about keeping current on LinkedIn.)

Get in touch and ask questions about what skills, qualities, and characteristics an entry-level candidate needs to possess in order to succeed in that role. You can reach out to fellow alumni or even just with connections you have in common on LinkedIn. Ask them if they remember which traits they themselves touted most on their job interviews. And be sure to ask what will get an employee promoted to the next level up from there later on.

Since most employers are hiring entry-level candidates to fill immediate positions and advance over time, it’s important to have a big-picture understanding of the type of candidates your interviewer is looking to hire.

EXPLAIN HOW YOUR SKILLS REFLECT WHO YOU ARE

Now that you’ve pinned down the role’s major success factors, it’s time to have a closer look at your skills. Remember: An interviewer doesn’t really expect you to have much experience for an entry-level job, so it all comes down to skills.

Break those down into a list of your hard and soft skills. Find the common denominators, then turn that into a coherent narrative, not just a series of qualities.

So for instance, if you’ve learned that the junior art director job you’re interviewing for requires you to be creative and a little edgy, that’s how to position yourself. Make sure your portfolio includes work you’ve done in school or during an internship that reflects that attitude and shows your technical competence, too. Let your interviewer know that your art professors and other students appreciated your ability to think ahead of the curve and find solutions to visual or design challenges on the fly. And offer an anecdote about a time that actually happened, don’t just assert that it’s true.

Whether or not your interviewer remembers all the specific details doesn’t really matter; if you’ve positioned yourself well, they’ll certainly remember what you stand for.

DON’T LET YOUR FOLLOW-UP GO TO WASTE

You can reinforce your positioning in your follow-up, too. If you just interviewed for an entry-level sales role and presented yourself as someone with great closing skills, demonstrate that. Go beyond the typical thank-you email and highlight what makes you such a strong closer.

[fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][Use] that last interaction with an interviewer to extend a point you’ve already built up during the interview process.

It doesn’t hurt to expand on a point you didn’t get to touch on that much on the interview, as long as it’s relevant. You might mention that, since you’re now at the end of the interview process, you hope you’ve managed to close the deal—and that that’s a skill you’ve been working on. Maybe you picked up some closing techniques in your summer internship or during mock sales calls in a class during your senior year. Or you could simply link to an article you just read on the subject.

Whatever your approach, you’re using that last interaction with an interviewer to extend a point you’ve already built up during the interview process—and, hopefully, proving that the way you positioned yourself actually had substance. Validating that in your follow-up email can go a long way to landing you the job you want. And best of all, you don’t need a long resume with impressive experience to do it.

Don Raskin is a senior partner at MME, an advertising and marketing agency in New York City. He is also the author of The Dirty Little Secrets of Getting Your Dream Job.

FastCompany.com | DON RASKIN | 10.26.16 5:00 AM

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Your #Career : 20 Signs That You Should Quit Your Job (Infographic)..If You can Relate to Many of These Signs, It’s Time to Rethink Your 9 to 5.

October 25, 2016/in First Sun Blog/by First Sun Team

For most of us, we spend at least 40 hours a week at our jobs. That’s a lot of time. So if you’re not feeling passionate about the work you’re doing or notice you’re not growing professional, maybe it’s time to rethink your nine to five.

Your career should be a path to success, so sharing the same goals andvalues of your employer is vital. Being bored, overly stressed and/or burnt out are clear indicators that it’s time to say bye-bye to your current job.

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To truly tell if it’s time to resign, listen to your gut. That instinctive feeling will let you know if you should be looking for other opportunities.

Entrepreneur.com | October 23, 2016 | Rose Leadem

Your #Career : This Is How to Manage Your Career Like a CEO…The Best Way to Keep your Career Moving Forward on your Own Terms is to Be Self-Aware, Know your Limitations, and Don’t Be your Own Worst Enemy. Come to Think of It, those are Good Words to Live By.

August 31, 2016/in First Sun Blog/by First Sun Team

Remember why you groom your own career in the first place: so you’re never the victim of an incompetent boss or a dysfunctional company. Becoming incompetent yourself would be the ultimate irony. Don’t succumb to the Peter Principle.

One of the most visible signs of a failing business is a talent exodus. We’ve seen it at Yahoo, Twitter, HP, Blackberry and a host of other embattled companies. But attrition among top performers is not just a harbinger of pending disaster; it can also be an early sign of dysfunctional leadership.

Rising stars who really push the envelope, and their careers, are usually the first to notice that their herculean efforts are neither being rewarded nor benefitting the company as they should. Since they’re on a fast track to the top, they’re the first to jump ship.

The unfortunate result is that mediocre employees are left behind, accelerating the company’s deterioration and ultimate demise. I’ve seen it happen time and again in companies big and small, but after the first time, I learned my lesson.

I was once an up-and-comer myself — a promising young engineer at a technology giant that had become overly bureaucratic under a dysfunctional chairman and CEO duo that, left unchecked, would eventually have run the age-old company into the ground.

One day Hal, a friend and coworker, told me he was quitting. I was floored. Hal was one of the best, a real talent. I wasn’t as surprised that he was leaving as I was that the company was letting him go. When I asked him about it, Hal said they wouldn’t promote him fast enough, so he was going somewhere that would.

That hit me hard. Like Hal, I had been identified as a candidate for management. If the company’s bureaucratic HR processes were holding him back, they would hold me back too. That’s exactly what happened. The following year, I was out the door, vowing never to let incompetent bosses stand between me and the top.

Jumping around from company to company was sort of frowned upon back-in-the-day, but I didn’t care. I made risky bets on high-flying startups and took flyers on high-growth tech companies. I never jumped the gun before the writing was on the wall, with one exception we’ll get to in a minute.

That methodology paid off big-time. Less than a decade after leaving that first company, I was the marketing VP at a mid-sized public company with an IPO under my belt and a bright future ahead of me. Thirteen years ago, I co-founded a Silicon Valley-based management consulting firm and that’s where I’ve been ever since.

Today, ruling your own destiny and making every opportunity count is the norm for career-minded individuals, as it should be. But there are some lessons I learned along the way that I’m sure will enhance your journey, as they did mine.

Think of every job as a business.

Jobs are like product businesses. When a product is hot, you want to maximize profit margins and return-on-investment. But before it goes south, you want to make sure you’ve got the next one ready in the pipeline. Think of companies you work for the same way. Before it was popular, I was always networking and interviewing.

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Be professional about it.

The most important asset you have is your reputation. Remember, it’s always in your and your company’s best interest to give it your all and do great work while you’re there. And be discrete. No boss ever had a clue that I was leaving until I was ready to go on good terms. And there was never a drop-off in performance, either.

Don’t let mistakes get you down.

I once got antsy and left a sweet SVP position to be CEO of an ill-fated startup. I wouldn’t trade the experience for anything, but I left too soon and it cost me seven figures when the former company went public. I think my wife’s still a little PO’ed, but I made peace with it years ago. You’re going to make some bad calls; it comes with the territory. Learn from them and don’t make them twice.

Beware the Peter Principle.

Remember why you groom your own career in the first place: so you’re never the victim of an incompetent boss or a dysfunctional company. Becoming incompetent yourself would be the ultimate irony. Don’t succumb to the Peter Principle.

The best way to keep your career moving forward on your own terms is to be self-aware, know your limitations, and don’t be your own worst enemy. Come to think of it, those are good words to live by.

Entrepreneur.com | August 31, 2016 | Steve Tobak – Author and Managing Partner, Invisor Consulting