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#CareerAdvice : #JobSearch -The Best #JobSearchAdvice from Top CEOs at GM, 23andMe, Hilton & More… Best of FSC Blog! Great Read.

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There’s no doubt about it: the job search is tough. You have to spend time and energy revamping your resume, writing cover letters and practicing for interviews, and even then, you’re not guaranteed a position. The good news, though, is that you get a little bit savvier at every step. With each interview needed to get to the next level, you get better at marketing yourself, communicating confidently and reflecting on your experiences thus far. So by the time you’re at the top of the company ladder, you’re practically an expert at what it takes to get a job.

With this in mind, we chatted with and researched the best job search advice from the Top CEOs of 2018. If your job search strategy hasn’t been working out so far, one of these tips might just do the trick.

1. Find a Mentor

It’s a well-known fact that personal connections are one of the most effective ways to find a job. If you develop a strong relationship with an industry mentor, they’re often able to connect you to people, companies and opportunities that can advance your career. Even if they can’t directly hook you up with a job, though, they can serve as a fantastic reference who can speak to your work ethic and personal character. But make sure you choose the right one, advises Mary Barra, CEO of General Motors.

“There are mentors in the workspace all around you — peers, the seasoned professional, your supervisor, the supervisor one desk over,” Barra said in an interview with the Women@Work podcast. “People often reach out [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”][to me] saying, ‘Will you be my mentor?’ And I say, ‘Let’s talk about that, because the better person to be your mentor in the organization is someone who sees you every day, someone who knows you at your best, and someone who can give you opportunities to improve.’ So I always redirect them: Find mentors in the people around you who you respect.”

See Open Jobs at GM 

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What Skill Sets do You have to be ‘Sharpened’ ?

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2. Try a Little Bit of Everything While You Still Can

When you’re just beginning your career, you might not know for sure what you want to do yet. And really, that’s okay. You don’t have to go looking for your dream job right away. In fact, trying out many different fields can be an asset, believes Anne Wojcicki, CEO of 23andMe. Not only does this make you more marketable in the future — the more skills you have, the more doors open for you — but you’ll also have a better chance of identifying what you really love doing.

“Enjoy the uncertainty and the adventure of figuring out the world and what you want to do. 20-year-olds can get away with adventure and exploration in a way 40+-year-olds can not. So enjoy asking all the questions and trying all the different jobs and realize that each new experience helps shape your views of the world and what you want to do in it,” Wojcicki said in an interview with Glassdoor.

See Open Jobs at 23andMe 

3. Give Lesser-Known Companies a Chance

If you’re only applying to Fortune 500 companies or tech titans, don’t get discouraged when you don’t hear back. The name recognition and prestige of these companies lead to hundreds, thousands or even millions of candidates applying to them — Google, for example, sees about two million applicants each year — so your odds may be better if you explore more under-the-radar companies. You’ll also gain exposure to multiple roles at smaller companies, helping you discover what you enjoy doing and increase your skill stack.

“My suggestion is to visit the websites of the top-tier [venture capital firms] and click through their portfolio companies, and apply to a few that seem especially interesting,” Sanjit Biswas, CEO of Samsara, told Glassdoor. “High-growth tech companies are a great place to accelerate career growth — you’ll get to see decisions up close, and the short feedback loops are some of the best ways to learn what works and what doesn’t.”

See Open Jobs at Samsara 

4. Show You’re a Team Player

It’s hard to think of any job nowadays that doesn’t require some degree of teamwork, and because of this, companies expect candidates to be adept collaborators. Lean into the opportunities you have to work with others at your current job, Hilton CEO Chris Nassetta advises.

“Make sure that you contribute in every way that you can, and really become a team player. Nothing gets done in today’s world without a village, so to speak. While we all make individual contributions, ultimately it’s about how you as a component, particularly as you’re getting started, work with other people,” Nassetta shared with Glassdoor. Employers want to see “ways where obviously you’re contributing and you’re creating significant value, but you’re doing it as a member of a team and not just as an individual contributor.”

Learning to work well with others, and then drawing on these experiences in your cover letter or when answering behavioral interview questions like “Tell me how you handled a difficult situation” or “What are some of your leadership experiences?” can really make you stand out to recruiters.

See Open Jobs at Hilton 

5. Follow Your Passion

You may not end up in your ideal job right away, but when you’re thinking of settling down at a job or company for the long haul, make sure that it’s one you’re passionate about. For one, we spend about a third of our waking lives at work, so it’s worth spending that time doing something you enjoy. But for another reason, you simply tend to be better at what you do when you find a job you’re passionate about.

“My #1 job tip is to look for a job that you want to do. We spend a lot of time at work, and it’s important that we enjoy what we’re doing. We only go around once, and we’ve got to keep that in perspective,” said Bernard J. Tyson, Chairman and CEO of Kaiser Permanente, in an interview with Glassdoor. “Nothing is promised to any of us [at] the end of the day. The key to that is to be in step with the culture of the organization where you work.”

See Open Jobs at Kaiser Permanente 

6. Consider Alternate Paths

Following your passion, though, doesn’t always mean rigidly clinging onto one idea of The Perfect Job — there are often multiple ways to explore the fields you’re most passionate about, Michael Mahoney, CEO of Boston Scientific, explained to Glassdoor.

“I knew from a young age that I wanted to get into healthcare. I was inspired by my grandpa who was a pediatric cardiac surgeon. I grew up admiring how he helped so many children. I remember sneaking into his library when I was a kid. I’d sit in his chair surrounded by all his medical books and dream about being a doctor,” Mahoney shared. “After earning a solid C- in organic chemistry, I elected to change course and approach healthcare a little differently. It was a great lesson for me.”

Rather than pursuing a different field entirely, Mahoney chose to go into the business side of healthcare — and his decision paid off. Today, Mahoney oversees an organization of 29,000 that helps create lifesaving medical devices.

See Open Jobs at Boston Scientific 

7. Do Your Research

We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: recruiters want informed candidates, the kind of people who look up a company beforehand and gather information on its culture, products, business model and more. Because by researching a company, you don’t just show that you’re knowledgeable about it — you also show that you care about and believe in it.

Brian Halligan, CEO of HubSpot, mentioned in an interview with Glassdoor that his company specifically looks for candidates who have taken it upon themselves to learn about his company and its products.

“One tip I’d give all applicants is to review HubSpot’s culture code before interviewing and to use the software — we give tons of it away for free,” Halligan said.

See Open Jobs at HubSpot 

8. Take Risks

Whether you’re on the fence about applying to a position you’re slightly underqualified for or reaching out to a coworker you haven’t spoken with in years for an informational interview, don’t let a fear of failure hold you back.

“The biggest risk is not taking any risk,” said Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg in a 2011 interview. “In a world that’s changing really quickly, the only strategy that is guaranteed to fail is not taking risks.”

Sure, there’s no guarantee that any one particular risk will pay off — but if you keep swinging big, you’re bound to reap the rewards eventually.

 

GlassDoor.com |  | Posted by 

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Your #Career : How to Successfully #ChangeCareers ……Change is Never Easy, Particularly if you are Trying to Move into an Entirely New Field. But #Change isn’t Impossible. You can Successfully Transition into a #NewCareer, Granted you are Committed to It.

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Change is never easy, particularly if you are trying to move into an entirely new field. But change isn’t impossible. You can successfully transition into a new career, granted you are committed to it.

“It is possible to transition into a new job but it takes time and work,” says Catherine Palmiere, president of Adam Personnel, Inc. “Sometimes people make a jump and they haven’t done their due diligence.”

Change never happens overnight, and that is especially true of career change. You can’t wake up one day and say you want to trade your accounting job for a position as a fitness trainer and think it will happen quickly. Not only do you need to research the profession you are aspiring to but you have to see what type of education or certificates are needed.

9 Companies That Offer Incredible Professional Development Programs

But even doing that isn’t enough. You also have to look inward and make sure you have the skills and personality needed to make the move successfully. “Someone with great computer skills that’s in the financial service business that wants to move to the cloud platform will have a much easier transition then a financial services worker that wants to be a social worker,” says Palmiere.

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What Skill Sets do You have to be ‘Sharpened’ ?

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According to Mary Foley, Senior Sourcing Specialist for IT Talent at Progressive, people looking to switch careers should consider their passions and interests outside the office and think about ways to apply that to a new career. While you may know exactly what you want to do in your new career, for those that want to switch but aren’t sure into what it pays to take one of the many skill assessment tests available over the Web or rely on a self-assessment to figure out where your are strong and what areas you are weak in. After all, if you are not a people person than it’s doubtful that you will succeed in a customer servicerole.

“The key to remember when it comes to career transitions to make one very small step at a time,” says Alexandra Levit, business and workplace consultant and Career Advisory Board member. “Do a lot of investigation behind the scenes but don’t quit your day job.”

Ask a Resume Writer: How Do I Showcase Transferable Skills?

Levit says a great way to kick the tires and make contacts is to find a mentor or mentors in the field or job you want to work in. Those people are in the trenches day in and day out and will be a plethora of information about what it’s really like.  Finding mentors can be easily done thanks to the Internet. Levit says to use online tools like LinkedIn to zero-in on the people you would want to meet in the field you are eyeing.

Once you have a list of targets, ask them if they have time for a ten or 15-minute informational interview. If you get the interview, you’ll be able to pick their brain and forge a relationship with the person or people. That could translate into a job down the road if you are front and center in their mind when an opening comes up.

Can’t or won’t find a mentor, then consider volunteering. If you always dreamed of working in a museum but ended up in the back office of a financial firm then volunteer at one. According to Levit not many people think of volunteering not only as a way to learn about a job but to get their feet wet and adds skills to their resume.

Once you’ve amassed the necessary skills and have the network in place it’s time to start sending out resumes. While a career transition can be handled in different ways via the resume, career experts say you want to focus on your transferable skills and less about the chronological order of your previous positions.

One way to do that is to go with a functional resume that lists all your skills at the top and then at the bottom has your past jobs in chronological order. “Functional resumes are controversial because people will think you are trying to hide something,” says Levit. “As long as you show your career trajectory at some point the functional resume could cause them to take a second look instead of tossing it in the garbage.”

The last thing you want to do is randomly send out resumes and hope you will get a call back. Instead, Palmiere says you have brand yourself by reaching out to the decision makers.  That could mean sending a letter or email to the top person in the company you want to work for and bypassing the HR department altogether.

If you do decide to send a letter or email make sure to research the company and the person you are reaching out to. You want to show that you’ve done your homework and have real reasons to want to work there whether it’s because you believe in the company’s mission or the CEO’s philanthropic work has had such an impact on you.

 

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Your #Career : 5 Foolproof Tips To Make Your Mentorship Count…Mentoring Arrangements can Become a Waste of Time for Both Parties If you Don’t Take a Few Key Steps.

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You took the first step and asked someone to be your mentor. Congrats! Whether you chose this seasoned pro to help you hone specific skills or to give you long-term career advice, it’s up to you to drive the relationship—so you get the most out of the time you’re both putting in.

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It's important to realize that you don't actually need to like an employee's personality.

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“When you work with a mentor who can give you a lay of the land, support you when you’re faltering, and help keep your goals on track, you’ll get from A to B faster and more intelligently because you learn how to avoid common pitfalls and stay dedicated to your process,” says Gerard Adams, cofounder of media company Elite Daily, entrepreneur, and self-made millionaire.

Sounds like a pretty sweet deal, right? It’s a give and take, but with these tips, you’ll be able to maximize your mentorship and jumpstart your career.

1. PUT ASIDE YOUR EGO

If you’re the type of go-getter who’s upping your job game with the help of a mentor, you’re probably a motivated, driven and accomplished person yourself. But in this role, you’ve got to remember that you’re the student, and he or she is the teacher. So relax and allow yourself to be taught. That means respecting your mentor’s opinion, considering everything they say carefully, and ultimately, taking your ego down a notch.

“In mentorship, it’s important to be a good listener,” says Adams. “Many people don’t take constructive criticism well and can’t manage their ego that tells them they’re always right. Know that you are always going to be learning, and be willing to listen when advice is brought to the table.”

 

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2. SET A CONSISTENT MEETING SCHEDULE

Chances are, your mentor is extremely busy. He or she hasn’t gotten where he or she is by slacking off. So be respectful of your mentor’s time by scheduling your meetings in whatever way is most convenient for him or her.

“Students can get the most out of their mentorships by setting a consistent meeting schedule with their mentors and using every minute of those meetings to their best interests,” says Greg Stahl, vice president of marketing at Varsity Tutors, a live learning platform based in Boston. “These check-ins could be in-person, via Skype, over the phone—whatever allows the mentorship to fit seamlessly into the mentor’s schedule.”

3. KNOW THE RIGHT QUESTIONS TO ASK

Too often, and especially in mentorships with younger people, mentees know they want a mentorship but don’t know what they want out of it. That’s why coming to each meeting with guiding questions, based on what you want to accomplish, is key to a successful relationship—plus, it saves you from wasting time figuring out what to focus on.

“If you’re still a student, questions could relate to how you can prepare for your career path, how to balance remaining schoolwork with making decisions about your postgrad plans, how to effectively make these decisions, and so on,” says Stahl.

You should also learn why your mentor has made certain professional decisions. It’s helpful to become familiar with your mentor’s career arc and how he or she has achieved professional success—but it’s even more useful to understand why your mentor made such decisions. That way, you can apply a similarly discerning thought process to your own professional choices.

“Try to learn how their mind works,” says Susan R. Meyer, president of Life-Work Coach in New York City.

4. FOCUS ON THE OUTCOMES

Create a series of short-term and long-term goals—and check in periodically with your mentor so you can track your progress. This will not only help keep you focused and accountable, but it will also show your mentor that his or her advice is valued.

“Demonstrate that their investment of time, effort, and expertise in you was worth it via a disciplined focus on key milestones you commit to,” says David Nour, CEO of The Nour Group, a consulting firm based in Atlanta. “They have to see you improve, grow, and become a stronger professional. Otherwise, they’ll lose patience and you’ll take the wind out of their sail to want to continue to help you.”

5. BE GRATEFUL AND KEEP IN TOUCH

Usually, mentors don’t owe you anything. They’re taking you under their wing under the goodness of their hearts (and they see potential in you). And their investment in you can and often does lead to real results.

Ashley Hill, CEO of College Prep Ready, a Cincinnati-based scholarship firm, remembers how influential her mentor was in finding career success (she was a graduate assistant in her biological sciences degree program).

“She took time after class and outside of office hours to help me understand the class material as well as give career guidance,” says Hill. “This relationship led to a $10,000 internship and allowed me to discover my love for research. As a result, I am in a very fulfilling career that is using those research skills to assist students in leveraging talents and achievements to find and win merit scholarships to pay for college.”

Someday, you may find the roles reversed, so it’s important to be grateful, especially after you’ve found success.

 

FastCompany.com | JON SIMMONS, MONSTER  | 08.26.16 5:00 AM

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#Leadership : How To Let Go & Become The #Manager #Millennials Want…Like most Millennials, I Bristle at Command & Control. My Generation Expects a More Personal Interaction with #Management

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As a manager, I’ve Struggled to Double as a Mentor to my Employees. I’ve felt, at times, confined in my formal role by unseen pressures that pervade any organization.

 

Robert Pirsig’s famous motorcycle treatise contains a lesson for managers who aspire to be better mentors (Credit: Public Domain)

Like most  Millennials, I bristle at command and control. My generation expects a more personal interaction with management. We want to confide in them our goals — whether we want to be promoted, transfer departments, enroll in graduate school, or leave to backpack Europe.

As a manager, I’ve struggled to double as a mentor to my employees. I’ve felt, at times, confined in my formal role by unseen pressures that pervade any organization.

Harvard psychologist Harry Levinson called this phenomenon the Great Jackass fallacy. The carrot-and-stick metaphor suggests employees are stubborn mules that need to be controlled.

I’ve asked myself how I can effortlessly shift between being a manager and being a mentor.

For me, the answer lies in a consistent mindfulness practice.

What is mindfulness?

Mindfulness is an open awareness of the present moment in which you observe whatever thoughts come to mind in a detached, nonjudgmental way. But it’s so much more than that.

Robert Pirsig captures its essence in Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance:

In a car, you’re always in a compartment, and because you’re used to it you don’t realize that through that car window everything you see is just more TV. You’re a passive observer and it is all moving by you boringly in a frame.

On a cycle the frame is gone. You’re completely in contact with it all. You’re in the scene, not just watching it anymore, and the sense of presence is overwhelming.

Millennials crave this collapse in distance, emphasizing people and their development more than today’s leaders who, at least to us, are focused exclusively on profit and personal reward.

Mindfulness has the power to tear down the walls that separate supervisors from their staff.

 

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What creates these walls in the first place?

The Arbinger Institute argues that self-deception is the underlying cause of all people problems.

Self-deception is not knowing you’re the cause of the problem.

When we feel the need to do something for someone else and choose not to, we betray ourselves and enter what Arbinger calls “the box.”

From inside the box, our view of others is distorted. We see people as objects available to advance our agendas. Their needs aren’t as legitimate as our own.

We also inflate our view of ourselves. We begin to justify our actions to protect the image we’re projecting to the world.

A manager, for example, might pride himself on always getting results. An underperforming employee, therefore, jeopardizes the outcome and is seen as a threat to his self-image.

Rather than consider his contribution to the problem, he uses a bevy of tactics to temporarily steer the employee back on track. But he fails to create any lasting change in the relationship.

How do we get out of the box?

We can’t “do” anything to get out of the box. Tweaking behavior isn’t enough.

Instead, a shift in mindset is required.

Meditation is a fantastic method for training the mind. A daily sitting practice cultivates the quality of mindfulness that Pirsig describes in his book.

 Researchers have found that mindfulness increases the capacity for perspective-taking.  This means that mindful managers are able to suspend their own thoughts and feelings while remaining fully present to those of their employees.

But certain managers are simply not able to shift perspectives.

“Millennials are used to much more fluidity in terms of role. There are moments of hierarchy and moments of parallelism,” explains Diane Musho Hamilton, author of Everything is Workable: A Zen Approach to Conflict Resolution. “It may be that other generations don’t have that flexibility.”

For those who want to increase their agility, Hamilton offers three suggestions:

    1. Identify the role shift when it’s happening
    2. Practice excellent listening skills
    3. Resolve all your issues related to power

The last one is a doozy. Hamilton says that it’s difficult for people in power to relinquish it, even momentarily. When they do, they’re put into a freefall. They don’t know what’s going to happen.

Yet, as a mentor, you have to be willing to be changed by interactions with your employees.

Cordelia Jensen sums it up well: “I think the most important quality of a mentor is that they are open to following students where they want to go, not always pushing their own agenda.”

 

Forbes.com | October 26, 2015 | Drew Hansen

 

#Leadership : 3 Steps That Make A Real Difference In #Training Your #Team…Your Company’s Training Process Doesn’t Have to be Highly Structured or Complicated. Instead, try Creating a Framework that Evolves Organically from your Culture & is Flexible enough to Work with Any New Addition to your Team.

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For any growing business, hiring is always a process that must remain top-of-mind. There’s no doubt that hiring the right person from the onset is immensely important, but many overlook the impact that training has on the long-term success of any new employee.

job-seeker-3

Training is one of those things most managers/entrepreneurs don’t pay much attention to during the early days of the business. After all, you and your key team members are too busy creating a product, process and culture on the fly to institute a formal training program. It’s only after your hard work begins to pay off and the business begins to scale that the need for a formalized approach to training all of your new hires becomes acute. I experienced this firsthand earlier this year, when it became clear that our team needed to expand significantly to keep up with increasing customer demand.

Initially, my team and I dove right into the process of getting new hires up to speed on our immediate needs. Often, very little attention was paid to helping the new team members understand the larger initiatives at play. Naturally, this approach led to problems. Our new hires were confused about the bigger purpose behind their work, and the established executive team grew frustrated with projects misaligned to their needs and expectations.

We had to change to successfully navigate this period of rapid growth. We needed a framework that was flexible, robust and quickly implemented. To solve for this, my team and I developed a 3 step process for onboarding and training new hires.

Start with culture.

The level of skill that someone brings to the table is incredibly important, but it isn’t necessarily what makes someone successful. Specific skills can be learned and honed over time, but the need to mesh with a company’s culture comes up almost immediately. That’s why we spend the first few weeks on the job helping them acclimate to the culture that make our company unique. Rather than force someone to sit through a presentation about mission and values, we try and have new hires experience them firsthand. They spend time with our customers, partners and founding team. During this time, we reinforce the idea that we want to work with people we trust, respect and admire — setting the stage for long-term success.

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Assign a mentor.

Team members get a mentor who is tasked with making them successful. This way, we’re able to foster strong relationships across the organization and create an environment where people are invested in each other’s success. Mentors are responsible for not only tactical training, but also long-term career development.

When it comes to assigning a mentor, we often try to pair up employees who have had minor conflicts in the past. It seems somewhat counterintuitive, but I’ve found that if a leader has a problem with another team member, the best thing is to create a situation where each person is forced to make the other successful. More often than not, this structure resolves any existing conflict and forms a much stronger bond over time. This process of setting aside issues and moving forward positively help to create a much more balanced, open, and successful team across all levels.

Follow up early and often.

Finally, we follow up with new additions to the team early on and continue meeting on a frequent basis thereafter. This high-touch approach ensures that no one ever gets too far off course at any point in time. I personally set aside a scheduled time each week for an open conversation with each of my direct reports and require them to do the same with theirs. These follow-up sessions don’t have to be time-consuming. Often, they happen while making a coffee run or over lunch. The important thing is that problems and questions are never allowed to fester. By being insanely proactive in this manner, we’re able to make sure people receive the feedback and support they need, exactly when they need it.

Your company’s training process doesn’t have to be highly structured or complicated. Instead, try creating a framework that evolves organically from your culture and is flexible enough to work with any new addition to your team. If you ensure that your new hires understand the company’s culture, are partnered with mentors who are deeply invested in their success and have frequent opportunities for feedback, you’ll find that you’ll develop a more balanced and successful team.

Chris Myers is the Cofounder and CEO of BodeTree, a web application designed to help small businesses manage their finances.

Forbes.com | August 8, 2015 | Chris Myers