Secret to Success May Surprise You

Counting your Blessings

Just read a great blog post (below) by Geoffrey James, at Inc.com, about the importance of gratitude in your professional life.

How many times did your mother tell you to "count your blessings", when you were envying someone else's stuff, or complaining about silly problems.  Mr. James applies it to your professional life. He suggests that people who are grateful for their daily "wins", even something as small as making someone smile, are more likely to take their "losses" in stride. While people who take wins for granted, are never satisfied, and are angered by their losses.

Now, over the long term, which do you think will positively impact your success: rolling with the losses, or spitting fire each time you lose? My money is on "rolling with it".

Click below for his tips on practicing gratitude (Oprah preaches this, too; she's kinda successful, huh?); exercising this emotional muscle; and reaching the point where your strength of gratitude will make you more successful.

http://www.inc.com/geoffrey-james/gratitude-true-secret-to-success.html


What are your thoughts on gratitude on the job? Please share in the comments section below.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled blog...With a new perspective on LinkedIn

1) Use LinkedIn.  2) Use Linked to complement your resume.


No...we haven't been cancelled.  Just been on hiatus...We now return you to your regularly scheduled blog.


On Tuesday, earlier this week, I dusted off my grown-up clothes and sensible shoes and attended SmAlbany 2012 - 6th Annual Small Business Expo hosted by the University of Albany (NY) College of Nanoscale Science & Engineering.  This year's theme was Social Media. Kudos to the crew at SmAlbany.org for landing big fish Google as a major sponsor and as a key note speaker. 

One of the sessions I attended was called "LinkedIn: How to Use LinkedIn to Advance your Career". Frankly, I sat in only because, of the three sessions offered at that time, it was the only one that seemed appropriate for me. Even so, I didn't think I would get much out of it, since I'm a pretty experienced LinkedIn user.

Here's were the snide laughter should commence.

(For a deeper understanding of the statement above, please refer to my blog from April 30th, "Teaching an Old Dog New Tricks")

Why do I assume I won't learn anything? Don't I always learn something? For a deeper understanding of myself, should I refer to my blog from April 30th, "Teaching an Old Dog New Tricks"?

So, in the continuing education of this old dog, here's the latest trick: Your LinkedIn profile should not be a repeat of your resume.  Use it as a marketing tool - just as you use your resume - but use it in a complementary way. So, when someone reads your resume, and then follows up by reading your LinkedIn profile, the profile expands or deepens the reader's knowledge and understanding of you.

One specific suggestion: when entering the "basic information" that appears in the upper most section of your profile, just beneath your name, use a professional headline instead of a job title. This is especially important for those of us who are between jobs. Let's say your last position was "Senior Account Executive". With a headline of "Sales Professional", even in the event of separation from your employer, you are still a sales professional. Not only does your profile remain the same, but it's a psychological boost. It reminds you that you are not your job or your title; you are you, and you continue to be so even after that employer's door closes.

You could also choose to use a tagline instead of a headline. Staying in a sales theme, it could be "I can increase your company's sales by 10% each month." Of course, you want to make sure you have a proven record of doing so, or such a tagline won't help much. Other great suggestions from the leader of my seminar include using the summary to talk about client success stories, or similar stories that showcase your big "wins", and asking colleagues to write recommendations in a "results-oriented" manner.


Today's Sign Post is a two-parter:

1) Use LinkedIn.  2) Use Linked to complement your resume.

Let me give a shout-out to the woman who, in her words "wrote the book on LinkedIn", Ms. Jan Wallen. Her book is called Mastering LinkedIn in 7 Days or Less. She has a 2nd book due out soon. Thanks, Jan, for a dynamic, interesting, and informative hour.


What are your tips for effectively marketing yourself on LinkedIn? Share in the comments, below.

Yes, IT Really is WHO You Know!

In job-hunting, it’s all about networking, networking, networking.

A mentor of mine, when I was in Career Services, used to tell MBA students that their next great job was not going to be found on the internet; it was going to be found through their professional network. It was a concept that didn’t often sink in right away.  What he was saying was that your best shot at a job is through people; more specifically, through people who know and like you.

Knowing how to build your professional network is an important skill to learn and cultivate.  When a hiring manager has a job opening, he is likely required to post it; but he will also be thinking about who he already knows with the skills and talents to fill the position. He will probably also talk about the job with his immediate circle of colleagues and friends. If that hiring manager is in your immediate or extended network, you want to be the person that comes to mind.

For those of us changing careers, our most potent weapon is the army of colleagues that we have assembled over the various battle campaigns of our careers. Make no mistake about it - the military metaphor is intended; it’s a war zone out there. Make sure you don’t burn bridges. Stay in contact with your comrades-in-arms.

Over the last few years, of course, the word “networking” has ceased to bring to mind the image of uncomfortable mingling at after-hours cocktail gatherings; or eating cold scrambled eggs at a too-early-to-function Chamber of Commerce event. It has been replaced with one primary “social” network: LinkedIn.

Your comrades at each company for which you’ve worked have comrades in other companies, who have comrades in other companies, and so on…and so on. Voila! Your LinkedIn network is born. I haven’t even begun to include your friends from college and grad school, family, neighbors, book club, PTA…you get the idea.

[If you don’t know about LinkedIn, check it out here. Now. I mean it. Don’t finish reading this blog. You can come back later. It’ll be here. Go. Yes – it’s that important. What are you waiting for?]

Here’s an example of the beauty of LinkedIn: I recently applied for a position at “Widget LLC”. I’ve never been a “widgeter”.  But, a company I worked for ten years ago had many “widgeter” clients, so I had some semi-widget experience. I did a search for "Widget LLC" on LinkedIn to see if I could make a connection through former colleagues. Nope…not one connection found through my old employer.  But I did find a recent colleague of mine – in an industry in no way related to “Widget LLC” – who has a 1st level connection (a high-level one) there; they sit on the board of a non-profit together. My colleague happily put us in touch with each other. Now I have someone who can put my resume in front of actual human eyes at “Widget LLC”.

And that’s what it’s all about – with the hiring world being so automated, sometimes just having someone who can get your resume seen by the hiring manager, or the resume reviewer, is the difference between a shot at an interview, and a bank shot off the circular file.

Today’s Sign Post, borrows from the classic real estate mantra:

In job-hunting, it’s all about networking, networking, networking.

As my mentor said, it’s through your network that you will find your next great job. To borrow another old adage, “it’s not what you know, it’s who you know”. Networking is all about who you know (and maybe who they know.) Networking gets you connected to people on the inside; the people who either have the jobs, or know the people who have the jobs, or know the people who are reviewing the resumes for the jobs. Networking is the key when it comes to getting your foot in the door for an interview, because the entry point is via people. In this electronic age, you still need human beings to work on your behalf for the best chance at the job you really want. 

How well you do in the interview…now, that’s entirely up to you.


What are your networking tips? Please share in the comments below.

Resume Writing: Lay the Foundation for Building your Career

Write a person’s resume, and you will help them get a job. 

Teach a person to write a resume, and you will help them build their career.

Over the last three and a half years, I have reviewed, refined, and rewritten literally hundreds of resumes.  The process could be tedious, especially when I used it as a teaching moment, as was the case with the many resumes that crossed my desk in the Career Office of a business school.

Learning to write a proper professional resume is a rite of passage for an MBA student. We spent a lot of time and resources on it because, being a career-driven degree, a primary measure of the program’s, and a student’s, success is post-MBA employment. (If you are reading this blog, I don’t need to explain the importance of employment to you.) A well-written, visually pleasing resume is still important in this day of electronic media. It is your primary personal career marketing piece.

My perspective is, when you teach a student how to write their resume, you are giving them a life skill.  When I say, “how to write”, I mean more than just giving you a template to use and telling you what font to use in what point size and how wide the margins should be. (BTW, you should always use a basic serif font, such as Times New Roman, never smaller than 10 pt., and margins between .5 and 1 inch…just sayin’.) I mean, how to say what you need to say, and why you need to say it. Yes, you can pay someone to write your resume for you, but you are your own best advocate. No one knows you better than you do.

This brings me to today’s Sign Post: 

Write a person’s resume, and you will help them get a job. 

Teach a person to write a resume, and you will help them build their career.

(Yes, I borrowed a little bit from an old adage, but it's appropriate, don't you think?)

Following  my basic “resume rules,” below, will help you formulate a strong resume and primary career marketing document.  If writing is not your strong suit, I suggest that you get help from someone who can edit your spelling and grammar.  Use a resume template or format that is plain, easy to follow, and leaves plenty of white space on the page. 

Linda’s Resume Rules:

1. Resumes don’t get jobs – they get interviews. The purpose of the resume is to give the prospective employer information that will entice them to call you for an interview.
2. Be honest. Speak the truth and only the truth. Do not embellish. If you’re thinking, “who’s gonna know,” I’m sure that Yahoo’s former CEO has a few minutes to explain the consequences of resume-padding to you.
3. DON’T use an “objective” paragraph at the top of the resume. Frankly, an employer doesn't care what your goals are. It goes without saying that your objective is to get the job to which you’re applying. (Duh.)
4. DO use a “profile” paragraph at the top of the resume. This is a short paragraph that summarizes you as a professional. Think of it as a written elevator pitch – you know, as if you had a 30-second (or in this case, 3-line) elevator ride to tell the prospective hiring manager about yourself.
5. Always list in reverse chronological order. When listing jobs, education, or other activities, list in reverse date order because employers are most interested in your more recent experiences.
6. Write in results-oriented statements. When you are describing a previous position, discuss your work in terms of the results you produced. Your would-be boss wants to know how you can benefit his/her organization, not what your daily to-do list was at your last job.
7. Be brief. Less is more. It’s a resume not a memoir.
8. Tweak it for each position to which you apply. It will be worth the extra 15 minutes to match some key words or phrases in the resume to some from the job description. It connects your skills and experience directly to the position – and HR’s word recognition software will pick your resume out of the googillion resumes in the big black hole where resumes go after you click “Submit”.
9. A resume is a living, breathing document. It grows and changes. Therefore, you are never finished writing it. (Sorry about this one.) Take it out and dust it off periodically; make sure it’s up-to-date with your most recent skills, experience, and education.

What resume tips can you share? Please feel free to post questions, below, as well.

A Tale of Two Bosses: How I Learned the Importance of Organizational Culture

Organizational culture matters. “Fit” is as important to your success as your skills, education, and experience.

Starting at the age of 22, and for the next 13 years, I had the good fortune of working for a young CEO who immersed himself in the art of managing people.  And, boy, was he good at it. I’m pretty sure his success was a result of good self-management. When he spoke, he always came from a position of credibility.

He loved to educate himself and then share what he learned with his staff.  We were expected to do a lot of personal and professional development.  For a young woman who was struggling with her identity, introspection was scary and painful. My initial reluctance was met with a kind of tough love. “You need to work on yourself,” was the message.  It wasn't easy, but I did it.  I’m a better person for it, too; thanks to that young CEO.

Of the many things I learned about myself and about working with other people, the most important lesson was about the standard of behavior of the organization itself. It is a maxim that defined me as a professional, and one that this young CEO created and still embodies today. It is what you can count on from the organization when he is at the helm: “integrity, fairness, and fun”.

• Integrity woven through all internal and external business activities and relationships 
• Fairness and impartiality applied to all people at all levels of operation 
• Fun – “work” does not have to be a four-letter word

This simple, yet powerful philosophy provided an even playing field, or as close to an even playing field as human nature could allow.

Fast-forward several more years into my career.  I’d had a lifetime of experience and accumulated knowledge.  I’d learned a lot more about myself and was comfortable with the woman I’d become. I was working in a different organization and had just started working for a new boss, a/k/a "The Manager".

I never knew how "The Manager" felt about himself, or the people with whom he worked, only how he felt about the tasks at hand. He was impersonal, moody, and curt. A void in the manager-employee relationship was opened, and my expectations for how it should be filled had been set many years before by my experience working for that young CEO.

How did the latter situation compare?  I’d call it a culture clash of extreme proportions.

Integrity? "The Manager" once copied text from a competitor’s web site and tried to pass it off as his own work. Fairness?  I once received a full-page disciplinary email message, followed by a half-hour long phone discussion on my inappropriate use of the word “anxious”, instead of “eager”, in a broadcast email. Fun on the job?  No. “That’s why they call it ‘work’,” was a common quote.

This was a situation for which there was no easy solution.  My attitude suffered, my work suffered. I was miserable.  Don’t let this happen to you.

The young CEO created a culture that made his staff feel important and valued.  He knew that doing this not only benefited the employees, but would also generate their loyalty and commitment.  "The Manager" didn't care about the staff, only the work. He did not generate loyalty or commitment, but bred contempt and suspicion.

All things being equal, as I look for the next position in my career, I know I will be more successful working in an environment like the one created by the young CEO, than in a culture-void like the one created by "The Manager". As you look for your next opportunity, be sure you know in what type of working environment you fit best.

Here’s today’s Sign Post:

Organizational culture matters. “Fit” is as important to your success as your skills, education, and experience.

When you are considering a new position, be sure that you include research into the culture of the company, division, department, team or group – depending on the size of the unit – in which you will be working.  Know, as best you can, what type of working environment you will be entering.

For more ideas, here’s a great article from the HBR.com Blog Network about the importance of organizational culture in your job search and in your success on the job:  "When Choosing a Job, Culture Matters", by Bill Arnett.


What are your thoughts on the importance of organizational culture?

Must Read! "What They Don't Tell You at Graduation" - WSJ.com

I just had to share this insightful article written by Charles Wheelan, which appeared in the April 28th issue of the Wall Street Journal:

"10 Things Your Commencement Speaker Won't Tell You"  http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304811304577366332400453796.html?mod=WSJ_Careers_CareerJournal_4

Mr. Wheelan is funny and smart, and dead-on in his wise words to those of you who are about to embark on your first career change - from student to member of the workforce.

Congratulations to all the Graduates in the Class of 2012!

What are your thoughts on Mr. Wheelan's 10 "things" left unsaid at commencement?

With A Little Help From My Friends

“.. a friend is someone who inspires, who challenges, 

who sends you in search of some truer sense of yourself..” 

- Steve Lopez, journalist and author

I like to write.  What I really like is writing for a living...in public relations: in-house, writing for an organization and connecting it to its public.  So, in  the immediate aftermath of my unfortunate higher education employment displacement (wink-wink), I immersed myself in all the PR info I could find in cyberspace...my own form of post-employment stress disorder therapy. One of my best sources is PR Daily, a news feed that comes to my inbox every afternoon.  A recent article, “8 people you need in your network”, by Becky Johns, about building a network for your professional life, was so interesting  and pertinent, I thought I would share it here on my blog.

This brings me to today’s Sign Post: 

“.. a friend is someone who inspires, who challenges, who sends you in search of some truer sense of yourself..” – Steve Lopez, journalist; author, The Soloist: A Lost Dream, an Unlikely Friendship, and the Redemptive Power of Music

Cultivate a broad network of professional "friends" for the unique qualities they possess and bring out in you, just as you've developed personal friendships with people from different times, places and significance in your life.

In her article, Becky Johns identifies 8 different “people” (“friends”) that you should have in your professional support system to help you stay focused and sane:

• The “Cheerleader”: will always be there “to root for you” and will “gather support for you from others.” 
• The “Geek”: will “always know about the newest technologies, the emerging digital trends”, and “what’s next”. 
• The “Peer”: is “like-minded…understands where you’re coming from.” 
• The “Mentor”: can “recognize your potential and help cultivate your talent”. 
• The “Protégé”: who can “look to you for advice will make you feel responsibility toward the success of another.” 
• The “Influencer”: is a “rock star” in your industry. 
• The “Weirdo”: or as one commenter called it, the “artist”, is “a crucial source of inspiration” who can “fuel your right brain”.
• The “Hater”: or as a dear friend of mine referred to himself, the “devil’s advocate”, “won't be afraid to challenge you.”

During my career, I've played many of the roles described above, but, by nature, I am the Cheerleader. What roles have you played? Which one comes most naturally?

Teaching an Old Dog New Tricks

“Intellectual growth should commence at birth and cease only at death.” 

- Albert Einstein

I just adopted the 5^th puppy of my adult life - and that doesn’t include my rescue dog, who came to me full grown, or the three dogs we had while I was growing up.  Yup. I’m a dog person.  I also consider myself, as do most of my friends and family, a pretty well-seasoned dog parent.  The glaring exception to this notion is my sister-in-law, the all-around-doggie-know-it-all-trainer-turned-breeder…and source of the new four-legged addition to my family.

Likely sensing the sarcastic eye-rolling and under-my-breath mumbling that would accompany my involvement in the adoption proceedings, my husband stepped up to handle the whole matter.  (Dodged a bullet there.)  I came home last Wednesday to my bundle of squirmy, cuddly fur, feet, and utter joy; complete with his own puppy instruction manual.

What!?

A puppy instruction manual?  Did I not just mention this was my 1-2-3-4-fifth puppy!?

Hmmm…my sister-in-law’s final attempt to assert her dominance in doggie domestication. Ha! I’ll show her! I’ll actually read the book.  Be the bigger person. There. Take that!

So, I’m reading section one of chapter one and there it is…gulp…my first taste of humble pie.  Did you know that a puppy’s brain is best suited for imprinting openness to strangers between 3 and 12-14 weeks old?  Um…I didn’t. 

I am burning daylight people! My puppy is nearly 11 weeks old!  I have got to go to the park. Now!  Oh wait…I’m blogging.

I admit it.  I learned something new.  And I was only on page 2.  Maybe, just maybe, my sister-in-law knew something that I once knew, but seem to have forgotten: you can teach an old dog new tricks – pun intended.  Seasoned or not, there is always something new I can learn about raising my puppy. (I like to think that my sister-in-law passed the book along because she learned something new from it, too.  Soothes my ego.)

My lesson in puppy-rearing brings me to today’s Sign Post:

Be a life-long learner.  

Or, as Albert Einstein said, “Intellectual growth should commence at birth and cease only at death.”  Words to live by.

If you are an unemployed and unplanned career changer like me, your current job is finding a job; and part of finding a job is dependent upon your continued professional development and growth.  Use some of the ideas below to continue your professional "intellectual growth":

• Take advantage of free educational resources for the unemployed. Start with the US Department of Labor’s web page for Job Seekers and the Unemployed.
• Go back to school.  Find out if you are eligible for financial aid as an adult student to go, or return, to college.  Visit the US Department of Education, Federal Student Aid, Adult Student web page.  Or, check out your local community college.
• Take a class.  Your local library or high school will likely offer adult education classes. If you are a career-changer of a “certain” age and missed the technology train, this is a great place to find basic computer software classes.
• Just read. Find out what’s at the top of the bestseller lists for business, finance, management, self-help, philosophy, or “whatever”, and check the book out of the library.  (Or just pick up the Hunger Games trilogy…I guarantee you will stop and think about life in a way you haven’t pondered before – great for getting the mental juices flowing.)

Do you have any ideas to continue the learning process during your career “down time”?  I welcome your posts, below.

"You can't know where you're going until you know where you've been." - unknown

Welcome to the inaugural post at The Crossroads...Where Career Change is Good.


For over 3 years, working in the MBA career office of a local business school, I had a front row seat for the stress that the post-September 2008 job market has put on career-changers.

Now, I'm in the midst of my own career change.  Not exactly by choice...well, not by choice at this point in time, anyway.

MBA students are nearly always career-changers.  After about five years of doing whatever they studied as an undergrad, they decide they don't like "doing it", and want to either manage the others who are "doing it", or want to do something entirely different.  The first class I knew was the Class of 2009.  It was November, 2008, fall semester of their final year, when I started working in the Career Office.  Some had returned to campus after their name-brand summer internships with a job offer, only to have the same offer ripped from their hands by winter break: rescinded due to the tanking economy.

I started my own career-change journey on a slower path as a part-time masters student a couple years ago. Then I had my own jarring experience on February 8th, when I lost my job.  Of course, it wasn't quite the same for me as it was for the Class of '09 - I hadn't just invested two years of prime career time and $85,000 in tuition. But I was facing a sudden job loss at 50 years old; a job that, at one time, I'd really loved.  What once seemed like a career adventure in my early 50's, now, facing it without a completed masters degree and the security of day job, seems less adventurous and more perilous.

I've been thinking about the Class of '09, and how gingerly we walked them through the remainder of their second year and the summer following graduation.  They seemed unable to grasp what was staring them in the face. "It's the economy, stupid," I frequently thought, but never said.  They didn't remember 1992 - they would have been in elementary or middle school - or any recession during their life-time.  These bright, talented and proud young adults learned a hard lesson in economics...and in humility.  Simply dealt a lousy hand, no amount of studying or interview prep or networking was going to change the fact that the MBA pipeline had run dry.

So what happened to the Class of 2009?  I'm happy to report that they are all doing very well. Patience and creativity were key for them.  An entrepreneurial spirit didn't hurt either. Another important factor that cannot be ignored is today's "Sign Post":

"You can't know where you're going until you know where you've been." - unknown

As you prepare for a career change, it's important to use the experience, training, education, contacts, and every other usable professional edge garnered during your previous career.  This can include using your previous profession, or job function to get your foot in the door and take a step toward your target profession or job function.  When the job market is weak, this tactic may be the most powerful tool in your arsenal.

What tips can you share about using your old career as a stepping stone to your next career?