Archive | Career Success Tips

Know your Brand

I’ve been emphasizing that your job search requires the Three P’s (Positive Attitude, Persistence, and Preparation).  Also, you should be developing and using Your Portfolio – a `framework’ to assist your preparation and success.

The first step and tool is to identify your Success Profile which is your unique Strengths – your skills, personality traits, and accomplishments/achievements.  This is a foundation for marketing yourself as well as for learning and growing.   Your brand is a brief  summary and expression of your Success Profile.

How well do you know your brand?  Have you checked-in with your friends and family and associates to validate it?  Have you practiced speaking about it with clear and crisp examples?

I have developed a questionnaire and tool to help identify, clarify, and communicate your strengths, your Brand.  Contact me for further explanation and to begin developing and then describing your brand.

Additional elements for Your Portfolio include:  your resume and your references list; a list of your network  and contacts; research (on companies, industries, market trends, etc); job search advice (e.g., sample interview questions for rehearsal); a marketing plan (your specific job targets, actions and timeline); a log (of your activity)

Thinking Skills

Much is written and discussed about developing skills … so important in our ever-changing world.

Here are some important Mid-year questions for you – have you set your goals this year?  reviewed and updated them? accomplished a few?

One of my intentions, this year and every year for that matter, is to read more (commit more time to reading, listening, observing, and learning).   Here’s my update:

Another is to think more/better – too frequently forgotten in the day’s rush.

Pascal’s key insight was, “I think, therefore I am“.  IBM’s motto – Think

Several years ago, I read John C. Maxwell’s, How Successful People Think.  Here are a few of his key points that you may find to be worth pursuing.  He introduces the book as follows:

Good Thinkers are always in demand.

A person who knows how may always have a job,

but the person who knows why will always be his boss.

How successful people think can be learned.

If you change your thinking, you can change your life.

The chapters include the following eleven thinking skills:

• Seeing the Wisdom of Big-Picture Thinking
• Unleashing the Potential of Focused Thinking
• Discovering the Joy of Creative Thinking
• Recognizing the Importance of Realistic Thinking
• Releasing the Power of Strategic Thinking
• Feeling the Energy of Possibility Thinking
• Embracing the Lessons of Reflective Thinking
• Questioning the Acceptance of Popular Thinking
• Encouraging the Participation of Shared Thinking
• Experiencing the Satisfaction of Unselfish Thinking
• Enjoying the Return of Bottom-Line Thinking

How about joining me and picking one of these `thinking’ skills for some improvement work, this year?  Which one do you pick?

This year, I’ve read (on my new Kindle – what a wonderful way to obtain and read books) several books, some with a historical perspective about the Great Depression and the years before (The Forgotten Man and Coolidge, by Amity Shlaes) to gain some insights for use – today.  I’m currently reading an inspirational book by Dr. Ben Carson, America the Beautiful.  My conclusions:

• I think we live in an amazing country with a challenging and bright future.
• It’s still “morning in America.”