Stop Dreaming About Making a Career Change

by -

Dream vs PlanHow many times have you dreamed of doing something different with your career? Your life?

You stare out the window while the computer pings new messages. The office buzzes with sounds while your mind wanders as you think, “What if..?”

If I’ve learned one thing from my life and career so far, it’s that dreams are just that: dreams.

Nothing’s going to happen unless we take the steps to make it happen.

I can hear you now – or maybe it’s the voices in your head – crying some version of, “But how?”

Quite frankly, I don’t know how. That’s because I don’t know exactly what your dreaming about.

What I do know is this: there are endless possibilities out there for all of us, just waiting to happen. Pursuing these possibilities takes a few steps. Specifically, we need a plan to pursue our dreams. Or to see if it’s possible for the dream to become a reality.

Assuming you have a dream you want to pursue, consider the following:

Step 1:  Research your dream

For example, if you want to become a dog walker for a living, research the competition in your area. Visit with them. Determine the pay scale. Is the market saturated with dog walkers? Is the wage realistic for full-time work or is this a part-time gig?

Step 2: Develop a business plan

This includes any funding you might need, creative/marketing plans, legal work, etc.  Include metrics for success and time frames for accomplishing your goals.

Step 3: Share your plan with a TRUSTED partner

Not someone you just met at a bar who claims to know something about business. This person should be someone you know well and trust implicitly. Someone who also knows you very well, what you excel at, and what you don’t.  This person needs to provide constructive criticism and ideas and be strong enough to say, “No, this is not a good idea”.  You need to be strong enough to hear what this person has to say.

Step 4: Gain the support of your spouse/partner

Taking a leap of faith and leaving a salaried position, or taking on a part-time role affects the family. It’s always better if everyone is on board.

Step 5: Have an exit strategy; a Plan B.

What will you do if things don’t work out or you decide the “dream” is not what you expected?

Bottom line: I’m a firm believer in trying something new, especially when it comes to a well-thought-out career move.  So, wake-up, make a plan, and give it your best shot to turn your dream career into a reality.

No regrets, right?

Santa’s Advice for Finding Your Career Passion

by -

Santa small_LIRecently I had the chance to talk to the one and only Santa about a topic that’s near and dear to all of us: Finding our career passion.

We learned that, just like the rest of us, it took Santa awhile to discover his true calling. He actually started is Dream Career as a Side-Hustle.

If you missed Part 1 of my interview, you can read it here.

I asked Santa more about taking the plunge from full-time work to his passion job, and what advice he has for anyone who might be considering such a move.

Here’s Part 2 of my conversation with Santa, aka, Carl Anderson, a Psychologist from Austin, Texas.

Was there a point at which you realized you were more interested in a career as Santa than in your full-time job as Psychologist?

Yes, it did get to a point where I had to make a decision between being a full-time Psychologist and Santa.

In a way, Santa limited my Psychology career choices. I realized I could not go into private practice and continue my work as Santa – it was almost impossible to leave clients who may need me for 5-6 weeks over the holidays.  Whether you’re in my line of work or another job, it’s difficult to find employers willing to let you leave for six weeks.

What made your decision to pursue your dream job easier?

I had enough experience at both careers – Psychology and Santa – to know that I enjoyed the role of Santa more. This is a key point to keep in mind for anyone who might be considering a career change: Try it before you completely make the switch.

It’s also important to remember that I’d had success in both fields; I was not stepping out blindly.  NorthPark Center had been bringing me to Dallas, and I had some confidence in this arrangement.

What advice would you give to people who are considering leaving a full-time job to pursue a passion job or “Side-Hustle”?

Just like buying a new sleigh, it’s important to “test drive” the passion job first.  Initially I took on the role of Santa only to help pay for my graduate studies. Remember, I was amused by this interest in my resemblance to Santa Claus.  It was a great way for me to earn some money and ultimately determine if this was a role/job I enjoyed.  I found I enjoyed many aspects of it, including storytelling, which is a related skill and led to even more roles.

Note: Not only should you enjoy your Side Hustle, but the job needs to be financially sound before you leave your full-time job.  Do the math and make sure the dream job is sustainable.  If not, maybe it’s still something you enjoy doing on the side for extra money.

What would you tell someone who is struggling to find their passion when it comes to work?

Be open to other interests! When you were young, what did you imagine doing, but didn’t follow up on? Dust off that idea and see if there’s something to it, or even if you can use those skills towards an idea that’s relevant today.

More than anything, be willing to try something part-time while you’ve got other income to see what might be of interest. Look at skills you use in your current job and see what might transfer into a new field of interest. Many of our skills are transferable if we look at them.

Santa, that is so true! The hard part, of course is determining how to marry your interests and skills with another field of work.

Yes, that’s why it’s important to take time to consider all the possibilities.  Write down a list of current skills. Write down a list of things that interest you – going back to include those things from childhood I mentioned earlier.  Do some investigating or research to see how your skills and interests might intersect. Talk to others! Ask a trusted colleague what they see as your best skills.  Brainstorm possible ideas, with no idea being too outrageous.  Once again, the point is to be open to new ideas.  When you determine your interests, skills, and passions, you will start to understand how you might be able to use those towards a fulfilling career.

Look at me; in the beginning I was simply “amused” by the fact that people thought I resembled Santa. Once I explored the idea, a world of possibilities opened up and I discovered a new career that I love.

***

Great advice, Santa.  So inspiring; something we can put into practice right now.

And on that note, we’ll let Santa get back to work. The kids are waiting patiently for his arrival at NorthPark Center. It’s story time, you know.

Note: This conversation was not recorded, therefore quotes attributed to Santa/Carl are based on my notes and memory, and may not be 100% accurate.

 

How Santa Found His Side Hustle

by -

IMG_4867Have you ever wondered how Santa got his job?

I mean, was it his career dream to always wear a red suit and spend countless hours listening to children?

Or, as a young man, did Santa have different career aspirations?

Recently I’ve wondered if Santa started his gig – his “passion job”, if you will – as a side hustle.

That’s how many of us entrepreneurs got started, working a side-hustle until we could finally step away from the 9-5 career to pursue our passion full-time.

I spend a lot time talking about pursuing your passion with clients, students, and colleagues. Everyone has similar questions when it comes to following their dreams.

  • “How do I find my passion?”
  • “When do you know it’s the right time to switch from part-time to full-time?”
  • “What if I don’t know yet what I really want to do?”

These are questions every entrepreneur faces.

Even Santa, I assumed.

In a bit of a Christmas Miracle, I had the opportunity to meet with Santa over breakfast to talk about careers, and following your passion.

Santa was gracious and fun and open and honest, sharing so much about his career and advice to others.

A little about Santa, in case you didn’t know: AKA, Carl Anderson, a licensed psychologist from Austin, Texas.  This is his 34th year portraying Santa; his 28th year as Santa at NorthPark Center in Dallas. He’s co-authored a book, “All I Want For Christmas Is…”, a collection of letters by children to Santa.  A man of many talents, he’s also a professional speaker, monologist, and storyteller.   

Here’s Part 1 of my conversation with Santa:

Thanks for meeting me!

My pleasure.

For readers/clients who don’t know your story: aside from your uncanny resemblance to almost every known image of St. Nick, did you always aspire to be Santa? To work in this role?

I’ve always been amused that others saw the resemblance. Clearly the implications were there. Yet I didn’t set out to become Santa Claus.

My career goal – which I achieved – was to be a psychologist, earning degrees from the University of Texas at Austin. (Note: The fact that this interviewer is a die-hard Aggie was not an issue for Santa. Thank goodness!)

My professional psychology experience includes working in the Counseling Center at UT, as well as in Drug and Alcohol Abuse programs.  I’m also an adjunct professor at UT, teaching as needed.

How, then, did this Santa Side Hustle come about? 

As a graduate student I was always looking for jobs to make ends meet, even driving a bus. One Day I saw an ad that said, “White hair, rosy red cheeks, eyes that twinkle”.  Didn’t say, “Santa”, but clearly that’s what they wanted.

When I first called, I was told they were done looking. I interviewed anyway, and their interest was only lukewarm.  Once we started talking, they became so taken with my “natural look” they offered me a job.  Understand that at the time I was unique – there weren’t many natural-looking Santa’s around.

Were there other opportunities to embrace Santa in your career or even as a Side Hustle?

As I mentioned earlier, I was amused by my resemblance (which comes naturally from my Swedish father) and other’s fascination with it.  At one point, Radio Shack cast me as Santa for their holiday advertising.

I was intrigued enough that I decided to write my dissertation on “Children and Santa: What Happens When They No Longer Believe”.  I started working in children’s theater and even storytelling, which blends well with the Santa work.

When did you really consider embracing the role of Santa as more than just a job to make extra money?

I was walking across a downtown street, wearing regular clothes. A group of preschool children were walking in the same crosswalk towards me, holding onto a knotted rope for safety.  One of them looked at me, pointed and exclaimed, “Santa!”  They all dropped the rope and ran to me, hugging my legs.  At that point I realized this Santa thing might be something bigger that I imagined.

How did you manage your full-time job as a psychologist with your Santa Side Hustle, which became your passion?

My work as a psychologist – something I enjoyed – was as a counselor at places that understood my role as Santa. They were flexible with my holiday schedule, which allowed me to do both.

How did your experience as a psychologist prepare you to be a great Santa?

It prepared me in so many ways! It honed my listening skills and taught me to quickly understand a situation with short interaction with a client.  Having empathy and being intuitive is what drew me to psychology; it’s naturally who I am. These are also skills that I rely on as Santa – I have only a few minutes with each child to assess their situation, understand their needs/wants, and provide feedback that, hopefully, makes them walk away with a smile.

It’s difficult to respond sometimes, as Santa. You don’t want to disappoint, you know? Psychology helps me understand how to answer the tough questions.

***

And just like that, our time was up.  Santa had to get ready for Story Time, one of his favorite parts of his job.

That had to be the most fun I’ve ever had during an interview. With great information we can all use.

Thanks to Santa, I was reminded that sometimes the best jobs are right in front of us, if we are willing to embrace them.

Stay tuned for more from my conversation with Santa!

 

Note: This conversation was not recorded, therefore quotes attributed to Santa/Carl are based on my notes and memory, and may not be 100% accurate.

Got First of the Year Energy? Jump Start Your Job Search With These 10 Tactics

by -

gym-room-1180016_1280Everyone seems to have lots of energy this time of year, and nowhere is that more prevalent that at the gym.

Just a few weeks ago, the gym was almost a ghost town and I had my choice of treadmills.

Now I have to fight little old ladies, gum-smacking teens, and even the gym staff to get thirty minutes on such a machine.

 

The good news is, my energy level peaks this time of year. I am ready to tackle almost anything: house projects, personal projects, and health goals.

I will outlast these workout wannabes, most of whom will be gone by Valentine’s Day.

I’ve also got excessive energy for all things career-related.

Now is my time to brainstorm new business ideas, organize my office, and jump in with both feet.

The bad news is, once I hit about June, my energy level for all types of projects – including career projects – slows way down.

If you’re anything like me, it’s best to accomplish as much as possible during this energy phase.  And I work best with a list of tactics to accomplish.

Jump Start Your Job Search With These 10 Tactics

  1. Determine your goal, with strategy and tactics for achievement. Set your intention. What is it you want to achieve, professionally? A promotion? A new job? Do you want to stay in the same industry or try something new? Once you have your end goal, add the tactics for achieving that goal and start executing.
  2. Refresh Your Resume. A resume is a living document and should be updated periodically. If you haven’t already done these:
    • Add your latest achievements from this year’s review.
    • Remove experience older than 10 years.
    • Use a professional statement instead of an objective.
    • Use key-words associated with your industry.
    • Most Important: Highlight your quantitative wins vs. job responsibilities.
    • Note: if it’s been ages since you’ve updated your resume and/or you’re struggling with the wording, you may want to consider hiring a professional Career Coach to help you.
  3. Maximize LinkedIn. LinkedIn is an amazing resource for job seekers – as long as your profile is up to date and maximized – meaning completely filled out. Use information from your updated resume to complete your profile.  Take a more personal tone with your professional summary versus that of your resume, telling prospective recruiters why they should do hire you.
  4. Check Your Look in the Mirror. First impressions are made within seconds of meeting a person, and yes, they are visual.  When was the last time you updated your hairstyle? Make-up? Personal style in general?  If it’s been a while, it may be time for a change. Especially if you are searching for a new job, it’s important to stay relevant. Besides, new hair/make-up/clothing can make anyone feel good. And when you feel good, you look good and present yourself well.
  5. Get a New Headshot. In general, a new head shot should be taken once every couple of years. If your company doesn’t do it, then it’s up to you.  Either hire a professional or ask a friend with a steady hand to snap a photo.
    • Background should be solid; a close-up shot from the shoulders up.
    • Wear professional clothing.
    • No one else in the photo, please.
    • Good lighting without shadows.
    • It’s that easy!
  6. Print New Business Cards. Make sure you have plenty, and always carry them with you! You never know when you’re going to need one.
  7. Get Your Story Straight. You find yourself on the elevator traveling 40 floors with the new CEO. She asks your name and what you do for the company. You’ve got less than 90 seconds to tell her about yourself, in a nutshell. What do you say?  It’s that kind of succinct story telling you need to develop in order to sell yourself to others, either within your company, at networking events or to potential hiring managers.  Write your long story, then edit and edit and edit until you have it down to 2 sentences. And practice saying it with confidence.
  8. Increase Your Visibility at Work. A fancy way to say, Toot Your Own Horn. Make sure people outside your department know your value. Don’t rely on your boss, or hope that your good work will stand on its own. Do some internal networking to get promoted to the position you deserve.
  9. Meet New People. This requires getting involved, and the first step is making time for it. Add the meetings to your calendar, make the commitment and GO!  Pick one or two to start with; more than that is unrealistic.  The easiest to join from a social standpoint is usually the college alumni groups, as you have a common interest.  Be sure to carry plenty of business cards!
  10. Reconnect. Make it a point to reconnect to 5 people a week. Send a quick email stating, “Hey! Long time; was remembering our days at X company. Hope you are doing well. Would love to hear from you. Let’s get together this year. I work downtown; how about you?” You may not hear from everyone, but you will hear from some.  Be sure to follow up on the coffee/happy hour meetings.

Ten tactics to get you started towards a new job, or maybe a promotion. Many you can start on –and accomplish – in one week.

What are you waiting for?

11 Strategic Career Resolutions to Make Right Now

by -

new-years-day-1926337_1920We did it again.

Hubby and I procrastinated, waiting until the last day of vacation to realize that we have not crossed one thing off of our lengthy at-home to-do list.

All of the things we had been waiting for months to accomplish over the Christmas vacation. Nothing.

Of course, putting so much weight into the last week of the year was definitely not a good strategy.

It’s not because we didn’t plan.

It’s because we are not good at personal planning. Despite the fact that we have spent our careers planning at work.

And we are so busy lamenting the fact we’ve missed our holiday goals, we are both woefully behind with developing personal goals for the new year.

How about you? Have you planned for the New Year? Either professionally or personally?

I can hear your silence.

Which means you probably haven’t thought about your goals or resolutions or whatever you want to call them either.

At least I’m in good company.

Here’s the deal: throughout my career, I’ve learned that everything comes back to planning.

Plan the work and work the plan.  You can always alter the plan as things happen, but in order to be successful you need to have goals, as well as the strategy and tactics to accomplish those goals.

As individuals, we sometimes forget that we need personal plans too. We get so caught up in the plans we have at work that we miss the opportunity to develop personal goals outside of the office.

Something everyone should have – and review each year – are career goals.

You can call them goals or resolutions or simply “things I want to achieve.”

The main objective is to write your goals down, along with strategy and tactics for action.

To help you get started, here are 11 Strategic Career Resolutions to Make in 2017: 

  • Vow to do things differently. Stop doing things the same way you’ve always done them.   What’s the definition of insanity? Doing the same thing over and over again but expecting different results. If you want to see change in your career, examine what you’re doing now and try something new.
  • Push past fear.  I’m always afraid when I’m trying something new. Who isn’t?  Fear has stuck with me at every new job or promotion I’ve had, like gum sticks to the bottom of a shoe. Yet I’ve always fought through it, knowing that it’s temporary.  The first three months can be nerve-wracking as I question what I’m doing.  By six months I know enough to be dangerous. By nine months, I’m fine, and I wonder what I was so scared of to start with.  Go ahead, push past the fear.
  • Persevere: Realize that achieving your goals requires dedication, patience, and hard work. Anything worth having is worth working for. Persevere, if it’s something you really want.  My goal out grad school was to be a buyer at Neiman Marcus. To do so, you had to not only be accepted into the executive development program, but also proceed through several different jobs designed to weed people out.  It was a “sink or swim” mentality.  Took me five years to achieve my goal and I succeeded – the only one from my program who did.  Patience, it turns out – along with hard work – really is a virtue.
  • Tune-Out the negative self-talk.  Positive thoughts create positive things/results.  Negativity helps no one.  Yes, we can all have a moment here and there, but that’s it. At staff meetings at one company I worked at, we each had to tell our “high” for the week – one good thing that had happened to us. It could be work-related or personal.  The point was that something good happened to everyone each week, and we should remember it.  Keep this is mind when negativity creeps in.
  • Be proactive.  I believe in making plans and preparation.  Yet at some point, we have to take action or our planning becomes procrastination.  Identify your goals, develop a strategy along with the tactics for execution, then GO! If you need to adjust the tactics along the way, do so.  The important thing is to Be like Nike and just do it.
  • Try to fail 10 times. I’ve heard it said in sales training that it takes 10 “no’s” to get a yes. That means the more “no’s”, the closer you are to success.  Don’t be afraid to fail; that’s where we learn our greatest lessons, and ultimately each failure will help us achieve our greatest success.  It also means you’re trying to succeed, vs. doing nothing towards your goal.
  • Appreciate Your Career Journey.  Don’t compare yourself to anyone but you. My definition of success is different from others.  A friend from graduate school has been retired for years because she had the opportunity to work for Dell in the beginning and stock options were part of the compensation. To me, she made a good decision and as a result achieved success.  Yet she believes I’m one of the most successful people she knows.  It’s all in the eyes of the beholder. Believe in your journey.
  • Embrace New Opportunities.  Sometimes the best opportunities are not what we envisioned. A VP interviewed me for a buying role, then offered me a role in event marketing – something I had never before considered. The initial title and compensation was lower yet I could see the long-term potential of gaining experience in a new area. I accepted the opportunity and my career took off.  Sometimes it pays to be open, take a chance, and drop your ego if you must.
  • Engage your network.  Or become engaged, if you’ve lost touch.  This includes connecting with college pals, former colleagues, friends of your parents, family, etc.  Get involved in your local alumni group, industry association, or even social groups to meet new people.  Focus on building a relationship with individuals, especially if you can help them out; not simply connecting with mass quantities of people. There will come a day when you need something – like a job – and the better the relationships, the more likely it is your network will help you.
  • Upgrade Your Skills. We all need to learn something new to stay on top of our game.  It’s good for our brains as well as our ability to advance in our careers.  And it’s easy to do.  There are industry events to attend, and plenty of online sites offer a wide variety of affordable webinars and courses (sevendollarcourses.com and Lynda.com, for example).
  • Volunteer. You’ll get satisfaction from giving back, as well as make new connections. You never know when either may come in handy. And you can add this to your resume.  

Take one step at a time. The important point is to take the first step, then another and another. By the end of the year you will see progress!

Last Minute Gift To Myself

by -

arm-1284248_1920T-minus four days until Christmas and again this year the holiday seems to have crept up on me. How does this happen?

This year was going to be different.

I was ready.

You name it, I was prepared for just about everything.

Except bronchitis.

Showed up at the beginning of December and knocked me down for a couple weeks, refusing to leave.

It’s the gift that keeps on giving, for sure.

While my excuse is legit, it doesn’t change the fact that I’m behind on everything: work, decorations, gifts, and even holiday spirit.

Most importantly, I’m behind on planning for next year.

December is usually when I’m up to my eyeballs getting ready to kick off the next year. By now, I should have outlined my career goals for next year, along with a strategy and tactics for execution.

Instead I laid on the couch and binge-watched last-season’s Grey’s Anatomy.

Now I’m frantically trying to catch up. It’s hard to think strategically when my mind is going in a million holiday directions.

Standing in line at the post office, I started to think in broader terms about goals, more along the lines of a personal mission statement. Which is something I usually don’t like, BTW.

After much thinking about who I want to be as both a person and a professional, I came up with something I’m calling a “Last-Minute Gift to Myself”:

  • Give everything your all
  • Integrity is everything
  • Work with purpose
  • Always have hope
  • Give of yourself
  • Have fun
  • Maximize every experience
  • You can’t control much except your attitude
  • Inspire others
  • Do your best; always try
  • Love deeply
  • Take risks
  • No regrets
  • Forgive easily
  • Exercise more; stress less
  • Eat everything in moderation
  • Buy the new shoes/handbag/whatever (Within moderation, of course)
  • Take the trip
  • Connect with friends

There are more of these; I stopped at what I thought was the best.

The point is that these over-arching ideas are what motivates me as a professional. If I lose sight of these, my career is going nowhere fast and any professional goals I’ve made will not be met.

This “Last-Minute Gift” to myself will serve to remind me of what motivates me as a person. This in turn will help keep me on the right track professionally.

(I encourage you to do the same. To give a “Last-Minute Gift” to yourself by thinking about personal motivation and goals.)

Now I’m ready to think about my goals and strategies for next year.

After I’m done shopping, wrapping presents, and decorating the tree, of course.

The Morning After: 7 Tips to Help You Recover from a Career Setback

by -

coffee-1199943_1920When you have a career setback, the morning after is always tough.

Imagine if you were one of the presidential candidates right now. Today would be very, very tough.

All that work over the last 18 months or more, now gone. All of your hopes and dreams, crashing down around you. The team you led, the people who believed in you, all stunned.

And suddenly you are unsure of your next move.

Perhaps, even, you have no place to go career-wise.

All you really want to do is to crawl into bed and pull the covers over your head.

But that’s not realistic. Or what it seems a presidential candidate should do.

Switching gears and getting personal here: Does any of this sound even remotely familiar to you?

If you’ve ever lost your job, you know what I’m talking about.

The Morning After.

Whether it’s a layoff or you’ve been fired for whatever reason, it’s one of the toughest situations to find yourself in.

Suddenly you’ve got no place to go. Your identity has been stripped from your hands. The work, colleagues, friends – your career – gone.

And there’s nothing you can do. No going back.

That part of your career is over.

All you want to do is hide. Binge watch TV. Eat.

Yet that’s not productive, nor sustainable, for any length of time.

Bottom line: Suffering a career setback, whether you’re a presidential candidate or one of millions of workers who’ve been through it, sucks.

The good news is, you – we – can all recover.

Here are 7 Tips to help you recover from a career setback:

  1. Take one day to have a pity party. Invite your friends or go it alone, but you only have one day to wallow.  After that, time to move on.
  2. Make a list of your strengths and use those to begin strategizing your next career move.
  3. Similarly, be honest and understand your weaknesses in order to improve at your next job.
  4. Realize that this is just a setback; it’s not the end of your career.
  5. Consider the setback an opportunity. Maybe you weren’t 100% happy at your job anyway, or maybe even in your industry. This could be the chance you were looking for to reinvent yourself in a new career.
  6. Take advantage of this new-found free time to learn something new, discover a hobby, or reconnect with friends. Network like crazy while you can; you never know what might happen.
  7. Above all, stay positive and have hope.  While “hope is not a strategy”, it’s necessary to keep moving forward.

Taking these tips to heart won’t make the hurt go away but they will help you move forward.

And don’t forget to be thankful that your career setback was not displayed in front of millions around the world.

Career Stalled? Change What’s Not Working

by -

halloween-background-1772683_1920

 

 

 

 

 

Have you ever planned for something, only to discover things didn’t work out?

How we respond to changes in our plans speaks volumes about our ability to move forward.

Our response can determine our future success.

Even how we respond to simple changes can help us when a real challenge presents itself.

Take Halloween. After years of apartment living, Hubby and I were super excited about Halloween the first year we moved into our house.

We decorated the front of the house. We purchased tons of candy. The house was so well-lit you could see it from space.

We waited for the doorbell to ring.

And waited, and waited, and waited.

I went outside to look for Trick or Treaters.

Our street was silent. Like a ghost town.

Despite the fact that our neighborhood was teaming with children.

We brought lawn chairs and candy out front in an attempt to appear more friendly to anyone who might pass by.

Nothing.

We looked pathetic, sitting alone in the front yard. We had planned this night for months and had been looking forward to seeing all the little ghosts and goblins from our neighborhood.

Who lights up their home, full of decorations, with bags of candy, yet no Trick or Treaters?

We started laughing, the situation was so absurd.

Desperate to succeed at Halloween, we quickly ditched our current plan and developed Plan B.

If Halloween wouldn’t come to us, we would go to Halloween.

Pouring the candy into a tote bag, we grabbed a flashlight and started walking. Didn’t take long to find Halloween. The next block was alive with Trick or Treaters!

We immersed ourselves into the action, meeting our neighbors and passing out candy. We learned from our new friends our street is considered too busy for children, which explained the lack of candy traffic.

Ultimately, we had a successful Halloween for three reasons:

  • We accepted the fact our current strategy and plans were getting us nowhere
  • We quickly developed new plans and executed the tactics to achieve our goal
  • We refused to wallow in self-pity or accept “no” for an answer

Is your career stalled? Is your job search providing the results you need and expect? Or are you still at “Square One”?

Maybe it’s not your job search so much as it’s your resume that’s holding you back.  Are you sure it clearly states who you are to hiring managers and explains how you can solve their problems?

Or maybe it’s in the presentation. Are you confident in your ability to answer the toughest interview questions? Or perhaps a few practice sessions would be of benefit?

Sometimes we all need to take a step back and re-group.

To accept that our current plan, or even some of our tactics, may not be working.

And when it comes to careers, sometimes even the best of us don’t even know what we want to be when we grow up. We feel that lost.

Remember, it’s okay to press “pause” on your plan, take a moment and regroup. Develop a new plan that will lead you to success or ask for help, if that’s what it takes.

But don’t stick with a plan that’s not providing the results you need to meet your goals.

*If you need assistance with your career – anything from refreshing your resume, to interview preparation, to career changes – contact me. I’m happy to help.

Critical Thinking Skills From A Grilled Cheese Sandwich

by -

grilled-cheeseToday’s students have it too easy.  And I’m not just talking about Google and laptops and cell phones, although they are a huge part of the equation.

I’m talking about living conditions.

The dorms of today are much more like a luxury hotel than student housing.  Gone are the bare-bones cinder block walls, linoleum floors and modular furniture we felt lucky to have “back in the day.”  I doubt today’s students would tolerate living in such spartan conditions, although we thought they were spectacular once decorated with rugs, comforters and posters.

Back in the day, we would save our money to rent a mini-fridge for the room.  Not a medium one; the very small, square unit that could barely hold a six pack.  Diet Coke, of course.

Today’s dorms are posh in comparison, with many including fancy items like flat screen TVs,  bigger refrigerators and microwaves in the rooms, as well as full-size kitchens on each floor.

In a DORM.

This is in addition to WI-FI, movie rooms, study lounges, pool tables, and cafeterias.  There’s the occasional swimming pool and even covered parking for some.  It’s crazy what is considered “normal” for dorm life anymore.

All of this luxury comes at a price. Not only for the parents wallet, but for the students’ long-term well-being.

The opportunity cost of living such a luxurious college life is students are missing out on building their critical thinking skills.  With everything at their fingertips to solve their problems, there’s no need to improvise or develop solutions to a college student’s most pressing problems.

Example: I’m hungry, the cafeteria is closed, and I’m out of money.

The solution is not: Go to the ATM, use a credit card, or call mom.

The only food options available in the room and/or mini-fridge include a loaf of bread, peanut butter, single cheese slices and an assortment of beverages.

What’s a hungry student to do?

This is where the critical thinking skills come in.

When faced with the same situation back in the day, we got creative.  We had nothing but the trusty mini-fridge, a coffee maker, popcorn popper, and a meal plan. Late night hunger pangs were satisfied by popcorn or pizza delivery, if we could pull together the cash and the pizza place was still open.

Most of the time we were stuck without pizza.

It was like being on Survivor: Dorm Edition. How can we make something different to eat given the limited resources in our room?

We had the same staples as today: bread, peanut butter, and cheese. We also had an iron!  It was a brilliant idea to use the iron to make hot sandwiches. And cheap, too.

Of course we were not the first students to make grilled cheese sandwiches using an iron but we were proud of our resourcefulness.

We had no choice.  What else were we to do?

Is the ability to make a grilled cheese sandwich really an important skill for today’s college graduate?

If you’re still focused on the sandwich, you’ve missed the point.

It’s about solving a problem in a new way. Critical thinking.

There will be many times on the job when a new hire will be asked to develop a solution to a problem.  Gut instinct always tells us to go with the most obvious solution: Find a pan, put sandwich in pan, heat pan on stove until sandwich is done. 

Many times we will not have the resources necessary to solve the problem in the most obvious manner. It could be we lack financial resources, or human resources, or technical resources –whatever – yet we are still expected to arrive at the optimal solution.

The earlier we develop our critical thinking skills – learn to improvise ways to the optimal/desired solution – the better.

Critical thinking in the form of a grilled cheese sandwich.  Brilliant!

Lessons Learned at My High School Reunion

by -

Wall decor (2)Let’s be honest: High school for me was good, but it wasn’t exactly what I would consider my “glory days.”

Let me paint the picture:  I was very small for my age and I’m pretty sure the faculty thought my parents mistakenly dropped me off at the high school instead of the junior high.

I dreamt of being popular: the girl everyone wanted to talk with, be friends with, sit with. No way will that ever happen to me, I thought.  Especially since I was afraid to say “Hi” when walking to my next class; that’s a bit of a problem when one wants to make friends.

You see, on the inside I had a huge personality and 100-watt smile. On the outside I was painfully shy, walking through the halls with my head down, scared to death to utter a word to anyone, confident that others were talking about me. And not in a good way.

I didn’t assign to any particular crowd, participating in both popular and, for lack of a better word, nerdy endeavors.

This perception may not have been what others thought of me, but it was my perception. And we all know that perception is reality.  

The one ray of sunshine was my best friend, who happened to be popular. She had the titles, the boys, the accolades – and I was right there next to her. I was convinced that classmates knew me only as “Popular girl’s friend” as we walked together down the hall or stood at our locker. But it didn’t matter. We were best pals and I lived vicariously through her.

Fast-forward many years.

The good news about graduating high school is that we all have a chance to reinvent ourselves, or at least improve and mature with age.  I, for one, am so happy about this. The shy girl who was afraid to speak to others in high school is no longer afraid to walk up to strangers and introduce herself.  It’s amazing what life plus work experience plus maturity will do to a person.

Not to mention a healthy perspective on what was really happening during those high school years. Was everyone really talking about me as I walked down the halls? Highly doubtful. Just as I was concerned with myself, I’m pretty sure others were thinking about themselves at the time too.

And if they were talking about me, who cares? A big WHATEVER heading their way.

Which brings me to high school reunions. I recently attended mine and it was the best party I’ve been to in a long time. None of the worries I had from high school entered my mind. People arrived simply happy to attend, to reconnect with old friends, and to make new ones.

It was a dream come true for this gal, the “Formerly-shy-but-now-will-speak-to-anyone” type, who felt popular for once with the high school crowd. People actually wanted to talk to me! And I had no fear as I walked straight up to others to say “Hi, do you remember me?” Even if they didn’t, it didn’t matter because we all pretended we did.

Two lessons learned at my high school reunion:

  1. People are not always as they seem.  The high school girl who didn’t speak was simply scared and shy. I’m sure many who were loud and boisterous back in high school were also nervous; they simply had a different way of showing it.
  2. People can – and do – change.  I’m now friends with many women from high school with whom I would never have been friends back in the day, and the feeling is mutual. A little older, a little wiser, and now we have the best time together. We support each other like true friends do.

So what does this have to do with work, since this is a career-focused blog? 

  • A similar thing happens during our careers. We are different people when we start out, we make mistakes, we learn from them (hopefully) and we move on.
  • When reconnecting with someone you met ages ago when you were both just starting your careers, try to remember that people can –and do – change, mature, learn, and grow.  Don’t make networking decisions or recommendations based on what you remember from that early job. Their current work/abilities may not reflect what you remember about them when they were fresh out of school.

Most important, be kind. We all were young once.  Thankfully, we’ve improved.