Posts filed under 'career change'
Secrets of Six-Figure Women: Surprising Strategies to Up Your Earnings and Change Your Life by Barbara Stanny is not just for women, but it’s well-established that women are more likely than men to fall into the trap of working in jobs with low pay ceilings OR working in jobs where they allow a low-pay ceiling to exist because they are too scared, for whatever reason, to ask (demand) to be paid what they are worth.
This book is for any chronic underearner, as Barbara Stanny terms herself (at the time) and anyone making well below their earning potential. She interviewed over 150 women and identified the issues and road-blocks they had (or did not have) to making over $100,000 (and often a lot more).
She names the “must-haves” for busting through a low earning ceiling: a profit motive, audacity, resilience, and encouragement, and provides relevant stories from the interviewees lives in their own voices. In some of the cases, the women had a transformation that took them from an anemic paycheck to big bucks and in others, the women knew they wanted to make a lot of money from the beginning of their careers and went for it. Both types are instructional.
The book has a very readable, conversational format. Barbara’s own story of financial transformation, depicted along with those of the interviewees, gives the book an intimate, personal tone, and there is something for anyone looking to break through any barrier to six figure (or seven figure) success.
March 30th, 2009
One of the cliche interview questions that recent grads are told to prepare for is “Where do you see yourself in five years?” When I was a recent grad, I found that type of question a puzzle, if not a trick. Though I don’t remember actually answering it, if I did, it was some lame “best guess” I presented because honestly, I had no idea where the next five years would lead me. Plus, five years seemed an eternity.
After the first few years of ones’ career and certainly when one is well into mid-career (and perhaps middle age, for that matter), I firmly believe one can and should should have an idea of where they want the next five years to take them. Creating financial, professional, and personal growth benchmarks are key for making progress in the long run and making decisions day-to-day based on overall priorities and desired direction.
So if you don’t have one, get a notebook out and start working on your five year plan and interim goals. It will be a roadmap to get where you want to go. After all, at the end of that time, wouldn’t you rather get where you intended to go than get nowhere at all?
Photo by brain_farts.
March 23rd, 2009
When I’m not busy helping you people get better jobs, one of the (many) other things I do is write bios for professionals and businesses. Because of my relationship with the Personal Family Law Program (I am their recommended biographer!), a lot of the individuals I write bios for are lawyers.
Lawyers get a bad rap.
Almost every single lawyer I have talked to is passionate about what they do. Maybe it is because of the nature of the PFL program, but the lawyer I spoke to today was not a PFL member.
Now let me just tell you– I love doing bios. I get to pry. They pay me to pry and then to write a story about them. (Joy!) Among the questions I ask is why they chose to become a lawyer and then I ask why they chose the particular specialty. And I usually get a really interesting, personal answer.
For some of the lawyers I write about, there was a family experience, where a relative was wronged. The lawyer I talked to today, who is based in Portland, Oregon and was fending off his two restless kids while he grabbed 20 minutes on the phone with me, specialized in personal injury. He told me he had applied to law school when he was finishing college and then worked for a short while in a very large law corporate law firm in Boston. He decided, based on that experience, to pull his application and do something else.
Cut to several years later, after travel, a couple other careers, starting a family, and putting down roots in a community. He realized that he didn’t have to work for a big, impersonal firm which represented corporate entities nobody at the firm particularly cared about. He could be his own kind of lawyer.
Now he and his partner have a practice which represents individuals who have been seriously injured through someone else’s fault. They severely limit the number of clients they take on so they can focus on the cases they have and provide the very best care to those clients. Sometimes they even fight big law firms like the one he worked at out of college.
I asked him if any of his recent cases had impacted him strongly and he told me about a husband and wife in their 70s. The husband had taken care of the wife, who was wheelchair bound and had other health issues, until they were in a car accident. As a result of the injuries the husband sustained, he was no longer able to take care of his wife at home and he had to put her in a home. He was heartbroken. He was totally in love with this woman and it killed him that he couldn’t be with her. The lawyer told me that as a result of the settlement his firm got for the husband and wife, they were able to hire in-home care and the husband and wife could be together again.
That’s a pretty powerful story and an extreme example of making a true difference. Not everyone is in a profession that has that opportunity, but we do all have the opportunity to use what we do in a way that brings us satisfaction.
I love writing a great bio (and not just because I’m a nosy person). I love helping clients figure out how to get more out of their careers and crafting resumes and cover letters that will land them better jobs. I even love writing blog posts that will provide my readers with something to think about.
Now let me ask you… Are you the kind of lawyer or writer you want to be? Is there somewhere else you could apply your skills- another company, type of company, or field- that would give you the kind of personal fulfillment you long for in your career?
Photo by Mike Willis.
March 14th, 2009
I love Madonna. I love all the Madonnas.
The tough little Michigan girl transplanted to New York who wore black eyeliner, countless rubber bangle bracelets, leather, lace, and sometimes a big, puffy white wedding dress.
The sultry, ballad-singing, wanna-be-taken-seriously singer/actress who was briefly married to Sean Penn.
The heathen rabble-rouser whose “Like a Prayer” was condemned by the Vatican.
The whip-cracking dominatrix who seemed determined to expose every inch of herself by whatever means necessary.
Evita… Music mogul…
It all becomes a blur.
Electronica creator… Lourdes’ mom and children’s book author… Madge… Guy Richie’s wife and Rocco’s mom… And now 50-plus rock-hard cougar dating a much-younger professional athlete.
She is all of these people in all of the various outfits and hairstyles and sometimes even accents. And even though we don’t go out and do complete style makeovers (most of us, anyway) we all have parts of ourselves, personnas, which often appear to be different people.
The difference between Madonna and the rest of the world (most of us, anyway) is that she has found ways to express her many sides to the world while we just keep them inside, for the most part.
But, if you think about it, you will see that while expressing these many sides, she has remained exactly the same person and pursued the same goals along the way.
She kept at the acting throughout, despite the mixed reviews. She kept creating music and live events that redefined what was possible. She kept shocking, and creating controversy (and publicity).
She has been true to herself, her values and her path, throughout her life and her creativity has flourished and her success has been astronomical. I think we can all learn a big lesson from that.
What side of yourself have you not shared with the world?
Can you let it out and make it work for you?
January 19th, 2009
Okay, people. This will probably be my last blog post of 2008. I know it’s a bit early, but nonetheless, it’s true. I’m taking this opportunity to introduce my recurring theme of 2009. I know some of you might get tired of hearing it, but others need to hear it as often as I can say it. Here goes:
There are jobs out there.
I say it a lot lately in person to clients, friends, unhappy grocery store checkers. I’m going to say it again with emphasis.
There are jobs out there.
Good jobs. Jobs you want. Better jobs, even, then the one you have or the one you are losing or have already lost.
And I am not saying this to make those who have been looking without success so far feel bad. Depending upon what you do, this can be a challenging market- but for others, there will be a brief period of un- or under-employment and then you will find something else. Something good. Something that maybe even pays more or gives you more responsibility or more fun or even all three.
Let’s get crazy while we’re talking here- it’s just us, right?- if you are unhappy with you current job, you can find another one. Even if you have a decent, secure job, you can actually hunt for a new job RIGHT NOW (well, wait until after the holidays– everyone is scrambling to get where they need to be with the appropriate gifts in hand) and be SUCCESSFUL in relocating to a position that is more fulfilling.
NO, you are not STUCK. YES, you have OPTIONS.
Take an honest look at your resume and call me if you need help with it. Think about what you want to do next and call me if you need help with that.
Let me help you make a plan to make a move in 2009 and then successfully execute that plan.
In the meantime, I am wishing you & your family happy, healthy holidays!
December 20th, 2008
That’s right. It’s November already. (Don’t shoot me. It’s not my fault time goes by so quickly.)
Are you happy with your job? If so, good. If not, think about what you are unhappy about and change what you don’t like. And if what you are unhappy about is unchangeable (the owner of the company is intolerable, you can’t make the salary you want to make, you are bored or burnt out), maybe it’s time to make a plan.
Just a thought.
November 10th, 2008
Just a brief bit of resume advice. If you take away nothing else in terms of guidance in this area, take this: Don’t be boring- or undersell yourself- in your resume.
This is your place to really express who you are in your career. Yes, you can (should) use colorful words (if you are a colorful person). Be bold on paper if you are bold in real life. There is even room for a little gentle humor (if that is who you are). Be creative. Be proud.
In short: Let yourself shine.
October 28th, 2008
Being a professional resume writer, I’m all for people hiring professional resume writers to do this chore for them. Hire one, compliment the finished product, and then pay them promptly. 1 – 2 – 3 – DONE!
But sometimes you need to try to do it yourself first. I get that. So here is my best practical advice for the actual process of writing the resume.
1. Take advantage of the free consultation. I mean it. It’s free. As a veteran hiring professional, I have spent many years of my life looking at the bad (or just not as good as they could be) resumes of job candidates and not being able to give feedback because of the situation. I am happy to be able to now. Email me your current resume and then we’ll have a short conversation wherein you will most likely get either three to five usable tidbits or high praise for an already-perfect resume (it could happen).
2. Get samples off the web. Google “marketing resumes” or whatever your field is. Hopefully, you’ll get some good examples of resumes for people at your level in your field which you can use for formatting guidance.
3. Pretend you are writing about someone else. If you have a hard time confidently conveying your own talents and accomplishments, try to remove yourself from the process. Otherwise, you are likely to undersell yourself or disregard information that should be included.
4. Use an actual job desciption for a position you would want. Your target job is out there and your resume should be geared toward getting you that job. Go on the web again and find an example of a job you would want and write your resume as an ad for you in that specific job.
5. Break it down. If the idea of actually writing the whole resume is too daunting, take it, as Anne Lamott would say, Bird by Bird. Commit yourself to writing the description of your current job, for instance, or setting up the format. Hopefully, that will trick you into starting the process and you will find yourself feeling more at ease once you have begun.
6. See Resume Rules #1, #2, and #3. Read the resume advice I have provided on this blog, keep it in mind when writing, and then reread it when you are done and make necessary revisions.
7. Show and tell. When you have finished writing your resume, send it to your five smartest, most career-savvy friends along with an explanation of what job you’re looking for. Ask them, “Would you call me in for an interview?” If the answer from more than one of them is anything other than a confident, “YES,” get detailed feedback and do a rewrite.
And then, of course, when all else fails, there is surrender…
8. Know when to get help. Lots of perfectly lovely, talented, and intelligent people lack either the aptitude or the inclination to write a really good resume. If what is keeping you from getting a more satisfying new job is the lack of a good resume, admit it and reach out. A half-written resume or a resume that gets you no replies when submitted for jobs you know you are qualified is not going to get you where you want to go.
Hopefully, you find all of this advice helpful. Regardless of how you get it, an expertly-written resume is the key to getting you that job you’d wake up in the morning happy to go to. Even in this wobbly economy, good jobs are out there. Give yourself the best chance to get one.
October 10th, 2008
This is the difference between ending up in the YES (contact them now for an interview) or MAYBE (read later) pile. We don’t worry about the NO pile. If you followed Rule #1 and Rule #2, you should be able to stay out of the NO pile for any job for which you are reasonably qualified. The MAYBE pile is a killer at this point.
The MAYBE pile is for resumes that are comprised of huge blocks of text, that have over five bullet points for each job, that use the same nine words over and over again, that have no headlines at the top briefly describing key qualifications so the reader knows something about the candidate as they skim through the professional experience section.
“I’ll read that later,” the hiring professional will say when faced with having to decode a resume with these characteristics. Too much time, too much work. But here’s the thing…
Most hiring professionals NEVER get to the MAYBE pile.
September 29th, 2008
This is where I lose more people, even those who thought they “got” me on the marketing tool point.
Let me explain. When someone is reading your resume, they are telling themselves a story about who you are. “This is a woman who gets bored easily and bounces around a lot,” they will think when they see a page with six different jobs on it that all last about 18 months. That might not be the truth, but unless something on the page (or at least in the attached cover letter) says otherwise, that’s the conclusion. Maybe three of those jobs were in the same company, just different divisions. Maybe one exit was a due to a non-profit shuttering it’s doors. You’d better make sure these parts of the story are conveyed in your resume.
What story does your resume tell about you?
September 14th, 2008
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