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Feature Article No. 34

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29 Career Management Tips

Since the late 1970s, I've spent more than 20,000 hours as a career consultant listening to people talk about their work. My clients have included CEOs, law firm partners, professional athletes, engineers, factory workers--you name it. They've shared their highs and lows, and their innermost secrets. They've taught me the dos and dont's of corporate politics and given me the keys to success. Here are a few more ideas to stimulate thinking about your career:

Keep a weekly journal of your accomplishments, your "triples" and your "home runs," so you'll have them when it's time to update your resume. The hardest part of resume writing is remembering ancient history.

Listen 80%, talk 20% Sometimes the best thing to say in a business discussion is absolutely nothing.

It's often a mistake to let work become 100% of your life. Extreme work enthusiasts - workaholics - overproduce and overachieve, but then burn out, and some never recover. If you're working 80 hours per week, every week, something may be wrong. The Golden Mean, "Moderation in all things," is not a bad idea.

Career tests are like blood tests; they give you an accurate, 360-degree profile of you as a career person. Career unhappiness often comes from not knowing yourself well enough to choose the right work environment.

Stay focused on your gifts--your genius--not your mediocrities. Do what you're best at. Sure, you can swim upstream in a raging river. But wouldn't you be happier swimming downstream with the current?

Peter Drucker, the famous management consultant, said, "Do first things first, and second things not at all." That's pretty good advice.

Business results are important, but the people around you are important too, especially today, in increasingly team-oriented environments. Spend 50% of your time getting results, and 50% of your time developing career-sustaining relationships, both inside and outside your organization.

Never be unemployed, even for a day. If you lose your job, volunteer immediately to put your skills back to work, for a friend, for a consultant, in a non-profit agency--anywhere. Seek part-time, project, or consulting work as well as full-time employment, because part-time engagements tend to expand and go full time, whether you want them to or not.

We are all, always being interviewed. Every business encounter is a "job interview," you just don't know it. Strangers are judging, evaluating, and classifying you every moment; so act accordingly. Staying 15 minutes after work to help a colleague meet a harsh deadline could result in a hundred thousand dollar job offer later.

10.

Think of your career as a public relations campaign and try to generate friendships and relationships as much as business results and cash. You have the work (task) and the income (money) and the company (environment)--but that isn't all. You have your personal career which supersedes your present situation. Don't get so focused on the present priorities and crises that you forget the bigger picture: chances are, you won't always be in your present job, and you'll need friends. One successful jobhunter said, "I create relationships; the relationships create the job offers."

11.

"Rule Number One: The boss is always right. Rule Number Two: When the boss is wrong, refer to rule number one." This is a cliché, but you seldom succeed by battling your boss--no matter how wrong she is. If the boss relationship isn't working, seek to fix it, transfer elsewhere, or leave the company.

12.

High-success people are often slightly impatient. Turn your impatience (or anger) into productive action. Push yourself--that's good--but don't push others. They don't deserve it.

13.

My mother always told me, "It's just as easy to get A's as B's." She was wrong, of course, but I couldn't tell her that. (You don't disagree with your mother.) She said it often enough, though, that it finally sunk in. I've found that a small extra effort yields big results.

14.

Cavett Robert said, "People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care." If you don't care about others, they'll know it, and despite your wildest efforts to succeed, you'll never reach even the beginning of your true potential.

15.

Don't suffer an abusive employer any more than you would suffer an abusive spouse. If your job is hurting you, make plans to get out. You deserve the very best.

16.

A good English class, or advertising copywriting class, could add $20,000-$50,000 to your annual salary. Keep a dictionary and thesaurus near your desk, and keep business writing short--generally, the shorter the better. Cut five-page proposals to one page. Reduce one-page briefings to two paragraphs. Reduce two paragraphs to six high-impact bullet statements. In business, time is precious, so design your communications accordingly.

17.

Don't be a doctor because your father and grandfather were (I learned this the hard way--my father, grandfather, and brother are doctors.) Don't be a lawyer because it runs in your family. Don't choose a career only because it pays well, and don't choose sales as a career to try to make a quick buck.

18.

Paul Masson, the winemaker, said, "Nothing good happens fast." Don't wait to look for a career planner until you're fired, short on cash, burned out, and need a new high-paying job in less than a month. The best time to plan your career is right now, today.

19.

Understate your personal power. Being powerful doesn't necessarily mean overwhelming others. Sometimes power is expressed by waiting, being silent, or letting others win. One of my college classmates was a black belt in karate--not someone to be messed with--but he was kind and softspoken. Woon Ki often said, "Don't mistake kindness for weakness."

20.

Practice success skills. In career, as in football, there are basic skills that produce results. In football it's blocking and tackling. In business it's showing up on time, finishing what you start, doing what you say you're going to do--and helping others win.

21.

Set reachable goals. It's a mistake to establish lofty goals, fail to meet them, then beat yourself up for failing. That becomes a vicious circle. It's better to establish a small reachable goal, reach it, and then establish a second small reachable goal. That builds success momentum.

22.

Practice a stress-management routine. As the workplace speeds up, stress increases, and if it isn't managed, the result is burnout. One solution is to establish a weekly curriculum of stress-busting techniques, tailored to your own personal values and interests. You could include reading, weekly massage, personal quiet time, journaling, walking or exercising, personal counseling--or whatever works for you. The key is to find activities you can do regularly, every week, without fail.

23.

Limit your success. Too much success can kill you. I've seen driven, type-A managers who can't take a week off--even with a year's severance in the bank. How smart is that? Ask yourself if the price you are paying for success is worth the toll on your body, your health, and your personal relationships. If the answer is no, re-evaluate your priorities and make some changes.

24.

Keep your resume ready-to-fire. Last month two senior HR managers received job offers they "couldn't refuse." One is now the number two HR executive in a $6 billion manufacturing company, the other will soon build an HR infrastructure to take a fast-growth company public. Both these executives created high-impact resumes months before they needed them.

25.

Get an Internet e-mail address. Sign up through CompuServe, Prodigy, or America Online--or log on through your employer. For a modest monthly fee, you'll be in touch with the world. Since joining America Online, I've been pleasantly surprised by messages from friends in Paris and Viet Nam--not to mention countless friends in the U.S. Without e-mail, I might not have heard from them.

26.

Read How to Argue and Win Every Time. (by attorney Jerry Spence, $22.95, St. Martin's Press) Spence is great as a lawyer and commentator; but he's even better as a writer! His book isn't about arguing, as in yelling and screaming; it's about winning in life by expressing who and what you really are. "The first trick of the winning argument is the trick of abandoning trickery," Spence says. " . Credibility comes out of the bone--deeper yet, out of the marrow." (Page 47)

27.

Force communication upward. We tend to assume that if the boss isn't saying anything, everything is okay. And yet, nothing could be further from the truth. Bosses are notoriously poor communicators. Your boss may be preoccupied and might appreciate your taking the initiative to keep things on track. Here are five useful boss-questions:

Am I meeting your expectations? Am I focusing on the projects most important to you? Are you getting the kind of feedback you need? Would you like more documentation or reports from me? How could I make your job easier?

28.

Say thank you. In April I drove to Ft. Collins to visit two college professors I hadn't seen in 30 years. Both taught me to think critically, to write, and to appreciate words. They've had a big impact on my life, and I told them so. I had lunch with one, then met the other in his office--the same office he had in 1965! I gave each a heartfelt thank you letter, and they were grateful, because most students leave and never return. Driving home I felt uplifted in a way I cannot easily describe.

29.

Find mentors everywhere. As companies reduce headcount, pile on the work, and demand more productivity, the notion of having a mentor--an angel who guides you through your career--may be obsolete. What works now is to develop mentors everywhere. Reach out to anyone who might offer advice or ideas. Have a legal question? Call the lawyer you met in your Windows '95 class. Worried about negotiating a raise? Ask a co-worker to describe the approach they took. In the mid-90's, we are all co-mentors; we need each other. Reach out! Don't feel you have to go it alone.

Articles from the Career Advisor

Tips on searching for jobs

When looking for work, here are some key things to keep in mind:

Think quality, not quantity. If your goal is to get one great job (and it should be), invest heavily in preparing your application to a few desired employers. If your goal is to send out as many resumes as possible, fire up the photocopier and have a party
Don't let job ads intimidate you. Remember, they are usually stating "ideal" qualifications. If you are close, and if you believe you have the skills needed for a job, prepare yourself, and apply
Use a multi-pronged approach. As you can imagine, newspaper ads only represent just a tiny fraction of the advertised positions. What's more, only a small percentage of jobs are even advertised in the first place (advertising is expensive!). When doing research, use a variety of sources to uncover hidden opportunities (networking, direct employer contact, business directories, Chambers of Commerce, libraries, associations, and employment agencies).

Your university careers service
University career advisers – helping you make the right career choice

Your university career adviser should be your first stop when looking for careers advice. From helping you make your initial career choice to pointing out relevant career opportunities for you, university career advisers are trained professionals who can help you in every stage of your career choice and development.

A university career adviser can take you through all the career choices that your degree has opened up for you and help you decide which direction you want your future career to go in. Your career adviser will also be able to show you career opportunities that you might not have been aware of, from graduate placements and further study opportunities to career fairs and job opportunities abroad.

Many university careers advice centres also offer extensive resources to students to help them find and take advantage of each career opportunity as it arises, including free CV workshops, internet access, coaching on interview techniques and help with filling in job application forms.

If you are a current student seeking help with career choices you should always contact your own university career adviser. if you are a graduate, you should make contact initially with a career adviser from the university you graduated from before getting in touch with a local University career adviser.

Each university careers service listing includes a specialist section called 'Graduate Services', which lists the level of help & advice graduates can expect from University career advisers in the UK and the Republic of Ireland.