Hoity-toity talk
- At February 16, 2011
- By Nathan
- In Career Planning
- 0
Presenting yourself as God’s gift to humanity is not likely going to help your careers prospects. Claiming to be able to meet each and every need an organization has is a bit much. Confidence is one thing and cockiness is another.
Comparing yourself to Bill Gates and Steve Jobs may not be the best way to describe your computer skills. Familiarity with Microsoft Office is a basic skill that many employers look for. But very few people reading this are likely comfortable working with all the different part of this software program. Be specific. If you do not know how to operate Excel say so.
You may be tempted to hint that you have experience that you do not really have. Everybody wants to hire somebody with experience; someone who can hit the ground running as it were. And it can be very frustrating when you do not have experience and are trying to get some. “How can I get experience if nobody will hire me without experience?” you wonder.
As someone who has done a bit of hiring over the years, let me just say that faking it shows. Occasionally you may hear about a brilliant scam artist here or there who passed themself off as a pilot, a doctor, or a lawyer, and got away with it – for a time. Most mere mortals would not be advised to even attempt such shenanigans.
Tasks that appear to be simple and straightforward are often much more difficult. Have you ever tried jumped into a home renovation project only to discover that you may not live long enough to finish it? If exposed as a faker on the job your employer will lose confidence in you as person, and you will probably lose the job you just lied to get. It is a lose-lose situation.
Selling yourself is a legitimate and essential part of your quest for a career. But try not to engage in false advertising.
Hobnobbing
- At February 10, 2011
- By Nathan
- In Career Planning
- 0
Talking to real people is more valuable than surfing the Internet when you are trying to determine a new career direction and actually get a job. If you owned a company who would you rather hire? Somebody who just emailed you from Albania with a rip-roaring resume, or someone close by a friend told you about and you already have reason to trust?
Pragmatic schmoozing is not quite what I am advocating here; making contacts and developing networks without any real concern for the people you are talking to. It is just that communicating with real human beings is better overall than endlessly staring at a computer screen and typing on a keyboard.
One of the best things you can do is to get to know people and be known by other people. Take a genuine interest in the lives of others and expect the same in return. You may be able to help them in one way or another, providing encouragement or support, etc, and they may be able to help you. As an aside, a vision for the development of mutually beneficial relationships is clearly connected to a Christian worldview.
How do you get to know people and who should you get to know? The answer depends on your general area of career interest. It would be a good idea to try to get to know some people who already do what you think you might like to do. I am interested in writing, and there are all sorts of writing conferences out there; conferences where writers and editors and agents and publishing types mix and mingle for the purpose of making contacts, and hopefully, just developing healthy human relationships at the same time.
If is a good idea to be careful, though, when you are talking to people in positions of power. Your intentions could be easily misunderstood. If you are interested in politics it might not be such a good idea to call up Prime Minister Stephen Harper and see if you can take him out to lunch. Talk to someone a little lower in the political realm, as it were, someone who won’t feel inclined to think that you just want something from them.
But having lots of career contacts will not do you any good if you do not have a specific service to offer. So be sure that you are developing your marketable skills while you are building relationships.
Something new
- At February 09, 2011
- By Nathan
- In Career Planning
- 0
Bryan Adams got his “first real six-string” in the summer of 1969. If he had not purchased that acoustic guitar back then, would you recognize his name now?
When you set out to determine which career is best for you, be prepared to try something new. Music may not interest you, but maybe there is something else that you would like to try if you had the chance. Is inside office work more your thing, or would you rather be working outside in the forest? Experiment with a bit of both and see what you like.
Years ago, while I was working in the woods, I met a man named Dave. And Dave informed me that he was going to buy a canoe in the not-to-distance future, find a mountain lake nearby, and park himself right in the middle of that lake in his nice, new, canoe – just to see if he liked it. That is the idea.
Remember, when it comes to experimenting with career ideas, it is not about success or failure. So you volunteer at a radio station and almost bankrupt the place in the process. Try not to do that, if you can help it; but at the same time, getting fired from a volunteer position could be clue that you are just not cut out for a radio career. Insight and self-understanding is what you are after.
Keep trying. It may take a while to find a general area, let alone a specific occupation, that feels like a fit and something worth pursuing. Aspirations to become a professional blood donor may fall by the wayside after the first four pints flow out of your body. After regaining consciousness, you can always try something new.
The thing not to do is to just jump right into doing what people immediately around you happen to do. This means that you are going to need to be experimenting long before you are in a position where you will have to make a serious and significant career decision. Ideally you will be doing this before you graduate from high school.
Eventually you will likely need to find a college, a place, or some sort of opportunity, where you can develop your career interest into a marketable skill. But do not be too quick to rush off here and there in a frantic quest to find the perfect position or program. Deciding where you really want to go comes first. Deciding how you are going to get there is second.
Planning ahead
- At February 08, 2011
- By Nathan
- In Career Planning
- 0
Just checked the weather here in Saskatchewan and it is a balmy minus 41 degrees celsius – with the wind chill. Oh, it’s not so bad, I try to tell myself. Without the wind chill…now that would be a problem. Might as well be living on the dark side of the Moon then.
The weather guy will no doubt report the temperature in Jamaica or Hawaii or Morocco tonight. Not sure why they do that, but that is what the weather people like to do in cold countries, like Canada. Gives people a sense of hope, I suppose. Or, more likely, it just makes everybody feel bad. Nasty weather people.
“How are you enjoying global warming so far?” my former boss used to say, on days like this. I would be enjoying it a whole lot more if I was a penguin, I think to myself. Believe it or not, you can get used to extremely cold weather. Why else would the penguins live where they do? After a while minus 20 starts to feel like good sun-tanning weather. All the crazy college and university students, here on the prairies, break out the shorts and T-shirts right about then. Do they do that in northern Europe? In Russia? Down in South America? Or, do I just happen to live with all the crazy people?
Needless to say, you have to plan ahead and take some precautions when the mercury takes such a drastic dip. Especially when travelling. Charge your cell phone, pack some blankets, bring some food, grow a beard (if you are the beard growing type), update your will, notify your next of kin; and if you plan on going beyond the corner store, you need to really be prepared. “How bad can it be,” I said to my wife, as we ventured out one winter morning. How bad? We soon found out.
On another occasion, I remember running out of gas on the Trans-Canada highway just east of Calgary, Alberta, when the arctic air had once again settled in. Believe me, you don’t want to be stranded on the side of the road wearing nothing but your Hawaii holiday clothes when it gets that cold. Turning “California Dreaming” up a little louder on your Mp3 player isn’t going to do much good, while you shuffle down the highway in your sandals and swimsuit, through the snow. You might even find yourself featured in the evening news, and for all the wrong reasons: “Crazy Canuck goes for walk on winter day and freezes fanny; claims the Beach Boys are to blame.”
Planning ahead is the obvious prudent thing to do when travelling on an extremely cold winter day. It is a matter of survival, really. And planning ahead is also extremely important when considering which career path to take.
Where are you going to end up in five years, in ten years, in twenty years if you make the career decision you are considering today? Something to think about. Think hard. What seems like a great idea when you are 20 years old, may turn into a story your grandchildren hear – about what not to do – when you turn 60. Career decisions often have profound consequences. Ten concussions, two brain transplants, and five broken bones later, a professional football career – for example – might not feel like such a great and glorious choice after all.
Try to get a picture in your mind of what your life will be like in the years ahead. If you don’t like what you see down the road, as it were, you may be able to make some critical adjustments and arrive safely at a much more appealing destination.
© Career & Life Direction 2011. All rights reserved.
Money matters
- At February 05, 2011
- By Nathan
- In Career Planning
- 0
Managing money may not be very high on your list of exciting things to do. Being forced to read bank statements, plan a budget, set priorities, and track where the money went, can feel like doing hard time in prison for some personality types.
If you need some encouragement during your Siberian-exile experience, just think about what will happen if you don’t do it. Imagine a headline that reads: “Family forced to sell clothes and join nudist colony.” Or, “Kraft Dinner diet: starving student turns orange.”
Here is a thought (please don’t be offended): Nobody is going to manage your money for you. By and large, more people out there are interested in getting you to part with your hard-earned cash, than helping you managed it wisely. Dangling “stuff equals status” messages in front of you constantly is one of the methods used to drain your bank account dry.
Just in case you are inclined to think that carefully managing your money is somehow a “selfish” thing to do, remember: yes, lots of people have needs, legitimate needs, and so do you.
Since this website is focused on helping you clarify and pursue a career that it is a fit with you are, may I point out the obvious: this will require hard work, sacrifice, and funding.
If you are spending all your money eating out in restaurants, making car payments on a new car, and living in a home or an apartment that you can just barely afford your career aspirations will likely never get off the ground.
You may need help, no matter how well you manage your finances. But at least determine to do what you can with what you have.
Your cost of living will be reduced considerably if you move, sell the new car, and eat at home most of the time. Buy things used if you can. I purchased the laptop computer I am sitting in front of for a fraction of the cost a new one. It works fine some of the time, which is about all you can expect from these often infuriating machines.
Buy a car that no criminal in his right mind (if there is such a thing) would ever even think of stealing. My main means of transportation is a 1993 Toyota Corolla. You’re feeling a bit jealous; I can tell. But, it works fine. Aside from starting spontaneously every now and then…can’t complain.
So get creative. Managing a little bit of money wisely will mean that you have a little bit more to manage.
© Career & Life Direction 2011. All rights reserved.
Upside down
- At February 02, 2011
- By Nathan
- In Career Planning
- 0
You cannot move towards a new career without considering the government.This may be a positive as well as a negative experience. Various levels of government can be a great blessing and at times a curse. Just talk to anyone who has dealt with the federal or provincial governments here in Canada.
Here is a realistic thought to consider that may appear to tilt towards the negative side:
Governments are better at consuming wealth than they are at producing wealth. You pay them more often than not. They cannot afford to pay you.
Would you agree?
If that is generally true, it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense for you, or millions of people around the world, to rely on the government. Your confidence will have to be placed somewhere else. And, by the way, voting for more and more entitlements equals voting for national annihilation. Milking your government is comparable to shooting yourself in the foot.
This may sound overly simplistic, but governments really rely on the productivity of their people to sustain themselves.
In an ideal world, there is a healthy and happy degree of reciprocity: people produce valuable goods and services, etc. and the government serves people in the process.
But in an inverted situation, people produce little of value and the government either pampers or oppresses the people.
It is an upside down world. People do little and expect the government to sustain them. People who prosper want to keep it all for themselves. And people in power tend to work the system to their advantage.
No, it isn’t always like this; but all too often it is.
What can you do to turn things around? Here are a few suggestions:
1. Determine to be productive in your new career.
2. Choose to live on a little less than you would like.
3. If you prosper, be generous with what you have.
4. Deal with your own deficit and encourage others to do the same.
5. Take responsibility for your own life.
Characters
- At February 01, 2011
- By Nathan
- In Career Planning
- 0
If you have taken any amount of time getting to know a cat, you know that cats are characters. Cats are crazy, playful, quirky creatures, and each in their own unique way.
Cloning may excite a few scientists as of late, but it makes for a very dull world. It ranks right up their with flying across the world on a grand and exotic adventure, only to step onto the tarmac and be greeted, as it were, by Ronald McDonald. Booooring!
There is much to be said for character development in the sense of honesty, integrity, etc. when you are trying to succeed in a career. Your boss might initially appear to be pleased if you are willing to lie on occasion, but you will not be trusted as a result. If you can deceive a client in a crunch, what is to stop you from misleading the management when it’s convenient? If you gossip about other employees, will your team leader really trust you when their back is turned?
Here, however, the focus is on developing your character in the sense of who you are as a person. This will make life much more enjoyable for you, and also contribute to your career success.
How? Let’s say that you discover that you have a sanguine personality. You really enjoy people and living in the moment. You find that you feel energized just being around others, and discouraged when you are alone. Add to this a specific interest that appeals to you for some odd reason. Maybe you really get a kick out of travelling in the Arctic. Polar bears, penguins, icebergs, ice fishing – you just love everything Arctic.
With this insight in hand you then apply to work as a tour guide based at the North Pole. Okay, so it is a bizarre example, but you get the idea.
Character counts when it comes to career success.
Titanic tilt
- At January 29, 2011
- By Nathan
- In Career Planning
- 0
As you pursue a career that is more of a fit with who you are, aim to produce something that others will value and genuinely need. Wood to build a home might come in handy. Gas to drive a car would seem to qualify. Grain to bake some bread might be nice. Steel for a sturdy office building, windmills to produce electricity – use your imagination, but make sure that you produce something.
Meeting your own needs is an essential part of the career equation, but being obsessed with your own needs is counterproductive and even destructive in terms of your career or your country’s success.
Imagine a societal ship plowing along through the sea of world history that is tilting more and more towards consumption (meeting your own needs) and away from production (meeting your own needs by meeting the needs of others). Eventually the whole thing is going to capsize and sink.
An economy is complicated, but just take a gander across the pond at Greece. There they are, drowning in their own debt.
Commenting on the sad state of the USA’s economy, Conrad Black warned of the danger of living in a “white-collar fools paradise.” For accountants do not drive the economy. Neither do judges, lawyers, pastors, teachers, doctors, politicians, professors, software engineers, or even aspiring writers. All of these professions are important and provide an essential service, but they are secondary.
They serve and are subsidized by the millions of ordinary and average people, who get up in the morning each day and determine to produce something of value – something they have found or shaped from the earth – and present it to someone else.
© Career & Life Direction 2011. All rights reserved.
The funnel effect
- At January 28, 2011
- By Nathan
- In Career Planning
- 0
When you first arrive on this planet, it is as if you are placed at the small end of a funnel. Helpless. Dependent. Weak. Fragile. You really don’t have much to offer in terms of marketable skills. Your ability to wail away at all hours of the night may be impressive, but it isn’t going to pay the bills.
Slowly you learn to eat, walk, dress yourself, find the washroom, and even talk. Each accomplishment is a milestone, and you may warm the hearts of many along the way, and yet you are just beginning to learn how to meet your own basic needs.
Your world expands. You go to school, church, get involved in the community and begin to blossom. Trying this and that, you begin to discover what you enjoy and what you have been wired with the ability to do.
This knowledge guides your decisions related to further training, education, and skill development.
And then, you have reached to top – of the funnel that is; your world has expanded astronomically compared to the diaper days. But now, you need to work your way intentionally back down towards the narrow end.
The skills you have developed need to be put to use in a specific place. What you have to offer can only be offered to some people on the planet. You may want to change the world but the reality is that you can only change one small part of it. The good people in Portugal will just have to find a way to do with out you. New York may have to do with out your cheerful presence. NATO will be forced to scrape by, and defend the free world all by themselves.
Flitting and fluttering here and there is only going to lead to frustration and a lack of influence anywhere.
You can still have a comparatively large vision for what you want to accomplish. But always view yourself as being small.
Blaise Pascal put it like this:
“We are all something, but none of us are everything.”
Assuming the best
- At January 26, 2011
- By Nathan
- In Career Planning
- 0
Taking rejection in stride is a good habit to get into when applying for a job or navigating your way through life. A company that has 5 positions to fill and 50 applications can’t hiring everyone. Do the math, and don’t take it personally.
Try to place yourself in their position. You are trying to run a company or a church or some other non-profit organization and you are already swamped. You are hiring more people because you really need more people to do the things that the people you already have do not have the time or the skills to do. There may be a sense of urgency and desperation in the air.
“We need to get some more staff and get them right now!”
And so, your application lands in some beleaguered soul’s email inbox on a Monday morning along with countless other application, requests, and complaints. Where to start? Clicking away, they eventually quickly scan through your application and nothing really stands out. Everyone’s mother knows (and if my mother is reading this, I do appreciate the vote of confidence) that their son or daughter stands head and shoulders above all the other applicants. But chances are that the people who do the hiring haven’t had a chance to be enlightened by your mother.
The unthinkable happens, and you are not invited to an interview. Shock. Horror. The earth shudders and shakes. The entire universe grinds to a halt. Time stands still. Slow motion sets in. Off in the distance a mournful dog howls.
Yes, you may have really needed that job, so I do not want to make light of your situation. Still, nobody was voting on your value and worth as a human being.
And even if they were, God’s perspective is what really counts in the end.