One way to keep our life positive, is to have control over our finances. When we do have that control, we feel more confident in ourselves, less stress and more able to focus on the other areas of our world, such as our relationships, work, etc.

A young and bright  former CPA (by his own admission) and now a graduate student in Accountancy, has created a budgeting program that helps you get that “handle” on your budget and helps you to get to a point where you can feel more in control and more at ease with your financial world. His name is Jesse Mecham, founder of “You Need A Budget (YNAB). You can read an article by “MacWorld” that gives a brief description of the program, or you can go to the “You Need A Budget” web site at www.ynab.com to get a better picture. The program is very inexpensive, but very effective in helping gain that control. I use it and I highly recommend that you check it out. It may be a small time invested in looking and a whole life time of value to you.

Coach Chad

Networking

In today’s job hunt, it is important to understand the importance of networking. Studies show that up to 65 to 80% of all hires come from networking. If that is the case, then it becomes extremely important to utilize that tool in your job search efforts. Most people use the classified ads and/or the Internet to focus on their job leads. This can be helpful, but by the time companies place those job ads in the paper as well as the Internet, many days, if not weeks or months have passed since that job was known to be vacant inside the company. Also, you are now competing with everyone else who is reading that same ad that you are. Competition becomes much greater.

Inside Help

The ability to find work becomes much easier by networking and utilizing the people you know, or who they know that they can introduce you to. This becomes even easier today. Many employers are wanting to find good employees and they have the luxury of being very selective in today’s labor market. Finding good employees becomes easier for those employers if they can have reliable input from staff they trust or know. Many employers are creating incentive plans for their employees for recommending  “good referrals” to the employer. Joann Lublin’s addresses this in her article “Greasing the Inside Track to a Job.” Employers are taking advantage of the knowledge base of their current employees, to provide suggestions for potential hires. If those new hires workout during a possible probation period, the referring employee can receive some type of bonus. A win-win-win. The new hire wins, the employer wins, plus the referring employee wins. Sweet!

The more you can use your network, the better your chances will be in finding a new job quickly. Plus the fit may be much better. When you have a recommendation from someone that knows you and can attest to your abilities, plus they probably know what you may like in a job environment, people to work with, etc., that can improve your chances of truly enjoying your new job and make it a much better fit for you and the employer.

Happy networking!

Personal Perceived Marketing Value – Branding

Recently I attended an in-service provided by my local Chamber of Commerce. The speaker was in the business of company branding.  I enjoyed his discussion on how to think about making yourself special or unique. In his explanation, he used the analogy of two pennies.  He asked, “What if you were shown two pennies and were told to choose one to keep for yourself?”  He then stated that, neither one of them were rare or special in any way.  Since both were pretty much the same in appearance and value, it would probably be a complete toss-up on which one you choose.  Right!  He then proceeded with the following. “But what if you were told that one of them came from the pocket of President John Kennedy?  Would you be more likely to choose that one?” As we can see, that new bit of information adds a new dimension to one of the coins.  In the words of the presenter, that penny now has an increase in perceived market value.

The in-service was directed toward business owners and developing an image for their business.  This illustration caused me to think about job seekers and what they provide potential employers.  If we are in job search, what do we present to employers that increases our PERCEIVED MARKET VALUE?  I believe part of that can come from looking at the value we bring to an employer.  That can come in many forms.  One form is what I call the “HOW” of what you do.  I described this in a post I made earlier titled “Selling Yourself In Job Search” where I talk about creating that uniqueness.  Other areas that can be effective, is looking at what you bring that provides a CONNECTION between the company and the customer, what do you bring as a product and  what SERVICE can you provide.

In our efforts to find employment or develop our business, it is important the perception that others have about us.  What are you doing to generate your perceived market value?  Hopefully, you’re creating a good one!

Who Influenced You The Most

When you were growing up, who influenced you the most? How did they influence you and how did you benefit from that influence?

A recent post in Yahoo Personals Blog spoke of “9 Things Happy Couples Talk About.” The post quoted Eleanor Roosevelt saying “great minds talk about ideas; small minds talk about people.” The post then asked the question, “what do you and your significant other talk about? If you constantly hit the heavy stuff, you’re probably happier than if you spend time gossiping about your neighbors or coworkers.”

What’s your opinion? Personally I agree with Eleanor.

QUESTION OF THE DAY

Cicero said “Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all others.” Today, we typically don’t take the time to express our gratitude to those around us. We fail to show or tell them how grateful we are for what they have brought and do bring to our lives. So the question today is, what are you grateful for?

Selling Yourself In Job Search (Your True Value)

Have you ever wondered why someone else gets the job and you don’t? Why does that other person get the opening and you are left holding the bag (on a side note, I’ve never been quite sure what “the bag” really is and why are we holding it in the first place?)? Sorry, I digress. Whatever the reason, you don’t want to be that person. What I mean is, what is the difference between how you’re selling yourself and this other person who always seems to get the job? Is it possible that it could be the depth of the information being shared–or the lack there of? How the words are packaged? What words are you saying about yourself that shows your value to the employer? You do your best, but somehow the interviewer/employer doesn’t see the same value as you do.

Your True Value

When actively looking for work, the typical job seeker focuses on what they do in performing their duties and what abilities they can bring to the potential employer. The job seeker wants to show the value and abilities that they can bring to the job and the employer, as they should. But most job seekers fail to look at the broader picture of abilities. They tend to focus on what they do. It is true, our abilities are based on what we do, but there is another component of that equation that we tend to leave out. I believe that component is one of the most important concepts you need to focus on so the employer can truly understand the value and also the uniqueness you bring to the position. Unfortunately, most of us very rarely stop to think what the component is. What I’m talking about is the “how” of what you do. Your ability is not only made of “what” you do, but also “how” you do it.

What vs. How

Let me give an example. If you were a delivery person, your co-workers might say that you are able to deliver and return quicker than any other delivery drivers. You accomplish your job efficiently, effectively and succinctly. They might say that is what you do. A question that needs to be asked however, is how are you able to do that? Is it because you drive faster than the speed limit or perhaps worse (let’s hope the boss doesn’t find out), so you get back quicker than everyone else and you’re then able to go on another delivery, getting more deliveries done in a day. This makes you more productive. So “what” you do, is getting back quicker than everyone else. As I mentioned earlier, the real question that needs to be answered is “how?” How are you able to get back quicker than everyone else? When you start exploring that question, you begin to delve into who you really are. You begin to understand the uniqueness you bring to your employer. This uniqueness could be the thought process you go through to figure out the routes to take. Perhaps you can visualize the routes patterns in your head and can figure out the fastest or most productive route. We are all wired with special gifts. You know people who can just visualize or see something much quicker than others. They have that innate ability. What problem solving skills are you using to accomplish the job (minus the speeding, of course)? It would then be a special gift you have. This is what you are bringing to the job.

Let me share another example. This comes from one of the participants in my workshop. He was trying to understand this concept by sharing an experience he had on one of his previous jobs. During evaluation time, one of his co-workers would get higher evaluations than my participant. The participant said the evaluations were higher because the co-worker was more productive and was able to get more accomplished during the day. The participant said that the co-worker was able to get more done because he worked during his lunch hour. As my participant tried to make sense of the “what” and “how”, he said “how” his co-worker was able to get more done was by working during his lunch hour. I corrected my participant by saying, the “how” his co-worker accomplished more wasn’t by working through his lunch break, that was “what” he did. The “how” was his willingness to give up his lunch break. The “how” was the attitude and personality his co-worker brought to the job and to the employer.

The more you can understand the “how” you do something, the better you will be at selling yourself to an employer. The reason for that, is because the how you do something is a direct connection to who you are. It is your nature, your innate abilities, your uniqueness, YOU! That is something you can take anywhere, to anyone, to any job. The better you are at identifying how you do things, the better you will be at selling yourself to potential employers so they will understand the true value of what you bring to them. Potential employers will understand the true value you bring, called return on investment (ROI). What do you bring them in return for the salary they give to you. This becomes the value you have.

Conclusion

To understand the how you do something, may be the difference between you getting a job or not. You want to show to potential employers all the abilities you have; not only what you do, but how you do it. This becomes the real VALUE you bring to an employer. The unique characteristics that make you standout versus the other candidates that are seeking that job as well.

In the words of the Kung Fu master (paraphrased). Go out and prosper Grasshopper!

Coach Chad

The Strength of Weak Ties

The experts say that most of us know about 250 people. When they say you “know”  that many, they don’t mean that you go out to dinner with that many, or even have every one of their home phone numbers. But that’s the number of people who you can claim as friend, relative, or acquaintance. These are people you interact with, who would recognize you or your name. Within your circle of 250, there are the core people; the few that you are especially close to. That would include your family, closest friends and possibly your co-workers, and maybe another twenty or thirty that you socialize with or see regularly. Outside of your core are the rest of your 250; these are the ones that you are obviously not as close to, like your wife’s cousin out in Oregon that you see once every two years, that nice older woman in the Accounting Department you see once a month or your neighbor’s bratty kid.

It makes sense that the people you are closest to will have more in common with you.  They will tend to have the same interests as you, and they will tend to know the same people as you.  There can be a lot of overlap between your circle of 250 and their circle of 250, and because of that overlap, they will be more likely to know what you know. And in the same way, they will be more likely to not know what you also don’t know; in this case, possible job-openings. It is when you start getting farther away from your core, and start finding people with less overlap between your 250 and theirs, that you will find the people and information that you, and those closest to you, are less likely to know. Though it may seem paradoxical, it is the people that you know least well, who are most likely to be helpful in your job hunt. This is called “The Strength of Weak Ties.”

You cannot ignore this concept. To make your job hunt more successful, you need to find people you do not know well, or at all. The less well you know them, the more helpful they are likely to be to you in your job search.

When networking, it becomes important to understand this concept. The more you develop those ties with individuals outside of your comfort zone, the better you will find what your looking for, a new job, career, or a new set of neighbors that don’t have a bratty kid. read more…