Next Career Option - Environmentalism

Green and the many aspects it presents may be the direction in which we will find fertile grounds for careers and talent shortages.

The many aspects of creating energy, renewable sources of energy, cost-effective and efficient uses, and many other creative dimensions of the Green Movement remind us that resources are limited.  The more we can focus on creating sensible approaches to sustainable energy as ways to bring power to places that are laboring without it.

Kimberly Samaha has brought our attention to The Bordeaux Energy Colloquium whose site features eight videos of projects creating a positive move forward for areas as diverse as China (biomass), Ghana (rural solar power), Peru and Nepal (micro hydropower), Canada (solar heaters),  and South Africa (bio gas).

In order to spur awareness of this initiative, there will be an online competition in two categories:

• Best case study and technology ($5,000 prize)
• Best recruiter ($500 prize)

The virtual tradeshow and competition will be on Facebook from May 1 - 7. How do you get directions to the tradeshow? Try the link to Bordeaux Energy Colloquium on Facebook.

Best of eLearning Awards and Online Universities Announced

We’re here to help you get ahead. Part of the formula is making informed choices. So here’s some information you climbers should know. It’s also useful information for those who screen the ones being considered for that notch position.

Elearning Readers’ Choice Awards Nominees

Finalists in the Elearning [Readers' Choice] Awards were announced in December 2007 by B2BMediaCo.com. The nominees range from four to six participants in 12 categories, which are:

• Best LMS
• Best On-demand LMS
• Best IT Content
• Best Leadership
• Best Soft Skills
• Compliance Training
• Best Virtual Classroom
• Best Web Seminar
• Presentation Tool
• Best Web Authoring Tool
• Best Simulation Tool
• Best Assessment Tool

Winners were announced in the Winter 2008 issue of Elearning!

This is the first time that a call has been issued for feedback on which products and vendors are of choice for end users. This is usually word-of-mouth intelligence, making it very difficult at times to get complete and reliable information.

Best Online Degree Programs

Elearning! also provides us with their list of the top 20 online degree programs offered and the reasoning for the program’s position on the list among the 200 evaluated. The top 20 are:

• Western Governors University
• Capella University
• Concordia University
• Walden University
• California Coast University
• Ellis College
• Touro University International
• Classes USA Consortium
• University Alliance
• Thomas Edison State College
• Norwich University Online Graduate Programs
• New England College, School of Graduate and Professional Studies Online
• University of Phoenix
• Nova Southeastern University
• Keller Graduate School of Management
• eLearners EXpress (nomination #5)
• American InterContinental University Online
• Baker College Online
• Marist College
• eLearners EXpress (nomination #6)

One additional feature in this article is a section that discusses how to select an online program and 10 mistakes to avoid in making that selection.

Why Is It Important to the Job Seeker?

It was probably the 23rd or 24th of March and I was having another bout of apathy in regard to interminable waits for unreliable buses that take me on two-hour rides to the next destination. On that day, I was contemplating the mania job seekers have about having the perfect resume. It was astounding how many articles can be found on how to email a resume (even in 2008)!

It was one of those days when the redundancy of the questions from job seekers was wearing. No matter who or where, the questions were essentially the same, repeatedly. Perhaps it’s because each job seeker graduates from high school and university every year and because new or returning job seekers hit the market on a daily basis. They are either starting out with absolutely no clue about what they’re doing at any level. Or they’re restarting and trying to do things in the most up-to-date, modern style possible without tripping themselves out of the running.

They need someone to guide them and show them the ropes. And there are so many ropes! Then there are others who have the rudimentary information but still need some fine tuning. And finally, there are those who’re short-selling themselves and would benefit from some type of coaching.

These “reasons” were not comforting. There’s got to be more to this than just learning how to present yourself. There are professionals, C-level officers of companies, people in their 40s and 50s, who are striving to know the answers to questions about how to write an effective cover letter, how to interview. Some of these people have no clue about how to start researching a company or even that it is reasonable to do so for a job search.

These sorts of ruminations don’t go away easily. These are the type that linger. So I decided not to rely on my own apathetic perspective. Instead, it was time to ask two well-known friends and trusted colleagues. On March 25, I sent a message that said:

Okay you two. I trust your judgment and discernment. Your words are usually reliable. So I ask you — both of you — Why is any of this recruiting, job search, resume writing, networking, social media, world’s best candidate stuff important?

Yep, the date and time that message was sent was 7:06 pm, Mar 25th. To date, neither colleague has responded. Maybe because the question stumped them as well; maybe because they’ve been too busy to pay attention to it. (It really does happen!) And as I continue to compose this piece, I find little pieces of this and that which indicate others (including my colleagues) are also ruminating about these matters. For example, on April 22, one of my two friends Twittered, “Getting to focus on the part of my job that I love the next few days, all brainstorming and defining the candidate / job seeker experience.”

But I’ve heard nothing.

There must be a more meaningful answer than the pitiful ruminations that wedged their way into my brain.

Aha! As I said, there are pieces of this and that which indicate others in the industry are also considering this question. On April 29, an advertising bit reached my Inbox. It was from Legal Authority, the legal recruiting agency that specializes in attorney placements. (You see? Even lawyers need help with finding a job!)

Time Is the Essential Factor

Legal Authority reveals why the job seeker experience, and all of the elements involved in it, is important by reading between the lines. The first thing they point out is the time factor in relation to doing research.

It’s one thing to broadcast your well-crafted resume and static cover letter to any and every company that has an ad running. It’s quite another to have some idea of what you want to do and where. The “plus” is knowing what “Where” has to offer and which among the thousands are offering something even remotely close to that overall picture.

Legal Authority continues by talking about how they’ll help you craft the perfect resume and cover letter through collaboration with their certified resume writers. In my jaded opinion, there is no “perfect resume” because everyone has their own concept of how it can be done better. The perfect cover letter is the one that conveys your personality as well as your qualifications and causes the reviewer to want to talk with you more than any of the others. But having someone who is expert at getting the right descriptions into those brief documents is oh so tricky.

Here, crafting the best resume and cover letter possible is a bit like coming up with the one right thing to say in order to get that special person to pay attention to you and say “Yes.”

Tools for Optimization

Social networking and Web 2.0 are tools that are supposedly designed to optimize our ability to meet the right people, like-minded and like-motivated people (or else complements) who are parts of a greater whole in which we want to be involved. If they’re not part of the place, they at least know about its insides and even a few people there who can provide greater insights.

To a job seeker, that means finally connecting with the person who knows about the holy grail – the right company, the right position, the right contact name and information. It’s about cutting down the amount of scant time doing the search and getting into the nitty gritty of determining whether this is the situation that will really work. It dispenses with the blind alleys and cul de sacs.

But we’re getting so bogged down with social network entrepreneurs who’re trying to make a fast buck on the social networks with their handy-dandy tools that the duplicative nature of the vast number of them available on all of the networks boggles the mind. How one can make meaningful connections while also trying to determine which tool will deliver the optimal connection opportunities is overwhelming; it deadens the quality time for actually doing the search and coming up with the right connections.

This subject goes much deeper. But it’s starting to become clear that this “recruiting, job search, resume writing, networking, social media, world’s best candidate stuff” is important. It’s important to the job seeker not only for the sake of time and cost containment but also for maximizing one’s return on investment in the advanced education and training and the just plain old “F” word – fulfillment.

Business Perspective

From a business perspective, financial sustainability, the importance of the job search goes back to time efficiency in completing business endeavor goals, putting to use the skills gained through all channels of training and experience, and keeping the “treasury” measurably above breakeven point.

Fear of Failure

“I don’t try to do it because I’m afraid I’ll fail,” admitted Sam (a fictitious name of a friend) as we sipped our beverages. That was also the reason he’d not taken his licensing examination, nor learned and taken over duties on one of the more responsible pieces of equipment at his job, nor many other things. I didn’t dare to ask how far his fear of failure extended and what forms of avoidance he used. But the fact that he was avoiding so many opportunities and damning himself to secondary and tertiary situations pained me. I wondered whether he realized how much loss he suffers from this attitude. Sam is a very intelligent man. He is very talented. And if he would let himself go, he might be more afraid of the amount of power he has compared with the losses he suffers because of what he attempts to avoid.

Let’s get a grip on this concept of “failure.” Some see it as a death sentence. If you fail, you do not succeed. There are no other chances to “do” again and you’re forever cast into the Valley of Nothingness. Wake-up call! Not true. Failure is simply not succeeding on this particular attempt. It means there were other concepts that needed to be explored or discussed. It means too much or too little was done to achieve the goal (and that may have been attention to details). Not enough pressure was used or else too little. The wrong choice of words or the wrong timing could have contributed to not succeeding at this time.

Did not succeed on this attempt. That does not spell “inadequate” nor “mal-equipped.” It does not shriek “stupid” as much as simply say “not ready” and “needs additional training” or “give time for additional practice.” Knowledge of the steps to achieve the goal are what are needed. Then practicing those steps under all types of circumstances come next. It’s good to develop some of your own unique ways of achieving the desired results once you know the traditional steps inside and out. “Did not succeed on this attempt” means practice more and then attempt again.

Practice is something that will insure success in the long run. Practice means allowing your muscles, tendons, brain waves to develop pathways that allow the process to become automatic. Practice allows thought to fall away from the execution; it flows like pouring water. Thought is required to stop yourself from following through once the initial steps are executed. Practice creates a second nature to whatever is done and a comfort zone that exudes confidence. It reveals knowledge and mastery when we no longer consider it to be such.

To refrain from attempting to do something simply because of a fear of failure is to deny yourself to learn what strengths you do have. It may be that what’s being avoided is one of the biggest payloads that could have happened to you and your career. It may be another microbial step on the ladder to anyone else. But for you and coupled with your background, other experiences, and innovative mind, it’s fodder for creating something else (once the skill is mastered) that will lay the foundation for your own empire.

I think about Sam and his reticence and realize one factor that contributes to his sentence of subordination is that his load is quite heavy. But his work ethic is quite strong and carries him far on his path — even if it isn’t his chosen career path. Sam also has an excellent support network; he’s done well in getting himself established and surrounded by the right types of people with similar cultural and social values as his. Additionally, he is good at targeting others who have good, strong ethics to be friends and new social partners. Sam is good at mixing and very outgoing. He has no difficulty with networking. But he masks his abilities by refraining from doing some of the things that he feels will spell “failure” if he does not succeed on the first through third attempts.

Sam’s asset is his creative, innovative mind. He is capable of coming up with alternatives and successfully exploiting them. How is it, then, that he can be so good at succeeding in the uncharted areas but so desperately fear the ones that are clearly established? Perhaps that is the answer in and of itself. The first is of his own making. The other has a template that needs to be mapped. And Sam feels the map must be precise. Those with extreme discipline or were raised under exacting conditions would have this need to be acutely precise. Sam has strengths in areas where there is a template that allows for innovation. It doesn’t seem that he ventures into those areas very frequently.

Unfortunately, we live in a society where compliments don’t fall off the tips of our tongues each and every time someone does something in a superb way. Most likely Sam could use some affirmations as he moves through his various functions and achieves the small milestones that are leading him to his mountain of success. And it could also be that he doesn’t even see his successes because he’s so focused on the path. In that regard, I feel a bit like a failure, because I haven’t had that epiphany until now.

Hey, Sam!

Making Matches in a New Way

Circulating among the recruiting sites these days has become a tad boring. Always the same topics. Always the same answers. Always the same voices shouting down the others. And everyone in search of the better mousetrap to find the best talent for the job in the shortest amount of time.

There are all sorts of assessments to determine whether the applicant will become a candidate. And there are all types of assessments to measure the quality of skills the candidate has. Then the subjective stuff gets smushed in — the recruiter’s judgment — as to whether (according to the resume) this person or that has the right qualifications.

I have a feeling many of these recruiters simply do not read the cover letters that accompany the resumes wherein the lateral experience is delineated for them. And I also have a feeling that some of these recruiters simply do not understand what it is they’re searching for because they don’t want to show their ignorance. They’re ignorant because they don’t understand the terms used in the job req or the position description. What they do instead of asking for clarification or saying, “To me, this means . . .,” is they just blow it off as something that everyone does and should know, and they wonder aloud why no one else understands what the terminology is saying. You know, they use psychology.

Well, I’ve turned somersaults and cartwheels in this post and not gotten very close to saying what I’m thinking about. But after looking at all of these factors that go into finding the ideal slate of candidates and many times not coming up with the right answer, why are we not using the techniques employed by eHarmony or Match.com or Yahoo! Personals (or similar matchmaking sites) in order to get the right match?

These personals sites claim to have a very high match rate and that they connect people who wind up as enduring relationships. They start with the basic premise that social networking sites and job boards use — a profile that gives a thumbnail version of who You, the person, are. There’s the section for likes and dislikes, what you want, your ideal situation. You tell a bit about yourself and your background (is that called a “resume?”). Buried within all of that is something that brings out a bit of your personality (can someone say “cover letter?”). You talk a bit about why you are the best thing since sliced bread, look things over for glaring errors and little tweaks that may be needed, and the click “Submit.”

Once that Submit button is clicked, each site starts its processes for sorting and sifting. eHarmony has 29 dimensions through which it sorts. Yahoo! Personals checks for the body type you’re looking for, while Match.com sifts through what your friends and acquaintances say (references), it double checks places where you’ve been — or want to go. Yahoo! Personals delves into things such as body type, ethnicity, and education level. There’s really not that huge of a difference between the job boards and the matchmaking sites except for the fact that at one you’re looking for employment and business, at the second, it goes beyond business into the personal side of life and perhaps sex. The other isn’t that type of business.

But each one goes through filtering, looking for keywords, assessing whether there’s a match and if not, continuing to sort and sift until there’s a hit. The recruiting and job board side of this matchmaking process (we’ll just refer to it briefly as the “recruiting” side) seems to be filled with land mines that are set to detonate at the slightest glimmer of a potential match. The recruiting side of the process is destined to ruin because there is so much that’s at the mercy of subjective decision making. However, the matches are supposed to be just right for the company and guaranteed to work out. There are all sorts of instruments that are used to make certain the candidate is just right. As I said before, there are personality assessments, interest assessments, skill assessments, psychological assessments. You name it and there’s a screening assessment that’s been invented to handle it. These recruiting assessments are a bit like finding the right application to use on Facebook or MySpace. That is, there’s lots of stuff but only a few that really do the job.

Well, the personal sites would seem to have a higher percentage of good matches than the recruiters. People at the personal sites seem happier and better adjusted for the transparency of the process. People using the personals sites don’t find theirselves interminably left on hold. They get results or they get refunds. So why don’t we just dump all of these recruiter-type assessments and matchmaking?

In fact, why don’t we just get rid of recruiters? What we would use instead are the personals sites. They seem to be much better at figuring out people, what their likes and dislikes are, who they get along with, and the sites help people communicate and meet! They have a better record of matches that work.

Pushing for Excellence

It was during a period between the end of April to early May 2007 when the incident occurred. Enroute to a destination that was not performing the duties for which it was established, I stopped at a Burger King for breakfast fare and rest. This particular Burger King is located at Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard and Western Avenue and it has a mural of Civil Rights Era notables and events. Among the personages represented are images of Cesar Chavez, John and Robert Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Dolores Huerta, and Whitney Young. Some of the events it memorializes are the March on Washington, King’s being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, and many other significant points in time during that era.

It was interesting to reflect on the images of the people, the acts for which they are remembered, their places in history and that time period in addition to what that time meant to people of color and our United States as a whole. For one who watched as the cavalcade passed before my eyes, as one who walked and survived those tumultuous times, who stood for the life that they strove to achieve for all, it was uplifting to see the mural. But I wondered how many youth of today understand what it means and those it represents.

By then, a young boy of about ten years came into the restaurant. He began to notice the mural and it seemed safe to venture the question, “Do you know who any of those people are or what they did?” He understood that there was a Civil Rights era wherein people such as Martin Luther King, Jr., Cesar Chavez, John and Robert Kennedy had roles. He only knew the history of two — King and Chavez. The reason for that was he had just learned about them in school the week before we met. And it was okay that he at least knew those two. It was a start.

Together we looked at the representation of King’s being awarded the Nobel prize. I explained the significance of the prize to him and the various categories for which people can win. But I omitted little pieces of information — some intentionally and some because I simply did not know it. I asked the boy to look up for me what must be done to become eligible for the Nobel prize, the amount of the purse, and the categories. I then gave him my business card and asked him to email me with the information.

What I wanted him to discover was that the Nobel Prize is not some remote holy grail reserved for the elite and wealthy. What I wanted him to grasp was that with the proper knowledge and focus, it is possible that one day he could vie for that award that attests to being the best in that year for that particular discipline. I wanted him to become familiar with the award in order to gain an appreciation of why it was established and where. And I wanted him to at some point in future time realize that he too can be a catalyst of change and positive energy in his community. Yet another intangible lesson would have been the importance of accuracy and precision of presentation in order to consistently be eligible for that type, that caliber of work.

It’s now eight months later and there’s been no email that delivers the information I requested. The more important thing about the request was to get the youth thinking about what that mural represents. It is supposed to inspire pride in overcoming so many bars to progress and fulfillment. It is supposed to be a reminder of an era and impetus to not allow the movement to die away. Yet, like the unsent email, the promise of that time and the march toward equality has slowed; it seems the promised day will never arrive.

How many of us remember those times and the things for which we fought in multiple ways through numerous venues? At least that boy’s teacher took the time to educate the children about some aspect of the Civil Rights Era, even if it was a mere sampling of two or three names. After all, that was their first introduction to the matter. However, that there is no education about the Civil Rights Era is a troubling matter. I have doubts about whether any of the workers at that fast food site or any adults in the community could remember as many names as the boy and I discussed, much less the events, what they were about, the progress that’s been made since.

Socially, we’ve lost sight of many things that were part of the affirmative action movement. Unfortunately, too many view it as a tool for the unqualified to gain access where they have not earned it rather than allowing them to at least stand in line for their fair shot at the target and then having their shot measured in equal balance to all others.

Once I reached my destination, I discussed the experience and the mural with one of the employees, an officer with the Los Angeles Police Department. My thoughts were multiple and ardent. They infected the listener.

That mural represents periods and dates in our history that need to be remembered. The essence of the representations and the strife that accompanied those histories need to be explained to each generation so that they have a sense of why it is so vitally important that they reach for the best that is within them and demonstrate that talent, that ability to those who have the power to say, “Yes.” The lessons of those days and the growth that they held needs to be continued and replicated.

The youth need to be given the sight of the upper branches where the prize resides. That view will facilitate their aspiring to climb the tree to its uppermost parts. We need to dare and risk. That mural represents so many things that are now falling into colloquialisms and quips instead of meaningful statements. The education about what is depicted and those things that could not be captured in that image need to be discussed on an ongoing basis so that there is knowledge of the circumstances. The discussions need to also cater to strategies to gain inroads in the places where it seems the doors are closed and locked. There needs to be education about how to negotiate in order to gain the keys to enter the doors. And there needs to be education about what to do once inside in order to claim and grow the prize.

That mural represents a struggle that was not about blame for exclusion but about self-driven desire and determination to achieve in spite of the obstacles. That mural represents those who did.

Said Another Way

In the past three to four years it seems our vocabulary (especially as it relates to recruiting, job titles, and job descriptions) is becoming increasingly complicated. Yet the work that’s being accomplished is basically still the same. The only thing about the work is that it has a new name.

Let’s look at a few examples to see what I’m talking about. There’s RPO, recruitment process outsourcing. Basically it means that various parts of the recruiting agency functions are subcontracted out to others to do so that the small, core staff can develop additional business and make money to pay more subcontractors. The result is more work gets done at a higher rate of profit.

A new term that just started floating around it graphics user interface or GUI. As I recently discussed this job title with someone who seemed like a potential candidate, they summarized the position as a person who builds websites. On reflection, that was precisely what the terms meant and we also realized that my acquaintance was not the potential candidate I had hoped he would be. He wasn’t even close because he’s a recent Ph.D. graduate in computer engineering and looks forward to securing a professorship at one of the universities.

Another term of art is “pipeline of candidates” or a stream of potential candidates for a position (also known as the resume slush pile). Doesn’t “pipeline” sound much sexier than stack of papers that represent people we passed over four months ago?

It could be you’ll read a lot of ads that say something about “multiple sourcing channels.” What this means is you use more than just job boards and databases. In addition to those, you use various other techniques for finding potential candidates. (Now if I specified what some of those are, you’d have no reason to come back next week, and the week after, and so on, in order to learn more. So I won’t mention those other techniques in this writing but know they definitely are there.)

Looking at the heavy verbiage in the ads compared with the actual wants and needs of the ones posting the ads, there’s a pressing question that begs being answered. “Why are we bothering with such complicated language? Why not just come out and say precisely what we want as directly as possible so that there’s as little confusion?” Lawyers and judges saw the light in this regard years ago. In fact, the American Bar Association sort of ran up a smoke flag that directed lawyers, legislators, and judges to say what they meant in layman’s English so that everyone would understand what was being said. It was useless to make the verbiage so complicated that Einstein couldn’t make heads nor tails of the whole thing and if someone that astute was getting confused about the message, the message was not written very well in the first place.

It’s my theory that we’re complicating the terminology being used in recruiting so that recruiters will sound like they’re very intelligent, astute, individuals. Further theory, this complicated jargon is simply some secret society recruitspeak so that recruiters can feel quite elitist in their endeavors and therefore justified in barring certain individuals from being included among their precious number. So much for the theories. If it is true, it’s quite sick. If I’m off base, then let’s just laugh it off as something else that’s far out there.

But the next time you see an ad for a position you thought you were qualifed, and upon reading the ad you felt you knew nothing about the position, don’t give up on it and move along to the next ad. Actually, that’s what they’re hoping you’ll do because nine times out of ten, the advertiser is attempting to cut down the number of applicants to just those who are truly interested and qualified.

Actually, don’t give up on the ad at all. Re-read the ad. Read it carefully. Determine the core skills they need. Boil the terminology down to the most basic terms in order to capture what’s being advertised.

What are the fundamental skills required for that type of position? Ohhhhhhhh. You want that, eh? How many years? Well, I don’t have that many years of paid employment experience but I do have a lot of volunteer experience in that area. Perhaps that’s what you’re actually seeking. Let’s see, in the three years that I performed those functions, I worked alone. But when we hit crunch time, I trained and oversaw the work of five other volunteers so that we could roll things out on time, every time. I strategized with the volunteer coordinator and the person orchestrating the project in order to line up the right talent and scheduled them so that there was no glut of personnel crowding the office at any time — just a smooth stream of people who were well directed and professional, doing their work and representing the organization in a positive way. We doubled membership and sponsors after each event during the time I was there.

You see, that was just plain peoplespeak without the pain of convoluted poly-syllabic iterations of somethingorother. It just explained the work without painting monolithic murals. It was just plain and clear English. It went a lot farther in clarifying what was requested and what was done.

What’s in the Hand

Some people complain about the losses they suffer. They see opportunities that were right under their noses that seem to slip off the edge of the Earth, never to be seen again. Of course this is a vexing situation! How many times must we watch as Opportunity slips away as our fingertips yearn to be a little longer in order to grasp a little more firmly?

Whether we’re job seekers, managers trying to entice the new hire, sales people trying to make that next sale or land a new client, or recruiters doing any of the foregoing, to see the opportunity become history is very disappointing. What are you going to do? There was something about the presentation and the circumstances that simply did not make this connection a good match. It was best to move on. Perhaps there will be another opportunity in the future, maybe not. But for today, it is gone. All the blaming in the world, all the tantrums, all the resentful statements and hate emails will not restore what was perceived as victory.

In fact, there was absolutely nothing written in stone that guaranteed the situation. So why are we upset at the loss? What was it about that particular situation that created that much investment in it, to the point that we lash out a anyone, everyone, because of the loss? Perhaps it’s what we thought was available to us had we gained the situation. Unfortunately, that thought was of our own machinations and was mere speculation — it was not reality. Perhaps we observed how well things went when this situation was involved in another venue for someone else and we imagined how well it would work for us if we had that particular asset on our side. Again, this is our projecting our own personality and desires into an illusion of success. Once we set our own practices into motion, the likelihood that we would create the same situation for ourselves as we have in the past would grow once more and we will find ourselves losing what we thought we wanted to capture. It will be gone.

Dwelling on losses is not a healthy thing to do. If, however, it is for the purpose of examining why we keep losing things, parsing out the pattern we are setting for ourselves and defining how we may rid ourselves of these self-destructive patterns, does become a healthy activity.

There are times when no matter what we do, there are outside influences that create our doom and destruction for us. It’s like having the Titanic tied to our necks. It is a reality that there are people who will lie, cheat, steal, and defame in order to see our ruin. The answer, in that case, is to know your competition and close any inroads they may have to getting into your environment. It is especially important to not allow ourselves to get personally involved with these people. There are many reasons for this. They will distract and detract from the great progress that’s already been accomplished. Being around them will create regression into a negative situation. Next, they will steal any ideas you have and, if they cannot use the ideas (or — more likely — don’t know how), they will spread gossip and rumors that tend to be destructive and thereby ruin the entire process you were developing. There are more destructive paths that can be encountered if we allow these unhealthy people into our circle of friends. We can examine those another day.

My point for today is to not lose sight of what you already have when you lose something. An even more healthy thing to do in times of loss is to look at what we do have and all of the positive attributes of that. Some call it a bird in the hand. Call it whatever you want. In spite of the losses that are bound to come our way, there are some things we have won, for which we have worked very hard, and they are ours without question. It is extremely important to keep these assets in mind and preserve them. If a project or a work order is associated with them, it is doubly important to make certain that we deliver on time in good order with perfect execution. Not only could that bird in the hand pay off, it may be the projected successes we saw in the situation that failed and lead to something far better than the latter.

Sometimes it takes a while for me to get to the point. We shouldn’t take things for granted. Even though we have a long-standing client, they could reject us for someone else if we treat them with a degree of disregard and distraction. What we have deserves (sometimes) even more than we would give other situations. It is our current bread and butter. In many instances, that stalwart [client/agent/mentor] is the reason we are surviving at all. We should not only be catering (within reason) to the current needs they have but also projecting whether there are some issues they have not yet identified for which you could be the cure. Keep in mind that your present clients are still there and very important to you in many ways.

Holiday Greetings from The Desk

 

May your Christmas be merry and full of good cheer
May your New Year unfold great surprises,
a soaring career

May your dreams be romantic
Your desires fulfilled

Remember, invite me for dinner;
please pay the bill!

Viva!

[no, I haven't started wearing blue contacts.
I grew a beard!]

Local Job Leads for Your Search

I’m ashamed. I’ve been sitting on information that could be beneficial to many, if not all, of you. It wasn’t intentional. It was an oversight. It was due to the pressures of time and commitments and just plain getting more people to read the words. But my eyes are opened and now it’s time to share not just one job opportunities site with you but two.

Local JobNetwork has websites with job postings, career and job search advice, information about employers, and more. It’s a site that holds local jobs for all 50 states (none of the territories) and all sorts of other goodies to spur your movement through the career and job doors. Although your search may begin on the Milwaukee Job Network page, if you click on the logo link in the bottom right-hand corner of the page, you’ll find the map that shows all of the site’s locations and the one that is most appropriate for your needs. It’s not only for job seekers, it’s also for employers.

Why am I ashamed? Because I’ve been writing for them for a year now.

Jobing.com is another site that holds a collection of local sites across the southern belt of the United States. It posts blogs by Community Relations representatives who provide information and advice about employment venues, opportunities, and strategies. They also feature informational videos. Although I haven’t viewed any of the videos, the captions that accompany them are intriguing. Again, this is a site not just for job seekers but also for employers.

To find the area of most interest to your search, all you have to do is type in the zip code you’re interested in researching. Areas they serve include:

• Alabama
• Arizona Jobs
• Southern California Jobs
• Southern New England Jobs
• Texas
• Colorado Jobs
• New Mexico Jobs
• Nevada
• Florida Jobs
• Wisconsin Jobs

Disability Resources

Incidentally, I also recently discovered a site that specializes on empowerment of those with impairments of various types. It doesn’t appear Disaboom caters to vision limitations, but they do address many of the other types of life-changing events. I was especially in awe of Olympics contender John Register’s story.

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