Career

Preparing for the School Year – Even If You Don’t Have Children

I don’t know about you, but I’ve always thought about life in terms of an academic calendar. I still find myself saying, “I can’t, it’s a school night,” when I mean work night.

Part of that stems, of course, because when children are out of school, our lives take on a different rhythm. Even those without children see it. We don’t have to change our work route to avoid the bus stops, for example.

school busI just read an article about the start of the school year and it made me think about some of the things I need to do to ensure that I’m ready for the next push at work. Perhaps some of these will be helpful to you as well.

Check Your Commute. I already mentioned this, but it’s good to know where the bus stops are. Last year, one of the school buses stopped at my intersection. If I didn’t leave the house by 7:45 a.m. I was going to be stuck for at least 10 minutes. I adjusted accordingly.

Stock Up. With chilly days and more opportunities for bad weather, we get a bit lazier about leaving our offices. It’s good to have healthy snacks on hand. I keep a desk drawer filled with granola bars and nuts, and a bowl on my file cabinet with apples. If the healthy food is easily accessible, I will eat it and not go near a vending machine. I also bring in a week’s supply of Greek yogurt and keep it in the fridge.

Exercise. In the summer, most of are involved in more outdoor activities that keep us active. Don’t let the shorter days and the busier fall schedule keep you from working out. Take a walk at lunch, meet with a friend on the weekend for a walk or bike ride, join a gym.

Schedule Fun. As they days get shorter, it’s all too easy to spend more time at the office because there is not the pull of the outdoors and sunshine. But you still need to take a break and have fun. Be sure to schedule fun, whether it’s dinner out with friends, movie night or a night in with the family.

Recalibrate. How are you doing on your career goals? Now is a good time to check your progress and recalibrate as needed. It’s also a good time to look forward and start thinking about next year’s goals.

While I’m not ready for summer days to disappear, I am ready for what the fall brings – just as soon as I go to the grocery store and restock my desk drawer!

Tips for Using LinkedIn

I wrote that I had been helping individuals in their job searches. One of the first pieces of advice I give is to update the LinkedIn profile.

“LinkedIn magnifies your networking for good or bad,” said Stephen Dupont, who gave a webinar on networking through LinkedIn. “A sparse profile looks like you don’t know what you are doing.”

Yikes!

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Here are some tips to maximize your LinkedIn profile:

  • Use your LinkedIn address in your email signature. That will enable people to click and learn more about you.
  • Edit your profile descriptor as that is what shows up on Google. Most people have it as their current job title. Is that really how you want to be known? This is where you define your personal brand.
  • Share details about you and your company.
  • Position yourself as a thought leader. Post a comment about a trending topic relevant to your field. If you write a blog, post it to LinkedIn.
  • Post jobs on LinkedIn for your company or that you know about.
  • Make it easy to contact Include your email address and phone number and why a person should contact you.
  • Post a photo. People are seven times more likely to look at your profile if you have a photo. People want to know with whom they are dealing.
  • As with any writing, be sure to proof it before you post it.

As with anything, it’s also good to know what your goals are for being on LinkedIn.

Building Your Networking System

Networking takes time and effort but the rewards can be huge.

A good networking system should include some combination of the following:

Face to face meetings. These meetings are usually one-on-one opportunities to get to know a person better or to discuss a particular subject area. I try to hold at least three of these a month.

Professional meetings and associations. To further your knowledge within your field, it’s helpful to get involved with groups that focus on your subject matter. I belong to the National Federation of Press Women, Virginia Professional Communicators and the Public Relations Society of America. Monthly and yearly meetings provide me with opportunities to enhance my skills, and the networking provides me opportunities to learn about others and their responsibilities.

Conferences. These are a great way to learn new skills and, at the same time, meet with others who face similar challenges. At a recent conference I attended, I spoke with several about pitch ideas. The advice was invaluable.

Networking clubs. These groups are a chance to meet individuals from a variety of professions. I don’t belong to one, but I often attend a women’s networking group as a guest. I usually gain some insights into other areas. One time, I met an individual who ran a catering company. A few months later at work I had to organize a day-long meeting that required lunch. I called the individual I had met, and the lunch was a success.

Community involvement. I volunteer with my local library. Our shared love of books brings us together, but the individuals come from all professions. I found my tax preparer through the group. I’ve also met teachers, health care professionals and writers.

LinkedIn. LinkedIn enables you to build a strong online presence, build your credibility and network. It’s also easily searchable. When I’m hiring individuals, I always review their profiles. When one of the professional groups I was involved in needed a web designer, I posted a notice about it, and I reconnected with a former colleague who now did that work. He’s still managing our website.

In my next post, I’ll share some ways you can enhance your LinkedIn profile.

Are You Career Ready?

Several friends are currently looking for work because of company closings and downsizing. A few friends, who are gainfully employed, have expressed concerns about shaky futures with their company.

While none of us can accurately predict the future, we can prepare for it. As someone who handles crisis routinely, I follow certain steps and procedures to ensure readiness.

The same holds true for career preparedness. Here are five steps to keep you career ready:

  1. Update your resume. I review my resume at least once a year, and sometimes more. If I join a board, earn an award, add new responsibilities, I update the resume. It’s best to do it when the information is fresh.
  2. Maintain a list of companies/dream jobs: You may have a good position at the moment, but if there is a company that you dream of working for, follow it on LinkedIn or routinely check its website. That’s what I did with my most recent position. Keep the list and review it regularly. All of my jobs came when I wasn’t necessarily looking, but I couldn’t pass up the opportunity.
  3. Be active on LinkedIn. Speaking of LinkedIn, it’s good to keep your profile updated and to check in at least once a week to review the latest openings in your profession and to see what others are talking about. The top stories often surface during job interviews. It’s also good to share information that would be of interest to others in your network.
  4. Network. Years ago a trusted advisor encouraged me to have lunch at least twice a month with individuals within my network. I took that to heart and went so far as to track my efforts and what was discussed until it simply became part of my career habits. I regularly meet with others in my network to share ideas and best practices, to learn what they are doing, to provide connections to others and, yes, sometimes to ask for something. It’s amazing how many people you will meet with in a year if you make this part of your routine.
  5. Collect work samples. Keep copies of your output offsite. You don’t want to be scrambling on the last day to find a copy of a great press release you wrote so that you have it to share at a job interview. Be sure to also maintain a list of key contacts away from the office. It’s one of the reasons, I find LinkedIn so valuable – I can always reach someone within my network through LinkedIn even if I can’t immediately find the person’s phone number or email.

Do You Have the Skill Sets to be CEO?

If you have aspirations to be a CEO you will need to be both a strong connector and a strong communicator.


Both were cited by the “2013 Chief Executive Study” by Strategy&. The study also noted tomorrow’s CEOs will be increasingly female. CEO’s also will travel globally and be comfortable with technology.

Connecting and communicating are powerful skills to have no matter what position you hold. Here are some tips to enhance your skills in both areas.

Connecting

  1. Join a professional group and get to know the members. Share your knowledge with others just as you would hope they would do.
  2. Make a list of influential people within your sphere whom you should know. When possible, meet them at conferences or see if you can schedule coffee or lunch with them.
  3. At conferences, connect with others. Don’t simply collect business cards. Make a point to get to know the person’s areas of influence and something personal about them. Following the conference, if you come upon an article or item of interest that relates to them, share it with them.

Communicating

  1. One communication skill that many communicators should polish is their presentation skills. Consider taking a course in presentation skills. Lynda.com offers a monthly subscription for $25, and you can take all of the online courses you want, including presentation skills. Or, pay attention during a particularly good or bad presentation. What worked, what didn’t? Be sure to apply what you learn in your own presentation, whether it’s formal to a group or informal as you persuade your boss about a potential project.
  2. Use social media. USAToday holds Social Media Tuesdays in which staff can only share their stories on social media platforms. The purpose is to get the reporters to think like their readers, who are increasingly getting their news through social media sites and not the home page or front page, according to a July 14 article in The New York Times.
  3. Join Toastmasters to develop your public speaking skills. Public speaking usually occurs in a more formal setting with limited visuals. Presentation skills as noted above use PowerPoint or other visual aids to support your key messages.

Are you grooming yourself to be CEO of your own company? If not, you may want to enhance your connecting and communicating skills.