Every week I check dozens of “career” blogs and other online publications, looking for things that will help you find a job, get promoted, develop your skills, and keep everything in perspective and balance. Here’s the pick of the lot for this week. I’m pointing you to items about gifts you can give your career, taking responsibility for getting noticed, learning from all your experience, happiness, and what’s ahead in the job market.

From Anita Bruzzese: 10 gifts to give your career
“As the gift-giving season draws to a close, it’s time to remember that you still have one more gift left to bestow: The gift of a better career.”

Wally’s Comment: Here’s a great collection of career advice wrapped in a single post. It’s sure to help you get make 2010 better.

From Jackie Cameron: Now is the time for you to take responsibility for getting noticed
“I was meant to meet with a good friend from university days over the Christmas holiday but the weather here has been so bad that I had to cancel. I was really disappointed as she now has 2 lovely children and I was looking forward to seeing them too but we arranged to chat on the phone when she got back home. I have just got off the call. She took on a challenging new role in her organisation earlier this year and she is really enjoying it. It plays to her strengths and recognises her experience in the sector.  She was “headhunted” internally for this job. I then came to my desk and found this video by Scott Belsky with the title ‘Don’t let your genius go unnoticed’”

Wally’s Comment: Most of us figure that if we do a good job, others will notice and we will reap our just rewards. Alas, that doesn’t happen. Unless you’re a big-time athlete or writer with a publicity agency dedicated to building your reputation, you need to do the job yourself.

From Fistful of Talent: There’s Always a Lesson to be Learned. Things I Learned on the Jobs
“Funny thing about growing older—you realize that your parents were right more than they were wrong. Except… except!… when it comes to odd jobs. Y’know, those jobs you took to pay for clothes, parties, and tuition; to avoid figuring out post-college days; to gap-fill when any job would do. I’m here to tell you that these experiences add up. Just take a look at my stellar resume of odd jobs to see what I mean.”

Wally’s Comment: This is a delightful post about the lesson you can learn from the jobs that don’t “count.”

From Jason Seiden: The Ultimate Alchemy: Turning Success Into Happiness
“Modern day alchemists aren’t trying to turn lead into gold. They’re trying to turn gold into happiness.”

Wally’s Comment: One prevailing myth is that if you get rich, you’ll be happy. Now, I’m with Sophie Tucker who said, “I’ve been rich and I’ve been poor, and believe me, honey, rich is best.” But I’ve also known a lot of very rich people who led crappy lives. Jason meditates on these facts.

What to Expect in 2010
Employers See a Brighter 2010

Wally’s Comment: Here are two posts from The Work Buzz that outline the results of the Career Builder Job Forecast for 2010.

I don’t know how it is for you, but this time of year is kind of slow for me. The week between Christmas and New Year’s and the first few days of the year don’t have a lot of coaching appointments or meetings.

It’s nice, unstructured time, especially after the rush of the holidays. It’s a good time for reflection.

So this has always been a time for me to think about my life and career. The best way to do that is to ask and answer some questions. Here are some that have worked for me at various times in my life.

Am I going after the right thing?

I’ve always got one, and only one, major goal. I try to do something every day to move toward achieving it.

At this time of year I ask if it’s still the right goal. There’s no formal system for answering that question. My gut and/or my wife usually do the job just fine.

What has my life prepared me to do right now?

I picked up this question from a sermon my pastor, Father Tim Patterson, gave one Sunday. It’s a great balance for the question about the right goal.

Am I using and developing my strengths?

I believe that the most productive and happy lives and careers center on developing and using your strengths. Because I’ve always been focused on my own development, this question has usually gotten an easy “yes.” 

But not always. Several years ago I realized that I had wandered down a path in my career that led me to a place where I was spending most of my time managing my company. I loved the work and the challenge of it, but the fact is that I love writing and research more and I’m better at them. I got rid of the company.

A few years after that, I discovered that I was doing much more speaking and consulting than writing. I needed to adjust my work priorities.

If I was in a different part of my life, I’d ask if I was on a career path that was right for me. The four options identified by Dr. Ken Nowack are Manager, Specialist, Entrepreneur, and Generalist/Project Manager.

Am I making my weaknesses irrelevant?

Building on your strengths isn’t enough. You also have to make your weaknesses irrelevant.

Sometimes you do that by eliminating the need to do something. Sometimes you outsource the work to a person, company, or software. Sometimes you learn to do it “well enough.”

The time between Christmas and when business is back at full speed is a wonderful time for reflection. Use it to make choices that make your life and career a thing of beauty.

Every week I check dozens of “career” blogs and other online publications, looking for things that will help you find a job, get promoted, develop your skills, and keep everything in perspective and balance. Here’s the pick of the lot for this week. I’m pointing you to items about gauging relationships, your name in personal branding, how to get the most from an awful job, making the most of losing your job, and cool jobs.

From All Things Workplace: How To Measure Relationships
“Do you want to know a way to check the depth of how someone is relating to you at a given moment? Just listen and check out their language. You’ll be fascinated at how revealing it will be. ”

Wally’s Comment: Gauging relationships at work can be tricky. Steve Roesler outlines some cues that can tip you to how the other person understands your relationship.

From the Personal Branding Blog: The Power of Your Name in Personal Branding
“Your name is the single most important factor in your enterprise, whether you introduce and represent your company by speaking your name loudly and clearly while offering a hearty handshake – or write an equally hearty introductory post on a discussion thread.”

Wally’s Comment: Seems simple enough. You have a personal name and you have a personal brand, how could you mess things up? Even if you think you know it all, read this post by Nance Rosen. You’re bound to pick up at least one tip that will make your personal branding more effective.

From Forbes: How To Make The Most Of The Job You’re Stuck In
“January is supposed to be the month of fresh starts, but changing jobs is almost always harder than getting to the gym, socking away money or kicking a habit. Yet many people feel truly trapped in their jobs right now, what with the anemic employment market and the damage to their 401(k)s. They feel they’ve not only got to stay where they are, but they’ve got to work harder for less money while doing so. Without new challenges or the prospect of a raise or a promotion, anyone can lose motivation and feel frozen in place.”

Wally’s Comment: Yep, there you are in what Shaun Kieran calls a “desert island job.” Here are some ideas about what else you can do while you’re building your raft and plotting your escape.

From Satisfying Career – Happier Life: Losing Your Job May Be The Best Thing That Ever Happened To You
“You have heard the story many times. What seems to be a tragedy, such as in an illness, job loss or divorce ends up turning to triumph when the person ends up making drastic positive changes through their forced set of circumstances. Many have found themselves jobless in these trying times, frightened and wondering what to do next. The interesting twist is that a large percentage of those laid off have often said that they did not “love” their job. The job has represented security, which is of prime importance, however, in many cases, their work was not completely satisfying or fulfilling. In fact, a study prior to this economic downturn showed that 87% of people polled disliked their jobs. Since we spend approximately 75,000 hours at work from age 25 to 65, this seems to be an even sadder circumstance than a difficult job market.”

Wally’s Comment: Even if it turns out to be the best thing that ever happened to you, losing your job sucks. I know. It happened to me. But the facts are clear. Once you’re fired you rarely get un-fired. So you’ve got two choices about how to spend your time. You can pour ashes on your head and shake your fist at the sky, or you can get on with life. I suggest Option B.

From About.com: Jobs Tracking Santa
“This time of year, the people who are involved in tracking Santa as he leaves the North Pole and makes his way around the world, are very high on my list of those with cool jobs. ”

Wally’s Comment: I just had to have a Christmas post in here and this one is simply delightful. It might prove helpful, too.

It’s a typical frantic, modern Christmas season, full of parties and errands and things to buy. It was simpler for the Cratchits.

You probably remember the Cratchits from Dickens’ Christmas Carol. Poor Bob Cratchit worked for the man who has given his name to anti-revelry, no-joy, cheapness: Ebenezer Scrooge.

Cratchit didn’t make much working for Scrooge, about $100 in current value a week. For that princely sum he copied letters in a frigid and “dismal little cell.” He worked long days, six days a week. There were no benefits.

With his $100, Cratchit supported a family with six children, including the invalid Tiny Tim. Things were especially hard at Christmas, when he had to beg for the day off without pay.

The Cratchits planned on a Christmas dinner of goose. Turkey was for rich people.

Even so they couldn’t pay for it all at once. Mrs. Cratchit made weekly payments into a “goose fund” to assure that they would have a bird for their Christmas dinner.

What I’ve always liked about the story is the way Dickens portrayed that dinner. Dickens had been poor and he didn’t romanticize the poverty.

Instead, he showed a family enjoying each other and the day. There would be time for work and old man Scrooge soon enough. They knew that Tiny Tim would probably die soon. But there was still joy and refreshment to be had.

It’s not a bad model for us today. For a day, surely, we can set aside the Blackberries and turn away from the worries. For a day, we can enjoy some time away from stress and bathe in the joy of people we love and who love us.

For the Cratchits, it turned out well. A prize Christmas turkey was delivered by an anonymous person who would turn out to be Scrooge 2.0. And the next day, Bob Cratchit would get a raise.

That’s how it happened for the Cratchits. You may not get the gift of a turkey, a raise, or a transformed boss. But you can enjoy Christmas. I hope you do.

Every week I check dozens of “career” blogs and other online publications, looking for things that will help you find a job, get promoted, develop your skills, and keep everything in perspective and balance. Here’s the pick of the lot for this week. I’m pointing you to items about starting the New Year with a New Job, resume writing, fitting in, having an impact, and being courageous.

From Forbes: Three Tips For Starting The New Year With A New Job
“The unemployment rate has been increasing every month. If you’re like most of the 17 million Americans who are out of work, you can’t afford to wait for the economy to improve before you find employment. You need to start the new year with a new job. But how? You’ve been applying for jobs online, networking with professionals in your industry and using every resource at your disposal. How are some other people getting multiple job interviews and landing positions quickly, despite the odds?”

Wally’s Comment: A New Job for the New Year? That’s a tall order, seeing as how it’s mid-December, with Christmas hard upon us. The title is over-hype, but there are some provocative suggestions in this article that could make a difference for you.

From Applicant: 10 Key Steps To Writing a Winning Resume
“Although it takes most of us a while to write resumes that create a lasting impression, it usually takes 20-30 seconds for a prospective employer to decide whether or not you should be on the interview list. There are hundreds and thousands of tips on the web on how you can create a “killer resume,” but the one that can master the art is you. As in everything else, writing a resume requires practice. A sure fire way to make your resume stand out and deliver a perfect speech on your behalf is by following a few simple steps, simple but something that needs to be reminded often.”

Wally’s Comment: I liked this post because it was simple, straightforward, and sensible.

From Harrison Barnes: The Importance of Fitting In
“One of the most persistent mistakes people make is to not understand the importance of fitting in their work environments. Indeed, fitting in is something that enables you to both get and keep a job. In terms of what it takes to succeed in the long term, fitting in may actually be more important than your skill level. This little-known observation is something that is lost on many people and can result in unhappy and unfulfilling careers. Conversely, being aware of this often results in very happy and fulfilling careers. The problem is that it is often the very best people and those with the best academics and technical skills who are the ones who end up not fitting in.”

Wally’s Comment: Fitting in is important. I’ve just completed a study of companies who’ve been successful for a very long time. They have strong cultures. If you fit the culture at Nordstrom or WL Gore or Nucor or Enterprise Rent-a-Car, you’ll love working there. Otherwise you’ll probably hate it.

From Effective CIO: Lifetime Impact
“Last week I learned that one of the senior members of the communications group, Dan McRae, passed away.  Dan was a brilliant engineer, but he was also a kind, supportive mentor to many, many people.  As his coworkers learned of his passing, they began to share memories of Dan and the profound impact he had had on their lives.  Although I had only known Dan peripherally, those who had known and worked with him for decades echoed a common sentiment: he had made a profound difference in their lives.”

Wally’s Comment: Every one of us has people who have profoundly affected the way we are today. Christmas seems like a good time to remember them, for they are truly gifts.

From Jason Seiden at Work: Practice Courage this Holiday Season
“I had a real life fail here land at my feet tonight that I feel compelled to share. The names are being withheld because everyone involved reads my blog.”

Wally’s Comment: This is a remarkable and powerful post. Read it. Then keep it nearby so you can read it again.

It’s the Holiday Season here in the US. There are parties and gift buying and taking time to be with family. And there’s job hunting, too.

If you’re looking for a new job, the holidays present some special challenges. Your mission is to adapt your job hunt to the conditions of the season.

The business world slows down at holiday time. People take time off. Others set aside time to wrap up operations or to plan for the coming year.

This can work in your favor. A company you’re interviewing with may ramp up the process to get their hiring done before the yearend. Be ready to seize any opportunities that come your way.

More often, the hiring process will slow down. If that happens, remember there isn’t anything you can do about it. Complaining might feel good, but it won’t generate anything positive and might offend someone who’s got a say in hiring you.

If your hiring process slows down, it will free up some of your time. Use that time wisely.

Work on your relationships. The holidays are filled with social events, forced and otherwise. Use them to establish or enrich your business relationships. Let your friends and family and colleagues know that you’re looking for a new job.

Work on your materials. This is the perfect time to tune up your resume, web site, and anything else that represents you to the world.

Your situation will be unique. So keep your head up and in swivel mode, looking for opportunities. Take some time to enjoy friends, family, and the holidays, but don’t neglect that job search.

Every week I check dozens of “career” blogs and other online publications, looking for things that will help you find a job, get promoted, develop your skills, and keep everything in perspective and balance. Here’s the pick of the lot for this week. I’m pointing you to items about new ways to do resumes, different education options, doing something different, surviving the impossible boss, and using feedback.

From Forbes: The New Approach to Resumes
“Paige Robinson, 22, graduated from the University of Illinois Champagne-Urbana into one of the worst job markets of all time last spring.”I started thinking of different ideas about how to stand out,” she says. “I wanted to do something that not only would get my résumé out there but would get my personality out there as well.” Fortunately for her, her father is a job search professional.”

Wally’s Comment: Change is the only constant. That’s true in job search, like anywhere else. Read this article for ideas about how you can make your resume more attractive to employers.

From the Wall Street Journal: The Alternative M.B.A.: One-Year Master’s Degrees
“More students are looking to business schools for shorter and more focused alternatives to the M.B.A., with in-depth education in everything from science of management to international finance. Schools, in turn, are beefing up the specialty programs they already offer and adding more to keep up with demand.”

Wally’s Comment: Specialty programs are worth considering if you’re looking for in-depth coursework in a functional area or if you already have experience and solid general management skills.

From Bret Simmons: Personal Branding: The Motivation to Do Something Different
“If you look around at your peers, compare yourself to them, and aspire to copy what they are doing, you will by definition become mediocre.  That has never been a good choice, but it is an even worse choice in these hypercompetitive times we live.  Why aspire to be just like everyone else when you can choose to be excellent?”

Wally’s Comment: Bret Simmons crafts this post and video on the idea that if you want to be excellent you have to do things that your peers aren’t willing to do. It’s a choice. It’s also hard work.

From Bob Sutton: Working for an “Impossible Boss:” Is the Only Option to Suffer in Silence Until You Can Escape?
“I was just reading a compelling and heavily research based by psychologist Robert Hogan called Personality and the Fate of Organizations.  In Hogan’s chapter on “The Psychology of Managerial Incompetence,” he cites an interesting study by McCall and Lomdardo (see this book for a summary of much of it) where they had interviewed a large number of managers about “career defining events.”  Every manager reported that they had spent a long stretch “working for an impossible boss, not difficult, cranky, or abusive, but impossible.”  So their first conclusion is that just about every adult will have to work for an impossible boss at some point.  The researchers reached a second conclusion that troubles me, “when working for an intolerable boss, if a person sticks up for him or herself and refuses to bullied, his or her career will be irreparably damaged.  When working for an awful boss, a person’s only option is to suffer in silence.”   I was taken aback by this advice.”

Wally’s Comment: Bob Sutton’s posts are always well-supported and well-reasoned. This post, and the comments from readers, considers the options and tactics you might choose if you’re working for that impossible boss.

From Mary Jo Asmus: Now That You Know: What Do You Do With That Feedback?
“You’ve asked for it, you’ve received it with grace, and now – what do you do with it? You have two choices.”

Wally’s Comment: There’s lots of talk about getting feedback. But feedback is useless unless you use it to change what you do. Mary Jo Asmus presents options you can select. You’ll also benefit by reading post on the same subject by Steve Roesler: “It’s Not the Feedback, its What Follows.”

If he were still alive, I’m betting Ray Charles would have another hit with this little ditty, sung to the tune of “Crying Time.”

Oh it’s survey time again, we’re gonna learn who
Is the best leadership company of all.
But I can tell by the lists I see before me
That this one’s different from the one last fall.

That’s the theme song for this post.

Fortune magazine, human resources consultants Hewitt Associates and the RBLGroup have just published their list of “The World’s Best Companies for Leaders.” Less than a year ago, the Hay Group and Chief Executive magazine came out with their list of the “Best Companies for Leaders.”

Now I’m just a simple preacher’s boy, but it seems to me that two surveys by prestigious firms of the same subject ought to come up with similar lists. But they do not.

In fact there are only three companies, IBM, Proctor and Gamble, and General Electric, who make the top ten on both lists. And that illustrates why taking these lists as some kind of scientific finding could get you in trouble.

There are all kinds of “Best Company” lists with more coming out all the time. They can provide you with some ideas about where you may want to make a career, but only if you do a little analysis.

Find out how the list was put together. Some of the lists only include companies who apply. Others use different method. The method used makes a difference in the final list.

Check to see if the list rates things that matter to you. If you want to pursue a Managerial career path, then a list of great companies for leaders may give you lots of information. But if you’re an engineer who wants to pursue a Specialist career path, you may want to look at a different list.

Use the list to spark questions, not give answers. Enterprise Rent-a-Car has appeared for years on lists for “Best Places to Launch a Career,” but their entrepreneurial, start-at-the-bottom culture isn’t for everyone.

Lists like the Fortune list and the Chief Executive list are great to spark discussions. They’re great as a starting point. Use them to determine where you want to do more research.

Every week I check dozens of “career” blogs and other online publications, looking for things that will help you find a job, get promoted, develop your skills, and keep everything in perspective and balance. Here’s the pick of the lot for this week. I’m pointing you to items about dealing with holes in your resume, using Twitter to explore careers, leadership questions to ask yourself, the challenges of a new job at the same company, and why you should make your own choices.

From Forbes: How to Deal with That Hole in Your Resume
“Today unemployed Americans job hunt for an average of 28 weeks, and the recession is causing more people who have been full-time caregivers to look for work too. But prolonged unemployment, and the résumé gap that reflects it, doesn’t have to be a liability. With a carefully crafted résumé, you can minimize the attention paid to a break in employment yet promote the skills you honed during you time off.”

Wally’s Comment: More and more people have those holes in the resume. Here’s a solid article on how to present them so they do you some good.

From the Career Key Blog: 3 Ways to Use Twitter to Explore Careers and Job Options
“Just like “lurking” in a forum or following a blog, following someone on Twitter can teach you lingo, show you trends, and even get you contacts through direct email. You can use it as a way for you to follow your “community” of people interested in similar occupations or industries.”

Wally’s Comment: Most of the posts on how to use Twitter are boringly similar. Juliet Wehr Jones offers some things I haven’t seen before. Good stuff.

From Steve Roesler writing at LeaderTalk: Eight Leadership Questions to Ask Yourself
“Effective leaders —and those who want to be— have at least one thing in common: each is an ongoing student of leadership.  The ability to “learn and discern” forms the foundation for a lifetime of leading.   Why?  Because the key to success lies in choice. Decisions and the actions that follow determine the ultimate health of the organization and the people in it.”

Wally’s Comment: Too many people pursue the managerial career path reflexively. And many of them fall into The Boss Trap. One way to avoid the trap is to figure out if being a boss is something you’ll like and be good at. Steve Roesler’s questions will help you do some self-analysis, whether you’re a boss now or considering becoming one.

From the Wall Street Journal: New Job, Same Firm: Learning the Ropes
“While starting a new job means learning the ropes at an unfamiliar place, for those faced with a sudden role shift within the same company, the move can be even trickier. But it’s happening more these days as companies downsize and responsibilities shift. Whether you are moving from one internal job to another or suddenly answering to a new boss Rick Brandon, author of “Survival of the Savvy,” says you need to take steps to avoid the pitfalls of office politics and work overload. ”

Wally’s Comment: There’s always an adjustment when you take a new position. But there are some special things to consider if that job is in your current organization.

From Renegade HR: Why making your own path is way more fun (and other career insights)
“Several weeks ago, I had the pleasure of attending a Lunch with Leaders session with one of my informal mentors at EMC, Polly Pearson. Polly’s held many titles in her time at EMC, but a unifying thread has been her drive to create and sustain an awesome culture. Today, I’d like to share a few highlights from my lunch with Polly. ”

Wally’s Comment: Chris Ferdinandi shares insights from a conversation with one of his mentors.

In his book, Good to Great, Jim Collins borrows the concept of foxes and hedgehogs from Isaiah Berlin. “The fox knows many things,” he tells us. “But the hedgehog knows one big thing.”

If you are a fox, and good at a lot of things, you may find it hard to get a job. Your resume lists all the things you do well. In fact, there are often so many that no one thing stands out.

Meantime, recruiters are mostly looking for hedgehogs with deep expertise in one important thing. They need you tell them what you’re really, really, really good at.

One way to sort things out is to try to fit yourself to a T. The “T” I’m talking about is a concept developed by the consulting firm McKinsey and Company in the Seventies.

They wanted to hire consultants who were generalists with a deep expertise in a functional area. The down-stroke of a capital T represented the deep expertise. The crossbar represented the different areas that the consultant was familiar with or interested in, but not an expert.

To help you sort out what you’ve got that’s salable, try fitting yourself to a T. Start with the crossbar.

What do you have some experience in? What do you like? What industries have you worked in?

Look for the big down-stroke. What are you really good at? Where’s your deep expertise?

Your expertise might be in an industry. It might be in a functional area like accounting. Whatever it is, that’s the area your resume should feature. That’s the area where you can make a contribution.

Don’t neglect the generalist areas on the crossbar, though.  Spend some time analyzing them.

They may give you ideas of areas where you want to develop deep expertise. They should tell you something about the kind of people you want to work with and how you’ll fit into an interdisciplinary team.

If you’re good at a lot of things, try fitting yourself to a T. It should help you make some choices about what to feature on your resume and what to develop in your career.