From Inc.: Alternative Places to Network

“no matter what the occasion–whether you’re at the yoga studio, your child’s soccer game or at a religious event–networking is possible. Here are three entrepreneurs who learned the prime venues best suited to their networking needs could sometimes be found under the most extraordinary circumstances. ”

Wally’s Comment: I really dislike the term “networking” because it implies an artificial process with only your good in mind. I like the idea of connecting with people and seeking ways to do each other good. Inc uses the term “networking” but we’re talking about the same thing and they’ve got some great ideas about where you can make connections.

From Fortify your Oasis: Job-hunting - lines in the water

“I see little point in firing off hundreds, or sometimes, thousands of unsolicited applications willy nilly. The standard thinking on this is that if you pursue a direct mail approach and get a 2-3% response rate, you will secure a handful of interviews every month and, by the law of averages, some kind of a job is bound to fall in your lap as a result. Hmmm. This is why on the blurb on the back of Where’s My Oasis it says, “in today’s marketplace, job-hunting is for dummies - the smart people career-hunt.”"

Wally’s Comment: Rowan Manahan offers of some of the best, real-world, advice on creating the career you’ll love to have. In this post he applies common sense to the process of job hunting. Think of it as applying “the law of the vital few” to your job search.

From Alison Green at US News and World Report: Letters of Recommendation Are Worthless

“Someone has to break it to you, so it’s going to be me: Please stop with the letters of recommendation. Don’t attach them to your resume and don’t offer them up at the interview. I know you feel good about them but, unfortunately, they aren’t useful.”

Wally’s Comment: Read this. You may not like what you read, but it will save you a lot of grief. Not to mention the fact that you’ll save on reproduction costs.

From Careers at MSNBC: That ‘noncompete’ can really tie you down

“Even though you may be desperate to keep your job or find a new one, think long and hard before signing a noncompete agreement. Among the flood of forms you get when you’re first hired, or paperwork a boss asks you to fill out as part of a new company policy, a noncompete clause or agreement may be lurking. If you sign it, you could be shooting yourself in the career foot. ”

Wally’s Comment: Employers have gotten good at slipping non-compete agreements into stacks of other documents for you to sign. They may tell you, “It’s just routine. We never enforce these.” When you hear that, you know it’s time to consider very carefully when and if signing is for you.

From Maximize Possibility: The Death of Work-Life Balance - 10 Ways to Recession Proof Your Job In A Down Economy

“Please allow me a moment to be extremely direct. The days of “work life balance” are OVER. The days of coming to work and adding questionable value… OVER. The days of no one really knowing what you do… OVER. The days of building a wonderful relationship with your boss and you having all of the power… OVER.”

Wally’s Comment: To be honest, you were supposed to be adding value at work before the downturn. Chris has good advice here. Things could get a little Darwinian out there.

That was enough to get me reading the story about a school for casino dealers. But what really got me thinking was the following:

“Cosmo Raymond says that helping his blackjack- and poker-dealer students understand that they audition for a dealer’s position, rather than interview for it, is a big part of his job at the ABC Bartending and Casino School in Tempe.”

That’s not bad advice for anyone. Whether you’re interviewing for a dealer’s job or any other kind of job, thinking of it as an audition can help you do better.

I’m not suggesting that you break into song to answer a question. I doubt that a couple of dance steps will help your prospects. But acting like a person who already has the job you want may be just the thing.

Dress the part. Dress like the person in the job would dress if he or she were in a formal business meeting.

Talk the talk. Every profession and trade has its own language Make sure you use some, especially if you’re being interviewed by your prospective boss. Show some enthusiasm about the issues and challenges someone on the job will confront.

There’s another benefit from thinking this way. It can be an early warning sign that the job you’re interviewing for is not for you. If you’re uncomfortable dressing the way you’ll have to dress, or if the challenges you’ll confront on the job don’t excite you, think twice before accepting it.

From the Washington Post: Workplace Success Starts With Civility

“Mary Bomar believes in civility and kindness on the job — and she believes it works for the success of herself and others. Bomar, director of the National Park Service, sees kindness easing the way through tough moments in her career, from dealing with questions about George Washington’s slaves to moving employees into new positions. She sees it as a strategic asset in a job hunt or promotion, too, especially when candidates highlight how it helps them achieve. ”

Wally’s Comment: When I was young, older people expected you to have manners and were surprised if you didn’t. Today those expectations seem to be reversed. That’s why being civil has become a career strategy.

From Fortune: Be a better networker

“Many smart professionals are flummoxed when it comes to figuring out exactly how to get such a network started, and how to make their network grow and flourish.

Wally’s Comment: If you’re “flummoxed,” this will be a great post for you. If you already know something about networking this will be a good review.

From the Wall Street Journal: Defending Against Career Saboteurs

“Ways to Protect Your Reputation — and Your Job — From a Boss or Colleague With Ulterior Motives”

Wally’s Comment: Yes, there are people out there who wish you ill. And yes, you can do something about it.

From 45 Things: Five Ways to Network With the Boss

“You may wonder why you need to network with the boss when a) you see him every day; and b) you see him every day, dammit.”

Wally’s Comment: Your boss is your most important relationship at work. Here’s a novel look at how to handle that relationship well.

From Escape from Cublcle Nation: Who says following your dreams shouldn’t be hard?

“I have come to the realization that we cause ourselves a lot of stress by believing that if we just choose the right business, or quit our loathsome job, or find the perfect internet marketing system, or get that book deal that things will become easy.”

Wally’s Comment: Even if you’ve made the right career choice, it won’t always be easy and you won’t always win.

“The conventional wisdom about ‘natural’ talent is a myth. The real path to great performance is a matter of choice.”

The promise seems to be that you can become whatever you want to be. Really? I’d believe it except for one thing: my career in opera.

You didn’t know I had a career in opera? Well, I didn’t. The only thing stopping me was the lack of “natural talent” that Colvin says is a myth.

I’ve loved opera since I was young. I love to sing. I have a deep, rich speaking voice. But I can’t sing very well, though I’ve really tried.

In my forties I hired a voice coach. My coach, Roger, had been an opera singer. He didn’t like the lifestyle so he created another career singing locally and coaching voice while he studied for the ministry.

Roger was convinced that anyone could “learn to sing acceptably.” He believed that with all his heart. I believed it, too. For a while.

We did exercise after exercise. Sometimes Roger was puzzled when I didn’t hear the difference between two notes or when my voice went up when it should have gone down. But we pressed on.

Finally, one evening after a session, we sat at my kitchen table talking about singing and other things. Roger started to chuckle. Soon he was laughing.

When he finally stopped he looked at me. Tears of laughter were still in his eyes.

“You know,” he said, “You are really very, very, very, very bad.”

It was my turn to laugh. We called off the voice lessons. My hopes of a career in opera had gone up in laughter.

When I hear that “natural talent is a myth” I just don’t buy it. If it was, I’d be looking back on a grand career in opera.

From Fistful of Talent: The Most Expensive Colleges Have One Thing in Common - This Recruiter Has Never Heard of Most of Them…

“If you matriculated from an expensive private school, allow me to say this up front - I’m still your fan. If you’re good at what you do professionally, articulate and able to point to a body of work that distinguishes you from others like you, you rock. Seriously.”

Wally’s Comment: This is a very provocative post if you think an education at a high profile and prestigious private school is a necessity for success. People like Warren Buffett (University of Kansas), A. G. Lafley (Hamilton College), and Ken Lewis (Georgia State) seem to have done OK without that kind of education. And, for the record, CEOs of major corporations are three times as likely to come from small, liberal arts colleges, like Augustana, in Rock Island IL which is the college reputed to produce the most CEOs relative to the size of its student body.

From Career News: Viewers Share Advice for Work/Life Balance

“We asked our viewers: What advice would you give a friend who feels they are not balancing their work and life? Here are a few of their insightful responses.”

Wally’s Comment: This post isn’t about work/life balance in the usual sense. It is about living a rich and fulfilling life.

From Success Making Machine: 3 Steps to a Promotion

“So you want a promotion? There’s only one thing that you need to do to get your boss on you side- figure out what he wants. Give it to him. Make sure he knows it. Then ask.”

Wally’s Comment: Here you go. Want to get promoted? It’s as simple as 1-2-3.

From All Things Workplace: If You Work With Actual People, Then. . .

“Director of Sales. VP of HR. Research Associate. Customer Service Agent. Every time I receive a call to consult or coach, one of the first things I hear is the person’s title and location on the organization chart. Invariably, the client turns out to be an actual person. Laura. Greg. George. Dottie.”

Wally’s Comment: Steve Roesler lays bare the problems that can arise when titles are more important than the people who hold them.

From 45 Things: How to Get the Boss to Listen to You

“Do you sometimes think you’ve become the invisible employee? Do you think the only way your boss might pay attention to you is if you were holding a phone and saying: “I’ve got Oprah on the line for you!” You’re not alone. Many people have felt ignored by their managers, but they are really beginning to fret more about it these days because they fear that “out of mind” may mean “out of a job” if layoffs hit their workplace.”

Wally’s Comment: Great advice. Especially now.

Figure out your career strength. You can use this same process in other parts of your life, but this blog is about your career.

A career strength is something you’re good at and that you love to do. Most of us have many things we like and many things we’re good at. But there are usually only a couple of areas where love and talent come together.

Get yourself in a place where that strength is valued. Look for jobs, professions, industries and companies who need and value what you have to offer. Look for situations where you can learn and develop.

Figure out what you need to learn. This is not a one-time thing. You’ll have to do this several times during your career.

Identify excellent performers. You want to find out what the masters do. Then learn to do the same thing.

Plan how to learn it. I like written plans because they force you to crystallize your thinking.

Answer some basic questions. What do I want to learn? What would be fun to try? What kind of process will I use? Who’s important?

Find a mentor or two. Mentors are your spirit guides to the learning process. They help you learn and find learning opportunities.

Get lots of feedback. Feedback is the breakfast of champions. Without feedback, it’s hard to get better

Adjust. You almost never learn without mistakes. You almost never get it right the first time. So try-get feedback-repeat.

From US News and World Report: Older Workers May Find Open Arms at Nonprofits

“A recent survey from MetLife and Civic Ventures suggests the nonprofit world offers some hope for older workers with corporate experience.”

Wally’s Comment: There are precious few blog posts designed to help older workers. Here is one.

From Jobacle: 6 Questions to Ask Before Hiring a Resume Writer

“Here are some essential questions to ask prospective writers - and yourself - before you hire someone to conduct a re-write.”

Wally’s Comment: At some point, you’ll probably be tempted to hire a resume writer. That’s when you’ll find that you don’t even need a business card to call yourself a “professional” resume writer these days. And that’s when this post will come in handy. Clip and save.

From Brazen Careerist: You Can Learn From Me, the Temp

“As a former administrative assistant and on-again-off-again temp worker, I’ve been exposed to an array of things that have mellowed my views about the general workplace. I used to think, ‘If I find that one job that I love, I won’t have to worry about looking for a career ever again.’ Gosh, how naive was I?”

Wally’s Comment: A great post about lessons someone else learned so you don’t have to.

From Jon Gordon’s Blog: Change Your Story

“Every one of us is playing a part in a story. What role are you playing? Victim? Hero? Fighter? Lover? Soap Opera Star? Underdog? Over-comer? Do you want to change your life? Change your story. Just as a director of a movie utilizes different perspectives and camera angles and colors to create a look and feel of a movie, you can redefine your life with a new perspective, new thoughts, new beliefs, and new actions that will change everything.”

Wally’s Comment: Jon presents a simple idea that can help you transform your career and your life.

From Execupundit: Picking Battles

“A sign of an experienced operator in any organization is that the person knows which battles are worth fighting.”

Wally’s Comment: When you’re young, it’s tempting to jump into every battle. Michael Wade reminds us that it’s smarter to pick your spots.

There are many things, both economic and otherwise, that can compensate you meaningfully for your labor and contribution.  

Here’s a Thought List of compensation options. It’s not a checklist. The idea is that different items will get you thinking about what’s best for you and that will help you make good decisions.

Let’s start with economic compensation. Direct compensation includes pay and bonus. There’s also deferred compensation like options, contributions to a retirement plan, etc.

Then there are the in-lieu-of-cash items. The biggest of these is health care. The difference between what you pay for employer-sponsored health insurance and what you’d pay for the same coverage as an individual can be several hundred dollars a month.

I believe that you should make “enough” money doing something you love. You have to define what’s “enough” for you.

My life experience tells me that making a ton of money doing something you hate is a bad choice. So is doing something you love while you constantly worry about paying the bills.

When people talk about their great jobs with me in coaching sessions or in class, money is hardly ever mentioned. Here are some of the other things that come up a lot. It’s only a partial list.

Look for work that’s exciting for you. Professional challenge might do the trick. Or maybe you want to spend a lot of time in contact with people. Perhaps you like projects. Whatever it is, seek out work you like.

Look for place where you can work with people you like. Working on a good, productive team is great for most people. But if you’re a person who loves to work alone, find a job that lets you do that.

Flexibility is great compensation for most people. This can be a flexible schedule or flexible assignments.

You may be a person who craves opportunity. If that’s you, seek out places that give you the opportunity to rise to the top of the tree or take on exciting challenges. If you love learning, look for work where you can learn new things.

What else is there? Think back over the best jobs you’ve had. Consider the jobs your friends and family members have done. What was great about them?

The best job for you is one that offers you enough money to do work you love. When that happens, it’s hardly work anymore.

From Alison Green at US News & World Report: How to Get Feedback When You’re Rejected

“So you thought the position was a perfect fit and your interview seemed to go well, but in the end, you didn’t get the job. You could speculate about why you weren’t hired, but if you’re really curious, why not try to actually find out by asking for some feedback from the hiring manager? Here’s how to do it.”

Wally’s Comment: This is another one of those topics you wish was covered in every “how to find a job” class.

From Dan McCarthy at Great Leadership: Career Paths to Leadership & Leadership Development

“I think it’s great that you’ve recognized that “leadership” is a calling, and that you already refer to yourself as a leader. Leadership is not a position, it’s the ability to enable others, and organizations, to achieve extraordinary results (That’s just my definition, by the way, there are hundreds of others).”

Wally’s Comment: If leadership is the kind of work you want to do, Dan’s response to a reader’s question gives you good advice on how to get there.

From Personal Branding: 7 Personal Branding Tips for College Graduates

“After changing majors a few times, I settled on public relations at the start of my junior year. Once I made that choice, I realized that I needed to establish an area of expertise, something that would set my personal brand apart from the thousands of other freshly minted public relations grads. For me, this was pretty easy; I wanted to focus on food and restaurants. The focus of your personal brand must be something you are going to enthusiastically look forward to learning and talking about every day.”

Wally’s Comment: This post takes the position that it’s never too early to begin thinking about your personal brand, and then gives you some tips on effective strategies.

From Forbes: Keeping Your Job

“That scenario, or variations of it, will be repeated in the coming months as more troubled companies get gobbled up by bigger ones. But it’s not a foregone conclusion you’ll be let go. That’s where you come in.”

Wally’s Comment: Say, here’s something that’s on a lot of minds these days.

From 45 Things: Do You Have a Spineless Career?

“When was the last time you did something courageous at work? I’m not talking about cleaning out the office fridge (although that does take gumption) or trying a new font on your report. I’m talking about stepping out of your comfort zone, doing something that made your palms sweat or your knees quake.”

Wally’s Comment: Growth comes from stretching, from rising to new challenges. Here’s a post that shares some pointers about how to do that on the job.

“In today’s business environment, writing savvy helps to drive deals and cement relationships, perhaps more than ever before, corporate training and human resource leaders say. But U.S. employees appear to be falling short when it comes to writing skills.”

There’s good news and bad news in this article for you. The bad news is that if you don’t write well, you’re lowering your own odds for success. The good news is that you can learn to write well. Here are some tips.

Master standard business English. Write to your friends however you choose, but make your business documents businesslike. In addition to improving your image, you’ll also make it easier for more people (especially those for whom English is a second language) to understand you.

Learn to write simple prose. Simple words, simple sentences, and short paragraphs are usually best. Stop and think before you use abbreviations or acronyms to make sure everyone who reads your writing will understand them.

Check everything you write with software that gives you a readability score. There’s one built in to Microsoft Word. Make the effort to improve your score.

Read your writing out loud. Your mouth and ear will catch things that your eye will miss.

Make re-writing a habit. The best writers re-write. If you can, put some time between one draft and the next.

Learn to write captivating subject lines. In the world of email, subject lines that telegraph the content of your message will get it read.

Good, clear writing is a key success skill. Invest time and energy in improving your writing and then reap the benefits.