Marty Nemko's Blog, page 441

How I Help My Clients Choose a Career

My contribution today to AOL summarizes how I help my clients choose a career. My goal for the article was to enable you to be your own career counselor.

Volunteers Needed for a Great Career Event

This Friday, I'll be keynoting and moderating a Career Day at UC Berkeley for Ph.D. students and post-docs. It is sold out but they are still looking for volunteers to help staff it.



It should be an invaluable day. There will be panels on careers in technology, entrepreneurship, science communication and policy, and non-academic research. The panelists are insiders at some of the most prestigious employers. And networking opportunities should be great.

Come to a Talk I'm Giving: Career Success in Tough Times

The Oakland Public Library has asked me to give another talk: Career success in tough times.  Sorry I'm posting this last-minute but I forgot to do so earlier. It's tomorrow, Weds, Mar 20 at 6 PM at the main branch: 125 14 St.  Admission is free.



I'll try to share a lot of non-obvious but important nuggets. I'll also take questions.



For more info about it, HERE is an article about it in The Examiner.



And here's the handout I'll distribute:








SUCCEEDING ON THE JOB IN TOUGH TIMES

Presentation, Oakland Public Library, Mar. 20, 2013

by Marty Nemko



Up is the not the only way!




Make it fun if possible, but being
productive is its own reward. Your life's value may indeed be determined less by how much fun you've
had as by how productive you've been. Theodore Roosevelt once said, "Far
and away the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work
worth doing."

That said, it's often possible to make a
task more fun. If you do it
the most arduous way, the benefit is usually outweighed by your tending to
procrastinate the tasks and overall less contentment with your work life. As
you decide what to do and how to do it, keep asking yourself, "What's the
fun way?" Usually, you'll find the work gets done faster and, ironically,
often better.




Is this a good
use of my time? Both what activities to do, and how time-consumingly you're doing a
task




Laser focus on being
world-class in both goal and project. That IS possible in many if not most
pursuits.

Re goal: Be the go-to-guy/gal on something key to your
organization: CRM software, on-boarding new employees, selling to Latino teens,
whatever. Maybe write an article on that for a trade publication—higher-ups
love to see their organization touted externally.

Re  project: remember, my example
of Jeffrie at the Children's Hospital talent show.




Think
probabilistically: If that doesn't come naturally to you,
develop the habit: When you have to make a significant decision, for each of
your options, write the chance (from 0 percent to 100 percent) of each of the
major positive and negative outcomes occurring. For example, you're deciding
whether to accept a new job:

Pros:
Higher salary (100 percent), better boss (70 percent,) more learning opportunities (90 percent).

Cons:
Longer commute (100 percent), the job is more difficult and thus you could fail
(50 percent), management's ethics may be iffy (50 percent).

Then, after considering all that, make your decision on gut
feeling.

Of course, no technique will lead to always making correct decisions but  your batting average will improve as will your
ability to explain your reasoning. And as time goes on, you'll get better at
doing cost-benefit/risk-reward analysis, often on-the-fly.

Keep growing: read articles, webinars, find mentors. Keep a nugget file. Every time you derive an
insight that would abet your thinking or thinking skills , keep it in a
word-processing file. Review it frequently.




Be trustworthy. That goes well beyond keeping your word.
It mainly means that when you get an assignment, it will be done, on time, and
well—all the time. Your boss may not balk when you mumble your excuse but your
unreliability will remain in memory.




Show initiative. Much more is under your control than you
may think. Instead of complaining about a problem, fix it, asking permission
only if necessary.




Go beyond. Provide something unexpected that will
please your higher-ups. Let's say your boss is all about the bottom line. Write
a report for improving it.




Sweat the details. Big-picture thinkers are a dime a dozen and their proposals
usually make more work for people. What's mainly needed are people who can
execute the boss's vision without much hand-holding.




Be positive. Every workgroup benefits from having one
person who focuses on the problems. As Andy Grove, former Intel chairman and
CEO, has said, "Only the paranoid survive." But generally, the
yes-butter is regarded as a necessary evil rather than an up-and-comer. Unless
your boss makes a truly unreasonable demand, be a person who makes it happen.
And no bashing the company. If it's really worth bashing, shouldn't you be
looking for another job?




Be likeable. It's hard to get ahead if many co-workers, bosses, and customers
dislike you. In addition to having a positive bias, look for ways to make your
co-workers and customers' lives better. For example, make them look good, help
them get ahead, or when someone seems frazzled, ask if there's anything you can
do to help. Take something off their plate or simply listen to them vent. The
most potent question you can ask, especially of your boss: "Anything I can
do to make your life easier?" 



Make lots of
moving-toward statements, few moving-away behavior. You may not
realize how big a price you make when you make a moving-away behavior:
disagreeing, one-upping, shunning. Focus on moving-toward statements:
agreement, amplification, anything that makes them feel good about themselves. 



Be low-maintenance. You pay a big price for being
high-maintenance. No matter how competent you are, especially in today's busy
times, your boss and co-workers are probably on max, so your complaint or even
your new idea may not be welcome. If your boss or workgroup's plate is already
full, they simply may not be open to adding something else or changing gears. Even
asking too many questions can be annoying. Of course the workplace and indeed
society would be better if all that weren't true, but alas, it is. In most
workplaces, even if you're the boss, it's safest to simply keep on keeping on
with a pleasant look on your face. That's true even in your personal life. 



Be a storyteller. Most people are more affected by story
than by statistics. Story appeals to the emotion, which is what motivates most
people's behavior change. That's why so many articles start with, "Mary
Johnson..." and only after the audience is hooked, do they mention
statistics, facts, etc. So, have three anecdotes ready to tell at any
networking event or even for water-cooler convo. And certainly, pepper your
talks with anecdotes, whether it's a two-minute presentation at a meeting, a
keynote address, or even a toast at your friend's wedding. 



Never look back. My father, a Holocaust survivor,
rarely talked about the experience. When asked why, he said, "The Nazis took five years from
my life. I won't give them one minute more. Never look back, always take the
next step forward."

You're Invited to a Show that Has Received Only Standing Ovations

We live in a world of hype. So when I say that I'm inviting you to a performance you'll likely truly love, you may well think it's marketing BS. But I'll stake whatever reputation I have on that assertion's validity.



Jeffrie Givens will be performing a much improved version of her already strong one-woman show, Big, Black, and Shy on Sunday, April 28 at 2 PM at my home in Oakland, CA. All five previous performances of the show received standing ovations. The current version is much better still.



With story and song, she tells her remarkable but true story of the shyest girl in Oakland. It's inspirational to any of us who face challenges.



Besides, she's grown into an outstanding singer and performer. She'll be accompanied on piano by me and on drums by Bob Scott, who has toured and recorded with Willie Nelson, Ray Charles and Earl "Fatha" Hines.



Email me if you want to attend, email me ASAP: mnemko@comcast.net.  UPDATE: I'm gratified to say that even though it's still a month before the show, all the seats have already been taken. I am now accepting names for the wait list or to be put on the e-mail list for her subsequent performance: mnemko@comcast.net.



By the way, a special thanks to the Bay Area's best agent for and coach to musicians, Frank Goldstein, without whom I could not have attracted a musician of the above caliber.