When in my job search I listened to a guy who said taking a vacation from his job search was a huge mistake.  He lost momentum and found it hard to get back in the groove.

I was working 60 hours a week (10 hours a day, 6 days a week) in my job search.  I could have used a vacation, but (a) I didn’t have money, and (b) I was to anxious to get a paying job to go off and frolick somewhere cool.

It seems to me I’ve read articles from career experts saying it is important to take a vacation during the job search.

I didn’t even want to stop working on holidays!  I was anxiously engaged in finding that next job!

What do you think - should job seekers be able to (or, make time to) take a vacation?

I’ve blogged about Linda Lopeke before, who has a SmartStart program.  From her website:

The program was created in 2005 and tested by business school students and Fortune 500 employees for 2 years before being released to the public in June 2007. That’s how we know following our advice can advance your career success up to 3 times faster than average!

Linda is a thinker in this space and for those who know there’s something better, or know it’s time to become CEO of Me, Inc., this could be a great program.  Through the end of the month you get to sign up for a year at no cost, if you sign up after that, the price goes up to $39.95/month.

If you are interested in the program, click here to see her description, and scroll down to see audio and newsletter samples.  Click on the Add to Cart button and you’ll see the price is set to $0.

Enjoy!

These thoughts come from two specific discussions, and years of pondering, and reading Dilbert

(thanks to the B2BBlog for these, … you can read their post here)

On employee reviews. Last night I was talking to a buddy about his company’s annual review process. I remember my annual reviews, where were a joke.  They seemed to be an act, where there was no (or little) substantial feedback from the manager, and the better I did, the more nit-picky they got about what I needed to improve (becauase Dumb Manager 101 says you must help your subordinate to improve, right?).  My friend mentioned that once he had a review and didn’t even know it - he was told in the subsequent review “oh yeah, that was our review.”

On job search interview techniques. At a job search network meeting we were asked how the training process was for us unemployed souls.  I commented that we were getting armed with a lot of incredible knowledge and techniques, but the people who interviewed us came in significantly less sophisticated than we were (due to preparation).  It was frustrating to be interviewed by someone who seemed to be fumbling in the dark, asking questions they didn’t understand (they were reading from some list).  If they didn’t get the question, how could they appreciate the answers?

Why were these incompetents becoming the gatekeepers to my career future?

Definitely a frustrating experience.  In defense of stoopid, incompetent managers throghout the world, I’ll claim my own stoopidity.  As a manager I wanted to work with high-speed, low-drag employees who required no handholding.  However, as a judgement error, I’m sure I was too hands-off and didn’t do my managerial job as well as I should have.

So how do we, as CEO’s of Me, Inc, deal with this widespread issue?

1. Recognize our place, and what that means. Submitting to this ignorance doesn’t mean that we are being ignorant ourselves.  But it might be job-suicide to do what you really want to do.  Put the manager in his/her place.  Go above them and tell the manager’s boss what’s going on (or the president).  Blog about it :p  I don’t suggest you just sit there and take it, but I suggest you think about what the consequences might be, and how much you can risk.  Is money not an issue?  Then you can afford to be more bold.  But if you are too dependent on the paycheck and benefits (health insurance, etc.), you better craft a smart strategy.
2. Figure out how to get out without getting out. In my first “real” job, I had a manager who had a slew of problems.  One time I walked into her cubicle and she was lightly banging her head on the bookshelf whispering “I hate my job, I hate my job, …” over and over.  I was shocked ….!  I loved my job, even though I didn’t get any management or leadership from her.  Somehow, her boss took me under her wing and I got the mentoring and projects that shaped that learning period for me - it was incredible!  There was a little bit of tension between me and my direct boss, as I started to get some awesome projects, but I was definitely in a better place.
3. Prepare anyway. Just because the interviewer isn’t sophisticated, or the boss doesn’t know how to do an annual review, doesn’t mean you can go in like a dunce.  Be prepared, have strong statements, stories and supporting evidence, and be sure you prepare them for a stellar performance.  You aren’t competing against the boss or decision maker, you are there to make a sale!  Do your best, and learn current techniques.
4. Keep a long-term perspective. When I was at the FBI it was sometimes like walking around a Night of the Living Dead set.  It was normal to talk about lame stuff, problems, issues, and safe/boring things.  No one was out to over-achieve, or do more than asked.  There was no incentive, and no fear of getting let go.  If you are in a situation like this, which I feel is a direct result of the culture the management creates, either figure out how to cope with it with a long-term perspective, or figure out how to get out before it ruins you.  But don’t let it snuff your spirit!
5. Do a great job! No matter what hell you might be going through at work, with no appreciation, etc., as long as you do a great job you can have a clear conscience AND you might be setting yourself up for bigger things.  That rotten manager might be making your life hell right now, but one day, management is going to figure out how to get rid of them, and guess what?  They might just be eyeing you, based on your performance.
6. Realize you are in a job search. We are all in a job search.  We’re either actively doing it, or passively doing it (recruiters call people who are not looking “passive candidates.”).  This is where JibberJobber comes in - you should be doing certain things RIGHT NOW whether you are in an active search or not - employed, unemployed, unhappily employed, etc.  Taking control of your next job placement, to any degree, should give you a greater peace of mind!

What stoopid management stress have you put up with, and how did you deal with it?

I’m excited to announce a new upgrade level on JibberJobber.com.  This comes after a number of people have told me that $9.95 is too much (I would not have paid it, as I didn’t have any money, but I think someone in my family would have paid it for me), but the free level just wasn’t doing enough. In fact, most of the feedback about the free vs. premium levels is that they really just need more contacts, and more target companies.

The Silver Level is a step up from the free level, with up to 1,000 contacts and 1,000 target companies.  You can still get ALL premium features, and unlimited contacts and companies for just $9.95. Here’s a summary of each level (you can see a side-by-side comparison here):

Regular (Free): We designed this to be more powerful than a job search spreadsheet.  You can track an unlimited number of job postings, whether you find them on Monster, through networking, etc.  You can track up to 250 network contacts and 75 target companies, and post up to 10 log entries on each of those records.  You get a lot of tools, some reports, and more.  Note: when you first login you get 14 days of premium services for free.

Silver ($5/month): You get all of the Regular features PLUS an additional 750 network contacts and an additional 925 target companies.  This is an intermediate level designed to give those who are more budget-challenged an opportunity to use JibberJobber more effectively in their immediate job search.

Premium ($9.95/month): The floodgates open and you get all kinds of cool stuff.  My favorite premium feature is the action items e-mailed to me, so I don’t have to login to JibberJobber to see what I have coming up.  No wait, my favorite premium feature is the ability to import/export my data, so I can keep all my LinkedIn contacts, Cardscan contacts (buying one soon), Outlook contacts on JibberJobber.  No wait, my favorite premium feature is that I can use the Get Contact List to export my contacts based on a number of things, like tags or categories.  No wait, my favorite premium feature is that there are no limits on number of records I put in, or number of log entries I have… you get the point, right?  This level is optimal for those who are either serious about their job search, or not in a job search at all but very relationship-oriented (or career management oriented).

You want to know what may become the best premium feature yet?  The Outlook plugin, which hopefully will be in beta in the next few weeks.

We are trying to fit your budget - for $0 you get value.  For $5/month you get more value.  For $9.95 a month you get a bunch more value. Cool?

I frequently see e-mails from people who have x years in administrative, bookkeeping, organizational, etc. roles, who are well-seasoned and well-skilled.  Because they are not quite sure what else they can do, they are looking for some kind of executive assistant role, hopefully paying more than $10/hour.

I hate thinking that someone with so much wisdom, experience and business savvy will have to digress to an entry-level role when they really could and should be able to contribute so much more.

That’s where Virtual Assistants (VA’s) come in.  I’ll confess I don’t know a ton about VA’s, and if I were as good as Alexandra Levit I would have done a bunch of interviews, and had great stats for you.  Alas, I’m not that good, so I’ll throw out my ideas, and point you to some resources, and let you do your own research.

I love the concept of setting up a VA business because:

1. You can earn more than $10/hour. Depending on how you speciliaze, or where your clients are, I think you can charge more than $40/hour.  Sounds pretty good, doesn’t it?
2. You can set your own hours. You are a VIRTUAL assistant, meaning you don’t have to go into an office (no commute), and play the political games, and punch your timecard just for the fun of it… if you do your best work at midnight, cool. If you do your best work between 9 and noon, cool.  That’s when you work.
3. You define what you do. VA’s are quick to point out they are not merely data entry clerks, although I’m sure many do data entry ($40/hour is pretty pricey for data entry, but hey, people pay it).  But I’ve seen other VAs define their boundaries, and I’m amazed at the skillset they are bringing to the table.  Seriously, think about what an assistant would do for you, or for a CEO, or a one-man business…. that is what these VAs are doing.  I’ve been on radio interviews where the VA is the technician, because they understand what buttons to push to get the recording… define your own skillset and market that.
4. It is entrepreneurial. And you already know how I feel about being an entrepreneur, or at the very least, having another income stream.
5. Need more money?  Get another client! Too busy?  Scale back.  You are your own boss, and you set your own schedule.
6. what did I miss?

Of course, this isn’t for everyone, but I really think it’s a great option for a lot of people.  And it helps that Tim Ferris, author of The Four Hour Workweek, really sensationalizes the idea of having a virtual assistant, so he’s turned the world onto the idea of buying the services.

If I were going to look at being a VA, I would start by googling the phrase.  But I would pour over the information at Virtual Assistant Directory,  and the owner’s website, Kathie M. Thomas.  She writes the popular and information-rich blog for Virtual Assistant Directory.  Another site to check out is Ultimate VA Support.

I don’t write about career ideas like Alexandra Levit, but this is one of a handful of ideas that I really, really like, and know I’ll be pointing people to this post for a while.

Barry Groh has an excellent question in his comment on last week’s post Get Value Out Of Job Ministries Even When You Aren’t Religous.  In fact, all of the comments on that post were excellent… if you get this via e-mail or RSS I suggest you click over and check out those comments.  Barry’s question is:

… how to do so when you are not looking in the community where you live for any jobs? I have not searched for any groups here locally where I live because I am not planning on staying here, but I’m also too far away to be able to connect with other groups there, although I know a number of them that I would meet with if I was there.

Do you or anyone else have any suggestions?

Barry, if I were in your situation, where I was looking out of state, and I believed that network was going to play a significant role in my job search, here is what I would do:

1. I would go to a local network group (or multiple groups) for a few reason. First, it’s a great reason to get out and practice essential networking skills, and I always learn stuff from others there.  Second, in my 30 second commercial I would mention that I want to move to Colorado (which is where Barry wants to end up).  I imagine that there would be people in the room who have some connection in Colorado, and might be able to faciliate an introduction.
2. I would do a search on Google Groups and Yahoo! Groups for something there. It’s not easy to find that stuff, mind you, but you just might find what you are looking for.  I know Atlanta and New Jersey both have very active job seeker e-mail groups (I’ve lurked there for almost 2 years).  Here are the results I found from a simple search on Groups.Yahoo.com: http://groups.yahoo.com/search?query=denver+job+search (I was pleasantly surprised by the results :))
3. I would identify groups that I would go to if I were there, and then call up the people who put them on. Introduce myself to them, let them know what I’m looking for, and ask them if there were other group members who I should talk to.  I’m guessing that many of these people would be very helpful, and start to get you connected.  If possible, schedule a week to fly out there, and hit all the groups in person, so that you can solidify the relationships.
4. I would try and identify major networkers in the area. Liz Ryan and Mike O’Neil are both in the Denver area, I think.  These are two major networkers, and I bet they know just about everyone you should know.  The challenge with people of this networking level is that they may be just too darn busy to help, so it might be a dead end.  But if you could give them a 30 second commercial, and specifically ask them if they “know anyone who works at A, B or C companies” or “know anyone who specializes in X profession or Y industry,” they might be able to make a quick referral or two.
5. I’m sure you’ve already done this, but I would search on LinkedIn. Pretend you are a recruiter and search for what they would search for… try your own job title and industry, with the city (zip code), and see what you get.  These people, whether working or not, could be great network contacts, and if nothing else, if you can connect with them on LinkedIn, you’ll usually be able to search their networks and might be surprised at the amazing contacts you meet.  Doesn’t it make sense that someone who has the job you want will be connected to the people you should be connecting with?

Those are my five suggestions for networking long-distance… what are yours?

Unfolding more of “my story,” I want to share part of the demise of my career path from my last company.  Sorry for any ambiguity… but I can’t tell the whole story here… know what I mean? BTW, I share this because I know some of you are thinking about a career path strategy, and wondering if you should stay at corporate or get closer to the customer, out in the field.

I had been at the corporate office for all of my career, with a few trips here and there to the field offices.  Even after the IT group that I managed spun off and merged with our software vendor, to form a subsidiary, I stayed at Corporate.  The new president, who was the owner of the software vendor we acquired, would drive about 3 hours each week to come to the corporate office and work there 4 out of 5 days.

When he got let go I became the General Manager (I was told I was too young to be the president, and all of the VPs of the parent company would be jealous… so I got the generic title that said “not quite good enough to be president”).  I stayed at the corporate office, even though most of my team was not there.  In fact, there really wasn’t anyone in the new company at Corporate with me… but I stayed anyway.

However, things changed.  Our web team headed to an industry conference, and I got an exciting report about how our new web product was accepted.  I decided it was time for me to leave the corporate office and relocate to the office where the web team was.  Not only was there a lot of excitiment there, this was my specialty, and I felt this was where I needed to be.

I was also interested in leaving the small-town where I had been for 9 years and move to a bigger city.  So I, the general manager, moved.

And that caused the eventual demise of my career with that company.

Even though the main purpose was to be closer to a major profit center (actually, two of the three profit centers) which needed my attention, it was a very poor political move.  I distanced myself from the corporate bureaucrats … which was definitely good for productivity and focus.

But it was very, very bad for politicking.

Not that I recommend you spend all your time, or most of your time, politicking.  But I learned that if there was an opportunity for someone to get facetime with an executive, they will.  And if you don’t have enough time with that executive, bad things can happen.  Rumors, misrepresentation, … whatever it may be, when you can’t represent yourself, other people represent you.

And that’s what happened to me.  And that is why I lost my job.  Because in a politic-heavy environment, I wasn’t involved in politics.  Forgive me for doing the job I was hired to do.

So, a rock and a hard place:

Rock: stay at corporate, even though it’s not the place you should be to get the job done the way it should be done.

Hard place: moving to do the job you are paid to do, but not having the ability to coddle execs and bosses who rely too much on circumstantial information, while probably suffering from information overload.

Without knowing it, I got out of balance, and didn’t spend the time to politic as I was trying to stabalize a business.

And that led to the phone call when I was terminated.

Greatest thing that happened to me, of course.

I share this because I know some of you are thinking about a career path strategy, and wondering if you should stay at corporate or get closer to the money, out in the field.

Not an easy choice, eh?  What career move have YOU made that was great for the company, but crappy for your career?

(photo props: I-heart-god.com)

check out this video from IBM on social networking:

How many contacts are in your network(s), and what does that really mean?

Networking into your next job, and nurturing relationships, is usually deeper than acccumulating contacts in any network, be it LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, etc.

Every once in a while there is a post so brilliant it becomes the topic of what I write about, even pushing my editorial calendar back (yeah right :p).  Such is the case with Utah Tech Jobs’ Robert Merrill’s recent post titled 4 Factors Creating Utah Workforce Funk.  From the introduction:

There’s no question something interesting is happening with Utah’s professional/technical workforce right now, and I think there are no less than four competing factors at play any business-owner should be paying very close attention to:

He goes on to suggest the four factors are:

1. Real and Wage Inflation
2. Intense Competition for Talent
3. Corporate cost-cutting
4. High Energy/Commute Costs

First, it’s clear to me that this workplace funk is NOT just a Utah thing, and not limited to professionals and/or technical folks.

Second, Robert says this is something any “business owner should [pay] very close attention to.”  And since YOU are CEO of Me, Inc., it’s obvious that YOU need to pay very close attention to these four factors.

I don’t have anything to add to Robert’s awesome post and analysis, and I hate to see you go somewhere else, but click on over to Utah Tech Jobs and check out this brilliant post… and consider what it means for YOU.

(I’ll miss you ;))

I remember I was on a radio interview with Jim Stroud and Karen Mattonen when they asked me if I’d approached Job Ministries, to let them know about JibberJobber.  I had no idea what that was, but they were very enthusiastic about it (come to think of it, they are always enthusiastic about a lot of things :p).

My experience with church job search support was limited to what I had experienced in Utah, with the LDS “Professional Workshop,” which was a free, two-day event that was quite eye-opening.  I had also gone to a number of job search networking groups sponsored by the LDS professional employment folks, which was immensely helpful during my search.

The workshop and the networking groups were very focused on helping professionals get back into the workforce, and welcomed anyone (there was no question of your religious beliefs).

Since then I’ve experienced two other amazing “job ministry” network groups - one in Houston (Between Jobs Ministry) and one in Minneapolis.  In Houston I understand they draw about 200 people a week, mostly professionals and executives.  In Minneapolis there were about 75 people when I went to speak.  I’m always amazed at the calliber of people at the network groups, and the helpfulness that each person brings to the meeting.

If a job seekers asks me for advice in their job search, I’ll frequently ask them if they have found a local job ministry network group to attend.  In fact, you SHOULD find as many job ministry network groups as you can and go to ALL of them.

Why wouldn’t you go to a job ministy group? Are you an Atheist?  A non-believer?  A sinner?  It’s not the right religion?

None of that matters. This isn’t a place to talk about religious beliefs or differences, although you may hear that here and there.  This is a place to help get individuals back into the workforce.

I wrote a post last November titled Religion’s Role in a Job Search.  Go read that, and then search on Google for job ministries near you (or check out the Work Ministry site).  Don’t let your religious beliefs preclude you from the amazing networking opportunities out there!