by Angela Copeland | Apr 18, 2017 | Advice, Podcast, Sales
Episode 129 is live! This week, we talk with Ian Altman in Washington, DC.
Ian is a business leader who started, sold, and grew his companies worldwide to values of more than one billion dollars. Seth Godin recommends Ian’s latest book, Same Side Selling, as one of two books to read on B2B selling. And, you can read his columns each week in Forbes and Inc. Ian is also the host of the Grow My Revenue Business Cast on Apple Podcasts.
On today’s episode, Ian shares the trick we should take from athletes, how to stand out and sell yourself in a job interview, and how to be authentic during a job interview.
Listen and learn more! You can play the podcast here, or download it on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher.
To learn more about Ian, visit his website at http://www.ianaltman.com/. Or, check out his book, Same Side Selling, here on Amazon.
Thanks to everyone for listening! And, thank you to those who sent me questions. You can send your questions to Angela@CopelandCoaching.com. You can also send me questions via Twitter. I’m @CopelandCoach. And, on Facebook, I am Copeland Coaching. Don’t forget to help me out. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts and leave me a review!
by Angela Copeland | Apr 12, 2017 | Advice, Career Corner Column, Media
The job market often offers twists and turns you’d never expect. My first twist happened during college.
I grew up in the 90s, along with the internet. Companies like AOL were just starting. With a “fast” dial up modem, you could connect through your phone line. It was just the sort of thing a teenager dying to go to college out of state needed. It was an exciting time. Everything and everyone suddenly seemed magically intertwined in a new way.
Startups were popping up everywhere. Young people were getting investments to start business and were suddenly worth millions. It was like being a celebrity. The guarantee of a good job and a great financial future motivated me to study computer and systems engineering in college. I moved from Oklahoma to Upstate New York for the opportunity.
Midway through school, the dot com crash happened. Suddenly, startups were disappearing and jobs in the tech world dried up. Recruiters that came to my college to hire students canceled their visits. Not only were their visits canceled, the jobs they were hiring for were canceled too.
This was one of the scariest times in my career. It forced me to rethink the possibilities of what I might become. After some soul searching, I found a project management job. It wasn’t what I had expected to be doing, but the good news was, it was even better. This work capitalized on my strengths more than computer programming ever did, and it prepared me for my next challenge – graduate school.
Getting my MBA presented an entirely new set of hurdles. The first was saving enough money to quit my job to go. The second was to move cross country to a new city in California where I knew no one. While I was in school, the job market continued to be competitive. In fact, many employers were no longer paying for interns. The prospect of working for free was one catalyst to finish school early and to begin my new career.
Strangely, although I planned to change careers when I finished business school, employers didn’t initially see it the same way. One company offered me twice as much money to do the same sort of work I’d been doing before school. It was incredibly confusing. The money was great, but I’d quit my job so that I could change careers completely. I turned down the offer and kept searching. Eventually, I became a digital marketing executive and now, a career coach.
What I’ve learned along the way is that your path isn’t always as straight as you picture it when you’re eighteen. And, more importantly – that’s okay. In today’s job market, changing jobs every three to five years keeps you fresh. It diversifies your professional contacts and your experience. It turns you into a bit of a free agent so to speak. And, you have a chance to negotiate for more money every few years. Very often, unexpected career interference is a true blessing in disguise.
Angela Copeland is CEO and founder of Copeland Coaching and can be reached at CopelandCoaching.com or on Twitter at @CopelandCoach.
by Angela Copeland | Apr 11, 2017 | Advice, Company Culture, Podcast
Episode 128 is live! This week, we talk with Jennifer Garrison in Houston, TX.
Jennifer is the Director of Human Resources at Elite SEM. Elite SEM is a New York based digital marketing agency. They have received a number of awards for their business, including: Ad Age – Small Agency of the Year, US Search Awards – Best Search Agency, Mashable – #1 Best Tech Company To Work For, Crain’s New York Business – #1 Place To Work, Entrepreneur – Best Company Culture, and Bing – Independent Agency of the Year. They were also recognized by the Inc. 5000 for year over year as one of the fastest growing search engine marketing agencies in the country.
On today’s episode, Jennifer shares her tips on finding and cultivating a great company culture. She also provides suggestions on how to land an internal promotion at your current company.
Listen and learn more! You can play the podcast here, or download it on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher.
To learn more about Jennifer and Elite SEM, check out the Elite SEM website at www.elitesem.com.
Thanks to everyone for listening! And, thank you to those who sent me questions. You can send your questions to Angela@CopelandCoaching.com. You can also send me questions via Twitter. I’m @CopelandCoach. And, on Facebook, I am Copeland Coaching. Don’t forget to help me out. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts and leave me a review!
by Angela Copeland | Apr 5, 2017 | Advice, Career Corner Column
In the business world, things move fast. You write a business proposal, seek approval, and move on to your next project. Efficiency is key in business. Move fast. Waste little time. Produce as much output as possible.
I recently had a wonderful opportunity to share my personal career story at a TEDx event in Worthington Ohio. Giving a TEDx Talk was a huge honor, but also a big responsibility. I wanted to be prepared. And, not the kind of prepared that I’ve been in the past when I’ve delivered some sort of PowerPoint presentation I whipped up for an executive meeting.
But, what does being prepared for something like TED mean? Fortunately, I had a great team of folks around me to serve as advisors, including a professional speaking coach, a professional speech writer, and a great TEDx team. I honestly couldn’t have felt more proud to have such a great group working with me that I could put my trust in.
What I quickly found was that preparing for a fifteen minute memorized talk was an entirely different animal all together. For the first time, I had a script. And, I didn’t just write the script once. I wrote and revised it ten times. Each time, the team would have feedback. Perhaps one word didn’t sound quite right. Or, maybe another sentence was needed to bridge two thoughts.
Then came practicing. Memorizing eight pages of text is not easy for anyone. That was the first giant hill to conquer. Once the memorization was under control, I focused on my delivery. Even tiny details like the regional pronunciation of words was on the table for discussion. I’ll be honest. At times, this level of commitment felt tough.
Then, one day, I bumped into a professional ballet dancer at the theatre where I was practicing. He was there, by himself, practicing his dance skills. You might think this was a sign that he had a big production just around the corner. But, it wasn’t. He was there practicing because he wanted to be his best at all times. He didn’t have a show around the corner. He had discipline.
It really hit home with me in that moment how hard actors and athletes work when we’re not looking. They are dedicated to be the best at one specific thing, for the fifteen minutes when we are watching. But, it’s not random that they’re at their best for those fifteen minutes. Hours of tiring practice have gone into that perfect moment; practice that nobody else sees.
This experience makes me wonder how much more effective, and efficient, we all might be as business leaders if we set aside a little more time to practice. Rather than planning to give a presentation once with no rehearsal, what if we took the time to hone our message? I hope to take my newfound respect for performers and athletes with me as I go back to my projects in the fast paced business world.
Angela Copeland is CEO and founder of Copeland Coaching and can be reached at CopelandCoaching.com or on Twitter at @CopelandCoach.
by Angela Copeland | Apr 4, 2017 | Advice, Podcast, Relocation, Working Abroad
Episode 127 is live! This week, we talk with Greg Taff in Oslo, Norway.
Greg is a Research Scientist at the Norwegian Institute for Bioeconomy Research in Oslo, Norway. He conducts land use change research in northern areas, primarily in the Artic, great Scandinavia, and the Baltics. Greg’s specialties include GIS, remote sensing, and statistics.
On today’s episode, Greg shares his tips to moving abroad. He covers how to go about finding a job, the jobs easiest to land in other countries, and trips for your move. If you’ve dreamed of moving to another country, you need to hear this episode!
Listen and learn more! You can play the podcast here, or download it on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher.
To learn more about Greg’s work, check out the NIBIO website here: http://www.nibio.no/en.
Thanks to everyone for listening! And, thank you to those who sent me questions. You can send your questions to Angela@CopelandCoaching.com. You can also send me questions via Twitter. I’m @CopelandCoach. And, on Facebook, I am Copeland Coaching. Don’t forget to help me out. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts and leave me a review!
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