Your Best Worst Day
With the wrap up of the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, I’ve been thinking a lot about what it takes to be a top competitor. Athletes spend decades training to be the best at one single sport. They have just a few minutes once every four years to show off their skills and compete to be the best in the world. But with so many talented athletes, what does it take to really stand out? I’d argue it’s grit: being a courageous person who refuses to give up under any circumstances. Natural ability is great, but it won’t always get you to the finish line.
Having a good day is easy. You feel great and everything falls into place. The real question is, how do you handle things when the world around you seems to be crumbling? US figure skater Gracie Gold fell during one of her most important Olympic performances. But, she didn’t let her mistake keep her from completing the rest of her routine beautifully. Despite falling, Gracie received a high score. She came in fourth overall, and although she didn’t receive a medal, she provided she’s a true Olympian.
Have you ever been on a job interview and had something go terribly wrong? How did you handle it? Did you cancel the interview, stumble through answers, or apologize for yourself?
My worst ever interview disaster came about seven years ago. I had flown to the east coast for an important in person interview at a large, traditional corporation. The flight was in the evening, so I arrived late the night before and took a cab from the airport to my hotel. Upon unpacking my suitcase, I realized I had forgotten the pants to my suit. Yes, of all the things that could go wrong, I forgot my pants! I’d worn sweat pants on the plane, so I had no appropriate clothing for the interview. What could I do? This was a real pickle I’d gotten myself into!
First, I looked for nearby stores. There were none open this late, and I had no transportation to get anywhere. Not even taxis were running.
Rather than give up, I started to brainstorm. I wondered if I could get my pants from Memphis to me in time for the 8 AM interview the next day. Although it was too late to drop off a package at FedEx Office, I found that packages could be dropped off at the airport until midnight. First, I found a friend who agreed to drive my pants to FedEx. Then, two other people helped me get a key to my apartment to that friend. When my friend entered my apartment, I walked them through my closet over the phone, to ensure they found the right pair of pants. The friend made it to the airport on time, and the pants arrived at 6 AM, two hours before my interview! I alerted the hotel staff of the situation, to ensure they notified me the moment the pants arrived.
During the interview, I was asked to describe a difficult situation I had encountered and the steps I’d taken to overcome it. I used the example of my pants, and the interviewers were blown away. They were impressed at the story, and couldn’t have imagined the trouble I’d taken to ensure I was properly suited for our meeting. I was able to turn what was otherwise a train wreck of a situation into a great story that won me major points during the interview.
As you’re looking for your next job, you will no doubt face adversity. You will come across situations that seem impossible to fix or overcome. I encourage you to stay focused on your ultimate goal of finding a fulfilling career. Stay the course. Be gritty. Reach out to your support network for strength. Even on your worst days, do your best to let your talents shine through and in the end, your perseverance will pay off in dividends.
I hope these tips have helped you. Visit CopelandCoaching.com to find more tips to improve your job search.
Happy hunting!
Angela Copeland
Working the (career fair) room like a pro
When was the last time you attended a career fair? Five years ago? Ten? Never? Chances are the last time you went to a fair, it was in college.
But, career fairs are not just something for college students anymore. They can be a great way to find an in person connection to a company you’ve been internet stalking for months. They’re also an alternative to submitting your resume to the online application process black hole.
Here are my top five tips to making the most of your next career fair experience:
- Bring your business cards & resumes – You never know who you might meet at a career fair. Bring plenty of business cards AND resumes. If you don’t have any and you’re short on time, lean on an office store like FedEx to you started.
- Bring your cell phone (and keep it on) – Although you should keep you phone turned down low or on vibrate, keep it on during a career fair. There’s a chance a recruiter may call and ask you to stop back by their booth to meet someone else, or to interview during the fair. Put your cell phone number on your resume. In fact, take off any phone number that’s not your cell during a career fair.
- Reach out to recruiters in advance – Many fairs allow you to submit your resume weeks or months before the fair. This can help you to connect with recruiters and begin to schedule interviews in advance. If you already have recruiters in your network, reach out to them to find out if they’ll be attending.
- Ask for on-site interviews – It’s a little known fact that many career fairs have private interview booths that are hidden away from the career fair floor. Recruiters often have lists of positions they’re hiring for, and a schedule of available interview times. Ask questions and find out if there’s anyway to get on their calendar during the fair.
- Follow up – When you get home from the career fair, send every recruiter you spoke with a thank you e-mail. Follow up with a LinkedIn connection request to make the most of your new networking contact. If at possible, take these steps on the same day you attend the fair.
Last, but not least, continue to perfect your elevator pitch. Practice introducing yourself. You want to shake hands, and make eye contact while introducing yourself. Explain what you do, and what you’re looking for. This simple and concise message will open to the door to further conversations about job opportunities.
Lucky for Tennesseans, there are multiple career fair options coming up in 2014 to practice these skills. First, the Multicultural Career Fair will be held in Memphis on April 13th at the Hilton. To learn more about this great event, check out my blog post about it. This will be an excellent opportunity for those in Memphis to work on their networking skills and professional development while searching for a new job.
I will also announce a national career fair on Thursday, so check back on my blog for all the details.
I hope these tips have helped you. Visit CopelandCoaching.com to find more tips to improve your job search.
Happy hunting!
Angela Copeland
Where to start when you’re starting over
It’s been a surprising week for folks in Memphis. Like we’ve seen too many times over the past few years, companies are restructuring. When they do, it impacts the personal lives of their employees.
Unfortunately, unlike previous generations, the luxury of having an entire career at one company is rare. Workers no longer stay at the same job for thirty years and then retire with a great pension and excellent healthcare. In fact, staying at one company can often be looked at as a negative thing. More value is often being been placed on breadth, rather than just depth, of knowledge.
This means employees must take charge of their own careers, and their own personal brands. It’s as if each person is their own little company, working to stay competitive and stay in the game.
For those who have not adopted this perspective, layoffs like those seen in Memphis can be especially difficult. You may be a top performer. You may be loyal, and get along with your boss. And, yet you were still impacted by this type of change.
Everything seemed normal. You went into work one day like it was any other. Unexpectedly, you were called into a meeting where you were notified that the company had changed direction, and you no longer had a job.
“What now?” you ask yourself. After all, you haven’t updated your resume in years. You don’t even know where to begin.
For those impacted by recent corporate changes, I recommend the following five steps. (Heck, I recommend these even if you weren’t impacted!)
- Get business cards – Despite not having a job, you need to have business cards. Consider ordering cards that only contain your name, phone number, and e-mail address.
- Perfect your elevator pitch – Practice explaining who you are, what type of job you’re looking for, and your professional background. Get your pitch down to 30 seconds to quickly and concisely introduce yourself.
- Update your resume – Spend time updating your resume with your most recent position and accomplishments. Don’t forget to include numbers, such as the size of budget you managed, or the number of people you led.
- Start networking – Get out there and start meeting new people. If you aren’t sure where to start, follow the networking events listed on my Copeland Coaching blog. When you go to an event, make a goal to exchange business cards with 5 people. It will help you to get started.
- Setup informational interviews – Reach out to those folks you meet, and setup time to talk. These discussions are an opportunity for you to learn about a new industry or a new company in a low pressure environment. It’s also a great way to network!
At the end of the day, the most important thing is to get started. The longer you wait, the harder the process can become. And in most cases, you’ll begin to notice that your old company has been a stressful place to work for a while. Although you feel frustrated now, in time, you may find that starting over was the very best start of all.
“Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all.” –Dale Carnegie
I hope these tips have helped you. Visit CopelandCoaching.com to find more tips to improve your job search.
Happy hunting!
Angela Copeland
The 10 Minute Conversation That Will Change Your Life
What are the top three things that would make life easier for you? My guess is that at least one of those things is more money. Even if you’re not broke, more money can provide a better lifestyle, more opportunities for your family, and more vacation time for you at the beach.
What’s your own plan to increase your personal financial value? You probably have a full time job, a savings account, and investments (like your home or 401-K) that you hope will grow over time.
Most likely, your #1 source of income right now is your full time job. How much has your income, or salary, from that full time job grown per year in the last 10 years? If you’re like many people, you’ve been getting somewhere in ballpark of 1% more to 3% more each year.
It’s like pocket change. Your boss has shared stories like, “the economy is down and this is all we can afford” or, “I had hoped to give you more, but this is all that I’m allowed to give for now.” It feels frustrating, but you’ve learned to accept it. After all, you’ve been hearing the same story for years.
Frankly, these tiny raises may not even keep up with inflation over time. At some point, you look back and realize you’re making more or less the same amount of money that you were 10 years ago. You start to wonder how you’ll ever retire comfortably or achieve your other personal financial goals.
Well, I have a tip I want you to consider. It could change your life. It’s quick, fairly painless, and takes just a few minutes. With this one change, you might breathe a little easier. And, you might actually get to take that vacation you’ve been dreaming of.
As I’ve touched on before, in today’s job market, employees no longer stay at one job forever. Most people are switching jobs every 3 to 5 years, so there’s little incentive for your employer to give you sizable raises.
What’s this big life changing advice you wonder?
Learn to negotiate.
Many of my clients have always either accepted or rejected job offers they’ve received. This is the norm for most job seekers. They basically either say yes or no, but nothing in between. Keep in mind that a company almost never puts their best job offer on the table right away. They’re expecting you to negotiate, so they’re saving the best offer for when you do.
And, in the small chance that the company has presented their best offer first, they’ll tell you. If you’ve started your negotiation in a reasonable and respectful way, what they won’t do is take it off the table. It’s just up to you at that point to decide if you’re willing to take their first offer.
The point is, there’s little downside to asking for more. You may not always get as much as you ask for, but there’s a pretty good chance you’ll get more than was originally offered. If you ask.
Think about it this way: At an annual increase of 2%, it would take you over ten years to grow your salary by 25%. When you change companies, you can increase your salary overnight. The salary negotiation is typically over the phone or via e-mail, and takes about 10 minutes.
Sure, that 10 minutes might be a little uncomfortable. You might feel worried. But, ask yourself these two questions:
- What’s the worst that can happen? They might say no, and not give you what you asked for. You’ll now have to decide if you still want the original offer.
- What’s the best that can happen? They say yes, and give you more! And, suddenly, you’ve received multiple years worth of raises all in one 10-minute phone call.
If it sounds simple, it’s because it is. Most people don’t try because they’re scared, or they don’t know they can. Keep in mind that being really good at negotiation takes practice. But, being decent enough to get a little more money is something you can do right now.
Just remember to be respectful in your negotiations. These discussions are sensitive, and you definitely don’t want to damage your business relationship with your future employer.
That said, your future company EXPECTS you to negotiate. They will respect you for it, and chances are, they will in fact offer you more money. All in a 10 minute phone call.
I hope these tips have helped you. Visit CopelandCoaching.com to find more tips to improve your job search.
Happy hunting!
Angela Copeland
Your Business Card: don’t leave home without it
I don’t want to sound like a broken record, but this is a point that I want to drive home. One of the very first things I recommend to the job seekers I meet with is to get business cards- and to take them everywhere. So often, job seekers say they are in one of a few predicaments:
- “I’m between jobs, so I don’t have business cards.”
- “I’m in college (or graduate school), so I don’t need business cards.”
- “I’m changing careers, so my current business card from work isn’t relevant.”
- “My company doesn’t have the money to print them, so I don’t have business cards.”
I have to tell you, none of these excuses are anything more than excuses. At the end of the day, when you’re looking for a job, potential employers need to know how to contact you. You never know when or where you might meet someone who may end up being your next boss, or your next great networking contact (who will introduce you to your next big job). If you don’t have business cards, it’s time to get them. And the good news is, it’s easy. It only takes a few minutes to order them online, and then they will arrive to your house a few days later. Before you start, you’ll want to think about what to include on your business card.
At a bare minimum, you need to include:
- Your name
- Your phone number – I recommend your cell phone, so that you can receive calls anytime
- Your e-mail address – Refer back to my previous newsletter about which e-mail address to use and which one not to use
Other optional elements you can also add are:
- Your personal website URL, if you have one
- Your personal logo, if you have one
- A title that describes your desired line of work – Think of something along the lines of “Project Manager” or “Technology Consultant”
- Your address
If you’re the kind of person that has multiple types of jobs, or qualifications in multiple areas, you may want to consider a card that does not have your title. This will allow you to give the same card to different people, in different industries, and for different types of roles.
If you’re not a graphic artist, or experienced with Photoshop, don’t try to design a logo on your own. If you have a friend who’s an artist, ask them for their help – or leave off the logo altogether. Whatever you do, don’t include a photo of any kind. This is rarely helpful. At the end of the day, a simple business card is always better than a messy one.
When you’re ready to buy your cards, look around. A few of the sites I recommend you check out are FedEx.com, GotPrint.com, VistaPrint.com, and Moo.com.
I hope these tips have helped you. Visit CopelandCoaching.com to find more tips to improve your job search.
Happy hunting!
Angela Copeland
Copeland Coaching Podcast
