2 months in... and?

I'm at my new job 2 months. Establishing a foundation of Data Governance with MDM solutions with a technical team. Lots of politics and probably egos prevent progress and problems that need to surface.

I'm anxious to get started - to bring impact - to engage with the business to look inside their issues and establish a "framework" (I count 5 business buzz terms I've used here - does this make sense?). I know I'm not alone - this lesson in patience is tough but essential.

So - I'm learning all I can about the politics, the egos, the solutions and the history while I wait. I'm hoping this will make me more valuable when we're ready to move.

Its easy to complain but not always easy to know when to jump in and help with the solution.

2 friends got jobs after lengthy work outage - I'm so happy for them. Go people!

The Super Human Interviewer

Just read an article on Yahoo finance about the 50 worst things to do on a job interview:

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/50-Worst-of-the-Worst-and-usnews-3658564314.html?x=0

I wont repeat everything here - but basically - don't do anything human and don't do anything extreme:

* neither too much nor too little enthusiasm
* neither too many nor too few questions
* neither too early nor too late
* listen carefully, sit up straight, don't yawn
* don't lie about your job skills - but I know people who over market their experience (I have been in the interview-er post too)
* no sun glasses, no bluetooth, chewing tobacco or gum, no smoking (don't smell like smoke OR perfume)
* don't laugh or giggle or do anything to make the situation seem like 2 people sizing each other up and making lots of decisions about each other in 30 to 60 minutes.

The job interview can seem like an inquisition - or a good way to share needs and skills.

Here is my advice - do everything for the interviewer & company you would like them to do for you. Research the job and the company - have an open mind and be prepared to listen as well as share. Dress the way you want to be treated and paid at least in the interview. Not everyone can find out ahead of time how the interviewer will be dressing but that should stop you from dressing for the 6 figure salary... IF that is what you want to be worth.

Happy hunting you super human!

The Upside of a Layoff

Is a layoff / downsizing / reduction in force / termination always a bad thing?

We think so because we may not have enough savings for the amount of time it takes to get a new job that we like. Maybe you're barely making it with your current income and outgo.

If you're like me - you're single - and YOU are all you have. I'm also a consultant (like more of our workforce) and unemployment doesn't apply to me. My independent insurance plan is expensive, even for modest coverage. Looking for work (either full time or consulting) takes time and resources. I leaned on my friends and family which does not go well for an independent minded person.

I was let go from a chaotic, ego driven and political environment several months ago. My friends and even a co-worker worried about my health. I was attacked about my opinions and input and forced out of a role I was good at and enjoyed doing. But I knew it was ultimately not a bad thing to be out of that situation regardless how it happened. When I heard the words "they're eliminating your position" (for a mission critical role) - I said "ok, fine".

I took a month to totally chill. I took 2 more months to study for and pass a new certification. I passively looked for work and wasn't liking what I was finding too much. At about month 3 - I started feeling physically and emotionally stronger and I vowed not to let myself get in that level of employment turmoil again. I would not work for someone who was unsupportive of me - of someone who was so blind to the quality I bring to the workplace.

At about month 4 - I had a feeling that I would need to be patient and that good things were beginning to come to the surface. I began following some career experts on Linkedin (David Perry, Guerrilla Marketing for the Job Search) and through my friend Nina Price who is a life & career coach, health and wellness practitioner and licensed massage therapist (http://www.ninaprice.com/) who is very connected to burn-out and mid-life career strategies. I started to trust my intuition a bit more and be less afraid of making changes to be more employable.

Call it letting go - call it truely engaging - call it timing - by mid-month 5, I was feeling more confident in my interviewing and helping 15 other friends and family with their searches. I accepted 1 of 3 offers for contract work and am now involved in a contract role I believe will bring some long-term marketability to my portfolio.

I have read about others who feared the dreaded "pink slip" or even firing and opened their mind to something they really wanted to do. It is painful because it means having no control and even leaning on others for a time. Results are empowering but you have to have the "go long" mentality. At 49 - I don't plan on retiring until I want so I am willing to change in order adapt to the work environment.

Follow some advice of Dory in Finding Nemo - "relax" and "just keep swimming". Even bad things can bring about good results. We learn and we thrive.

Come find me on Linked In - look at my groups - join them - lots of good career advice and even some jobs.

How To Get A Personal Referral For A Job

http://www.glassdoor.com/blog/personal-referral-job/

this was found through a Linkedin user group I belong to - was too good to pass up. If you're in the job market - read this - if not - pass this along to someone who is. Terri

the blog...

So you’ve figured out what you want to do and where you want to work. That’s remarkable progress. Most people get really stuck on the “figure out what you want to do” part of looking for a job.

Once you have a target in mind, a place you really want to work, the question becomes ‘How do you get in touch with the right people?’ The right people don’t work in HR or the Recruiting Department – they are the managers and executives who lead the operating departments and divisions of the company you hope to work for.

While the rest of the competition is busy searching the job boards or folding and mailing resumes to anonymous ‘To Whom It May Concerns’, what you want to become is a ‘referral’. The conventional wisdom among employers is that candidates who are referred by another employee are of a higher quality. Your goal should be to get to know several insiders well enough to have them forward your resume into the hiring process. The whole idea is to develop a personal relationship with a well placed insider who can lend some credibility to your application.

So how do you figure out who they are and how to get in touch with them?
Start with the company reviews on Glassdoor. It’s a great way to do a reality check on your decision. If the company is one of the more than 74,000 covered by Glassdoor, you’ll find interesting information about the culture, the interview process and salaries.

If the company you want to work for is a public company, you can find key information about their leadership on one of the major financial sites. (Google or Yahoo) For more local operations that are privately owned, the local newspaper is a useful place to start.

If you haven’t registered with LinkedIn, do so. LinkedIn is fast becoming the alternative to a traditional resume. As a result, you can be virtually certain that someone from the company you hope to work for will be in the database. Use their advanced search.

Once you’ve come up with a name or two, go to town on Google. Virtually every working person has some information available through Google. Find out what you can. Consider purchasing their business card online or buying their contact information through one of the search warehouses.
Once you have the name and title of the person you want to reach, start calling the company. Your initial goal should be to schedule a meeting with your target. You should be prepared to listen to your target for several hours over the course of a number of meetings. Your goal is not to sell your services, but rather to try to understand their job, their opportunities and their problems.

With this fundamental research in hand, prepare a plan to solve some or all of your contact’s problems.

Now, after you have made yourself useful and provided real value to the person you are networking with, ask for their help.

The very essence of the job hunt is:

* Figure out where you want to work
* Figure out who you want to work for
* Get their attention
* Give them something of real value in their business
* Ask for their help

It’s politely referred to as ‘employee referrals’. In fact, it’s the hidden job market you hear so much about. It’s easy to get a job once you are a known quantity. The challenge is figuring out how to become one - This is one way.

Guest Blogger John Sumser, a member of the Glassdoor Clearview Collection, is founder and CEO of Two Color Hat, a company that helps the vendors who serve HR and professional recruiters. In addition, John is currently a board director at Salary.com. Sumser believes the employment marketplace should be easy to understand. His experience includes 15 years of Electronics R&D, 15 years of online publishing, including work as an executive editor for Recruiting.com, non-profit management and start-up consulting.

Best Practices

In our modern society we often hear the words "we are building a best in class...", "we are transitioning to best practices operations", "we have enabled scalable solutions so the business can grow their business".

Sometimes I know what this means but as I have experienced growth towards best practices commonly means best practices for that organization. There are standards of operations - but they come at a price. We replace an old "stonehenge" of a transactional order or accounting system with a new ERP or CRM. We enter the business rules into the system and determine that after spending $1MM to deliver it - we can lay off 100 people who used to manually enter all the rules into the system and scan document as graphic representations into the new system. The 100 people are let go - and you hire 25 technical people "off shore" to manage this work from a technical maintenance program. They don't know much about the "on shore" operations and you have put 100 people "on shore" out of work. That's efficiency. We bleed our "on shore" system of operations at the cost of profit. When revenues shrink we find a way to be more efficient with our use of people. There are still human's needed for the organization - but if we could find a way to have all processing "touchless" - we will find a way.

Service providers to this, buyers do this. We are bleeding our system dry. Profit is necessary to buy that new $1MM system that is more accurate. When we discover that we have "outsourced" all of our intelligence - there is a quick fix. A business solution (software and hardware) that enables us to manage all of our processes and maturity on a dashboard that tells us at any point how something is processed.

I am an efficiency expert. I am paid to understand business processes, the rules that define them, the people that own data and systems and processes - and find best practices either with existing resources or with new solutions. Best practices would say that a software program can do away with my job or ship it "off shore" to a less expensive, younger, highly capable person who will be monitored and reported on.

Do we really know what best practices are. With all our evolution - have we dropped something along the way? Another inconvenient truth.

Found - My Next Opportunity

This week I accepted 1 of 2 contract opportunities that came my way.

After applying, posting, networking, studying and certifying, and never giving up - the hunt is over. For me - since contracts must come to an end - I will probably be doing this in about a year - longer if I can keep it going.

Some stats of my accomplishments:

• 191 days after lay-off
• 151 probably really looking for work
• 133 people in my professional network helping me out
• 200+ people in my personal network lifting me up
• 175 jobs applied for
• 2 new certifications under my belt (PMP & SCRUM Master)
• 26 job boards I keep up with weekly
• 21 live interviews - 30+ phone screens
• 1 small contract landed to keep me doing something
• 1 part time job working in a warehouse for a children's clothing designer
• 1 long-term contract doing what I am trained to do
• Endured the flu
• This didn't kill me
• Priceless life lessons learned

While I am now feeling good about my own victory - I have at least 15 friends and family members who continue on this painful journey and I am committed to helping them in any way I can. I am on their list of PEEPS to help them through.

NEVER give up and never let anyone make you feel untalented and unworthy

Get a good job description

I've been contacted by a number of hiring managers and agents (3rd party consulting brokers) about a "great opportunity" for a "name of a role" without actually having a good description of the required skills and experience and responsibilities. Trying to be successful at an interview without a good foundation of their expectations sets the interview to be about a 50/50 success.

I generally do my best but don't expect a good outcome if they want to go through the interview process without setting expectations from the start. This last Friday I had just such an opportunity. My feedback was that I was interested in the role but without knowing their expectations - the outcome is uncertain.

This is a more common issue in consulting than full time or part time regular employment. In the future - I'm going to write down the responsibilities and expectations as we talk about them - then follow up with a list of the responsibilities to demonstrate my understanding of their needs. At the very least - I'm showing initiative to better understand the job.

You can't hit a target with blindfolds on.