Career Boosting Tip #5: Develop Your Top 20 Relationships

Did you think I had given up on this Top 100 list? No way. Just resting. Really.

Remember back in Tip #3 - Mine your Inbox for Contacts, I talked about working through your email archives to keep track of your contacts. Well, here is the follow-on. It applies, of course, to your universe of contacts, not just those people hanging out in your Inbox.

1. Make a list of your best relationships…not necessarily your best friends mind you. I am talking about professional relationships. Those people who know you and who have the power to help your career along. Like who? Well, if you know The Donald, great, but in the real world, think about..

• Individuals within your organization who are 1 or 2 levels above you, within your department and outside of it. You need to have some kind of exposure, or relationship, or at least the very real possibility of creating one over time.
• Peers within your organization who are on the move and in a non-competitive area.
• People who fit the above description but who are external to your organization. Again, you need some kind of contact or relationship with them.
• People whose opinion, input, coaching, and advice you really value.

2. Prioritize your list. If you have more than 20 names, focus in on the Top 20. The people who might be in a position to refer you to new opportunities, assign/hire you to career expanding work, go to bat for you, introduce you to someone interesting, etc.

3. Now, get thinking about how you can be useful to these people. For in-company relationships, it is often about doing great work, delivering on what you promised, and communicating and interacting at their level. Perhaps you can now or in the future refer quality people and companies to your contact. You might be a conduit of information. Get creative. Even if nothing occurs to you, the idea is to reciprocate.

I know. You may be thinking that this all sounds a bit mechanical. Here’s the bottom line. Your whole career can be made by just a few key relationships. Those key relationships may be within your grasp right now. Even if they aren’t, building your networking / relationship building muscle is an important skill.

Looking for a New Job or Career Change? Are you Market Ready?

Are you thinking about a new job?

Do you have the itch and want to make a move?

Is a change in career, company or even a promotion going to be part of your New Year’s resolutions?

Hold on…I have an important question for you. Before you rush into job search mode, think about this…

Are You Market Ready?

What I mean is, are you truly prepared to go out into the job market or into conversations about what you want next and why?

• Do you know what you are looking for?
• Are you thinking already about what you have to settle for vs. what you really want?
• Are you clear about what to avoid?
• Have you prepared a compelling case for why you are an amazing candidate for your target position?
• Are you ready to interview and prove that you are the right candidate?

I will tell you more later about why getting prepared is so important.

For now, a quick heads-up.

For the first time, I am going to be offering a program designed to get you ready for a smart, focused and powerful career transition. The program will be offered at two levels and will start later in January. I am looking forward to telling you more about it next week.

But first, perhaps you should test your own market readiness.

Watch for an upcoming post with a link to an online quiz - The Are You Market Ready Challenge. The quiz will give you a fairly accurate measurement of how ready you are to make a move.

Watch for it.

Six Reasons Executive Recruiters will Talk to You

Kennedy Information is an authoritative source for information on executive recruitment and careers. I am pleased to have another exclusive article published in their most recent Executive Agent newsletter and Executive Registry newsletter. Six Reasons Executive Recruiters will Talk to You. Have a read.

Technorati Tags: career change, career coach, career transition, executive search, job search, networking

Clarity & Precision

There are many necessary elements to a well-managed career. I am continuously struck by the importance of clarity and preciseness when it comes to being on the job market, promoting yourself, and navigating the changes and potential opportunities that arise.

Clarity is vital in order to understand your strengths, interests and where you fit best. Clarity in your thinking and planning for what you want to do next and where that fits into your overall career plan. Clarity about what is important to you. Clarity about why you make a compelling and attractive candidate for work assignments.

Preciseness is important in how you communicate the above. In your day-to-day interactions. In the formal packaging of yourself via your resumé, cover letters, bio, web site, blog, or portfolio. Preciseness (and overall messaging) in your ability to interview effectively. Of course, it is difficult to be precise in an authentic way without first being clear.

The ability to market yourself effectively stems from that clarity and precision. Communication therefore plays a vital role in how you successfully manage your career. On this theme, today's article is a very short piece on Avoiding Clichés.

Technorati Tags: career coach, job search, personal branding

Six Reasons Executive Recruiters will Talk to You

It is worth covering the motivations of 3rd party recruiters, that is, executive search firms and other retained or contingent recruitment agencies.

The basic starting point is that these firms and their individual partners, associates, or support staff, are under no obligation to talk to you. They owe you nothing. Harsh, but true. The client of the search firm is the hiring organization. That is rule one.

However, rule 2 is that they need candidates that FIT their current and future assignments in order to do their job. That's where you come in.

So, let's drill down a bit and examine what the reasons or circumstances are in which a headhunter might talk to you.

Reason #1: When you are a strong potential candidate for one of their existing, current search assignments. Whether you have applied to an ad, sent in a blind resume, have been referred, or called, you will get attention only if you are a strong match for the assignment they are working on.

A search firm gets paid to attract people who are among the best in their field, not those just able to do the job. This is where a lot of frustration occurs among candidates.

Reason #2: When your background appears to be highly placeable for a future opportunity AND fits with the kind of work they do. Similarly, if they have the time, you may get their attention if your profession and industry are closely aligned with the kind of work they do, and your career trajectory is impressive. They will judge how placeable you are, that is, how likely it is that one of their clients would want to hire you. If there is a strong fit, then yes, they may make time for you.

Reason #3: When someone they respect refers you. The world of executive search and recruitment is about relationships and exchange of information. Yes, they post ads, but the ads are often failsafes. The real work occurs on the phones, speaking with people in their networks about who is good and who is ready to take on this challenge.

Referrals. That's how it works. So, search professionals tend to be highly attuned to incoming referrals from their network. The referrers may be current and past clients, industry experts, or former candidates. The later category is tricky. The power of the referral in this case really depends on the level of relationship that candidate had with the search firm.

Reason #4: When they want to have a relationship with you. If they conclude that you are a player, someone who might hire them to do search work in the future; someone who is well respected in the industry; someone with a big and powerful network, then they may be very attentive in starting a relationship with you. Being an up-and-comer is also considered. You may not, in their eyes, be ready today, but talking to you now may in fact be a good investment of time on their part.

Reason #5: When the market is slow. The fewer active assignments they have, the more time there is to fill their pipeline. Yes, they will be out looking for new clients, but it is also a time to catch-up on meeting new candidates. In a slower market, they are likely to be a little more open in who they talk to.

Reason #6: Lastly, when you target a junior, but motivated professional in the firm. You might not be able to get a partner or senior consultant's attention, but you may be able to with an associate or researcher. Don't underestimate the power of these folks to insert you into the search firm's active system and assignments. And, they need to build their career with strong, relevant and productive relationships. It could be you.

That's it. Yes, you may get in because you catch someone on a good day, and they feel like helping, but don't count on it. As a rule, these are the only instances when you can get an audience with a search firm.

Have you noticed something? If you are smart, and I know you are, you will see that you can turn this around to employ strategically. Who do you know that can refer you? Who is an up and comer in the firm but likely hungry to build there rolodex? And so on.

I hope that helps.

Technorati Tags: career coach, executive search, job search, networking