The Sweet Spot: Helping Others Find the Inflection Point in Their Career

I have always been a people watcher.

I watch the way people react while in conversation. I watch emotions. I watch the dynamics of groups and how people respond.

Since I commute to work, I always watch the interaction of people on public transportation. You see the ones who know everyone and everything; you notice the ones who are consumed in thought. You talk with some that always have the “deer in the headlights” look.

More importantly you notice the ones that are eager and can’t wait to get to work.

The CEO and You are both the Same!

You have recently been appointed the CEO.  Once the excitement wears down, what do you do?

Have you ever given any thought to that scenario?  Maybe not, because a lot of us are not striving for that top role and just maybe it is not in our DNA to project that high.  Then again, maybe you are currently unemployed and that thought is the farthest from your mind.  However if that is the case, you definitely need to keep reading.  If you are employed, think about that dream role within your current company or another company for that matter.   Now hopefully you are getting somewhat of a vision as to where this is going.  This CEO scenario is valuable whether you are employed or not.
 

Everyone one of us is a CEO,  we are the CEO of ME INC.  You are in charge of your marketing, PR, finance etc. You devise the strategy that will project your career and life.  Maybe you have not thought of it that way, but now is the time to start envisioning that scenario

Networking: The Old Fashion Way

One of the advantages of living or working in New York is the availability or exposure to so many events. I thought about this on last week as I attended the launch party for Caribbean One magazine. What made this special is that I took my daughter, Lauren as my guest. Over the years I have always taken my son Sean, but she just graduated from college on last month and is now back home so she will be my permanent guest for a while.

Over the years, specifically since high school, I have always stressed to importance of meeting people, getting connected and the importance of being known in whatever industry you choose. They have for the most part followed this model and are constantly working on getting their careers in shape.

We met earlier in the day, had a glass of wine and she brought me up to date on her job search, 4 upcoming interviews that she got on her own. We discussed her research on the companies. We reviewed industry knowledge, we discussed their current marketing strategy and we reviewed her "2 minute pitch". She brought me up to date of the bio's (LinkedIn) that she had read on each person that she would be interviewing.

With that done we headed to the event. As we rode over in the cab, I gave her background on the event and who the key players were and the key points of her pitch to people she would be meeting. My role has always been to get them acquainted with the tools of career management at an early age. The first step is on this path is networking

Networking Plays a Critical Role in Your Job Search

This week, I was a guest blogger at Pongo Resume

Today's post is written by Ron Thomas, a human resources professional with more than 15 years of experience, including roles with Martha Stewart Living and IBM. His work has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, Workforce Management, Chief Learning Officer magazine and Crain's New York Business. Recently, he was named to the HR Hall of Fame by HR Network of New York. Ron's blog, StrategyFocusedHR, focuses on human resources from a strategic perspective.

I attended a conference years ago in which the presenter gave me an "Aha! moment" during a discussion about careers: "You are no bigger in your field than your Rolodex." (Or, for today's younger workers, your connections and followers.) I have never forgotten that statement.