Fake It Till You Make It

First Day Of School Magic For The Workplace

Students go back to school this week which has me thinking about how I used to prepare for the first day of school and all the accompanying jitters.  There was always something so magical about the first day of a school year.  Anything that happened last year was gone, and your potential was suddenly limitless.  Who knows – maybe this was the year you would make the team, get asked to prom, or star in the school play.  Perhaps last year’s math class was a disaster, but on this magical day you had a chance to erase your mistakes and come in kicking butt and taking names.  Somehow, even though you would be rejoining many of the same classmates, there was still a chance to make a new first impression.  A killer outfit, a cool story about your summer, and the unwritten successes of the coming year all combined to create a situation where anything was possible.  Wow, I miss that.

I truly think it’s a shame that we professionals don’t get a summer break to restart our year “à la etch-a-sketch”.  I propse that we can use this fall season to our advantage though, and that it presents a chance for us to pause and fabricate a little first day of school mojo.  So if our “first day of work” is coming up, then we’ve got some strategizing to do!

The Look.  I remember agonizing pre-school mall trips with my mom trying to break my bad style tendencies and find the perfect look for the first day of school.  Thankfully, I’ve made some improvements since then, and I’m no longer jumping on stupid fads and unflattering fit.  On my “first day of work” I’m going to perfect my look.  I may hit the Target clearance rack, or I may do some sprucing up on one of my existing looks – but the key here is taking a little extra time and declare my confidence.  I suggest laying out your clothes the evening before your designated first day of work – just like you used to do when you were a teen.  Grab an accessory you haven’t used in a while or try a new jacket/blouse combo.  Watch a youtube video on a cool makeup technique and employ it.  Just walk in on that morning like you own the place.  Sometimes looking the part is half the battle.

The Relationships.  On the first day of school you never knew who you might be sitting next to in History class.  The laws of proximity could turn an acquaintance into a bestie in no time flat.  You may also have entered  your school year determined to make a good impression with the heavyweights of popularity in your school. There’s no reason you can’t do the same at work.  Make intentional connections starting this week.  There are tons of ways you can achieve this.  Seek out an opinion on a project from someone you respect.  Eat lunch with coworkers instead of scarfing down food at your desk.  Be brave at a business event and spark up a conversation with a big wig.  You have been told your whole life that it’s not what you know, but who you know that counts.  This “school year” at work communicate with others like you believe that’s true.

The Plan.  It may have been different each year, but when you started on your first day of school you probably had a plan of attack.  Maybe your plan was to get a 4.0, or maybe you wanted to run for student government.  What was great about the first day of school is that you hadn’t yet experienced the failures and disappointments that keep you from dreaming and making big goals.  Take some time to write out some measurable and achievable goals that you want to tackle at work.  Don’t worry about what happened last month – these are NEW goals.  Commit to taking baby steps that will get you to your goal.  If you take small, actionable steps you’ll be at your end goal before you know it.  A to-do list is a great way to keep track of these action steps.  There’s a good online tool/app called Remember The Milk that can help you track this process.  There are lots of other online goal setting tools out there as well, and the good news – many of them are free!

So – as you make your commute this week, look at the school busses that have joined you on the road and get inspired.  You can make real change for the better this year, and tomorrow is a great day to start. 

What are your goals for your “first day of work”?

Image courtesy of Rawich/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Low Hanging Fruit: Easy LinkedIn Profile Updates

If you haven’t been living under a rock for the past several years you probably have some sort of presence on LinkedIn.  You realize that your profile on this site can make a big difference in job search, but you may not know how to maximize your impact.  Having a great profile, being involved with discussions on your area of expertise, and networking are all necessary for success - however it can be daunting to tackle all of it at once.  Like most things in life there are some low hanging fruit you can start with to give your LinkedIn presence more impact.  You don’t have to become an expert overnight – but noticeable improvement can be achieved in mere minutes.

Simplify Your URL. 

When you check out your LinkedIn profile does the web address appear to have a bit of gobbledygook?  If the URL on your page is comprised of a numbers and letters that don’t make sense to you, they won’t make sense to those looking at your profile either.  You can change this URL so that is simple to read and obviously belongs to you.  If you go to edit your profile – you can customize your URL link so that it uses some version of your name and maybe even your industry.  This makes your LinkedIn page easy to access.  It also allows you to put a link to your page on your résumé in a way that is very neat and clean.

Give A Recommendation.

You’ve probably heard that having recommendations on your profile is very important.  Some people skip this step because they are intimidated by the networking involved in obtaining these recommendations.  If networking makes you shiver – why not start with something easy?  Give a recommendation to someone in your professional life who you really believe in.  That individual might just return the favor and recommend you as well.  Plus, it opens up a great line of communication between you and the other person.

Spice Up Your Headline.

Instead of simply stating what your most recent job title was, you can make your headline sing by alluding to your unique skills and potential.  I think a lot of people don’t realize that they have 120 characters to play with in this section, and you can make a great impression in that amount of space.  You should use the space to give a quick, narrative snapshot of who you are, what you do, and how well you do it.  For example my profile might read “Career Strategist & Professional Résumé Writer - Equipping Hundreds Of Job Seekers With Tools For Branding and Success”  Even if you can’t update your entire profile right now – you can at least tackle your headline.

What’s great about picking low hanging fruit is that it clears the way to bigger and more substantial produce.  Sometimes all you need to do is get the ball rolling with a few small things so that you pick up the momentum you need to tackle the tougher stuff.  

Image courtesy of Sura Nualpradid / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

How To Create A Great Elevator Speech

Confession - in an elevator my goal is to get as far away from my fellow riders as humanly possible, keep my head down, and avoid eye contact.  Elevators are hot and awkward, and the last place in the world I would want to network.  Maybe I’m a bad career professional for saying that I don’t network ON elevators, but that doesn’t mean I don’t think everyone needs a stellar elevator speech.  A 30-60 second engaging pitch that shares a bit about you and leaves your audience hungry for more is an essential tool for networking.  I use mine to network in all sorts of places that aren’t an elevator such as the grocery store, church, networking events, even vacation spots.

How do you draft a memorable and effective elevator speech?  First of all, always remember that you are not your job title.  You are a unique person with gifts that help you to deliver services and results. Your elevator speech shouldn’t begin with “Hi I’m so and so and I’m a teacher/lawyer/accountant/inside sales rep/restaurant manager/human resource specialist etc….”.  Lead with that and you’re dead in the water.  Instead of stating who you are, focus on what you do.  What does this look like in real life?  Here’s an example based on my experience.

Boring:  “Hi, I’m Sara and I’m a career development professional”.

Engaging:  “Hi, I’m Sara and I help job-seekers to better market themselves so that they can return to work quickly. “

Some suggest starting your pitch off with a clever hook.  In my case something like “I help connect you to your paycheck.”  The idea here is that by describing the outcome of your work in a slick way you encourage the listener to ask questions.  This might be a good strategy for some personality types in some industries but if I try it, it’s possible that I’ll start laughing and probable that I’ll sound disingenuous.  Half the battle of delivering a good elevator speech is figuring out what works best for you.  Just like everything in the job-search world, it’s about figuring out the best way that you can showcase your unique skills and gifts.

So, figure out an engaging way to start your pitch and then shift the conversation from describing yourself  – immediately.  Center your language around results and benefits so your audience can know what’s in it for them.  Essentially – instead of telling them what you did, tell them the great things that happened as a result of what you did.   I love examples –so here’s one to help you.  Let’s say you want to say that you “covered sales territory for the entire mid-Atlantic region”.  That statement isn’t terrible because it does explain a certain degree of the scope of your work, but it could be better.  To make it more focused on what you can bring your audience you could say “I increase profitability through sales across major territories”.  If you’ve got a piece of data to throw in there to back it up, even better.  Not too much data though – remember, you’re elevator speech isn’t a résumé – just a discussion starter.  An appetizer to your résumé main course.

Lastly – know when to stop talking. Understand that networking is about having a conversation, and that can’t happen if you are doing all of the talking.  Let your elevator speech begin a discourse and look for ways that you can benefit those around you.  This is how networking is born.

Image courtesy of twobee / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Big News - My Guest Post on One of My Favorite Career Blogs!

I’ve got BIG news!  Today I was featured in my very first guest post on one of my favorite career blogs – Classy Career Girl. It's a great site geared towards helping you build success and balance in you professional life.  Please stop by to check out my advice about the power of women helping women in the career world. 

While you are there take a moment to explore the benefits of joining the Get Ahead Club.  It’s an online networking group for up-and-coming professionals that has been a real help to me.  Thanks for sharing in this exciting blogging milestone with me!

How Being a Volunteer Can Help Your Career

 

This afternoon I load up my car and head out of town to take part as a leader on a youth retreat.  It’s going to be three days of craziness.  My roommates, which just so happen to be middle school girls, will most certainly ensure I don’t sleep.  I’ll be away from my husband, my blog, and my mile long to-do list; and I won’t be getting paid.  So why am I going?  Simple – I believe in the value of volunteerism.  Yea, yea – helping people is good, and that’s a big part of why I volunteer, but I think everyone should volunteer – especially those in the market for a job.  There are a few reasons for my conclusion.

Volunteering keeps your skills sharp and relevant and often adds new skills.  People often don’t realize that volunteer work does not have to include boring, monotonous tasks.  It can be challenging, engaging, and creatively stimulating.  For someone who is between jobs, volunteering to manage a project relevant to your field is a great way to keep your skills from getting rusty, and it gives you something to speak about when you get in front of an employer.  You know that dreaded question “What have you been doing since your last job”?  Well, dread no more – because volunteering in a strategic  way can let you answer that question in a way that reflects very well on you.

Volunteering makes you more confident.  From experience, I know that looking for a job can be hard on your confidence.  Heck, it can be downright demoralizing – but if you can be engaged in work that you really find meaningful (even without a paycheck) it can help you to remember how valuable you are.  Employers aren’t interested in candidates who don’t believe in their value – they just aren’t.  Serving in a meaningful way on a volunteer basis can help you to keep doldrums about job search and about your worth at bay.

Volunteering keeps you connected.  Let’s say you are working currently, but not in the field you are truly passionate about, or you are out of your industry for a time – what happens?  If you aren’t careful, you can quickly lose your connections to those around you who are key players in your industry.  Volunteering can help to keep you in the sphere of relevance for your profession.  This is why it is important not to just volunteer anywhere doing anything; but to approach the selection of a volunteer opportunity with precision.  Identify who in your area is doing something you find important.  If they aren’t asking for a volunteer – be bold and let them know what you can do.  Often times, organizations are glad to have the offered help. 

Volunteering can lead you to employment.  In some lucky cases, a position opens up at the organization a volunteer serves at and boom – they’re now on the payroll.  This isn’t a guarantee, but it certainly happens – because as a volunteer you are tried and tested.  Everyone knows that you can deliver which is a much better scenario than hiring a new person blindly.  The cost of a “bad hire” can be astronomical to a company, so hiring from within a volunteer base can be an easier transition.  If you aren’t that lucky, volunteering can still lead to employment in a more roundabout way.  Your organization isn’t the only one who sees the work you do, especially if you work with business partners.  This goes back to staying connected.  Work ethic and talent is easy to spot.  Volunteer well in front of the right entities and your chances of going back to work increase.

Volunteering keeps you dreaming.  This is why I think EVERYONE should volunteer.  I don’t care if you are engaged full time at home, between jobs, or working a 9-5; you need to volunteer.  People don’t tend to stay in the same profession for their entire lives anymore.  I mean, how many of you reading this have had more than one “career” before the age of 30.  I’m sure that's true of many of you.  Our interests change, and our worldview changes.  Volunteering in or outside of your field can help you to see these changes coming.  Experiences that you have as a volunteer can spark new passions in you, that are sometimes in a completely different area.  This can inspire you to retrain or refocus your career in a new and exciting way.  This is personally the biggest reason I volunteer.  I know that I want to work with youth, likely as an educator – so volunteering with them keeps me dreaming about the future.  If I didn’t do it, I don’t know that I would ever pursue my goal.  When you stop dreaming – busyness and burnout can happen.  So dream, and volunteer.

All that being said, I have to fill up my gas tank to head on this trip, and I realize that gas prices are getting to be a huge challenge.  I also realize that when you don’t have income coming in – spending money to commute to a volunteer opportunity can seem impossible.  In that case, think outside the box.  Can you do something meaningful for an organization 1-2 days per week?  Can you volunteer your time in exchange for a transportation stipend?  Can you volunteer remotely by performing freelance work for an organization – perhaps even one outside of your area?  These are just a few ideas to make volunteering work for you when times are tough.  Also – it’s not just you that gets something out of it – you also get to effect change, and that is huge.

Do you volunteer currently?  What do you do?

Image courtesy of [anankkml] / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

"Turning Sense Into Dollars" - Why Vision is so Important

Today I am proud to unveil my new logo for “Fake It Till You Make It”!  I’m really excited about how the logo expresses the vision of what I hope to accomplish with this blog.  I’m especially excited about the new tag line “Turning Sense Into Dollars” – an awesome suggestion from my very supportive husband.

In a training meeting this week, my youth pastor shared a really good insight that “vision leaks”.  What he meant by that is that without intentional reminders of what your vision is – you can easily forget why you do what you do.  I have been very busy and playing catch-up lately, and I think it’s a great time to revisit my why, because busyness often defeats passion - at least in my life.

So why am I so passionate about spreading the “Fake It Till You Make It” approach?  Driving most things I do in my life is a desire to see great potential reached.  Sometimes to reach great potential you have to do more with less, at least for a little while.  I’m hoping that I can help make that process a little easier with this blog.  I hope that my tips for making money go a bit further will help people to reach a greater level of financial security.  I hope that my career advice will help people to demonstrate and sell their skills with the confidence they deserve to have.  I hope that people will realize with a little ingenuity and common sense they can achieve a lot more than they may have thought possible.

So that’s the vision behind “Fake It Till You Make It”.  Last night I had an exciting and somewhat daunting opportunity to network about that vision, and despite the voice in my head telling me to give into my nerves and say no – I took it!  A very nice woman in line behind me at Chipotle offered me a coupon for free chips and guacamole (yum!).  This sparked a brief conversation about couponing, and then we went back to paying attention to our grumbling stomachs.  That little voice that you always want to ignore told me that I should tell her about my blog though, and so I did.  She seemed excited to read it, and just like that I got a notch in my networking belt, and I rekindled my vision.  Double win.

This may sound very cheesy, but in my quest to see others reach full potential – “Fake It Till You Make It” may be helping me to reach mine as well.  Another double win, I suppose.  Thank you for following me on this journey so far, and may we all have the wisdom to turn our “sense” into many more dollars.

 

What do you think of the new logo?

Women Helping Women

A few weeks ago I told you about a free webinar I would be participating in developed by Anna Runyan at “Classy Career Girl”. Runyan, the career consultant behind the webinar shared about what she learned from interviewing 27 successful women in business. These women represented a wide variety of industries, and they had some inspiring lessons to offer professional women at earlier career stages

There was a good deal of talk about approaching your career with more confidence and giving yourself credit for what you know. Sound familiar to a certain mantra touted by a certain blogger you know? It was nice to hear that other professional women deal with the same doubts that I sometimes struggle with. It was also incredibly encouraging hear women who are leading major companies say that some of the things they regret most from their younger years were not having confidence to take enough risks and being afraid of making career changes. One wise interviewee even encouraged participants by saying “You know more than you think”, a sentiment I couldn't agree with more.

The thing that inspired me most from the webinar, though, was the concept of women helping women. Runyan shared that reaching out to 27 highly successful women was as far out of her comfort zone as anything she had ever done, but much to her surprise, the women she contacted were willing, nay – happy to help! Maybe I've been watching too much “How I Met Your Mother” lately – but it seems that this illustrates an unwritten version of Barny Stinson's “bro code” for women in business. While I'm sure it's true that some of my professional peers would resort to cutthroat measures to get ahead; I am starting to believe that more often than not, I will find a helping hand in the professional women around me.  And so – I am inspired this year to approach networking boldly. I've always been somewhat afraid to put myself out there, but now is the time to face my fears. I'm going to start reaching out to other bloggers and other workforce development professionals. I encourage you to be bold and reach out in networking as well. A great place to start is the Get Ahead Club at The Classy Career Girl site. Membership in this online gathering of professional women gives you access to great career resources like monthly conference calls, action worksheets, and perhaps most importantly, a forum where you can connect with other professional women to ask questions and reach out for accountability on your goals. For me this is just the push I need to kick my career into high-gear. There is a small monthly fee for the club, so if it's not for you – no worries! There are many other ways to expand your networking horizon.

However you decide to approach connecting in your career this year, I hope that you will find help in the solidarity of strong women working to reach new heights. Not knocking the guys – but there's something to be said of the power of women gathered together. We've got our own code now! Let this blog challenge you two-fold. First, reach out boldly to women you admire in your professional world. Second – pay it forward. The next time someone asks you for advice, or networking assistance, offer it. Perhaps even go a step further to find a student or professional woman just starting out who you can support. What goes around comes around!

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Moving To A New City Without A Job

 

Transitions are a big and challenging part of life, and the twist of the knife is that they often come with a moving truck. My last big moving experience will forever be known as “the worst weekend of my life”, as it involved sweat drenched clothing and back pain I thought would never recover from. Forget about all the packing, lifting, cleaning, and organizing though, and you've got an opportunity for a new start, growth, networking, and personal and professional adventure. There are plenty of reasons we choose to move, but especially for us emerging professionals, it's not often because a shiny new job is waiting for us in our new home city. More often we move because of life transitions, such as graduations, marriages, family issues or because we just want to live in our dream city. That doesn't mean we have to enter these transitions without a parachute. Quite the contrary – you can be the master of your own relocation destiny if you approach the situation with a little bit of strategy.

Here are a few ideas to make your job search a success when you aren't physically there to represent yourself.

 

1. Reconnaissance – Start researching the new place you're moving to. Check out online job boards to find out companies that seem to be doing a fair amount of hiring. If your chosen destination has a decent newspaper publication, you may want to splurge on getting a subscription, or at least subscribing to online content so you can read about business trends happening there. Also see if you can find local ways to connect online via social media, forums, or through checking out local blogs. The more you can know about what's going on in your new home, the better. Even if your new-found local knowledge doesn't seem directly related to your industry you have no idea how it can come in handy. Sometimes a familiarity with how local government works in your new city, or what different neighborhoods are known for can help you to speak to potential employers with more confidence.

2. Network – This ties in to reconnaissance, but takes it one step further. Make it your job to make connections with people who live in your new city. You can call your college alumni department and see if they may be able to connect you to alumni working in your new destination. One young professional in the speech therapy industry used her professional organization's website for job listings and contacts who worked in the city she was moving to. She was able to work her familiarity with her professional peers into interviews and correspondence with potential employers, and it helped her to find a job in her field.

3. Budget – Plan for the worst, and hope for the best. If you are smart about your job search, you should find work, but there are always variables beyond your control. You should research living costs in your new destination and save up enough for at least 3 months. Be sure to factor in average rent and utility costs as well as moving expenses, commuting costs, and other costs of living.  When possible you should try to plan your move with as big a safety net as possible. Some even suggest six months worth of living expenses. Hopefully you won't need that money and it can just be transferred into savings, but at least you have it for a worst case scenario.

4. Move Before You Move – There are certain things you can do to make yourself appear more local or accessible to employers. Check into  getting a local phone number in your new destination. It can just be a secondary phone – even a pre-paid phone would work. You would use it when networking with people in your new city, and on the résumé you send out. One of my friends who sparked this post is moving somewhere where she already has roots (her family lives there). I recommended that she use her mother's address on her résumé in the short term. I also recommended that she take some time to visit her new locale in person to get the lay of the land and try to meet some of the folks from her networking ventures. Your new locale also likely has a career one stop center you can visit for help with things like job leads, assistance with your résumé, job fairs, and community services. All of these things can help you to seem and feel more like a local.

5. Short-Term vs. Long-Term – In the past you may not have considered temp work but that may be just what the doctor ordered for your transition. According to the Pace Staffing Network US Staffing agencies employed an average of 2.95 million temporary and contract workers per day in the last quarter of 2012. That's a lot! If you haven't found work prior to your move, you may want to reach out to staffing agencies in your new town. The hiring process is often shorter for these agencies, and you can keep looking for your ideal permanent position while you have some money coming in. Best of all, because it's a staffing agency, and they expect turnover, you won't be burning bridges when you transition to a permanent position. In addition to traditional staffing agencies you may also want to consider non-traditional work in the short term. Things like childcare, pet-sitting, bartending, or seasonal retail may not be exactly what you want to do long-term, but in the short-term they can help you stay afloat financially while you conduct your job search.

6. Engage With Your New Community – Don't be a tourist in your new town – dive in! Find a cause you are passionate about and connect with an organization about volunteering upon arrival. Save up a little fun money to join a social sports league or interest group to both relieve stress and aid in networking. Go to an open city council meeting or forum. Learn about local politics. All of these things can yield excellent professional connections that can help you land a great job, and remain a relevant part of your new community. If you are serious about moving, go for it! Otherwise people might be able to tell that you still have one foot firmly planted back home.

Moving without a lined up job can be stressful, but sometimes risk produces great results. I'm not advocating one way or another, but I do think that those who really want to make a move successful can if they apply professional strategy to their big adventure.

Have you ever made a risky move? How did it work for you? Do you have any advice for those planning to take the plunge?

photo credit: Geoffery Kehrig via photopin cc