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Archive for the ‘CAREER MANAGEMENT’ Category
Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010
OK, you have made the decision to leave. Follow these steps to ensure you leave on good terms and can always get a reference in the future.
Remain pleasant. Once you have decided to move to a new company, continue to be pleasant with the people you worked with and make sure you follow procedures.
Check on the notice period – it could be 1 week or 3 months, make sure you know this before you commit to a start date with the new company.
Give your notice in writing. Be clear and concise. You don’t need to note down all the reasons you hate your boss or company. You may want to work with the person or company in the future.
Think hard before accepting a counter offer. You may be offered more money to stay. But if money isn’t your reason for leaving, it isn’t going to change the situation and you will be back in the same position in a few months time.
Remain active and positive. Don’t switch off and get moody. Continue to be an active team member and continue to do a good job.
Help your manager to train your replacement. Make sure you leave everything in good order with notes relating to key elements of your job.
Keep the contact details of people you will want to remain in contact with. You may need your boss for a reference in a couple of years time.
A few months on
If the job doesn’t work out, don’t beat yourself up. Just make sure that you take time to get the decision right next time. A career specialist can help.
Enjoy being proactive in your job search!
Denise Taylor, chartered psychologist and award winning career coach. Denise is the author of ‘How to get a job in a recession’ and ‘Now you’ve been shortlisted’.
Posted in CAREER MANAGEMENT, JOB SEARCH
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Saturday, February 27th, 2010
You hate your job, but what specifically? Take this structured approach to get some clarity, and identify some action to take. It’s unlikely you hate everything, there must be something that is good, and other elements that are ok.
Step 1: Take some time (perhaps over the weekend) and put down in detail what you dislike about your job. You really must be specific, it is not just that you dislike your boss, but e.g. the way he never gives you feedback or flies off the handle without reason, or never shares business information with you and your colleagues.
Step 2: Next, list down what you like about your job. There must be something that you like, perhaps not your boss, but your colleagues, or your free healthcare.
Step 3: Identify what you can resolve. Can you be proactive in some areas? Can you approach the person you are having problems with? Perhaps it’s a colleague who doesn’t do their fair share of work so everything gets loaded onto you. Be careful though. Don’t charge right in, wait and think things through from their perspective.
Step 4: Address the areas you may need some help with. Has the volume of work increased so much that you have to work late each night, or are you taking work home? Do you need to discuss this with your manager if it is becoming far too much?
Step 5: Should you look for more responsibility? Are you bored by what you do? Let your boss know that you could handle more and get involved in some projects? If you get turned down, then persevere. Perhaps you need to convince him or her more. Are they aware of your out of work achievements?
Step 6: Do you need more variety? Look to do more of what you like and less of what you don’t. Think about how you can position this to your manager to make it a win-win for both of you. If you get on well with your boss she or he is likely to want to keep a valued member of staff and so be more willing to help.
Step 7: you can take a wider view and see what else you can do to make your time there more tolerable – sign up for an evening class and do some study in your lunch break? You might even get some support from the company.
So, a few suggestions to help you make the most of a job you don’t like. You are likely to learn something about yourself, and the way you handle work situations and people relationships. Any other ideas? Do letDenise know.
Posted in CAREER MANAGEMENT
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Saturday, February 13th, 2010
I love helping clients to understand who they are and choose their ideal career, plus helping them to get there. Usually this is about finding something new, but occasionally people realise that the grass wasn’t greener and what they are passionate about is something that they have done in the past.
XXX says ‘ I am in the process of going through redundancy and therefore looking for a new job. However, I would LOVE to go back to what I did when I first started working – I was a civil and structural draftsperson and I was PASSIONATE about it. Is it possible for me to go from being a PA to doing what I love after 18 years?‘
Can she do it – yes she can, but she needs a plan. What I suggest is that she:
- Reviews the knowledge, skills and personal attributes needed for this role as of now, so she understands the current requirements of the job
- Measures how well she matches up and if there is a need for any refresher training
- Adapts her CV on the lines of a Functional CV where she pulls out relevant experience from all her different jobs. Her current job as a PA will have lots of transferable skills, but there may be a need to be creative to see how they fit with the job she wants
- Identifies people to have informal chats with, possibly with the firm she used to work with but otherwise using contacts (her own, plus from people she knows). She can then find out to what extent she would be a realistic candidate
- Completes a further review of her CV plus create a covering letter and starts contacting companies direct
- Consider doing some work shadowing/ unpaid work experience/ attend relevant conferences/training to enhance her CV if necessary
- Continually monitors progress and keeps heading towards her goal, if what she is doing isn’t working, look to make further changes
Posted in Client Stories, JOB SEARCH
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Thursday, February 11th, 2010
1. Too many people do a good job, but don’t let people know
When you get some positive written feedback from others be sure to keep it, and circulate the feedback to more senior people. If you get verbal feedback, ask for it to be put in writing. Don’t hide your light: let people know what a great job you have done.
2. You may be doing a good job, but is this really what matters to your boss?
Talk to your boss and find out what is important to them, then make sure you are able to deliver. You want to exceed his or her expectations. Could you draft a report, find out about a topic or create or improve a system that will really make a difference?
3. Look broader than your role
Make it your business to find out more about the other departments and business units. Don’t have a silo mentality. Don’t just do your job but look around and understand the bigger picture. Keep listening to background chat. You might hear about some upcoming changes in the organisation, the hidden agenda of what is really going on or the personal thoughts of the person at the top. Also, read the financial press to see if any company details are being leaked to the press or get a first sniff of an acquisition or merger. This sort of information can help you to sound more knowledgeable than others on a topic and you can use it to make a suggestion that ties in with the company direction. When you go for promotion people expect you to be doing a good job in your current role. What they want is someone who can identify broader challenges and this will help.
4. Keep your boss informed
Our bosses are not always aware of what we have done so keep a book with copies of the positive feedback received and also details of what you have achieved through your job – this will really help at appraisal time. For most bosses, managing our careers is not their priority, so make it easy for them to provide a good write up by proving examples.
5. Think about the impression you give – let’s think about image
Look and sound like you should be doing the higher level job. Wear good quality clothes, carry an expensive briefcase and use a decent pen. You should act like you are already in the role you aspire to, so think also about what newspaper you should read, and the topics you discuss. Don’t brown nose but do look like you should be in the role you want.
6. Begin to think like a boss
The boss doesn’t moan about the volume of work, or how they can’t wait for it to be the weekend. Instead they focus on what the customers need and the impact of external events on the company. Change your mind set so you think in a similar way. This could also help you to work more effectively by focusing on what is important rather than wasting time.
7. Are you clear on your strengths and weaknesses?
Understand what you do really well and look for ways to use your strengths. Be aware of the areas which are more developmental and decide if you need to overcome these weaknesses or to find another way of dealing with them. For example if your proof reading is poor, could someone else do it for you?
8. Don’t moan about the job and organisation
Too many people moan about their job and organisation. Don’t get sucked into agreeing. Before you know it, a conversation will include your name as someone who agrees that something is wrong when all you did was nod in agreement.
9. Can you find a niche?
Is there an area you can become more knowledgeable about so people always come to you – perhaps you know a foreign language, are a fount of knowledge on the local area for visitors, or you can explain the technical report really simply. (No one need know you spend several hours the night before doing your own translation to sound so clear). By having an area of expertise you will gain a reputation and people will seek you out.
10. Don’t be afraid to talk with senior people.
Occasionally we may find our self with a senior manager, perhaps in a lift or in the staff restaurant. If you do see someone sitting alone go up and say hello. Do use the time wisely, don’t ramble but ask them questions about e.g. how their career has progressed or refer to something you read in the paper related to the business. You don’t want to talk too much about yourself but showing yourself as intelligent and interesting may help you to be remembered. Plus later you could follow up with an email and send some useful information you have collected.
Can I help? Contact Denise Taylor, award winning career coach and author of ‘how to get a job in a recession’ and ‘now you’ve been shortlisted. Visit www.amazingpeople.co.uk for your complimentary copy of the eProgramme 10 steps to a job you love.
Posted in CAREER MANAGEMENT
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Monday, February 8th, 2010
It’s an extrovert world. This is hard for those of us who are more introverted by nature.
Extroversion and Introversion are two of the scales from the Myers Briggs Type indicator, these words are so well known that they are used in everyday life. Extroverts are people who are energized by other people and are seen as friendly and easy to get to know and people often know a lot about what they are thinking and feeling. They tend to act first and think about it afterwards. Introverts on the other hand get their energy from within and are often seen as reserved and harder to get to know. they are less likely to share thoughts and feelings and often take a long time thinking about what they are going to do and perhaps can miss out on something.
I’ve recently worked with a client who is quite introverted by nature but feels she should ‘act as an extrovert’. Many of us that are introverted feel that we need to change our behaviour to fit in with more extroverted people but if we act out of type this can be quite stressful for us.
When I was young I was very shy and quiet, people used to say ‘Denise is deep’, I don’t think I was but if I couldn’t think of something relevant to say I’d rather say nothing. Later I’d have some great thoughts, but it was too late by then.
That’s what often happens with Introverts – we don’t always think of an immediate response, and even if we do we can be a bit unsure if we should speak up or not. Sometimes we have chosen right, but most of the time we realise that we should have spoken, particularly when someone else says what we had thought of saying.
What I learnt to do was to think in advance what was likely to be discussed, even better if I got a well laid out agenda. Over time I also got a bit more assertive in making my comments, particularly as I developed an expertise in an area but I’d often introduce my view with a comment like
‘I’m not sure if this is exactly right, but I was thinking we could …’
It also helps if you know about the topic, so sometimes it works best if you have some background knowledge, perhaps by being seen as an expert in a particular area.
It can also help if you let other people know how to get the best out of working with an introvert – I run team building events based on the MBTI and this helps as people understand what it is like to be themselves and also how they differ from other people and find out more about what it is like to not be you.
So as Introverts, when working with extroverts we can enhance the relationship by coming over as someone with a bit more energy and enthusiasm and be willing to speak up more.
Extroverts can help get the best out of us as introverts by letting us know in advance what will be discussed, and ideally sending out written material in advance for pre reading. They can also allow us time to respond and ask questions to draw us out. If we want to discuss things on a one to one basis to again give advance notice of what is to be discussed and to allow us time to come back with our considered reply.
Another area that we, as Introverts can struggle is at parties and networking events. I’ll cover this in part two of this article.
Can I help? Do you have a comment to make, either comment below or get in touch.
Posted in Introverts, Uncategorized
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Monday, January 11th, 2010
You will go through an intensive programme to understand who you are and receive guidance and support to take action that will lead to the success you want.
Is Denise a Coach? Mentor?
Denise fulfils many roles from advice, coaching and challenge to creative ideas and business strategist.
With the Platinum Programme you get Denise by your side, with the personal guidance you need to ensure you stay highly motivated and don’t get stuck.
She has worked with chief executives and directors, and those aspiring to these roles and was previously an assistant director herself.
Your goal may be
- To reach chief executive or board member
- To make a fundamental career change
- To have in-depth mentoring to support and challenge you with work situations
- To get in-depth psychometric coaching to increase your interpersonal and relationship skills through intensive personal feedback
- To reach your potential
The Platinum Programme is developed specifically for you. For many this will start with an in-depth personal review, considering and exploring your professional background, work history and education.
Read more and request a copy of the accompanying brochure >>
Posted in CAREER MANAGEMENT, Career Advice, Career Discovery, Outplacement
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Friday, January 8th, 2010
Career Change is scary when you are trying to do it all alone.
Do you feel stuck in a job that doesn’t excite you? Are you bored to tears or even stressed out by your job? Does Monday morning fill you with dread?
Perhaps you’ve dreamt that there must be something out there more fulfilling, exciting and worthwhile for you to do? You may have even considered changing career but don’t know how or what you could even do.
There’s a free series of tele-seminars with guest experts, and I’m one of them!
Come and join the Free Career Change Formula Tele seminar series, which starts on the 11th January
2010. During this unique Tele-seminar Series you’ll:
· Discover how to change career in a less than favourable economic climate
· Learn how to start your own business – become aware of some of the pitfalls and how to overcome them.
· Develop the mindset for career change success
· Learn how you can put fear of making a career mistake to bed
· Learn ways that you can connect with what you truly want from your career
· Discover ways you can get your finances in order before making the change
· Understand why knowing your “Why” is the missing ingredient for career success.
Don’t miss the chance to learn from some of the most respected people in personal transition and
career change industry today.
Posted in Career Discovery, Career Motivators, Interview Tips & Assessment Centres
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Monday, January 4th, 2010
For many people this will be the first day back at work after a 2 week Christmas break, and with poor weather you might not be feeling highly motivated.
So you need to think of ways to get you through the day, and you can do this on the days to come
Set some objectives
What do you need to do today and over this week. Take some time to prepare before you get sucked in to tasks and at the end of the day realise your priorities were wrong.
A quick review of your emails
just because you have been on holiday doesn’t mean that others have as well so you may come back to a huge inbox, and before you know it half the day will have gone. So act smart, and anything that will wait as its a nice to read rather than an urgent to do can go into a folder to be read once you have some spare time. Don’t get sidetracked!
Think about time trials
Often we take our time, but when the pressure is on we can often work much faster so if you have a lot to do why not do some ’sprints’ and work at a brisk pace, not for all day but as you move onto a task, decide how long it should take and see if you can do it quicker.
Review – both at lunch time and the end of the day
It’s worth taking some time out before you go to lunch and think about how the morning went and how you are feeling. If all went well you should be feeling positive so enjoy your lunch. If not feeling so great think about whether things were outside your control – if they are then don’t beat yourself up! Better to think about what changes you can make that are in your control. If you have got distracted by the emails in your inbox then this afternoon is a fresh start. Don’t forget to review at the end of the day as well.
Think about your career future
If it’s a busy day today this may have to wait, but schedule some time to think about how happy you are at work and where you would like to be in your career this time next year and also in 3 or 5 years time. Having a plan means you can get focused on things that will help you to achieve them
What will help you get there?
Will this be to
· Seek out a meeting to discuss your future with your boss?
· Become more proactive at work and go beyond your job description?
· Start a course or do some self directed study
· Seek advice and support from a career coach?
At the end of the day why not let me know how it has gone? Or if I can help, please don’t hesitate to get in touch – www.amazingpeople.co.uk
Posted in CAREER MANAGEMENT, Goal setting
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Thursday, December 24th, 2009
It’s Christmas Eve, and I’ve realised I’ve been a bit tardy in writing my blog, and in tweeting. I’d expected this to be a quiet week, it has been in the past but Monday and Tuesday were very busy days with 2 clients getting a great start on getting a brilliant job next year through going through the first half of the Gold Programme – this is the 3 hour session where we discuss the results of The Highlands Ability Battery, Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) and Strong Assessment. I’ve also undertaken a telephone interview ready for The Career Change Formula which starts in January. I’ll pass on more details when I here.
Yesterday and today I’ve focused on getting straight. Like many people I have a huge pile of pending, all those little jobs that should get done but are not essential. I have a big project I want to work on next week and I could have started this yesterday but these tasks will just sit in piles around my office, so I decided to focus on them and am really pleased to get many of them out of the way.
Most books on getting things done talk about dividing work into important and urgent – so you do the important and urgent stuff first and leave the not important and not urgent stuff – but eventually these need to get done and also I think it makes people feel good to get things done and out of the way. So I’m feeling good to have cleared out a load of tasks and as my husband won’t get home till 6 tonight I’m aiming to clear out more.
I do like having these sorts of days as it gives me time to think – and I’ve been thinking of putting some structure to my blog writing. what I’m thinking of is:
Monday: – Motivational stuff to set people up for the week
Tuesday: – Career discovery type articles
Wednesday: – Job search articles
Thursday: – Assessments
Friday: – Career Management and my fitness update
I may also add other posts, but I think this should be useful for my readers, so I’d be very interested in what you think. Do either email me or make a comment below.
Happy Christmas
Denise x
Posted in ABOUT DENISE, Goal setting, Social Skills
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Tuesday, November 24th, 2009
Follow me on Twitter for your daily motivational quotes – Recently I’ve written
- Sometimes it’s good to take things slow and enjoy the journey – you don’t need to do everything at super fast speed
- Why not step outside your comfort zone – you may be surprised by the outcome
- Small differences add up to big changes – what small changes can you make today?
- It doesn’t matter how long it wil take as long as you start taking steps towards it now, and set some sub goals!
- Why not do a random act of kindness to someone you meet today?
Posted in ABOUT DENISE, Career Motivators
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