Recession-Proof Your Career
Is the economy beating you down ? Having trouble landing that new job? Are you worried about where your career is headed? Are you struggling to get your new business off the ground? Does the topic "reduction in force" cause chills up your spine? Relax, there are specific skills you can develop which are the key to stabilizing your career and achieving the success you so richly deserve.
Whether you're currently "in transition" , moving up the corporate ladder, or building your own business, the same vital skills will always get you where you want to go.
Attitude is Everything I know you've probably heard this same message hundreds of times, but it is absolutely critical that you maintain a positive mental attitude.
How is this possible with all the negative economic news piling up day after day after day? There's a simple answer: DON'T AGREE WITH IT.
This is not avoiding bad news by burying your head in the ground like an ostrich, but it is an argument to remain detached from the negativity.
If Boeing just laid off 10,000 employees, you can appreciate this will create a challenge for many but will also open up a window of opportunity for some.
If sales at Microsoft are down, what impact will that have on your personal life? Just because bad news is happening over there doesn't have to mean it exists in your back yard.
The worst mistake you can make is to allow your personal attitude to get dragged down by something bad which is happening "over there.
" Remain objective, but distant.
Watch your "self-talk" and monitor for negativity.
Any time you say or think a sentence that begins with "I', it can become a hypnotic command.
If you say to yourself "I'm a failure," you will be.
If you think "I'm just not good at this", you won't be.
If you think "I just can't change," then you won't.
Be careful not to program yourself for failure! No one hires a pessimist.
Would you? If you show up for your next sales call or job interview with drooped shoulders, a hang-dog expression, and a wimpy handshake you are setting yourself up for certain failure.
Guess what, you have this amazing ability.
You control what you think and when you think it.
You can examine your mind for negativity, and you can root it out just like you eliminate the weeds from your garden.
So clear those cobwebs out, eliminate the negative chatter, and then allow the bright and shiny you, the REAL you, to emerge.
Target your Focus One of the biggest mistakes salespeople make is to attempt to sell to the wrong person.
If your prospect has no compelling reason to buy your product, they won't.
Worse, if they have no authority to purchase your product, you are absolutely wasting your time.
Trained salespeople know how to qualify their opportunities and then they spend all of their time with decision makers who have a business need.
As a result, their probability of closing a sale increases exponentially.
This lesson applies just as well to finding your next job or recruiting your next client.
If you want to increase your probability of "sealing the deal," you must concentrate your efforts on where you're most likely to be successful.
This requires targeting.
Let's assume you're looking for a new position.
You need to do a bit of research and analysis to determine the following: - What industry? - What position? - What Exact company? - What's your career objective? - What department would you work in? - Who manages that department? - Who does that person report to? Don't make the mistake of scanning the want ads or searching the electronic job boards.
While you may get lucky and score a job, realize your are competing with thousands of other people.
I recently did a job search for a client, recruiting a VP of Sales, and I had to wade through hundreds of resumes before I could even narrow the search.
Amazingly, at least 50% of the resumes submitted did not even meet the baseline qualification specified in the job description! Don't leave your next job to chance.
Don't follow the herd and just limit your search to what is available and posted.
Statistics have shown consistently that the best jobs are NEVER posted or listed.
They are discovered by word-of-mouth (WOM), by business networking, or they get created to solve a recently-discovered business need.
Why not be the catalyst to help them in this process? Find a company that excites you, and find out who you need to talk to about possible opportunities.
Schedule an informal coffee or luncheon.
Tell them you're interested in their company/industry, and you'd like to find out more about them.
Find out if they are hiring, or might consider hiring to meet some upcoming needs.
Ask for advice, offer your resources, and do some quality business networking.
Don't worry of they're not hiring right now.
Find out if they have a business need that you could solve, and offer to help them be doing some free investigation.
Then submit a proposal to be hired as an employee or consultant to solve what you find.
You'll be surprised how well this approach works.
It's aggressive, it's pro-active, it shows initiative, and it's downright fun.
Take charge! Inventory your Skills It's now time to conduct an inventory of your skills, but with a unique twist.
If you are embarking on a job search, you will need to clearly define exactly why a prospective employee would hire you.
To be effective, you need to put yourself in the place of the hiring manager and think like they do.
You will need to visualize what is important to them, to their organization, and to their company.
Sorry, they don't particularly care about how you perceive your skills.
They are only interested in what skills you may possess that will help them to accomplish THEIR goals, not yours.
You may think you are a detail-oriented and analytical supervisor, but if that is NOT important to the hiring manager.
You may be a wizard at Excel spreadsheets, but if that is not important to the job at hand, you shouldn't even mention it.
Try and understand how the interviewer feels.
They need to fill a position, and it's vitally important that they are successful in matching the job requirements with your skills.
They don't need you to harp on and on about your qualifications, they simply need to know with assurance that you can do the job better than anyone else who is applying.
The interviewer probably has a checklist in front of them which lists the most valuable traits/experience they are looking for.
You obviously can't see the list in advance, but if you do your research about the position and the company, you'll be able to make some very accurate guesses.
In addition to researching the company, you should also research the key players, and their titles.
To summarize, inventory your skills and prioritize them based upon what you deem is most important to the hiring manager.
The easiest way to do this is to take out a copy of your resume and simply CIRCLE your three key strengths.
Each of these strengths is something that is unique about you, something that sets you apart from everyone else.
BTW, the same exact process works if you're preparing for a sales call or a presentation.
Know you target audience and know your strong points before you begin.
Powerful Success Stories You now have in front of you a list of your three most important and valuable strengths.
With luck, you have probably matched these key strengths to the needs of the customer.
You are now halfway to being fully prepared.
You next job is to develop Powerful Success Stories.
Choose a story from your resume or from your business life that exemplifies the strength you possess.
There is a maxim known to almost every author: "Show, don't tell.
" In the world of sales, one of your most powerful weapons is an effective story.
The story, well told, will SELL your point.
Don't tell them about your ability to win new business.
Tell them how in the spring of 2008, you called on the largest drug manufacturing company in Pennsylvania and you sold them the largest consulting contract in your companies' history, and here's how you did it! Don't tell them you know how to create and manage a marketing campaign.
Explain how you did it in New York for _______ corporation, how your team produced 10,000 leads in under a month which resulted in $20 million in new business.
Because of your innovative campaign, the company is now market leader in this product space, and your entire team was honored with the prestigious _______ award.
Tell Powerful Success Stories that showcase your key strengths.
Take each of the strengths you circled on your resume and develop 1-2 powerful stories that highlight exactly what you did.
Don't brag about yourself, let the story do it! Remember that each story must have a healthy dose of WIFT (what's in it for THEM, not you.
).
The story must be clear, short, simple, compelling, timely, and results-oriented.
The next time you need to prepare for a job interview, a sales call, or a speech, keep this in mind: Know your strengths and tell powerful stories that Prove It! Here's to your success.
Whether you're currently "in transition" , moving up the corporate ladder, or building your own business, the same vital skills will always get you where you want to go.
Attitude is Everything I know you've probably heard this same message hundreds of times, but it is absolutely critical that you maintain a positive mental attitude.
How is this possible with all the negative economic news piling up day after day after day? There's a simple answer: DON'T AGREE WITH IT.
This is not avoiding bad news by burying your head in the ground like an ostrich, but it is an argument to remain detached from the negativity.
If Boeing just laid off 10,000 employees, you can appreciate this will create a challenge for many but will also open up a window of opportunity for some.
If sales at Microsoft are down, what impact will that have on your personal life? Just because bad news is happening over there doesn't have to mean it exists in your back yard.
The worst mistake you can make is to allow your personal attitude to get dragged down by something bad which is happening "over there.
" Remain objective, but distant.
Watch your "self-talk" and monitor for negativity.
Any time you say or think a sentence that begins with "I', it can become a hypnotic command.
If you say to yourself "I'm a failure," you will be.
If you think "I'm just not good at this", you won't be.
If you think "I just can't change," then you won't.
Be careful not to program yourself for failure! No one hires a pessimist.
Would you? If you show up for your next sales call or job interview with drooped shoulders, a hang-dog expression, and a wimpy handshake you are setting yourself up for certain failure.
Guess what, you have this amazing ability.
You control what you think and when you think it.
You can examine your mind for negativity, and you can root it out just like you eliminate the weeds from your garden.
So clear those cobwebs out, eliminate the negative chatter, and then allow the bright and shiny you, the REAL you, to emerge.
Target your Focus One of the biggest mistakes salespeople make is to attempt to sell to the wrong person.
If your prospect has no compelling reason to buy your product, they won't.
Worse, if they have no authority to purchase your product, you are absolutely wasting your time.
Trained salespeople know how to qualify their opportunities and then they spend all of their time with decision makers who have a business need.
As a result, their probability of closing a sale increases exponentially.
This lesson applies just as well to finding your next job or recruiting your next client.
If you want to increase your probability of "sealing the deal," you must concentrate your efforts on where you're most likely to be successful.
This requires targeting.
Let's assume you're looking for a new position.
You need to do a bit of research and analysis to determine the following: - What industry? - What position? - What Exact company? - What's your career objective? - What department would you work in? - Who manages that department? - Who does that person report to? Don't make the mistake of scanning the want ads or searching the electronic job boards.
While you may get lucky and score a job, realize your are competing with thousands of other people.
I recently did a job search for a client, recruiting a VP of Sales, and I had to wade through hundreds of resumes before I could even narrow the search.
Amazingly, at least 50% of the resumes submitted did not even meet the baseline qualification specified in the job description! Don't leave your next job to chance.
Don't follow the herd and just limit your search to what is available and posted.
Statistics have shown consistently that the best jobs are NEVER posted or listed.
They are discovered by word-of-mouth (WOM), by business networking, or they get created to solve a recently-discovered business need.
Why not be the catalyst to help them in this process? Find a company that excites you, and find out who you need to talk to about possible opportunities.
Schedule an informal coffee or luncheon.
Tell them you're interested in their company/industry, and you'd like to find out more about them.
Find out if they are hiring, or might consider hiring to meet some upcoming needs.
Ask for advice, offer your resources, and do some quality business networking.
Don't worry of they're not hiring right now.
Find out if they have a business need that you could solve, and offer to help them be doing some free investigation.
Then submit a proposal to be hired as an employee or consultant to solve what you find.
You'll be surprised how well this approach works.
It's aggressive, it's pro-active, it shows initiative, and it's downright fun.
Take charge! Inventory your Skills It's now time to conduct an inventory of your skills, but with a unique twist.
If you are embarking on a job search, you will need to clearly define exactly why a prospective employee would hire you.
To be effective, you need to put yourself in the place of the hiring manager and think like they do.
You will need to visualize what is important to them, to their organization, and to their company.
Sorry, they don't particularly care about how you perceive your skills.
They are only interested in what skills you may possess that will help them to accomplish THEIR goals, not yours.
You may think you are a detail-oriented and analytical supervisor, but if that is NOT important to the hiring manager.
You may be a wizard at Excel spreadsheets, but if that is not important to the job at hand, you shouldn't even mention it.
Try and understand how the interviewer feels.
They need to fill a position, and it's vitally important that they are successful in matching the job requirements with your skills.
They don't need you to harp on and on about your qualifications, they simply need to know with assurance that you can do the job better than anyone else who is applying.
The interviewer probably has a checklist in front of them which lists the most valuable traits/experience they are looking for.
You obviously can't see the list in advance, but if you do your research about the position and the company, you'll be able to make some very accurate guesses.
In addition to researching the company, you should also research the key players, and their titles.
To summarize, inventory your skills and prioritize them based upon what you deem is most important to the hiring manager.
The easiest way to do this is to take out a copy of your resume and simply CIRCLE your three key strengths.
Each of these strengths is something that is unique about you, something that sets you apart from everyone else.
BTW, the same exact process works if you're preparing for a sales call or a presentation.
Know you target audience and know your strong points before you begin.
Powerful Success Stories You now have in front of you a list of your three most important and valuable strengths.
With luck, you have probably matched these key strengths to the needs of the customer.
You are now halfway to being fully prepared.
You next job is to develop Powerful Success Stories.
Choose a story from your resume or from your business life that exemplifies the strength you possess.
There is a maxim known to almost every author: "Show, don't tell.
" In the world of sales, one of your most powerful weapons is an effective story.
The story, well told, will SELL your point.
Don't tell them about your ability to win new business.
Tell them how in the spring of 2008, you called on the largest drug manufacturing company in Pennsylvania and you sold them the largest consulting contract in your companies' history, and here's how you did it! Don't tell them you know how to create and manage a marketing campaign.
Explain how you did it in New York for _______ corporation, how your team produced 10,000 leads in under a month which resulted in $20 million in new business.
Because of your innovative campaign, the company is now market leader in this product space, and your entire team was honored with the prestigious _______ award.
Tell Powerful Success Stories that showcase your key strengths.
Take each of the strengths you circled on your resume and develop 1-2 powerful stories that highlight exactly what you did.
Don't brag about yourself, let the story do it! Remember that each story must have a healthy dose of WIFT (what's in it for THEM, not you.
).
The story must be clear, short, simple, compelling, timely, and results-oriented.
The next time you need to prepare for a job interview, a sales call, or a speech, keep this in mind: Know your strengths and tell powerful stories that Prove It! Here's to your success.
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