Ideal jobs and careers truly exist in areas like the Raleigh/Durham, North Carolina area. Chances are good a reader or two of this article may currently have one and not even realize it yet.
Career Coach and founder of the Revolutionary Club, Christine Mims shared what got in her way of getting there:
· Already had a decent job, yet was still miserable, but not enough to act
· Understood action was needed, but…
· Stuck in inaction, but convinced self things would improve over time
· Emotionally felt guilty
· Developed strategies for improvement, then went to happy hour
· Confusion regarding where to begin to start the process of taking effective action
· Deeper freeze (due to time lapse of inaction)
· Repeated above cycle
If the above sounds slightly familiar understand that you’re not alone. If you continue reading this post you could be on your way out of the “deep freeze”, away from the “rinse-n’-repeat” cycle and moving towards a new pattern of taking action which moves you forward and not in a circle.
Fortunately, there’s a whole lot you can do, and I will just scratch the surface to share a few strategies, suggestions and even a free tool located at the end of this blog post to get you started.
I’ve already mentioned in an earlier blog post (Why Nobody Cares About Your Resume) is not the answer to securing many of today’s coveted positions. The same holds even more so with securing one’s dream job. If you want to stand out in the sea of others just like you, it’s important to be taken more seriously which starts with you investing in yourself beyond your formal education and focusing on your personal brand. Consider the example below:
What works better, you tell me – If during our first encounter I handed you a copy of my resume or after having multiple conversations where I impressed you with my occupational knowledge, I asked for your assistance and then handed you my resume (which also included my LinkedIn and other social media accounts of course)?
I hope you selected option number two because networking is currently one of the most effective methods to increase the chances of getting closer to acquiring that dream job we’re talking about.
Even more important is how well you interact with others which includes both in and out of the workplace. Recently, I was downtown feeding a parking meter before heading up to the 25th floor of the local Wells Fargo building to make a presentation. There was another person there who I had small, but fun conversation with as we both paid. To my surprise – when I walked into the boardroom he was there waiting for me to present with a nice smile. In the words of a well-respected American poet, singer, memoir and civil rights activist Maya Angelou – “People may not remember exactly what you did, or what you said, but they will always remember how you made them feel”.
Dale Carnegie famous for his self-improvement, salesmanship, corporate training, public speaking, and interpersonal skills wrote about it exhaustively in How To Win Friends And Influence People.
You must be subtle when you try to add value. Carnegie stated:
1. Don’t criticize, condemn, or complain
2. Give honest and sincere appreciation
3. Arouse in the other person an eager want — It’s much better to let people realize something by themselves instead of trying to force them.
Here are a few insider “secrets” I’ve learned over the years of both acquiring my “dream jobs” and assisting other to secure theirs. You can implement them immediately and I guarantee (that’s right I did say guarantee) if done correctly they will improve your levels of success.
1) Learn something new daily about your industry/field of practice by doing some form of professional reading, conference/webinar attendance, seek out local meet-ups within your industry, take classes which lead to obtaining certifications and/or licensures
2) Share what you have learned with others within your workplace. Ask them if they would like to join you to also learn more. This way you are becoming a guide and a “go to” person within the workplace which increases your brand
3) If you’re not already doing so, start dressing for the next higher position you want to acquire. While this may sound “weird”, the psychology of doing so has major value due to others begin to see you in another way and you also begin to carry yourself differently which is influential
4) Work on developing an active Mindset
a) Admit how being passive towards what’s important to you just doesn’t work
i) Develop a plan and implement it to gain traction to move forward
ii) Determine where you’re procrastinating the most and actively address it
b) Commit to learning
i) Follow number “1)” above
ii) To have real “skin in the game” pay for the course, conference or webinar now
c) Add Value
i) Follow number “2)” above
ii) Commit to sharing your plan with at least one co-worker and/or your boss
The good news here is that your dream job/career does exist, but it will take deliberate steps to achieve. As promised, click here for your free tool (Speedy Priority Finder – 5 Minutes to Identify Your Top 3 Priorities).
Contact me for a free consultation to get started today.
