There are high spots in all of our lives
and most of them have come about through
encouragement from someone else.
I don’t care how great, how famous or
successful a man or woman may be,
each hungers for applause. ~George M. Adams

People are not motivated by failure; they are motivated by achievement and recognition. ~F. Fournies

Everyone has an invisible sign hanging from their neck saying: Make me feel important. ~Mary Kay Ash

I can live for two months on one good compliment. ~Mark Twain

These quotes come from Leadership Lessons by Eric Harvey & Steve Ventura. As I was reading some of the quotes, I thought they were great for those seeking to ‘up’ their career management and networking.

I would like to hear your thoughts. If you’d like to share them, email me.

Enjoy Monday morning as much as Friday afternoon!

In order to have balance in life, I know I need to take days off. So, the next two days I will be not going in my office and writing blogs. I’ve been told my blogs are helpful. They’re not only helpful to others, they’re a motivation to me to keep learning.

Revive in Mirriam’s Dictionary is defined as:

: to return to consciousness or life : become active or flourishing again transitive verb 1 : to restore to consciousness or life 2 : to restore from a depressed, inactive, or unused state : bring back 3 : to renew in the mind or memory

I would say for me I am looking forward to this vacation as reviving me (#3) in my mind and memory although I’m not feeling a great need to be revived-just a little. I’ll probably find out how much I really needed to be revived after 4 days of rest. Next week some of you may be bold enough to share how clearer you see the working of my mind and memory.

After I get back, I’ll let you know how I was renewed in mind and memory (at least from my perspective)! Email me how you find time off or vacations to renew your mind and memory!

Enjoy Monday morning as much as Friday afternoon!

Below are some different questions that may be asked of you:

How many gas stations are there in the United States?

According to Mike, a Software Tester, it’s hard not to get really flustered when you’re presented with a question to which you obviously don’t know the right answer. Increasingly more employers are starting to ask things like this not to test your trivia knowledge, but as a way to see how you problem-solve in real time. Michael said that after the initial shock of being asked this question, “I started by asking a few questions (like, are we including Alaska and Hawaii? What about the US Virgin Islands?)- to buy a little time, and then just talked them through my thought process: moving from how many I could think of in my neighborhood, estimating population sizes, and expanding from there. They were impressed with some creative angles I used, and it led to a good discussion.” Michael goes on to say that the worst thing he could have done would have been to say “I don’t know.” I agree. In fact, knowing the real answer (approximately 117,000, by the way) would not have helped Michael get the job!

If you were a car, what kind would you be and what color?
Your answer says a lot about you. This question helps a person think through more of their career branding, namely the value of who he or she uniquely is. Go a step further and translate how your answer gives value to the company you’d love to work at!

Are you nervous?
I think one of the character traits an organization might be looking for with this question is authenticity and confidence.

If you were the interviewer, how would you interview me?
As a leader, an organization may want to hear how you would handle communicating with direct reports.

What kind of fruit am I?
If you want to see A LOT of answers and interesting dialog answering this question, go to  Ask MetaFiler.

“If you could have any superpower, what would it be?”
This question was asked of Jon Bordon as he was interviewing for a position as IT Recruiter with Blue Cross Blue Shield. According to Jon, hiring managers like to throw a person off course and see how he or she handles the stress.

I have an interview prep package that will give you the foundation for answering questions. To schedule a complimentary, confidential session, email me. To see more on my interview prep package, click on career coaching.

Enjoy Monday morning as much as Friday afternoon!

See if your resume clearly answers the following questions:

• What are your strengths?
• What projects do you love to work on and why?
  
• What are your most challenging projects and how did you handle them?
  
• What is most important to you in your work?

More questions:

• How does your personality type align well in the industry you’re in?
  
• Are you giving success stories that share how well you work under pressure?
• How do you handle tight deadlines?
• How do you approach difficult clients?
• Does your passion about your work come out clearly?
• Enough white space to seem inviting to read?

Does the resume and cover letter seem to be a clear invitation for an interview?

If you would like me to work on your resume, email me your resume and the position you are seeking. I’d be glad to schedule a time to talk with you on the phone. If it looks like we will work well together, I’ll offer you a tailor-made career coaching package.

Enjoy Monday morning as much as Friday afternoon!

Robert has a terrific, I think, quote from himself at the top of the article, “Fulfillment doesn’t come from clearing hurdles others set for you; it comes from clearing those you set for yourself.” In reflection and ‘in writing’ what I am thinking, he is saying that satisfaction and energy doesn’t come from meeting expectations other set for us. Rather, fulfillment, energy and pleasure comes from meeting goals I have set for myself. I love contemplating on this thought.

Definitely there are times at work my boss sets goals for me, but really they become my goals because I enjoy what I do at work and want to offer the most I can for the organization.

So, the question comes to my mind. What is it that I really enjoy and what kinds of goals do I want to set for myself? I want to set some time to journal on this question. The other question Robert brings up that I want to think on is, ‘What goals have others set for me that I am spending time trying to reach?’ I’ve been taking a minute to think of the answer while I type this and I really can’t think of any goals I am trying to meet just because someone else has set a goal for me. Rather, the goals I am trying to meet are there because I’ve set them there.

I do think, though, that I need to take the time again (actually I enjoy doing this frequently) what it is I really enjoy doing and what kinds of goals are already in place and what kinds of new goals do I want to set in place for myself to reach? I really believe we are all uniquely gifted with passions and core strengths and the more we can use those for benefiting others, the more full of joy I will be.

So, I am curious. What kinds of goals are you trying to meet? Are they goals others have set for you or are they goals you have set and that you are enjoying the process of meeting? I’d love to hear from you! Please email me-I won’t share your questions or answers unless you post it yourself on this blog.

Enjoy Monday morning as much as Friday afternoon!

The Career Coach program is a statewide project that places career coaches in high schools. There they can begin working with students as early as ninth grade, testing them and talking to them about their interests and getting to know them over an extended period of time.

Career Coaches focus in on sitting down with the students and asking what their dreams are and what they want to do in life. Whereas, counselors deal with a broad range of issues including behavioral problems.

Students don’t know about career options and how to research them. Career Coaches help the students arrange opportunities to learn first-hand about different industries and organizations. Students go away with valuable information about themselves and careers.

School systems are typically overloaded and short on funding as it is. The local Chamber of Commerce is helping fund a Career Coach program because they see the benefit of career coaching for the whole community.

I would love to help students out in the school first of all know their own core strengths, interests, core values, life purpose, identity and personality type. Next it would be a pleasure to show students how to research industries and organizations that fit well with who they are.

If you or your students would like to have a complimentary 20-minute coaching session, contact Terri@SummitViewCareerCoaching.com. I am passionate about professionals and students enjoying Monday morning as much as Friday afternoon!

Similarly, networking relationships can stay in tact and grow closer as we call to ‘catch up’ on how they’re doing and not to ask anything from them. I am challenged from Susan to once a week call someone I don’t know that well to go out for lunch or coffee just to develop a relationship and see how I can help them out in simple ways. Periodically I’d like to see myself calling in order to catch up on what is going on in their life, again being ready to help out if I can. Vice versa, when the time comes I need something, maybe my phone call will be welcomed rather than dreaded.

I am a big believer in networking (building relationships) being all about giving. Susan’s perspective gave me impetus to start thinking how my networking could broaden in a more practical. My next step of action is to share this simple plan with my accountability partner and calendar it.

I am passionate about you enjoying Monday morning as much as Friday afternoon! If you’d like to schedule a 20-minute complimentary, confidential coaching session, email me at Terri@SummitViewCareerCoaching.com.

According to US World News & Report and AARP, older workers (50+) are recommended to do the following: (I would say all ages would do well using these recommendations!)

1. Share short, powerful stories of how you used your skills and strengths to help organizations’ bottom line. You most likely have a lifetime of rich stories you can share.
2. Emphasize how well you can relate to people, including people older than yourself. The articles encourages emphasizing easy communication with older people. On the other hand, I am thinking that with all of your experience, you may be able share a variety of stories communicating and understanding a wide range of people in all age categories.
3. Communicate your adaptability.
4. Don’t stereotype any ages or group of people. Be open to look in a fresh way at each person.
5. Pass your knowledge on in ways people want to listen. “We’re basically looking for [someone who has] the ability to share ideas, good interpersonal skills, and good communications skills,” says Walter Caldwell, manager of staffing resources at the Aerospace Corp. in El Segundo, California.

I’d love to hear what tips you’d like to add to this list. Please email me at Terri@SummitViewCareerCoaching.com.

Enjoy Monday morning as much as Friday afternoon!

• Researched 107 places that seemed interesting to him
• Spent hours researching ‘thoroughly and well’ so that he was able to continue his search in an ‘extremely professional manner’
  
• Sent a total of 297 letters
  
• Made 126 phone calls to organizations in the city he wanted to transfer
• When he finally was able to go to these places in person, he narrowed down the original 107 places down to just 45 and visited all 45 places

The result was receiving 35 job offers! Richard Bolles writes, “When he had finished his survey, he went back to the one job he most wanted–and accepted it.”
Where are you in your job search? What is your story? I’d love to hear from you at Terri@SummitViewCareerCoaching.com.

Enjoy Monday morning as much as Friday afternoon!

When you google your name, what comes up? Can you imagine googling a company and not finding anything on it?

If you’d like a hiring manager to see others’ untampered recommendation of your services, LinkedIn is a tool you must use!

What are reasons people use for not being on LinkedIn?

• I don’t want to be contacted. The day is most likely coming when you will want to be googled and contacted by a hiring manager interested in offering you a position.

• I don’t want to ask others for recommendations of my services. Actually, what I have found for my clients and myself is that most people are glad to recommend our services if they see we have given them value.

Imagine being googled and people being impressed with you because of what others have said about you on your LinkedIn profile. People have actually been contacted and eventually hired because of LinkedIn!

• I’m too busy. The time to build your network is when you are busy since that is a time when you have the most opportunity to find people to recommend your service!

I offer a session on how to set up LinkedIn. If you’re interested, contact me at Terri@SummitViewCareerCoaching.com. Or, if you would like to see other career coaching services, go to Summit View Career Coaching. I’d be glad to meet with you for a complimentary, confidential 20-minute coaching session.

Enjoy Monday morning as much as Friday afternoon!