Keppie Careers

Social media speaker, social media consultant, job search coach

Review of Who's Got Your Back

By

WGYB.240433412Keith Ferrazzi’s book, Never Eat Alone, was a terrific guide for all professionals that explained how to find and connect with mentors and how not to keep score in networking, among other terrific tips. As a big proponent of networking as a tool for job seekers, entepreneurs and just about everyone, I was excited to receive a copy of Keith’s most recent book, Who’s Got Your Back.

Billed as a “step-by-step guide to the powerful principles behind personal growth and change,” this useful guide reminds readers that everyone needs someone to lean on! Keith advocates identifying three “lifelines,” or people who are willing and able to advise and hold you accountable to your goals and dreams.

He describes the four reasons why he believes lifeline relationships are key (p. 27):

1. To help us identify what success truly means for us, including our long-term career plans.

2. To help us figure our the most robust plan possible to get there, through short-term goals and strategies that would tie us into knots if we tried to go it alone.

3. To help us identify what we need to stop doing to move forward in our lives.

4. To have people around us committed to ensuring we don’t fail – so we can transform our lives from good to great.

Keith reminds his readers that people like to give advice, and he peppers the book with a myriad of personal stories demonstrating the power of connecting, the value of being vulnerable and the importance of being yourself.

Useful tips about discovering your “personal currency” (what you can offer in a mutually beneficial relationship) and the importance of recognizing that “the pinnacle of generosity isn’t just helping others, but allowing them to help us” (p. 64), make this book another valuable networking “bible” with tips on everything from how to build intimacy to specific tools to assist professionals who hope to succeed at what may seem to be “wild” dreams.

I hope you will be inspired by Who’s Got Your Back to recognize that you DO drive your own career bus. Take the wheel and find the resources you need to encourage, support and promote your own success. You deserve it!

Sometimes, it pays to  hire a coach who has your back! Need some help getting your job search jump started? Not sure you can put all of the great tools at your disposal to good use? Need a great resume? Learn how I can help you propel your job hunt forward.

In Atlanta? GA is expecting 10.1% unemployment. Get ahead of the game so you will be prepared to search for your next opportunity with local job search interventions: http://youneedajob.org/.


Plan your job hunt using The Vision Board to guide you

By

visionboard6a00e553b4c06088340115705ee287970c-800wi

Regular readers know that I usually stick to highly practical job search advice – I want to offer a toolbox of practical job hunting tips and advice. But, my tag line is “Encouraging, enlightening and empowering job seekers for success.” So, with that in mind, I want to suggest a book that job seekers and all professionals may want to consider reading!

Joyce Schwarz’s visually beautiful and inspiring book, The Vision Board, reminds readers of a key life lesson. As she says in the introduction, “Your time is now.” She shows her readers how to take the bull by the horns and take hold of their own destinies by offering moving stories of people (and families!) who have used vision boards to improve their lives.

For those of us who have never engaged in this type of work, Ms. Schwarz offers step-by-step instructions that not only help readers know what to DO, but also make the concept of the Law of Attraction understandable and attainable to even the most skeptical of audiences.

By offering her own framework to help the reader engage in this work (GRABS), which stands for Gratitude, Release and Receive, Acknowledge and Ask, Be and Believe and Share, the author helps readers really understand their roles in what she calls their own “quantum leap.” She literally offers readers a “passport to possibility” by describing how to get started both from a spiritual perspective (offering accounts of personal stories, sound advice and tips for expressing gratitude) AND from a practical perspective (even suggesting what type of adhesive to use).

One of my favorite things about this book was that it leads the reader to understand and agree with the premise without seeming preachy or “out there.” For example, who can’t understand the value of stopping during the day for a short walk or a coloring break with kids? Ms. Schwarz offers these as examples of ways to “say thanks for your body and the power of your mind.”

Having read The Vision Board, I suggested that my business mastermind group work on our own vision board projects to help us solidify our goals and propel our plans forward. I  recommend it to anyone who wants to jump-start his or her plans, even if you aren’t already a believer in the Law of Attraction!

Need a little help ramping up your search? Read how I can help get you going!


Reblog this post [with Zemanta]

How to Win A Pitch

By

howtopitch1“How can we distinguish ourselves from the competition when what we are offering is so similar?” That is the first line of the book, How to Win A Pitch, by Joey Asher, an Atlanta-based sales presentation coach and President of the nationally-recognized consulting firm Speechworks. (Joey is also someone I know personally, so I am happy to share the great information he offers in his book.)

While his book targets professionals who are pitching to win business or a project for themselves or their organizations, his advice is absolutely essential for job seekers to learn and understand.

Joey offers readers all of the fundamentals to consider when trying to communicate their value to another person or group. Sound familiar? That’s exactly what you’re doing in a job hunt – trying to make a strong connection to someone to convince them to hire you. Here is a run-down of the fundamentals and their job search applications:

Fundamental #1. Present a solution and nothing else.  All too often, people start presentations by talking about themselves. “Before we start, let me tell you about how our company began . . .” Who cares? Your prospect only cares about is how you can save them money, grow their revenues, or reduce their risk. Detail your plan to help your prospect and tell stories about how the plan has worked for others.

Job search application: Hiring managers care about what they want to know and how you solve their problems. You need to learn how to identify and hone in on the most important information to them in order to win the job.

Fundamental #2. Keep it simple. Resist the urge to cover too much ground in the presentation. Pound away at three messages. “We’ll build your project on time. We’ll meet your budget. We’ll deliver quality work.” Simplicity always separates you from the competition.

Job search application – Sending a 3-page resume detailing every thing you have done in the last 25 years and/or going on and on ad naseum in an interview is NOT going to win you the job. Focus on the basics – how you have what they want. Demonstrate why and how.

Fundamental #3. Speak with Passion. If you’re one of three firms competing, you know that your competition can do a great job.  But as one CEO explained, “When it’s close, many of the decisions just come down to who connects with us best.”.  Passion in the voice helps you connect.

Job search application – You need to realize that you are probably not the only one who could do this job. You might not even be the best qualified. But if you can connect with the hiring managers and communicate better than the competition, you will earn the job.

Fundamental #4. Leave half of your time for questions. Questions address what your prospect wants to hear. Your answers almost always separate you. Your competition often makes Q&A an afterthought. Consequently, you can gain an advantage by considering the questions on the front-end.

Job search application – Questions are key. Typically, you’re the one answering the questions (in an interview), so answers are important, but it is also important to ASK good questions. Sometimes, a few well-placed questions can really set the job seeker ahead of the crowd.

Fundamental #5. Rehearse. One CEO who has had hundreds of sales presentations stated, “I can always tell who has rehearsed.” Most people don’t rehearse much. Practicing sets you apart.

Job-search application – I always advise my clients to practice answers to potential interview questions out loud – not inside of their heads! Hearing how you sound and even watching how you look in a mirror can really make a difference in the outcome. I sometimes suggest talking to a pet, or even a stuffed animal!

Joey’s book can be a great help for job seekers who could use some help presenting a solution that works, focusing on a simple message so the target can connect, demonstrating passion and managing anxiety. As an added bonus, it is a perfect resource for anyone who needs to “win” presentations once landing in their targeted jobs!

You can buy the book here. I also highly recommend Joey’s Talking Points blog for a lot of great tips about how to communicate and present to win!

Need some help getting your targeted message together? I can help! Follow THIS LINK to learn more about me and how I can help you shorten your search and land the job you want!

Reblog this post [with Zemanta]

Are you a career coward? Your guide to changing careers!

By

careercowardj3904If you are afraid to make a change in your career and/or hesitant to begin to take the wheel to drive your own career bus, you are not alone! Many people facing a change stop in their tracks because they can’t figure out what to do next and don’t want to make the “wrong” move.

Enter Katy Piotrowski’s book, The Career Coward’s Guide to Changing Careers.

Katy guides her readers through a series of stages to help them decide on their plans and overcome roadblocks caused by fear and hesitation. She offers exercises and support from the “discover your natural talents and best skills” stage through to the point of being ready to learn “how to succeed and progress in your new career.”

With confidence checklists and profiles throughout that demonstrate success stories and cases in point, Katy brings her (potentially reluctant) readers along and offers courage to overcome “panic points” to succeed.

My favorite chapter? Chapter 8 – Execute a Successful Informational Interview. Katy offers sample scripts to secure the meeting and step-by-step instructions to help readers know “What to Wear, Where to Meet and How to Act.” Key advice? “Take notes and leave your resume at home.” Successful networkers conduct as many informational meetings as possible. (CLICK HERE for my thoughts on info interviews.)

I highly recommend The Career Coward’s Guide for anyone who is experiencing a fearful transition – and who isn’t?

If you’d like to win a FREE copy, comment on this blog post to enter a random drawing! Feel free to comment on all of my blogs for a better chance to win:

If you need some coaching to figure out what you should do next, contact my business partner, Hallie Crawford. Once you know what you want to do, if you need some help to get your job search in gear – Learn more about me and my services.- I will help!

Transitioning and don't know where to go? Read Career Quizzes

By

career-quizzesj4444“If you don’t know where you’re going, you’ll end up somewhere else.” – Yogi Berra

So begins John Liptak’s book, Career Quizzes.

With so many people facing transitions now (either of their own choice or as a result of a layoff) and with many studies indicating that workers are generally dissatisfied with their jobs and/or seriously thinking of making a change, it is important to point out that planning and focusing on career goals is an important piece of driving your own career bus!

Liptak reminds readers how important it is to prepare for transtions, and this book is a good first step for anyone thinking about making a move. It offers readers help in:

  • Finding purpose.
  • Identifying an ideal job.
  • Developing a career plan.
  • Taking action.

With a series of different assessments to help guide the job seeker, but a caveat that “an assessment can provide you with valuable information about yourself, but plese remember that such instruments cannot measure everything for you” (p. XV), this book provides guidance and a great starting point for anyone who needs a jump start for his or her career transition.

If you’d like to win a FREE copy, comment on this blog post to enter a random drawing! Feel free to comment on all of my blogs for a better chance to win:

If you need some coaching to figure out what you should do next, contact my business partner, Hallie Crawford. Once you know what you want to do, if you need some help to get your job search in gear – Contact me – I will help!

Reblog this post [with Zemanta]