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Archives for February 2016

February 8, 2016 by Carrie Pinsky

Time for Your 2016 Career Tune Up?

Most of us schedule an annual physical with our doctors and we get our teeth cleaned every six months. We even change the oil in our cars about every three thousand miles. But, when it comes our careers, we expect things to keep humming along without much care.

Our careers require regular maintenance too! Without proper attention, even the most successful careers will begin to sputter and eventually breakdown. A few warning signs that you are past due for a professional tune up include having a dated skill set, a complacent attitude at work, or a dwindling network.

The following career maintenance activities will help ensure you find success in 2016 and beyond:

Scan the Horizon

People who thrive in their careers are not just heads down at work. Every so often they look up to assess what is on the horizon in their industries. They stay abreast of any new technologies, certifications and specializations that will be needed in order to remain competitive.

I often suggest clients look at a few postings for the kind of work they are doing now. Many are surprised to find that they barely qualify for their own jobs! Attending industry specific conferences and being active in professional organizations are two ways to ensure you remain up to speed on what’s new and next in your field.

Deepen Connections

Having a strong personal and professional network is key to our career health as well as our overall wellbeing. Networking need not be an awkward job search ploy. No one wants to be contacted by a long lost colleague only when they need help finding a job. Don’t be that person!

A key part of a career tune-up includes nurturing relationships inside your company, within your industry, as well as across the community. Join a relevant Meet Up or become part of a lively networking group. Volunteer. Take up a hobby. Schedule regular lunch dates with coworkers, colleagues, and friends.

Be helpful to others and give of your time and talents. When you do this authentically, it will be much easier to ask for help without feeling uncomfortable. Always assess the quality of a professional relationship before asking for assistance. In other words, don’t expect more from someone than the relationship warrants.

Create a Master Résumé

Many clients come to me with résumés that are ten or twenty years old. It then takes considerable time and effort to update and target the document. You may be unable to meet an application deadline or you may lose a contract opportunity because you could not apply in a timely manner.

Creating a master résumé that outlines your professional history can keep you nimble in today’s job market. A master résumé should include career highlights from positions held in the past 10 to 15 years as well as key accomplishments from your current position.

Having a continually updated résumé makes it easier to quickly target an application packet for specific positions. Being able to quickly articulate the value you provide can also help you justify a raise or negotiate a better job offer. A master résumé can also be used as the foundation for updating your online profile.

Career planning and management can be complex. We have many more jobs over our lifespans and each career decision we make shapes and impacts future opportunities. Seeking out career counseling to set yearly goals and create an action plan can be just as important to our wellbeing as scheduling an annual physical.

If you have been coasting along without much thought to what is next in your career, now is the time to take proactive steps to ensure you are ready for your next professional venture. Here is to your success in 2016 and beyond!

 

Filed Under: Career Counseling, Career Transitions, Personal Branding Tagged With: career, career management, career success., job search, networking, resumé, workplace

February 1, 2016 by Carrie Pinsky

Ah, the stories we tell…

I have interviewed thousands of candidates during my career. Recruiting for years taught me a thing or two about what it takes to make an employer sit up and take notice.

These days, I teach interviewing skills in workshops.  I coach clients one on one.  I video them in mock interviews and together my clients and I look at how to improve their ability to connect with potential employers.  I have seen highly successful people fall to pieces just trying to figure out how to respond to, “Tell me a bit about yourself and your interest in this position.”  This simple little prompt can bring a person to tears.

Once you get past that “tell me about yourself” prompt, the best thing you can do is tell stories.  Your past experience are the best indicators of what you can do in the future. They show who you really are and what you really do under pressure, in a crisis as well as during times when things are flowing at work.

I encourage clients to take a highlighter and go through the job description or posting. Underline the key qualifications for the position.  Next, tap into your memory for examples from your past experiences that match what the employer is seeking.

Putting your stories into a quick outline is often enough to help ensure you will be able to recall the story during an interview.  Use the C.A.R. formula to ensure you get to the point and make an impact. C stands for the challenges you faced.  A is for the action you to took to overcome the challenge.  R is all about the results that were obtained.

It is also important to be able to focus your story on the question being asked. Stressing the parts of the story that most closely match what you are being asked is a powerful skill.  Another important skill is being able to come full circle back to the original question at the end of your story. This shows you are listening and relating to the interviewer not just repeating a memorized story.

For example, you may be asked to talk about a recent accomplishment.  Once you tell your story, come back to the question you were asked and say, “So, this is an example of what I will do here in this position.  I really pride myself on setting goals and working hard to achieve excellent results.” Come full circle back to what the interviewer has asked and relate your response to your future actions if you were hired in this new position.

It is really important to collect your stories and practice them before the interview.  However, you don’t want to sound over-rehearsed.  You want to remain conversational in your tone and natural in the delivery of your stories. And, you want to forge a connection with the interviewer.

Beyond the facts of your story and the end results, it is important to consider the emotions behind the stories you tell.  When gathering stories, consider telling about experiences that showcase not just your skills but also your PASSION. Share stories that reveal your core values and the qualities that will differentiate you from other people who do the same work you do.  What sets you apart?  What makes you stand out?

In the end, it is not the facts that will be memorable.  It will be the way you made the interviewer FEEL that matters.  Bring in some emotion and avoid just relaying dry facts.

Most of my clients say, “I don’t have any amazing stories to share.  I just show up and do my job.  There is nothing remarkable about me.”  Everyone has a story.  We all have unique ways of doing what we do. I often ask my clients some key questions to help them recall good story material.  Here are some prompts:

  • When were things in total crisis and chaos at work?
  • When were you totally in the flow and when did time fly by?
  • When did you help a company make money, save money, or minimize risk?
  • When did you improve a process or streamline a procedure?
  • When were you completely frustrated?
  • When were you joyful and satisfied?
  • When did you know you were doing great work even if no one else was noticing?

I generally advise clients to have at least 5 or 6 good stories prepared before an interview. You can tailor them to the specific needs of the employer who is interviewing you. So, your stories are about you but you are telling them in a way that makes them about “you and the potential employer.”  A great interview story should express what WE could do together if you were brought on board.

A good story is what will make you memorable.  A few good stories will be what compels you to receive an offer over another candidate with a similar skill set.  For every hour of interviewing that you do, expect to put in at least 5 or 10 hours of research and practice.  Don’t get robotic or repeat everything on your resume.  Tell a good story.  Put your heart into the stories you tell and be your authentic self.

This is interviewing magic!

 

 

Filed Under: Career Counseling, Interview Coaching, Job Search Support Tagged With: action, candidate, challenge, employer, memorable, opportunities, passion, result, story telling, value

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Pink Sky Career Counseling

417 South Howes Street
Fort Collins, CO 80521

Phone: 970-225-0772
Email: carrie@pink-sky.net

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Here is what clients are saying…

“I enjoyed working with Carrie. I felt comfortable with her from the very beginning; she’s very warm, supportive, and easy to talk to. She helped me retool my resume and linkedin profile after taking care to learn about my experience, skills and desires. I highly recommend working with her if you have the chance.”

S.L.
Recreation Private Club Industry

Going in for meetings with Carrie was the best thing I could have possibly done for my education and career. With her tremendous help I was able to figure out what I wanted to do and how I needed to go about my career. I can’t possibly thank her enough for her crucial role in jumpstarting my career and getting me headed in the right direction.

G.W.
Student, International Affairs

Carrie was an informative, supportive and thoughtful guide during a time of career refinement. She served as a sounding board in assessing benefits and challenges of positions, reviewed application materials, prepared me for interviews and debriefed and supported decision-making. The mock interview coaching sessions were incredibly valuable to me.

J.S.
Professor, Higher Education

As a recent graduate with my master's degree in biomedical sciences, Carrie and Pink Sky Career Counseling were immensely helpful in the process of landing my first "real" job. I was at a loss for how to apply for a position to start my career in such a specialized field. With little to no work experience, Carrie was able to help formulate my resume, cover letter and references, and manage my LinkedIn page as well as provide general career counseling. Thanks to Carrie's help and guidance I recently accepted an intraoperative neurophysiologist position for NuVasive in Minneapolis, MN. I could not have done it without Carrie's help. Long story short - I highly recommend Pink Sky Career Counseling for any career counseling you may need.

A.M.
Biotech Industry

Not a day goes by that I don't thank Carrie in my mind on the way to my new job. Calling her was one of the best things I ever did for myself. Carrie is very intuitive, connected in the community, genuinely caring, and a master of her craft. Of course if you sign on for this, you have to dig deep and do things that are outside your comfort zone to get to where you want to be in life. But she held my hand all the way till the end and beyond. I cannot thank or recommend her enough.

J.D.
Non Profit Industry

I highly recommend Carrie. She did an amazing job helping me with my resume and providing valuable guidance in my job search process. I ended up being offered a great new job and wouldn't have gotten there without Carrie's assistance and support.

P.P.
Human Resources

Carrie is amazing, I had a position open that I didn't know about until 4 days before it closed, just before the weekend. She went above and beyond to get it accomplished for me. I highly recommend working with her.

E.H.
Security

Carrie was fantastic to work with. She listened to what I was wanting and she produced a excellent product, responses to my resume increased and just recently landed a great job!

T.M.
Accounting and Finance

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