Standing Out in a Sea of Sameness

I'm 51 & have a job. Do I still need to iInterview? (Informational Interview)

There are two reasons to conduct iInterviews - (Informational interviews).

1. To learn.
2. To explore jobs, companies and industries.

Notice I didn't say to promote yourself. There are a lot of slick Willies out there who preach promoting one's self while info interviewing. No worries. You'll promote yourself whether or not you try. When you try it becomes obvious that your main intention is to promote yourself and not to learn and explore. 

To Learn

You recognize that people have been on the road you're travelling longer than you. You understand that they are an excellent source of intel, intel that you'll need to navigate towards your future. 

For instance, someone passes you on the road heading in the opposite direction. You acknowledge them and move on. A half hour later and the road is under four feet of water. What if you were to have asked that person about the road ahead? You know that answer.

We iInterview to learn about the road ahead.

If one has passionate curiosity to learn, then age become irrevlent. The art of learning is a precursor to self-development. Do you want to grow within your profession? Do you want to grow within acadamia? Do you want to grow within life? 

If you want to learn, develop and grow, go out and talk with people on the road ahead of you. Go out and iInterview.

To explore jobs, companies and industries

My newspaper sold out and I was let go. After thirty years as a reporter, I think I'd like to do something different but I'm not sure how. What do I do?

Many career coaches advise people to explore themselves. Find out about their likes, dislikes, strengths, weaknesses, skill, talents and dreams. I suggest buying the book What Color is Your Parachute? and follow Dick Bolles' advice on this subject. 

While you are doing that however, I also suggest that you go out on the road and talk with people. Talk with people (iInterview) who are in positions and or career fields that your'e interested in. 

"What questions should I ask?"

There are a million Websites out there that all pretty much give the same advice on iInterviewing. Then there are a couple thousand college career centers Websites that apply a clinical layer of rhetoric on top that same advice. Then there is the most clear, concise and comprehensive site on iInterviewing in the universe - Quintessential Careers. 

You should ask the questions that satiate your curiosity. 

In order to warm up that onboard curiosity, stop by these two Quintessential Career sites: Questions to Ask at the Informational Interview and 200 Informational Interview Questions.

"I'm 51 & have a job. Do I still need to iInterview?"

Yes!

If you want to learn, develop and grow in your present and or desired position, the answer is yes!

If you have even the slightest notion of changing positions and or professional fields, the answer is yes!

If you have an inclination that you might want that slightest notion, the answer is yes!

Feel like making a comment on this post? Follow this link to our Standing Out in a Sea of Sameness  Facebook page and look for the post on this review dated 12/15/2013

A Foot In the Door: Networking Your Way Into The Hidden Job Market

A Foot in the Door: Networking Your Way Into The Hidden Job Market by Katharine Hansen, PhD. 

A Foot in the Door is a book about the role networking plays for job seekers. Kathy, the author, story tells and teaches how networking turbo boosts job seeking efforts, smokes online resume submitters and produces positive results.

Networking is the process through which you get connected and build relationships with people who can help advance your career

A Foot in the Door is anchored by the most powerful and least known tool for job seekers - the informational interview.

The informational interview helps Explorers:

• Build confidence
• Build a rich resource network
• Learn how to converse with those with more experience
• Learn about various jobs and careers
• Learn how to become successful in various jobs and careers
• Learn how to interview

Chapter one though six are devoted to the What, Why, How, Who, Where and When of networking. Chapters seven through fourteen address the basics of networking:

• psychology of asking people to help you
• get your network to work for you
• help for those of us who are shy
• do's and don't of networking
• promoting yourself
• networking in a diverse culture
• keeping track of your network

In chapters fifteen through seventeen, Kathy covers networking on the Internet. Personal branding and social media come into play here. 

All things informational interviewing are seared into the last ten chapters. Sample topics are:

• what is informational interviewing?
• how to find and choose interviewees
• how to set up and prepare for interviews
• what questions to ask
• how to optimize the interview experience
• how to track and analyze informational interviews
• following up and networking with contacts

Do you believe there are people in the world who enjoy sharing wisdom, knowledge and information? Sure there are! But it's up to us to seek them out and ask for their help. A Foot In The Door is the perfect navigational guide to do just that.

I created this mind map for easy access to resources surrounding Kathy's book A Foot in the Door. 

Feel like making a comment on this post? Have a suggested link for me to add to the mind map? Follow this link to our Standing Out in a Sea of Sameness  Facebook page and look for the post on this review dated 12/12/2013

Isa Adney: Community College Success

I reviewed Isa Adney's book, Community College Success at Cultivating Awe.

Isa flat out embodies everything we're trying to do here at Standing Out in a Sea of Sameness. Not only that, but she articulates it better. It's almost like I don't need to write the Standing Out book. Almost.

I believe that every high school student should read Isa's book Community College Success and become familiar with the vast wealth of her resources. As most of my readers are not in high school or community college, I encourage those who care about our young adults to pass this information along. 

In order to help you with easier access to Isa's resources, I created this mind map. Enjoy!

By the way, if you feel like commenting on this, head over to the Standing Out in a Sea of Sameness Facebook page here and look for this post dated 11/15/2013.

The Start-Up of You

The Start-up of You: Adapt to the Future, Invest in Yourself and Transform Your Career by Reid Hoffman & Ben Casnocha. I need to review this book but I don't have to wait till then to tell you; this is a must read! I missed this book's launch by one year due in part to my narrow view of LinkedIn. Although I've been a member of the LinkedIn community since nearly its inception, I viewed it more of a place to go and get a job than that of a relationship building community. The Start-up of You shines a beacon of light on relationship building and the near limitless value of LinkedIn.

The value of The Start-up of You to Standing Out in a Sea of Sameness can best be summed up by its relativity to this blog's categories. It pertains to every single one here.

The Start-up of You Resource Page

 

 

Did You Always Wanna be a....?

Dear Old Adult,

Did you always want to be a...(fill in your present job or career)? Are you content with the path taken to get there? Could there have been a more effective route?

When asked these questions most people say they wouldn't change a thing. Mostly because their experience forged who they are today. Of course there is truth to that. But still, dontcha wish just a teeny bit? To know then what you know now.

Now, how about all those kids walking towards the same cliff that you and I blindly and naively walked over? Sure life is about the experience, the journey. But wouldn't it be nice to alleviate some of their pain? Wouldn't it be nice to help them become more effective at an earlier age? Wouldn't it be nice to see them be able to make a difference in other's lives earlier in their lives? And about this nice-thing. It might end up in the top five of joy-givers in your life. We're getting around to that.

So how do you help young adults from meeting their demise on the jagged rocks below?

You paint a vivid picture of your profession's landscape, illustrating required education, job-related details, challenging, worthwhile and frustrating job aspects and career pathways. You tell them what you like and what you dislike. The intent is to supply information to help them make a decision as to whether or not your profession is worthy of a higher level of consideration.

Most young adults do not have a firm grasp on what people working in fields of interest actually do. An example is engineering. It's not uncommon for nearly fifty percent of the students in engineering schools to drop their major by the end of their freshman year. They just didn't realize what engineers do. (Getting Real, Gray, page 9)

The onus however, is not on you my old adult friend. It is on the student or as I refer to them, the explorer. It is up to them to find you. Or for them to utilize a person such as myself to help facilitate a connection.

Here is my working theory that is behind what I write. A young adult asks you for twenty to thirty minutes of your time. She is gathering information to assist in guiding career path decisions. She arrives smartly dressed and on time at your place of business. As she asks questions you cannot help but to notice how passionately curious she is to learn. It's in her body language, her eyes and her voice. And, unlike other people you encounter during the workday, she listens to you. Finishing up the conversation she asks if you could refer someone who would be willing to hold a similar conversation. You were so impressed by the respect she afforded and her demeanor, you offered to personally call your colleague and set up an appointment.

The next day a hand-written thank you note arrives in the mail. The young lady thanks you again for your time and reflects back on a point or two that you made. You feel quite satsified with the whole experience and wonder how her future will turn out. Later on in the year you receive another card from her and six months later another card. Five years later and you're still receiving cards from this young woman. She continuously updates you on her career and educational progress. A few times she reflected back on advice that you had given her and in the manner it helped you. That made you feel good. Real good.

One day you receive a phone call from our diligent young adult. She is wondering if you might be able to make a connection for her. I don't have to tell you how fast you acted in helping her. And that made you feel good. Real good.

The effort it took you to originally speak with this young adult: minimal (and enjoyable). The time spent on that first interview: thirty minutes. Time collectively spent reading all her correspondence: forty-five minutes. Value that YOU receieved from this relationship: priceless. 

There is a more than fair chance that you are taking me up on my suggestion to read this. If so, and you are interested in helping to guide and offer career advice to a young adult, please contact me.

Again, the onus is on the explorer to seek you out. Please consider allowing me to point them in the right direction.

 

Exploring Career Pathways: Need Project Participants

For every one-hundred kids who enter ninth grade, approximately twelve graduate from college and find work that is commensurate with their degree*. And how many of those twelve do you suppose are really happy doing what they're doing? Statistically speaking, about 5.4. And these figures are based on kidsgoing to college. 

How do you avoid the agony of not being able to score a job that's commensurate with your abilities and one that you love? How do you avoid the excruciating financial pain of paying tens of thousands of dollars for a college degree only to discover you're really not interested in that field? How do you stand out from the thousands of other young adults who are following your career path?

You explore career pathways or enhance the one you're already on. 

How do you do that you ask?

The secret is to learn from those on the road ahead of you and stay connected to them.

I am looking for a half dozen or so people between the ages of sixteen and twenty-one who would like to participate in a project designed to help young adults explore and or enhance career pathways. The ideal candidate will possess:

• a strong desire to learn
• an insatiable and passionate curiosity
• ease in communicating via Skype and or Google docs
• a commitment to explore
• respect for themself and others

If you fit the bill or know of anyone who is interested, please contact me at david (dot) rothacker (at) gmail (dot) com.

I've been working with one gentleman for the last month or so and we've made considerable progress. It's amped up my enthusiasm to the point where I'm anxious to help others! (Jason is available for a referral upon request).

 We're going to be following the Storytelling and Brand Light points I describe here in my Standing Out in a Sea of Sameness methodology. I am also very big on Design Thinking but for the present will not be using it.

 *Getting Real by Kenneth Gray

make things HAPPEN: The Key to Networking for Teens

make things HAPPEN: The Key to Networking for Teens by Lara Zielin

What are you going to be when you grow up? Lara says the answer should be, "I want to be happy and fulfilled." What brilliant and piercing insight.

Your career weighs heavily into the life equation that in part contains happiness and fulfillment. But how do you get there? According to Lara the key is to network. If you scrunch your nose and emit a healthy ewwwwe at the word network, relax, Lara's definition is the polar opposite of the slimeball salesman who readily passes out business cards looking to make a deal. 

Before I tell you about this book I have to get something off of my chest. In the context of the message and design directed towards its intended audience, this is one of the best books that I've ever read! Overall, this is one of the best books that I've ever read. If you were to ask anyone who is familiar with my bookreading habits you'd come away from the conversation thinking my middle name is Voracious. I am ever soooooooo troubled by the Amazon ranking of make things HAPPEN. The roadmap toward teen success (adults too!) is crisply coherent. The interior design marches to the steady drumbeat of sensible effectiveness. And the book's length dictates that you'd need another book to read on a plane ride from Miami to Atlanta. Why hasn't this book sold? I offer an idea below.

Lara wisely dispels stereotypical definitions for networking in the first chapter. She says through networking you may:

• Uncover information to map out your goals and life plans
• Get advice and information from leaders and mentors
• Obtain well-rounded information about a company or companies
• Make connections that can lead to career opportunities

Unfortunately, many people never understand networking for what it is: a process of uncovering more about themselves and their careers.

Each chapter contains neat devices to help the reader relate and understand. Case in Point refers to real life stories. The Reminder Balloon helps the reader remember. Ain't it a Fact captures a fact. Piece it Together connects two related terms. Chapter Highlights recaps major points. And Picking the Expert's Brain provides additional resources.

Lara goes on to help readers with the question, why network? Next is probably one of the most important parts in the book: learn more about yourself. The balance of the book is a logical and orderly walk down the networking path. Ms. Zielen covers the subject like a custom made blanket. 

If you're familiar with What Color is Your Parachute? by Richard N. Bolles you'll see a penetrating influence in Lara's writing. I am captivated however, by the Lara filter, her interpretation of describing one of the tools available to help teens discover what they were put on this earth to do. It's magnifecent.

This book is so well written that it altered the course of my own book. I was going to include ninety nine percent of what Lara covers. Quite frankly, there's no way I could improve upon it. No worries to self though, I'm just thankful that I found this book.

I suspect that Lara's book did not sell that well because she took a different direction with her writing. 

Update 8/28/2012 - In a recent communication Lara mentioned that the book is lacking info on the use of social media in networking and in general it's outdated. I get the feeling for this reason, she doesn't want too much attention coming its way. I get that. Lara is a sharp and intelligent woman. She wants her readers to experience her best.

I believe however, that make things HAPPEN stands on its own. I can't see much in this book that wouldn't pertain to any era. It's foundational. Grasp, understand and utilize the humanity in Lara's lessons here and then add in social media. Here's a suggestion for a comprimise. Buy this book used until Lara produces an updated version. 

Standing Out in a Sea of Sameness

How will you stand out from thousands and thousands and thousands of others once you have completed post-secondary education? Why would an employer choose you out of an endless sea of others? Here's a hint: It has little to do with your résumé...even if the doctor who invented college career centers personally edited yours.

Standing Out in a Sea of Sameness is designed for young adults. It really is a basic concept. You simply do things on your educational journey that others are not doing. The accumulation of your practices will make you stand out. Quick. When was the last time you handed out your contact card to a non-student? Quick. When was the last time you sent a handwritten thank-you note to someone who took time out of her day to give you advice? Quick. When was the last time you tracked down a professional in your chosen field for information?

The journey towards standing out begins with those who have traveled the road before you. We'll refer to these folks as Storytellers. Your mission is to learn from Storytellers. It also involves developing your own brand through a process which we'll refer to as Brand Light. The intent is, that upon graduation, you'll have increased opportunities and options for employment that otherwise wouldn't be available to you. The hope is that you'll stand out in a sea of sameness.

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