Book Review: Working Identity (Herminia Ibarra)

Subtitled Unconventional Strategies for Reinventing Your Career, this important work first came out in 2003 and has been growing in acclaim both among career-changers (as well as career counseling professionals) ever since.  Having now read a copy, myself, I can add my own positive review to the bandwagon — and heartily recommend this book to anybody who feels unsatisfied by their current professional direction and that the time has come to reinvent themselves in a serious way.

At its core, what makes the book so noteworthy is that it pushes back — hard — against the common notion that the keys to making  a successful career change are careful planning, analysis, and self-reflection.  Ms. Ibarra argues that these introspective steps almost never generate enough inertia to break somebody out of their established professional routine.  Instead, she believes that the most effective route to realizing career change is to take direct action (often in the form of crafting small “career experiments”) that will deliberately expose one to a set of new individuals, environments, and experiences.  One relevant quote that she cites right up front from another author (Richard Pascale) summarizes this thinking quite elegantly: “adults are much more likely to act themselves into a new way of thinking than to think themselves into a new way of acting.”

Throughout the book, Ms. Ibarra explores the implications of this philosophy in depth, sharing the tales of 39 people along the way who have successfully pulled off a major career transition.  This combination of elements provides a stream of ample gems for any reader genuinely interested in the career-change subject.  In one chapter, for example, she discusses the intriguing notion that would-be career-changers should attempt to identify new paths to follow by concentrating on the “communities” of people that they get along with most comfortably and enjoyably.  In other words, if somebody finds themselves always looking forward to spending time in a school setting, with teachers and educators, this instinctive sense of belonging and attraction might be one to follow — and suggest a career related to the educational field.  Alternatively, somebody who finds themselves constantly hanging out at Fry’s (the big technology superstore) and “talking tech” with their friends at Microsoft might heed this clue, instead, and start investigating careers within the technology world.  This community-based exploration framework isn’t one that’s talked about much, but it makes a lot of sense, given that an enormous chunk of job satisfaction is derived not from one’s work tasks themselves, but from the surroundings in which one performs their work.

Additional elements of the book include a breakdown of the different types of experiments one might set up for themselves, to try out different working identities, as well as a nod to the “strength of weak ties” principle that suggests people often receive the most help and inspiration in their job hunt from brand-new acquaintances, as opposed to close friends and family members.  There’s even a great section right at the very end that discusses some specific differences that various demographic groups (e.g. men vs. women, individual consultants vs. managers, etc.) encounter when it comes to changing careers — which I was thrilled to see, since so many books preach a “one-size-fits-all” approach to this issue that completely ignores the fact that not every person approaches this challenge from a similar starting point.

So all in all, while no single book can be expected to offer a soup-to-nuts, utterly foolproof formula for career change, this book adds an extremely important and interesting dimension to the discussion — and is well worth a read for anybody who is in “transition” themselves!

Alumni Words of Wisdom: Part 3

I’ve got one final installment to share in terms of “words of wisdom” submitted by my distinguished recent job search alumni! This individual, who has agreed to remain anonymous, offered some very candid insights into the lessons she learned during her protracted search for a high-tech sales position — and I’m very grateful that she’s allowing me to publish them, below, so that all of my other readers might benefit from her journey!

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1. It is the tortoise that wins — not the hare. You need to keep going no matter what. Fast is not always the pace. It is the daily doing of the steps that counts. And it is true that the more $$$ you make, the longer it takes.

2. Be willing to readjust your perspective. I had all the “hot” companies after me, but I never got the deal. I was always runner up. However, the company I have landed with is strong, better positioned to be successful in this economic environment, and better yet, their base pay and comp plan are the BEST!

3. Make friends. I told you, Matt, that [Name Withheld] and I are now good friends. In addition, I had the opportunity to meet three other bright women, through you, who were also looking for positions. We supported each other with calls, emails, and had a great outing to the Sex and the City movie premier! We have now all landed outstanding positions. Two are in consulting, and three of us have positions at high levels with great salaries. WOW are we blessed!!! We are now planning a “Sex and the City II” outing — although not about the movie, just to celebrate our success!! In terms of employers, here is where we all landed: Microsoft; Morgan Stanley; HR Consulting; Pitney Bowes; Starbucks.

4. Lastly, make a gratitude list and every day no matter how it looks, think of at least five things you are are so blessed for. You can count personal things or perhaps that occasional job contact you were not expecting. Be grateful!! Boy was this hard at times when I lost an offer. In fact, Matt, I had emailed you about a VERY BAD experience I had with one company who, after hours of interviews, came back with unreasonable expectations and I decided to pass on the opportunity and pull myself out of the running. That was very painful and I cried lots. I stood by my belief, however, that if they responded like this when recruiting me, they would be terrible to work with and for — so I declined. At that point I said no more — I needed a rest — so I decided over the Holidays I would reach out and volunteer to help others. Within two weeks, a recruiter from TheLadders came after me for my current position. Within thirty days I had the offer (it was delayed by the bad weather), which made me believe that there is indeed sometimes a larger power at work!!!

Alumni Words of Wisdom: Part 2

As noted in my previous posting, I thought it might be useful to touch base with some of my clients who have landed new jobs in recent months and ask them to share any thoughts, tips, or words of encouragement for those of you out there who are still in the hunt.  Here is a collection of the submissions I’ve received thus far:

Contribution #1:

“The so-called ‘hidden job market’ is alive and well, particularly in this recession.  There are opportunities that are filled from outside a company and will never make it to an internet ad posting.  Consider the odds of having an inside connection and advocate for your candidacy in a company versus the hundreds of applications an on-line posting will receive.  Ensure that you are reaching out to all in your network who you think can help you in a hiring capacity.”

Contribution #2:

“I think the best advice is to be flexible about what you want to do, and to look at your skills from all different angles. It’s best not to limit yourself to what you’ve already done, because you might be able to fit into something brand new that draws on your old skills, but moves you into a new field. It may not be what you once did, but you may realize once you get into it; that you like it even better (or at least almost as much) as what you did before.”

Contribution #3:

“My words of wisdom are to repeat those that you and many more folks that came before me said: be clear on what you want (I was afraid for a long time to commit because I thought it would narrow my options…and it made them more clear) and network through friends and acquaintances.  My time off work was also an excellent time to refresh some skills and learn new things (spent 1 morning a week at Barnes and Noble reading PSJB, WSJ, etc. as well as reading one new business related book a week and got two certifications—the PMP and SPHR) and I highly recommend this as a strategy to meet new people (classes and association meetings) and keep your energy and motivation up in the search process.  I’m now also on the board of the Lake Washington Human Resource Association and recent conversations with folks in that arena suggest that being willing to do contract work in this environment is a good way to get you in the door, at a minimum, and to make some money while looking (many companies still have a lot of work to get done but don’t want the fixed costs of carrying full-time salaries).”

Contribution #4:

“It’s a marathon, not a sprint.  So be sure to have emotionally supportive friends or family to help you endurance for the long distance run.  Work to resolve any emotional scars from past employment.  Also — although it’s nearly impossible to do, try not to take things in the search process personally. If something doesn’t work out often it’s for a good reason and sometimes you only find out later that you may have been spared a less than ideal situation.  I found my job online and a networking connection helped get my resume to the top. But I did finally make some trade-offs in terms of title and scope of management to stay in Seattle.  One of my best friends who was looking for two years found a perfect job in Seattle in her target industry against all odds. A long time acquaintance of hers had the opportunity against all market logic and her past search experience.

Contribution #5:

“Matt, I don’t think I can add much to your usual advice.  Depending on your job position it takes time…for me it was about two years.  Persistence, patience and some luck were involved.  I found real value in networking and would say that was the most critical factor for success.  I got a call about my current position from a former colleague.  My new job would never have been posted on any job boards and if it went to a search firm I may not have known the recruiter hired by the company.  Along with those thoughts, my only words of wisdom are to  keep your attitude positive.  As hard as that can be, it is so important for your own mental health and to be you sharp when an opportunity does arise.  Other than that….listen to Matt’s advice.  Best wishes to all!”

My sincere thanks to those of you out there who contributed the above snippets!  It’s much appreciated and the fact that this information is coming from folks who have been through the job search process themselves, quite recently, adds a valuable dimension of credibility…

Alumni Words of Wisdom: Part 1

Over the years, one of my greatest pleasures in running Career Horizons has been to witness the extent to which my “alumni” are willing to give back and contribute their wisdom to other folks — complete strangers, even — who are following in their footsteps and trying to line up new employment opportunities in the Puget Sound area.  Along these lines, I recently e-mailed a group of my former clients who had all successfully landed new jobs during the past year, asking them to contribute any advice or tips that they thought might be useful to folks currently going through the career transition process.

The response to this note has been tremendous and I’ve already heard back from numerous people, offering some great suggestions and some sincere words of support to those who are currently in the hunt for a new assignment.  Before I compile some of the shorter responses together into a single posting, however, I wanted to first run one detailed response I received in its entirety — since the author (who we’ve agreed to keep anonymous) has offered up a number of excellent pointers that I’m excited to pass along:

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Dear Matt:

I sympathize with your clients completely.  We’re in uncharted waters and it is an unsettling situation for businesses and individuals across the board.  For a job hunter, much of this can seem to be out of their control.  If they are working with you, they’ve already made a very good decision.  My advice is:

•    Focus on what you can control, which is your day-to-day activities and your own attitude; press forward no matter what the headlines say because that is really all you can do.  Don’t make excuses, you just have to dig in; stay away from doomsayers and professional complainers.
•    Measure your activities like calls, contacts, networking events and make sure you hit your numbers; focus on the numbers to track and motivate yourself; you may have to keep at it over longer period of time and in order to make it sustainable you have to know where you are and not let up – the numbers will tell you.
•    There are opportunities in a downturn but you have to know where to look; my neighbor is the CFO for a large chain of pawn shops and they are having their best year ever.  Bankruptcies, liquidations and similar situations require skilled people in lots of areas to bring them to conclusion. Network with bankruptcy attorneys but this is only for certain types of people, as this work can be depressing if you let it get to you.
•     Companies take advantage of downturns to get rid of poor performers. I did.  So, there is selective hiring going on despite the headlines. Some of these positions may be “refilled” more by networking and word of mouth.  If you have particularly incompetent acquaintances that have good jobs, find out more.  They won’t last long.
•    There is going to be downward pressure on salaries and compensation in general.  You may have to settle for something less than you hoped.  Be realistic and know how long you can hold out.  You can upgrade later, but right now getting employed again may be more important than the dream job.  Long term unemployment is not good for anyone.  Capitalism is cyclical, things will eventually come back and when they do, you’re better off if you have a job and have not run thru all of your savings.
•    Major companies that mandate force reductions are often required to hire internal candidates for any positions that open up.  It can take them a long time to work thru internal candidates even if they have advertized the position externally.  Smaller companies can and will make decisions more quickly, particularly if you have the experience and skills set they need.  Many small companies purposely hire mid-career employees because they do not have means to provide the training internally.  This should be good news for mid-career people but it does mean they need to change their focus away from big companies.
•    Businesses that depend on consumer discretionary spending (Starbucks comes to mind – a $5 cup of coffee?) are probably going to get worse before they get better.  High tech, venture capital stuff is also probably pretty dead.  Look at the larger political changes afoot to see where the next winners are coming from.  Infrastructure construction looks like the sweet spot for the Obama administration – they are going to create jobs through public works and financing of private development.  Read up on Obama’s economic recovery plan and there should be some good clues there.

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My sincere thanks to the individual who took the time to share all of these great tips (you know who you are!) and I look forward to bringing you some further words of wisdom in the near future from my other alumni who have  been kind enough to send in contributions…

News On or News Off?

Whether you take in the latest national/local news via television, printed newspaper, or a series of RSS news feeds (my personal preference), there’s no question that the headlines have been plenty bleak as of late.  For every article discussing a company that’s received new funding, or is currently achieving some level or success or growth, there seem to be 10 other articles talking about companies that are in trouble or having to resort to layoffs.

It’s gotten so bad, in fact, that many of the self-help gurus and personal development books out there are suggesting that people should not pay attention to the news at all.  They recommend embarking on a total “news fast” and replacing this time by listening to music or engaging in other more positive activities, instead.  On the surface, this makes sense.  After all, it certainly stands to reason that it can be difficult to maintain a positive attitude in a job search if all one hears is a stream of depressing developments in the business world, day after day.

After considering the matter more carefully, however, is this really the right move?  While I certainly can sympathize with the difficulty of keeping one’s spirits up in a job hunt these days, I’m not totally convinced that following an “avoidance strategy” with regard to the marketplace is necessarily the best idea.  For starters, despite the moribund tone in most business coverage these days, one will still witness some occasional bright spots that could signal an emerging opportunity or a new company to explore.  Just today, in fact, my review of the Puget Sound Business Journal news feed reveals that Microvision received a $750,000 new contract from the U.S. Army, that  Salvatore Ferragamo is opening a new store in Bellevue, and that local start-up SmartSheet.com raised $1.25 million in new funding.

Additionally, while this may be a personal preference, in my own case I know that I always like to make decisions with as many facts at my disposal as possible, however unpleasant or discouraging they might be.  Job searches, after all, are all about decisions, choices, and tradeoffs and I therefore think that it’s important for people to arm themselves with as much data as they can before making career-altering decisions.  Should one settle on a sub-par job opportunity or take a part-time gig, just to get some cash flow coming in?  Should one quit a current job they despise in order to seek their fortunes elsewhere?  Is perhaps now the right time to start a business, or embark on a major career change, given that traditional employment seems like such a spotty proposition?  Idealistic notions aside, these are the real-world questions that job seekers wrestle with every day, and it would strike me as both silly and misguided to try and make these kinds of decisions in a vacuum — with no consideration of the marketplace context at large.

So ultimately, perhaps I’m just not qualified to argue with the “Tony Robbins” set who seem to be insisting that people cut themselves off completely from the daily news cycle.  As stated above, however, I’d suggest that people think twice before taking this step.  If nothing else, think hard about your own psychology and motivational drivers.  If you’re the type of person who is prone to anxiety, or who finds it difficult to stay focused and positive in the face of adversity, then it very well might make sense to limit your exposure to the nightly newscast.  On the other hand, if you feel you can effectively harvest the occasional positive nugget from the news without letting the overall picture beat you down, then there may be no reason to quit your favorite anchorman or woman, cold turkey.

And one final consideration: while so many people are obviously having to concentrate on improving their own situation immediately on a “micro” level, can we all truly afford to go to sleep at the wheel and ignore the broader lessons, on a “macro” level, that led us into this mess in the first place?

Website Review: CardBrowser.com

The business world is a moving target.  Companies come, companies go, and the #1 mission of savvy job hunters should be to scan the horizon for emerging organizations and relevant individuals — then contact these entities, proactively, to introduce themselves and try to uncover some hidden hiring needs.  Only focusing on the large well-known companies around town is typically a losing strategy, as is waiting for a published job advertisement to appear before initiating dialogue with a given employer.

This being said, while I’ve featured many outstanding company research tools over the years in my blog/newsletter, every now and then a new resource pops up that may not quite match the caliber of the other sites I most frequently recommend, but offers an intriguing new twist that might be a useful addition to one’s overall arsenal of research sources.  Cardbrowser.com is one such resource.  This enterprising little site intertwines the worlds of old-fashioned “networking by business cards” and modern web search technology by serving as an on-line repository for thousands of business cards that have been collected at professional, industry, and trade conferences around the globe.

The concept is simple.  The creators of the website have identified hundreds of business events and trade shows that tend to attract the “movers and shakers” in various niche industries, then they’ve amalgamated the business cards of all of the attendees at these functions into a single database that web users can search in various ways.  Currently, they’ve got over 150,000 cards in their system, representing conferences ranging from the ABA TechShow (focusing on Legal Software & Technology) to the Homeland Security Conference to the Wireless Dealers Expo.  Upon clicking on any given conference, the site user is shown a list of all the job titles and companies that CardBrowser has stored for that particular event, then can decide whether to pay for the full set of data (i.e. contact name, e-mail, phone number, website, etc.) or attempt to turn up some information on the company for free, on their own, through a Google or LinkedIn search.

My recommendation to any job hunters visiting the site is to first click on the “Guest Login” button, then scroll through the list of recent trade shows to see if any of them match your particular industry focus or target niche.  If you find one, I’d suggest you then click on the “State” column header to organize the companies alphabetically, by location, which will make it easy to see which companies are headquartered in your local area.  Alternatively, sales representatives and similar “mobile” professionals might instead ignore the location criteria and aggressively contact organizations located anywhere around the country to see if they need a Pacific Northwest territory representative.

At the end of the day, it’s definitely a neat concept, and I suspect the data (if one pays for it) is of a very high-quality, given that it is sourced directly from business cards.  And while I was initially on the fence about the site, a quick search of my own on the 2008 ASTD Conference (American Society of Training & Development) turned me on to a number of very interesting training and development organizations in Washington State I’ve never heard of — which sealed the deal and made me an instant convert!

What’s On YOUR Career Horizon?

As we kick off the new year, I thought it might be useful to share an insight I’ve gained over the years about goal-setting — and specifically how it relates to those folks who are actively job hunting.

While not to go too far off on a tangent, I’d start by sharing a few relevant insights regarding the name of my company, Career Horizons.  While I’m not a boater or mariner in any serious way, myself, I was immediately drawn to using nautical metaphors in my work, since my sense was that many professionals in transition were essentially “adrift in the ocean” and trying diligently to chart their course to a new organizational “harbor” somewhere.  This not only led to my company moniker, but I’ve also received many positive comments from clients over the years on the anonymous quote I use as my tagline: “A ship is safe in any harbor, but that’s not what ships are built for.”

(of course, the occasional smart-aleck will comment “Oh yeah?  What about PEARL Harbor?” every once in a while, but oh well.  Always glad to meet people with a sense of humor!)

At any rate, back to the point.  The interesting thing about a “horizon” when it comes to goal-setting is that when you think about it, you can never actually reach one!  It’s always there in the distance, beckoning you on.  So in a positive sense, I like the metaphorical suggestion that all of us are striving for constant improvement in our careers and perpetually driven to try to “be all that we can be” in the context of the working world.  And from a more sobering perspective, but one that also has meaning, one could observe that during a job hunt you can often FEEL like you’re chasing an unattainable horizon — and that despite your best efforts, you aren’t making meaningful progress, even if that next exciting position is right around the corner.

To this end, when I contemplate the job hunting experiences of my clients, I often visualize the seafaring adventures that the early explorers made back in the olden days.  When Christopher Columbus (or whomever the historically accurate person might be) set sail for the New World, for example, it’s important to realize how much uncertainty he needed to persevere through.  When you think about his little boat, out on the open ocean, it’s amazing to contemplate that he couldn’t tell whether he was 100 miles — or 10,000 miles — from his destination until he practically hit land!  He had to have the courage to set a steady course, toward some point on the horizon, trusting that eventually he’d come across a worthwhile destination.  Frankly, this is exactly the course of action that most job hunters need to follow.  Instead of panicking and letting themselves drift aimlessly in the middle of the ocean, serious job seekers need to fix their gaze on some type of goal — targeting some point (i.e. career path) on the employment horizon, however temporary — and then go after it with gusto.  While they may not find the exact “port” they’re looking for right at first, they’ll at least hit SOMETHING eventually, and can then make intelligent course corrections from that point forward.

So just a little bit of advice heading into 2009, for those tasked with navigating the economic squall out there…

P.S.  While we’re beating the sailing metaphor to death, too, I’ll share one final aspect of my company name that I’ve never mentioned before to anybody.  When I was agonizing between the choice of several names, back in 2004, I stumbled across an old photograph on-line that immediately “spoke to me” in an emotional (spiritual?) way that I had never experienced before — and haven’t since.  It was an old painting of a ship at sea, by a fellow named Nicholas Pocock, and while it was a bit too stodgy for direct use in my marketing materials, something about this painting still makes me immediately think of “transition” and about the career journeys that so many of my clients go through on a daily basis.  This painting is what sold me on going with the name “Career Horizons” and the nautical theme!

Explaining a Layoff: Four Useful Tips!

In today’s world of work it’s no longer the exception, but the rule, that individuals will experience one or more periods of time “between engagements” at some point in their career.  Performance level aside, the speed and frequency at which corporate-wide change events now take place (e.g. mergers, acquisitions, leadership changes, etc.) suggests that all professionals would be wise to prepare themselves emotionally and financially to go through several or more months of unemployment, on occasion.

As part of this preparation, however, many individuals don’t seem to place much emphasis on how to communicate their unemployed status in a positive way — or on how to minimize the concerns a future employer might have about the reasons behind their availability.  Your next employer, after all, will likely have no idea about why you left your last organization and will therefore be duty-bound to make sure you weren’t let go by the company for troubling reasons such as poor performance, theft, substance abuse, and the like.  Additionally, they will be paying close attention to the attitude you’re displaying about your layoff or termination, since your perspective of these events will tell them a lot about your personality and how well you’d adjust to their organizational culture, going forward.

All of this being said, if you are currently between jobs, yourself, I’d invite you to review the new article here that I’ve just penned as part of the Conscious Careering series published both on my website, as well as in the Puget Sound Business Journal.  This article discusses the communication issue above and offers four tips on how best to explain the circumstances behind a layoff or termination.  As you’ll read, there’s a real competitive advantage to be gained by resisting the urge to get defensive around your situation — and to point out, instead, some of the positive aspects of leaving a job that can be carried forward to your next engagement!

PSBJ Book of Lists 2009 Now Available

While I’d imagine that most of you out there are already familiar with the Puget Sound Business Journal, and the annual Book of Lists the paper publishes, those who haven’t come across this resource should definitely check it out — since it represents one of the single best target company research tools available for Washington State.

Profiling the largest local companies in over 50 different industry categories, ranging from Home Builders to Senior Care Facilities to Credit Unions to Biotechnology Firms, the Book of Lists can provide instant momentum to job seekers who are still trying to nail down their “customer list” and identify the specific organizations to target with their search efforts.   So to obtain a copy of the new Book of Lists, which was just released, you can either purchase an annual subscription to the Business Journal (in which case you’ll receive a copy of the Book of Lists free of charge) or visit the Journal’s website here to purchase the Book individually.

One thing that’s important to realize about the Book of Lists publication, however, is that some of the data on the lists might be up to a year old, since the BOL simply compiles all of the individual lists that were published in the Business Journal throughout the past calendar year.  So if you want to make sure you have the absolute most up-to-date information, you can check here to see if a more recent list for any given industry might be available through the paper, or clients of Career Horizons can check the master index we maintain of all locally-published company lists by clicking here and entering your client username/password.

If you find a list that’s up your alley, you can either contact the individual publication to obtain a reprint (or a file download, if one is available) or visit your local library to review the resource!

Welcome to Career Horizons: The Blog!

Welcome, one and all, to the first official post of my new blog — which will be dedicated to passing along a steady stream of “pro bono” career tips, job hunting insights, and employment resources relevant to Pacific Northwest professionals in career transition!

I’m particularly excited by the symbolism behind this new blog launch, since it’s taking place exactly five years to the day after Career Horizons was born, and I believe that this new forum will turn out to be a powerful extension of my career coaching and outplacement practice — enabling me to share information even faster with folks who are in active job search mode, as well as allowing people to comment on my posts in order to help create a vibrant “community discussion” around critical career and employment-related topics.

Going forward, the mix of content I plan on featuring in this blog includes many of the same features I’ve included in my monthly newsletter over the years, for those who have followed that publication, such as: career book and website reviews; advice on changing careers, resume development, interviewing, and overall job hunting effectiveness; key career questions (and answers) that have come up in my work with people; and various other inclusions such as guest postings from other local experts and perhaps the occasional contest or survey, as well!

Additionally, as you’ll note on the right side of this page, I’ve already populated the blog with over 200 past articles from my newsletter series — so there’s already a wealth of advice on career management you can immediately search through either by category or by using the keyword search box provided.  And while I can’t swear that the information in every single one of these postings is still 100% valid, and that all the resource links are fully operational, for the most part this content should still be quite useful in a wide variety of situations.

So again, welcome to Career Horizons: The Blog! and please don’t hesitate to make any suggestions in the months ahead about topics you’d like to see addressed — or to use the “Leave a Reply” box under each blog posting to submit your own thoughts, recommendations, and opinions.  And while such comments will be moderated before they get posted, for obvious reasons, as long as you send in something that is relevant, civilized, and largely profanity-free, there’s an excellent chance you’ll see it published!

Best wishes to all of you for the New Year and here’s to some great career developments in 2009…