Phoenix Jobing Community Blogs

Talk About Food  
I knew I would like Julie and Julia, the movie about blog author Julie Powell and adored chef Julia Child, because: a) it was about food, b) it was a glorious example of following your passion no matter how late you get started, c) it was about food…oh, I mentioned that already, and d) I got to see the movie with my friend since first grade, Luisa, who is herself an amazing cook, though she’d shy away from that title. As we watched Julia on screen, I made mental notes of the ingredients that when combined, resulted in Julia’s tremendous success and what you could call a delectable life.

Julia’s Recipe

Sometimes a glimpse is all you have to go on.  In her 30’s and looking for what might be “her thing”, Julia Child experimented. Appreciating a finely prepared meal spurred her interest in learning to cook and immersing herself in French culture, which eventually fueled her desire to teach others. While she never could have imagined the role that awaited, Julia opened the door to her future simply by deciding to pursue an interest.  Read more of Julia’s Recipe here.

Get Your Pot Ready!

When Julia Child stepped foot into Le Cordon Bleu, she could not foresee the 11 books and 8 TV series that she would later contribute to the world, the American Institute of Wine and Food that she would found, or that her kitchen would eventually be transported to the Smithsonian.

You may be cooking up something bigger than you can imagine, too, so get the big pot out, just in case. Learn one way to do this here.

Be willing to experiment. Be fearless in the kitchen of your imagination. Pick up the lamb when you drop it!  Laugh at yourself, do more of what delights you, and share it with people.

“Always start out with a larger pot than what you think you need.”
—Julia Child (1912-2004)

P.S. The post above is an excerpt from a recent article I wrote which you can read in its entirety here.  Whether you are job hunting, making a major career change, or building a business, having role models is essential.  I think Julia Child is a wonderful example of persistence, fearlessness, and what can happen when you follow your passion. Have a great week. –Ginny

© 2009, Virginia M. Kravitz

VIRGINIA KRAVITZ, Career and Life Coach, founded In the Current® to serve accomplished professionals who want to move boldy in new directions and start living with a greater sense of joy and abandon.  Ginny's e-zine, published every other Tuesday, is entitled Current of Life.  Visit at: www.inthecurrent.com 

Where's the Proof? When undertaking a job search or any endeavor for that matter, it’s natural to want some proof of progress. Noticing the results you're getting is critical to understanding what to do next and where to adjust your strategy.  When you really want something and it doesn't seem to be happening, what can you conclude? It's precisely how you interpret these results that will impact the ultimate outcome.

Three People, Three Interpretations
Three people —we'll call them Kathy, Conrad, and Martin— are searching for a job after being laid off. It's been four months and the number of interviews landed is lower than expected. Kathy interprets this as a signal that prospects are slim within her current industry and it's time to expand her search to areas she previously ruled out. Conrad concludes that he needs to call in the troops and ask for more specific help from his network of colleagues and friends. Martin, while discouraged, continues combing the classifieds and hopes something will work out eventually. Notice that in this example we have three people, getting the same initial result, interpreting that result three different ways, and responding with three different courses of action.

When you are not getting the results you want, here are some things you can do:

• Make sure you really want what you're aiming for. Be clear on why you want it and what the cost-benefit of receiving it will be for you and others. In Kathy's case, she had wanted to look outside her industry in the first place but had been timid about attempting to make such a big change. The low response rate on her initial round of inquiries helped her clarify what she really wanted.

• Change failure to information by asking yourself the question, "What can I learn from this? How does my strategy need to change?" Conrad realized that his strategy needed to encompass help from others in a more conscious way.

• Try a new approach. Check to see if you are holding on to a notion that no longer serves you. Martin was reluctant to shed his belief that finding a job would happen the same way it did for him 20 years ago. Persistence, when it means staying focused on your goal, is helpful. Stubbornness, when it's mainly complaining about how it "should" be happening, is a waste of time.

• Don't make your happiness contingent on getting everything you want. This may seem contrary to the spirit of "going for it" but it is not. It is about finding happiness on a deeper level and in the present. Another take on this is that one of the best ways to get what you want is to first find a way to be happy without it.

In essence, when you are not getting the results you want, you can change one or both of the following:

How you think about the situation
What you do about the situation.

Who Knows What's Waiting For You

When faced with having to accept that your plans are changing, keep Joseph Campbell's well-known quotation in mind:

"We must be willing to get rid of the life we've planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us."
— Joseph Campbell

This Week: Keep moving in the direction of your goal, adjusting course as needed. Who knows what's waiting for you!

This article is #5 in a series called "Can You Make It Happen?".  Read the entire series here.

VIRGINIA KRAVITZ, Career and Life Coach, founded In the Current® to serve accomplished professionals who want to move boldy in new directions and start living with a greater sense of joy and abandon.  Her e-zine, published every other Tuesday, is entitled Current of Life.  Visit at: www.inthecurrent.com

Take it from Tony 
 
My father, Tony, now 86, was an IBM salesman during the 1950’s-1980’s.  In the early days of his career, he’d cart an IBM Selectric typewriter all over Manhattan.  A tip he learned from cold calling and would later share with rookie salesmen was: “Don’t psychoanalyze the door.”  Even when approaching small or obscure companies, there might be more opportunity behind the door than expected. 
 
This advice is relevant today whether you are cold calling to a prospective customer, presenting a proposal to senior management, asking for help from your network, or following up on an application for a job.  When facing a door, you have two choices.  You can imagine all the reasons it might not work out and conclude, “Why bother?” or you can focus on what is possible and knock.
  
Do You Follow Through?  
Renee, an IT professional who is working with me to explore her next career move, hadn’t heard a word in the two weeks since applying for a job on-line.  She decided to track down the name of a real person she could call to check the status of her application.  The result of making this call was that Renee learned her application had not been processed due to an apparent technology glitch.  Good thing she made the call, you might be thinking.  But there’s more.  The person she called was an HR manager responsible for screening candidates.   After speaking with him and expressing her interest in the job, she landed a phone interview for that following Monday.  She is now one of two candidates being recommended for the next round of interviews.

I was so impressed with Renee’s willingness to follow up and follow through.  When presented with situations where you have to “put yourself out there” it can be tempting to settle into the mentality of: “Well, if they’re interested, they’ll call.”  Often, it is the act of following up that makes the difference because it demonstrates your interest, your confidence, and your willingness to do what it takes.
 
What keeps you from following up?  Not wanting to feel like a pest?  Fear of rejection?  Get over it and make the call anyway!
  
What’s Behind Door #1?  
A new car!  Pardon my Let’s Make A Deal flashback.  It’s true you don’t know whether it will be a clunker or a Cadillac behind the door, but you must follow up anyway.  When you follow up and follow through you are saying: 

I’m serious about going for it. 
I’m willing to do what it takes to get it. 
I’m confident about what I have to offer.
 If I meet rejection, I’ll just knock on the next door.

This Week:  Follow up with someone.  Make the call.  Extend the invitation.  Follow through on a bold move.

 “Don’t psychoanalyze the door.”
¯Tony Mangano

VIRGINIA KRAVITZ, Career and Life Coach, founded In the Current® to serve accomplished professionals who want to move boldy in new directions and start living with a greater sense of joy and abandon.  Her e-zine, published every other Tuesday, is entitled Current of Life.  Visit at: www.inthecurrent.com 

Last month, two of my colleagues and I delivered a workshop called: Now What? Go from Thinking About a Career Change to Acting On It at Jobing.com’s Phoenix office.  Based on the enthusiastic response, we’ll be repeating the workshop twice more this summer, on July 28 and August 27. 

A few weeks later we were invited back for blog training.  Thanks to Kerry Sanderson, George Thorne, and Keith Flynn, we are entering the world of “Blogging at Jobing” (try saying that ten times fast!).  I’m looking forward to contributing some helpful ideas and perspectives on career and life fulfillment. 

I’ll be back soon with another post.  In the meantime, I invite you to visit my company profile and website.  Also, feel free to let me know if there is a certain topic or question you’d like to see addressed here.

Best to you,

Ginny

Writing the title for this entry reminds me of the 1950’s/60’s game show called “What’s My Line?” where celebrity panelists tried to guess the occupation of the contestants.  We certainly identify with our job titles and roles in life.  Over the course of just one day, we move in and out of various roles, at home and at work.

Have you ever taken an inventory of the roles you’ve had over the course of your career?  Try this exercise:  At the top of a piece of paper write:  I’ve been the… Then, jot down a list of every role you can think of, even the unofficial ones.  For example:

I’ve been the…
--number cruncher
--sales consultant
--go to person for a creative idea
--organized one
--sales director
--etc.

Once you have an exhaustive list, you can identify trends, themes, and maybe a few surprises.  It’s a helpful perspective for thinking about what you’d like your next role to be.  For an interesting discussion on the topic of roles and taking your career to the next level, feel free to register for tonight’s conference call.    –Ginny

When looking for a job, it is important to acknowledge which type of search you are conducting.  Are you: 1) seeking to find a job as soon as possible to meet financial and other practical needs or 2) contemplating a future change of direction to satisfy a deeper sense of fulfillment?  Of course there are other shades of these two categories, but generally speaking these will do. 

The first type, the find-a-job-now search tends to happen as a result of change being thrust upon you, whereas with the second type, you are the initiator and have the luxury of more time.

Last summer when I delivered three workshops with two colleagues at the Jobing.com Phoenix office, we had people from both camps who participated.  It was challenging to address the needs of both groups at once, and yet, the point of intersection was no surprise:  answering the question, “What do you really want?”  And of course, your answer will be impacted by which Job Search Type applies to you at the moment.

The reason it helps to consciously identify which type of search you’re running is that it allows you to adjust your strategy accordingly.  For instance, if it’s Job Search Type #1 and you have an immediate and pressing need to find work, you’ll likely be more open to considering jobs that you wouldn’t have otherwise, perhaps taking a job on an interim basis, while continuing your search for what you ultimately want.  Your criteria list becomes simple, e.g., earn enough to meet expenses, can begin right way, lets me learn something new, etc.  It can actually take the pressure off to realize that the job you take on an interim basis doesn’t have to be for forever.  It doesn’t mean you are lowering your standards; it simply means you are employing a short term strategy.

Likewise, it’s helpful to realize if you fall into Job Search Type #2.  This also allows you to take the pressure off by declaring the search a worthy project and giving yourself the appropriate amount of time to explore without having to immediately evaluate the feasibility of every option.

Which kind of job search applies to you at this time?  It’s perhaps an obvious question, yet one that must be acknowledged in order to form your best strategy.

This past Monday evening, we had 50+ people join us at the Jobing.com Phoenix office for the workshop: Now What? Go from Thinking About a Career Change to Acting On It.  We had a lively discussion and if you were unable to attend, you’re welcome to sign up for the August 27 workshop.
 
One of the thoughts I shared with the group is that in many ways, looking for your ideal job closely resembles looking for your ideal mate.  Depending on your perspective, this may come as good news or bad (!), however, creating a wish list of the characteristics of your ideal job does two things: 1) It clarifies what’s most important to you; 2) It enables you to more easily recognize that custom fit opportunity when it presents itself.

To create your Ideal Job Profile, make three columns on a piece of paper with these headings: Must Have, Nice To Have, Deal Breaker.  Then, start to fill in the details of your criteria under each column.  The first two columns are the features of a job that you require or would like to be present and the third column –the deal breakers– are those conditions or qualities of a job that you simply will not accept.

Two tips:

1. Don’t worry if you come up blank at first.  Just start filling it out and more things will come to you over time. 
2. If you’re looking for a job in the immediate future and you feel like it’s a stretch to consider the ideal right now, go ahead and make the list anyway.  Even if you don’t get everything you want, you’ll be moving closer in the right direction.

For a similar exercise that gets at a few more specifics, you can check out another version of the Ideal Job Profile posted in the Careers section under Tools & Resources on my website.

Best to you,
Ginny