Losing a job certainly does a number on ones self esteem.  It forces you to question your worth and your value.  There is something about being told that your services are no longer needed that causes you to forget all the great things you have done in your career.  Now at a time when you need to project confidence and self assurance as a job seeker, you find yourself questioning what you can offer another employer and wondering if anyone will ever want you again.  During this time of job search when your biggest asset is your ability to talk about your accomplishments, you are quick to dismiss your successes.  Loss of confidence can disable a job search because it immobilizes you and holds you back from meeting new people, picking up the phone or even trying.  Learning how to recover from a lay off is being able to put it in the past and not have it impact your future.  We all have had successes and set backs in our careers.  The question is which will you let define you?

“I love my job, I don’t need to develop my career” said an employee that recently participated in a career development seminar I taught.  She mistakenly thought that because she was satisfied, a good performer and had no plans for advancement this seminar was not for her.  She thought career development was only for those whose had aspirations of advancement or who were discontent in their work.  What she didn’t realize was that the biggest mistake she could make was becoming complacent in her job.  With the ever changing world of work the skills necessary to do a job can also be ever changing.  Even if the job title doesn’t change, often the skills required or the responsibilities change over time.  Employers need a nimble workforce to stay competitive and that boils down to employees keeping their skills sharp.  It also means anticipating how the job might change in the future.  When a job changes due to the changing need of the business yet the employee’s skills remain stagnant it forms a skill gap.  An active career development plan is intended to address these gaps.  Career development is necessary for even those who love their job, to allow them to stay sharp, and continue to be a valuable contributor to the company.

I have a secret to share with anyone who manages employees.  It comes from all the dissatisfied employees that covertly come into our office wanting to map out their exit strategy.  Before I can wholeheartedly endorse bolting from a seemingly bad job situation, I try to get the root of the problem.  Most often it boils down to either the actual job, the manager or the culture.

When discord with the manager is at the core of an employees dissatisfaction, often there are a few simple things managers can do to regain an employee’s allegiance.  The following tips all fall under the overarching theme of communication.

1. Set clear expectations.  It is not uncommon that employees don’t know what is expected of them, how it aligns with bigger business objectives and what success looks like.  Employees view this as an absence in leadership.

2. Regular feedback.  This includes favorable and unfavorable feedback.  Often employees state that they had no idea if they were in line with objectives until too many things piled up and ultimately came crashing down.  Good managers communicate often, openly and honestly.

3. Be accessible and available.  This starts with being approachable.  Managers should create an environment and dynamic that allows an employee to feel comfortable approaching you with questions and concerns.  I hear too often from dissatisfied employees, “my manager is never around or never has time for me”.  Taking and making the time for employees goes a long way in employee retention and satisfaction.

The job market continues to show promise.  Professionals who are proactively managing their careers are seeing that they have options.  Sharing these secrets and offering these simple tips to manager will hopefully help both employee and manager alike.

Quiting a job, especially without having another job in hand can be frightening and seem impossible given our various financial obligations.  But there comes a time when enough is enough and the trade off of staying in a poor work situation outweigh leaving.  Many people would argue that they can’t leave, I often argue that there are always options.  If a work environment has become toxic or abusive or you are starting to feel the cumulative effects of stress, it is time to take pause and pay attention.  If you find that you dread Sunday nights or you are so burnt out and tired that your off time is spent strictly recovering, it is time to consider other options.  Ask yourself are you willing to trade health, well being, family and relationships for a poor work situation?  Is the pay check worth these trade offs?  Remember there are other jobs.  People will stick with toxic jobs,  the “devil they know” even if they know it is killing them.  I say you don’t have to.  The job market is improving, there are other options.  The first step can be scary and often people don’t even know where to start.  They may think, who has time to job search when my current job is sucking all my time and energy?  The secret is first to believe that better jobs exists, second is to create a plan that acts as your exit plan and road map to something new, and lastly use an objective professional to provide support and help you stay on track.

The Secret Weapon to Career Management: TheLikability Factor

Likeability is a significant factor whether you are a finalist in a job interview or managing your careerfrom the inside.  The good news is thatalong with keeping your skills sharp there are specific things you can do toimprove how others react, response and engage with you.  Learning about these factors will help you inrelationship management, influence management and creating a team advocatesthat will improve your overall likeability factor.

It’s Monday morning, but not a typical Monday morning.  Still groggy from a restless night’s sleep, you look over at the clock and realize the alarm will not be going off this morning.  Today is the first day of your transition after leaving your job.  You lay in bed with mixed feelings, thinking that it feels nice to be able to sleep in but also feeling flashes of terror as you ask yourself “now what”?  The urgency that previously jolted you out of bed to get dressed, jump into rush hour and mentally sort through your day’s calendar is gone. There will be no chatter about the weekend around the coffee pot, quick shout outs about last minute meeting changes, and no routine good morning greetings from colleagues as you walk by their desk.  You instantaneously feel alone.  You just realize that you have nothing scheduled today and though you try to convince yourself it’s like vacation, you know it’s not.  The lack of structure in the day ahead doesn’t feel quite as liberating as it should, it feels more like a free fall.  You wonder if you should get up and jump into job search mode or stay in your pajamas all day, because you can.  You likely elect the later.  Over your first cup of coffee you mentally disect what just happened and ponder if you no longer hold the title that is on your now obselete business cards, then who are you?  The gravitiy of these thoughts make you tired but the underlying anxiety your feel about being jobless makes you reach for a second cup of coffee.  The day moves forward and your mind moves between seeing this free time as a gift to grappling with your biggest fears of never getting a job and losing your house.  You decide that you need a distraction and come to realize that all the built in distractions you had at work need to be recreated, feelings of aloneness resurface.  The clock moves slowly throughout the day and you find yourself wanting to obsessively check your iPhone, hoping someone will need you.  You wonder how your former employer is making it without you and you are quietly hoping they are scrambling and regretting their decision to let you go.  You miss your coworkers even the ones you didn’t like very much.  You wonder how on earth are you going to survive.

Here are 5 tips to survive that first day.

1. Maintain structure in your day.  Get up, get dressed, get moving.

2. Reach out to others for support and to provide conversation and a disctraction.

3. Nurture yourself.  Engage in any activitiy that gives you joy whether it is reading, walking or getting a massage.

4. Stay focused on the things you have control.  Avoid ruminating about the past.

5. Know that this time in transition will not go on forever.  You will survive and likely come out of it a stronger person.

Tomorrow will be a new day.

Einstein said: ” life is like riding a bicycle,  to keep your balance, you must keep moving.”

Networking for Introverts adn Extroverts Alike

http://www.mnasq.org/summit/present2012/presentations.html

http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/secrets-toyour-success/happiest-jobs-america-173044519.html

I couldn’t resist commenting on this article that recently listed the top “happiest” jobs in America.  As a long time career consultant and counselor I have yet to see a “happy” job.  More often I see happy or unhappy people regardless of the type of job their in.  Remember the story about the people who work in the fish markets in Seattle?  They are cited as some of the happiest workers in America.  I noticed fish processing didn’t make the list of top “happiest” jobs.  My concern about lists and articles like these are that job seekers, in the throes of a long search or a difficult work situation sometimes grasp for any quick fix to end their pain.   I would hate for them to suddenly change focus and direction and pursue these  jobs in search of happiness.

It is a good time to remind people that happiness is found from within.  Knowing and understanding what makes you happy is paramount. This includes selecting and pursuing a job that doesn’t require you to compromise on the things that make you happy and staying true to that.  That is where the “happiest” jobs can be found.

http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/secrets-toyour-success/happiest-jobs-america-173044519.html

What makes a company one of the “best places to work”?  The short answer is  – it depends on who you ask.

There has been an interesting collaboration lately between marketing, talent acquisition and the human resources departments inside organizations around the topic of employer branding.  Employer branding is about how an employer wants to be known in the job market or community.  It is also about which qualities, features and benefits they highlight about themselves to be an employer of choice for job seekers, candidates and top talent.  Being known as one of the best places to work definitely helps to attract talent.

But when we peel the layers back there are specific things existing and prospective employees consider in determining if the organization rightfully qualifies as a  “best place to work”.   It boils down to company culture, cohorts and conduct.  Employees want to feel positive about the environment in which they work, the people they work with and for and the things an organization does to bolster their success.

Often when you ask individual employees what makes a company a “best place to work”, they will often say that it is the employers that actively help them develop, plan and manage their careers that rise to the top of the list as “best places to work.