Professional Development: Doing it on your own

Career advice | Professional development | Continuing education

by Erica Calvert

April 26, 2017

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Whether you are a novice into a degreed-field job hunt or are a veteran of the discipline, securing a job can be a daunting feat. Luckily there is a plethora of resources, organizations and websites that are dedicated to helping jobseekers. With this support system we find ourselves on a path to cultivate an environment conducive to securing our dream job.

We find and are ready to apply to a professional job for which we feel well qualified. We have scoured the internet for tips on interview questions, protocol and etiquette. We can find online help for formatting, editing and polishing resumes and cover letters. But sometimes those resumes may be a bit deflated, when in a paraprofessional position or entry level job it can be hard keeping your resume up to snuff for a larger position, as funding and opportunities for professional development are not usually in place. And day to day duties and interactions may not be giving you specific experience that a professional position calls for.

But what’s next?

Read more…

There Are Only 4 Types Of Career Problems

by J.T. O’Donnell

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CREDIT: Getty Images

Several times a day, the phone rings at our company with people calling to discuss their career problems. We get ten times as many emails each day from people writing in about their career problems. By phone or by email, they always start with, “I need to explain my story, it’s pretty complex…” And yet, here’s what they have in common:

  • All of them are experiencing a crisis of confidence.
  • They’re all frustrated and unhappy.
  • Each has a detailed account of what has led them to their current situation.
  • AND, every single one is also making the same (false) assumption about their situation.

It’s Not Rocket Science, You Shouldn’t Treat It That Way

Over 15 years ago, I started studying and working with people who felt unsatisfied in their careers. I’m a logic girl. I like process. I went to school for engineering. I decided to set out to build a system for finding greater career satisfaction. To do that, I realized I needed to be able to diagnose each person’s situation so a plan could be put in place. To the untrained ear, it might sound like each person has a highly complex career problem on their hands. But, after listening to a large quantity of career stories, I noticed they all fell into four categories. No matter what the complexity of the circumstances surrounding their particular career problem, it still boiled down to one of these four major challenges. Read more…

14 Things That Impact The Quality Of Your Personal Brand

Quality and personal excellence are two key elements of your personal brand. The degree to which you fully embrace the importance of these elements is communicated to others on a continuous basis and is incorporated into others’ vision of who you are (i.e. the personal brand that you broadcast).

RELATED: The Perfect Recipe For A Great Personal Brand

Those who are fully aware of this fact can definitely undertake action to broadcast a personal brand that elevates their professionalism through conscious focus on quality and personal excellence.

Here are 14 things that impact the quality of your personal brand:

  • Every e-mail message you send to someone else.
  • Every voicemail message you leave for someone.
  • The voicemail message others hear when they try to reach you.
  • Your e-mail “signature.”
  • Read more…

4 Simple Ways to Be More Original (and Satisfied) at Work by J.T. O’Donnell

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IMAGE: Getty Images

For many people, work lacks freedom – a nagging feeling there’s a set of golden handcuffs keeping you from unleashing your potential. A study by Gallup shows just 13% of workers feel engaged at work. Leaving the majority of the world’s working population wondering how they got trapped in their careers and longing to not be one of the masses. But rather, an original.

Sadly, so few ever take the steps necessary to become an original. Why?

In a word: fear.

In his newest book, Originals, Professor Adam Grant sets upon a journey to debunk the myth being an original requires extreme risk taking. His goal? To persuade you and I that originals are actually far more ordinary than we realize. More importantly, to encourage us all to be more original because of the incredible professional benefits it provides.

2 Paths To Achievement… Which One Are You On?

Psychologists determined years ago achievement is accomplished in one of two ways: conformity or originality. The first stays the proven course. The second takes the road less traveled. Conformity plays it safe, while originality challenges the status quo. It’s not hard to see why we all admire originality – it’s so much rarer than conformity. As a result, it gets labeled as harder.  Read more…

 

5 Office Mistakes Costing Millennials the Promotion How managers are misinterpreting Millennials’ approach to success in the workplace.

By J.T. O’Donnell
Founder and CEO, CareerHMO.com
IMAGE: Getty Images

Now that career-minded Millennials make up 50 percent of our workplace, it’s safe to assume (like every other generation to enter the work force) they’ll want to earn promotions as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, we’re hearing across the board that a lot of Millennial workers aren’t promotion material, citing a lack of drive and professionalism. However, the real problem lies in a lack of Millennial understanding of the power of perception. In my experience, simple insights are all Millennials need to turn things around.

“People hear what they see.” –Doris Day

We know actions speak louder than words. What some Millennials don’t understand is certain actions at work give the perception they’re lazy and unskilled.

Let’s take a look at the most common mistakes Millennials make and how they get misperceived.

1. Being a clock-puncher. Millennials value their free time. As a result, some tend to be meticulous about only working the hours they’re paid for–to the second, i.e., they walk in at 8:29 a.m. and leave at 5:59 p.m. on the dot (because they took exactly 30 minutes for lunch). When you’re so focused on leaving the office not a minute later than you need to stay, you send the message you couldn’t care less about the work you’re doing. In the mind of management, it’s just a job to you. Perhaps that’s the case, but managers have no desire to promote people who aren’t focused on and interested in the work they do.

Advice to Millennials: Once or twice a week, stay 15 minutes past your normal work hour and get an extra task done. As the rest of your peers exit en masse, you can score a chance to say good night and make small talk with your boss about what you’re working on and why you chose to stay late to finish it. Those moments can help you build a better personal connection with your boss and show you aren’t obsessed with the clock–two things the boss will consider when a promotion comes available.

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