"Do BETTER. Because You can. Because You want to. Because it's time."
~ Barry Zweibel, GGCI
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Category: Job-Search

2010q3 GGCI Newsletter

The 2010q3 edition of the GottaGettaCoach! newsletter is now on-line at: http://www.ggci.com/newsletter/GGCI-2010q3.pdf.

The Botany of Self-Doubt • Topic: Fear and Courageousness • Subject: What to do when self-doubt strikes and how to manage it more effectively.
The ABCs of Good Employees…& Bad Bosses • Topic: Leadership Development • Subject: Why “A-players hire A-players; B-players hire C-players” is misguided, at best, and downright inflammatory, at worst.
What Job Would Make You Happy? • Topic: Career Development • Subject: Time for a change? Try this visualization exercise to figure out where you should go next with your career.
A Noun Called ‘Happiness’ • Topic: Personal Fulfillment • Subject: A simple way to ‘tune in’ to more happiness.
On Being Fully Present • Topic: Personal Development • Subject: A quick set of five tweets about the concept of being Fully Present.
It’s “Nuts” Trying to Get Your Unmet Needs Met at Work • Topic: Personal/Professional Development • Subject: It really is. So here’s how to get those unmet needs met elsewhere.
LeadershipHaiku • Topic: Leadership Development • Subject: More // Leadership coaching / in seventeen syllables / for busy bosses. //
Clean Hands Clear Conscience • Topic: Personal/Professional Development • Subject: Researchers report some interesting new findings about the benefits of washing one’s hands.

As always, questions, comments – and suggestions – are welcomed.

Enjoy~ – bz

P.S. If you’re interested in learning how coaching might help you or your staff, phone (847-291-9735) or email (info@ggci.com) to schedule an exploratory phone conversation.

P. P.S. The GGCI Newsletter Archives are at: www.ggci.com/newsletter.

So what do YOU think? by Barry Zweibel on July 20, 2010

filed in Acronyms, Coaching, GottaGettaCoach!, Job-Search, Just for Fun, Leadership Development, Life, Networking, Oddly Curious, Success at Work, Twitter

The R.I.G.H.T. Job for You?

In its July 1, 2010 newsletter, TheLadders published my latest article, titled, 3 Steps to Rate Every Job Offer …

It’s a good news/bad news dilemma: Yes, they’ve finally given you that job offer you were hoping for; but, no, you’re really not sure if you should take it. Parts of the offer seem excellent, but not everything – definitely not everything.

Deciding whether to walk away from a bona fide job offer, though, is something that requires serious consideration and meaningful analysis. Fortunately, the “R.I.G.H.T. Job” assessment can help with that.

Use the chart below to capture your sentiments about the five key elements of the job offer: Responsibilities, Income, Growth, Happiness and Team:

Step 1 – Record

As you see, the basis of this assessment is that any job that’s R.I.G.H.T. for you will grade well across the five key elements identified above. Use the following questions as prompts, list your impressions, pro and con, in the boxes provided. Reflect on and record any other realizations you may have about each aspect of your assessment:

Responsibilities: How do the responsibilities match your skills and interests? Does the position offer sufficient span of control to manage those responsibilities effectively? What factors might expand or contract those responsibilities over time?
Income: How satisfied are you with the overall compensation package? Does it meet your needs? Exceed them? What, if anything, is missing?
Growth: What is the organization’s commitment to your ongoing growth and development? What opportunities are likely for you in this regard? How soon before you “max out” learning-wise?
Happiness: How happy do you see yourself in this job? Is the work sufficiently meaningful to you? Do you feel it’s a fitting end to your job search?
Team: What were your impressions of the people with whom you’d be working up, down and across the organization? How influential do you envision yourself to be with them? What did you notice about the company culture?

The next step in the “R.I.G.H.T. Job” assessment is to take a break! Yes, step away from your thoughts and go do something outside for a while. Do whatever you do to clear your mind and relax your psyche so you can just “be” for while.

Find out how to score your assessment by reading the rest of the article, via the link above or at: http://www.ggci.com/Articles/TheLadders-2010-07-01.htm!

And for other articles I’ve written for TheLadders: http://theladders.com/career-search?contentSearchKeyword=zweibel&fromSearch=true.

So what do YOU think? by Barry Zweibel on July 6, 2010

filed in Acronyms, Coaching, GottaGettaCoach!, Information Technology, Job-Search

Framing Success with P-A-R

I’m often asked, “How can I be sure to put my best foot forward in a job interview? What’s the best way to share Success Stories?”

My answer: Frame them with P-A-R:

P — Start by stating a PROBLEM you’ve dealt with that is relevant to one that your prospective employer might have and/or want you to be able to address.
A — Next, explain the APPROACH you took to meaningfully, if not eloquently, resolve the problem.
R — Then share how the RESULTS you achieved not only solved the immediate problem, but enabled additional downstream benefits as well.

Information Technology Example:

“Tell me about an experience you had with handling a major system outage.”

Sure, I’d be happy to. The problem was this: All calls into our facility were being improperly rerouted by the phone company to a ‘this number is no longer in service’ recording.

Obviously, this was unacceptable. So, I took the following approach: Through a series of conversations, I was able to quickly learn the name and number of the specific person responsible for assigning technicians to fix such problems. Unfortunately, she was less than cooperative, at first, to put it mildly! But we didn’t have time to go in circles, so I said, “Look, this is a real mess so I need to know: Is it that you don’t want to help me, or you don’t know how to help me. Now, which is it?”

That turned the tide and in a very short period of time she had her top technicians working to restore our service – which they did in record time. So that was good, but the added bonus was that I now had some new key inside contacts who could be excellent resources for helping us address future outages. And you can be sure that those results have paid multiple dividends since.

Human Resources Example:

“Tell me about your experience with implementing changes to the benefits administration process for a unionized workforce.”

Sure, I’d be happy to. The problem we faced was that the benefits staff was spending a whole lot of time checking on the status of pending insurance claims for employees and not getting to other important matters.

So, I took the following approach: I researched, proposed, and got approval to install a web-based claims management system where employees could check on their claims themselves - without HR’s assistance. Of course, the biggest key to making something like that work effectively was getting union buy-in, which I was able to do by demonstrating how employees could check status from their home computers anytime, day or night. (Too, I agreed to install several shop-floor terminals for employees who didn’t have home computers.)

The results were pretty good: Not only did we save the company tens of thousand of dollars each year in the benefits management area, but we were also able to improve efficiencies in other benefits-related work - andimprove union relations, as well. We hit the trifecta on this one!

Everyone has Success Stories to share. Try sharing a few of yours in your next job interview by framing them with the P-A-R model.

See if it doesn’t make them that much more compelling and engaging stories to tell.

—–
Original Source: www.ggci.com/blog
Image Source: http://i.ehow.com

So what do YOU think? by Barry Zweibel on June 17, 2010

filed in Acronyms, Information Technology, Job-Search

Job Search Resources

Please be advised that GottaGettaCoach!, Inc. (GGCI) is now an affiliate of three job search websites:

TheLadders.com* – “TheLadders delivers pre-screened $100K+ job opportunities across all industries and locations, focused primarily on vice president, director and manager positions. TheLadders also helps job seekers and recruiters network outside traditional job listings to find unadvertised opportunities and make valuable connections. Additionally, TheLadders offers an executive-level resume-writing service and career-advice center. So whether you’re headed for the corner office, you’d like to switch careers, or you simply want more job satisfaction, TheLadders can help get you there.”

GottaGettaCoach!, Inc. is an affiliate of Vault.com Vault.com* – “Vault is the Web’s one-stop destination for millions of professionals who are job hunting – or just serious about managing their careers. There are many new entries to the career information arena – but Vault has been gathering unbiased, insider information and data about companies, industries and specific jobs for more than 12 years.”

6FigureJobs.com* – “6FigureJobs is the premier executive career management site where high profile executives and senior-level professionals go to post their resumes with full confidentiality and search through thousands of $100K+ executive and management level opportunities. 6FigureJobs provides exclusive job postings from renowned corporate recruiters and executive search firms who select from our pre-qualified talent database of over 600,000 highly skilled executives and experienced professionals.”

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*Disclosure: As an affiliate of these job search sites, GGCI earns a small commission whenever anyone signs up for their services through these specific ‘affiliate-coded’ links.

Read Comments by Barry Zweibel on May 12, 2010

filed in GottaGettaCoach!, Job-Search

What Job Would Make You Happy?

The US Department of Labor Job Report for March 2010 was the best in three years, with some 162,000 new jobs added. But many of those new jobs were temporary, census-related, positions. And the overall unemployment rate is seemingly stuck at 9.7% (10.5% for full-time work). Additionally, some 44% of the 15 million unemployed have been jobless for 27 weeks or more, which begs the question:

“At what point is it time to start considering a DIFFERENT line of work?”

This lead to my writing my latest article for TheLadders.com called, What Job Would Make You Happy?, which was published earlier this week by them.

An excerpt:

Don’t get me wrong: If you’re fully engaged in what feels like a fruitful job search, please stay with it. But what if you’re not? What if your contacts and connections have dried up and you haven’t had an active lead in far too long? What if you’ve hit a permanent dead end?

Sure, Napoleon Hill said, “Most great people have attained their greatest success just one step beyond their greatest failure.” But maybe your Next Step has less to do with PERSERVERANCE than REINVENTION. Maybe it’s time to take what you already know and can do and apply it in an entirely new way.

Even if you’re just wondering what other type of work you might do, it’s not a bad idea to think things through a bit. So here are a few ideas to help get you started …

To find out about those ideas, you can continue reading my article published by TheLadders.com, at either my web site, or theirs:

Hope you find it helpful.

And for other articles I’ve written for TheLadders:http://theladders.com/career-search?contentSearchKeyword=zweibel&fromSearch=true.

So what do YOU think? by Barry Zweibel on April 21, 2010

filed in Coaching, Job-Search

Stop Slouching!

This in from Scientific American Mind magazine — Good Posture Boosts Self-Esteem.

According to a study in the October 2009 issue of the European Journal of Social Psychology, researchers asked college students to rate themselves on how good they would be as job candidates and employees. Those told to sit up straight with their chests out gave themselves higher ratings than those instructed to slouch while filling out the rating form.

Once again, Mom was right.

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Image Source: http://www.vusd.k12.ca.us/washington/ESPversion/images/slouching.jpg

Read Comments by Barry Zweibel on April 19, 2010

filed in Job-Search, Life, Success at Work

2010q2 GGCI Newsletter

The 2010q2 edition of the GottaGettaCoach! newsletter is now on-line at: http://www.ggci.com/newsletter/GGCI-2010q2.pdf.

Levels of Success • Topic: Editor’s Note • Subject: It’s rarely an all-or-none sort of thing
How to Get Happier • Topic: Personal Development • Subject: Five how-to’s to incorporate into your daily living
LeadershipHaiku • Topic: Leadership Development • Subject: My latest side-project — it’s well-worth a look-see if I do say so myself!
Assessing Your Leadership Capacity • Topic: Leadership Development • Subject: Foundational concepts for expanding your Leadership reach and impact
A “Tweet” to Start Your Day • Topic: Personal Development • Subject: Some Morning Thoughts courtesy of my Twitter-stream
Tylenol for Social Pains?! • Topic: Fear and Courageousness • Subject: Acetaminophen — it’s not just for headaches anymore!
GGCI News from Last Quarter • Topic: News of Note • Some GottaGettaCoach! highlights from 2010q1
Name it; Frame it; then, Claim it • Topic: Job Search Improvements • Subject: An interviewees guide to the Inner-Game of powerful interviewing

As always, questions, comments – and suggestions – are welcomed.

Enjoy~ – bz

P.S. If you’re interested in learning how coaching might help you or your staff, phone (847-291-9735) or email (info@ggci.com) to schedule an exploratory phone conversation.

P. P.S. The GGCI Newseltter Archives are located at : www.ggci.com/newsletter. And please feel free to “share this” this newsletter with those in your network who might appreciate it. Just click on the link below.

Read Comments by Barry Zweibel on April 6, 2010

filed in Coaching, GottaGettaCoach!, Job-Search, Just for Fun, Leadership Development, Life, Networking, Oddly Curious, Success at Work, Twitter

Wayne Gru

The the “power of networking” (thanks to Alan Iacobucci of API Consulting, Inc.for the introduction) I spoke with Wayne Gru, a very interesting fella who’s been “in transition” for quite some time now. As part of our wide-ranging conversation, Wayne mentioned that had been wanting to blog about what it’s like to be out of, and looking for, work.

Since the first step is often the hardest, I invited Wayne to post his very first blog entry here at GottaGettaBLOG! To his credit, he accepted my challenge.

So, ladies and gentlemen, may I introduce you to … Wayne Gru:

Well, first my thanks to Barry for allowing me to post to his blog. This is my first blog contribution anywhere and I’m excited to have this opportunity.

I met Barry only recently, by phone, through a networking referral from a long-time mutual friend; someone we both did business with in a previous life.

I much enjoyed our conversation as I am currently “in transition” and am always eager to meet other quality people and continue building my network. Barry and I share many common views, it turns out, on personal and professional development, the job search process, relationship building, etc.

He was nice enough to point out my positive outlook at this stage of my life notwithstanding the current hurdles that baby-boomers (and non-boomers) are facing.

An upside-down market is no fun on so many levels. But, it is what it is. I have always had that positive perspective, thankfully, and have been fortunate to share that optimism (sometimes cautious optimism) with others who are in a similar state today much as I would in that once-upon-a-time world of being gainfully employed.

That positive mental attitude is something that always came natural to me. I always recall my youthful experience of not successfully completing my initial foray into college. I then got a pretty basic full time job doing nothing very special but making a reasonable wage that I learned to save for the most part. Every week as I made my savings deposit, I would wonder what I would wind up doing with my life. I remember as clear as day always telling myself “I don’t know what we’re going to be but I KNOW we’re going to be successful”. (Subsequently, I made a successful return to college.)

The job hunt for me at this point is more down than up, notwithstanding positive prognostications for an economic recovery. But I do a lot of volunteer work to keep my skills fresh and do what I do best, which is “helping people get better.” I always believed that helping people get better was central to not only their own success but ultimately to the success of any organization. My activities currently include:

Facilitating a weekly job search work team (accountability group) of professional people, and
Working with a state/county non-for-profit organization helping others (from all walks of life) organize their job search and identify their skills, talents and abilities that can be shaped into effective job search tools.

Both are profoundly fulfilling for me personally when you can literally see the “light-bulb” go on during these sessions and even better, when I hear of their successful landing with a new employer. That, in turn, helps keep me focused and positive, knowing that the current market notwithstanding, I do have great skills and experience to offer.

I supplement these activities by doing some modest one-on-one work arranged solely by word-of-mouth. And in a related way, I also volunteer in a mentoring program at a local suburban college, which is a wonderful experience.

So, the long and short of this posting is that my attitude; that positive perspective, combined with a strong desire to help people get better, still burns brightly and will continue to guide me to that as yet undefined next opportunity.

My chat with Barry has also inspired me to get on with doing my own blog; something I have been vacillating on for a while but, no more. My blog is currently under construction, no doubt to be followed by my own website where I hope to be able to share with others the earned wisdom of my experience to do with as they please. More to follow.

Thanks Barry!

And thank YOU, Wayne. Thank you VERY much!

—–
Wayne Gru is a Senior Operations Executive with proven leadership performance, transforming business operations. He has demonstrated experience in leading organizations through rapid change, and his strengths include: Strong communication and servicing skills and building customer-centric, multi-disciplined teams that exceed objectives.

Wayne is able to rapidly create an atmosphere of trust and simplify complex issues into manageable components. His diverse expertise includes building effective teams, due-diligence, integration; relationship management, financial operations, compliance, internal controls, project management and business systems.

Wayne Gru can be reached at waynejgru@yahoo.com or 815-355-4381. He’d appreciate hearing from you — even if it’s just to hello!

Read Comments by Barry Zweibel on April 5, 2010

filed in Job-Search, Life, Networking, Success at Work

Building Resilience Between Jobs

In its March 31, 2010 newsletter, TheLadders published my latest article, titled, Building Resilience Between Jobs.

Indeed, as the days turn into weeks … and months, it’s not unusual for the inherent stress and strain of a job search to start wearing you down – mentally, physically and emotionally. And, for many, that emotional component is the most debilitating, according to a December New York Times/CBS News poll of the unemployed:

“Nearly half of the adults surveyed admitted to feeling embarrassed or ashamed most of the time or sometimes as a result of being out of work. Perhaps unsurprisingly, given the traditional image of men as breadwinners, men were significantly more likely than women to report feeling ashamed most of the time.”

There’s no shame in this. It simply is what it is. But what CAN a executive-level job seeker do to increase the odds of NOT feeling embarrassed or ashamed while out of work? What steps can you take to re-energize your job search, confidence and dignity?

Read the full article, via the link above or at: http://ggci.com/Articles/TheLadders-2010-03-26.htm, to find out!

And for other articles I’ve written for TheLadders:http://theladders.com/career-search?contentSearchKeyword=zweibel&fromSearch=true.

So what do YOU think? by Barry Zweibel on March 31, 2010

filed in GottaGettaCoach!, Job-Search, Leadership Development, Life, Networking, Success at Work

Connecting Better

A very interesting chart was published in this week’s Business Week magazine (March 8, 2010) diagramming how ex-Google employees are helping to finance a whole new generation of startups.

What made it doubly interesting (to me, anyway) is what it says about networking:

What we talk about with the people we ‘interact’ with (our “contacts”) is one thing, but what we talk about with the people we ‘connect’ with (our “connections”) is usually far more meaningful, engaging, and productive.
It’s easier to ‘connect’ with someone when we know what they’re up to — after all, that’s where their focus and attention already is!

So I’m making a diagram of my own – one that looks at the things my contacts are focusing on.

And you know what? I’ve already started noticing some interesting patterns and areas of overlap that weren’t apparent to me before. I’ve also noticed that my conversations with them are feeling far more meaningful, engaging, and productive, too.

Now how about THAT?!

So what do YOU think? by Barry Zweibel on March 10, 2010

filed in Job-Search, Networking, Success at Work

Job Aggregator Wows

Those looking for work are not the only ones facing stiff competition these days – Job Boards are, too. And it seems like they’re losing ground to the new kids on the block, Job Aggregators. Guest blogger, Teena Rose, from Resume to Referral, weighs in on the trend. Thanks, Teena! – bz

Hiring companies have long been looking for ways to get more bang for their recruiting buck. And, increasingly, they’re doing exactly that by opting to use Job Aggregator services rather than Job Boards. Job Aggregators are meta-type search engines that gather (and disseminate) job openings from a multitude of sources: Newspaper and classified listings; associations; social networks; content sites; company career sites; … and job boards, too.

The impact has been noticeable. Monster.com’s revenue has been dropping steadily, posing a 35% drop in 2009qtr3. “This is the fourth consecutive quarter when Monster’s revenue has declined, with a 37 percent drop in the second quarter of 2009, a 31 percent drop in the first quarter of 2009, and a 16 percent decline in the last quarter of 2008,” per http://www.jobsportalwatch.com/. CareerBuilder North America has seen its own losses, as well.

One Job Aggregator of note, is at http://www.simplyhired.com/. “Building a good search engine is sort of like writing a good haiku,” it says. [Editor’s Note: Gotta just LOVE a site that’s based on a Haiku philosophy, don’t you?! – bz] It must be doing something right as it’s won awards from Time, Forbes, PC Magazine, and CNet. Oh, and it’s revenue continues to grow, as well. Some believe Job Boards are now fundamentally flawed.

While they maintain their focus on job delivery, sponsored ads, visual presentation, and resume collection, jobseekers are shifting more and more to social platforms while looking for work. Yes, Job Boards are using social media to promote their boards, but they are seemingly missing the point that jobseekers want social networking functionality AS PART OF the job-search process, AS PART OF their job-search experience — not a separate entity, but as an inclusive one.

SimplyHired’s recent addition of LinkedIn into its offerings is certainly a feature that puts job-search on a new level. Using their new LinkedIn “Who Do I Know?” feature, a jobseeker can identify those within their LinkedIn network that coincide with any job opening on file.

If Job Boards can’t keep up with this type of innovation, they may quickly find themselves outdated and irrelevant. My hope is that they recognize the threat, embrace the challenge, and raise the bar for all concerned.

Teena Rose is a columnist, public speaker, and certified/published resume writer with Resume to Referral. She’s authored several books, including “How to Design, Write, and Compile a Quality Brag Book,” “20-Minute Cover Letter Fixer,” and “Cracking the Code to Pharmaceutical Sales. Contact Information: (937) 325-2149, www.resumetoreferral.com, admin@resumetoreferral.com, www.twitter.com/teenarose.

Read Comments by Barry Zweibel on January 27, 2010

filed in Job-Search

2010q1 GGCI Newsletter

Hi All ~ Barry Zweibel, here. Happy New Year! The 2010q1 edition of the GottaGettaCoach! newsletter is now available at: www.ggci.com/newsletter/GGCI-2010q1.pdf.

Best Wishes for a Terrific ‘10! • Topic: Editor’s Note • Subject: It IS, after all, a New Year!
The TV Marathon Workweek • Topic: Time Management • An excerpt from one of my guest blog posts at ManagementSushi.com.
A “Tweet” to Start Your Day • Topic: Personal Development • I like to tag my first tweet of the day as a “#MorningThought.” Here are several of them for your consideration.
Who’s Pushing Your Hot Buttons? • Topic: Conflict Management • What triggers YOU into conflict? And, more importantly, what can you do about it?
GGCI News from Last Quarter • Topic: News of Note • Some GottaGettaCoach! highlights from 2009q4.
Don’t Squat with Yer Spurs On! • Topic: Book Review • “A Cowboy’s Guide to Life,” volumes I and II, by Texas Bix Bender.
Leadership Development. Simplified. • Topic: Leadership Development • So your boss wants you to work on your leadership skills.

The GGCI Newseltter Archives are located at : www.ggci.com/newsletter.

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Interested in how coaching might help you or your staff? Contact GottaGettaCoach! to schedule an exploratory phone conversation. Phone: 847-291-9735; Contact Form: www.ggci.com/MailingList/contact.htm.

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As always, questions, comments – and suggestions – are welcomed. Enjoy~ – bz

So what do YOU think? by Barry Zweibel on January 12, 2010

filed in Coaching, GottaGettaCoach!, Job-Search, Just for Fun, Leadership Development, Life, Success at Work, Twitter

Four Ways to Manage Conflict

In its January 5, 2010 newsletter, TheLadders – the world’s largest community catering exclusively to the $100k+ job market – published one of my latest articles. Titled, 4 Ways to Manage Conflict in the Office, it provides what I feel are some pretty good guidelines for resolving conflict when you’re the new guy (or gal) in the office. You can read it, in full, via the link above or at: www.ggci.com/Articles/TheLadders-2010-01-05.htm.