September 2003

Believe It or Not

How far would you go to land your next job? For most, it depends on how badly they need a job. As a career counselor, I've had the opportunity to hear about many amazing and often outrageous stories involving people employing extreme strategies to find suitable work. Many of the stories may sound unbelievable to you, but they are all true.

When the Process No Longer Works
First let's explore the factors that trigger people to take extreme action. We are trained to follow a set process when seeking new employment. To find a job, we simply create a resume, write a cover letter, respond to an advertisement, network with professional organizations and interview for a position.

What happens when this process doesn't work? What are people supposed to do? They can't sit around and wait for someone to come knocking on their door with the promise of a dream job. To read the rest of this article, visit www.careerbuilder.com. Sell the Product - You
As a potential job candidate, you need good communication skills to get an offer. Many people have limited experience interviewing and feel uncomfortable bragging about their achievements. Despite what we have been taught growing up, the interview is the place to sell yourself with pride. To do well in an interview, you not only need to articulate your unique value, achievements, accomplishments, strengths and talents -- you must also use effective body language to build a good report with the interviewers.

Know Your Achievements
Before you can sell the product, you must know the product. Just as you would ask a salesperson about the features and benefits for the product you are about to purchase, you will be asked about your unique offering during the interview. Begin by creating a list of achievement statements that give specific examples of tasks that you accomplished in a specific job. To read the rest of this article, visit www.careerbuilder.com.

Success Story
The Situation: Ms. Warner is a 30-year-old marketing specialist in the creative department of a large financial services firm. She has worked in the department for 18 months, and her overall annual job evaluation rating was "Fair". Ms. Warner moved from Japan to America at the age of age of 15, and earned her B.A. in Marketing and Communications from the University of Massachusetts. Specific comments that contributed to this rating were "unable to make independent decisions," "does not accept criticism well," and "unwilling to take on projects beyond the scope of her job description." Ms. Warner decided to meet a career counselor to discuss her performance review, angry feelings toward her boss and desire to quit her job to find something better.

The Solution: Ms. Warner to completed a values assessment after meeting with The Ginac Group, Inc. We discussed her results and discovered that her values do not align with the top values required by the organization. She wasn't embracing the organization's culture and it was affecting her productivity and happiness. After much discussion, Ms. Warner decided to leave the organization to find a work environment that aligned more closely with her core values and beliefs. We helped Ms. Warner conduct research on companies that would be a better culture fit. Today, Ms. Warner is a marketing manager in another financial services firm, receiving stellar performance reviews from management. She works for a democratic boss in a team-oriented environment, and is quite satisfied with her job.

Ask the Coach
Terry Writes: How career pathing can be successfully implemented in an organization where officer positions are few?

Career Coach Responds: Career pathing is a process for identifying specific opportunities in a company and the sequential steps in experience building, educations, and skill required to attain specific career goals. It occurs at all levels in an organization from individual contributor to manager, manager to director and director to senior executive.

The first step in identifying career paths in an organization is to map the possible career opportunities into a coherent structure. Each opportunity must be understood in the following terms:

• Position... education, experience, key responsibilities, supervision received, direction of others, and key working relationships
• Functional Competencies ... with multiple stages of mastery
• Behavioral Competencies ... with multiple levels (e.g., developing, secure, role model)

Once understood, employees work with HR or a career counselor to map out a specific plan for achieving the expectations of the career path.

Faced with a career crisis, obstacle or difficult situation? Send your questions and concerns to the Career Coach at coach@ginacgroup.com.

401K: Leave it or Roll it?
Many of you have asked for strategies on what to do with your 401K during career transition. There are some advantages and disadvantages of rolling accumulated retirement assets to an IRA versus leaving them in an employer's 401(k), profit sharing or pension plan. To discuss the right choice for you, call: Jennifer R. Luck, American Express Financial Advisors, (512) 346-5400 x254 or jennifer.r.luck@aexp.com.

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