Career Management Tips from Cube Rules is published weekly, though I am posting a bit more often right now to get a good base of content here and on iTunes.

You can subscribe to this podcast series here on the blog (immediate access). Or, search “Career Management Tips from Cube Rules” to subscribe at iTunes.
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Yesterday, I wrote about the need for Cubicle Warriors to have a year’s worth of take home pay in the bank. From a career management perspective, these savings represent your ability to search for the right next position in your career in case of a layoff.

Most people would take one look at this advice and politely move on. Cubicle Warriors would start figuring out how to achieve this goal. Let me suggest a few ways…

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The tactical aspects of career management, of course, are necessary. But they are hard to implement unless you know your dream.

You know your dream, don’t you? The one where you are enjoying your work, working in the area you love, and successfully helping others? That dream.

The dream should drive your career decisions

Too often, we look at the job we are doing and think we are managing our career by looking at the next step up the corporate ladder. Or figuring out how to stay in our position a bit longer. Or how to navigate the shoals of surviving our poor manager.

Instead, we should be looking at the tactical moves in relation to how they get closer to the work we love in our dream.

The dream drives your engagement

It is the dream that makes you want to get up in the morning in spite of the obstacles in your way.

It is the dream that gives you focus on making your work better.

It is the dream that makes you reach out to others in your work to make your work more meaningful.

It is the dream that makes you create big goals and hit them.

If you don’t know your dream, completing the thousand tactical actions will still leave you empty.

The tactical is nothing without the dream.

Scot

What must I do in any career field to be acknowledged as the very best—by my boss, by my internal and external customers, by my peers, and by myself?

If what you would love to work on is what the best in the field are doing, you have a better shot at the right career.

Great insight – click over and read the article.

Scot

We change jobs often. Company competition, especially global competition, is fierce. We may not by unemployed, but the corporate churn in terms of reorganizations is unrelenting. The probability of something bad happening to your position goes up every time you have a manager change.

If the circumstances are constantly changing, what can really lower your stress?

Protect your career through financial management

When you lose your job, you can lose a lot of different things. But one thing you will lose is your income. Losing your income will drive your behavior – and your career – faster than any other item you lose in a layoff.

If you lose your income, you also lose your health insurance. Or, if you have COBRA, you will pay a lot of money (my family plan was $1200 per month) for keeping it. And you should.

Living from paycheck to paycheck in this type of environment puts you under the gun quickly to find a new job. And that’s where the trouble starts happening.

Career management and desperation don’t mix

If you are in a situation where you live paycheck to paycheck and you are laid off, the money quickly disappears. In order to continue to live, you start making decisions based on getting the income back, not what is best for your career.

You start not paying your bills on time – affecting your credit rating and the interest rate you pay on any credit cards. Unfortunately, companies are now looking at your FICA score as a factor in their hiring decisions and your lack of financial management is now making the hiring decision tougher.

You start looking at jobs that are below your current level of employment. Sure, you need the money, but now the hiring manager starts to question whether you will really stay in a position that is a step down from your previous position. If you can’t answer the good questions about why you really want this position when it is a step down from your last one, you won’t get the job – making your situation worse.

It is an ugly spiral.

Career management requires one year’s take home pay in the bank

Yup. One full year of take home pay.

Not your 401(k) deduction, but all of your food, utility, bills and minimal social activity needs now a part of your paycheck needs to be in the bank. And don’t forget $1000 a month for health insurance.

I understand it is hard to get to this point given the current price increases in everything and the salary increases of not-so-much. But that makes socking the savings away that much more important.

Desperation and getting another job don’t go well together. Keeping your career on track while desperation accompanies you in your search won’t work.

There are enough issues with being laid off and having to recover. Getting your finances right through a year’s take-home pay in the bank gives you the time to find the next position that is right for your career.

What has been the longest you’ve been laid off?

Scot

Career Management Tips from Cube Rules is published weekly, though I am posting a bit more often right now to get a good base of content here and on iTunes.

You can subscribe to this podcast series here on the blog. Or, search “Career Management Tips from Cube Rules” to subscribe at iTunes.
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MP3 File

Most PowerPoint Presentations are simply horrible. I’ve been driven to the “bullet point” presentation style and hate it. Thinking I would have nothing to lose, I bought Beyond Bullet Points.

Am I glad I did.

Cliff Atkinson takes the normal approach to creating a PowerPoint presentation and turns it on its head. The book, no kidding, is practically a page turner. How can this be?

Before doing anything with a PowerPoint deck, the book takes you through how people learn, especially how they learn a lot – like when you do your presentation. Through this research on how people learn, you finally understand why bullet points in a presentation really do turn you off. Yet, we do them anyway.

After explaining the research, the book then goes through the basic structure of a presentation – and it is the classic story structure. Building this structure out – in Word, of course, since this is a Microsoft publication! – then allows translation of your key points into the presentation.

Following the story structure and then implementing the simple steps to create the work in PowerPoint would be enough to buy the book. But Beyond Bullet Points then takes you through building a complete presentation following the structured plan.

The book even comes with its own CD that gives you the templates to follow using Office 2007.

If Bill Gates had followed the advice in this book – if most of Microsoft followed the advice in this book – presentations would be much more meaningful across the board.

Cube Rules Rating: 5 of 5 cubes

Beyond Bullet Points is a classic way to present information the right way. If you do presentations, you need to follow the process outlined in this book.

Scot

Meetings are necessary to accomplish your objectives. But they are one of the largest time wasters on the planet.

Yet, participating in meetings is critical to your professional brand, visibility in the organization and networking. In order to navigate the cubicle maze of meeting management, I’ll offer five critical meeting participation points you need to check for each meeting.

To read the rest of this membership content, please login, become a member or learn about membership

Career Management Tips from Cube Rules is published weekly, though I am posting a bit more often right now to get a good base of content here and on iTunes.

You can subscribe to this podcast series here on the blog. Or, search “Career Management Tips from Cube Rules” to subscribe at iTunes.

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To get you back into the swing of things, here’s some articles to help on those Monday morning work blues….

Worshiping the Hammer

Timothy L. Johnson tells it like it is on Carpe Factum.

“I couldn’t help but make a couple of playful swipes at Six Sigma, Lean, Agile and UML.  Mind you, I have nothing against these tools per se, but I have taken exception with the people who worship use them.”

Yup. When your site title means “Seize the Accomplishment,” accomplishments trump worshiping process.

How to fix your thinking

I’ve become a fan of David Bullock. A lot of what he writes about is oriented to running your own business – exactly what career management is about. This article gives you some reality-based questions on where you are in your life. Honestly answer his questions. You will be better for it.

Just Say “No” to Corporate Speak

Imagining opening up a blog post and the first two words are your name. Well, there I was, the first two words on this blog post. Barbara Safani writes about where corporate speak really begins: the job description. She even found a job description done the right way. Take a look and tell me if you’d want the Operations Manager position or the Program Manager.  And if you really want the Operations Manager position, please let me know why!

You Have to Get Dirty

Debra Moorhead always comes up with the right perspective. This time she talks about those reusable grocery bags needing to get dirty. And then relates it learning by doing. And firing someone. Wow.

Why Bringing your On-line Community Off-line is So Crucial

Ryan Paugh of Employee Evolution tells us why social networks have a short shelf life and the importance of getting your on-line community communicating off-line. Can we talk?

Enjoy your Monday!

Scot