Marty Nemko

So You Have to Say Something That's Potentially Problematic

noreply@blogger.com (Marty Nemko) — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 00:25:00 +0000

Of course, every situation is different but my clients have appreciated my giving them these examples of how one might state something potentially problematic:

1. When you want to say no: "Thanks but I'll pass." Too often, people beat around the bush to their detriment as well as the recipient's.

2. When you want to suggest something, instead of just suggesting it, which could engender defensiveness, try what I call California Couching: "Your point is interesting. I'm wondering if it might be a good idea to (insert your idea.) What do you think?"

3. When you want to say yes but appear strong: "That sounds good to me." Not, "Fantastic!"

4. When you don't have all the information you need to respond intelligently, don't try to BS your way through, say something like, "Tell me more." or "I'd like to reflect on this. I'll get back to your tomorrow."

A Gentler Approach to Job Intervewing

noreply@blogger.com (Marty Nemko) — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 16:54:00 +0000

The previous post offered solid advice on how to convert an interview into a job offer but it requires a quite assertive and competent person. The following approach offered by Becky Washington, career services coordinator at Portland Community College, may be less intimidating yet still often effective. She writes:

"You gotta sell yourself!!" That's usually core to most career advice, but if you're not a salesy type, that advice may simply make you want to curl up in a ball.

Here’s my alternative: teach and learn. In a job interview, your mission is to teach them about yourself so they can see how you fit with the job and the organization. And use the interview to learn. Learn about the company and the job--you'll be able to ask intelligent questions when the interviewer says “Do you have any questions for us?”

Some of my favorites are: “What is the best part of the job" “What is the worst part of the job?” and “What makes someone successful in this job?”

Techniques for Turning Job Interviews Into Offers

noreply@blogger.com (Marty Nemko) — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 16:22:00 +0000

This is the strong article on converting a job interview into an offer. It appears in the current 5 O'Clock Club newsletter. I italicize and bold ideas I think are crucial and not-obvious.

Four Techniques for Turning Job Interviews into Offers

by Nancy Karas

Here are four fundamentals to keep in mind to ace the interview:

1. Learn as much as you can about the organization and the position.

Before the Interview:

Research the company in as much depth as you can. What are its goals and mission? Who are its competitors, and how is it faring in the present economy? Is the industry expanding or shrinking?

What are the primary issues and challenges it may be facing?

During the Interview:

Be proactive in asking questions based on your research: you want insider insights on the problems, issues and challenges.

Share examples of how you have handled similar situations, showing how you can apply your experience and talents to address the issues and create viable solutions.

Let the hiring manager feel that you are there to help and find solutions.

Keep this in mind: you may often be able to help define the job description, as you show the manager how you can help solve the needs of that department.

Find out why the desk is empty. Was there someone in this position previously? Is it a newly created position? What happened to that person? Was he or she promoted or laid off? If the person didn’t work out, what qualities were missing that were needed for this job? What qualities would the ideal candidate bring to the job?

2. Learn as much as you can about the hiring manager and the HR people who will interview you. Move heaven and earth to get the names and titles of the people with whom you will be meeting. If you don’t know—and neglected to find this out when the interview was set up—call back to find out. The Internet may be your best friend in this endeavor. You are likely to find a lot of information on LinkedIn, and a Google search may turn up unexpected details. Years ago, I interviewed for a position with a large company in Northern California. Before the interview, I did my homework, researched the company and the HR Manager I was scheduled to meet with. I looked her up on LinkedIn and learned that she was very involved in a local charity for special needs children. I researched the charity too. When we met, she was not friendly. In fact she was extremely cold to me and seemed really annoyed that she had to meet with me. Somehow I needed to break the ice and find a connection between us—or this interview was going nowhere. I decided to break the ice by talking about the charity. I told her—and this was no lie, said just for flattery—that I was a big fan of all their efforts and if I were to relocate to this area, I would love to contribute to the organization and become a part of their volunteer staff. I mentioned to her that I had done some volunteer work for similar organizations. This topic provided us with a common bond. It told her something important about me. She began to warm up and she was far more receptive to me as the interview went on. In this more congenial atmosphere, we were able to discuss the position and the needs of the company—and how I could address those needs and present solutions.

3. Ask about Your Competition and Your Weaknesses

You really do want to find out how you stack up again others, and if the hiring manager has reservations about you. And yes, you can ask! Near the end of the interview—if not before—do some probing. Ask the hiring manager or the HR team if they have identified any candidates who are a good fit for the position. You may also ask, “Where do I stand as a candidate in comparison to the other candidates?” You also want to know how close they are to making a decision. How many people have they interviewed, and how many are scheduled after you? But above all, you need to find out if they have any reservations about you: “Is there anything about my background that would make you hesitant to hire me?” All of this information can help you as you prepare your follow-up.

4. Send an Influencing Letter

The real work—turning interviews into offer—begins after you have left the interview. The key is brainy, strategic follow-up. This continues the process of building a relationship with the hiring manager. You want to dispel any doubts about your suitability, and influence the decision-makers. It’s up to you to make the case that you are the right candidate for the job.

Most people send a simple thank-you note, but this will have little impact. An influencing letter is one of the most important components of the interviewing process and The Five O’ Clock Club Methodology. You don’t want to leave the decision in their hands. In your letter you may be able to smooth over anything that did not go well during the interview, and answer questions that left you tongue-tied. Demonstrate again that your credentials and your interest in the position make you the right fit for the job. Send a proposal along with your influencing letter to show the manager that you are already thinking about how their needs can be addressed. This will surely set you apart from the competition.

In your influencing letter:

Address the hiring manager’s needs.

Suggest solutions and submit a proposal, based on what you learned during the interview.

Dispel the concerns and doubts that the hiring manager may have had about you.
Show more interest and competence than your competitors!

Are you afraid that this all will make you appear too desperate, or that you will be perceived as a pest? Five O’Clock Club research has shown that this is not the case. Most candidates don’t follow up at all. If they do, they send the standard thank-you note and make one phone call to inquire. Such calls are commonly not returned and no real information is gained. Calling the hiring manager’s office to follow up after an interview is not a good idea. It doesn’t provide you with that golden opportunity to further influence and connect with the person. Sending an influencing letter is the right way to go—then make a follow-up call because there is something new to talk about! Don’t wait for the job offers to come to you. Follow these The Five O’ Clock Club techniques and go out and get them!

My Latest Article on Time Management

noreply@blogger.com (Marty Nemko) — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 04:20:00 +0000

This is a draft of my next article for Mensa's national magazine. I thought you might like a look. And because it is a draft, I welcome your suggestions for its improvement.

Our most valuable possession is not money. It's time. We get but a limited time on Earth and the value of your life depends on the extent to which you make the most of that time. Less lofty, your career success and feeling at least somewhat in control of your life depends on whether you make the most of your time.

You're too smart for the standard tips to solve your time-management problem: "Only handle a piece of paper once?" Duh.

Or the standard advice doesn't fit your non-standard life, for example, the title of one of time-management guru Julie Morgenstern's book is, Never Check E-mail in the Morning. Right.

There are three steps to improving your time-management:

1. Getting sufficiently motivated to improve your time-management

2. Acquiring three basic skills

3. Knowing some non-obvious tactics.

Getting motivated

You may get more motivated simply by knowing I'm not necessarily trying to get you to do more work--you may already be cranking as fast as you want to. Time-management can be about paring your to-do list so you get done what you really want and need to. Of course, if you are attracted to getting more done in less time, this article will offer some potent yet non-obvious tactics for you.

Alas, motivating you to take the (ahem) time to improve your time management often isn't that easy.

For example, if your life sucks and think it will continue to suck even if you improve your time management, you're unlikely to keep reading this article, let alone work on your time management.

Before you can care enough to work on time management, do you need to improve your work situation, romantic life, or health? If so, stop reading this article and ask yourself, "What one or two doable yet important things could I do now to improve those?" For example, even though the job market is lousy, is it time to tell your boss to take this job and shove it? Your romantic partner to stop being a nag or else? To lose those extra 20 pounds that are making you feel like crap? To make sure you get those seven hours of sleep so you're not dragging all day? To see a counselor or even try meds to address that depression, anxiety, bipolar, whatever? Most people know what they need to do--They just need to take a step back, pick something, and commit to doing it, perhaps telling others of that commitment.

The three prerequisite skills

Whether you're trying to pare your to-do list or to get more done, it really helps to:

• Embrace productivity. Sure, with seven billion people on the planet, none of us are likely to make that much difference, but whatever meaning our life has seems to me so enhanced by how productive we are.

Sure I could have more fun by spending as much time as possible watching comedies and listening to my favorite tunes but the world will have been no better for my presence. For example, it would be more fun to play with my doggie Einstein than to write this article, but my life feels better-led because I'm writing it.

Most people wouldn't want to be this analytical but I wonder if the value of a person's life could be measured by scoring each hour on The Meter: with -10 (selling crack to kids ,) 0 ( playing with Einstein,) +10 (working to cure cancer.)

Besides, productivity can be so healing. I am a child of Holocaust survivors and got to know about 30 Survivors. Nearly all of them that appeared psychologically healthy focused not on reliving the past but on working hard to create a new life. For example, my dad worked 60+ hours a week, which not only supported my mom, sister, and me, but healed him and made him feel good about his life despite having lost years and family to the Holocaust and being dumped, as a young adult, in the Bronx without a penny or a word of English, only the scars of the Holocaust tortures.

I don't want to be one of those people who's always asking, "Where did the day go?" let alone "Where did the years go?" I want to be one of those people who feel, "I'm making good use of my time. I'm living a life well-led."

• Set goals that reflect a personal mission statement. For example, mine is "Use my coaching, writing, and speaking skills to improve people's lives and to reinvent higher education." From there, I set goals. Then, when I have a choice (not as often as I'd like--life intrudes,) I try to prioritize tasks that abet my mission statement and goals.

Are you ready to create a personal mission statement? Perhaps even take a crack at writing one right now? After that, want to try creating a first-draft set of goals that follow from your mission statement?

• Be time-aware. In planning how you'll do a task, and throughout, ask yourself the magic time-management question: Is this a time-efficient approach? Do you really need to do five interviews to get the information for that report or might a good Google search do? Do you really need to call an in-person meeting or would getting the team's input by email give you the most bang per hour?

Tactics

This is a buffet of options. Pick even just one or two and you'll likely feel satisfied.

• Cut unwanted time-sucks from your life. Maybe you really feel these things are wise uses of your time: playing golf, pity parties with your hopeless friends, a standing date with a sitcom, traipsing to Topeka for Uncle Gomer's third wedding, the monthly $300 day at the day spa, trying to finally understand Ulysses, staring at steroided athletes throwing a ball around, stuffing your face for eight days and seven nights on the cruise ship Il Stupendo, attending a memorial for your favorite OD'd entertainer, or filing the lawsuit against that sonofabitch. But often we do such things without consciously evaluating whether we'd really rather spend the time some other way.

• Outsource. Companies do it to save money. You can do it to save money and time. You can outsource anything from laundry to errands, writing to webmastering. Place an ad in craiglist.org or find someone at a temp worker site such as www.odesk.com or www.elance.com, which list thousands of people highly-rated by previous employers, eager to work for $10 an hour or less. Even if you're broke, your time is worth more than $10 an hour--hiring someone even for a few hours a week frees you up to look for a job paying more than that.

• Analyze less; act more. Analysis paralysis is not only draining, it's often a formula for failure. Most successful people plan and analyze relatively quickly, then take low-risk action steps and, based on that experience, revise their plan, if needed. They live by: Ready, FIRE, Aim!

• With most sub-five-minute tasks, rather than put it on your to-do list, just do it. That will help keep your to-do list short enough that it doesn't overwhelm you into inertia and procrastination.

• Have a sponge activity, an activity you can use to sponge up otherwise wasted time. We all have lots of dead time: on the commute train, in line at the supermarket, waiting in the doctor's office, even while watching TV--the commercials are endless! I always keep an article, book, or memo pad with me. Why a memo pad? While waiting, I make notes on how to tackle whatever project I'm working on.

• Get clear on your boss's priorities for you. That can help you focus your time on what matters.

• Telecommute? If you can work at home, telecommuting a day a week can be a big time-saver.

• Can you get out of meetings, especially standing ones? Today’s workplace-think is, "Better inclusive than efficient.” But meetings can be huge time sucks. If you’d rather not attend, is it worth asking your boss?

• Keep a time log? If you’re not sure you’re using time as you'd like, on a typical day, log your activities on a memo pad or into your cell phone. Every time you change tasks, write the time and what you’re starting to do. At the end of the day, review your log.

• Get observed. Not sure whether you need to get more efficient or if so, how to do it? Get someone who is time-efficient to watch you for an hour or more.

A time-effective summary: Throughout the day, ask yourself, “Is this time-efficient, and is it consistent with my personal mission statement?”

When You Have an Employment Gap Due to Illness

noreply@blogger.com (Marty Nemko) — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 20:59:00 +0000

A woman emailed me asking for advice. She's been ill for over a year, including two major surgeries. Now she wants to go back to work and doesn't know how to explain the employment gap.

I sent her my advice and she wrote back to say she loved it, so I figured I'd share it with you:

If I were in your shoes, I'd disclose it right upfront in my cover letter. The wrong employers (the large majority) will reject you immediately. The rare right ones will consider you. That's the sort of employer you want to work for anyway.

And I'd focus on making that pitch both to your network and in cold-calling employers who are NOT advertising a job for which you're qualified. The goal would be to get to them early in a job's lifespan: for example, when an employer has a need for someone but isn't yet aware of it or has thought about hiring but haven't started the process yet---that way, you might not have to compete with so many applicants.

On Socialism

noreply@blogger.com (Marty Nemko) — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 08:43:00 +0000

Someone emailed this to me and at the end, asked me, "Is there any reason for not sharing this?" There isn't.

These are possibly the five best sentences you'll ever read: Unfortunately, most voters don't know that.

1. You cannot legislate the poor into prosperity by legislating the wealth out of prosperity.

2. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving.

3. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else.

4. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it.

5. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them; and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that is the beginning of the end of any nation.

Can you think of any reason for not sharing this?

The Definitive Guide to Replacing Procrastination with Willpower?

noreply@blogger.com (Marty Nemko) — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 18:27:00 +0000

In preparing for a course I'll likely soon teach for The Great Courses, Replacing Procrastination with Willpower, I've written THIS article.

It distills what I've learned from helping countless people replace at least some of their procrastination with drive.

I've previously written dozens of articles and chapters on replacing procrastination with motivation, drive and willpower. This article distills them plus adds a number of new and potent ideas.

"Redistribution as better than Utilitarianism:" The media's core assumption, which cries out for questioning

noreply@blogger.com (Marty Nemko) — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 01:41:00 +0000

Philosophers like today's hot Richard Rorty, whom the New York Times called, "One of the world's most influential contemporary thinkers" insist we develop wise judgment by seeing have-nots' pain: films, reading, and, of course, through life experience.

But does that not lead society to irrational decision making? For example, even if a film ostensibly documents a real-life event, it hand-picks one that's extreme, designed to increase people's willingness to redistribute resources from those most likely to innovate, create jobs, etc., to those least likely.

Worse, most such films (and indeed much mass media news) are mockumentaries, selectively reporting and/or exaggerating the truth to obtain the desired audience reaction. And of course, in acknowledged fiction, whether on film or in novels, authors so often deliberately create situations specifically to manipulate the audience into behaving in that redistributive way.

That's not a problem if one accepts today's standard postulate among today's mainstream intelligentsia: that redistribution/egalitarianism is a fundamental truth, an axiom, the place from which one starts.

But what if a person's fundamental postulate is the currently out-of-favor utilitarianism: in which the world should be willing to accept inequalities to the extent that, net, the quality of life for the world's people is better.

Such people believe the post-modern position (as expressed by the likes of the intelligentsia's current rock stars Habermas, Derrida, Quine, Rorty, etc.) is immoral, resulting in far greater pain to the world. And those utilitarians are particularly annoyed at such movies and novels because they selectively report, create straw-man opposition, exaggerate, and even outright distort historical fact to manipulate their audience to buy that philosophy of how resources should be expended.

As we watch movies, read novels, consume "news" in print, TV or the Internet, shouldn't we question their usual fundamental postulate--that redistribution is an inherent good?

To explore both sides of this critical question, one could do worse than to read the two essays that comprise the slim book, Utilitarianism: For and Against.

Nonverbals: Your Hidden Weapon

noreply@blogger.com (Marty Nemko) — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 00:33:00 +0000

Humankind is a bit shallow: We judge too heavily based on looks.

You may not be able to be gorgeous but these few tips can put you ahead of most Pretty People:

Smile: Even babies react better to smilers. That's certainly true for adults. Be sure it looks authentic, not the salesman's smile. How do you tell? The smile lines aside your eyes crease.
Good posture. When your shoulders are back and level with each other (not hunched or tilted,) your back is straight, and you stride purposefully, you'll get a better reaction. Cosmopolitan founder Helen Gurley Brown said, only half-joking, after 40, it all comes down to posture.
The Obama head-tilt. President Obama tilts his chin just slightly upward, especially when making an important or controversial point. That makes him seem more confident and, well, presidential. Try it in a mirror. You'll see what a difference it makes. But don't tilt your chin up too much or you'll look stuck-up.
When talking with someone, be close but not too close: in the U.S., unless it's an intimate, 2 1/2 feet is about as close as you want to get. If your conversation partner backs away, respect that.
If you're seated in conversation, lean slightly forward--it conveys enthusiasm. Keep your legs and arms uncrossed--that makes you appear open.
Establish and maintain eye contact roughly 2/3 of the time--more and you risk looking psychotic. A technique for establishing eye contact is, before starting to talk with someone, note their eye color.
Watch others' nonverbals for signs of anxiety or deception. For example, rubbing head, neck or thigh can be self-soothing behaving in response to feeling stressed. Those could be normal behaviors for that person but when a person, in mid-conversation, suddenly exhibits one of those behaviors, take note.
The feet are often revealing, because people don't expect you to be noticing their feet. So, for example, if your conversation partner moves a foot toward the exit, s/he may be trying to get away from you.

When is College Worth It?

noreply@blogger.com (Marty Nemko) — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 20:39:00 +0000

We now send 70% of high school graduates to college, the highest percentage in history and President Obama wants yet more to go. That despite study after study now showing college education's terrible value-added for all but top students, whether in learning or employability.

For example, the unemployment rate for college graduates is 8.9%, higher than the overall rate of 8.6%! The employment rate is far worse still if you don't major in a hard science or engineering but rather in the social sciences, humanities, or arts.

So if I had a child who was deciding what to do after high school, I'd discuss these questions with him or her:

Are you excited about learning harder academic material than you're being taught in high school?
Are you capable of completing a major in a field such as computer science, mathematics, or physics, are you willing to accept the much greater risk of unemployment by majoring in the liberal arts, or would you like to consider non-degree options such as a short-term career-training program at a community college, an apprenticeship, learning a trade in the military, or learning how to run your own business by working at the elbow of a successful, ethical entrepreneur?
At college, without parents' watchful eyes and without teachers knowing even if you're attending class, are you likely to stay focused enough on academic learning to be among the fewer than 40% that graduate college in four years, just 55% even if given six years? The rate is far worse still for students of color. And of students who graduated in the bottom 40% of their high school class and had had sub 40%ile SAT scores, fewer than 1 in 4 graduated, most from a third-tier college and with a low GPA in a major such as sociology or American Studies. That is not likely to motivate employers to hire you for a professional-level job, especially in today's job market.
Are you more likely to succeed in a career working with your brains than with your hands or body?
Will you be able to afford the enormous cost of a college education: At a typical brand-name public university in most populous states, the average cost of just four years, after subtracting cash financial aid, assuming you qualify, is approaching $100,000. At a brand-name private college it's approaching $200,000.

Do remember that most college graduates are burdened with a fortune in student loans accruing interest, the only debt not dischargeable through bankruptcy. At the same time, as mentioned above, college graduates now have a higher rate of unemployment than the general population. That's partly because the cost of employing white-collar Americans is skyrocketing, for example, because ObamaCare mandates employers provide health care not only for its employees but a surcharge to pay for the poor's health care. So U.S. employers are offshoring, automating, and temping as many positions as possible.

For top students and for those who truly enjoy academic learning, college remains a wise choice. But most others would be wise to consider forgoing college, at least until they're eager to learn and can well afford it---Often that isn't until late in life. Many young people would be wiser to consider post-high-school options as those mentioned above.

KGO's Ronn Owens Probes Marty Nemko...And You Can Call in For Free Career Advice

noreply@blogger.com (Marty Nemko) — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 02:32:00 +0000

For the past 25 years, every three months, I do an hour guest spot on KGO Radio's iconic Ronn Owens Program. (He's pictured above.)

My next appearance is this Thursday, Feb. 2 from 10:00 am to 11 am, Pacific time.

The talk show industry's publication of record, Talkers, named Ronn Owens one of the 25 greatest talk show hosts of all time.

I'll be trying to answer Ronn's questions about under-the-radar careers, where the jobs are, and how to land them in this tough job market. Plus you can call in to the show and I'll try to help you with your career problem.

Throughout most of the West Coast, you can hear it on 810 on your AM dial, and of course, worldwide on the Internet at kgoam810.com. The show will be archived for a week on THIS page of KGO's website.

A Plan for the Long-Term Unemployed to Find Work

noreply@blogger.com (Marty Nemko) — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 16:27:00 +0000

You're long-term unemployed and perhaps scared you'll never work again, at least not at the level you used to.

Here's a potent plan for moving forward and finding good work:

1. Do a personal audit. Sure, some people are long-term unemployed just because of bad luck, but the pool of people who are long-term unemployed, is, on average, not as bright, knowledgeable, hard-working, reliable, and enjoyable to work with as is the pool of employed people.

So imagine that all the people who know your work well were in a room. For each of the above attributes, what would be the average report card grade they'd give you. If you're not sure, ask people, perhaps anonymously, perhaps using www.checkster.com. In light of that feedback, do you need to make changes in yourself to avoid being quickly fired or laid off again? To become prouder of yourself?

2. Contact your existing network. They're the most likely to be willing to hire or give a good lead to a long-term unemployed person.

3. Cold-contact realistic employers. A brand-name company or a company in a popular field, for example, fashion, entertainment, or the environment, is too unlikely to have to hire a long-term unemployed person--they usually receive plenty applications from the currently well-employed. You may eventually get to work for a highly selective employer but, as a long-term unemployed person, you probably should, for now, focus on landing a job at a company with less stringent hiring requirements. Here's how:

Make a list of 20-50 less-competitive employers: non-sexy industries, smaller companies, temp agencies, etc. Don't worry whether an employer lists an appropriate job opening. You're mainly trying to get a job/project created for you so you don't have to compete with hordes for an advertised job. HERE are some sources of employers.
Find the name and contact info of people with the power to hire you: by Googling, databases like Jigsaw, the company operator, etc.
Phone those employers, or even walk in. Leaving voice-mail is okay. Don't send your resume unless asked--The resume of a long-term-unemployed person highlights that ugly gap in your employment.

4. Consider starting your own very simple business. If I were long-term unemployed and broke, I might, for example, start a shoeshine stand on a busy downtown street. I'd have prominent signage with a catchy name like Shine On, Rise and Shine, Dianne FeinShine, or So Fine Shoe Shine. Once I learned the art and business of shoeshining, I'd set up a trusted friend with another shoeshine stand, asking for a small percentage of sales. I'd keep cloning that business until I was making enough money. Then I'd sell the business and use the proceeds to start another simple business, for example, a soup cart chain called Souper. As a long-term unemployed person, in the above situation, I'm likely to more quickly and probably enjoyably make a middle-class living or even get wealthy doing that than if I tried to convince an employer to pay me a middle-class salary.

5. Go back to school to prepare for a new career. A community college training program can give you a fresh start. Already have a degree? Remember that many people with bachelor's and even graduate degrees return to a community college for practical career training.

But most important, could your being long-term unemployed be a needed wake-up call? What should you do differently on your next job to avoid being dumped again?

My #1 Tax Reform Idea: Replace income taxes with a sales tax

noreply@blogger.com (Marty Nemko) — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 03:20:00 +0000

My just-published Atlantic.com column answered the question, "What one change would you make to our tax system?" I'd replace income taxes with a sales tax.

A Report from a U.S. Auto Manufacturing Plant Floor

noreply@blogger.com (Marty Nemko) — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 07:47:00 +0000

I just got home from a party at which I talked with a guy who worked on an assembly line at a U.S. car manufacturing plant.

This is as close a paraphrase of the essence of what he said as I can remember:

"Quality control is a joke...We smoked dope a lot... Our welds were okay--usually. (He laughed.) My cars didn't squeak--usually. (He laughed.)... And we'd put coke cans and dead rats into the axle to see if QC (quality control) would find it. They never did." (He laughed.)

An Alternative to Couples Counseling

noreply@blogger.com (Marty Nemko) — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 17:15:00 +0000

This deceptively simple strategy is from my new book, How to Do Life: What they didn't teach you in school.

Your relationship is doing poorly. Before heading to couples counseling, you might try what I call The Couple's Council.

It has helped a number of my clients, and frankly, my own marriage. One of my clients called it "The Ten-Minute Miracle."

Step 1: Perhaps over dinner, you propose one specific thing you'll do during the next 24 hours to improve the relationship; for example, you're tired of your partner's procrastination, nagging, or being a pig. Your partner agrees that would at least modestly improve your relationship, or s/he asks you to propose something else. You keep proposing changes in your behavior until s/he okays one.

Step 2: You reverse roles. In other words, this step is completed when you agree that something your partner proposes to do would at least modestly improve your relationship.

Step 3: During the next 24 hours, when each of you sees your partner doing the desired behavior, for example, getting something done when s/he'd otherwise likely procrastinate, the person gets a thumbs-up. Each screw-up gets a thumbs-down but no lecture, no recriminations.

Step 4: 24 hours later, each of your rates him/herself on how well s/he did in improving on the agreed-on behavior., Then, you decide whether, in the next 24 hours, you want to just work on the same behavior or add another one.

Repeat the process until enough improvements have been made, or you decide you should see that couples counselor after all.

THE Key to Losing Weight....Really

noreply@blogger.com (Marty Nemko) — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 21:13:00 +0000

THE key to losing weight is STAYING conscious from the moment you're thinking about eating until the moment you've moved on to other tasks. During that time, KEEP thinking about how NOT eating is your reward: you'll look better, be healthier, have more energy, etc.

Your motivator can even be something one wouldn't expect. For example, a time-conscious person might eat out less by reminding himself, "It will take less time for me to grab something at home."

Remember too that it takes 20 minutes for your brain to recognize you're no longer hungry. So eat little and move on to some other task, rather than eating until you no longer feel hungry, let alone feel full.

I suggest you tape a sign "STAY Conscious!" on your refrigerator and another one on your dashboard, to remind you when you're out. Read it aloud often to lock the concept into the forefront of your mind.

And if, despite staying conscious, you choose to eat something calorific, it's probably okay. You've made a conscious choice that, at that moment, the pleasure was worth the calories.

I'd love to know if this little post ends up helping you.

Why the Career Advice: "Write a book" is Usually Bad Advice

noreply@blogger.com (Marty Nemko) — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 18:32:00 +0000

Yesterday, I received one of the countless publicist pitches I get touting a career "expert" who has just written a book. Most of those authors fit into one of two categories: "I have a cool career and I can help you get one too," or "I'm America's Best Career Coach and I can help you land a dream job."

Candidly, I feel sorry both for the authors and consumers of such books. I've written elsewhere, for example, here, about why "find your dream" career advice is largely snake oil. So I'll just touch on that here. Here's just one reason: The author tells what worked for him in landing a job and asserts it will work for the reader. The problem with that is that what works in landing a job for a person with the ability and perseverance to write a published book is unlikely to work for more typical job seekers.

For example, many articles and books have been published on how to land a job at Google. A Google search on the term "Land a Job at Google" yields 89,000 links. One of those links takes us to the book, Get a Job at Google: Craft a great resume, network effectively, and ace the interviews. Fact is, as the Wall Street Journal reports, Google receives 2,000,000 resumes a year and hires only 7,000 people. That's 3 out of 1,000, a far lower ratio than admission to Harvard. And many of those Google jobs aren't great---for example, screening those 2,000,000 resumes!

And most of the non-temp, interesting Google jobs go to people currently employed by a prestigious firm doing work similar to that in Google's want ad, with a strong recommendation from their boss, a degree with high grades from a designer-label college, who has been personally referred to Google's hiring manager. Like I said, "how to land your dream job" advice is pretty snakey oil.

Now, here's why I feel sorry for the authors of such books.

Many of these authors have the fantasy of becoming a regular on CNN or some such, or at least getting $5K-a-pop keynote addresses, $200-an-hour consulting gigs, and/or using the book to establish enough credibility to land a job they otherwise couldn't. With those fantasies as fuel, those wannabes spend a year or two writing a book, a fortune on their wardrobe, upping speaking skills, a publicist, etc., plus many additional hours or money creating and adding SEO-optimized, traffic-building, relationship-building content to their website, blog, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, plus in-person networking with people who can help flog their book.

Alas, unless an author is already a household name, he or she is most likely to end up deriving less net income per hour for all those efforts than if flipping burgers at McDonald's. It usually takes a year or three to realize they've been wasting their time and money. By then, they're in the unenviable position of having to convince an employer to hire them over job applicants with a more germane and recent work history. Or they have to somehow convince their parents or spouse to be their permanent cash cow.

I wish more publicists, book packagers, etc., and indeed screenwriting, acting, and voiceover, and art coaches, who make their living selling the dream to wannabes were honest with prospective clients about the likelihood of non-celebrities generating a sustained middle-class income from their creative output, and honest enough to ask such questions as, "Do you really believe your expertise is great enough to tout yourself to the world as being able to help the sorts of people who buy career-help books to land great work in this lousy job market more than the zillions of other books, coaches, workshops, TV shows, articles, podcasts, blogs, columns, etc., that do the same, often for free?"

Short of that revolution, I believe that especially today, with so much free content on the Net and the ease of self-publishing, the old advice to "write a book to become successful" is invalid if not an outright scam. And more broadly, so is the industry catering to artistic wannabes.

How to Make the Most of a Job Lead

noreply@blogger.com (Marty Nemko) — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 21:12:00 +0000

You're meeting someone who might help you find a job: a person you know or a cold-contact you're hoping will create a job or project for you, or suggest someone who might help you land a job.

Of course, every situation is different but this template can help you get the most of such meetings:

Phone or skype meetings are okay but in-person, if feasible, may be worth the effort.

Mirror the person. Dress as s/he does. Begin the meeting with the amount and type of small-talk that works best for them. Your utterances should be at their speed, average length, intensity, intellectual level and emotional level.

When it's time to get down to business, ask whether s/he prefers you ask questions to identify if and how you might be helpful to them, or whether she/d prefer you describe how you present yourself to the job market and show your resume so s/he can provide feedback. Respond accordingly. If the person offers a suggestion, try if possible, to simply say thank you and not argue.

At the moment it feels right, ask if s/he knows someone you should talk with, something you should read, a meeting, conference or other event you should attend. When they offer one, ask, "Great. By any chance, do you have another idea?"

End by asking, "Would you mind keeping your ears open for me and if, in a month, I'm still looking, I follow up with you?" The person will usually say yes, which means you've recruited a scout, someone who'll keep the antennae out for you. The person is likely to have more leads for you during the month than what s/he has at the moment you're asking .

After the interview, write, not a thank-you note, but an influencing letter. After the obligatory "Thanks for meeting with me," that letter should include as many of these as is appropriate:

Say you appreciate that he was impressed with (insert the thing he was most impressed with about you.)
If you flubbed something in the meeting, write, "I've given further thought to your question about X. (insert improved answer.)
If you've identified a way in which you might be of help to the person---a project you could do, or even a full-time job--append a half-to-one-page proposal.
Thank the person for offering to keep her ears open and willingness to take your call if, in a month, you're still looking.

After the meeting it's often a good idea to send a personalized small thank-you gift. For example, if he mentioned that he's about to buy a new car--I'd buy him a book on the art of buying a new car. I usually buy such presents from convenient Amazon.

That approach should generate benefit in excess of the time you spend obtaining and attending such meetings. If your meetings routinely yield little benefit, you're probably talking too much, listening too poorly, not showing interest in them, and/or shooting for a too low-probability job target.

You're Invited to What I Believe Will be A Great Experience--and it's free!

noreply@blogger.com (Marty Nemko) — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 00:04:00 +0000

Update, Jan. 28, 2012: The seats are all gone. Sorry.

I believe the free show I'm about to invite you to will be more entertaining and inspiring than are many shows for which people pay $50 to $100.

A while back, a 40-minute version of the show got a standing ovation. The two-hour version I'm inviting you to should be much better still.

It's a one-woman show called Big, Black, and Shy. Jeffrie Givens tells her improbable story punctuated by songs from opera to show tunes to rap, from "In My Own Little Corner" to "Mean Green Mother from Out of Space" to "I Am What I Am." Funny, poignant, and inspiring, I believe you'll truly enjoy it. Of course, I'm biased, I created the show with Jeffrie, am directing it, and will be accompanying her on the piano.

The show will be at my home in Oakland, CA on Sunday Feb. 26 at 2 pm. My living room seats only 22 and, especially because it's free, if you want to come, email me as soon as possible: mnemko@comcast.net

Sources of Job Leads

noreply@blogger.com (Marty Nemko) — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 07:57:00 +0000

In my most recent post, I reiterated the value of job seekers cold-contacting 50 target employers. One of the commenters on that post asked if I might suggest ways of finding job leads. Here are some:

Volunteer at a nonprofit. But be picky--many positions and organizations offer too little hope of it generating a decent job. Might you ask to join a board of directors with people with the power to hire you or give you a solid lead for the job to which you aspire? Might you ask to join the program or conference committee in your professional association? Those volunteer opportunities tend to put you working, ongoing, with influential people.
Go to the job ad aggregation sites: indeed.com, simplyhired.com, and linkup.com. Simply search for ALL jobs in your geographic target area, even though you're qualified for none. Lesser-known organizations with more than one job listing are likely in growth mode and thus are promising targets for your cold contacting a person there with the power to hire you. (Use the other tools in this article to find them.)
ReferenceUSA: 14 million U.S. busineses including four million new ones, where job openings are more likely and less competitive than in established brand-name companies.
Google a target employer plus a word or phrase that might elicit the name of the person with the power to hire you, for example, "vice president, marketing." If that doesn't generate contact info, Google as much of this information on a potential lead as possible: name, title, organization, area code, and the word "email."
Call the organization's general number. Press zero for the operator. Say, "I'm sending a note to (insert name): what's the best way to send it to him/her?
Members of your alma mater's alumni association
ThomasNet: Lists 607,000 manufacturers of products and components and 1,000 technical manufacturing White Papers.
Hoovers. 65 million companies.
Vfinance: Companies that have recently received a round of venture or private equity funding.
Business Times: There are 40 local editions, each of which contain information on companies in growth mode, often including the names of contacts associated with that growth.
A business librarian at a major public or university library can provide guidance and/or access to databases to which the library subscribes, for example, Gale Directory Library.
Your friends on Facebook, followers on Twitter, and connections on LinkedIn: Its search feature enables you to identify where each of its 140 million members work plus contact info. And with even a relatively small number of LinkedIn connections, you can directly contact incredible numbers of people. For example, I have only 126 connections, yet those link me to 5,000,000 people. Ask those first-generation connections to introduce you to their first-generation connections.
Oh yeah, don't forget about real friends, sometimes the source of the most useful leads.

Your Network Won't Help? Another Way to Land a Job...(Often) Fast

noreply@blogger.com (Marty Nemko) — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 19:42:00 +0000

It's been said ad nauseam that your network is the best source of a job. That's true but most people who are seeking career advice have already exhausted their network.

For them, the most potent way to land most jobs may be to cold contact target employers, whether or not they're advertising a job. That's true, if you do it right.

First, to motivate you to cold-contact, which many people find anathema, consider this:

A job opening is born when the employer has a need but isn't aware of it. If you cold call or walk in at that point, the boss may be tempted to hire you, at least on a project basis, so he doesn't need to undertake the time-consuming standard employee selection process.

The next stage in a job opening's lifespan is when the boss is aware s/he needs to hire someone but has, at most, let insiders know. Call or walk in at that point and you're still competing only with a small number of applicants.

Here's the punchline: Usually a job opening reaches the next stage in its lifespan--it's publicly advertised--when it requires unusual skills, no one who knows the boss wants to work with him, or it's wired for someone but HR requires the job to be advertised. In other words, when you're answering a want ad, you're more likely to be competing with the most applicants for the worst jobs.

That's why cold contact to employers whether or not they're advertising a job, is so potent--if done well. The method of cold-contact I recommend is Phone-Email-Phone-Phone.

1. Make a list of 50 target employers, who are not necessarily advertising an appropriate job opening. Why as many as 50? Because the odds of any one needing you is small. It is a numbers game.

2. Phone each after-hours, leaving this voice mail such as:

This is Jane Blow. I was a project manager at Ace Corp. and got solid evaluations but the job ended so I'm looking for work. I chose to call you because (insert a reason such as why you like the company, its geographic location, whatever.) I'll be emailing you my resume (or if your resume would not impress that employer, a letter of introduction, highlighting what would most impress her.) If you think I might be of help to you or simply want to offer me some advice, I'd welcome hearing from you. My phone number is: repeat it twice.

3. Email your resume and a brief cover letter that reiterates the above.

4. Phone back a week later if you haven't heard from that employer, leaving voice mail if necessary. For example:

This is Joe Blow the project manager from Ace Corp looking for his next job. Not having heard from you, I assume you're not interested, but I know how things can fall between the cracks so I'm taking the liberty of calling to follow up. If you think it's worth our talking to see if and how I might be of help to you or simply to offer some advice as to where I might turn, I'd be pleased to talk with you. My phone number is: repeat it twice.

5. Phone a week after that if you haven't heard from that employer. Say something like:

This is Jane Blow. I was hesitant to make this call because I certainly don't want to be a pest but I hope that perhaps you might even appreciate my being a persistent sort. If you'd like to talk to see if and how I might be of help to you, I'd welcome hearing from you. If not, I promise I won't bother you again! Here's my phone number: repeat it twice.

No job search method guarantees employment but my clients that have exhausted their network have found the 50 phone-email-phone-phone approach to be a potent and often fast way to land a job.

Overcoming Adversity: When a pianist loses the use of three fingers

noreply@blogger.com (Marty Nemko) — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 17:10:00 +0000

A while back, I developed a hand condition that rendered three of my fingers useless: I could no longer play basketball, type well, or play the piano the way I used to.

Indeed, the doctor said, "I'm sorry you won't be able to play the piano any more." Here is an attempt to prove him wrong:

Curing the Impostor Syndrome: Work hard then forgive yourself

noreply@blogger.com (Marty Nemko) — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 00:03:00 +0000

I've had the privilege of being career coach to some of the world's most successful executives, lawyers, physicians, professors, etc. And it may surprise you to know that even most of them often feel like impostors.

It's not that they're inferior. It's that there's a gap between what even stars can do and what complete knowledge and perfect judgment would enable. It's simply impossible for a CEO to know for sure whether it's wisest to be incremental or bold, for a lawyer to be certain s/he's picked the right defense, for a physician to be sure when saying, "You're fine," Even eminent experts, those who appear in the media, according to U.C. Berkeley research, have prediction rates no better than chance!

So after you've done what you can reasonably do to become competent and you've reached that sweet spot where yet more study is likely to only minimally improve your success rate, it's time to give yourself a break, time for acceptance of your fallibility, of humankind's fallibility.

I heard a perhaps apocryphal story that at one of America's leading medical schools, the chief resident welcomes each year's interns by telling them, "Each any every one of you is entitled to one clean kill. A patient will enter the hospital reasonably expecting to leave healthy and you'll kill him. Sure you must learn from your mistakes but you must forgive yourself, because medical errors are part of the cost of a medical education. Your worth as a physician is defined by the net effects of your lifetime as a physician."

Whether or not your workplace decisions are life-and-death, work hard to become competent, learn from your mistakes, and then forgive yourself. We're only human.

Career, Workplace, and Economic Predictions and Trends for 2012 and Beyond

noreply@blogger.com (Marty Nemko) — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 18:35:00 +0000

My latest TheAtlantic.com article (republished on yahoo.com) offers my career, workplace, and economic predictions and trends for 2012 and beyond. HERE is the link.

The Two Keys to Achieving Your Goals and Keeping Your New Year's Resolutions

noreply@blogger.com (Marty Nemko) — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 07:38:00 +0000

You can set goals and make New Year's resolutions but you'll probably fail unless you remember one thing: stay conscious.

Let's say you want to lose 20 pounds in six months. That meets all the usual criteria for a good goal: realistic, specific, and important. But you will fail unless you stay conscious of the importance of your achieving your goal, from the moment you start thinking about eating through the moment you finish or get distracted by something else. Without that vigilance, it's just too easy to succumb to "Ooh, that food will taste good." It may also help to break your goal into a small step:one pound in the next four days, for example.

Another example: You want to land a job within three months and, to that end, you want to put in 30 good hours a week. During those 30 hours, you must stay conscious that you must put in the time, reminding yourself of all the benefits you'd get from landing a job. Again, it can help to break it down into smaller goals, for example, I'll make five calls today.

If staying conscious isn't enough, tell one or more people your goal and deadline and, if necessary, ask if you could check in daily. For example, ask if you could email them the letter grade A through F you'd give yourself for your day's work.