Reinke Faces Life

http://www.personalbrandingsummit.com

Celebrate the 10th Anniversary of Personal Branding

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To mark the 10th Anniversary of personal branding, on November 8th we are providing 24 free teleseminars with experts in the field of personal branding. Anyone in the world with a telephone will be able to participate in this live event.
This event has content streams for career success, entrepreneurial success and talent management. So, whether you are a corporate professional, an entrepreneur, or a HR manager challenged with the need to attract and retain great people, you will take away actionable knowledge from attending.

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While I am not sure that I believe in “Personal Branding”, I do believe in “free” education. So, if you have some attention cycles and clock minutes, you might be interested. (That’s why I put quotes around “free”.) I think that of time, money, and attention; attention is the critical resource. What you focus on, you get. So be careful where you look.

FWIW.

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ATTENTION K-MART SHOPPERS:

The model of success is changing again.

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Success, in a job search sense, is found by having:

(1) ruthless financial discipline — no bad debt;

(2) a life long interest in learning — education — a degree — certifications — credentials — they can’t take it away from you;

(3) a white collar job in order to save big bux;

(4) a blue collar skill for hard times — never saw a poor plumber;

(5) one or more internet based businesses — your store is always open;

(6) a free time hobby that generates income; and

(7) a large will-maintained network of people who can “help” you.

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Please exchange your old memes for new ones at Customer Service.

We are not responsible for adverse consequences of using old memes. Bankruptcy, divorce, alcoholism, sleeplessness, depression, and lost of self-esteem are side effect of using the wrong meme. See you certified Turkey Master for the correct meme in your specific case.

We take visa/master card and most insurances.

This is not an offering to buy or sell securities which can only be made by formal prospectus.

This is only for illustrative purposes and not indicative of anyone’s actual results.

Your Mileage May Vary.

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Always a joyous occasion.

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http://www.nofluffjuststuff.com/blog/ted_neward/2007/10/a_conversation_on_architecture.html

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Do many/most developers at F500 companies not go to events like local JUGs or conferences like NFJS?

Unfortunately, far too many developers don’t treat their careers as a work-in-progress, but believe that once they’ve landed the job, they’re on a track to moderate financial success for life. In fact, lots of developers fit the demographic of “male, 18-30, and single”, which is the absolute worst demographic for future planning. Lots of these guys think that “Hey, I’m smart, the money will always flow in, right? Java/.NET/C++/COBOL will always be the tool of choice, right? What, me worry?”

Unfortunately, it’s my experience that it doesn’t get better with age. Developers in the age range of 31 and up have seen one (or two) generations of languages/platforms go by, and have had to re-tool themselves, and are still pissed about it. The ones who realize that no matter how much they learn, there’s still a lot more to take on, those are the ones going to JUGs and NFJS and TechEd and JavaOne and whatever else comes their way. Those are the same ones who see training classes as opportunities for advancement, not opportunities to play 8 hours of uninterrupted Solitaire. And, unfortunately, those developers are the exception, not the rule, it seems.

Which means, if you take the time to invest in yourself, you will never be in the bottom of the candidate pool for your next job. Period.

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Well said. Many moons ago, Frau Reinke, the CFO of our partnership, “decided” that I should have a budget for training and toys. Now bear in mind that she has no use for this “technology stuff”, is a tight with “wasting” money as I have ever seen, (She’ll spend it like water; just never “waste” a drop), so I had a budget. And, I HAD to spend it. I was figuring a $100. What do I know? She allocated 1% of my annual gross to training and 1% to “technology toys”. Wow!

So, I got a lesson in investing in your self.

How do you invest in yourself?

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text

Attention all turkeys:

When you start your new job, “prepare three envelopes”.

That’s an old joke.

http://www.notboring.com/jokes/work/3.htm

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Prepare Three Envelopes
A fellow had just been hired as the new CEO of a large high tech corporation. The CEO who was stepping down met with him privately and presented him with three numbered envelopes. “Open these if you run up against a problem you don’t think you can solve,” he said.

Well, things went along pretty smoothly, but six months later, sales took a downturn and he was really catching a lot of heat. About at his wit’s end, he remembered the envelopes. He went to his drawer and took out the first envelope. The message read, “Blame your predecessor.”

The new CEO called a press conference and tactfully laid the blame at the feet of the previous CEO. Satisfied with his comments, the press — and Wall Street — responded positively, sales began to pick up and the problem was soon behind him.

About a year later, the company was again experiencing a slight dip in sales, combined with serious product problems. Having learned from his previous experience, the CEO quickly opened the second envelope. The message read, “Reorganize.” This he did, and the company quickly rebounded.

After several consecutive profitable quarters, the company once again fell on difficult times. The CEO went to his office, closed the door and opened the third envelope.

The message said, “Prepare three envelopes.”

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There are a lot of true things said in jest.

This is one of them.

Eventually, things will turn nasty.

I don’t care that today the sun is shining, the birds are singing, and all is right in the Universe. You may be looking forward to cashing your first paycheck. Time to look a little more forward.

There will be a day, in the all to soon future, where you will be –proverbially — opening the “third envelope”.

Now assuming that you don’t have an employment contract — not many of us do — you’ll be facing the unpleasantness of the potential axe.

So, today, right now, when all is good, please please plan your demise.

Create a folder at home called “DOOMSDAY”. Into that you should be putting “important” documents related to your employment. By “important”, I mean as it relates to your continued employment. So immediately, your offer letter should be in there. As well as anything that is ever given you by HR, Payroll, Finance, Personnel, whatever as it applies to your continued employment. In addition, you should document every significant conversation you ever have with anyone higher than you, lower than you, or in a support organization that has anything to do with your continued employment. Keep your own set of book. Fill out a personal time sheet. Have comp time, keep a record. Keep a score card of what you do. Don’t share it with anyone, store it on their computers, send it over their wire, or even keep it in the office.

Trust me. Some day, you’ll be glad you did.

You’re not doing this to pick a fight or focus on the bad stuff that can happen. (And will happen, if you focus on the negative.) This is to be ready for “war” should a fight break out.

It might get you some leverage in the severance process.

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http://glcavalier.wordpress.com/2007/10/23/university-of-hard-knocks-alumni-membership-drive-is-underway

University of Hard Knocks Alumni Membership Drive is Underway!!!!
by G. Lane Cavalier

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When I was out of work several years ago, I received a good piece of advice from a fellow networker that I have never followed up on. That advice was to start an “Alumni Group” for those professionals that never finished their degree.

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The group is going to be based around 3 core issues that impact professionals without degrees:

1) Continuing Education/Non Traditional Education
2) Job Searching and Interviewing (overcoming the lack of the degree)
3) Networking

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Of course, I indicated I would be happy to participate.

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http://careerhub.typepad.com/main/2007/04/free_job_search.htmlshort

Free Job Search Help

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We’re thrilled to announce the release of our fourth free eBook – “The Insider’s Guide to Networking” features 70 pages of advice from some of the country’s leading careers experts. The topic of networking is one that I know is of great interest to many of our readers, so I asked our experts to give readers their best advice for networking success. The answers are varied, interesting and sometimes surprising.

If you don’t have our earlier eBooks, you’re missing out on similarly great advice about resume writing, interviewing and job search strategies. All these great eBooks are available without email sign-up. Simply download the PDFs and start reading! And to stay regularly updated with all the best in career advice, bookmark this site, sign up for our RSS feed, or have the articles sent directly to your email box.

• Guide to networking Insider’s Guide to Networking
• Guide To Interviewing Insider’s Guide to Interviewing
• Guide to Resume WritingInsider’s Guide to Resume Writing
• Guide to Job Search Insider’s Guide to Job Search

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From the nice folks at Career Hub.

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FROM A CONVERSATION WITH A NEW TURKEY

(1) Remember they are operating at different speed than you are. Sigh.

(2) They probably haven’t read anything you’ve written, send them, or shared. If they did, they probably didn’t grok it.

(3) Bringing them up to speed is a drag. A heavy lift. A tiring experience. But, you could be creating a new “turkey master”. Patience.

(4) They never know “what they want to be when they grow up”.

(5) They have no concept of “elevator speech”.

(6) They look backward.

(7) They haven’t thought about their tools. Let alone invested in them.

(8) They need a lot of help.

(9) They think outplacement is good.

Patience. Seldom in men; never in women! Patience.

Remember the First Rule Of Being A Turkey Master: “First do no harm.”

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Good Housekeeping rules for voice mail

01. STOP, don’t just dial and blunder. Nothing makes a worse impression than a “bad” voice mail message. Remember that the recipient of your message would really rather be talking to his wife, girlfriend, bookie, friend, dentist, … anybody but you! So you have to make them want to listen carefully.

02. Do you need to introduce yourself? Will the recipient recognize your name? Do you need to give the recipient some idea who you are?

03. What is your objective with this call? Write it down. (You are measuring results. Right?)

04. What are the key points you want to make? Limit the message to cover the most important point. You can’t really expect your monologue to do more than that.

05. Write out the text of your message. Pretend it’s a telegraph at 10$ per word. If you want an action or call back, ask for it clearly. If asking for a callback, when can they catch you.

06. You have to try to speak slowly. Make your call standing up. Try looking in a mirror as you are talking. Smile. It comes over the wire in your voice. Pretend that it’s video mail.

07. Use a written script.

08. Your name is familiar to you, but not necessarily to the recipient. Give your first name, pause, last name, and then spell your last name.

09. Area code, phone number, calmly, slowly, clearly.

10. Read your brief telegraph message slowly.

11. Give your phone number once again… SLOWLY.

12. You did remember to say thanks.

13. Update all your logs, paperwork, and computer systems (i.e., JibberJobber contact tracking?)

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NETWORK WORLD 24 Sept 07 Page 41

NetworkWorld parses the “in’s” into: Seekers on the prowl; Explorers keeping the eyes open; Approachable who are not looking but would respond to a personal inquiry; and Loyalists who are committed to their current employer.

Where do you sit?

I guess I am somewhere between “explorer” and “approachable”!

:-)

The question who would hire a FOWG or a BFT?

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