N is for... Networking

All I hear about these days (still) is social networking. So what about the good old-fashioned stuff - the face to face networking.

Are you still doing it?

Personally I usually try and do a minimum of one event a month. I participate in a number of free local organisations and groups. Some companies will also pay for membership fees of relevant organisations and sometimes there can be good local groups that are worth paying for membership yourself.

However, it is important to evaluate your networking experiences and make sure that they are a good use of your time. If not, move on and find something new.

Evaluate each networking event:

When evaluating your networking experiences consider:

• How many people you met? How many you had a good conversation with and how many you got business cards from?
• Were any of the people you met potential clients? Were there any potential clients in attendance? 
• Did you have the opportunity to meet anyone you were specifically interested in meeting?

I try to do this at the end of each event I attend.

Evaluate whether you are particpating with good events:

When I find a good event I also find it useful to consider whether I could or should be doing more for an organisation if it runs events that I do find worthwhile. You should consider whether there any worthwhile "doing" opportunities to help you raise your profile and meet new people.

Are you simply along for the ride... observing... or are you being proactive and doing?

Re-evaluate your regular networking events:

Finally the other thing I consider and reconsider every once in a while is whether an event that had value still has value:

• Are there too many people I already know? 
• Am I meeting anyone new?
• Any worthwhile connections or follow-ups come out of that particular event?

This way I continue to spend my time wisely.

 This is an extract from Putting Pen to Paper's upcoming Career Development Workbook.

M is for... Motivation

What is your motivation for getting a new job? For taking a new job? For pursuing a promotion?

Self-Motivation: Consider why you are applying for a job... consider why you have applied for the jobs you have done throughout your job history - what has been your motivation? What is your motivation now? Why are you applying for this job...

L is for... Lists

If you read either of my Blogs you will know that I love Lists. A list that I always find interesting from a careers perspective is the The Top 100 Graduate Employers published by The Times.

Regardless of whether you are actively job hunting, or simply keeping an eye out for the *right* opportunity you should always keep a "Dream Job" list and/or a "Companies I would LOVE to work for list". 

I keep a list of places I would love to work in my goals section of my career development plan. Do you?

If not, write it now!

Running a bit late this week but for this weeks celebrating the small things with Vik Lit - my list is:

1. continued enjoyment of the a to z challenge (this seems to have taken over my blogging life)
2. watching all of season one of Battlestar Galactica (yes, rewatching this awesome show).
3. enjoying a fantastic selection of cheese and crackers
4. another new episode of doctor who
5. attending a series of client meetings with my new supervisor and getting to know her better

K is for... Knowledge

Knowledge

Building up your knowledge and continued professional development is a good way of assisting with your career progression - whether it is in the early stages by helping you get on the ladder or helping you get a promotion or a client.

Knowledge is a commodity and any employee worth their salt should have both skills and knowledge. Do you have both?

What is the difference between Knowledge and Skill?

• Knowledge refers to learning concepts, principles and information. 
• Skill refers to the ability of using that information and applying it in a context.

I tend to think of knowledge as "Things I learned during my degree" or "things I can read in books" and skills as "things that allow me to do my job". Knowledge is usually required to put your skills into practice, but skills (or sometimes a combination of both) are what make you good at your job.

As part of your career development plan - you should sell your knowledge not just your skills.

This is an extract from Putting Pen to Paper's upcoming Career Development Workbook.

 Discuss: which is more important in your chosen career - knowledge, skills or both in equal measures?

J is for... Job Histories

It is always important to keep a record of your job history. It can end up being used to populate your C.V., help find out what you love and hate about you job or help you prepare for interview.

Keep on file the key details about your previous jobs:

1. Role / Job Description
2. Employer
3. Contact Details
4. Responsibilities
5. Skills / Training 
6. Potential References

But you should also consider the following questions:

1.  What did you love about the job?
2. What did you hate about the job?
3. Why did you take the job in the first place?
4. Why did you leave the job? 
5. How satisfied were you with the job?

Keep these answers handy too. It can help you evaluate potential jobs and assist in both the application and interview processes.

This is an extract from Putting Pen to Paper's upcoming Career Development Workbook. 

I is for... Interviews

an interview is not an exam

Graduates can very easily fall into the trap of treating an interview (and preparation for said interview) a bit like an exam.

• By cramming
• By leaving preparation to the last minute (night before or the train journey) and
• By "winging it" 

It is important to appreciate that an interview for a job requires preparation. It is not a simple matter of reaching into the dark recesses of your brain for a nugget of information that was mentioned at a workshop six months ago. There will be new things to learn about in advance - things you might not necessarily know. This is usually (and at minimum) the background about the company you are interviewing with.

An Interview is a conversation

• Don't get stressed when you don't know an answer - you will get prompts.
• Don't always expect a right (and a wrong) answer 

An interview is about engaging and having a conversation. If you don't know the exact answer to a more technical question (as opposed to a personal question) intellegent conversation and a good, engaging personality may save you.

Listen to what the interviewer is saying to you, and respond to it. Don’t let the stuff that you’ve read up on or the stress/nerves crowd out the listening part of your brain so that you continue to ramble and recite prepared answers or research. Not listening is harder to recover from.

Relax and let the conversation flow.

This is an extract from Putting Pen to Paper's upcoming Career Development Workbook.

H is for... Happiness

Choose a job you love and you will never have to work a day in your life.

- Confucious

Bored of your job? Unhappy? Stuck in a rut?

One of my goals is to be happy in my job, truly happy. In my previous job I was happy. I had an enjoyable job, moderate pay, good set of work colleaguea. Yes, there were days I was down or frustrated, but I was happy. I woke up bright and early excited to go to work and spent most of my waking hours there. In my new job - I am still working towards being happy again.

I think one of the most frustrating things is knowing that I can be happy in my job, knowing that I have been happy and for some reason - I am just not happy anymore.

Looking back I realised it took me 6 months of " settling in time" to become properly happy even in jobs I have loved. I needed time to get to grips with the computer software, learn passwords and codes, make friends and remember names and to stop feeling like the new girl.

In my current job I have been waiting for this moment of happiness to wash over me. It hasn't and it has now reached 12 months in the same job and annoyingly I am still not happy at work. I have a great life outside of work - but given that I spend most of my hours at my 9-5 job I decided it was time to get pro-active about it and this is what I did in three easy steps.

Step One: Write 2 lists - almost like a pros-cons list. On one side write the things that make you happy and on the other side write the things that make you unhappy (or reasons that you think you are unhappy).
 
Step Two: Consider how to change the things that make you unhappy into things that make you happy. Work through your list one at a time (with a buddy if possible) and come up with a solution, compromise or alternative to each of the things that make you unhappy.

Step Three:  Do these things to get you one step closer to being happy.

Happiness in your career is not essential, but it does make it easier and much more fun.

This is an extract from Putting Pen to Paper's upcoming Career Development Workbook.