Aqua Career

by Randy Place

When you change your thought you can change your experience. This might feel counter intuitive because society would have you think differently – like it’s okay to moan and groan as you let negative thoughts and emotions take over your thinking and controlling it for a length of time. 

Whether you feel happy or sad, it’s what you think, stupid! So how you think is everything, especially during a job search when your emotions can fluctuate wildly.

Information Technology professionals use the expression, “garbage in, garbage out.” What’s true in computing is also true in thinking. How you think is everything. Your success depends on the way you think. When you dwell on the negative, that’s what you’ll attract and experience. But when you focus on the positive, you’ll attract more good into your life. 

Nobody is asking you to be a Pollyanna. To act Pollyannish while facing a crisis in your life would be counterproductive. For the rest of the time, especially during a job hunt, changing how you think will be the key to a successful – or unsuccessful – job hunt.

While you’ll discover many methods for changing how you think, a technique I’ve used with good results is to focus on the word “joy” for a while. “A feeling of great pleasure and happiness,” is the way joy is defined. You can experience the joy method in five easy steps – 

1. Find a quiet place to sit down and be quiet for a few moments. 
2. Take a few deep breaths, relaxing your body each time you exhale (breathe out) As you do this, try to put your mind in neutral – just for a half minute or so.
3. When you’ve quieted down, place the word “joy” in your mind ever so gently. Let it evoke that feeling of great pleasure and happiness
4. Then joyfully anticipate a perfect outcome to your search, work, or home life.
5. Practice the joy method at least three times a day.

You can succeed with this method by knowing feelings can be chosen and experienced. That’s how to change the way you think – and feel and experience.

Even under the pressure of sales or job-finding campaign, you can take a brief time out to evoke the positive feelings you need to succeed.

When you’re able to think a bit more positively, your speech will reflect more positive language. Click here for an “Interview tip — use positive language,” a previous post on Your Career Service. 

 by Randy Place

Taking note of interviews and sales meetings means making notes after those meetings. Note taking is a major selling tool for job hunters and salespeople. Why take notes? To help you write follow-up letters and proposals. And to make planning next steps a whole lot easier. 

The best note taking is right after interviews and sales calls when your memory is fresh. Studies show, we forget much of what we’ve heard — even after only a few hours have lapsed. Just find a quiet spot to take copious notes about –

• Who said what
• What went well
• What went wrong
• And your plan for following up.

When you don’t have paper handy to take notes, especially while networking, write them on the backs of business cards you receive.  This will help you recall conversations and plan appropriate follow-ups. 

As mentioned earlier, the best notetaking is right after business meetings while conversations are still fresh in your mind. While taking notes during interviews and business meetings can impress some of your prospects, others could be annoyed and distracted watching you, with eyes lowered, scratching away on a pad while avoiding eye contact with them.

To spend your time listening, reacting, answering and asking questions while focusing on your prospect allows you to be spontaneous and to show more interest in your target and surroundings. 

You score a double whammy by taking notes soon after interviews and sales calls. You now have material for follow up letters and proposals. And from your notes, appropriate next steps can be listed. 

Your Career Service mentioned writing notes on the backs of business cards. Click here to read, “Business card use for business,” a previous post on Your Career Service

by randy place

After rejection, what’s an interviewee to do? Remember the old adage – “When somebody hands you a lemon, turn it into a lemonade.” 

Rejection after interviews won’t feel so bad when you turn the rejection into a networking opportunity. “Today’s rejection can be tomorrow’s offer letter,” says recruiter Lindsey Olson in a printed report. 

Even though you’ve been turned down, you’ve invested time in developing a contact – the hiring manager who was dumb enough to hire somebody else. So why drop that contact? To stay in touch with that person can put you on an inside track for the next opening.

After you’ve been turned down, thank your contact for the opportunity of interviewing for the job and ask if she would like you to stay in touch. If the answer is yes, checking in with a company from time to time gives you three benefits –

• You might learn of a new opening in advance of its posting.

• You will remind your prospect that you’re interested in the company continues.

• You might be referred to a contact outside the company

“Your candidacy can remain intact when you handle rejection professionally by keeping open the lines of communication. And, as mentioned earlier, you might learn of a future opening within or without the firm.

Some job hunters feel like isolating after being turned down. Yet, beating yourself up or obsessing over rejection causes self-doubt, which will come across at interviews. This hurts your chances of being hired. 

Keeping on keeping on with contacts who have turned you down lets you continue maintaining visibility. And that’s one of the big payoffs of turning lemons into lemonades. 

Click here to read, “Rejection after interviews and how to cope with it,” part one of this series about coping with rejection on Your Career Service. 

by randy place

by Randy Place

Business people who lived over a hundred years ago were considered rude to hand out business cards for personal purposes. That’s why they used calling cards instead. Today’s post on Your Career Service discusses advantages of doing it the old fashioned way — with calling cards. 

How to use business cards? This category of cards shows your name, company, title or business, and contact information. Calling cards just convey your name. And maybe just a phone number or e-mail address. 

Many young professionals today prefer introducing themselves the old fashioned way — with calling card use instead of business cards. This is a more recent phenomenon because some of you don’t want to be identified just by your professions. While others have no professions o be identified by. . 

“I find a calling card to be a classier way to represent myself personally,” says a 30-year old IT professional quoted in a printed report.

What’s the reasoning behind calling card use over business cards? They’re simpler and probably motivate recipients of your card to get to know you a little more before pocketing the card. 

Younger people who prefer calling cards are hip to the informality of social networking sites like Facebook and My Space, says the report.  Calling cards can be extensions of that. 

While job hunters are well advised to use business cards that tell who you are and what you do, calling cards might also be considered, especially for networking purposes. You can keep it friendlier with calling cards without the pressure of feeling like you’re seeking a job or referral. It’s classier. And, who knows, prospective employers and customers might appreciate some class these days. 

There are two related articles about calling cards on Your Career Service, Read “Business cards for your job hunting campaign,” and, “Business cards for your job search — part 2.”