Author Archives: Bill Ryan

The Advantage of Networking

Posted on by Bill Ryan

One of the great advantages of living and working in New Hampshire is that it can be a relatively close-knit community both socially and professionally. Our individual path often crosses each other’s paths. It’s not unusual to hear through our workplace networks about how each of us is progressing or not. The twists and turns, dips and rises of your career journey are on display, for better or worse, in this state than they might be in a more densely populated setting. This being the case, how we conduct our careers should be influenced by this openness. 

If you’ve had a reasonably successful career, this level of exposure may help set the stage for future opportunities. More to the point, if you have been smart about establishing and maintaining valuable professional relationships, then you are better positioned for landing on your feet if a sudden work transition is forced upon you. Layoffs are an epidemic in New Hampshire right now as they are elsewhere. The decreasing level of job security is resulting in growing uncertainty among workers across industries. Being prepared for how to react to a job termination is a wise move to make during these tough times. And a significant part of this preparation should involve an understanding of networking.

Networking accounts for anywhere from 75% to 95% of all the open positions filled in the U.S. Employers can often be reluctant to advertise for jobs, preferring instead to be notified of the so-called passive job candidate, that is a referral from a trusted source. Your task is to become referenced, tested, and known by colleagues, both present and former, who can attest to your qualifications. While still employed you should be not only building relationships that will enhance your career but achieving an expertise by which you become better known. This makes it easier for your referral contacts to describe you in terms that make your value more readily apparent to potential future employers. 

One inaccurate perception of networking is that it is all one way, in that it consists only of others doing something for you. If that were true, networking would just be another word for exploitation. Networking works best when it is reciprocal such that both parties are prepared to give to one another by leveraging common interests, enlisting each other’s support, and sharing information, values, ideas, advice, and of course referrals.  

Approaching a networking contact by first reaching out to help them is a sound proposition. If you have already secured yourself as a colleague or contact who is quick to aid others, then it won’t seem disingenuous when you are reaching out in hope of getting some support coming back to you.  However, if your work style has not been of the open and cooperative type, then quality networking will be more difficult to accomplish.  

Giving of yourself to others may not always have short term benefit, but it can certainly set the stage for longer term utility. And besides, like your mother told you, it’s a nice thing to do! 

New Hampshire has the potential for being a network-rich environment. In many ways, this small pond makes it easier to become a big fish. The best way to strengthen yourself while employed, and to prepare for a time when you may suddenly not be, is to enhance and strengthen the kind of employee you are. Networking should not just be a tactic deployed after a layoff, but rather a skill that you are developing all the time. When done well, the personal and professional relationships you build will benefit you no matter what your employment status becomes. Networking is not only practical, but also enriching. 

NHBR Debut

Posted on by Bill Ryan

The New Hampshire Business Review has picked me up as a contributing writer! My debut appearance can be found at http://nhbr.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090703/INDUSTRY18/906309929.

I look forward to contributing more pieces concerning the intersection of career development and New Hampshire business news. Please look for more pieces and let me know what type of topics you’d like to see covered. Your suggestions are very much welcomed!

Decision Making Examined

Posted on by Bill Ryan

How well you cope with and react to improving your career is driven primarily by the quality of your ability to make decisions. Whether a job change is forced on to you by a layoff or the nagging dissatisfaction of being stuck in a bad line of work finally crystallizes into the realization that change is needed, how well you can make an important decision will determine how satisfying an eventual outcome of change will be.

It seems that some people have the gift of decisiveness whereas other people flounder, allowing themselves to be bounced around by circumstances. Even though you might be closer to the latter, it is still possible to examine the nature of decision making and how you approach this mental exercise. For all of us, decision making is made up of five sequential steps: 

1. Identifying the problem

2. Knowing the cause of the problem

3. Developing possible alternatives

4. Prioritizing those alternatives

5. Appraising likely outcomes

When it comes to making decisions regarding your career this is often done with much uncertainty, which can make following these steps, particularly #5, harder. Nevertheless, it can still be helpful to be systematic when confronting a big career change challenge. Are you finding that one or more points in this sequence are hanging you up? Why do you think this is so?

Carrying on with making lists of five, career development researchers have identified five decision-making styles:

a. The Rational style, which is structured and logical

b. The Intuitive style, which relies on gut feelings and impressions

c. The Dependent style, which needs the support of others

d. The Avoidant style, which puts off decision making for as long as possible

e. The Spontaneous style, which is quick and impulsive

Now, if you listen to your inner parent / teacher speaking you’re probably hearing the message that having a Rational style is best. It is hard to argue with a viewpoint that says careful examination of facts and likely consequences should be applied in making a decision like career direction. The Intuitive style, on the other hand, sounds like your inner artist talking, encouraging you to go with the natural flow. But the other three appear to be more like styles of indecision. If you see yourself as reflecting one of these styles, then I would recommend a re-examination of how you make or do not make decisions.

When I look at the Intuitive style in juxtaposition to the Rational style I’m reminded of the right brain / left brain construct, which implies a balanced cognitive approach. A combination of Rational and Intuitive styles suggests a greater individual awareness of self and environment, which can lead to better career choices.

Knowing and feeling through a situation and self-encouraging an interplay of thought and emotion may allow you to identify and evaluate plausible alternatives and outcomes as you process choice. Since we now know that significant personal career decisions will occur developmentally across the lifespan, then working to refine, and when necessary, practice a workable decision-making style will result in outcomes that make life more satisfying. And isn’t that the point of a career? 

A Livelihood Can Be a Life

Posted on by Bill Ryan

I’m going to start this piece off by stating something that for some readers may be too obvious, but which I think is worth saying anyway. There is a big difference between searching for a job and searching for a career.

For the sake of simplicity, I see a job as something you do for money, whereas a career is something you do to give meaning and purpose to life. Many of you may be perfectly content separating livelihood from living and see a job merely as a means to a financial end. Living, for those of this mindset, consists of contentment found in mainly choosing things and experiences that make life interesting and stimulating. Together they make up a life that is at a minimum, good enough. Getting paid for being sufficiently stimulated, by whatever means, appears to be the primary goal. Money is generally necessary for this kind of lifestyle and therefore getting and keeping a job that pays decently becomes important. Fine. It is a perfectly conventional viewpoint about work. And one I don’t recommend. 

Work in a capitalist democracy such as ours displays its greatest value not in just how productive the society becomes, but in how everyone has the potential to express their unique contribution to both the greater good and to themselves. I do not see a benefit in drawing too sharp a distinction between living and work. I am alright with thinking that what you are is what you do. Now, some of you may think this sounds like a workaholic Boomer talking, who has not yet learned how to chill. Perhaps. Rather, I am suggesting that integrating work and life, career and self, can result in a fuller sense of being and completeness. 

It is good to have an identity. It is of value to see yourself and to have others see you as comprised of those significant elements of our lives, be they family member, citizen, leisure-lover, or worker. To define yourself in terms that exclude or downplay your work and how you spend such a large amount of time and energy denies yourself much of the richness you could be feeling from life. 

I am impressed by people who know something very well, be it a skill or body of knowledge. These people enjoy sharing their expertise through reaching out and teaching others or by making available the products and services they can craft expertly. To develop a talent to the point in which you are an artisan means you can be living a great life. You have meaning and purpose. You give yourself a gift beyond what money alone can provide. 

It is easy to blame our employer or simple circumstances for our despair with work. Having each week be a countdown to the weekend starting with a Blue Monday is sad. If you associate Wednesday with Hump Day, then your career is not on track. It’s not working for you.

Take time to reflect on what you are doing. Are you just working or are you living? Life does not have to be just getting by or getting through it. You can have a relationship with yourself that is highlighted by growth and mastery. You can be somebody and your work can be a big satisfying part of who you are. 

Despite the current Recession, this is a great time to form a career in America. We are not as constricted by class, family legacy, race, or gender roles as we once were or as is still the case in many parts of the world. Here, a true meritocracy is coming about. [Update: In the years since I wrote this paragraph, I have become more aware of how gender roles and meritocracy can lack fairness. I address this issue in future essays.] 

The upcoming years should be open to entrepreneurial solutions and our collective value propositions. Now is the time to find your place and to carve out your niche. Do not let the difficulty of shifting to this way of thinking hold you back. Enjoy the congruence of livelihood and life. You can be happier than you ever thought possible.

Beware of Too Much Education

Posted on by Bill Ryan

I am a big fan of education… particularly college education. I used to think when I was in my twenties that I could easily have become a professional student. And if it hadn’t been for getting married and becoming a parent, I would have. Even now, many years later, I can still feel the nerdy thrill of taking classes and planning degree work.

I was also a teacher for thirty-one years and would encourage students any chance that I got for them to pursue post-secondary education, if they wanted to increase their chances of finding satisfying work at a decent salary. I would cite statistics showing that a college education could on average double their lifetime earnings compared to someone with only a high school education. My faith in the power of higher education remains unshaken. I think nearly everyone should continue formal education for as long as possible.

However, I have seen a troubling downside to acquiring too much college education. In a word, it is debt. It is not unusual to run across thirty-somethings and others who have multiple degrees and/or certifications and no satisfying employment. What they do have, though, are thousands of dollars owed for the education received to get those degrees and certs. I’ve heard staggering figures. There are relatively young people who are looking at decades of school loan payback ahead of them. This restricts their lifestyles, as all debt does, and makes further education appear impossible to achieve.

Now, it would be one thing if the folks I’m talking about had exciting, stimulating careers paying them robust salaries. But too often this is not the case. Instead, they are settling for second rate job choices and realizing as they approach middle age that they are not happy career-wise, leaving them feeling stuck.

How did this happen? It is what can occur if you do not enter higher education with at least the beginning of a career plan. Everyone has heard the story that a college education opens doors and leads to career success. And as I indicated earlier, there is much evidence that it can. But it is far from a guarantee. A college degree should not be thought of as a magic bullet. If years spent at a university are not a well thought through means to an end, then it can be a costly waste of time.

A typical sequence is this — you are a student who majors in some undergraduate program for weak reasons, generally because you were without enough quality guidance. Afterwards, you find yourself in a ho-hum job and think that the way out is to go back to school to get another degree. You hope that this time it will “work”.

But your decision making again has not been monitored by someone who can properly assist you. So, you find yourself again in a less than stellar job and think that if you had only followed your heart the first time you would not be in this mess. So, you go back to school to study your passion, incur more debt, and realize a gazillion dollars later that you are still not happy. 

Career planning should begin very early in a student’s education, whether it is done by a parent, a guidance counselor, a teacher, or a privately hired career development specialist. Basically, someone who actually has time, interest, and perspective to focus on you. College costs way too much to have the experience squandered. However, properly directed higher education can help lead to meaningful and sustained careers.

I recommend taking the time to think through what you hope to achieve from education and process these thoughts, along with crucial elements of your personality, in the presence of a career professional.  It is worth the effort and money to do this one right.

The Forward Leaning Consultant

Posted on by Bill Ryan

In my last blog, I suggested that we Americans may not be as entrepreneurial as we think we are when it comes to getting or staying employed, particularly during a Recession like this one. My observation is that we continue to heavily rely on open positions to fill rather than trying to create our own marketable situations.

For many young and middle-aged workers, it’s easier to understand the greater need for security and the steady paycheck given that they are raising families and building wealth. For them, free-lancing may indeed carry too much risk. But for the seasoned older professional worker with accumulated wisdom and experience, I find it a bit odd that far too many continue to seek a job offered and defined by someone else.

Now, if you’re happy with a work life following someone else’s job description, because it lightens the mental and emotional load you need to carry, then fine. For those of you, however, who have been around the block a few times and have formed confident opinions and positions about how your industry can best function, then you may want to codify those ideas into proposals that you present to managers in need of solutions.

I believe there comes a point in many professionals’  lives when you reach a level of maturity and sophistication, which prepares you for analyzing the known workplace with the intent of discovering and offering remedies to common or unique problems. This approach can form the backbone of your “job search”. Don’t just look for a job, look for innovative methods and protocols that add value to the workplace and propose them to organizations in search of these solutions.

The notion that becoming a consultant is reserved only for the gutsy cream-of-the-crop type is old fashioned. To the dismay of unions and traditionalists, we are becoming a freelance nation. It is true many workplaces are still traditional in how they source talent, but there is ample evidence that this is changing. More and more Human Resource departments are becoming used to searching for outsourced talent that reduces their costs while offering more targeted impact on production. The actual implementation lies in how well you unravel issues, advance answers, brand yourself, and negotiate an arrangement with an organization that needs you.

So, my suggestion is to use the time you usually spend searching through Monster and CareerBuilder to systematically build cases that you can confidently present. Your time will be better spent, and you get the added benefit of imposing professional development on yourself.

You probably already know the standard means of writing proposals within your industry. If you don’t know, find out. From there, apply marketing principles, especially personal branding, that assist you in reaching the audiences who need to hear from you. And go for it.

Might this style of employment search be too cowboy oriented. Perhaps. But, what’s the downside? At least you leaned forward into your employment status, acted, organized yourself, and learned some things. Is that such a bad way to spend time finding work?

Are Americans as Entrepreneurial as We Think We Are?

Posted on by Bill Ryan

We Americans pride ourselves on our self-reliance, independence, and strong sustainable work ethic. We believe that our individualistic, entrepreneurial approach to solving problems and meeting needs is what has made us such a prosperous nation. As Tom Peters, the personal branding guru suggests, we are all a bunch of Davy Crockett’s living by our wits and taking care of ourselves one autonomous nonaligned person at a time.

I would think that this Recession, which we are all experiencing collectively to a greater or lesser degree, would be a perfect time for Americans to demonstrate our self-governing nature. With high unemployment, it becomes necessary for each person to self-manage the riskier and more uncertain conditions of life. If ever there was a time to live by your wits, it is when you cannot rely on an employer to provide you with the means for a long-term comfortable, or even basic lifestyle.  

And yet, a reasonable question to ask is, are we as resilient to weather a personal economic storm as we might think we are? Is the typical American worker, most of whom are influenced historically by European traditions, trending toward a practice of creating our own jobs or still relying on organizations and outside employers to be our anchors? Do we have it in our DNA to face an uncertain future truly entrepreneurial or are we just too fatalistic? 

Malcolm Gladwell in his latest book Outliers extracts two historic proverbs, one Western and one Eastern, to point out that Asians may have historically developed more productive work habits and perhaps keener intelligence than have those from the West. The Western proverb (Russian in origin) translates to: “If God does not bring it, the earth will not give it.” The other (Chinese), “hard work, shrewd planning, and self-reliance or cooperation with a small group will in time bring recompense.”

Our European ancestors, who lived under a strict feudal system, may be dominating our current job search practices more so than our Asian ancestors. Our Western mindset may still be predominated by a thought pattern of yielding to higher powers for a determination of our destiny, be they divine or corporate, rather than by relying on individualistic self-sufficiency.

As we search for quality work our traditional and still generally practiced approach is to see, “who’s hiring.” We’ve developed more sophisticated and digital means of doing so, but the widely accepted premise remains that job seekers look for and strive to fill openings offered by bigger and more powerful organizations.

Not too long ago, I had a seasoned and experienced professional ask me to look at his resume and portfolio. He had been in a variety of management positions for different companies from diverse industries. He was unemployed and looking for a position to fill. His documentation was impeccable, rich, and impressive. I had no substantive suggestions to make regarding changes to his papers. However, I did challenge the nature of his approach to finding work. Given his depth of experience, I told him that he would be better off looking for problems to solve within the industries he is most familiar with, rather than limiting himself to looking for someone else’s job openings.

This concept of “grabbing the bull by the horns” by leaning into industries you know and designing solutions to common or hard to solve problems is one that I would like to develop more fully in my next blog. For now, I ask readers to think about the wisdom of creating your own entrepreneurial opportunities vs. just relying on job search techniques. These times may call for a two-tracked approach that optimizes both, not just one path.

New Hampshire Economic Stimulus Update

Posted on by Bill Ryan

Now that it has been three months since the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) has been law it’s a good time to see what effect this law may be having in New Hampshire. New Hampshire, like every other state needs the help. Our seasonally adjusted unemployment rate is 6.2% compared to 8.5% nationally. So, we’re in better shape than some states, for example Florida is at 9.7% and Indiana at 10.0%, but we haven’t seen unemployment like this since the early 1980’s. The question is, are New Hampshire residents getting jobs yet as a result of the Stimulus money? I’ve been looking into it and this is what I can tell at this point.

There does not seem to be a lot of new hiring yet due to the ARRA. For certain projects and positions in Transportation and Education particularly that have already been planned for or have been underway, then the reallocation of production revenue from the ARRA is keeping those people employed. But they had jobs already. For the vast majority of stimulus categories (see below) we are in one of two places:

1. The Federal guidelines stipulating the expenditure of ARRA funds have yet to be made public.

2. Grants are being or have been written by those state government agencies and organizations who now know the Federal guidelines and they are in the process of bidding for the dollars or awaiting awards.

In either case, the bulk of new hiring to come out of the ARRA is still somewhere down the road. We expect that Washington wants this money injected into the Economy as soon as possible, but in order to keep some control over the quality of the expenditures there is bound to be some red tape involved… and there is.

Here are the categories identified for receiving ARRA funds:

Business/Community: Refers to community development and services, Small Business Administration, and the Rural Business Program.

Education: Including a lot of education for the disadvantaged, early childhood, with some arts funding and technical training thrown in.

Employment/Nutrition: This is a catch-all for job training, hot lunch programs, activities for youth, assistance for needy families, among others.

Environment and Energy: Everything from weatherization projects, polluted site clean-up, energy efficiency, clean water, and more.

Health: Community health centers, SCHIP, health information, and Medicaid assistance are covered.

Housing Facilities: Public housing programming, National Guard, rural housing, and even firefighting assistance falls here.

Public Safety: The Attorney General’s office is getting into the act with violence against women prevention, victimization compensation, and fighting Internet crime against children, being included.

Technology: Basically this is extending broadband to rural areas that don’t have adequate coverage.

Transportation: This looks like the big shovel-ready kahuna, resulting in road, airport, in short, construction jobs.

If you want to look more into the details of the Recovery Plan in New Hampshire go to http://www.nh.gov/recovery/index.htm. I’ll periodically be checking into the status of the plan. As a career professional I want to be able to advise clients how to take advantage of these dollars by knowing who is hiring and for what jobs. I suppose if you’re far to the political right you see this money as tainted and like South Carolina Gov. Sanford won’t dirty you hands with it. But for the rest of us, this is real money designed to lift us out of Recession, while improving government’s and society’s various infrastructures.

If you’re fine with that, stay tuned.

The Pain of Unemployment

Posted on by Bill Ryan

The pain may not be as deep as losing a child, parent, or spouse and it may be better than undergoing a severe personal injury, but the despair brought on by being unemployed can be a close second. This is a pain that sticks with you constantly. You may be able to find occasional diversions or be fortunate enough to have the psychological makeup to exercise mental rationalizations that can keep you sane, but for most, if not all, the dejection felt by not having work is profound. This condition should be faced with the fortitude you would have to muster if one of the above-mentioned tragedies were to happen.

Think what you will of Raum Emanuel, the President’s Chief of Staff, but I love his line, “Never let a crisis go to waste”, or some such policy driving quip of his. When you’re faced with lemons, what choice do you have but to make lemonade. What’s the alternative? Depression, paralysis, and confusion? I would think you’d rather choose something that gives you forward momentum.

Doing something of value will help you cope. Your spirit may be so shocked by circumstances that to attempt a fruitful activity may not feel any more productive than just carrying on as if you were in control of your life. It may be very hard to pull yourself out of bed or away from the TV or away from the bottle or the smoke or whatever, but again, what choice do you really have to make things better? If a German concentration camp prisoner like Victor Frankl can find meaning and personal strength during his situation, cannot most of us deal with a comparatively easier situation like unemployment?

So, what to do? I suggest two things. One, get is to get engaged with a systematic and very personal career search. And two, is to consider volunteering for a cause you value. 

Use this time to deeply explore what it is you want from work and how it can best intersect with the rest of your life. Ask yourself if you have been on a path that you love and want to continue navigating or if you would really rather do something different. Either way, you can put together a self-improvement project and be able to devote more time to it than would be possible if you were working full time. It’s a great time to be both contemplative and calculating. Make finding a job be your job. Your boss is yourself. Perform for this executive as exactingly as you would for someone you really wanted to impress. Start planning. It’ll help, I promise.

Volunteering can give you something structured and scheduled to do that contributes to an initiative that you would like to see advanced. I don’t need to start a list of things that you can do. It is endless. There is no limit to the ways that we can make the world a better place in which to live. Find your way (or ways) and commit yourself to it. No, you won’t make money. But among all the intangible benefits that can be derived from such an effort, two practical goodies can come about… Uno, you will increase your network of connections that may come in useful someday, and dos, you have something worthy to put on your resume to account for the time you were not “working”. 

Best of luck with this life challenge. I know it’s not easy.

The Uncertain Value of Outplacement

Posted on by Bill Ryan

So, Outplacement is getting a bad rap. The service does not appear to be coming through the Recession with its reputation intact for delivering value, dependability, and reliability. There are three reasons for firms to offer Outplacement to their employees: it improves the firm’s recruitment and retention of quality workers, it improves employee morale, and it reduces the likelihood of legal challenges from angry laid-off staff. Given that Outplacement should be a wonderful benefit to offer downsized employees and that the need for Outplacement services is greatest when there are a lot of people who need new jobs, you’d think this is a great time for the Outplacement business.

And in a way it is. Outplacement firms are busy. For example, I recently tried to pick up some career consultation work with Lee Hecht Harrison, a firm specializing in Outplacement, only to hear that they not only had no work for me, but that their Manchester, NH office had been deluged with calls like mine. I’m reading too that there has been much activity at Outplacement firms nationally. The Insala Outplacement Industry Forecast for 2009 offers a case in point. 

But on the other hand, it is not good for this business to be widely thought of as ineffective. Recruiters are hearing stories of companies unhappy with the results of their expended Outplacement dollars. New Hampshire Business Review reports in their April 10-23 issue that a workplace review and ratings web site, Telonu.com, released survey results showing 94% of respondents rating Outplacement support as poor or very poor! 

Why such a dismal opinion? Well, the first thing that comes to mind is the supply/demand problem. There are more job seekers than available jobs right now. That fact alone will lead to some despondency. But where do these people get the notion that Outplacement necessarily leads immediately to another position? Yes, I know that’s the point of Outplacement, but it can’t be a guarantee, especially in these times.

If you have gone through three or six or twelve months of Outplacement service and are still unemployed does that mean that the service was inadequate? Perhaps. Or it just means that the Recession is really bad. If an Outplacement provider is very clear with you about what reasonable outcomes can be achieved, then you could go through the course and still feel that you gained value even if you are still without a job.

Outplacement should be designed simply, unambiguously, and as rationally as possible. This should be more about direction than dreams, focused not fuzzy, more coaching than counseling. It should be as much about skills as knowledge.

Outplacement needs to have the following features and goals. It should:

  • Be customized and directed to your specific situation.
  • Leave you clear and confident about the next step in your career development, which is reflected in your whole job search effort.
  • Assist you in developing job targets that include desired industry, geography, organization size, position, and company style/culture.
  • Go beyond Networking to include skill development in directly contacting those with the power to hire.
  • Teach you how to maintain valuable relationships.
  • Instruct you in interviewing, interview follow-ups, and negotiating the terms and conditions of employment, including salary.
  • Be a low overhead operation replacing cubicles and service-provided computers with your home computer and an expert coach.
  • Have available long-term service options, for up to a year, if necessary.

You should always walk away from Outplacement feeling that you’ve got the knowledge and skills to effectively engage in the job search scene. Remember, most of your competition does not have the quality edge Outplacement can give you.

Sure, it’s tough out there. There is even more reason to systematically prepare yourself. With a well delivered Outplacement you might not have that great next job right away, but you will at least feel that the time spent was worth it.