Ok, we’ve seen the State of the Union and the Republican Response…Lots of words, but conspicuous was what was missing.

If you are like me  (a political junky) you were probably struck by the same thing on Tuesday evening.

In all the posturing, the mentioning of people and places who need job creation – SoCal was mentioned – NOT AT ALL.

According to Indeed.com:  Washington has TWO job postings for every unemployed person.  San Jose, Columbus, St. Paul, Hartford, Baltimore, Boston, Cleveland, Raleigh, Milwaukee, New Orleans (!), Richmond, Oklahoma City, Salt Lake City, Pittsburgh and Austin ALL have ONE job posting for every unemployed person.

The rest of the major metropolitan areas (numbers 17-38) have one posting per TWO unemployed persons.

Los Angeles …. You know this, you can feel this, and you can see this Los Angeles has ONE OPENING FOR EVERY FOUR UNEMPLOYED PEOPLE.

Why is this not getting national attention?  Why wasn’t a person from LA sitting next to Michelle Obama as an example of what is wrong with our nation?  Is it that LA does not count in the primaries?

Or is it because we have a reputation as being in “LaLa Land”?

Well, I for one am tired of it.  Let’s Occupy Washington to fight for the jobs that Los Angeles deserves.   Washington has TWO many jobs – let’s get them to feel some pain.  Let’s have Washington send their “extra” jobs to a place that needs them.  Los Angeles.

Here are a few tips that will help you enter a new company:

1. Try to meet all your key stakeholders BEFORE your start date.
2. Try to influence the internal (and external) announcement of your new position.
3. Identify all your key stakeholders and have a formal meeting with them where you ask, “What can I do for you?”
4. Remember that your boss is a key stakeholder.
5. Ask your boss, “What is our mission?”  and “What are the impediments to accomplishing our mission?”
6. At some time during your first 30 days, ask your boss what “success” would look like at your 90 day point, 6 month point and your 1 year anniversary.  Put those items into objectives for yourself.  Work with your boss to develop and implement the objectives
7. Set up a regular meeting schedule with your boss.  (And other key stakeholders!)
8. Create a “stump speech” that describes your role in the company from the point of view of your stakeholders.
9. Use your stump speech whenever you can:  at other group’s staff meetings, lunches, etc.

You can find many more ideas like these in Michael Watson’s The First Ninety Days or George Brandt’s The First 100 Days.  Both books are excellent.

Remember that “pitch” you used to get the job?  Well, now it needs to be CHANGED to fit the needs of the new organization.  Instead of, “I am an executive who…blah blah,” it needs to be, “I am an executive who will be concerned with getting YOUR needs met by doing, listening, blah…blah.”

Remember that even if you have been hired to create change, you can’t do that on your own… identify your key stakeholders, spend time with them and tailor your efforts to their goals.

Remember why you had to go to a new company in the first place:  was there a skill (like delegation) that you were told you were missing?  How will you address acquiring the new skills you need?

Build relationships – good relationships are like money in the bank.  You develop a good relationship by doing something FOR a colleague – NOT by asking for something from a colleague.

Under promise and over deliver – always – but especially during the first 100 days…develop a plan with your boss on what and how you will deliver a key project.

Congratulations on your new job… and good luck avoiding land mines!

http://hbr.org/2011/11/why-dont-we-try-to-be-indias-most-respected-company/ar/1

What could be the downside?  US Companies are already (trying to be) ethical, to respect employees while grappling with shareholder value?  We are already “outsourcing” to India.  Now, if we begin to demand that Indian employees get benefits, pensions and a “living wage.” we would immediately become competitive.  We have the power to require that the people to whom we outsource can live a lower/middle class life.

I agree there are many Indian Companies with whom this will not work and with whom we do not want to do business – but living in “harmony” (as the head of Infosys, N.R. Narayana Murty states) would begin to force a normalization of wages.

My thought is that if the USA gains respect in India – the cost of employment in India will increase and we will get more jobs back to the US.  And gain back our reputation as the employer of choice.  What do YOU think?

http://hbr.org/search/tapping%252520the%252520power%252520of%252520social%252520networks/

As the article says, using a little data on who interacts with whom, you can visually identify good (and bad) prospects that may help you find work or sell goods. The article calls this “network science”—though you and I might call it “common sense”.  What the article does do VERY WELL is to provide a simple way to visualize who the key connectors are.

Guess what!  Many industries are already using this visual technology to drive sales.

For instance, HBR identifies the pharmaceutical industry as one that uses visual data to track which doctors are most effective in using (selling) their drugs.

Why not use this visualization yourself?

The implications for job search are immediately obvious.  Network science provides a visual picture of “low influencers” vs. “high influencers” vs. key connectors.

In the past I’ve recommended finding key connectors and cultivating them in order to find a job, but, if you are an executive in THIS economy, I’m tweaking my recommendation.

It is time that YOU worked to become a key connector for others because, as HBR notes, “Knowledge has always flowed along social connections.”  Why be in search of a super connector, when you can be one yourself?

What does this entail?

You must become the person other people see as the “go to” person for information in their field.

For instance, my colleague, Rob Cain, is showing off his extensive knowledge of the Chinese media industry with his new blog.  If you are interested in this area, Rob is the guy you have to meet.  And Rob knows about opportunities before the rest of us.  HE is the super connector in his field.  To get on to his blog, email him at Robert Cain” storyarkmedia@gmail.com

Congratulations, Rob, on showing us how to become known as experts in a field.

However, I’ll bet it eats at you that you are working your heart out and your boss is not.  It probably and causes you stress. And it certainly is painful.

From a systems point of view, the best thing to do is to let your boss fail — while you continue to do your own work.  Using systems theory, imagine that your office is a large set of machinery that must deliver a product to a client on a set date. Imagine that your boss worked for the CEO of the company.  If the product can’t be delivered, the CEO will have to face an angry client.  The CEO will feel pain — and want that never to happen again.  If the CEO is smart, she will identify your boss as the “gum in the gears.”  But the pain will only occur if you let your boss show her “true” colors (being incompetent) — you need to let her be seen as the gear in the system that needs to be changed. In this case the pain is introduced at the right level — the level where someone who CAN change will change the system probably will — the CEO level.

There is a the danger that your boss will blame you or others, so you should be careful to do your own job well.  And to “market” yourself internally as the kind of person that can be relied upon.  Internal marketing is not “bragging.”  In fact, it could be seen as the opposite.  Telling someone that you enjoyed working with them on the project is a perfect way to reinforce that BOTH did a lot of work.

And telling others authentic positive things is always a good strategy.  Remember that for every negative thing you say, you need seven positive things to “erase” the negative feelings and to have people trust you again.  (The name for managing people by identifying the positives the  is called “appreciative management.”  It leaves them feeling good about you AND you feeling good about your work situation.

Good luck — thinking in systems is a great way to solve problems.  And I’m knee deep in thinking about systems because I’m going to be teaching a class on systems at Antioch University in the Winter Quarter.  Call me if you want more books to read on the subject.

Pat 310 474 4447

Pre-Planning 
• Gather contacts’ direct phone numbers and emails
• Collect quantifiable facts about accomplishments for resume
• Prepare resume; seek help of friends/family for honest review and feedback
• Update LinkedIn profile to reflect skills and accomplishments
• Reach out to recruiters
~Dawna Mason

Immediately After Job Loss
• Add to LinkedIn Connections and Groups (ideally this is kept up on an on-going basis)
• Re-contact recruiters
• Notify friends, family and selected professionals with whom you have relationships, ask if they would be willing to share your resume or introduce you to potential connections
• Seek out someone you know and trust to help with interview skills – both phone and in-person
• Surround yourself with people who are encouraging and positive. At a time like this it is easy to begin to doubt your professional value and skills. Absorb the positive vibes of those who reinforce that you are talented and add value, which will enable you to to project a sense of self-confidence as you begin the interview process.
~Dawna Mason

The Search 
• Re-edit your resume multiple times to make it more readable and pertinent for the types of available jobs, many of which were at a lower level.
• Try consulting and contract assignments to stay in the game.
• Volunteer for a portion of each week to keep your sanity and to have something powerful to say (other than I’ve been looking for a job) when they ask what have you been doing in the meantime.
• Prepare extensively before submitting your resume (cover letters to the right person do work).
• Practice interviewing and develop your personalized spiel/answers for all the questions on every interview list you discover – even if you think you are a great interviewer.
The competition is fierce unfortunately due to the economy and the lack of jobs. Don’t give up.
~Mary-Ann Cogan

Conclusion 
• It is important to practice your interview skills.
• Attend professional network meetings. A career fair can set you up with several interviews in a short period of time.
• Go on interviews even if you don’t think you would care for the job. You might be surprised when you interview and it will give you valuable experience for the job you really want.
~Vivian Caldera

You and I have seen this in action with political candidates announcing their candidacy on twitter. Annoying?  Well, I personally have had someone check my linkedin when they sat down at a luncheon table with me. (I guess he thought I couldn’t see what he was doing with his fingers and phone under the table!) Clearly, my profile was not what interesting to him, because he talked only to others at the table.  The combination of job scarcity, talent excess, and easy access to information enables people – and hiring managers — to find out about you before the salad is served – and if your profile is not compelling enough, you won’t be taking to them over the entre.

This is, like all things, a challenge and an opportunity.  Executives have to begin to treat their linked in profile like their virtual calling card.  They have to mine tweets to find out where the jobs of the future may lie.  And (despite my own desire to avoid it) they need to build a facebook page.

A marketing expert I know, Freddy Nager from Atomic Tango stresses the importance of joining groups on linkedin, tweeting, and building a website to make yourself known before you are on the job market.  So, it is not just joining a linked in group…it is important to participate in the group by making insightful, thoughtful remarks.

And, for the few who are holding on to their resumes – it is not just a one or two page typed document anymore.  I have clients who have put downloadable videos on their resumes, used color to highlight accomplishments and sidebar boxes to add positive recommendations from their colleagues and bosses.  It is now not unusual to have pictures on resumes.

What does this mean for you?  Differentiate yourself using social media while you have a job so when you look for your next one, you will already be seen and known as an expert.

1. Start with yourself.  Make sure you are ready (physically, fiscally and psychologically) for the next step of your career and/or be ready to shift your career.
2. DO NOT start with your Resume.  This is a comforting place to start, but your resume will not get you in the door at the executive level, so don’t waste your time on it now.  Instead do a career “flyer.”  Always have that flyer (or brag sheet) with you.
3. Develop your own cards.   Feel free to put an abridged portion of the flyer on the back of your cards.
4. Steer clear of internet ads, career boards and any mass job mailings, as everyone sees these and at your level – executive – you need to find a job before it hits those mass boards.
5. Be focused and structured.
6. Never go into a meeting asking for a job.
7. Never ask for a job –ever.
8. Cultivate your hidden connections to enable them to flower into super connectors for you.
9. Never just “network.”  Give before you ask for something.  Even sometime as simple as “Will you take a look at something I’ve put together (your flyer)) requires that you have established a relationship prior to the ask.
10. 10.  Use all the arms in your arsenal – especially linked in, twitter, etc.    Even though you may hate using these tools, your next employer may love them.  +