Put Passion Back into Your Work

Tip of the Week
by Dianne Gubin

5 Ways to Put Passion into Your Work

How can you love what you do? What’s the key to putting passion into your professional work?

1) Consider activities outside of the office that you enjoy. Activities that make your heart sing. Can you bring this same enthusiasm to your office?
2) Let your teammates know that you’re happy, excited, and eager to be at work. Talk about your projects with excitement and enthusiasm.

3) Focus on elements of your work that you enjoy the most. Take care of the hardest parts first while you’re fresh… and save the best for last.

4) Make work fun. Consider inexpensive and upbeat ways to reward the team.

5) Set goals. People with goals and focus achieve the desired outcome and usually feel great about the process. It’s the journey that inspires passion, not just the result.

At the end of the day, when you love your work, you don’t know where the day has gone. Time is meaningless.

The key to achieving your goals is to know your goals. As we’re now midway through the year, this is an excellent time to dust off and re-evaluate your New Year’s resolutions.

Live with Passion, Purpose, and Focus.

Not sure how to find your passion at work?

Come to the Job Hunting Game Seminar!

A NEW interactive workshop designed for YOU.

Saturday Morning, May 30, 2009.
Let’s Keep America Working! ™

 

 

 

 

To see more of Stuart Rosen’s work: www.gurustu.com 

Nailing the Second Job Interview

Tip of the Week

by Dianne Gubin

 

Nailing the Second Job Interview

 

Companies are scrutinizing potential candidates more closely than ever. Often the interview process is initiated with a phone screening, followed by an invitation to interview in person. It’s not unusual today for a candidate to then be brought back for a second round of interviews.

 

Second interviews are opportunities to confirm a technical and personality match before making a hiring decision.

 

Here are five tips to move from second interview to offer:

 

1) Wear the consultant hat. What are the key challenges of the role? Focus the interview on how you can make both the hiring manager and the company more successful.

 

2) Be low maintenance. Stress punctuality, attention to detail, eagerness to lean and appreciation for the opportunity.

 

3) Watch that what you say you do best is congruent with the requirements of the position. It’s easy to talk hiring managers out of hiring you.

 

4) Ask for the job. Companies need to hear verbally that a candidate is interested in their position.

 

5) Think about moving in. If not brought up earlier, ask questions about the physical location in which you will be working. For example, if appropriate, ask for a tour or ask to see where your desk will be.

 

Interviewing is a learned skill.

 

Tech Exec Partners is committed to your success. We know that it’s a tough job market and we want to help you.

 

  

Let’s Keep America Working! ™

 

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Dogs at the Office — Good or Bad?

Tip of the Week  by Dianne Gubin     

Taking pets to work can be great for morale.  We all love our pets, but what are the pros and cons? 

 

It’s usually easier to take your dog to work if you are employed by a smaller company.  And it’s usually a dog that comes to the office – more than other pets.  Dogs relieve stress.  Have you had an uncomfortable meeting with your boss?  Pet your dog and all is right in your world.

 

Dogs are conversation starters.  Take your dog on a walk out of the office and you’ll meet everyone in your building.  And you never know who you’re going to meet!

 

Therapeutic guide animals have long been allowed in public places, helping their owners navigate the world.

 

Dogs are universally loved, or are they?

 

Dogs can slow down productivity in the office because they need attention.  You’re playing with the dog, someone else in playing with the dog, or the dog needs to be walked.

 

Dogs marked their territory.  If another dog has been in our office, your dog might leave “a present” to establish ownership.

 

Not everyone likes dogs and, in fact, some people are afraid of dogs.  And how does it sound to your important client when you’re on the phone and your dog decides to bark at a delivery person?

 

And some people are allergic to dogs.  Unless your dog is short-haired and hypoallergenic, you’ll most likely have some fur to clean up.  Better keep Benadryl at the office.

 

And then there’s favoritism. Can everyone bring a pet to work?  What if you have a pet other than a dog, such as a cat, ferret, snake, or tarantula?

 

The cons absolutely outweigh the pros; however, it is so delightful and so joyous to have a pet at work, that if your office allows it, it’s a great perk.

 

Personally, although I love having my dogs at the office, they are far too high maintenance and I feel so much better knowing that they are home and happily barking at strangers.

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  To see more of Stuart Rosen’s work: www.gurustu.com 

How Much Time Does It Take to Get a Job?

Tip of the Week  by Dianne Gubin       

 

How Much Time Does It Take to Get a Job?   The job boards are showing fewer positions; however, the ones that are posted are generally true needs for a firm.  

Want to get the call?  Tailor your résumé to every job.  One way to do this is to paste the job description directly into your résumé and make sure that your skills set and key words match the position.   Applying for a position online is an exercise in patience.  For the most part, your résumé will go into a Human Resources database.  Unless your résumé contains the key words and skills required for the position, your résumé will probably end up in the abyss.  

Here are tips to get a phone call:

• Call into the company and learn the name of the person who is staffing for the position
• Leave a message when appropriate for the recruiter or hiring manager
• Email your résumé directly to the staffing manager, if you can establish a contact
• Consider mailing your résumé to stand out from the crowd

 It’s not unusual to spend an hour applying to a position that matches your skill set and interests.  You many consider writing a brief cover letter, making it easy for the recruiter by explicitly detailing why you are a perfect match for the position.   Your time spend job hunting should include online database searches, resume submissions, and personal networking in your industry.  

Looking for a job is a full-time job.               

Let’s Keep America Working! ™       

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  To see more of Stuart Rosen’s work: www.gurustu.com     

7 Ways to Stay Positive in a Funky Economy

Tip of the Week  by Dianne Gubin        During these funky times, the never-ending bad news can cause anxiety, panic and worry.   Here are seven ways to stay positive regardless of the economy:  

1. Exercise.  An endorphin rush always helps your mind function at its peak.
2. Get outside.  Nature has a way of soothing stress and taking your mind off your worries.
3. Tap into your support network. Stay in touch with friends, family and colleagues who can help you maintain your balance.
4. Volunteer. Volunteering is an excellent way to give back to your family and community.
5. Sleep.  Getting a good night’s rest allows you to function at full capacity the next day.
6. Focus on your strengths and natural abilities.  When things come easily to you, you know you’re on the right path.
7. Gratitude and appreciation attract more positives into your life.

If you’re in the job market, staying positive is imperative.  Getting out of your home and into environments where you’re connecting with other people can help.    It’s easier to be lucky when you’re out in the world and talking to others.  You can hear about new situations in all sorts of places including parking lots, coffee bars and gyms.  Leads can come from connections in your larger extended network.   Employed or not, your career path might not follow the trajectory you planned when you went to school or started your career; however, new connections lead to new opportunities.  Down markets are forcing many onto new paths.   Use visualization exercises to see yourself in the professional environment of your choice, doing what you love, loving what you do and being paid abundantly.            Let’s Keep America Working! ™     

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  To see more of Stuart Rosen’s work: www.gurustu.com 

What is Your Greatest Weakness?

Tip of the Week  by Dianne Gubin

What is Your Greatest Weakness?

 

It’s the question always asked of both candidates and their references.

 

When asked, be ready with an answer that turns a weakness into a strength.  Be cautious of using canned answers as interviewers have heard them all.  Discussing “a weakness” can be a great conversation starter and gives an interviewer an insight into your communication skills and personality.

 

When interviewing and responding, state a negative and turn it into a positive.

 

For example, “I tend to take on too much work and have a hard time separating my personal and business life.  My work requires that I work with remote employees overseas and it was often 11 p.m. and I was still on the phone.”

 

Be sure that the weakness you discuss is NOT a key element of the position.

 

If you are giving a reference for a candidate, it is appropriate to discuss how the candidate overcame a situation that could be perceived as a negative and learned from this experience.

 

Weaknesses are strengths when lessons are learned.

 

 

  

     

Let’s Keep America Working! ™

To see more of Stuart Rosen’s work: www.gurustu.com 

Where’s Your Fortune Hiding?

Tip of the Week!

Where’s Your Fortune Hiding?

 

If you’ve been laid off, grim circumstances can force you to fresh starts and new beginnings. Regardless of shifts in the current job market, you still need to make a living, even if you no longer have a corporate job.  Through necessity you may decide not to return to the corporate world, but to start a firm instead.

 

Where are the opportunities?

 

Following your passion is always the beginning.  What work-related activities get you jazzed and make you feel great about going to work?  What do you do naturally and what would you continue to do — without getting paid?  Is there a direction in which you can lean to research new opportunities?

 

Consider unfilled niches with which you’re familiar such as healthcare, senior citizens, babies, the green movement, and your own industry.  Is there a new product or fresh service that you can provide in an existing niche?  The world does not need another picture, but new artwork will always be desired.

 

Major shifts in the economy always signal new opportunities.  We’ll always hear stories of people who make fortunes during recessions and depressions.

 

Fortunes are made during downturns.

 

 

 

  

     

Let’s Keep America Working! ™ 

 

 

To see more of Stuart Rosen’s work: www.gurustu.com 

Why We Are in This Mess

Why We Are in This Mess

 

To some, the new economy is much like musical chairs with fewer jobs available.

 

The government stimulus is being announced shortly and everyone hopes the trickle down will get the economy back on track.

 

America is sliding into skid row.  There are many reasons we’re in this mess, a major one being the dearth of manufacturing in the United States.

 

A major U.S. utility company is spending $5 BILLION in Brazil to purchase equipment necessary to be “green.”  The information was shared confidentially, thus there’s no attribution.  Our country does not currently produce the needed equipment and the utility had no choice but to reach out to another country.  Can you imagine what the $5 billion could do for our economy if spent locally?

 

Tech Exec Partners, through our Let’s Keep America Working! program, is taking a lead on the solution.  We are partnering with Capital InVentures and the On Point Group to produce the U.S. Economic Renaissance Conference in New York at the beginning of June 2009.

 

The conference will assemble a stellar group of American thinkers, planners and government leaders in the discussion and implementation of the return of manufacturing and the economic recovery of the United States.

 

We invite you to be part of the solution too.  When you can, buy local.  Ask for and buy American.   Let’s keep our neighbors working.

 

 

     

Let’s Keep America Working! ™ 

   

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To see more of Stuart Rosen’s work: www.gurustu.com 

 

Building the Extraordinary Company

Building the Extraordinary Company

 

The key to thriving in today’s economy is to provide an environment where ordinary people have the opportunity to do extraordinary things.

 

This type of environment can be created, no matter how large or small your company or department.  A starting point is setting a strategic direction that flows down from top management with buy-in from all and one in which the employee is empowered to take responsibility.

 

For example, if you bought a gown from Nordstrom to wear to an event that evening and the salesperson forgot to remove the security tag, you know that Nordstrom would come to your home to remove the tag.

 

It all comes down to walking your walk.  The more your company is congruent with your stated strategic objective, the better your firm will be perceived. 

 

The hallmark of a successful company is one in which team members share a passion toward a common goal. If a fitness facility has a marketing program touting wellness, then offering donuts in the waiting area  would be incongruent.  An example of alignment could be a pharmaceutical company which prominently displays pictures of cured patients on the walls, the purpose being to remind the entire organization that their goal is to save lives.

 

Regular meetings to review strategic goals, objectives, and deliverables keep everyone on target.

 

Every team member is important when it comes to implementing a vision.

 

   

 

Let’s Keep America Working! ™

 

 

To see more of Stuart Rosen’s work: www.gurustu.com 

RETAIN YOUR TEAM

Tip of the Week 

by Dianne Gubin

 

  

RETAIN YOUR TEAM

 

Alternatives to Reducing Your Work Force

 

The good news is that companies are still hiring.  Even in today’s economy, there is a natural attrition as people retire, relocate, or take leaves of absence.

 

Unfortunately many companies are still cutting back or considering downsizing.  Letting good people go should be the last option.  Here are some alternatives to consider before reducing your work force.

• Ask employees for ideas on how to cut expenses
• Cut nonessential travel
• Freeze hiring
• Freeze wage increases
• Offer a leave without pay
• Eliminate bonuses
• Reduce employee benefits
• Ask for voluntary layoffs
• Reduce hours for part-time or hourly employees
• Eliminate or restrict overtime
• Mandate use of vacation time
• Retrain employees for open positions
• Provide an incentive for early retirement

If you do need to end an employee relationship, try to do so with dignity.  Consider that you are taking away someone’s job and livelihood in an economy where finding a new position is not easy.  Consider providing a severance package and paying for COBRA.

 

Let’s do what we can to keep people employed. 

 

     

Let’s Keep America Working! ™ 

   

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To see more of Stuart Rosen’s work: www.gurustu.com