Tag: job search

April 6, 2015 Posted by dduncan in Career, For Students

Is there such a thing as Professional Loyalty?

This is my first post in quite some time. Please note that I have not been negating my commitment to helping others maximize their potential. I recently conducted a two-day Career Development workshop and a forum where I gave the key-note, that I spent several months preparing for. I am happy to say that the feedback has been outstanding. The ideals and philosophies that I have been sharing on this blog and in my book, How To Make It From The Classroom To The Cubicle, have been put into practical form. The exciting news is that there are more training workshops and forums already scheduled! Contact me and I will gladly provide details.

Today though, we will talk about an important topic as you consider the pathway to professional success: Is there such a thing as Professional Loyalty? In government based jobs such as teaching, fire services, law enforcement, etc., it is still common place to see individuals enter and remain for their entire career within the same office or district. However outside of this the story is very different. Gone are the days of entering a job out of school and staying within the same organization or in the same location for an entire career. It still happens but is much more infrequent. Recent graduates and those who are about to enter the workforce must be prepared for this reality, but what about the rest of us?

In a very dynamic economic climate things change rapidly. One day your company and industry can be high flying and the next year management may decide or forced to close up shop. There is also the disturbing trend of massive layoffs or compensation cuts simply to balance the books; which results in employers asking employees to achieve more with fewer resources. The long term employment outlook is being impacted by economic factors that are beyond the control of the employees. Employees now have the responsibility to consider these factors alongside their career advancement aspirations when deciding if they should leave or go. With this in mind, employers may decide to offer promises of future rewards if employees stay loyal, however what should you do?

The answer is not so simple, but here are some assessment criteria that will help you determine whether to stay or go:

Just because others are being let go or are leaving voluntarily does not mean you must do the same.

When people leave, a vacuum is created, meaning that there are things that they previously did that aren't getting done anymore. That means that there are potential opportunities for you to take advantage of. If the premise for leaving is to get more opportunities, then there is reason to stay in a case like this. However, if time is passing by and you are aggressively trying, but not getting access to those opportunities or management has made promises that seem to be indefinite, then it is time to move on.

You were hired to fill a position, with a promise for career growth and things are threatening to become stagnant.

Ask for time frame commitment. We all know that things change especially in the life of a company. Business needs evolve, priorities evolve and management is always trying to keep things aligned. Though context may change, a commitment for employee growth and development should not. As a manager I have learned that when there are no opportunities, make one. In other words management should NOT go back on promises made when it comes to employee advancement. If over a period of time nothing is happening the manager should bring it to their employee's attention so that things can be re-evaluated. However, if after doing so, the attitude and actions do not match promises made, then you know that it is time to go.

Growth can be achieved organically or via transplant.

Just like in botany, there comes a time when decisions have to be made as to whether there is room for growth or if the only opportunities exist elsewhere. It is really up to you as the employee to make this assessment. Very few employers would be pragmatic enough to make this call for you as such a decision is really in the best interest of the employee only. Sometimes the move can be a different role within the same organization. Contextually it is a new job, but consider that the culture, general work environment and the aforementioned economic factors would probably be the similar if not the same.

Fundamentally, loyalty is a two-way street. As an employee, you should be as loyal as the employer is loyal to you. If things are not exactly perfect, but there is constant reassurance from management that they will honor their commitment to you, then that is worthy of holding on to. However, if there is nothing but empty or broken promises and a general apathy to your overall growth, then RUN! Unfortunately in my tenure I have seen many folks stay when they definitely should have left and companies allow promising employees to leave when there was good reason to incentivize their staying.

I will summarize it by saying as long as you have evidence as to why you should stay then stay, but if after an honest assessment you determine that there is no commitment toward your growth AND there are no opportunities for you to take advantage of, then it is time to move on. To simply answer today's question, yes there is such a thing as professional loyalty; it is a shared responsibility between the employer and employee.

Until next time remember: as long as you have life you should live it to your fullest potential.

Tags: career, career development, Deon, Deon Duncan, Deon E Duncan, Duncan, How to make it from the classroom to the cubicle, job search, loyalty, self development, self management, weekly wisdom

July 25, 2014 Posted by dduncan in Career, For Students

Why Internships?

Hi, my name is Deon and I am a product of internships. I saw a funny picture circulating on the internet recently. It was an image of a chicken and an egg. The egg was wearing a graduation cap and what seemed to be his hen mother cutting a very forlorn figure on what is supposed to be a joyous occasion. The caption read, "To get a job you need experience, and to gain experience you need a job". I have to admit at first it seemed really hilarious. Then after a few days pondering on it, it seemed less funny and more of a humorous take on a very serious issue.

Every year thousands of students graduate from university with their diplomas in hand. Their reward-- an arduous job search that is rife with uncertainty. As far as I have noticed, things have definitely evolved since the days of my post-graduation job search. One of the most overwhelming factors is the number of experienced hires that have flooded the market. Years of systematic layoffs have impacted hiring practices on two fronts: there are fewer jobs and more graduates to go around and secondly, there is stiff competition from the experienced hire community. Another difference I have observed is that many hiring managers have scaled back on the number of "fresh graduate" hires. The reason? Budgets that were once set aside for comprehensive training programs have been reduced and in some firms cut all together. Instead, recruiters are looking for hires who can contribute from day one, which usually means that the new graduate without any experience sometimes gets overlooked. What then is the answer to this dilemma? You guessed it, internships.

An internship is defined by dictionary.com as: any official or formal program to provide practical experience for beginners in an occupation or profession. Internships were invented to give soon to be, as well as newly minted graduates an opportunity to gain some useful experience. The concept is great. It gives young professionals valid experience with which they can bolster their resumes and get a leg up on others who have none. Internships can start from as early as high school. I remember my first internship. It was in high school back in the day. I worked as a graphics design artist for an advertising agency. It was a very insightful experience and I learned a lot during that summer. The biggest lesson? Graphics design work was not for me. It was not that I was not good at it, I was decent. But those who I worked with were so much better, talented and artistic. It helped me realize that it was something that I was good at but not passionate about, which is a feature that makes internships so valuable.

Internships not only give you an opportunity to get some experience, but as in my case, it also serves as a dry run into the industry or the company that you are interested in. Lucky for me, I had my first while in high school, which gave me ample time to change the academic qualifications that I would then pursue. However, many college students find themselves switching majors based on internship experiences as well.

The benefits of internships are also great for the organization. As a hiring manager, an internship gives you an opportunity to assess a potential hire much more effectively than an interview ever would. With an interview, you have to make a decision based on evidence. But, you are also taking a risk that hopefully what you observed during the hiring process will actually work out in the long term. With an internship, you get some extra time and you don't have any long-term commitments to make a full-time hire. If you like them you can move forward, if not you can move on.

When it comes to internships, experience is more important than pay. I have known individuals who have turned down excellent internship opportunities because they simply could not afford to work for very little pay. My advice is that the onus is on you to make it work, as long as you are getting the right experience. Any experience, and I mean any experience is better than none at all. Even if your internship is only for 2 half days a week, the learning on the job has much more developmental value than sitting in a class room.

I close with this, I fully endorse internships. If possible one should have at least a few before graduating college, starting while in high school. Nothing could better prepare you for work than actual work. Some places have formal programs, others have co-ops which offer students credit toward their graduation requirement. The rest may depend on the manager or department to make it happen. Whatever the arrangement, just remember it takes a considerable time commitment on the part of the employees to facilitate an intern, so maximize it!

Until next time remember, as long as you have life, you should live it to your fullest potential.
Tags: career, Deon, Deon Duncan, Deon E Duncan, How to make it from the classroom to the cubicle, job search, self development, weekly wisdom

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June 6, 2014 Posted by dduncan in Career
How to recognize an opportunity

Building a career is a tricky business. Gone are the days where once out of school you start working and remain in the same job for your entire career and then retire. It is still possible, but definitely not as common place as it used to be. This means that there is some level of mobility and flexibility required if you are truly going to maximize your potential and further your career. For this to happen you must be capable of recognizing an opportunity when you see one.
There are many factors that go into recognizing an opportunity, they are definitely contextual and dependent on your perspective. For example, if you are making $100 a week and you have been desiring a salary increase and you have an offer for a promotion, but for less or the same salary, your immediate response might be to reject that offer. On the other hand if you have a job offer for $1000 a week and working less hours you will probably jump at that opportunity immediately. You see, your deepest desire is not for a promotion, it is for a salary increase, so it is reasonable to ignore such and offer. And when one shows up that is exactly what you want then it is equally as reasonable to accept. However, your analysis should go deeper.
It is important to properly assess what an opportunity has to offer. It is far too easy to reach for the obvious while neglecting the long term implications on your career. As such to effectively determine whether something is for you, review the following two perspectives:
Where does this opportunity leads to?
Always consider where your career will be when considering an opportunity. Career advancement is extremely important and should be always in the foremost of your mind. If you are going to be exposed to new training and experiences that will make you more marketable and well rounded as a professional, then you cannot lose. This is irrespective of whether or not you make less money in the short term.
What is this opportunity rescuing me from?
OK, some opportunities are far from the ideal and we sometimes look at them void of context and overlook how important it can be in giving you a way out of your current situation. Have you ever come across someone who was unemployed, under-employed or totally hated their job? We all have at some point. In some cases they may overlook an excellent opportunity because it does not measure up to the ideal situation that they were looking for. In such cases it is important for them to consider the fact that any opportunity that is an improvement to the one that you currently have is one worth seriously considering. Sometimes to our dismay, we watch then spurn a chance for advancement in exchange to staying in the same old position, some even have the audacity to keep complaining. Do not let this be you!
Anything that smells like progress is an opportunity worth considering. Don't be enamored by only the big breaks in life. They don't always come when we want them and frankly they may never come the way we envision them. Grow your career steadily by making most of every opportunity that comes your way, regardless of how small or unexpected it may be. By doing so you will be in the right position to make the most of the big break when it does come.
Until next time remember, As long as you have life, you should live it to your fullest potential.
Tags: career, Deon, Deon Duncan, Deon E Duncan, Duncan, How to make it from the classroom to the cubicle, job search, self development, weekly wisdom

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September 30, 2013 Posted by dduncan in Career
What is the big deal about Resumes?

Far too many individuals under-utilize this important career tool. I have seen instances where individuals were more than qualified for a particular position, but because their resume did not showcase their qualifications properly they were overlooked for an interview. So what is the big deal about resumes anyway? Today I will share with you how resumes can make or break your job search.
Before I share some advice, I will start with this; there are many resources online, so there are not many excuses you can offer for not knowing what type of resume is required for your specific professional field. I will go further on to say that my experience includes spending a considerable portion of my time on recruiting. Which means that for each of the many interviews and professional screenings I have conducted, there were scores of resumes reviewed. That number has definitely tallied into the thousands to date. Therefore it is out of this qualified experience I present these tips. Here goes:
1. Don't lie - of all of the do's and don’ts this gets you in the most trouble. If you want a definitive statement on this point, I offer this: Assume that every fact on your resume will be checked. There are some instances when a candidate can be forgiven for exaggerating or overselling his/her experience, especially in cases where they were really trying to make something mundane seem really important or significant. Generally a good interviewer knows how to get clarity on these matters. However a full-fledged lie like, graduating from a university that you did not attend or never completed is an immediate disqualification and blacklisting.
2. Be as concise as possible - resumes that are unnecessarily too long can be subject to the same time treatment as a short resume. When faced with a 3 or more paged resume I usually skip through the sections. Quite frankly, I read the current or most recent experience and then jump to the education section. Only if something in those sections catch my eye, then I reluctantly read on. If not, I move on to the next resume. This means that there may be some very qualified persons whose resumes have come across my desk, but because they were too verbose I passed them over. You have to understand that at any given moment there may be several to dozens of resumes to review, so on a light day I may be prone to spend more time on each one, but on heavier days super long resumes have very slim chances if the relevant experience that I need is not on the first page.
3. Tailor your resume to the position applied for - as a follow-up to point 2, if you do find yourself with a lot of facts to showcase pick the ones that are relevant to the position that you are applying for. In other words if you are applying to be a Financial Analyst, that job you had during high school cleaning tables at the local ice-cream shop may not make the cut. The essence of a resume is not to put every single experience you ever had (even though strong cases can be made for junior hires) but to showcase only the experience that help match you to the position that you are applying to.
4. Use a cover letter - there may be some instances that you want to be more verbose in explaining a certain part of your experience. A cover letter as an attachment to your resume is a very useful item. For example, you have taken a year off of work to travel as a volunteer, or you took time off to raise a child. You may want to use a cover letter in these cases as the time gaps on your resume may not translate well with your prospective employer. There was one in particular that I recall who felt the need to explain why they had 4 positions within 12 months, turned out to be for very plausible reasons. Without it, I would have been left wondering as to what took place. A cover letter gives you a chance to answer before any questions are asked, see this as the ultimate fail-safe.
5. Follow up - when the resume is submitted, the process has only just begun. You will be well served to follow up any application with an email or phone call. The follow up is not for the employer, the follow up is for you. Too often people just apply and don't follow up. You are leaving things to chance when you don’t follow up. When you follow up correctly and strategically, then you would not give the impression that you are stalking the individual who is processing the applications. Don't leave your future up to chance; follow up at least for a confirmation of the receipt of your application.
There is too much info on this topic to write it all in one blog, so another time I will probably share from a different perspective. However, I will like to remind you that the interview process begins once you submit your resume and in some instances you are halfway there once you get called in for an actual interview. An actual interview is an opportunity to build upon the initial impression rendered by your resume.
Until next time remember: As long as you have life, you should live it to your fullest potential.
Tags: career, Deon, Deon Duncan, Deon E Duncan, How to make it from the classroom to the cubicle, job search, resume