By James Santagata
Principal Consultant, Career OverDrive!

Greg Baldwin, President of VolunteerMatch, recently wrote an article where it was claimed that active volunteers were 27% more likely to get a job than non-volunteers (see the article and links below).

This raises a few pertinent questions for job seekers and those with jobs who may want to augment their resumes to enhance their future employability.

1. Is it true and if so WHY?
2. If it is true, how to handle this on one's resume?

I would submit to you that it is true that those that volunteer do have a much higher likelihood of getting a job versus non-volunteers but not for the reason you may infer.

In general, the prospective employer doesn't care about your generosity or ability to be magnanimous. The prospective employer only care about the skill sets and more importantly the value you can bring to their organization (we'll delve in the negative connotations of volunteering and being seen as a volunteer below).

The reason volunteers have a better chance of landing a job is two-fold:
1. The volunteer work, especially among lower skilled workers, provides the individual the chance to learn new skills or hone and temper existing skills. This could be phone work, interpersonal communication skills, sales and organizational skills and so on. For instance, this would be especially a key differentiator for new college graduates where the person managed the finances of a school organization or managed the group or club and so on. Basically, volunteering and learning these skills will pay off for your career more so than watching tv or playing Call of Duty or some other video game.

2. When you volunteer you have chosen to help others and participate in an activity with others rather than sitting at home watching tv or drinking at a bar. This means you will meet other energetic and take-action type of people, some of which will be in other industries, other functional areas or more senior or successful in their career -- in other words you will be a network on which to leverage. To identify job openings, to identify the hiring manager or an insider to submit you to the hiring manager and so on.
 
By understanding why the volunteer activities helps you get the job over others that don't have it, we have the necessary ingredients and recipe to answer this dilemma:

How to handle volunteer activities on your resume?

1. Some career coaches will insist that you always list it.
   
2. Some will insist that you list it only if it's relevant to the job you are applying for.
   
3. Some will insist that you only list it, even if it's relevant to the job you are applying for, if the prospective employer can call and verify it.
   

Each of these criteria of when to list it, again misses the mark since the value of the volunteer activities is NOT the listing (some listing exceptions discussed below) of it on the resume but the skills, confidence and network you build by networking.

In fact, by listing it, you may not be signaling you are smarter or better than other candidates but rather you may be worrying the prospective employer that you are "distracted" or will be missing days of important work or personal crusades or hitting up the company and fellow employees with guilt trips for donations.

Again, the value in volunteering and the increase in the likelihood of a volunteer to land a particular job over a non-volunteer is NOT due to listing it on the resume but rather due to the skills that are acquired and network that is built through the volunteering activities and process.  And as was noted, listing the volunteer activities may harm you if it mismatches with the hiring authorities views, religions, beliefs and so on OR if it makes you seem distracted by your volunteer work.

With that said, only you know what is important to you and for those that want to improve themselves, build a network or get crucial skills while an undergraduate, volunteering is a fantastic and proven way to do so.

Now onto the listing exceptions (that is, when you should definitely be listing your volunteer activities). If you are going to point to a specific skills that you acquired or proved your proficient use of at a particular charity or volunteer activity, then you should be listing it so that you can (a) have it written for all to see and (b) frame the discussion and reference that during the interview as well as to show enough value in your resume to initially get invited for an interview. This often happens for new grads as well as well as those with limited working world experience, such a homemaker who is entering for the first time or re-entering the workforce. For such persons, the value of such activities and more importantly the skills, lessons and experiences developed, gained and learned can be a major point of differentiation.

Original Article: The One Thing That Makes You 27% More Likely to Get a Job

by Greg BaldwinPresident, VolunteerMatch
November 06, 2013 

If you are job hunting, or just looking around for new opportunities, you have probably spent a lot of time recently tending to your LinkedIn profile. Updating your experience. Joining new groups. Building your network. Following your favorite new Influencers 
(hint, hint).

But what if I told you there is something else that you probably aren't doing which could dramatically increase your odds of getting a job?

It's not about getting a graduate degree, and it's not even about learning a new skill. And as for changing your perspective, you can also put those Tony Robbins CDs back in the closet.

According to the research, the smartest and most often overlooked thing you can do to get ahead in the competitive job market is to start giving back. That's right. If you want to improve your odds of getting your dream job, it is time to start volunteering.

Here are the facts.

This summer, researchers at the Corporation for National and Community Service, released new findings that tracked the relationship between volunteering and employment for a group of 70,535 respondents over a ten year period.

According to Dr. Chris Spera, CNCS's Director of Research & Evaluation and one of the authors of the report "Volunteering as a Pathway to Employment," active volunteers were 27% more likely to get a job than non-volunteers. And the relationship held stable across gender, race, ethnicity, age, location, and unemployment rate. That's a big difference.

Underlying the findings, Spera and his team believe there is a strong relationship between volunteering and the development of social and human capital -- key attributes in today's most desirable candidates.

The findings echo a recent LinkedIn survey of 2,000 professionals which found that 41% of respondents consider volunteer experience to be as important as work experience for job candidates. The survey also found that 20% of hiring managers have offered jobs based on a candidate's volunteer experience.

So what are you waiting for? Last year 64.5 million Americans volunteered. Which might sound like a lot. But it's really only a bit more than one in four of us. So until everybody else reads this and starts volunteering you'll have a leg up on 180 million people.

If you need some help getting started come visit us at volunteermatch.org. And once you've found a great place to volunteer add it to your LinkedIn profile and let the job hunting begin.

Greg Baldwin is President of VolunteerMatch the web's largest volunteer engagement network.

Additional Research Report: Volunteering As A Pathway To Employment

By James Santagata
Principal Consultant, Career OverDrive!

The New York Times ran a recent article entitled Young and Educated in Europe, but Desperate for Jobs.

There are so many myths and memes in this article, that sadly is preventing good and talented people from getting jobs. As you read through this article, you'll notice that many of the people in trouble are talking about how they took a college education, how they graduated and how they did what they were told but still couldn't land a suitable job. In some cases, they did land a job but there were greatly underemployed.

You can read the article below, but first allow me to put a few things in perspective:

1. Education: People seem to believe that an "education" is key to landing a job, especially a college education. This is not necessarily a key for landing a job. An education, some particular skills sets or a college degree may be a baseline requirement to be hired but it's NO LONGER a point of differentiation for you as a candidate.

2. Companies don't just create jobs to hire people: No. Companies hire people, when in the course of doing business and serving their markets and customers they find they need more people (volume) or new skills sets (ability). What you need to do, is to map and align your skills, abilities and potential to the company's needs and show how you provide value.

3. Having the skills is not enough: You still need to find the opportunities and then package and present yourself.

(Fire Your Recruiter!, Crush Any Interview!, High-Impact Resumes)

Europe's fiscal crisis has forced young people like Melissa Abadía to make painful adjustments and migrate to find jobs.


By LIZ ALDERMAN
Published: November 15, 2013

MADRID — Alba Méndez, a 24-year-old with a master’s degree in sociology, sprang out of bed nervously one recent morning, carefully put on makeup and styled her hair. Her thin hands trembled as she clutched her résumé on her way out of the tiny room where a friend allows her to stay rent free.

She had an interview that day for a job at a supermarket. It was nothing like the kind of professional career she thought she would have after finishing her education. But it was a rare flicker of opportunity after a series of temporary positions, applications that went nowhere and employers who increasingly demanded that young people work long, unpaid stretches just to be considered for something permanent.

Her parents were imploring her to return home to the Canary Islands to help run her father’s fruit business. It was a sign of the times, though, that even her own father probably would not be able to afford to pay her.

“We’re in a situation that is beyond our control,” Ms. Méndez said. “But that doesn’t stop the feelings of guilt. On the bad days, it’s really hard to get out of bed. I ask myself, ‘What did I do wrong?' 

The question is being asked by millions of young Europeans. Five years after 
the economic crisis struck the Continent, youth unemployment has climbed to staggering levels in many countries: in September, 56 percent in Spain for those 24 and younger, 57 percent in Greece, 40 percent in Italy, 37 percent in Portugal and 28 percent in Ireland. For people 25 to 30, the rates are half to two-thirds as high and rising.

Those are Great Depression-like rates of unemployment, and there is no sign that European economies, still barely emerging from recession, are about to generate the jobs necessary to bring those Europeans into the work force soon, perhaps in their lifetimes.

Dozens of interviews with young people around the Continent reveal a creeping realization that the European dream their parents enjoyed is out of reach. It is not that Europe will never recover, but that the era of recession and austerity has persisted for so long that new growth, when it comes, will be enjoyed by the next generation, leaving this one out.


[read more...]

By James Santagata
Principal Consultant, Career OverDrive!

"I can't believe it's already 11:00 PM on a Friday night! This meeting was supposed to wrap up hours ago!", you say to yourself as you realize that the "simple favor" your co-worker had asked you to do for him (you know the one that  was supposed to start promptly at 6:00 PM with the client arriving at your offices and then end at 7:00 PM on the nose) has once again turned into a logistical, thankless headache with you trapped in the middle.

Worse, you've given up more of your own precious time and energy, burning yourself out and potentially putting your own personal and work relationships at risk with nothing to gain.

Have you experienced something like this before? If you have, you're not alone. If you haven't you surely will.

Within your current job and along you career path as well as within your private life, you'll have the need and occasion to help others as well as call upon others to help you. Depending on how you handle this, your stock will either rise in value or you''ll be used  as a step and fetch it (in the very worst sense of the word) and become a dumping ground for the work that others can't or just don't want to do. You can also expect your income to suffer, your job satisfaction and engagement to suffer and your career to suffer.  And worst of all, you can expect your work-life balance and health to suffer.

If you're observant, you'll quickly see these patterns emerging:
1. Some people are pure takers ("Takers") and never, ever give.

2. Some people are pure takers ("Takers") and will give but only when cornered, and even then they'll try to renege or slip out of reciprocity given any opportunity.

3. Some Takers routinely underestimate the frequency and value of what they take while at the same time overestimating the frequency and value of what they give.

4. If you're like most people, you're probably not communicating the value of your giving and the legitimacy of your own needs as well as the requirement that you fully expect the "chips" you've accumulated to be redeemed by the issuing party whenever you decide to cash them in.

Now, of course, no one wants to live in a purely quid pro quo world -- one in which you need to keep a running tally of everything you've ever given to others versus everything others have ever given to you.

On the other hand, no one wants to be taken advantage of or treated poorly.

Perhaps the most frustrating and painful situation occurs when you're aware of these patterns but just don't know how to act in a way that will enable you to reach your desired outcome while also not tarnishing your reputation or standing in the group.

Below I'll share with you a few simple but powerful techniques to test, reconfirm and further solidify your relationships with others both professionally and socially.

You'll also learn how to first signal and then train others in the manner by which you expect to be treated. Don't willingly be a step and fetch it or someone's door mat.

You may also remember that earlier we talked about developing situational awareness by pinging (sonar) and painting (radar) those around you.

Now we'll talk about how to do favors for others, set a value or impute value on those favors, collect chips for the favors you've done and most importantly, how and when to cash them in.  We'll also discuss how to identify and filter out "Takers" and manipulators and we'll do all of this in an  effortless and socially acceptable manner -- that is, in a manner that doesn't disrupt the harmony of the office or the group.

Obviously, much of this will be dependent on the LSD Principle of social relationships and interactions (this is a core principle of Psychological Jujutsu and is used and appears throughout all of my training) so you'll need to probe and map out relationships while learning to calibrate your responses and "challenges". But not to worry -- it's a lot easier than it sounds. Let's begin!

1. Don't be so easy, don't say "yes" to every request.
If you "give it up" on the first coffee date, whatever your true value (cosmically speaking) is, you'll find that it will suddenly be very much different from the value you have now signaled to the other party. And what matters most of all, is the signal that you have transmitted and the other party  has received. 

"He's easy. He just gives it right up..."

So don't just say "yes". Find out what they want and why. Gently push back or at the very least, "resist".

Consider the scenario, where a co-worker, Joe, wants your assistance.

Joe: "Can you do me a favor?"
Or he may be more specific "Can you do me a favor this Friday?"

Now, unless you have a very close relationship with that person, your spidey-sense should immediately get all tingly while you instinctively reply (verbally or written):

You: "What do you need?"
Or "I won't know until you tell me what you need..." 

You can and should still say this with a friendly tone of voice but you need to prevent jumping in with "sure" or "sure, what do you need?" because there are legions of manipulative if not downright dodgy people out there looking to take advantage of hardworking and honest people by shifting their work to others, and they do it by setting commitment and consistency traps.

Alternatively, you may hear:
Joe: "Hey, are you going to be around this Friday at 6:00 PM?"

You: "Why, what do you need?"
Or "What do you need help with?"

A truly dodgy person will then ignore your request for more info and simply continue:

Joe: "Look, I need to know. Can you do me a favor?"

You: "Not until you tell me what it is". 

Then posture away, shuffle papers, pick up phone to make a call, check your email or move away for a coffee and make a mental note: dodgy....hmm.

2. Once you've opened a dialogue you can press further. Resistance and challenges build value, filter out the "takers" and strengthen relationships with healthy people.

Joe: "Oh, I've got Mr. Kilkins from ABC, Inc. coming by at 6:00 PM this Friday and we need to give him a quick tour of our service bay and then a product demo right after that."

You: "You don't want to do it?"

Notice that although you've phrased this as question, psychologically you've framed it so that it appears that the other person is pushing the work that they don't want to do onto you. And maybe they are. Which could still be okay as long as get a chip of appropriate value and as long as that chip holds its value and is redeemable later for your own needs.

Joe: "I have XYZ to do"
Or "I have another meeting." 

Whatever they say, listen closely to what they say, what they don't say and how they say it. Next gently probe to find out if it's a real business commitment or a social "commitment" such as having drinks with his friends, going to a ball game, etc. 

After all, you deserve your own free time, too. And if you're giving up your free time to do someone else's work, you want to be certain that you then receive a chip of a certain value for your service and that said chip holds its value in the future and is accepted by party you previously serviced when you decide to cash it in.

3.  Build value further by signaling your own loss to do this and quickly explore other possibilities.

You: "Wow, that's short notice, I've got a lot on my plate..."
Or "Hmm, I need to be at XYZ place by  XX PM".... 

And then add this phrase right after that:
"....so can this push (meeting) out for another day?"

Watch the reaction. See how the person comes back.

Joe: "I wish it could but I was told it must happen on this Friday."

If you decide this isn't for you, then end now and move away but do it in a positive, helpful manner.

You: "I feel for you. Would love to help but I've got my own appointment at that time."

By using "appointment" you've made it clear it's stronger than a "commitment" and it's also hard to break, plus it's nebulous -- what is an "appointment"? Is it business or personal? A meeting or a haircut? Who knows. And that's the point.

Now step in and assist. "Hey, have you approached Linda over in marketing?"

And then let this die out.

On the other hand, see what Joe says, you may decide to help out and by now the price of the favor he is asking of you is going up in value. By the minute!

4. If you do want to do it, continue with this dance (which is actually a form of negotiation). Also be sure to now set hard time and effort limits for any help you render.

You: "Look, I'm extremely busy / it means I'll miss out on XYZ / it means I'll have to reschedule ABC, but if no one else can do it, I'll step in because I know you'd do it for me..."

Watch his reaction....

He should say, "Yes, I would!" or at least acknowledge your gesture and that he would. 

You can then confirm and prompt this by getting his public commitment.

You: "So do you need my help then?"

If he says "yes" proceed. 

If he refuses to say so publicly and commit to it, then simply bow out and move onto your own things as he is ducking out of a relationship. He's a user a worst, a taker at best. 

However, if he says "yes", then continue:

You: "I can do it, but I'm pressed for time and have a hard stop. He needs to be here no later than 6:00 PM AND I have a hard stop at 7:00 PM. No matter what. So I'm letting you know this up front and you need to let him know it."

Watch his reaction.

You: "I'll need you to send me a email about this and his contact details to me in case something happens."

If he fights that or says nothing will happen and so on, then just end it with:

You: "Look, I'm doing you a favor but it feels like pulling teeth..."

If he plays nicely and then sends you that email, reply with your requirements and terms:  

You agree to do A, B and C.
The guest / individual must be there no later than 6:00 PM.
Your hard stop is 7:00 PM, no extensions, no exceptions.

This is perfect because it protects you in several ways:
1. Many times, unsavory people will use the "camel's nose under the tent" technique to sucker you in, and then the next thing you know, the guest or customer arrives two hours late, wants a longer tour or requests other info that was not agreed to. Worse, you may even find that due to logistics, you are required or requested to chauffeur the person around town after the meeting -- all while the guy who was tasked with doing this is watching the ball game or kicking back drinking tequila shooters.  Which is all fine if it were your job, you agreed to it and you somehow benefited.

2. You have memorialized the events. This protects you from what you have offered to Joe (yes, unsavory people can pin anything on a sucker -- that's you -- and make it "their" problem, so this prevents you from assuming a situation of all risk and no return). It also gives you written proof of the agreement and your commitment. Make sure he replies to it with an "I agree" or "okay". Let him know if he doesn't reply (by replying to your exact email) that the deal is off. Do it in a nice, nonchalant, no skin off your nose manner. But just make sure you do it.

Once you have successfully performed this service, send Joe a short email talking about it and how it went. And be certain never to devalue yourself by using phrases such as "No problem"  or "It was nothing".

Your next step is to be certain to , as soon as possible, cash in part of those chips by asking Joe for a favor. Never wait too long because you need to find out immediately if Joe is a guy who honors the chips others have earned for servicing his needs or if he is a self-centered skeezer or Taker. 

This will let you now. Quickly. Painlessly.

And by the way, the more you do this, the simpler it becomes until you'll find that it runs on autopilot, in the background, that you no more think about to do this than you do when tying your shoes.

By James Santagata
Principal Consultant, Career OverDrive!

Very often, it seems, we find that military veterans have difficulties in their transition to the civilian workforce. In particular, there is often the difficulty of landing a job quickly, this is even more of an issue when we are still dealing with a very bumpy or uneven economic environment. Even more pressing for many military veterans is first determining what job they are capable of doing and would like to do and then communicating that to the prospective employer or hiring authority.

The Silicon Valley Business Journal recently ran an article on this topic so for this post I'd like to dissect part of the article and offer some advice to the men and women who have served our country and now are transitioning out of military service and into the civilian workforce.

Veterans: Silicon Valley's Most Overlooked Talent

By Preeti Upadhyaya
Silicon Valley Business Journal

Date: Monday, November 11, 2013, 5:37 am PST

Mark Green spent eight months looking for a job in Silicon Valley after leaving active military service last year. He had been working as a telecoms signal officer for the U.S. Army, and expected his years in service would quickly land him a communications and networking job in the Valley.

"Between San Jose and San Francisco, there's a lot of industry there," said Green. “I looked at all the major companies in Silicon Valley —Apple, Google, Cisco — and a lot of times they didn’t even want to talk to me. I was just trying to get an informational interview, but they just told me to apply online."

Career OverDrive!: Many people, including civilians already gainfully employed, face these exact same issues. And it seems to be a real paradox. The hiring company may actually want to hire you, you may even have the right skill set and fit the corporate culture. However, unless you can (a) identify and contact the right person and (b) properly package and present yourself either to land an informational interview or to move your candidacy forward you'll find yourself blocked like Mark was. The good news is, though, that there are specific tactics and approaches available (see: Fire Your Recruiter!) to avoid the dreaded "apply online" blow off or redirect.

Green, who eventually landed a project manager role at San Jose-based Cisco, said tech companies aren't doing enough to help the thousands of service members who are entering the civilian workforce every day.

“Tech companies have all these veterans initiatives. But often, they’re just sound bites and spin," Green said. “I went to Apple just to meet with someone and they said the same thing — just apply online. A lot of doors were closed in my face.”

Green said he faced a common problem experienced by veterans re-entering the civilian job market: the difficulty of relating his Army experience to the business world.
....
But these efforts are still not enough to help veterans compete on an even playing field in uber-competitive Silicon Valley, said Green.
....
“Companies need to join together to explain to veterans how to translate their skills, what training is needed and what the options are,” Green said. “That will help vets be more competitive in Silicon Valley.”

Mike Dougherty, another Army veteran, said hiring managers often did not see the value of his military experience to the business world.

“I told them about being a platoon leader going into Bosnia with the 1st Armored Division across the Sava River,” Dougherty said. “And the hiring managers just said, ‘What does this have to do with this job?’"

Career OverDrive!: This is a big myth that entraps and then sinks many candidates: "Well, the hiring manager should see how my experience (or skill sets) fit in with this job." The fact is, it's extremely rare for this to occur unless you have a checklist-worthy resume (often  a cookie-cutter resume/background) that obviously meshes with their job spec. Expecting the hiring manager to see where you fit or to tell you where you fit is even more rare in a hyper competitive market like Silicon Valley and frankly in any market given the current economic realities. We can't expect nor should we expect a prospective employer to be able to understand how or why a candidate may fit a particular job as it requires the employer to put in too much effort and in some cases it even expects that the employer be a mind-reader. All candidates need to be able to map and align their skills and talents with the employers needs (both stated and hidden) and show what value they are able to bring to the table. In addition, candidates need to be able to develop a resume and other marketing tools that make them first a "must meet" candidate (see: High-Impact Resumes) and then second they must develop the interviewing and presentation skills to make them a "must hire" candidate (see: Crush Any Interview!). 

That disconnect between military work and civilian jobs is one major factor driving the high unemployment level among younger veterans who may have gone directly into service and have little to no formal training or credentials that hiring managers look for. The overall veteran unemployment rate in the U.S. is 6.5 percent, and 9.7 percent for post-9/11 veterans, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Dougherty believes that veterans inherently bring dedication, commitment and integrity to a company, but they may be ruled out because of a lack of a degree or certification. Dougherty said. “A lack of formal training can be a handicap, but you have to emphasize those life skills.”

Career OverDrive!: Most veterans have a lot more valuable skills to offer than than they normally imagine. Much of this can again be overcome by taking a talent inventory, an interest inventory, identifying strengths and then polishing the way the veteran is packaged and presented to the prospective employer.

To better prepare for the tough job market for veterans in Silicon Valley, going back to school is a good option, especially for younger vets, said Mario Asencio, a veteran who left the Marine Corps in July.

Asencio, 26, is currently pursuing an MBA at San Jose State University.

“I did throw out my resume to a few companies, but nothing came of it,” Asencio said. Today, he hopes a business degree will help him achieve his dream of managing supply chains for Nike in Latin America.

Career OverDrive!: There's is nothing wrong in seeking to acquire additional skills or to leverage the signaling value of a degree. But it's also a HUGE mistake to assume that "going back to school" will automatically land you your dream gig or that it's even necessary. The unemployment and underemployment rate of college and university degree holders shatters this myth.  The necessary skills to do a job can very often be acquired through self-study, short certificate programs or on the job training in a very short time while focused on monetizable skills. Beyond the acquisition of new skills or a formal education, the job seeker can utilize the SWAN principle of "Sell What's Available Now" to more effectively package and present one's current skills (and potential) which is far more effective, less risky and cheaper, both in terms of the initial direct outlay of money for the education or training but also the opportunity cost of not working during that time (that is the wages forgone or lost by going to school rather than working). Don't get me wrong, a formal education can be a huge asset, but it all depends on what you are planning to do now and in the future, and it is very importantly we realize there are alternatives ways to land a job and build a career. And as mentioned above you can't expect results to coming in the 21st job market by "throwing a resume out there" -- for 99% of the people, that isn't going to work. We need to stop thinking volume, stop thinking shotguns and start thinking targeted, sniper shots. Less volume, but highly targeted, highly relevant and laden with value.  The key to this is to send out small amounts, of highly targeted resumes and get market feedback, use that to then continue to refine and improve your resume and other marketing tools as well as your interviewing skills. Many folks, though, veterans and civilians alike, internal this valuable market feedback as "failure". Let me be clear here: It's only failure if you (a) label it as failure, (b) don't learn from it and (c) refuse to get back up. I know you're better than that and you do, too. So stay positive and working on continually improving both your skills and your job searching skills.


Good luck!

Here some additional resources for transitioning military veterans:

• https://h2h.jobs/ Hero 2 Hired is a job site for veterans that helps translate military skills to civilian job descriptions.
• http://www.studentveterans.org/ The Student Veterans Association helps veterans with resources to succeed in higher education and post-graduation.
  
• http://edd.ca.gov/ The California Employment Development Department has resources for veterans like job boards and a resume uploader.

By James Santagata
Principal Consultant, Career OverDrive!


"I'm worried (anxious, unsettled or flat-out scared) about my future. What can I do to protect my job or career and my future? And more specifically what skills should I be focusing on?"

This is one of the most frequent questions I get from not only new graduates and mid-career executives but also from current students and for very good reason -- the labor markets are changing on a daily basis. 

Not only are the labor markets being impacted (flooded) by the continuing globalization (and easy access) of talent but they are also affected by the ever quickening development of technology-based productivity namely: software, algorithms, factory automation, expert systems, 3D Printing (although it's a very nascent industry and technology) and so on.

On top of that, many jobs and industries that were normally protected either through the presence of asymmetrical information (legal, real estate, recruiting, etc.) or regulatory capture (venture capitalists, brokers, banking, taxi drivers, hotels, etc.) are finding themselves under assault as both technology and nimble, steel-nerved startups which are highly attracted to above market returns offered in these captured markets which together in concert are working to ultimately "free" this information and break the regulatory capture and the rent-seeking corporations and incumbents that have worked to protect these markets. What startups would these be? Well, think of names like Craigslist, Uber, Airbnb,  Kickstarter, Redfin, and AngelList among many startups.

So what is the answer to the original question? Well, to start with we should heed some advice from Canadian hockey great, Wayne Gretzky.

"I skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been."
-- Wayne Gretzky 

A good hockey player doesn't concern himself where the puck is. A great hockey player is concerned with where the puck is going to be and then works to position himself to be there before the puck is.

Therefore, wherever we are in our careers or in our career path, we need to look out at what we might expect our industry (automotive, information tech, food, pharma, banking, etc.) and functional area (sales, marketing, accounting, finance, customer service, engineering, etc.) to look like 5, 10 and 20 years down the road. In particular, we need to consider what social, market and technological trends are on the horizon.

One thing we should all be able to see very clearly and is that not only is automation of all industries and facets of society increasing but we seem to have reached an inflection point where given the huge world population and the ability to quickly tap into needed skill sets and/or engage in wage arbitration, technology is now eliminating more quality jobs (define quality, I know...) than it is creating for the current labor pool. This requires any candidate or person in the current labor pool to skill up in value-add skill sets (will take later what those skill sets should be).

It's hard to believe but if you could just think back (or Google) just a few decades ago word processors weren't ubiquitous and in many cases they weren't even around. In fact, in the early 1980's if you wanted to write  a resume you typed it, on a typewriter (remember those?) and that often meant paying a typist to do that. The same thing happened  for graduate and post-doctorate papers or theses. You paid someone to type it.

ATM's were not ubiquitous either. Some people didn't like using them. They were optional. Email in the corporate world was quite new, if it was used at all. In fact, many of the large companies was allergic to email even up to the late 1980's/early 1990's and would distribute paper-based (hard copy) memos and documents and then send a separate email - which no one would read. And the list goes on. Telex, faxes, voicemails and so on.

There are two main groups of skills needed:
A) The skills to do the job and keep the job 
B) The skills to find a job opportunity (or create one) and package, present and close on that job.

A) Jobs Search Skills:
1. You need the skills to do the job.
2. You need the skills to find the job.
3. You need the skills to land and close the job.
4. You need the skills to maintain and keep the job.
5. You need the skills to plan and manage your career.

B) The Skills To Do The Job: (broad level skills, but we can get more granular)
1. Communication skills
2. Negotiating skills
3. Influencing skills
4. Persuasion skills
5. Assertiveness skills
6. Leadership skills

As an added bonus, I would suggest:
7. Critical Thinking and Analysis skills
8. No Box Thinking skills

A heartwarming homeless veteran transformation in just 2 minutes and 50 seconds. 
If you don't get misty-eyed, I'll be very surprised...

By James Santagata
Principal Consultant, Career OverDrive!



                            Friend or foe? Can one ever really know?

In today's fast-paced, rough and tumble work environment, not only are the tides of fortune and personal and professional alliances constantly shifting, but your initial assessment of an individual, group, company relationship or situation may be completely incorrect (to your detriment).

So what can be done about this and how can you get a better if not more accurate read on the people, situations and relationships around you?

The key to this is to develop or enhance your situational awareness, both passive 
and active modes. Situational awareness is, in fact, a critical skill that will serve you well throughout both your personal and professional life.

So what exactly situational awareness?

"Situational awareness is the ability to identify, process, and comprehend the critical elements of information about what is happening to the team with regards to the mission. More simply, it’s knowing what is going on around you."

(source:  http://www.uscg.mil/auxiliary/training/tct/chap5.pdf‎ )

The trick then is to develop this skill on both a passive basis (simply receiving what information or signals are within your grasp) and an active basis (where you project some energy and watch for the feedback or return signal). 

Both passive and active modes can be automated by simply making this a beneficial habit -- "set it and forget it".

Now, let's look at the passive mode. This may be as simple as keeping your eyes and ears open for new information, both overt and latent. For instance, it may come from overhearing a phone call or conversation from an adjacent cube or work space, noticing documents left on the copier or printer, watching a co-worker's or customer's facial expression, seeing who goes to lunch with whom, for how long and how often and so on. 

In addition, by making a mental note or keeping a very simple spreadsheet of what is or has been received from what source as well as what information seems or seemed congruent or non-congruent along with the historical outcome of the received information you will begin to develop a very good lay of the land.

In other words, by simply watching actions and keeping mental or written notes it's a piece of cake to identify or even flush out inconsistencies, white lies and full on bullshitters. That is, if you trust what you are receiving and seeing as it is - the positive worldview -- not as you would like it to be - the normative worldview.

Now let's move on to the active mode. In the active mode, like a radar or sonar system, you simply direct a very small amount of energy at the situation or person to paint (illuminate) or ping it and then wait to see what signature or profile is returned.