Do You Need to Switch Jobs to Advance Your Career?

It’s almost impossible to develop a great career without changing jobs along the way. Without change, there’s little room for personal growth. The best careers sometimes come from changing industries, changing geography or changing job functions. Other times, they require switching companies – or even starting over. Truth be known, “staying put” often requires the greatest change of all – changing ourselves. In career development, as in evolutionary biology, “Change or die!” is the imperative.

In our workaday world, our missions and ambitions might not be as constant, clear or inspiring as Father Boyle’s. To home in on a worthy objective may require significant introspection, including asking, “What would I do with my life if I didn’t need a paycheck?”

It’s as good a question as any to get you to brainstorm ideas for a career plan. But it’s not enough. Once you’ve answered this question, you have to consider whether anyone would pay someone to do what you’d be willing to do for free. And if they would, are you good enough to get paid for doing those things? (For example, I’d play Major League Baseball for free; but there are very few slots for people who can’t run, hit or throw!) Still, if possible, consider a career that’s a “close cousin” to what you’d do for nothing.

Then ask yourself what’s keeping you from moving toward that career. Is it your present job? Your employer? The industry you’re in? Your pay? Your boss? Your future prospects? When you figure out the key obstacles, decide whether you need to go outside your current employer or industry to pursue the career you want.

If nothing with your current employer interests you, consider an elegant move – i.e. one that doesn’t hurt your employer, that doesn’t involve going to or becoming a competitor and that secures a great recommendation and a permanent invitation to alumni get-togethers.

If you’re seriously contemplating a career change or active career development, consider the following:

1. Know yourself. Get an evaluation of your skills, values and interests to better understand how you fit with the career that interests you. Use assessments from supervisors, peers, teachers or coaches to understand your skills and proclivities. And on the job, regularly seek feedback wherever and whenever you can find it.
2. Study up. Seriously research the business or industry you think might be right for you – attend trade shows, conferences or functional training sessions. Read industry journals. Consider formal classes. And above all, talk with successful people in the career that attracts you. See how they got there, what prices they’ve paid, what they like about it – and what they don’t. If you’re interested in switching industries, hang around some you think you might like. In spending time with politicians, for example, I found that I would not generally like having them as my colleagues, so I changed playing fields at a young age.
3. Manage expectations. If you switch careers, be realistic. You’ll likely need to start at the bottom. This could mean less compensation, lower status or fewer direct reports; so be ready to make this “investment.”
4. Broaden your horizons. Pick from as long a list of target industries, functional duties or companies as you can develop, and ask friends and family who they know. Warm leads are always better than cold ones.
5. Don’t be in a rush. If it takes an extra year in a 40-year career to find the right path for you, don’t be surprised and don’t panic. You don’t want to make a career change only to find that the grass was not greener on the other side of the fence after all.
6. Ride developing waves. The best careers are often ones where demographics or disruptive technologies are on your side. Wherever there is growth and profitability, there are usually rapid career development opportunities as well.
7. Pick your moment. Career changes can be stressful, so if your family members have health problems or you don’t have resources to tide you over, think about taking a bit more time. I had a PhD agronomist friend who decided he wanted to “repot” in new soil, and by carefully choosing his moment, he became a commercial lender to farmers before ending up as a bank president.
8. Think about starting your own business. This can be stressful, but it’s a good option if you have a clear plan, the resources you need and a fallback if things don’t work out. Building a business is hard work, but for the right person, it can represent an exceptionally gratifying career.
9. Don’t do it for the money. You won’t find fulfillment from money alone. It may be worth changing jobs or employers for an increase in pay, but making a career change should be for reasons that will sustain you over a lifetime and give you a sense of legacy at the end of the day.

7 Steps to Finding Your Professional Mission

Fast Company has published the next installment of its Generation Flux series, in which they outline how “professional missions” can help shape careers in times of rapid change. The idea of having a “professional mission” is not something I’ve ever really articulated to myself; but it turns out I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about it…..crafting and refining mine.…without really knowing that’s what I was doing. It has helped me forge a career path....ok, make that "paths"....and it’s also been an effective guide to saying no to opportunities that weren’t the right ones.

Now that I’ve thought about it a bit, here’s what I can share about defining a professional mission:

Think hard about what you’re good at, and not so good at. Me? I’m a research analyst by training and temperament. I am happiest with an Excel spreadsheet and can pull patterns out of numbers. I also like to write and love the back-and-forth of a debate. I’m not a full-on process person or a conventional-wisdom-follower (to put it mildly). What is on your “good at” and “hate to do” lists?

Ask yourself what you care about. What do you care enough about that, once you get going on it, your friends shoot each other the “Here he goes again” look, and even start backing away? For a period of time, for me, it’s been how to prevent the next financial crisis. My work on that led to a real interest in the impact of the financial and economic engagement of women.

Your interest doesn’t have to be just one thing. And it can change.

Ask yourself how what you’re good and what you’re passionate about can intersect. That is the point at which you can use your skills to make a difference in something you care about. Perhaps you can make films about the crisis in education. Or write blogs on global health challenges. Or work as a Financial Advisor to help families get their finances straight.

Note that your mission might be right in front of your nose. Heck, it might be part of your company’s value statement already, if taken literally. For example, almost every Wall Street firm, for as long as anyone can remember, has said they put clients first. At Bernstein, we chose to really, really do it. We defined who our client was (the investing client) and then asked ourselves what truly putting them first mean. Our conclusion was that it meant getting rid of the conflicts inherent in also working for clients issuing stock, since their interests were in direct opposition.

But it may not be that easy. Getting to these insights sounds easy, but it’s often not. Experiment, and give yourself some time. For me, these insights involved lots of trial and error, lots of time with paper and pen, lots of glasses of wine, and lots of discussion with colleagues and mentors.

I didn’t realize I was a research analyst at heart until I was nearly 30 (which felt pretty old at the time). I didn’t find a different path for navigating the conflicts of Wall Street until I was in my mid-30s, and I didn’t come into my convictions on the positive business and economic impact of diversity until I was in my 40s.

Be prepared for some near-term sacrifices. At Bernstein, as we changed the way we did business, we lost revenues. We even had existing clients (whom our actions were intended to help) tell us that our strategy was a poor one.…and that they wanted us to continue to work for underwriting clients. Their rationale was that this would mean more profit for us, and thus more investment into our business on their behalf.

Finding your professional mission in a never-ending process. Your interests change, your skills can change, business changes. What you’re passionate about in your 20s may not be the same as in your 50s. Thus, this process is in fact a process, not a one-time question.

How Did Coke Become The World's Largest Social Brand?

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Coke's One Line Business Strategy...

One of the most popular posts I ever write was my 60:30:10 article I wrote on LinkedIn a few months ago. 50,000 views and 189 comments later, it’s sparked some really interesting conversations with brands about where their strategic focus should lie – especially in relation to time, budget and resources.

So I wanted to follow up on the success of that post with a brief look at Coca-Cola after I was pointed towards Wendy Clark. Wendy is the Senior VP of Marketing Communications at Coca-Cola Co. and I noticed that they have adopted a similar model. (Thanks Judd Marcello and Mike Lazerow for pointing it out to me).

Coke call this their NOW/NEXT/NEW strategy;

• 70% of time focused on urgent NOW tasks; immediate planning for current live projects
• 20% goes into NEXT; things that are likely to land over the next 18-24 months
• 10% is for blue sky thinking and planning for big NEW ideas or projects in the future; stuff that would be really cool but may or may not come off.

Execs at Coke keep this 70:20:10 front of mind whenever they are working on new projects or undertaking any planning work. I love the fact that Coke have such a simple planning philosophy. I also love that this adds extra credibility to the 60:30:10 which I have been championing for years.

It is this simplistic (but not simple) approach to strategic planning that has built Coke into the world’s most successful social brand with 89m fans. When I dug around the web to see what I could learn from Wendy’s content strategy at Coke, I learned that her approach basically boiled down into 7 key areas. I think this is stuff we can all learn something from...

1. Be Share-Worthy In EVERYTHING You Do

In a market that is now completely socially connected, Coke are increasingly are thinking about their audience in two ways: their Initial Audience—those they can reach directly (89M Facebook fans, 2.7M Twitter followers, 20M+ My Coke rewards members, etc)—and their Ultimate Audience, which is those people whom Coke’s Initial Audience can reach. For Coca-Cola, Facebook fans are just over one fan or friend away from the entire Facebook community of 1 billion+. So if they do their job well of developing useful, compelling, interesting and share-worthy content, Coke treat their fans as their global field sales team.

2. LISTEN. THEN Respond Authentically and Humanly

W. Edwards Deming once said, "It's not enough to do your best. You must know what to do and THEN do your best". The days of hiding behind two-sentence corporate statements have to end. This is easier said than done, so I liked this other quote I found from Wendy Clark where she suggested "Coke are still unlearning this".

In an article with CNN Money she said, “Consumers and all constituents expect more. Coca-Cola isn’t a faceless corporation to them; it’s a brand they love and enjoy throughout their day. So when they interact with us, they expect that same experience: a human interaction. There are more than 15,000 Tweets everyday on brand Coca-Cola; any that are a question, we answer. We have to. Consumers’ expectations are that we’re listening and responding”.

Engaging with your fans and building a community are two totally different things”. Mitch Joel

3. Think BIG. Start SMALL. Scale FAST

If you have an ambition that you want to double the size of your business in, say, 10 years, you had better have a big innovation pipeline to help get you there. When Coke are at their best, they think on a huge scale, but they constantly beta test that thinking in small bets to learn. To meet their innovation (and growth) ambitions, Wendy said that “Coke are trying to get much better at discussing failures or learnings. For a big company like ours, it’s critical. Because we’re built for scale and if we don’t get better at testing, learning and then scaling, we have the potential of scaling the wrong thing perfectly”.

“Social media is not a silver bullet. But social media makes everything else better”. Wendy Clark

4. Social is NOT a Silver Bullet. But Social Makes Everything Else BETTER

So much is made of social media and marketing that we can tend to overrate what it can do. Coke do not see social marketing as a standalone. Rather, their mantra for media and content planning is “social at the heart.” Coke think in terms of ideas and campaigns that are social (share-worthy) at their core and then think about how they can amplify those ideas and campaigns across their paid, owned and earned media channels.

Coke are constantly challenged about whether their TV and brand investment is declining and their social/digital investment growing. One of the reasons I love what Wendy is doing at Coke is that she said, “This is the wrong question. It’s not an EITHER, it’s an AND”. There is still a place for brand advertising (TV, radio, billboard, print) and I totally agree.

5. Content is the New Currency. Create Accordingly

Jack Nicholson once said, "Life is short. Act accordingly". I love that quote, and I'd love to think that Coke’s content strategy was inspired by Jack, but sadly I suspect it has more to do with the sheer volume of content that we now consume.

• 48 Hours of video uploaded to YouTube every minute
• 100Bn+ Likes / month
• 47,000 App downloads / minute
• 6,000 New LinkedIn accounts / hour
• 6,000 Tweets / second
• 200M+ Emails / minute

With this in mind, content creation has to be useful, interesting, important, share-worthy. Back in 2011 Coke noticed a massive difference on interaction levels between status updates and Tweets that they wrote vs. those that their agencies wrote.

Coke have also learned from the fact that in social marketing replication isn’t always a good thing. When they had a hit viral video in Coca-Cola Happiness machine, their first instinct was to replicate the film. They did and it had a fraction of the views.

6. We Might Be Shepherds, Stewards and Guardians of Our Brands, But We No Longer Control Them.

I have preached for a long time that brands are no longer in control, their fans are. Coke believe that at best, they get to participate and co-create with their fans. A quick skim over Radian6 social analytics suggests that 10-20% of Coke’s content and conversation originates “in-house”, the other 80%+ comes from their fans.

Cokes mission is to get invited in to fan based communities and co-create with their fans".

It is this attitude that created one of the most wonderful stories in the history of social media. Back in August 2008 would you believe that Coca-Cola hadn’t registered their Facebook page? Seeking a way to express love for his favourite sugared beverage, an aspiring actor called Dusty Sorg (great name), Googled an image of a Coke bottle and created a page of his own. Despite there being well over 250 Coca-Cola fan pages at the time, all of them had only a few thousand fans. Dusty’s page grew to over 3m fans within less than 12 months.

When it transpired that this page was getting heavily spammed, Coke stepped in to manage their reputation. The mistake that Dusty made was that he set up a Facebook “group” and not a page – so Coke had ever right of getting it taken down. Declining to do so, they let Dusty run the page – with some extra resources supplied by Coke to help him manage the traffic and protect their brand reputation. (Important when your brand is worth $81.5Bn).

“The difference between an audience and a community is just which way the chairs are facing”. Chris Brogan

This is a beautiful example of a brand truly “getting social”. By refusing to take corporate ownership of a fan-built community, Coke understood that the community needed to run itself.

7. Think of your Fans As Storytellers

Taking the principle of Initial and Ultimate audiences, Coke are increasingly thinking about all of their fans as storytellers, not just receivers of their content. This includes consumers, employees, NGO partners, media, etc.. So their basic intent is to create great content and tell stories that they want to be retold.

We don’t want to be a big brand on Facebook doing big brand advertising”.Michael Donnelly, Director of Worldwide Interactive Marketing at Coca-Cola Co (The world’s largest Facebook page).

• If you're a fan of good branded content, it's worth looking at Coke's brilliant blog. It's one of their owned properties run as if they are a media publisher... They don't want to build everything on Mark (Zuckerberg's) house.

9 Things Powerful People Never Say

Powerful people talk in a healthy way, combining the right blend of confidence and humility. They share authentically with their hearts and inspire others to action. Check out these things powerful people never say so you can become even more powerful.

1. “Because we’ve always done it that way.”

You don’t see powerful people waste time protecting the status quo. Instead, they boldly ask the question “Why?” They’re always pushing to take things to the next level, and they’re not afraid to rock the boat when it needs rocking, especially when it’s heading the wrong direction.

2. “To tell you the truth…”

Ever heard someone say this when they’re trying to act more transparent? Powerful people know that it’s a waste of words to say things like “honestly” when it would only make people question their honesty the other 99.9% of the time. Powerful people stick with sharing the truth at all times and in all places without adding conditions or caveats. And they’re loved for it.

3. “Not my problem.”

Powerful people like problems. They love getting challenges for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and converting them into solutions. They don’t dodge responsibility, but embrace it with statements like, “That’s on me” or “I’ll handle this.” When it comes to taking responsibility they dive in first, and when it comes to taking credit they put themselves last. Like Ronald Reagan, they realize “There is no limit to the amount of good you can do if you don't care who gets the credit.” They choose respect over popularity, sticking with what’s right over what’s politically expedient.

4. “[Insert name] is such a [insert insult].”

You’ll never see powerful people demeaning other people. Gossip is not in their DNA. They focus on the positive, knowing that their influence with others is only as strong as how well they treat everyone at all times.

5. “That’s impossible.”

It’s surprising how some people say things like this as if they like the idea of killing dreams. Instead powerful people build up an immunity to doubt. They realize we’d all live in a very different world if everyone who ever had a big idea followed the bad advice to avoid pursuing it. Powerful people are willing to explore the impossible and live by the words “I can do it.”

6. “It is what it is.”

Ever hear this one? These are the words of those who’ve surrendered themselves to circumstances and written off the possibility of changing it. Instead powerful people replace this with “What if?” They don’t set limits on what they can change and influence. Like the doctor who’s sent into the middle of a battlefield to rescue injured soldiers, they never give up, but do everything they can to make circumstances better all around them. They don’t focus on finding themselves first, but look to create themselves by adding value and meaning to other peoples’ lives.

7. “I work alone.”

These are fast becoming famous last words. Everything is connected now, and powerful people get that, and they maximize their efforts by working with and through others. To them, work and service are the same thing. They’re never afraid to say “I don’t know” or to ask for help, especially when they’re leading. They don’t let their pride get in the way, which creates unbreakable trust with others.

8. “I’m sick of [insert complaint].”

Powerful people avoid complaining like a deadly virus. They know that it’s a waste of words, and that it robs people of power. Whenever they’re tempted to complain, they think instead on a solution to whatever they’re facing. Instead of saying, “I can’t believe that guy just cut me off! What a jerk!” they go with, “That guy just cut me off. I’m going to slow down a bit so there’s no accident here. And I’m going to listen to my favorite song to get inspired.”

9. “I don’t care what they think.”

Powerful people do care what others think, because they care about others. They stay focused on how to share their story and join forces with others. They make every effort to connect with what others need and want. Wherever they go, they build friendships and expand their network to do things never been done before.

What things have you heard that aren’t powerful? What above stands out most to you? Is it challenging the status quo, avoiding gossip, and/or taking your impact to the next level? How will you become even more powerful today?

अमेरीकाको डिभि मात्रै हैन क्यानडामा पनि इन्ट्री खुल्यो

आगामी सन् २०१५ जनवरी देखि प्रारम्भ हुन लागेको क्यानडा सरकारको Express Entry  प्रणालीमा जुनसुकै व्यवशायमा कार्य गरेको र कुनैपनि विषयमा अध्ययन भएका व्यक्तिहरुले आवेदन गर्न पाउने भएका छन् । आवेदकहरुको संख्याको कुनै सिमा समेत नरहने जनाइएको छ ।

हाल प्रचलित Federal Skilled Worker प्रणालीमा २०१४ डिसेम्बरसम्ममा जम्मा ५० वटा व्यवशायका २५,००० वटा मात्र आवेदन लिइनेमा उक्त सीमा सन २०१५ देखि रहने छैन । कुनैपनि बिषयमा अध्ययन गरेका र कुनैपनि व्यवशायमा काम गरेका व्यक्तिहरुले Express Entry  मार्फत स्थायी भिसा आवेदन गर्न क्यानडा सरकारले जानकारी दिएको छ ।

क्यानडाको अध्यागमन विभागबाट प्राप्त जानकारीअनुसार Express Entry  प्रणालीमा निम्न तरिकाले अगाडी बढ्न सकिने छः

१) सबैभन्दा पहिले इच्छुक व्यक्तिहरुले क्यानडा सरकारको Express Entry Pool मा इन्टरनेट मार्फत आफ्नो व्यक्तिगत बिबरण पेश गरी क्यानडामा बसोवास गर्न इच्छा जाहेर गर्नुपर्दछ ।

२) तत्पश्चात उक्त व्यक्तिको बिबरणअनुसार उमेर, शैक्षिक योग्यता, कामको अनुभव, अंग्रेजी भाषाको ज्ञान, आदी लगाएतको अध्ययन गरी क्यानडाको लागि दक्ष जनशक्ति मानिएमा Express Entry Pool सो आवेदकको बिबरण प्रकाशित गरिनेछ । दक्ष जनशक्तिको मतलब उक्त व्यक्ति क्यानडामा गएर काम गर्न र त्यहाँको कम्पनीहरुको माग बमोजिमको शैक्षिक एवं सीप भएको हुनेपर्दछ ।

३) त्यसरी Express Entry Pool मा राख्नका लागि योग्य मानिएका आवेदकहरुको बिवरणलाई क्यानडाका कम्पनीहरुले आफ्नो आवश्यकताबमोजिम छनौट गरी क्यानडामा कामको अफर Job Offer प्रदान गर्नेछ । आवेदकले आफै ती कम्पनीहरुमा क्यानडाको जबव्यांक Job Bank मार्फत Job Offer का लागि आवेदन गर्नुपर्नेहुन्छ । त्यसका लागि आवेदकले Job Bank http://www.jobbank.gc.ca मा खाता खोली आफ्नो बिबरण प्रकाशित गर्नुपर्ने र कम्पनीहरुसँग सम्पर्कमा रहनुपर्ने हुन्छ ।

४) यसरी कामको अफर Job Offer प्राप्त व्यक्तिहरुलाई क्यानडाको अध्यागमन बिभागले क्यानडाको स्थायी भिसा आवेदन गर्नका लागि आमन्त्रण गर्नेछ । उक्त आमन्त्रण प्राप्त भएको दुई महिनाभित्रमा आवेदन गरीसक्नुपर्नेहुन्छ ।

५) कामको अफर नपाएका व्यक्तिहरु यदी धेरै मागभएको व्यवशायमा काम गरेका र सोही प्रकारका सीप भएको पाइएमा क्यानडा सरकारले सिँधा स्थायी भिसाको लागि आवेदन समेत गर्न सक्नेछ । यस बारेमा भने वृस्तीत विवरण पछि आउने छ । 

६) क्यानडाको स्थायी भिसा आवेदन गरेपश्चात ६ महिना भित्रमा भिसा पाउन सकिनेछ ।

क्यानडा सरकारले Express Entry मार्फत निम्न उल्लेखित क्याटेगोरीमा आवेदन लिने जनाइएको छः

• Federal Skilled Worker
• Federal Skilled Trade
• Canada Experience Class
• Provincial Nominee Program

Express Entry  मार्फत स्थायी भिसाको लागि आवेदन प्राप्त भएपश्चात माथि उल्लेखित कुनै पनि क्याटेगोरीमा आवेदन गर्न सकिने जनाइएको छ । त्यसैगरी माथि उल्लेखित क्याटेगोरीहरुमा यही डिसेम्बर २०१४ सम्ममात्र आवेदन लिइने र तत्पश्चात सबै आवेदन हरु Express Entry  मार्फत लिइने छ । क्यानडाले बर्षेनी दुई लाख पचास हजारभन्दा बढी व्यक्तिहरुलाई बिभिन्न तवरले स्थायी भिसा दिने गर्दछ । क्यानडामा हाल करिब २०,००० नेपालीहरु स्थायीरुपले बसोवास गरिरहेको अनुमान गरिएको छ ।