Jan

21

Daniel Pink’s book tour: To Sell is Human

Books / Career Transition-Change / Current Affairs

Looking forward to attending Daniel Pink’s lecture @ the Free Library of Philadelphia on Tuesday, 1/22 @7:30pm: brave the cold and join me!

While I’m loathe to think of myself as a “groupie,” I have really been inspired by the perspective Pink has taken to the way we can understand our place in the economic world (A Whole New Mind); also, how we can understand what motivates us (Drive).

This book promises to offer some interesting perspective on a belief I’ve held for a long time: we are all selling something. A good friend, a pharmacist by profession, talked about this years ago as our children were beginning to find their places in the world of work.  Teachers are selling knowledge and thinking; mechanics are selling parts and fixes; mathematicians are selling equations and solutions… There is no shame in being a great seller; indeed, selling one’s value proposition is what career acceleration is all about.

While I like to think of myself as a service provider, I am clearly selling an approach to life and work.  If you can’t join me tomorrow, I hope you’ll read and comment on what I share on this site and on my new FB page: <http://www.facebook.com/CareerAccelerationNetwork>  I hope to be relevant and not redundant: your active participation will help me meet my challenge!

 

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Sep

17

S-W-0-T your brand AND your target organization

Job search - strategies

A new post on the Netshare.com newsletter offers yet another strong suggestion to employ S-W-O-T analysis as a job search tool.  Since 2007, I have recommended this business analysis tool to my clients; now I am happy to suggest that clients check-out the S-W-O-T prompts posted by Katherine E. Simmons, President & CEO of Netshare.com.  Ms. Simmons offers some fresh prompts that can help with brand clarification, e.g.:

Strengths:

* What advantages do you have?  *What do you do better than anyone else?  *What unique or low-cost resources do you have to offer?  *What do others see as your strengths?  *How do you help close the sale or reduce overhead?

Weaknesses:

* What areas can you improve?  * What areas should you avoid?  * What do peers in your market see as weaknesses? *Where do you fail when trying to close a sale or reduce costs?

Recently,  I have recommend that candidates take the S-W-O-T analysis tool to the next level by applying it to their target companies.  In other words, use S-W-O-T as the framework for company research, e.g.:

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Sep

10

The whoopin’ in the Biz School back-room

Job search - strategies / Personal marketing - branding / Recent graduates - Entry-level / Resume, CV, Biography, Profile

A chain of posts through the Net Impact LinkedIn group led me to rant again about the disparity between the innovation that is taught in “better” business schools and the conformity that is foisted-upon new graduates.

Ivy League universities hire distinguished faculty to teach classes in “innovation;” these same professors rally around the need for change to compete in the global marketplace.  Yet as students approach graduation and complete their exams, theses, and dissertations, it seems they are ushered into the back room to have the creativity beaten out of them.  The Biz School back-room “whoopin” leaves new graduates wondering about their considerable investment of time, money, and faith.

Resumes must conform to a specific style to earn a place in the recruitment “book; ” cover letters may as well be automated, and networking is almost incestuous (maybe due to over-reliance on alumni).  I shouldn’t complain, as many students seek the services of experienced career professionals to flesh-out their personal brand and manage their job search campaigns.  (Look for CAN and other career strategists at the Sept. 17th PA Governor’s Conference for Women,  as well as several MBA Career Expos and the November Net Impact Conference.)

The NetImpact group discussion led me to a related post by Matt Madden, a Presidio School of Management student who is writing a book tentatively titled Status Quo Values. The purpose of this project is to explore status quo value systems – economic, political and social values – and discuss the role these values play in our society’s aversion to change.  The goal of the work is to define status quo values, discuss the historical roots of our institutional embrace of status quo values, examine the role our institutions play in promoting these values to individuals and investigate examples of institutions and individuals adhering to alternative value systems.  Sounds like a continuation of the dialog started by Robert Reich in his Fast Company issue, Your Job Is Change.  I’ll be looking for the book, Matt…

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Mar

12

Social Networking is buzzing in mainstream media outlets

Uncategorized

Social Networking tools, including Twitter, have attracted a lot of attention among traditional media outlets.  The latest edition of BusinessWeek magazine (March 16, 2009) includes a nice piece on how Twitter is used and how its founders are handling acquisition efforts by Facebook, Google, and Yahoo.  The article I'm referring to has yet to appear online:  look for "Six Million Users: Nothing to Twitter At."

NBC's TODAY show conducted interview with Kirsten Dixson, one of the authors of Career Distinction: Stand Out by Building your Brand.  Personal branding is one of the aspects of online identity management that Kirsten discussed with Jenna Wolfe and Al Roker this morning.

If you don't think that carving out a place for yourself online is important, think again! 

Posted by Karen P. Katz

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Feb

12

Are you “launch-ready” – see Mark Cuban’s Open Source Funding Challenge

Current Affairs / Personal marketing - branding

This is an amazing opportunity for those whose entrepreneurial ideas are ready to launch, similar to the government's criteria for "shovel-ready" infrastructure projects. 

Cuban offers venture capital to those who can meet his 13 criteria.  The competition itself will spark innovative thinking; the process will be public, and therefore inspiring; the winning business plan may spark a stimulus of innovation. The time frame is NOW – its all about responsiveness and accountability.

Need help writing your business plan?  If I can't help you, I'll find someone who can. Check-it-out…<http://tinyurl.com/djwbbu>

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