Oct

20

Think outside the ballpark re: Encore Careers

Career Transition-Change / Generational issues - X,Y, Millennials, Boomers / Personal marketing - branding / Uncategorized

Watching and reading about the NLCS, I am beginning to see that encore careers are not really about age.  My evolving revelation: Anyone can create an opportunity to embark on an encore career by creating great value for an organization when it is most needed and least expected.

Think Cody Ross, the San Francisco Giants player who has become the nemesis of Philly fans during the NLCS.  As part of a team  described as a collection of “scrap parts,” Cody Ross “has become a baseball folk hero.”  Against the most powerful trio of 2010 pitchers, he has hit 4 homers in 3 days, a performance that has put his SF Giants ahead of the defending league champions, the Philadelphia Phillies.

A radio announcer in SF dubbed him “Babe Ross,” a reference to Babe Ruth, once a pitcher who was traded by the Red Sox to the Yankees –  a big oops!  Ross will celebrate his 30th birthday in December 2010 – I think this may be the equivalent of age 45 -50 for a small business owner or wage earner, like most of us.  If you look at Ross’ baseball biography, some interesting career-related facts emerge:

  • He did not play college baseball. Many  of the highly-compensated in business have no college degrees or have unremarkable academic credentials.
  • His goal had been to be a circus clown, a legitimate career in the arts which requires vigorous training.  Clearly he is a successful career changer!
  • His first 4 years were quite mediocre – his best year was 2007 with the Florida Marlins, a team that placed him on waivers in August 2010.  Is this comparable to a layoff with limited outplacement?
  • San Francisco picked up Ross’ option primarily to prevent their rivals, the San Diego Padres, from acquiring  him.  Applying baseball strategy, as competitive intelligence would be applied in the business world.
  • Cole Hamels, the 2008 MVP of the Phillies and (losing) pitcher of Game 3, said of Cody: “He’s hitting pitches that most normal people can’t hit at this time.”  Is it possible for we regular folks to find opportunities that most others can’t respond to at this time?

“It’s been a dream come true,” said Ross, who went 4-for-14 with a homer and three RBI in the Division Series. “It’s been an unbelievable experience for me.”

Is it naive to believe that those of us between 45 – 65 years of age can identify opportunities (perhaps through S-W-O-T analysis) and  make their encore career dreams come true?


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Nov

10

MBA, or should we strive for MBI (Indispensable)

Networking/Interviewing / Personal marketing - branding

The Reach Personal Branding group recently circulated a post that deserves wider circulation.  William Arruda,  a respected advocate for personal branding and co-author of Career Distinction, commented on a NYT piece by Thomas Friedman called,  “The New Untouchables.”

Arruda makes the point that those who will survive and flourish during challenging times are those who can distinguish themselves – those who can become the purple cow in the herd of brown and white cows.   As I prepare to meet MBA students who aspire to be the corporate and entrepreneurial leaders of tomorrow (Net Impact Conference 11/13 & 11/14),  it seems timely to extrapolate these words from William’s post:

As I see it, this is all about personal branding. What do you offer that is not available from anyone else? What emotional brand attributes do you add onto your competence that gets people excited about you? What unique talents and abilities put you in a class by yourself?

Will you make the case to a prospective employer that you understand their issues – that you are prepared to integrate your education, experience, and personal qualities in a plan that makes an overwhelming case for hiring and retaining you.  Will you make yourself indispensable?

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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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Mar

23

Executives: Where to find your next position in 2009?

Uncategorized

Thanks to ExecuNet for sharing their quarterly projections.  Our economy requires that talented people walk into the some of the same doors that others have walked out of…

To stimulate growth, companies are looking for people who can prove their value to an organization.  Do your homework – SWOT your target organizations – and present your unique value proposition.


B. Executive Job Functions Most in Demand for 2009

Employers are emphasizing business development and sales roles that can
push organizational performance in a challenging economy, according to
ExecuNet’s exclusive Recruiter Confidence Poll. Executive recruiters
believe leaders with proven business development and sales experience
and a track record of consistently high results will be most in demand
in the executive employment market over the next six months. Leaders in
a host of engineering functions, executive recruiters say, are also
among those with the most promising career options in this tough
economic environment.


Where Recruiters See the Greatest Growth

in Exec Hiring in Next Six Months

Business development
17.3%
Sales 15.0%
Engineering 10.4%
Operations management
(incl. supply chain, logistics, quality)		 8.7%
Marketing 8.7%
Consulting 8.2%
Finance 7.9%
Research and development 7.7%
General management 7.1%
MIS/Information technology 6.2%
Human resources 1.5%
Other 1.2%


Source: ExecuNet

Posted by Karen P. Katz

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