A Different Perspective to Career, CV & Approach

Your Career

A.     You see it in people, their career become their identity. They live their career. Their career is their life. For some it’s their social life, private life and main topic of daily conversation with family and friends. They have become defined by their Job! They also look like their Job. A lot of us become what we do and to an extent, we lose our true original identity. We allow our career to take over our limited time on this earth. It’s a fine balance between wanting to live comfortably and having the time to live comfortably. It’s a fine balance between wanting the best for your family and having time to be with your family. This type of person places great emphasis on Time Investment. Give up time in pursuit of Career, then Time will repay you in Buckle Loads of comfort in the future. It’s a great strategy if all works out! This is the Type who finds unemployment very difficult. This is the type who sees redundancy as a failure. They look at unemployment as a full-time job to regain employment. To an extent that they see unemployment and redundancy as a highly stressful job! and then we have the other type...... “I mean, what have you got to lose? You know, you come from nothing, you're going back to nothing, what have you lost? Nothing! Ref. Money Python

B.    It’s such a negative word! You failed because you dropped rank, because the only way was up. To take a demotion you obviously had some issues, it’s a penalty for lack of achievement or inability to handle the work load. You failed and the practice of demoting celebrated that failure The industries view of senior people is that they belong to high level career titles, and those who don’t obviously were forced to take some form of step down or weren't good enough to take a step up Imagine if our society enabled the perception of 'Demotion' to be just as positive as that of ‘Promotion’. If you can manage your life on a reduced salary, compensated by a stress-free better work life balance. Would your ego allow you to apply! Would your employer allow you to apply? Would your colleagues and family send you a Demotion congratulations card Changing the perception of career demotion will positively change the recruitment industries view of applicants age. If a candidate with 40 years’ experience applies to a vacancy which requires only two, for the same salary; should this not be the jackpot scenario for any employer. The Golden Nugget Hire the over qualified candidates. They are lucky enough in life to be able to take/ accept a career demotion and you are lucky to receive their CV

C.    There is no balance in work life balance. You sleep for eight hours if you are lucky. Between travel to work and work 12 hours fades away. So, we have 4 hours. That’s work life balance. Let’s not forget intrusive emails, calls, messages, work events, Christmas parties abroad and weekend team building events. All in the name of career building. So, when you are on your death bed, running through the last thoughts of your life. How many thoughts will you give to work? Now I know the phrase 'If you love what you do, you will never work a day in your life'. If that is your thought and it keeps you happy! So be it the irony of this situation is the concept that organization rituals enable an amazing organization culture. They probably do, but they do at the expense of the limited time that you have left on this earth. Like – really! Who do you want to spend your life with? Your family/ friends or your work colleagues? What about home office work? This is where work life dilutes into life, with no balance or attempt at balance because you are always at work for a company that teaches you to be highly productive. To complete all tasks as early as possible! One that entices you to go home early! A company that makes you forget about work when you are not at work

The CV

A.    Highly confident people do not need a CV. They are confident about the future and do not rely on the bottle neck experience of their past. Candidates should be judged by their future ability and not experience. Don’t rely on the past. That’s why it’s in the past....

B.    The CV.

1. The CV: A formal documented history of work done ?
2. The CV: A Pitch on ability to complete future work ?
3. The CV: A Description of what future work will look like ?
4. The CV: A Correlation of work done against future work required ?

C.    The CV is structured in a way to enable easy comparison. To compare you against another. It documents your past, drawing attention to what you have done in order to create a perception of what you can do. All aligned to the concept that the past reflects the future. Which we all know is not entirely true! Why allow comparison? Be proud of your uniqueness. Bin the CV and create a Sales Pitch. Forget what you have done, instead focus on what you can do. Don't forget to use all the career targeted keywords so your pitch will come up under all the searches. A one-page pitch should do the trick! Be a little creative. Structure the pitch in whatever way you want. Use a hyperlink to divert the targeted HR traffic to your LinkedIn profile, allowing them to see a more formalized document - or for the brave, to your Facebook page. In theory your pitch is a Career Campaign to draw attention to your profile. Enjoy fishing...

D.    After connecting with your targeted hiring managers. Instead of sending them a LinkedIn message. Use your smart phone, click on the microphone Icon of LinkedIn Messaging and leave them a tailored Voice Vitae……Not a voice message but a Voice Vitae. A description of your CV! – For commercial roles - This will make you stand out from the crowd. By delivering an audio pitch as a digital attachment means that you have a trace. A trail to follow. Give it a go! Use your Voice, not your CV and Go get that job!

E. Upload your CV to Google docs: https://docs.google.com Download your CV to any vacancy, on any device, on any platform at any time....... Use Google Sheets which you will find in Google Docs to keep track of every application. This will become your career application database. Give every application a rating 1 to 5 while colour coding your most preferred applications. Gold, Silver, Copper. At least 70% of applications should target Gold & Silver. If you want to practice your interview technique, do so with Copper! Never burn your chances with Gold and Silver. You only ever get one shot! After each interview update the rating. Take notes, learn and adapt Now you are in the mobile driving seat! Enjoy fishing across many ponds on your smart phone! Now Go Get That Job…………

F.     In theory one should just send a Generic CV against a Generic Job Vacancy. Both are trying to attract each other using generic keywords, so you might as well go with the flow! You can then have a generic interview and if you are lucky – you will get offered the Generic Job. Please accept the above as sarcasm..... To talk plainly and honestly.... What if we revolutionized the industry by looking at how we assess candidates in a different light. By considering a candidate’s abilities, interests, behaviours, and attitude! Search and assessment criteria could be broken down into the above categories allowing the CV to be a thing of the past. The job description will become an event and illustrated possibly through video. Through that same video people will be assessed in the present and not the past! The interview will join the CV and live as a memory of the past, replaced by an observation of the present. The assessment will no longer be an investigation of the past. The CV will become a video of the present illustrating the above assessment categories. Now Recruiters will search for hungry motivated people of all Ages, of all Languages, from all Experiences. Your job application as a candidate will be based on today not yesterday!

The Approach

A.     It is easy to get offered a job that you are a perfect fit for!. You know - The Square Peg into the Square Hole. Just apply to the competitor and do the exact same job. You may even get a pay rise and you will feel good about yourself.  “I always get offered every job that I apply for” – That’s what you will say! But you will never develop new arrows. You will keep shooting that same arrow for your whole career! Think Competency. What are you good at! What do you want to do ? Then Go for it and Accept rejection. But with rejection comes strategy, comes focus, comes Aim Eventually you will hit the bulls eye. Enjoy taking Aim, enjoy the new 

B.    Looking for a new job should be an enjoyable experience. Like shopping. You go in, look around. Try on some jobs. See if they fit. Go into other shops. Compare and contrast. Bring your friends and family to help you decide. An activity that people should look forward to. A great experience. You may decide on impulse or you may wait a while. Either way, you are constantly educating yourself while weighing up the options! Once you decide which job to buy. You pay by agreeing to spend your valuable time! As time passes 'Should be' will soon become 'Will be'!

C.    If I was fishing for a new job, I wouldn’t fish where everyone else is fishing…..Like why would you want to compete against everyone else? Why would you approach the same fish as everyone else, in the same way as everyone else, with the same bait as everyone else? I would think about other ways on how to approach those fish. Different waters, different bait, different fish. Different approach.....

D.    Would you not prefer to leave your current job while you are happy in your current job? When you have had a great experience and now open to have an even better experience. When you are on top of your job. Is this not the best time to leave? Is the best time to leave when you are not considering a leave because you are happy? I love my Job, that’s why I am looking for another job! Or you can always wait until something goes wrong. You know.............. So, if you are a happy candidate, you are a passive candidate and if you are not the happiest of the bunch - you are an active candidate, because you are Active for a reason! Apply for another job when you have no reason to apply, because you are a happy passive candidate who wants to become happier. I suppose that's the only reason. To become Happier not happy, because you are already happy!

E.    Isn’t it ironic that by having the option to move Jobs is a comfort zone in its self. The "I can always leave" approach! Why don't you make yourself Uncomfortable within your Comfort Zone by smashing your career flower pot and make your current job a success! People will give you a million reasons why you should leave-  No future, no pay increase, no bonuses, no progression. No Pay increase because No effort. No effort leads to No Progression. No Bonuses because no progression, now perceived as No future.......and we go around and around. It's the good old blame game and your thinking is that by changing flower pots - everything will change! You are right - Everything but You!