Author Archives: bryandilts

Goals that make the world bend around you

Posted on August 31, 2011 | Leave a comment

In absence of clearly defined goals, we become strangely loyal to performing daily acts of trivia.  (unkn)

Are goals useful?

One famous study showed that people with written goals coming out of college earned several times more than people without written goals. But, look at yourself.  If you still have the same written or unwritten goals you had 10 years ago, you are the exception.

Goals change. The real secret is to have specific written goals and expect them to change.

Goals that make the world bend around you

You will do better if you are striving to BECOME something much greater than you are now.  The world reshapes itself around you when you refuse to take the path of least resistance.  If you set 20 year goals that inspire you today, you will enjoy life more today and next year.  Your goals will change because you have grown to the point that you can see more important goals.  You will develop a vision of your future that is clearer and brighter than you have today. That is a good reason to change your goals.

A part of the goals secret is to have goals in the areas of your life that matter most.  Money is important. Job and career goals are essential for progress.  You also need goals about your family growth, social maturity, physical fitness, emotional strength and spiritual development.

For example, your goal could be to run 2 miles in 15 minutes in 2031.  If you really think about that goal, you need to strengthen your legs and knees, not pound them into arthritis.  That goal could inspire you to include bicycling, swimming or rowing in your fitness regime so that your knees will last throughout your life. That goal may change to being able to swim a mile in 2031 because of changes in your health.

A social goal could be to have a network of 1000 people who are leaders in their own field in 2031.  To get there you will have to have intermediate goals of recognizing, getting to know, helping, tracking and staying in contact with those people.  A goal like that would also be a great help to a career goal to become CEO of a company. Later your social goal may change to having a network of 2000 people who will help you fund medical research, and it may include all the same people as your original goal.

Remember, goals change.  The 20 year goals I just mentioned would be great goals for a computer technician, salesperson or CEO.  If you open your mind and see into the future, you will be able to pick out goals for the year 2031 that will help you now, and still matter in 2031.  If your goals are important to you, you will find you achieve most of them in much less than the 20 year, 5 year or 1 year horizon you set.

Something To Do Today

In your journal first make a list of the most important overall aspects of life.  I suggest: money, career, social, physical fitness, emotional and spiritual.  Then list a goal you can work towards BEING in 20 years, 5 years and 1 year.  Each goal should fit in with all the others.  Goals are about becoming better as the world shifts around you.

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Posted in Accomplishments, Perseverance, Time management

5 steps to acclerate your personal career growth curve

Posted on August 30, 2011 | Leave a comment

When I started at EDS I was learning at an incredible rate.  Pay raises came quickly and easily.  By my third year things slowed down.  By my fifth year I settled into a dreary cycle of little new personal growth and cost of living raises. I managed to get assigned to a new team using a new technology and my growth accelerated for a year, then it dropped back to the dreary level. That’s an example of my personal growth curve.

How fast you are growing to get where you want to go is your personal growth curve.  Once you stop growing you are flat-lining.  In hospitals flat-lining means there is no pulse, you are dead.  In your career, flat-lining means that your career has stopped completely and the business world is starting to pass you by.

To get growing again you need to learn, get new responsibilities and get recognized.  At EDS I volunteered and pestered my managers for the chance to use new technology.  Since no one else had a clue and I had read a couple of books on the subject, I got to become the “owner” of that technology.  Preparation and repeatedly selling myself to my managers preceded my advancement.

Whether you want to grow as a manager, salesperson or technician, you need to follow these steps:

  1. Find out what is going to be needed IN THE FUTURE
  2. Study and prepare to fill that future need
  3. Sell yourself repeatedly and constantly to get the new responsibility
  4. Excel at your new job
  5. Start over

Step 1 and 2 can always be done at your current job.  Often they will pay for the training and help mentor you.  Step 3 should be attempted with your current company. Sometimes it just can’t be done where you are.

Companies have their own growth curves.  At a company that is flat-lining, your chances to grow will be limited.  While you are preparing to grow, open your eyes.  Is your company ABLE to let you grow?  Do you need to move to a company that is changing its growth curve while you change yours?

A job change becomes a career enhancing move when you move to a company whose growth curve will allow you to accelerate your own growth curve.  If you are willing to learn and grow, you will have growth in your career.  If you are willing to change jobs when necessary to re-accelerate your career growth, your future has no limits.

Something To Do Today

What is going to be needed in the future?  What interests you?  What will help you accelerate your growth curve?

Don’t expect your boss to magically know what you fail to tell him repeatedly. Expect him not to understand.  Even if he sees you doing something new he may not recognize what it means or its usefulness unless you have told him five or ten times in the last six months.

Each Friday is the time to write down what you did this week and this month in your job journal.  Give a report to your boss in a format he can use for his own reports to his boss. A written copy of your accomplishments will reinforce what you have told him

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Posted in Accomplishments, Perseverance, Promotions, Training

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10 things that ruin your resume

Posted on August 25, 2011 | Leave a comment

I have seen all of these ways to sabotage your chances of getting a job.

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Posted in Resumes

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Can taking 3 shortcuts speed up your career?

Posted on August 23, 2011 | Leave a comment

The modern age has been characterized by a Promethean spirit, a restless energy that preys on speed records and shortcuts, unmindful of the past, uncaring of the future, existing only for the moment and the quick fix. (Jeremy Rifkin)

Lufkin is the premiere maker of the pumps sucking oil from Oklahoma’s prairies.  In 1981 used Lufkin pumps were selling for more than new ones. Fancy business school graduates said Lufkin was nuts.  They could sell the new pumps for much more.  “Take your profit now!” they said.  The owners of Lufkin said, “We’ve been here a long time.  Demand goes up and demand goes down.  We will service our customers the best we can. We won’t take advantage of them when they are desperate. When the bubble bursts we will still be here. We’re in this business for the long haul.” Today, after a 20 year recession in their business,  they still make a solid profit.

In the recruiting business one recruiter said, “I take people out of one rut, and put them into a different rut.”  Some recruiters don’t care.  I do. I find people in good jobs who could do significantly better.  I then place them in a job where they can more quickly meet their career goals.  I help people shave years off of their career growth. I move them into a better long term opportunity.

Be mindful of how your resume looks.  People who have changed jobs 3 times in 2 years  have a hard time getting a great job. Later, even after 3 or 5 years in one job their resume is tainted. The manager hiring for a great job wants someone who will be there a long time.  He knows he can attract bright stable workers.  Why should he settle for someone who may be gone in 6 months?

A new job should give you a significant LONG TERM advantage.  It should help you take charge of your career.  Lance Armstrong won the Tour de France seven times. In 2005 he only won one day out of 21 racing days. On one day he was 20 minutes behind the fastest bike. But he was always mindful of where he was in relation to his competition. He made sure he had the best bike and the best team even if he wasn’t getting the glory of being first over the finish line.  Looking for the long term advantage is how he won.

Find the best team and opportunity you can.  Get in it for the long haul.  Go win. You cannot speed up your career by taking 3 shortcuts.

Something To Do Today

Write down your career goals in your job journal.  Where do you really want to go?  Can your current team get you there?  If not, time to change teams.

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Posted in Perseverance, Promotions

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How to decide what NOT to do

Posted on August 22, 2011 | Leave a comment

Are you trying to be successful doing the work that successful people throw out? This true story is about more than salespeople. It is about accountants, programmers and managers too.

Paul, beginning his job in sales, told me, “My manager seems to be able to make a sale every time we go on a call together.  All the people we visit want to buy.  He sells as much as everyone else in the office put together.  When I take the leads he gives me, I can’t get them interested at all.  What am I doing wrong?”

Paul was doing nothing wrong.  His manager was visiting only high quality leads.  Paul was visiting everyone that his manager didn’t pick for himself.  His manager got the golden leads and Paul got the brass. Worse, Paul refused to look for the best quality leads in what he was given.  He just went out and visited everyone.

Successful salespeople, accountants, programmers, managers, secretaries and septic tank cleaners all know what sales leads, jobs, duties and knowledge are most important.

Pick out the most successful person you know who is doing the job you want.  Invite him out to lunch.  Ask him, “What do you do that is different from less successful people?”  Take notes.  Don’t let him stop with one quick answer.  Ask about what he reads, what he does, and the jobs he refuses to do.

If you really pry, you will find out that he no longer does a lot of things he used to do.  Ask him, “What have you stopped doing because you no longer have the time to do it?”  You’ll find that successful people really do work differently.  They are picky.  They find ways to get drudge work assigned to others.  They study particularly difficult problems so that they are assigned the most interesting projects.  They also invite themselves into meetings where thorny issues are discussed.  They go prepared with fresh information.  That’s how they get reputations as problem solvers.

If you want to become a guru, act like one.  Do what the gurus do.  Just as important, find a way to get out of the work that successful people throw away.

Something To Do Today

Make that call to a successful person doing the job you want next.  Find out what they attribute their success to.  Also find out what they no longer are doing.

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Posted in Accomplishments, Attitude, Promotions, Time management

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13 Insane resumes that landed interviews and jobs

Posted on July 7, 2011 | Leave a comment

Experimenting can be your key to success.  Here are 13 resumes that were way over the edge…and worked.

Here is the link.

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Posted in Attitude, Resumes

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Reputation matters, and finding it can find you a job

Posted on June 30, 2011 | Leave a comment

I was told, “I want to work in a Fortune 100 company.  That’s where the action is at.  Then I will really be going places.”  It could be true.  Just remember, Enron was in the Fortune 100 club too.

Size isn’t everything.  It seems that in every Fortune 100 company there will be whole divisions laid off or sold every year.  The CEO may call it pruning. The people in the division have more explicit names for it.

For you, the job seeker, company reputation is important.  It will make a difference in how other people view your career.  The reputation of the local division is even more important.  Your success will be tied directly to the local division’s performance.  The reputation of your new manager is critical.  He’s the one that will make your job paradise or purgatory.

If you go to the newspaper and internet you can find the official company news releases.  That’s what they want their reputation to be. For the people outside of their industry, it will really be their reputation.

Their reputation in the industry and in the community will not be too hard to find. Try calling some independent recruiters that work with the company.  If they submitted you there then they ought to already know the company reputation.  If they didn’t submit you, ask them about the company as you talk to them about your job search.  Independent recruiters talk to everyone going into a company and everyone leaving that company.  They know where all the skeletons are buried and which managers or departments are the best to work with.

Quiz anyone who has close contact with the company. Look up their competitors. It can be particularly interesting to talk to people who worked at competitors. How do you find these people?  Go to LinkedIn.com and search for company names in the “Person” search.

Suppliers and accountants are great sources. Expand your online search if it is a company you are very interested in.

Your search for their reputation can help you find other job openings too.  As you expand your circle of inquiry, more people find out that you are available.  Don’t forget to ask everyone who else you ought to talk to.  You may be surprised how important the comment of the friend of a friend can be.

Also call people doing the job you want in nearby unrelated companies. In many cases there are associations for your job.  Talk to the people running the association and those at the meetings. Ask them about reputation.  You want people from the same level you will be at because reputation can vary at different levels.  If you want to be a salesman, programmer or COO, the reputation of the company will have spread outside of their industry.

Make it a habit to do your “due diligence” as you start interviewing for a job.  Find out their reputation.  Contact people about the company.  It will help you select the right company with the right boss.  Your inquiries may also lead you to a different, better job.

Something To Do Today

Find out if there are any associations for your job or the job you are working towards.  Online search engines work well. Reference librarians are especially good at finding them. Go to your local library and ask for help.

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Posted in Finding jobs, Networking

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Why don’t companies say “Yes” or “No”? What can I do about it?

Posted on June 29, 2011 | Leave a comment

Most of your frustration in a job search comes down to 2 situations at the company you are applying for.

First, the recruiter is told:

“We have a candidate we like better, but we want you to keep Jim warm, okay?  We might end up hiring Jim if this other guy doesn’t work out.  Don’t tell Jim anything.”

Or the receptionist is told:

“Jill, there are 250 resumes in my in-box.  Please go through them and give me the 10 best resumes.  Throw the rest away.”

Those are the two scenarios that account for most of the frustration in a job search.  In either case you will get no useful reply to your job inquiries.  In the first case, you can ask for information and probably get a reply filled with evasions.  In the second case you will never get a reply.

You still should call and ask for information about your application.  Many times your call will cause them to pick up your resume one more time and take another look.  One company rarely hires someone unless they have called 3 or more times.  I only know of one company that does that as policy.  I know a lot of companies that need their memory to be jogged.

If a company is hoping to hire you, that’s good.  It may be frustrating to wait for a month while they make up their minds, but so what?  If another job comes along, take it.  Anytime you go two weeks without an interview or an offer, assume the job is on hold while they look at other candidates. Call regularly, look for another job, but leave yourself available in case something good happens.  What can it hurt to be patient?

Deal with reality.  At the job you apply for, and get no response whatsoever, they are trying to work quickly.  If it takes one minute apiece to answer each of 250 job inquiries, that is over 4 hours of drudge work.  That’s why most companies don’t reply anymore.  The time it takes is too great. Many times you won’t get an answer.  That’s reality.  If you follow up with a call, you have a little better chance of something happening.  That’s also reality.

Don’t get mad, deal with reality. No one wants to insult you.  It is best not to be offended.  Just accept the fact that unless you are hired, your job application will end up in limbo, not in a straightforward “Yes!” or “No.”  Deal with it. Follow up, but also keep your job search active.

Something To Do Today

Call the companies that have not given you a response.  Jog their memories.  Don’t get mad, just let them know you are still interested.

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Posted in Attitude, Finding jobs, Perseverance, Recruiters

How to answer, “Where else are you interviewing?”

Posted on June 28, 2011 | Leave a comment

During a police interrogation you answer questions differently than you do when you are talking to your spouse.  For example, “Where have you been?” can be more dangerous coming from one of the two sources.

There are two correct responses to the question, “Where are you interviewing?”  If you are talking to a hiring manager or HR person, tell them.  Let them know what is going on. Give them details if they ask. It will most likely increase your desirability if they know others are talking to you.

If you are talking to a recruiter at an agency, you need to decide if you trust the recruiter.  Ask the recruiter, “Why do you want to know?”  After the recruiter acts defensive or offended, ask your real question, “Do you ever submit resumes to jobs you find out about from candidates?”

The recruiter should answer, “I will only submit a resume to a job you mention if I am already working on it, or if you tell me you are out of contention there.  I will never reduce your chances of getting a job by submitting competition unless I was already working on the job.”

Do you trust the recruiter?  If so, give him the details of your interviews. He can help you much better in your job search if he knows everything. All the recruiting trainers and over half the recruiters will play fair with you. They will not ruin your chances where you are already interviewing. If you have serious doubts about the recruiter, tell them you are interviewing, but not precisely where.

Basically, if someone will hurt you with the information, protect yourself.  If the information works to your advantage, tell them.

Evaluate every recruiter you work with.   Which ones do you trust?  Which ones are questionable?  Tell the ones you trust where you are interviewing.

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Posted in Interviews, Recruiters

Do you dare answer, “Will you do anything we ask?”

Posted on June 21, 2011 | 1 comment

In “The Firm” a new lawyer finds the perfect job: great pay, wonderful benefits and  a really high flying lifestyle.  Then he finds out he is a part of the mafia and can’t get out unless it is as the guest of honor at his own funeral.

“Will you do whatever it takes to get the job done?” is a common interview question.  There is no reason to suspect that your employer wants you to do something illegal.  More likely he wants you to work late.

Let’s get realistic.  Even in high flying corporate scandals no one is murdered.  If you feel you have to blow the whistle you can go to newspaper reporters and the police.  You will be safe physically.  Your only real worries are social and financial.  The company’s risk is to its very existence.  It can be destroyed just by bad press.  Also, legal action can take away any profit the company has had for years.

Go ahead and be enthusiastic when they ask the question, “Will you do whatever it takes?”  The proper answer is to give examples of how you have gone the extra mile in previous jobs.  Tell when you worked late to finish projects or help a teammate.  Carrying a pager is a great example of doing “whatever it takes.”  Mention the inconvenient business trips.  The support you had from your family when you had to work late or travel is a valuable story.

I hate to go back to it, but, don’t mention when you did something borderline illegal.  Don’t assume they want you to do something immoral.  If they ask you to do something that is wrong, ask them to clarify.

Ask for examples.  If you are sure they are asking you to do something illegal, immoral, or fattening, refuse the second interview or the job offer.

Some people have been burned by a previous bad employer.  You may have been hired by a place with dubious morals. You are out now, or in the process of getting out.  Assume the best of the companies you are visiting.  Give examples of how hard you are willing to work to succeed. Focus on what you can do for the company.

Something To Do Today

Assume the best.  Ask for examples.

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Posted in Interviews

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