Category Archives: Attitude

Are you a character? Or do you have it?

Posted on August 29, 2012 | Leave a comment

A woman teaching my daughters held up a copy of a magazine with scantily dressed women on the cover.  She asked, “What do you expect to find inside?”  The answer was, “Pictures and articles about sexy dressing and attracting men.”

She handed the magazine to a girl and said, “Open it and read from any page.”  Inside those covers was a religious magazine.  The teacher made the comment, “If you dress on the outside like the women on the cover of this magazine, no one will bother to find out that inside you are a woman of character. They won’t even consider it a possibility.”

Yesterday I wrote that perception really is everything. How you are perceived is always critical, especially to yourself. Over time your character is altered by all the little things you do.  At first you act to give an impression, but eventually you act from the bone deep character you have developed while impressing others.

Benjamin Franklin was brought up short one day when he realized he had developed a less than brilliant character.  He was a smart, hard working man, and becoming successful.  He was noticed that some people would cross the street to the other side when they saw him coming.  He realized he had a poor reputation in many things. In his autobiography he describes his plan to improve his character.  The simple device he used thrust him forward to prominence in the fields of writing, science, diplomacy and politics.

As Benjamin Franklin started working on his character he wrote, “I was surpris’d to find myself so much fuller of faults than I had imagined; but I had the satisfaction of seeing them diminish.”  He found that if he pretended to have a virtue long enough, he developed it as a part of his character.

I strongly recommend reading and re-reading Benjamin Franklin’s short autobiography.

Become the person you would admire.

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For this week:     Zen and the art of getting a job

Tomorrow:           Diamonds in the rough

Later:                    Cleat marks up your back

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Zen: Perception really is everything

Posted on August 28, 2012 | Leave a comment

There are 10 guys with washboard stomachs and python like arms making $1,000,000 a year teaching others to exercise.  Each year a hundred men and women get PhD’s in exercise physiology and they will only become high school gym teachers. The guys making the big money work hard every day on how the world sees them. Perception really is everything in their world.

Actresses?  They have personal trainers, chefs and makeup artists who make more than most business executives.  They won’t leave their house without 2 hours of working on how you and I will perceive them. Perception is everything to them.

In every job there are people who, “Don’t care what others think.”  They are rarely the best paid person in the shop.  The ones who do care about “what others think” either succeed wonderfully or alienate others beyond belief.  The ones who succeed make sure their bosses know what they have accomplished and what their team did.  The ones who fail try to grab all the credit for everyone’s work, not just their own.  They fail because the perception becomes that they are conniving, scheming and untrustworthy.

Who do you respect?  Did they earn that honor?  If you respect a computer programmer because he “never sold out”, hasn’t he sold that perception?  A musician who is famous for “never going commercial” cultivated that precise image.  They all care for their image as carefully as Hulk Hogan of pro-wrestling fame.  A great salesman who never counts his commissions carefully implants that perception in his customers. That is what he sells: perception of himself as only interested in the customer’s success.

Figure out how you want to be perceived. Be that person.  Prove to your boss that you are that person with weekly reports that show it.  That same proof can be applied to your resume.  Show what you have caused to happen in the past and you’ll get the chance to do more in your next job. Perception will be reality.

About Today          

This series is about what makes or breaks a job hunt.  Reality and the real world.  My list of the reasons people get a new job or struggle includes:

  1. Nothing beats a positive unstoppable Helium II attitude.
  2. People who are hurting are terrible employees and everyone knows it.
  3. You have to know your advantages and ruthlessly exploit them.
  4. The people competing against you must be known, measured, and either beaten, eliminated or enticed elsewhere.
  5. You can’t make a silk purse out of a buggy whip.
  6. You have to be worth more than you are being paid
  7. A man dying of thirst will still want a bargain on a bottle of water
  8. Perception isn’t important, it is everything
  9. Character really counts
  10. Diamonds in the rough don’t stay that way
  11. Relax and get cleat marks up your back

Think about your job search. Just think.  And then take notes about your conclusions.

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For 1 week:         Zen and the art of getting a job

Tomorrow:           Character counts

Later:                    Diamonds in the rough

Cleat marks up your back

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Posted in Accomplishments, Attitude, Focus, talent, Time management

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You against the hiring manager

Posted on August 27, 2012 | Leave a comment

Buzzards circle overhead. Struggling across the desert mile after mile, a hiring manager finally can walk no further.  He starts to crawl.  A candidate drives up in a jeep with 100 gallons of water.  He offers the hiring manager a ride to a hotel and all the water he can drink if he’ll split the cost of gas.  The hiring manager says, “I’ll only pay you for the water.  You are going that direction anyway.”  The candidate shakes his head and drives off.

Everyone wants a bargain. It is just a fact of life that candidates want more money and hiring managers want to pay less.  Your lifestyle is affected if you earn less.  So is the lifestyle of the hiring manager.  Managers are evaluated based on overhead.  Even if they are rewarded on output, they want to cut overhead. It is their nature.

There is no magic chart that tells what you should be paid as an employee.  I know one programmer who got a 40% raise when he finally realized he was worth more.  He went to his manager and said, “Everyone else on my team is earning $50,000 per year.  I’m better than most.  Why am I earning so little?”  What bothers me the most is that the manager and the employee felt good about the raise.  How about a bonus to make up for the previous years?

Even if you are the only person in the country who can save his company, the owner is going to look for a bargain.  They just do.  In the same vein, you will want a raise immediately after finishing training the company pays for. For some reason, a man dying of thirst still wants a bargain on a bottle of water. That’s why you have to be worth 10 times as much to be paid 2 or 3 times as much.  (That was yesterday’s lesson.)

Something To Do Today

Think about your job search. Just think.  And then take notes about your conclusions.

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For 2 weeks: Zen and the art of getting a job

Tomorrow:     Perception really is everything

Later:              Character counts

Diamonds in the rough

Cleat marks up your back

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Posted in Accomplishments, Attitude, Promotions, talent, Training

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13 lessons not taught in school

Posted on August 20, 2012 | Leave a comment

Everyone knows there are some things that children should be learning in school, but aren’t. I honestly do not believe that all of these things are the responsibility of the school system (unless of course you home-school and ARE the system), but I do believe that all of us can benefit from bringing them to mind… more

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Posted in Attitude, Perseverance, talent

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Measure and maul your competition

Posted on August 20, 2012 | Leave a comment

The scientific name for an animal that doesn’t either run from or fight its enemies is lunch.  (Michael Friedman)

James Bond, 007, has the best enemies.  They are ruthless, evil and totally bad.  When he “accidentally” kills one, you cheer.

In your job search you don’t have to kill or destroy your opponents.  All you have to do is dispose of them. It is a very simple process.  The people competing against you must be known, measured, and either beaten, eliminated or enticed elsewhere.

Known

Who else is applying for the job you want?  Is it college graduates, high school kids or guys who have been in that industry for 20 years?  You have to know how they are like you and how they are different.  If you are exactly like everyone else, you won’t be noticed.  If you don’t fit in at all, they probably won’t hire you either.  If you don’t know who is applying, call up the company or recruiter and ask.

Measured

I call and ask why the people applying for a job are not getting hired.  I ask HR and hiring managers exactly what skills and traits they are having trouble finding. You can certainly call HR or a recruiter and ask.  They can’t fire you.  You don’t even work there yet.  You can also see if you can find old ads for the same job.  Look at what has changed from the old ad. They are probably emphasizing the hardest to find traits in newer ads.  Another possibility is to just think a bit.  What are the hardest to find skills they are asking for?  Do you have any of them?

Beaten

Since you know and have measured your competition, beat them flat out if you can.  Emphasize your strongest qualifications.  Tell them how well you can do the job.  Prove you have done similar things in the past.  Say what is different about you.  Sure, mention in passing how you have all the traits ever other applicant has, but do something to stand out.

Eliminated

I prefer to eliminate the opposition entirely.  The best way to do that is to have someone tell the manager to call you without even presenting a resume.  Okay, you may have to give them a resume to hand to the boss.  Either way you can eliminate the competition by leapfrogging the qualification process. Get in front of the hiring manager before he sees anyone else.  He may decide it isn’t worth his time to look any farther than you.

Enticed elsewhere

Some jobs and companies are so wonderful everyone is applying for them.  If you know you can’t beat the great masses of people, you are going to have to go somewhere else.  Look for a job where the masses of people are not applying.  It may be in a very small company.  Ask everyone you know, “Who needs someone with [my skill]? The masses are enticed elsewhere.  They see high profile jobs.  You will be looking for the less obvious openings.  Become an expert in locating companies that could use your skills, but aren’t widely known.

Your competition is easier to get rid of once they are known and measured. Then they can either be beaten, eliminated or enticed elsewhere.

Something To Do Today            

Think about your job search. Just think.  And then take notes about your conclusions.

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For 2 weeks: Zen and the art of getting a job

Tomorrow:     Making a silk purse

Later:              Why you aren’t paid what you are worth

A man dying of thirst

Perception

Character

Diamond in the rough

Cleat marks up your back

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Posted in Attitude, Focus, Perseverance

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9 whys to ruthlessly exploit yourself

Posted on August 17, 2012 | Leave a comment

You are not trying to get the job of “minion” or “muscle”.  Don’t pretend that exploiting your life experience is wrong.  It is not the same as shoving a gun in someone’s face and asking for their wallet.

The real reason most people don’t want to exploit their advantages is that they “want to stand on their own two feet”.  It is a lovely macho phrase that means little. Our society, families and personal lives all rest on the shoulders of those who came before us.  Admit that no matter what you do, others have helped you.  Get on with using the advantages that parents, teachers, friends, clergy and God have given you.

Here are some excuses to fail and reasons to exploit a few of your advantages.

  • I will not exploit my family connections to get a job.

Acorns don’t fall far from the tree.  Employers need reliable hires.  Getting someone from a good family is a much better bet than hiring a complete stranger.  If they can’t hire you, but they suggest someone else hire you, they get brownie points from that other person.  They win as much as you do.

  • My friends are too close to my heart for me to ask them for help.

If your friends object to helping you get a job, they don’t trust you with THEIR reputation. If you are going to let them down, you are not a friend.  If they trust you and you will follow through, helping is what builds friendships.

  • I refuse to manipulate their emotions.

People always hire based on emotion.  Always.  Even if no one talks to you and they only give you a paper test, they hire on emotion.  Paper tests are put together based on what people FEEL  will give them the best employee.  Your pay will be based on emotion – how well they FEEL you will do.  Promotions are based on emotion – how do they FEEL you will do in the new job.  Don’t be dishonest.  Don’t be an actor.  Tell the truth simply.  The emotions behind the truth will help you  Use them.

  • Inviting them to lunch is brown nosing and sucking up.

Actually it is called networking.  In many companies senior partners and executives can be fired for not having lunch with enough different people.  They are evaluated on lunch.  Literally.

  • I won’t tell them I left because I was sick.  I don’t want their sympathy.

You are fine now and it is relevant to understand your resume. If it will substantially help you get the job, tell them.  Talk to a couple of job experts and get their opinion. If it will help, exploit it.

  • I want the job, but I don’t feel right pressing them to choose me.

Aaargh! They want to hire the person with the best attitude.  They want the person who will work the hardest.  They want someone who they can promote.  They want someone who is excited. They want to hire the hungriest person. How can they tell that about you unless you keep asking them, “When will you decide?”, and, “When can I start?”

  • It is greedy asking for more money.

If the offer is very good, take it.  Don’t argue.  Otherwise, ask for more money.  If you really are worth it, get the money.  If they pay you more, you will be less likely to leave for another job because of more pay.  They win too.

  • Taking this job to get experience, when I plan to leave later, is wrong.

Hiring and training you does cost money.  Companies that invest that money have already figured out how to profit from it.  They will either give you a raise and promotion, or expect you to leave.  They will make money.  You won’t cost them a thing.

  • I’m a veteran, but it is not fair to use that to get a job.

The leadership, teamwork, calmness under fire, discipline and fortitude veterans develop is uncommon.  Bring it up.

Your life experience makes a difference.  Whatever that experience is.  You need to use it and exploit it.

Something To Do Today

Think about your job search. Just think.  And then take notes about your conclusions.

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For 2 weeks:       Zen and the art of getting a job

Monday:              Measure and maul

Later:                    Making a silk purse

Why you aren’t paid what you are worth

A man dying of thirst

Perception

Character

Diamond in the rough

Cleat marks up your back

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Posted in Attitude, Focus, Networking, Perseverance, Promotions, References, Resumes, talent

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If you hurt, you are a terrible employee

Posted on August 15, 2012 | Leave a comment

A woman moved into a new neighborhood and asked the man next door what the people who lived there were like.  He answered, “They’re just people.  What were the people like in your last neighborhood?”  She told him exactly what she thought.  He replied, “I think you’ll find people around here are exactly the same kind of people.”  It is mostly what you take with you, not the neighborhood, that determines how you will like where you live or where you work.

Laid off, fired, divorced, or the death of family, friends or pets can all make you hurt badly.  The trouble is that many people take those hurts to work. There they perform poorly or not at all.  Bosses understand a few days of mourning.  The trouble is that some people don’t get back in the saddle.  Those people are horribly unproductive or counterproductive for months and years.

The people who hurt the most have the toughest time finding a new job.  It is so obvious when someone is suffering that we often tell them to take a week or two off to recover before they apply for another job. Why blow a great opportunity because you are in pain? Some people are so badly hurt we won’t even try to help them get a job.

In other words, don’t expect to get a great job while you are hurt or mourning.  If you really hurt you need to change and get back to normal or no one will want to work with you.

Horrible social skills and terrible work habits have the same symptoms as debilitating pain.  Some symptoms are that you think, and it is true, that everyone at your last job was HORRIBLE.   The boss was a lunatic.  All your coworkers avoided you.  Promotions and pay raises were denied because someone hated you without any reason.  People were talking behind your back. Everyone wanted you to leave.

The problem with that debilitating pain (or the other problems), is that you refuse to take responsibility yourself. When things are going that bad at a job, it is always your fault.  You are bringing that anger upon yourself by something you do.  Your attitude, reactions, the chip on your shoulder, or lack of listening, may incite the problem.  Occasionally, very rarely, you have the wrong job.  The problem is you.

I will get a lot of emails about this posting.  People saying I am wrong. That it really is NOT their fault.  Guess what?  That means it is their fault. I’ll accept the emails. Will you accept your responsibility?

Something To Do Today            

Think about your job search. Just think.  And then take notes about your conclusions.

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For 2 weeks: Zen and the art of getting a job

Tomorrow:     Ruthlessly exploit

Later:              Measure and maul

Making a silk purse

Why you aren’t paid what you are worth

A man dying of thirst

Perception

Character

Diamond in the rough

Cleat marks up your back

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Get a Helium II attitude, not a positive attitude

Posted on August 14, 2012 | Leave a comment

Do you mistrust “Positive Attitude” gurus?  Do their programs sound good but make you depressed after a while?

The answer is found in liquid Helium vs Helium II.

Helium II is a very unusual liquid. In the next paragraphs I’ll use two people to show the difference between liquid Helium and Helium II.  A little farther down I’ll talk about the actual liquids.

Jim applied to be a space shuttle astronaut. He practiced his positive mental attitude and visualizations twice a day for an hour. He knew that would get him the job.  Somehow he ended up getting a rejection letter.  Jim thought that being a 35 year old, out of shape, high school dropout without a job or a desire to get one should have been overcome by his “positive attitude”.

A 77 year old man had a more positive attitude than Jim, so he got the job. John Glen flew into space as an old man because he figured out a way to overcome the huge obstacle of age. It involved getting a job in congress deciding how much money NASA got.

Attitude is really about preparing, contributing and finding your way around obstacles. Jim did not have a positive attitude.  He just liked to think he did. John Glenn had a positive, unstoppable Helium II attitude.

Norman Vincent Peale, Maxwell Maltz and other attitude masters always said that attitude is NOT everything.  Attitude just helps you figure a way around obstacles or a better direction to go with your energy.  Positive attitude was never meant to be a replacement for reality and effort.

Helium II is an example of gas with an attitude.  Helium II is supercooled helium that is not just a liquid, but a very special liquid.  It will slip through molecule sized cracks in a container.  If you leave it in an open beaker, it will climb the walls of the beaker and get out. Swirl it into a little whirlpool and it won’t stop swirling because it has no internal friction. It is practically unstoppable in many ways. The only way to really stop it is to let it warm up just a little bit.  Then it becomes a normal liquid and all those fascinating behaviors stop.

You can have a Helium II attitude.  Use your positive attitude to look for ways to escape the container you are in.  Is there a crack you can exploit?  If necessary, can you climb out of any career pit you have fallen into?  If nothing else, you need to keep moving while waiting for your next opportunity.  Don’t ever stop improving yourself and doing outstanding work. If you let yourself get hot under the collar about what has happened to you, you may become stuck right where you are, or slip even lower.  Prepare and grow while keeping your eyes open for the next opportunity.

I recently helped a man get a much better job.  For years he has been struggling with jobs that were below his skill level.  The reason they were below his skill level is that he has always been educating himself.  He has been spending his own money to better himself.  His jobs have not measured up to his constantly growing skills.  Since he was overqualified he decided to do the jobs he had exceptionally well. It wasn’t easy.  But with his preparation I finally found him the perfect opportunity.  I doubt he will stop now.  He’ll keep studying and preparing.  Pretty soon he’ll be too big for this job and have to find an even bigger opportunity.  For now he’s just grateful he kept on moving and kept up a really positive attitude.  The kind of attitude that always finds a way.

Something To Do Today            

Are you a member of the whine and beef for lunch club?  Or are you spending your time improving yourself and doing a great job?

Job journals are great places to write about what you want to do better.  Writing reinforces your decisions.

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Next 2 weeks:           Zen and the art of getting a job

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11 vital clues about Zen and the Art of Job Hunting

Posted on August 13, 2012 | Leave a comment

Zen: 1. a school of Mahayana Buddhism that asserts that enlightenment can be attained through meditation, self contemplation, and intuition rather than through faith and devotion. 2. <jargon> To figure out something by meditation or by sudden enlightenment. (dictionary.com)

I was asked, “I have been studying to get my programming certification after being out of IT for 5 years.  People want to hire youngsters, not a grandfather from the Philippines. What do I have to do to get a job?”

It won’t be easy, but you can get that job.

First you have to understand the way things really work. The concepts are not “fair”. In many ways they are not “nice”.  They are all based on character, reality and results.

You can fight the principles just like you can fight the law of gravity, but gravity and these principles still apply. Contemplation of the principles may give you great insight. This is “Zen and the Art of Job Hunting”.

20 years as a recruiter have taught me these basic principles. (And I will do a post about each one of them.)

  1. Nothing beats a positive unstoppable Helium II attitude.
  2. People who are hurting are terrible employees and everyone knows it.
  3. You have to know your advantages and ruthlessly exploit them.
  4. The people competing against you must be known, measured, and either beaten, eliminated or enticed elsewhere.
  5. You can’t make a silk purse out of a buggy whip.
  6. You have to be worth more than you are being paid
  7. A man dying of thirst will still want a bargain on a bottle of water
  8. Perception isn’t important, it is everything
  9. Character really counts
  10. Diamonds in the rough don’t stay that way
  11. Relax and you will get cleat marks up your back

Guess what I am going to be writing about for the next two weeks? <grin>

Something To Do Today                                                      

Think about your job search. Just think.  And then take notes about your conclusions.

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Next 2 weeks:     Zen and the art of getting a job

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Posted in Attitude, Finding jobs, Focus, Perseverance

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How to win the rigged game of getting a job

Posted on August 8, 2012 | Leave a comment

Of course the game is rigged.  Don’t let that stop you—if you don’t play, you can’t win. (Robert Heinlein)

Games can be deadly serious

Chess, poker, basketball and football are just games.  Some people study those games intently and never play themselves.  Others study the games and get into the competitions, contemplating victory and risking defeat. Those who watch from comfortable chairs and never participate, can never know the struggle and thrill of victory, nor the cleansing scourge of defeat.  The quiet careful critics will never grow a hundredth as much as the rankest loser grows.

Look at your job search like your favorite game or sport

That job or promotion you have applied for 5 or 10 times may really be out of reach for you.  That doesn’t mean you should stop trying.  At least you are in the game.  You will never win if you quit the field of battle.

Out of work?  Every job you apply for is a new game. Every time an employer calls you is a victory.  The next game is the interview.  Another game starts in the second interview.  Negotiating your salary is another game.  The day you start the job a new competition begins.

Look at it as a game. For a game you study techniques and practice them over and over. You also study the great winners and losers.  If you want to be great, you also study the mediocre masses because you have to find out why they are merely mediocre.  If you want to win, you have to know how to defeat each of your opponents.  A coach is also essential. Your coach will be called a mentor, recruiter or friend. Find the most successful person you can and ask for them to give you advice on what you should learn, study and practice next. Practice, prepare and then execute.  If you lose 20 times it won’t really kill you.  Look at it as a game.  The only thing that really kills you is giving up and leaving the game for good.

If there is a job or promotion you want but just can’t seem to win, make a game out of it. Play. Have some serious fun with it.

Something To Do Today

Make your job growth a game.  How can you learn to play it at a Super Bowl level?  Who can be your coach?  Get back in the game. Play.

Out of work?  Job hunting?  Make it a game. Study.  Keep trying.

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Tomorrow:     Before you know it

Later:              Who is driving?

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Posted in Attitude, Finding jobs, Focus, Perseverance

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