Five Social Groups Every Professional Should Join

It’s the weekend. What are your plans? Meet your pals for some wings? Girls night?!! Or are you just not that interested in your friends and acquaintances to go out?

If your social network is suffering due to relocation, graduation, or simply a lack of motivation, you’ve got to make a change. Being and staying connected is one of the best ways to achieve your career and personal goals, and to give your life an overall kick in the right direction. When you miss out on networking, you’re missing some major opportunities.

Sure, you probably meet people at your neighborhood drinking establishments, but those joints are for people trying to escape their lives, not embrace them. The following five social groups are a far better place to start. If they sound corny at first then stop trying to be so cool. They’re the classics, the staples of a well balanced social diet. Start with these and you’re bound to start seeing changes in your life for the better.

1. Industry Professional Organization

If you get paid to do it (or even if you don’t), there’s probably a professional organization out there for you. A place where men and women in a similar line of work can go to talk about their industry, exchange cards and drink one too many Coors.

Aside from being a great way to make new contacts, regular meeting attendance with and industry organization will help you stay on top of your game at work by keeping you up to date on the latest industry trends and giving you an edge over your co-workers. Get online and read the bios for some of the top execs in your industry. Did they stay with the same company for their entire career? Some did, but others jumped around. With each jump came a better position, and you can bet your arse they slid into those positions through networking.

2. City Government

When you give to your city, your city is going to give back. Put some time in at your local chamber of commerce, economic club or city council. Being in the know and letting community leaders get to know you is a surefire way become the go-to-guy when a problem requiring your expertise comes up, especially if you provide a professional service or work across industries.

3. Sporting league

4. Charity

5. Inter-office Club

Four Observations for the Gen Y Career Changer

Do you play the piano? I don’t, but what if I wanted to start? My mid-twenties isn’t too late to try something new, is it?

Of course not.

What about ten years from now? or even twenty or thirty? Too late pick pick it up?

Still no.

In fact, there’s nothing stopping me or anybody else from learning a new skill at any stage in life.  If I started learning to play the piano today and stuck with it, I’d be a great pianist by my mid-thirties. Thinking back, I’d say to myself, “Man-oh-man am I glad I took a leap and went for it ten years ago.”

Do what makes you happy, right?

What some millennials fail to realize is that this applies to career choices as well. Wasting away in a job that just isn’t the right fit doesn’t have to be your reality. Don’t get caught in the “I majored in X in college and now work in X industry and have to follow this path for the rest of my life” trap.

It isn’t real.

Just as nobody is stopping you from taking your first acting class or flying lesson, nobody is preventing you from veering off the path you initially chose for yourself and making a career change.

So, what’s the big roadblock then?

No family, no kids, no mortgage – the change should be a cinch. Unfortunately, for those of us early in our careers I think it’s something completely different: the fear of falling behind.

While peers are finally starting to earn raises, promotions, new cars and nice apartments, you’re going back to the drawing board, facing another entry-level position and possible educational loans.

The realities of making a change can be tough to swallow, but they may also be worth the sacrifice.

Consider the following points:

1. You’ll be less successful doing something that doesn’t make you happy

While the idea of taking on new projects, getting promoted and slowly but surely moving up in your current position is enticing, it’s much more likely to happen if you’re doing something you love. That motivation to go the extra mile and do the things necessary to achieve greatness in any job is far easier to come by when you’re truly engaged. If you aren’t, everything is just a TPS report.

Think ten years down the road. Will you ultimately be more successful doing something else? Can you see yourself making equal progress in your current job/industry?

2. Better now than later

Recently, during a conversation about life and careers, a colleague explained to me the difficulty he’d have making a big change. With a spouse, a mortgage and kids on the way, he said he’d have to stay where he is for the time being rather than follow a different path.

You don’t.

Although you may be gradually accumulating more responsibilities than you had college, you’re still relatively unbound by the chains of adulthood compared to the you of 2020. Whether it ends up being the right decision or the wrong decision, making the move toward a more fulfilling career is probably going to be easier now than at any other time in your life.

3. You can make money doing anything

Investment bankers make a lot of money. Money is important to you. Does this mean you should be an investment banker? Unless you do, in fact, want to go into investment banking, then no. What if you’re creative, or wild, or a tech geek. Focus on something that actually interests you and the money will come.

For example, I know a personal trainer in his mid-twenties that owns a health food franchise, trains clients, writes health articles and moonlights as a fitness model – he makes an incredible living focusing on his love of health and fitness.

Some paths to riches are more apparent than others, but that doesn’t mean you can’t uncover your own. Keep this in mind if money is a big motivator for you.

4. Comparing yourself to others is poison

So what if Joe Smith has made a great life for himself as a lawyer? Who cares if Sally the advertising exec just got the big account and loves her job? It doesn’t affect you, and it doesn’t mean you should try to do the same thing. You’re path to happiness has to be your own, and comparing yourself to others is bound to make you unsatisfied and unhappy.

Success happens when you forget about outward appearances and decide what’s right for you.

Getting from today to your goal can be a long hard road. Part of that road might even require you to stay put for the time being.

Not to worry. You’ll learn from the journey and be better for it in the end. Besides, if you’re too comfortable, you’re probably doing something wrong.

Two Valuable (Cheap) Credentials for Marketers

Marketers get clients by showing non-marketers what they know. An impressive body of work or a wall of advanced degrees usually does the trick, but what if you’re just starting out? Those degrees and certifications are expensive, and P&G has yet to hire you to head the social media campaign for their newest mint-flavored dogfoodsoaprazor.

So, where to start? How about with two easy-to-acquire, cheap certifications with snazzy badges you can put on your Web site that are completely relevant to today’s marketing trends?

Google Analytics Conversion University and Google AdWords Learning Center provide easy access to Web based education that leads to the Google Analytics Individual Qualification and the Adwords Qualified Individual certifications.

The tests are $50 each – far less than the thousands you’ll pay for other certs. And, if you’re a determined, Web savvy individual, getting through these programs should be cinch (almost).

“I already know my way around these programs. Why bother?” you say.

Well, there are thousands of decision makers in businesses around the country that can barely use a mouse. They rely on the expertise of people like you to help them market their products in a technological landscape that they don’t understand. A certification isn’t necessary to consult on the use of Adwords and Analytics, but to someone that doesn’t know a thing about Web marketing it says, “This person is in the know.” (did I mention the cool badge?)

Developing yourself as a marketer is a land grab. These two certifications make a great first small plot.

Always On

Recently, I had the opportunity to hear from Peter Roberts, CEO of the Chicago based Jones Lang LaSalle Americas, about his rise to the top in one of the nation’s leading real estate investment and management companies. Though I pondered not attending the early breakfast presentation to continue enjoying the comforts of my new sheets, I’m glad I went. He had some wise words for his audience of young professionals and his closing four suggestions on how to succeed at your organization were incredibly valuable.

One point struck me, as it’s something that can make or break you in a job and is also incredibly difficult because requires a skill that many of us have yet to develop: managing your attitude under stress.

Mr. Robert’s called on listeners to breed confidence in superiors at work in order to remain top of mind when it’s time to draw straws for special projects or promotions, his reason being that if you become your manager’s go-to person, you’ll likely be the lucky duck.

Sound advice. Why is it so difficult? Because it requires you to be “always on”.

What’s “always on”? It’s being on point and ready to go every time you’re called on despite the negatives that may be going on in your life or the stressors that can sometimes make it hard to roll out of bed in the morning. Unfortunately, major career moves are often based on a single decision, and that decision is usually someone else’s to make. Maintaining the can-do attitude expected of a top performer will increase the likelihood that you’re on the business end of those decisions.

Luckily, attitude is a choice. Sure, it’s easy to be snarky when life gives you lemons, but that’s because focusing on the lemons is so much easier than thinking about what you’re going to do with those lemons (sorry, that saying is far too overused for me to actually finish it.)

Are you going to grumble all the way to work in the morning or be thankful for your job?

Will you focus on the last time you dropped the ball at work or move on and do it right next time?

If you’re unemployed, is a string of rejections going to make you quit or are you going to be self confident and persevere?

Focus on the right attitude and I guarantee it will manifest itself, even on your worst days. With a little practice, “always on” is easily attainable, and with it: easy progress.

Tip: When you need to regroup, focus on your desired mindset by writing it down. The pages of my To-Do book are littered with words like “gratitude” and “proactive”. It works.

Inspiration for the Laid Off

Awesome video!

To visit the site, go to lemonademovie.com

An Accurate Insight On Time Management

Creating a to-do list before attacking the day is a popular time management tip, as is the concept of an ignore list. The article An 18-Minute Plan for Managing Your Day by Peter Bregman does a good job of summarizing the benefits of planning your next 24 hours, and, takes them a step further  by pointing out two important aspects that are often overlooked when creating these lists.

First, Bregman comments of the value of noting where and when the day’s tasks are going to be accomplished. This is a view I’ve come across repeatedly in numerous business books; it’s incredibly effective. The mind works to achieve the goals it is presented with. A vivid picture of what is to be accomplished provides a clearer path to the realization of a goal and increases the likelihood that it will be reached.

Second, the article mentioned focusing on the day “before turning on your computer.” Working in front of a computer can be incredibly distracting. By planning the day before inviting disorder into your life  you can create a clearer path that is free of outside influence.

Link to the article below:

http://blogs.harvardbusiness.org/bregman/2009/07/an-18minute-plan-for-managing.html

Great News for Future Grad Students

As one who aspires to eventually earn an advanced degree, I’m excited to see that B-school programs are starting to accept GRE scores in lieu of GMAT results. Getting an MBA is a great decision for the business minded, but other degrees may offer more in terms of career advancement for some fields. This trend will allow future students to change plans without having to take another test.

Read on:

GRE v. GMAT: Battle of the B-School Gatekeepers

And a list of B-Schools currently accepting GRE scores (which I hope will grow significantly):

MBA Programs that Accept the GRE® General Test

Five Incredibly Productive Activities for the Recently Unemployed Millennial

“OMG! You lost your job? What are you going to do?”

If a phrase strikingly similar to the one above recently graced the pixels of your Facebook/Twitter/Myspace/AIM account, it’s likely you’re a Millennial, and, also likely that you lost your job.

Don’t fret my friend. Though it may seem that your career progress has stopped dead in its tracks, I assure you, it’s merely a speed bump. While any career advancement you may have achieved in your previous position is lost forever, forward momentum can certainly continue.

Assuming you’ve secured a temporary job, moved back in with your parents, or found some other, legal, way to support yourself, there are still a number of activities through which the unemployed twenty-something can advance their professional credentials.

Here, I’ll describe five.

Study for the GRE/GMAT/LSAT/MCAT/GCHAT (jk)

Maybe it isn’t the right time for grad school. You don’t have enough work experience and want to pay off more of those undergrad loans before taking on a new load of debt. No problem. But, what if grad schools is something you’re planning on eventually?

With the extra time your unemployment freedom presents, this is a fantastic opportunity to study hard and earn an amazing score on a test of your choosing. Do you know how long these test scores are good for? No? Here:

GRE – 5 years
GMAT – 5 years
LSAT – 5 years
MCAT – 5 years (but most schools ask for scores no older than three)

So, I bet your grad school plans take place sometime in the next five years, right? Thought so. Take the test now, get a great score and sit on it
until you’re ready. Your future self will thank you (mine did the other day..time travel is weird).

Freelance

Your former employer paid you to do what you’re good at and losing your job doesn’t mean you have to stop. A quick search online will reveal that businesses and individuals are looking for professionals to provide a garden scramble of different services as independent contractors. Set up an LLC (it’s easy), print some business cards, put on your biggest insurance salesman smile and start networking. A little persistence will land you some freelance work and, over time, a great second income.

An added benefit: you’re your own boss, no handholding. This is real real-world experience and it looks good on a resume.

Network

Remember those lunchtime events you could never go to because you had to finish the TPS reports before 1:00 p.m.? You’re free!
They say networking is twelve times more effective than applying cold for open positions. Start going to the events for the trade organizations of your choice. Better yet, get involved with the young professionals’ organization in your area.
What if you hate networking? News flash…you don’t have a job anymore…DO IT.

Create Brand “You” (HAHAHAHAHAHA!)
Despite this ultra corny heading, a personal brand does have value, especially for a job hunter. Use some of your free time to think about what you want for yourself over the next five years, then, decide what you need to do to achieve it.

With a goal in mind, establish yourself as an expert in a chosen area and build an online reputation through various forms of content creation. Build a body of work that says, “This girl/guy knows what s/he’s talking about.”

There’s plenty of information online about personal brands, so, to put it simply: get your name out there – in print, online and in person. If you’re freelancing and networking, you have a great start already.

Do the Work

No, I’m not talking about the four previously mentioned activities. This is personal. You may have lost your job, but you’ve also won an opportunity to do a little reflecting.

Take this time to figure yourself out. What didn’t you like about your last job that could be improved upon the second time around? Were you going in the right direction? You will find a job; ascertain what needs to happen in order to start the next phase of your life on the right foot.

…and there you have it.

Ooops! I’m back.

I know! Alright?

It’s been forever since a new post graced the double sidebar column of this blog. Alltop even removed me! After a discouraging job loss and a somewhat unpleasant/eye opening experience at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, my ambitions floundered and the blog was neglected.

Applying for jobs all day, facing rejection, it’s tough. Ya know? Thankfully I’ve had odd freelance writing jobs to keep me busy, and I can’t deny that the extra free time isn’t enjoyable.

So, what to write about? There’s plenty.

Here goes…

Boomer Interviewer, Gen Y Interviewee

Recently, I had the rare opportunity to meet with the CEO of a large ad agency. Not knowing what to expect, I went in with an open mind and came out with some valuable tips, one of which I want to share here due to the fact that it directly applies to the millennial “entitlement” attitude that may or may not exist among young professionals. I’ve always thought of myself as fairly down to earth, but today’s conversation blew that notion out of the water.

I arrived without a hitch, waited a few minutes for my host, then, with stars in my eyes and a brief tremble in my otherwise confident demeanor, I greeted Mr. Ad Exec and was escorted to a large corner office, complete with indoor putting green and pics with the President.

Water in hand, I sat down with my new acquaintance on a gray couch near the window.

First question: “So, why do you want to work in advertising?”

I know why, so answering the question wasn’t a problem, but, had this been a job interview, the style of my answer may have been.

What did I talk about? Myself.

What should I have talked about? Myself, but also what I can bring to an agency.

Fail.

The lesson this wise executive proceeded to teach me can be summed up in one quote I’ll always remember:

“Employers aren’t here to fulfill your life.”

He had met with others my age in this sort of setting; he said we all do the same thing. I spoke at length about the things I’m working toward and what I intend to achieve in life without touching on what I plan to give.

Bear that quote in mind next time you’re preparing for an interview and don’t forget that sky-high ambitions are meaningless. It’s what you can bring to the table that counts.