This week I attended a seminar titled “Blogging Your Way to Employment” hosted by Susan Hanshaw and Dean Guadagni, co-founders of Inner Architect.

The message was simple. If you are in a job search and you are not spending at least SOME of your free time working on a blog you are just running in place with everyone else.

Here’s the deal.  Your resume is a static document that represents what you SAY your expertise is and what you SAY you can do for a potential employer. Blogging, on the other hand, provides an avenue for you to express your subject matter expertise in a more “action-oriented” manner. The very process of writing posts demonstrates your adeptness on the topic, far beyond standard textbook knowledge. It allows you to give employers a taste of what you have to offer and how you think about your work; which can be significantly more compelling than a resume!

Blogging also provides a tool for those of us with a more…ahem… “eclectic” background, as we are able to demonstrate how our array of skills come together in a meaningful way. People who fall into this group often assume that employers will just be able to discern and understand the connections between all of our skill sets.  This is (typically) not true. It is up to each of us to draw the lines between the dots so that potential employers get a picture of our total value. This is very challenging to accomplish on a standard resume but blogging does it by default.

Another potential benefit of blogging for employment could be access to what is commonly referred to as the “hidden job market”. Opportunities that are not posted - for whatever reason - but still need to be filled. A reader could come across your blog and realize that you have the exact blend of skills that he or she is looking for might reach out to you directly; thereby completely bypassing all of the other competition out there. How cool would that be???

I am sure that many of you reading this post already have your own blog; but for those who may not, the experts at Inner Architect are hosting  two seminars on this topic, here in the San Francisco Bay Area. One in the North Bay and one in the South Bay. The workshops promise to be true “hands-on” sessions which will coach attendees on establishing your expertise and value and then creating your own free WordPress blog…..with wireless internet and all. You’ll want to sign up early in order to be properly prepared for this session.

And look! They’ve already inspired me to get back on target with my own blog. Darn! These guys are GOOD!

This week I attended two networking events.  One of the groups hosting an event has my membership listed under my own company name, Career Courageously. The content of the presentation, as it turned out, was about networking….a topic near and dear to my heart.

During the presentation, I found myself spontaneously responding and participating in the presentation, encouraging a more interactive discussion. Afterward, I immediately went up to the presenters, two partners from a prestigious national accounting firm, and introduced myself. Since my name tag said I was with “Career Courageously” instead of my day job, I introduced my strategy for my company….a plan still in the works, but becoming more and more crystallized each day.

I explained to them that I was in the process of putting together a plan to do one-on-one, real-time networking coaching….wingman style. It was, in fact, the first time I had introduced the idea to a complete stranger.

Their very first reaction to this:

“Do you need any referrals?”

Dang! This idea has legs! So, now I am going on record that I am going to finish putting these plans together. Here are some thoughts I’ve had about the idea so far:

Pros: I’ll get paid to network and (ideally) within circles I wouldn’t normally be engaged. This would, then, result in more potential clients! My experiences from doing this will give me the basis for my first book.

Cons: I am only one person and I can only attend one event at a time.

I would love to hear any other comments on this idea…what do you think?

People often ask me what “career courageously” means. Well, it means more than one thing but if I were to sum it all up into its simplest form, I would say it means taking action in your career to get the results you seek to achieve. The courageous careerer is not satisfied when confronted with an outlined “career path”. In fact the courageous careerer often finds themselves looking for ways to be different…a new angle, a new way to present something, a new approach to getting something done.

One of my favorite courageous career stories goes back to the days when I had only been out of college about a year. I was working for the State of NY at a video production facility, which was my chosen field. In a prior post, I wrote about the life changing incident that I had at this time which caused me to leave my job at the State and also leave behind (according to my family) a “good” job with the “good” benefits. This story pre-dates that story by about 4 years.

In order to get a job at this facility right after graduating from college (typically) you needed to work through a summer in the “summer relief” program. The program amounted to a 4 month full time job where you were rotated between shifts and duties in order to cover for the full time employees as they took time off for family vacations and such. This particular year was my first opportunity to actually be one who might be “relieved” by a summer relief student rather than be the summer relief student myself.

That summer there was a “reliefer” student named Shannon D. Shannon, like many of us had just graduated from a college program in television production and she was getting some entry level work experience during her first summer out of school. In addition to working at the State television facility in the evening, Shannon also had an internship with a small, local video production facility planned for her summer. She worked with us for about a week before her internship started the next Monday.

On her first day at the internship, Shannon observed how the small company operated. She noticed several undefined roles held by various people in the company. She notices some confusion as to how the company operated and a general lack of organization. She went home that night and wrote a brand new operations plan completely redesigning the organization and – simultaneously – creating a new position for herself! She brought her proposal in the very next day, presented it to the owner and she was hired on the spot!

I have no idea what Shannon D. is doing now. She might still be working in video production, maybe she has become an executive or an entrepreneur by now or even a very happy stay-at-home Mom. What I can tell you is that her action that summer was the first example of courageous careering I had ever encountered. Do you have an example of courageous careering?

Back in March, pal Jason Alba wrote a review of the book “Bait and Switch: The (Futile) Pursuit of the American Dream” written by Barbara Ehrenreich. Jason wrote:

“If you are NOT in a job search right now, and either worry about one or think you are invincible, then this is a must read right now. Why? Because you really need to think about your future, and that next transition, and how you will get through it. And this is a realistic scenario.”

As a recruiter I thought that reading the book myself would, at the very least, provide some insight and empathy into what my candidates might be feeling as they go through a job search with me. Quite simply, I thought that reading the book would make me a better recruiter!

In the book, Ehrenreich decides she is going to create a fictionalized job seeker persona, using her maiden name, and spinning her real life experiences as a writer into more traditional corporate experiences in public relations and event planning. The idea was to go undercover and investigate the challenges of seeking a white-collar job in today’s climate. The elaborate farce even went so far as to create fake “references” from people Ehrenreich knew professionally, who worked at companies she listed on her fabricated resume.

As I said, I read the book to find kernels of insight in order to become a better recruiter. What I didn’t expect was to be extremely disappointed about the fact that a large portion of the book pooh-poohs the effectiveness of networking! Ehrenreich goes into great detail describing very negative experiences at networking events. Some of the experiences she describes include:

Going to an event which turns out to be more of a “candidate pool” of sorts for corralling desperate job seekers into signing up for a “boot camp” which costs $600.

A lunch meeting where she is invited to spend 4% of her prior year’s salary AND 4% of her next salary in order to be introduced to a “’support group’ of actually employed executives”Driving to regularly-held events advertised on the internet that have been canceled or moved.

And, my personal favorite:

Attending advertised business meetings/networking events which turn out to be covers for worship services full of bold-faced proselytizing, where business card exchange and prayer occur simultaneously!

So what went wrong with Ehrenreich’s approach to networking? Well, I think her summary of networking in the conclusion of the book speaks volumes:

“But by its very nature networking tends to undercut any incipient solidarity with one’s fellow seekers, each of whom is to be regarded at best as a source of contacts or tips, and at worst as a possible competitor.”

Hmmmm….so “at best” it is all about what YOU give ME; and “at worst” you are only someone worth knowing in the vein of “keep your friends close and your enemies closer”.

At my company, the current mantra for success in a potentially sliding market, is to “fish where the fish are”. Why wouldn’t this same idea apply to your networking efforts? IT WOULD!!! Now granted, I live in a large metropolitan area, so REAL networking opportunities are constantly available to me. In fact, if I attended every networking event I am aware of, I would never be home – or at work for that matter!

Why would someone network exclusively with other job seekers when there are so many networking opportunities all around? For example, I attend events sponsored by several groups including:

• California Society of CPAs (CalCPA)
• The Association of Woman MBAs (AWM)
• The Financial Women’s Association (FWA)
• Linking Northern California (LNC)
• Bay Area Business Women (BABW)
• National Society of Hispanic MBAs (NSHMBA)
• National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO)

THESE are the types of networking events that a job seeker should attend. Events put on by these and other organizations are focused on networking and on making connections for the purpose of building mutually-beneficial relationships. If you actually take the time to nurture these relationships you will find that networking can actually smooth your path to success.

I really wish Ehrenreich had spent a little more time exploring other types of networking events aside from those focused only on job seekers because she leaves the reader with the idea that networking is a fruitless endeavor and a waste of time.

If you are seeking a job and you feel the need to commiserate with others who are unemployed and going through some of the same struggles you are, then certainly attend events held specifically for job seekers. I understand, I really do. But for every ONE of those events you attend, please attend at least THREE other events where the focus is actually on networking with other working professionals. AND, don’t read this book; instead please allow me to encourage you otherwise……fish where the fish are….got it?

I went to a networking event this week, sponsored by the FWA. While I’ve attended FWA events previously, this one was particularly interesting to me because one of my “very best buddy-pals”, Sydney Firestone, Director in the Forensic & Dispute Services practice of Deloitte & Touche, was one of the speakers. Sydney and met when we both went back to school “later in life” to complete the coursework necessary to sit for the CPA exam. Sydney’s co-speaker was Natalie Mehta who is a Senior Manager of Deloitte’s Valuation Services group.

Sydney and Natalie spoke about Mass Career Customization, or MCC. This is a strategic program developed and piloted by Deloitte & Touche USA LLP. The whole project has culminated in a book, written by Cathleen Benko, Chief Talent Officer at Deloitte and Anne Weisberg, a Director of Talent Diversity at the firm.

MCC was developed in response to growing negative retention trends and the cost/benefit analysis of those trends to the bottom line of the firm. The program is based upon the fact that the “…workforce has changed while the workplace has not.” MCC seeks to redefine the traditional “corporate ladder” into a newer, more socially reflective “corporate lattice”. The lattice design demonstrates the idea that an employee’s career progression can move in many directions and timeframes along different segments of a framework rather than only straight up.

The idea, quite simply, is that the lives of employees change as they progress through life. Companies who want to retain great people must also provide a framework, or “lattice”, through which an employee may alter their current work situation. According to MCC, an employee may, at any point in time, need to change one of four core dimensions of a career: Pace, Workload, Location/Schedule and Role in order to maintain the necessary “work/life balance” required to address the employee’s current life situation.

The program is designed to level the playing field for all employees by providing a common basis for flexible work situations. MCC seeks to replace the current environment which creates a situation whereby an employee who chooses to avail themselves of one of the 69 flexible work arrangement programs offered by the firm (flex hours, job sharing etc.) is considered to be in need of an “exception”. This, then, creates an unintended perception of “special treatment” for the employee. By implementing MCC firm-wide, Deloitte will provide a corporately condoned “space” for employees to modify their MCC dimensions as required without the accompanied exception perception.

I am fascinated by this idea. The firm’s plan is to roll out MCC to the entire organization this June. The firm will be assessing each employee’s MCC framework as a starting point which will be reevaluated throughout the employee’s career. How exciting. Will the idea of the corporate lattice catch on?

I really enjoy discovering stories about people who completely change their lives. I admire people who make a plan and stick to it in order to make it happen. That is a fundamental philosophy of this blog…to career courageously through life and to not let people tell you that you can’t do something. As I come across stories like this, I will post them here. We can all learn from each other’s experience.

I found this excellent story from the Wall Street Journal Career Journal page. The story tells the story of Christopher Pearsall of Norfolk, VA. Christopher managed to migrate his career from the factory floor of a Ford Motor Plant, to become a Product Manager at Concursive, a business software development company.

After a 10-year stint working at a Ford Motor plant, Christopher lost his job when the plant closed. But instead of getting bitter about the situation, Christopher got BUSY.

Fortunately for him, he had already begun his journey and had completed an associate’s degree by attending classes part time while working full time at the plant. Further, he had already managed to get accepted into a program at Old Dominion University and was pursuing a bachelor’s degree on a part time basis when the word came of the plant closure.

Christopher took advantage of his new free time and immersed himself into school full-time. As part of his “career reinvention” he pursued an internship at the software company which eventually led to a full time position.

The article reveals some missteps Christopher made along the way (misspellings on his resume and a severe reprimand for inappropriate language) and then revealed how he survived each one.

Changing careers is truly a courageous undertaking, definitely not for the unadventurous among us. Christopher stayed focused on his goals which gave him the stamina and willpower he needed to complete the mission. Well done, Christopher, and Thank You for being such a great example of how to career courageously!

Seth Godin posted a story of an online encounter he had with Forbes. Here is my favorite part of his post. It would make my YEAR if everyone who contacted me online were to do so using this credo. Enjoy!

“Here, it’s simple:

You can contact just about anyone you want. The only rule is you need to contact them personally, with respect, and do it months before you need their help! Contact them about them, not about you. Engage. Contribute. Question. Pay attention. Read. Interact.

Then, when you’ve earned the right to attention and respect, months and months later, sure, ask. It takes a lot of time and effort, which is why volume isn’t the answer for you, quality is.

That’s a great way to get a job, promote a site, make a friend, spread the word or just be a human.”

I have, on occasion, felt stuck in a job. It is a haunting and dismal feeling in the deepest pit of your stomach. It makes getting out of bed during the week difficult and getting through a day at work without exploding near impossible. Does this sound vaguely familiar?

I have always found that taking proactive action in my life is the key to getting UNstuck. It helps me get through my current daily grind a little bit easier. By taking action, instead of moping about your situation, you give yourself a mission, a reason to move forward and a vision of your future.

Part of what I’ve done in my life, and also the inspiration for this blog, is to find ways out of current employment situations that are unhealthy for one reason or another.

I came across this interesting video on YouTube about a “Career Makeover”. The video was created by Cisco in what appears to be a good attempt at the ultimate employer challenge: retaining good people. The video coaches an employee to follow the “3 E’s”: Education, Exposure & Experience.

Take a look at this video to see if there are ways you might be able to apply the messages to your own career in order to get yourself UNSTUCK. I would love to hear positive stories about how you got UNSTUCK.

Seth Godin wrote a post called “Why bother having a resume?” in which he claims that truly extraordinary people do not require the standard job-seeking dossier. His point is that your “presentation” should include other tools to display your talents; these would include an insightful blog, fantastic recommendations from respected individuals, a sophisticated project available to be seen and touched or a reputation that precedes you.

He goes on to say that a resume is nothing but a screening tool…typically a screening OUT tool. It is subject to keyword searches and quick judgments based on a cursory scan of the document.

I think in some cases he might be correct, particularly in the case of marketing or creative people. My husband is a PERFECT example to support Seth’s point (and, thus, a shameless opportunity for promotion…but he really makes the point!). A standard resume for him just seems completely inappropriate, considering the fact that he has a blog, a CD, an entire page on YouTube of his videos and the title of “Creative Director” at a prestigious rock station in the 4^th largest radio market in the country. I mean, this guy just oozes creativity and he has worked very hard to create the online tools necessary to live up to Seth’s criteria.

But what about the rest of us mere mortals?

As a CPA and a recruiter in the accounting & finance field, I believe that resumes are an unfortunate necessity. While I agree with Seth about the pitfalls of the document, I don’t think we can just afford to throw them out entirely. In fact, I would prefer to see people become more savvy about the pitfalls and leverage them.

If you know that your resume will be subject to keyword searches, then use keywords! Put some thought and effort into it. For example, I find a lot of candidates write that they are proficient with “Microsoft Office”. When I ask candidates about this, they say “well that includes Excel and Access”. True….but will your resume be discovered in a keyword search for “Excel” or “Access”? NO!

Another thing that I find on most resumes is that there is no explanation for the type and size of the companies listed. How would a reader know that Smith & Company is a CPA firm and NOT a construction company or a local realtor if you don’t tell them? Further, if it is a CPA firm, then be sure to find ways to include both the acronym “CPA” as well as the words “Certified Public Accountant” in your resume.

One point that we can take from Seth’s post is to leverage whatever online content we do have available to support our candidacy. This could include a write-up of an accomplishment in an online newsletter (maybe a sales target or an operational goal) or a review of a speech you gave or even just your LinkedIn profile with at least one (preferably more) genuine recommendations for each position you have listed.

Seth, is correct….now let’s work around the problem intelligently.

I hesitate to say that I am not an open networker because, to many people, that makes me a completely closed networker and that’s not true either. “Open networking” is a term used to describe people who will accept any social network invitation they receive without regard to relationship, approach or justification for the invitation.

Recently I received a call from fellow recruiter / blogger / twitterer Heather Gardner. Among other things, we discussed the matter of open networking as we have often been on opposite sides of this debate. Heather’s approach to networking is what I would call a “you never know” approach. That is to say that you never know when you will need to find a particular type of person in, oh let’s just say, Peoria, IL (OK, I’ll ‘fess up. Heather is looking for a recruiter for Peoria, IL). She even admits to accepting the generic LinkedIn invitation, a personal pet peeve of mine.

In a recent post on My Linking Power Forum, Heather said:

“I view EVERY connection as an opportunity. It’s like Christmas or birthday surprises each time an invite comes my way. I jump and shout for joy every single time – you should see me! I’m all smiles and it’s a great day at my ‘virtual office’”

I certainly understand her position that every connection is an opportunity, but I wonder about the value of collecting contacts just for the sake of “some day”. And why would I want to sort through a bunch of “some days” just to get to those with whom I actually have a relationship? A “relationship” – at least to me – does not necessarily require recognizing someone if I walk past them on the street. It could mean someone that I have interacted with directly over the phone, through email or online through a forum of some kind.

My question to Heather was “what good do all of those contacts do when you don’t know anything about any of them and vice-versa?” It would be one thing if the initial connect always led to a relationship, but they typically don’t. There are far too many people on LinkedIn who believe quantity EQUALS quality to bother with building any kind of relationship.

I first became aware of this issue when a musician pal of my husbands, Steve Lawson, posted a MySpace post about achieving his 7,000th “friend”. I remember this post because I laughed out loud at the end when he said that he had amassed:

“…such a considerable number of completely meaningless non-relationships”

Exactly.

Specifically the LinkedIn User Agreement prohibits users from:

“…using LinkedIn invitations to send messages to people who don’t know you or who are unlikely to recognize you as a known contact.”

So that must mean that LinkedIn provides users a simple mechanism with which you can contact people you want to get to know, right? Uh, no. LinkedIn only offers a very limited and proprietary email system allowing users to communicate directly with each other. The InMail system is also fee-based, assuming you wish to extend beyond a measly few you get with your membership. Further, LinkedIn adds gas to the flame by increasing you ability to achieve successful search results based on the number of 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd degree contacts in your network. Sooo, let’s recap…

1. You are not supposed to send invitations to people you don’t know
2. LinkedIn only provides a limited, fee-based (after a measly few you get with your membership), proprietary “tool” to communicate with people you don’t know directly through LinkedIn in order to actually build a relationship AND
3. Your search results increase based on the sheer number of contacts you have in your network, thereby encouraging people to grow their networks large and fast.

Hmmmm. How does THAT make any sense? Is that a double or a triple standard?

I guess I understand the basic justification for Heather and other “open networkers” on LinkedIn; it is the only logical result, given the above conundrum. They almost have me swayed…but not quite.

For now at least, this “relationship gal” is perfectly happy with the merry circle of personal relationships I have on LinkedIn. I just don’t see myself ever caving in to the extreme just to increase my connection count and, thus, my search results. I have become more open in recent months, however, as long as the invitation I receive has some kind of personalized content. How do you feel about this issue?

“And you are….? And you are here because…? And you are looking for…?…”

Many years ago there was a funny skit on Saturday Night Live about an absolutely clueless - and very obnoxious, receptionist who did not recognize very recognizable celebrity characters when they arrived at his desk. The receptionist would ask multiple questions like the ones above. The skit would go on and on with the questions and answers becoming more and more ridiculous.

I often feel like that receptionist when I receive an invitation to connect on LinkedIn from someone I don’t know who just sends me the default LinkedIn connection request. The default invitation looks like this:

Valerie,

I’d like to add you to my professional network on LinkedIn.

-[John Doe]

I know that on MySpace and FaceBook people “friend up” with complete strangers all the time. But somehow on LinkedIn it just feels wrong, at least to me. LinkedIn is about building your “network of connections”. To me, a “network of connections” implies that my connections are actually people I have interacted with in one way or another either in person, over the phone, through email or online in a forum of some kind.

Even connecting with a perfect stranger is fine with me as long as they provide some context for the invitation; some reason for connecting. Reasons would include an industry, company or school in common; an interest in common, a professional objective in common….whatever. Just SOMETHING that shows you are interested in building a relationship with me and not just increasing your connection count.

As a result of being very vocal on this topic in various online forums, I have been criticized for my position on the matter. There are also a fair number of supporters of my view as well, so I know I am not alone. I freely admit to being a “relationship gal” and I do not apologize for it. It is one of the strengths that I bring to my career as a recruiter when dealing with clients and candidates.

I guess this really shouldn’t surprise me, but there are actually people in this world who don’t think they need to tell you anything about themselves or why they want to connect with you. Apparently they think that you will just be so enthralled with their utterly fascinating profile (to which you must navigate in order to get any sense of who they are) that you just can’t help yourself but to accept their invitation. To me, this just seems incredibly arrogant. And certainly NOT a way to start a relationship! Sheeesh!

It is not as though I don’t accept invitations from perfect strangers, I do. I am just picky about how I am approached. The LinkedIn invitation is your first opportunity to make a good impression, especially when approaching a complete stranger. If you are truly interested in connecting with someone, WHY would you want to imply that they are not really worth your time by sending them the generic invitation? Do yourself a favor, take a few moments to review their profile, particularly the section at the bottom called “Contact Settings”, and customize your invitation accordingly. Approaching strangers in this way shows them respect and dignity; that you actually VALUE what they might bring to your network. Isn’t that a much better way to start any kind of relationship?

In a previous post I disclosed my personal career challenge of not being able to check a box that appropriately fits who I am and what I have to offer. This is very frustrating in a world that really seems to LIKE boxes! Knowing this, we need to be sure to CHECK the boxes when trying to communicate our value.

I have always had this problem, but it became most apparent when I tried to transition from sales to accounting. For example, in 2003 I went to an event, hosted by one of the Big 4 accounting firms, promoting woman and their careers.

At the event I mingled around the room meeting several great women throughout the day. I was coming to the point in my career change where I almost had enough credits in accounting to sit for the CPA exam. My next step was to find a way to get the hours of experience I needed in order to get certified, preferably at a public accounting firm. One woman I met that day worked for the Big 4 firm hosting the event. As I spoke to her, I went into my pitch about why I was moving into accounting and what I had to offer. The pitch probably went something like this:

“My name is Valerie Gonyea and I am currently getting my Master’s Degree in Accounting from Golden Gate University. I intend to sit for the CPA exam as soon as I have enough credits to do so. I am excited about going into accounting because I believe the relationship skills that I have built through my 10 year sales career will serve me well in my new career. It is my understanding that the combination of accounting and sales skills is unique and I believe that this competitive advantage will allow me to progress very far in my new career.”

She looked at me like I had 3 heads and said: “Well, I suppose you could go into auditing”

Now you have to understand that in public accounting there are two primary focus areas; audit and tax. BUT there are also several supplementary areas, for which I believe I might have been better suited, such as consulting, litigation support and risk management. But in her mind, she could only see me in the “auditing” box. She was a true check-box thinker.

I think that was the day I realized that I was in for an uphill battle in accounting. It seemed as though the industry was never really going to “get” me. The “competitive advantage” piece of my pitch came from my background in sales, to me it made perfect sense. But I wasn’t talking to sales people, I was talking to people in accounting.

So what to do? The first thing I did was to stop using the “competitive advantage” angle and started presenting myself from the firm’s point of view.

My pitch changed to something like:

“My name is Valerie Gonyea and I am currently getting my Master’s Degree in Accounting from Golden Gate University. I intend to sit for the CPA exam as soon as I have enough credits, so that I can then enter public accounting. The prospect of going into public accounting is exciting to me (don’t choke) because I know that relationships with clients are really important. Having spent 10 years in sales, I believe that a firm would appreciate my ability to communicate effectively with clients. I feel that I would be an asset to the firm as a result of my client relationship skills.”

Same basic pitch, but different.

I did eventually get into public accounting. I did my time..I got my audit hours….I got certified and…..I got OUT.

So for those of us who don’t “fit” in boxes, but who need to get into a box for one reason or another, be sure to consider your audience. If your audience is comprised of check-box listeners (and you are very safe to assume this in general) then make sure you check the boxes! Don’t go off on a tangent to try to convince them of your special, unique talents….at least not right off the bat.

And, if by chance you happen to encounter a non check-box thinker, consider yourself very fortunate.

This is a true story about how NOT to network.

About 3:00 this afternoon I received an email indicating that I had received a LinkedIn recommendation from someone I know.

I was psyched! Within another few minutes, however, I received a second email from the same person titled “Unemployed”. Ahhh…I see how this works.

Now I’m not picking on the guy, he was a candidate of mine several months ago. He ended up finding a job on his own…the “perfect job” he told me at the time. Hey, it happens. Needless to say, I was disappointed that I didn’t place him but I congratulated him because I could hear the “thrill” in his voice when he called to tell me about it. This is one of those nicely pedigreed candidates, very “place-able”. He presents himself very well and even though we got off to a bumpy start, I really grew to like working with him.

The second email, title “Unemployed”, said the following:

“I find myself looking for a job again. My perfect job as [position title withheld] of [company name withheld] was the perfect job - but the culture of the company was not a good enough fit. So, I am again looking for the perfect [position title] position with a company that has a better culture.

Let me know when you have a few minutes.”

During the time he had the “perfect job” I had called him at least three times and left him messages which were never returned. I had also sent the request to recommend me right after he accepted this “perfect job” which remained an open request until today, the day he finds himself “looking for a job again”.

Needless to say, this is not the ideal way to network. It sends exactly the wrong message.

So please, please, please don’t wait till crunch time to start networking.

If you are in a good place in your career, reach out NOW.

Build your network NOW.

If you are already in a “spot” then you have to network now. At least, remember who was with you during this time when you get back on track.

Don’t worry, I will probably take care of my candidate, but we will definitely have to have a chat about how he handled things during the “perfect job” time. I am a little disappointed in him and, the truth is, I don’t HAVE to work with him if I choose not to. I wish he would’ve thought about that over the past several months.

I received an email the other day from LinkedIn pal, Larry Megugorac, who is a Business Development/Sales professional, saying:

“I’ve got to hand to you….I cannot figure out how a former Accountant goes into Recruiting.

Obviously being in sales before-hand helped tremendously. I always thought that Accountants were a conservative group. Recruiters only get paid when they make a successful placement right? I thought Accountants were risk adverse.

I’m glad you proved me wrong! Way to go Valerie!”

I laughed out loud when I read it, because it captures the story of my life. No one ever expects me to have gone from one thing to the next. People who met me when I was a salesperson could not understand why I left to pursue accounting. People who met me as an accountant couldn’t understand how I came out of sales and people who meet me as a recruiter always want to know how a CPA becomes a recruiter.

I don’t mean to imply that I am this big “out-of-the-box” thinker, I just don’t fit IN any box at all! The problem is that, in general, we have a check-box world when it comes to careers. This is especially evident to me in my day job because I recruit in the Accounting & Finance field….trust me. The funny thing is that when I went into accounting, I was somewhat relieved - I would actually be able to check a box! Silly, silly me….

As a recruiter, I occasionally come across people just like me; people who just don’t fit in a box. When I encounter these people I tell them “you have no idea just how much I GET you”. They are relieved to hear it. It also validates me, even though no one ever said that to me as I was struggling.

On the client side, I am actually a little relieved when I get a job order and they tell me they already know that they are looking for a combination of skill sets that doesn’t typically exist. The client looks at me with these inquiring eyes as if to say:

“Do you get what I need here? Do you have the patience to find it?”

So here is my challenge to you. The next time you meet someone whose career you don’t quite understand, remember that there are many people who just cannot easily check a box. Rather than judge them negatively because of it, you should listen to them and let them explain where their value lies with regard to your organization or to your network.

I think ultimately, the real answer to my conundrum lies in the fact that people like me need to build our own boxes, so to speak. My hypothesis is that I am really supposed to be an entrepreneur, but I keep hanging onto the check-box world. This is a question that I am actively exploring right now. In fact this blog is my first baby step in that direction.

In the meantime, my next post will discuss how those of us who deal with this issue must craft our story in order to be effective in a check-box world. Stay tuned!

Do you have an inner-geek? Boy, I sure do.

Maybe you don’t have an inner-geek, but you do have an inner-artist or an inner-writer or an inner-athlete. Whatever you have, it is very important that you keep them fed.

Back in 2002, my inner-geek had not been fed in a very long time; that is how I ended up in accounting. It started with a class that my company sent me to which was designed to teach us how to speak to C-level executives. The instructor started the class by explaining some basic financial statement analysis techniques to the room full of salespeople. My inner-geek rose from within and ravenously devoured income statements and balance sheets. I was completely inspired.

When I got home from that class (it was a two week class at a dude ranch in Colorado) I quickly signed up for Accounting 101 at my local junior college and did not quit until I had obtained my CPA license.
Now I am on the record as saying that going into accounting was a career mistake for me. I did not thrive in the industry and I shed many, many tears about that choice over the course of the 4 ½ years it took to finish it.

I have now come to terms with my inner-geek, I even appreciate her. I am just much more careful not to let her overeat at the buffet table next time! I am currently taking a class in Microsoft Access. No one, except for my inner-geek, seems to understand why I am doing this. It is a program I have always wanted to learn…so I am! And, she appreciates it.

I recently wrote about an event I attended where the speaker, Nancy Monson, lead a discussion around the idea of “Living a Life Aligned with Your Values”. During the discussion we broke up into small groups of 2 or 3 and discussed questions posed by the speaker. One of the questions was what we thought the reasons were for being dissatisfied with our life as it relates to our most important values.

The gal that I was sitting with told me that she felt that she was not satisfied with the value of “self-expression” in her life. I suggested to her that she take a class in something that would address this value and I told her about my inner-geek and my MS Access class. She actually looked almost relieved. The next time I see her, I will ask her about whether she was able to identify a class that would be meaningful to her value of self-expression and encourage her to sign up for something…anything… to feed her need in this area.

We have many options through our school systems, our adult education programs, our local colleges and various other community resources which provide us opportunities to explore - and feed - our inner-whatevers.

What class should you be taking???