Where Should I Work. My first real job was in Maryland. I was a college student doing what today is called interning. It was winter, wet and cold. I passed stalled cars on the Beltway every day on the way to the office. The small talk at work was always one thing: the plan for two-weeks off in summer. Everyone talked about going to Florida, taking their boat, or scuba diving, or sun bathing, or fishing. As I listened to these musings and moanings every day from my fellow workers, it occurred to me, “Hey, I am from Florida. What am I doing here?” That’s when I created my first rule about jobs: Work in a place you want to be 50 weeks a year and take your 2 weeks off somewhere else.

What Should I Do for Work. I thought I wanted to be an engineer so I went to an engineering school: Georgia Tech. But while interning in the field I learned that there were thousands of unemployed engineers (this was a while back) so I decided to become a psychologist and transferred to a liberal arts college: Stetson University. My faculty advisor said I should be a math major instead because the world had enough psychologists but not enough mathematicians. So I followed his advice and got a degree in math. (Looking back I wonder how much his advice was slanted by his being head of the math department.) Of course, the prospects for a mathematician, it turned out, were no better than those for an engineer. But Stetson leaders encouraged me to attend its law school, so I did. And it seems that law and math aren’t that much different. One relates to people and property and the other relates to numbers and such, but at the heart of both are rules and logic. I like rules and logic. A lot. So, I’m a lawyer. And I help other people, clients, in dealing with those rules and logic. Sometimes they don’t understand law. But that’s okay. Some people don’t understand mathematics. But that’s why lawyers and mathematicians have jobs. Someone has to do it.

When Should I Work. When I interned in college and my co-workers talked longingly about their plans for their 2 weeks off in the summer, I wondered if it would be possible to have a job that seemed like vacation for 50 weeks a year and then leave the other 2 weeks for family vacation. In other words, what if you liked your job so much and you were so good at it that your job was all you wanted to do all the time? So instead of working 9 to 5 because you had to, you worked all the time. This developed over time into another rule about jobs: Work at a job that you like to do, are good at doing, and people will pay you to do.

The Three Circles. I passed this advice on to my children when they were in college. I said to draw three intersecting circles. In one circle list what you like to do. In another list what you are good at. And in the third list what people will pay you to do. Where the circles intersect is your career. Here’s what it looks like:

And that’s all I know about jobs.

Think Professional.

For professional, I am a fan of paper cards and brief notes.  If carefully chosen for suitability and taste, this is one of those things that people really do remember for the right reasons (and will never forget if tasteless or strange).  My advice is to stick with New Year Greetings if you are not absolutely clear about what holidays your associates and friends recognize.   Write a nice note inside the card, addressed specifically to the intended recipient.

I am not opposed to letters about your family and everything you did last year.  Actually I kind of like learning about your past year, and truth be told, I think your accomplishments are the best part.  TMI is TMI though, try to stay away from discussions of body parts, money, politics, religion, arrests or scandals, and weight loss or gain.  If you did not or cannot phone your friend about any of these topics and would not be inclined to have an in-depth conversation with your entire list about the relative merits of one alternative or another on the subject, it probably is not suitable for a holiday update.

I am not a fan of the digital card.  First, I am reluctant to click on things, if they even make it through the spam filter.  Second, I don’t want to see you Elf Yourself  again, it’s been done.  To. Death.  When I am thinking about referring a client to you, or nominating you for something good, or considering you for a job I heard about, do you want the image that comes to my mind to be your cut out face on a dancing cartoon elf body?

So here are my thoughts:

1.  Go to a card, stationery, or department store and pick out something that you think looks like you, and recognizes the holiday you celebrate.

2.  Pick out a second set, for those who celebrate that which you don’t.  That is, those who you know celebrate the holiday acknowledged by the card.

3.  For the rest (or alternatively, for everyone), select a Peace or Happy New Year card.  Remember that the world isn’t either/or.  Some folks do not celebrate any religious holiday.  Some do not celebrate at all.

4. Choose nice stamps. Use the right amount of postage for the card size.

5.  Use a good pen and write or print in your best writing or printing. Do not use turquoise or other odd color ink, funny writing, or scent.

6.  Use this opportunity to organize your contacts and look up correct addresses.  Sort.

7.  Write short, nice, memorable notes, like “We miss you.”  Or, “Remember that time we all bought stocking caps and mittens and wore them all Christmas Day because the furnace broke?”

8.  For close friends and family, send a photo or two in the card, if you can, and if they are good photos in good taste.

9.  Do not solicit anything, including business, referrals, return mail, or even a phone call.  This is you saying “hello, it’s me; you are my friend,” nothing more.

10.  Make a list of those to whom you have sent the cards.  This is your holiday card list.  If you get cards from people who are not on your list, you may send a card back, if you choose, or add them to your list for next year.

Lists are good things to have; you should get into the habit of creating and culling them.  Every five years or so, start all over again, sort of like zero-based list making.  Think through the list and the individuals on it; size is not the important thing, but tenure on the list and your ability and willingness to spontaneously create the personal note matter most.

I love public speaking; I don’t remember ever being fearful of an audience, large or small, or anything involving talking.  I love to talk, which is not always a good thing (but that’s another blog).   I don’t usually experience the nerves that many highly skilled and competent speakers and entertainers experience when they head  for the podium, or even think about giving a speech.  Until one day, I did.  And oddly enough, in a really small and friendly forum my unfamiliar butterflies turned into full blown panic.  Huh?  This was weird, and not at all pleasant.

I had no idea why it happened, but I can tell you that once you know it can happen to you, it does.  I figured out pretty quickly that I was now afraid of the jitters, and not the speech or the audience; I was in a vicious circle.   And it just got worse.

I called my friend Wendy and asked for advice.  She knew, as I did, that it was no longer about the podium, but about fear of fear taking over, and she gave a me a little trick that I will now pass along to you.  This works well for any situation in which you might have an involuntary (as if there were any other kind) feeling of panic, fainting, weakness, or fear–like an interview, a meeting, or a social situation that is unfamiliar.  Stage fright is not only a player on the stage, but sometimes comes with you to the party, the boss’s office, or to the networking interview at the restaurant.  Or even to the airport, and on to the plane.

This is simple.  Push your stomach muscles forward, so that you expand your abdomen, breathing normally.  While you are doing that, repeat to your self, “I am relaxed, I am relaxed, I am relaxed.”  The expansion of your tummy gives your lungs some room to take in the oxygen you need to remain rational.  The recitation of the mantra provides specific and comforting direction to your brain.  Apparently, as Wendy explains, your body cannot do something that your mind is directly contradicting.

My personal experience is that this works well enough for a long enough interval to get you started, and the feeling of well-being helps you gain control and confidence.  If you are prepared for your gig, whatever it is, the rest is up to you.  If you are not prepared, I know why you might be anxious.

If you need more help, like good speaking skills, good planning skills, or just the mechanics of constructing information into understandable sentences that will stand you well in conversations, consider working with a coach, or join one of the organizations that provide you with practice, practice, and more practice. Toastmasters is the best known among those, but there are others.

It’s really important to be able to trust your ability to control your anxiety and its symptoms, or even to convert anxiety to simple nervousness.  Dr. Martin Seligman, an American psychologist known for his work in the areas of learned helplessness and learned optimism, hypothesizes in his book entitled Learned Optimism that it is possible (if not probable) that feelings of anxiety do not cause physical symptoms like lightheadedness, stomach tension, sweating, shortness of breath.  Instead, consider that the symptoms cause the feelings.  If that’s true, and there is evidence that it is, then all you have to deal with is getting more oxygen to your brain so that you can confront your inner bully with rational behavior.

Then, still according to Dr. Seligman, your ability to control the symptoms will cause them to stop, for the most part, as a function of your subconscious anticipated intervention.  All of this is very behaviorally oriented, and behaviorism isn’t everyone’s cup of tea.  Though my B.S. is in Psychology, and I like a lot of the behavioral theories, there are lots of points of view out there and they aren’t always in agreement.

Psychology aside, I tried Wendy’s suggestion, and it worked.  Really. Well.  And I have suggested it to others, and it has worked for them, I am told.  So don’t go around inviting a bad case of scary nerves by not being ready for your speech, interview, or meeting.  But if you get a case of nerves that feels like it might get in your way, push your tummy out, and have a quick conversation with yourself:  ”I am relaxed, I  am relaxed, I am relaxed,” and so on.

Can you recover? That is the question of the day, and the answer is:

Maybe; it depends.

These are accidents and disasters taken from Real Life Stories, but not my own experiences.

You drive to an interview location, park as close as you can to the location, and as you walk toward the door in your stilettos, the clouds open and the torrential rains come.  You are now soaked to the skin.

What went wrong here?  You were not prepared, with 1.) adequate rain gear, including at least umbrella and raincoat or slicker, 2.) shoes you can run or at least walk faster in, and 3. ) you apparently ignored the black cloud on the horizon.  What can you do now?  Here we go:

Assuming there is a receptionist, ask him or her to direct you to the nearest rest room.  If you are male and wearing a suit, remove the jacket, shake it out, and don’t put it back on.  If you are female and you are wearing a suit jacket, remove it and similarly, shake it out and then make a decision about putting it on.  What you have on underneath it should guide you.  Here’s a good day to have chosen the blouse over the cami.

Dry your face (hopefully this is not a paperless restroom) and comb your hair. Towel dry it if you can, don’t worry if you can’t.   If you do encounter an automatic dryer (Yay!), give everything you can a once over.

Then smile and step back out to the reception area.  If your interviewer comments, smile and shake your head in wonder.  Then move on.

Enroute to the interview, your car breaks down.

Using the cell phone we know you have with you, you call the interviewer or organization’s central number (you would not fail to collect those in advance, right?) and cancel the interview.  You ask for the chance to reschedule, and indicate you will call after you have managed your immediate problem.

Unless you are cool as ice, do not try to manage your car problem and interview in the same day.  Do not burden your prospective employer with detailed stories of switching cars with your roommate, calling taxis, and the like.  In fact, the look on your face while dealing with such problems isn’t nice to look at, and your attitude takes a beating when a car breaks down.

Word to the wise: maintain the car meticulously, fixing problems before they become emergencies.

You broke a heel enroute to the interview.

Switch to whatever extra shoes you have in the car, even if they are your running shoes.  But let this be a lesson if they are your running shoes, place one pair of black flats in your car and leave them there.

If you have no shoes in the car, and you have time, buy a pair at the nearest mall.

If you have not entered the interview location yet, and you are  not the kind of brave soul and blithe spirit for whom this is a chance to show your composure under stress, consider rescheduling the interview (from your cell phone, a distance away from the building) due to a personal emergency.  Depending on who you are, this may be less risky for you and your objectives than trying to limp through the interview, so to speak.

You show up at the wrong location.

Call and tell the interviewer you will be late, and tell the interviewer why.  You need to ensure that the interview time is still available for you, or ask if you can reschedule if the time is not available.  If you are planning to go to the correct location, be sure you have correct and detailed directions, or a map.

If the place where you are and the place you should be are great distances apart, ponder for a moment how this happened, and what should happen now.  Usually companies provide directions and emails and the like, and you should have those with you, in digital or paper form.  Your error may not be your error, but you should always be understanding and offer to be flexible.

I once flew to New York for an interview, spent the night in a hotel, and checked in at the Company the next day, promptly.  It turned out that my interviewer thought it was a phone interview.  (I was working for a division of the Company and the interviewer was in the headquarters.) My invitation to interview specified the time, place, and names of all of those I was scheduled to meet.  I was directed to make my own travel arrangements. . . .I knew where I was supposed to be.  All you can do is be gracious, understanding. and cooperative.

A Fire Alarm goes off in the building where you are interviewing, and the interviewer doesn’t prepare to leave, though you see everyone else heading for the doors.  She tells you it’s probably just a drill or malfunctioning alarm.

I’d leave.  I’d apologize and tell her that in your tribe, alarms mean business, and you don’t want to risk your life for a great job.  I’d smile and say, “Oh c’mon, we can talk outside.”  This is actually a good time to show a little leadership; you never know.

If you get up to leave, and she doesn’t, ask her where you are supposed to go, and if it turns out to be a drill or false alarm, if you should return to this same office.

Emergencies involving light and sound are real, in my book.

Your interviewer appears to be drunk and is slurring his words, which don’t exactly hang together or appear to be relevant.  He has stopped making any sense at all.

Excuse yourself and ask either the receptionist or the nearest responsible-looking person to return to the interviewer’s office with you, explaining that the interviewer is apparently quite ill.  Explain  the symptoms, without making any assumptions about the reasons.  then excuse yourself, indicating that you will call later or the following day.  Wild, I know, but it happened.

Call later or the following day, and ask to speak with the interviewer’s boss.  Ask how he is dong, and explain who you are and why you were there, if necessary.  Do not ask about the job.  Sometimes you just can’t.

You are in the middle of an interview, when the interviewer excuses herself without providing a reason.  She doesn’t return.  A half hour passes, and then forty minutes.  No one stops by to thank you for your patience.

Okay, this one did happen to me, a very long time ago.  Apparently, this particular tribe rarely told the boss they were interviewing anyone for any job for fear of setting off a chain of risky conversations about whether the position was needed.  So my interviewer left to attend what she thought was a quick stand-up meeting, which turned into a full-blown group sit-down.

At about the forty minute mark I went to the receptionist to ask about the health of my late interviewer.  The (long suffering, I am sure) receptionist took the opportunity to get even with someone for a perceived or deliberately inflicted slight; I could see the glee as she paged the interviewer.  Who stormed into the room, glaring at the receptionist.  And at me.

I made my apologies: “I’m so sorry, I must go; wish I had more time today, but I have a commitment.”  (. . . to avoiding crazy places.  You all seem to be anything but my tribe.  I plan to use the rest of the day to celebrate my liberation from your office.)

The most important thing to remember, though is that crazy, wrong-headed, or careless,  we are all human, and stuff just happens.  Sometimes it happens for a reason.  Sometimes it happens because we didn’t prevent it.

I am one of those people who simply has to think about and plan for what could go wrong, whatever the occasion.  In my car, I have rain gear and towels, the usual parking meter change, maps, flip-flops, and running shoes.  I have, in my handbag, at this very moment, in addition to spendables and business cards, an umbrella, pair of fold-up black flats, smartphone with gps and traffic apps, nutrition bar and bottle of water, extra spectacles, teeny tiny makeup samples, writing implements and post-its.  And Advil.  Just in case of an emergency.

Looking at it that way may result in treating the interview too superficially.   I observed while interviewing her that she anticipated my questions, follow-up questions, and requests for clarification.  She would lean forward and prepare her posture and expression, as if to say, “Call on me; I know that answer. Now ask me the one about the conflict resolution.”

And therein lies the problem.  An interview is not a pop quiz or oral exam, at least it shouldn’t be.  A good interview should flow like a conversation, so eagerly anticipating your next chance to speak would not be appropriate.  Appropriate behavior, even if you know and have rehearsed the best answer in the world to the question about to be asked of you, would involve at least the appearance of reflection.

Sit back, not forward, and relax.  Nod your head slightly, and look thoughtful (and reflective).  Tilt your head (okay, not that much) and say something introductory, like, “That’s an interesting question.” (Do not do this if the question was “Do you take cream or sugar in your coffee?”)

You know what I mean.  Eager though you may be, practiced though you might feel, this is not the time to raise your hand and shout “Yes, I know that one, the one about which tree I would be!  And I know my strengths and weaknesses, too!”

Practice, in Interview World, can create some unflattering dynamics that suggest you’ve been there and done that, that you think the interviewer is a robot, or that you lack a certain fresh enthusiasm.  You can be too confident.

I once had to recover from Too Much Confidence.  I realized I was sailing along but the interview for the job I wanted wasn’t going well. Fortunately for me, the interviewer took a phone call and it interrupted a rhythm that had become more of a Quick Step than the preferable Slow Waltz.  When his attention returned, I asked a question about an aspect of the company’s organizational development plans–one that required a fairly long answer.  An answer to which I listened, carefully and intently.  The rhythm and the tone of the conversation changed back to a conversation, not a sprint.  I ended up getting more interviews, and eventually the job.

We all get excited about possibilities, but you can overwhelm your possibilities with what always emerges as “I got this one; we both know it.”  It’s the conversational equivalent of tapping your foot, and it makes interviewers uncomfortable.

Breathe.  Forget the right answers.  Every company and every interview is a little different.  You have more than one weakness and more than one strength.  Instead of pulling out your Courage strength, say,” I used to think it was Courage, but lately, I’ve realized my Tenacity might be my strongest suit.  Mix it up.

Reflect.  Think about the question for a minute.  Glance skyward.  then answer spontaneously from your gut or your heart, not your head, just this once.

Pause.  Look at the interviewer and ask, “Did I explain that sufficiently? It’s a good question.” Then listen to the follow-up.

Consider more than one answer.  You might even say,”I think there is more than one answer to that question.”  (Unless, of course, the question is “What is your name?” )

It is partially true that there is a Numbers Game element to job searching and all that goes with it.  And you do need practice in order to gain confidence and overcome your nerves and nervousness.  One of the reasons, though, that passive job seekers (those who are not looking but somehow get found) seem to perform better on the Qualifying Hurdles is that they are relaxed and unrehearsed.

So, relax, and unrehearse.  Shake out the answers you used last time around, and freshen your interest in the questions, why they are being asked of you, and in who is asking.

I love public speaking; I believe there may be a teacher buried deep inside me. When I was ten years old, myself, I was organizing the other ten year olds into a classroom, and teaching them math or spelling.  So you would think I might have this one; nope.

Somehow I managed to get the word “ubiquitous” into my three minute speech.  Then I realized I’d said “crudites” instead of “raw vegetables” and it just went straight downhill from there.  What the. . . ?  Apparently I could not make the adjustment to a new audience on the fly.  And frankly, on the fly in this case was  at least twenty minutes lead time, fair warning, and several good examples ahead of me in the class.  I was sort of mortified.

Making adjustments for the audience, whoever the audience is, is an important skill.  And it’s more than that–it’s a way of thinking about the needs of others,  to understand you, to not have to ask you what the heck you just said, and to come away from a conversation with you feeling that you understand them.

Last Friday’s  New York Times has a great article, How to Talk to Real People, about an Emory University program called Communicating Science.  Chemists and other scientists are taught to deliver a three minute speech about their work to several different constituencies: peers, other scientists, neighbors, and third graders.  It is worth examining the differences and applying the principles and the exercise to your own tendencies, if you operate in a profession that has a language or jargon all its own.  This means you, IT people, lawyers, accountants, HR Benefits professionals, and dozens of other people who can sound a little scary to the rest of the world.

And in the event that you are headed for an interview or networking meeting, remember that if you make what you do and what you think accessible to everyone, you will have that many more possible connections to a job just waiting for the right person.  People who don’t understand what you do (or want to do) can’t help you.  It is your job to help them understand.

Do not put your high school accomplishments or activities–or even your diploma–on your resume, after you have graduated from college.  Unless your high school alma mater is a well known prep school, in which case you should place it on your resume.

Do not use words on your resume that are esoteric or likely to be unfamiliar to most of your target readers.  If you are an Oenophile or Philatelist, keep it to yourself.

Do not establish your career objective based on the career interests and career  possibilities of anyone but you.

Do not keep your ideas and plans in your head; discuss them, flesh them out, research them,  and write them down.

Do not be so competitive that no one ever wants to help you.  Or even be around you.  It is absolutely true that what goes around, comes around.

Do not let three days go by, following an interview, without sending a handwritten thank you note to the person who interviewed you, and if appropriate, the person who helped you get the interview.  Even if it was a parent or other relative.

Do not deny your parents and close friends the chance to help you realize your dreams.  Your innermost circle is THE segment of your growing network  most likely to connect you with the job you dream about.

Do not disclose too much in your networking or in your interviews.  When the interviewer asks  ”Is there anything else you’d like to mention or that you think I need to know?”, unless there is a Pulitzer prize or an Emmy or the equivalent that hadn’t come up in the conversation yet, the answer is “I don’t think so.”  TMI is TMI, for real.  It isn’t the information that is the problem; it’s the moving of the boundary.

Career Changers, Do Not Linger in your old comfort zone.  You made this transition for a good reason; let go the artifacts of the old space and stop playing the old songs.

Do not wait for a job posting or other apparent invitation to seek and ask for the job you want.  In fact, this is a good place to put that competitive spirit to work:  Get there before the job is posted and you can rule the world.

Do not help yourself. If you are left alone in a room with candy, food, or drink, do not assume it is for you.  Always wait to be offered, whatever it is that you think you should have.  Including a seat.

Do not pretend you heard or understood something you did not hear or understand.  I once spent a dinner interview apologizing to my soft-spoken British interviewer, because I did not understand a single word he said or question he asked.  He is still a dear friend, but now I can figure out what he is talking about (most of the time).

Do not fail to check your resume word for word and line by line.  Your interest is martial arts, not marital arts, and your spell checking software would not likely catch that.

Do not accept interviews with employers you don’t want to work for, for jobs you don’t want to do, no matter what.  No matter what; I would not mislead you.  If you do this, you will do very poorly in the interview and you will be totally bummed out that even the jobs you don’t want, don’t want you.

Everybody makes mistakes, but not everyone corrects mistakes.  The job search requires a certain number of silly or stupid mistakes–it’s like a rite of passage, getting your stupid out so that you can do better.

So, go forth, and do better.

Life used to be simpler; a resume was a cream colored vellum page with black ink.  It left your hands in an envelope, to join a pile of other similar resumes, most of them also cream vellum.  It usually got photocopied, by the way, so that the decision maker had the copy paper version anyway, and the quality of the copier and its paper could undermine your publishing investment.

Now, you need a publishing strategy to get your stuff noticed.  And you have a lot of choices.  But the little things can still undo your careful plans.  Here are five things about publishing that people often get wrong.

1.  A lot of people say that your resume should be no more than one page.  This is not true, and is especially not true if you begin to have trouble condensing it to one page or even thinking about doing that.  Here’s the thing:  it’s not about the number of pages.  It’s about what is on the pages and in your description of where you’ve been and what you’ve done.

I believe in brevity (sort of).  I had a wonderful English teacher in 11th Grade, Mrs. Barone, who called me Brenda (which is not my name) and taught me to take words out of my sentences and paragraphs.  Even though they were often some of my best words (like brevity), I had to admit that the result was better writing.  But remember, if you take all the words away you may not tell the right story, and resumes have to tell a good story.

Your resume should be as long as it needs to be, to make the point of your  story to your reader.  Your resume walks hand in hand with your cover letter (always). Together they are your surrogate self, compelling someone to meet the real you and learn more.

2.  Some people say that your resume need not include irrelevant work experience, temporary work,  or irrelevant education.  First, I struggle with the notion that any work experience or education would or could be irrelevant. Your work or education story should not have holes or gaps.  Second, all it takes is one interview question about what you did that summer of ’06 for you to start stumbling all over your answer: that you didn’t think inbound call center sales and service was important enough to put on your resume.  If that happens, and it might, it will raise the question of what else you chose to exclude.  And it will raise suspicion, which is never good.

All work contributes to skills, competencies, and pride in your accomplishments in even the worst jobs or assignments you have ever had.  A resume that shouts “I love work!” is going to get you noticed.  Spelling out the point of each job–what you got paid or thanked for–makes clear you knew its value in the world.  Remember that: The value of the work to others is more important than the value of the job to you.

A good rule of thumb is that employment of a week or two, or less, can be left off your resume.  Another is that employment that is more than twenty years in the  past is far enough in the past to let go, unless in either of these situations, the work is a special honor or critical turning point.

3.  Some people think that you can rewrite the rules of composition to make your resume stand out, as long as you make up your own rules and apply them consistently. Don’t do that.

Mrs. Barone was a real grind when it came to the rules about grammar, spelling, word usage, syntax, punctuation, and capital letters.  But she was convincing, and Martha Snyder and I (who took her very seriously and responded well to being called by other people’s names) competed with each other for various high school composition prizes and honors, and we graduated from high school thinking we were set, composition-wise, for life.  Not so much, as it turns out; these style things change over time.  We all need to check on the rules and your best bet is to apply them correctly and consistently.

Invest in a stylebook and use it.  The AP Stylebook or Elements of Style are two of the best known references for writers of nearly anything.  Do not think for one minute that getting fancy and offbeat with your cover letters or resumes is a good idea; it isn’t worth the risk to drop the capital letters or skip the periods.  Or to add them in.  Noting that I often Blog Creatively, ignoring Mrs. Barone’s most basic rules, let me say that blogs aren’t resumes.

4. I am in favor of blogging to advance your career and your job search.  I am not among those who advise against putting your opinions and ideas out there–recognizing that “out there,” if it is too far out, can be limiting.  Blogs are accessible examples of your voice, your writing , and your personal brand.  Blogs are likely to be more fast and approximate than crafted and precise, but any time you advance your ideas you want to make sure that you represent your very very very best self (yes, I know, I left out the commas and insulted a perfectly good adjective). On the net, things linger.  If you do publish a blog, it should be noted on your resume.  If you don’t put it on your resume, it will be unearthed anyway, and lead to the question of why you didn’t mention it.

I once did some research on (Googled) an opponent in a Neighborhood Association/Land Development dispute.  I came across a letter he had written and posted to a website, on why women should not be admitted to a well-known exclusive men’s club.  It didn’t matter in the dispute, but I learned a little about my friend.  On to other online matters:  Facebook.

5.  A lot of people will tell you to stay off Facebook if you are looking for a job, or if you are serious about your career.  Not me.  I am on Facebook (but not as The Job Whisperer).  I am very careful (that is not to say guarded, which is different) about my comments, my likes, what I share, and what groups I join.  Anyone who friends me can see that I am interested in many political viewpoints, those I don’t agree with as well as those I do–because my Facebook friends are my Real friends from my whole life, and are all over the political map.  I have a variety of diverse interests represented on my page.  I am careful with my Privacy settings and I don’t post photos (or my travel plans).

Having a Facebook page is neither here nor there, but having good judgment is important.

Publishing is part of your personal brand offering.  There are many more opportunities to advance who you are and what you offer than ever before.  But that means taking careful stock of the impression you want to leave and the focus and consistency of your message, across all of your publications.  Little things–a comma here, a word choice there, a defining blog post–can make a big difference.

1. You will learn, practice and master new and important skills that are (not surprisingly) relevant to your commercial life.  Even if you already have a lot of business experience, you will gain new depth and new perspectives.
2. You will learn a new language.  Words you thought you understood take on new meanings and you participate in conversations at work with new filters and new comprehension.
3. It provides you with a competitive credential that will have value for the rest of your career.  The MBA credential makes a very big difference in who you are, in the talent marketplace.
4. You will discover talents, interests, skills, and aptitudes you did not know you had.  I promise you that you will uncover at least three things that you did not know about yourself that will probably change you in ways you did not expect.  And maybe change your life.
5. And… you will discover things about yourself, surprising deficits, that you know you must change in order to be successful in the career you want.
6. You will make new friends.  Friends.  Are.  Your.  Network.  I don’t know how many times I have to say this, but there are no LinkedIn, Facebook, or Spoke  connections or contacts that can ever replace—or help you as much as—your real friends.
7. You learn what working in interdependent groups really means.  Whether you are the strong team player or the weaker one, or anywhere in between, you get the same lesson:  your fate is in the hands of the team.  It is a very important lesson.
8. It is just so darn much fun!  Unlike jobs and workday work, school is organized around you and your need to learn.  That’s nourishing and pleasurable, even when it’s difficult.
9. You will gain esteem for yourself and confidence in your capability, for having risen to and met a major intellectual challenge.  And if you get really good grades, you will really have a new perspective on what you can do.
10. There is an important humbling element to realizing that you don’t know as much as you thought you did.  If you are exceptional at workplace politics, if you are popular for just being you, if you are an accomplished specialist, if you are a fast-rising star, or if you are merely brilliantly creative, an MBA program is a great place to locate your limits.  We all need to know what we don’t know and may never be able to learn.
11. You will approach everything that happens in business more objectively.  You find out that what you thought was true, wasn’t; it was just your opinion, which you liked a lot.  This place of understanding comes through in your behavior and conversations, and people realize that you know things.  This is good for your career and for your leadership role.
12. In the end, if you can do it, do it just because you can.  Opportunities don’t come along every day, and there is no time like now.  If you have space in your life and the means or support to take on the challenge of an MBA program, just do it.  If your employer is willing to support you in this endeavor, know that such support is like cash compensation, and willing employers who do that for employees are rare and getting scarcer.

Full disclosure—I went back to school to get an MBA in 2006 (shout out to Stetson University and my classmates) and I was pretty much older than everyone when I did that.  I loved it.  It was one of the best things I ever did; I just wish I’d done it sooner.

Throughout your career, when it comes to advancing your education, know that it gets harder to justify the time when you have the money.  And harder still to justify the money when you have the time.  Don’t wait as long as I did.

And then it doesn’t happen.  You get no leads, you get no action, you don’t get past the gatekeeper, you don’t beat the competition, you don’t get to do what you thought you would be doing right now.

There may be many specific reasons, but they will fall into at least one of two categories and maybe into both.  You either have a faulty strategy or a faulty way of executing it.

A faulty strategy means that somewhere in your planning process, you made an assumption, drew a conclusion, or set a goal that may not be reliable or achievable.  For example, you chose a job objective in a field crowded with competition, or a field with a diminishing market, diminishing number of jobs that you want.  Or both (uh-oh).  In this case, perfect execution is absolutely critical–you will need to have it all: grades, credentials, work ethic, attitude, flexibility, humility, recommendations, and the best connections.

A faulty execution means that your strategy is sound (enough) but you aren’t executing it effectively.  ”Effectively,” when applied to an individual, means that your individual effectiveness in some aspect of the process is lacking.  You aren’t doing enough of something, you are doing too much of something, or what ever you are doing, you aren’t doing it as well as others.

Is anything ever perfect?  Not for long.  But you can do better, you can make better choices, and you can go back and review your plans and your activities.

First, review your strategy.  This may mean all the way back to who or what you want to be, and where you planned to be.  If you chose a profession with serious limits on its market growth (let’s see, maybe aerospace engineering, maybe newspaper journalism?)  it might be time to retool your strategy.  On the other hand, if you have exceptional credentials or can acquire them now, you may be positioned to be competitive even though it will take exceptional  execution.

How do you know if you need to correct your strategy? If the following are true for you:

1.  You did not get good grades in your chosen field.  I said good grades, not top grades.

2. You cannot articulate why it is the most important thing in the world for you to do every day.

3.  You did not check to see how many other people in the place where you intend to live are doing it, and how many people or companies  are willing to pay anyone at all to do it every day.  You see articles about large numbers of layoffs and job shortages in your field.

4.  You checked the above, but didn’t believe it would apply to you.  For some reason.

5.  You are now angry or upset with the economy or the labor market, for which you blame for your problems. (Okay, that one will be true for execution flaws as well.)

6.  You wish you had chose a different path, which you can now see that you might have done with good results.

7.  You have researched this, and you know that there are other places in the country, state, or region where you could do what you have been trained to do.

8.  You have not done any research at all; you chose the field because it seemed like a good idea at the time, or you listened to either your parents, your spouse, or your friends, who also did not do research on the field but thought “you’d be good at it.”

To correct your strategy, you must change your plans.  You will either have to do something different, or do your thing in a different place.  For people who are extremely committed to a profession–it is the only thing they can imagine doing–it’s easier to pull up the roots and take the garden with them.  For those who love where they live, the soil beats the roots every time.  They fertilize and nurture whatever flowers are willing to grow. (I am not riffing on “Bloom where you are planted.” Honest.)

But you might have an execution problem, not a strategy problem.  If so, the following are likely to be true:

1.  Your friends are being hired in the field, in the same community where your search is being conducted.

2.  You get interviews, but not second interviews.

3.  You are answering ads on job boards, as your exclusive avenue to consideration for the jobs you want.

4.  You see articles about talent shortages in your field.

5.  You have been given negative or positive feedback or advice on your appearance, your presentation skills, your attitude, your work ethic, your personal habits, your friends of your network (or lack of), your understanding of the job seeking process, your confidence, your manners, your ability to say what you mean, or your distraction with one or more of the above.  You have failed to heed the advice consistently.  Yes, you have to heed the positive feedback; it may not mean what you think it means to your search. (next blog)

6.  You have very active Facebook, Twitter, and Linked In accounts.  You say whatever is on your mind, quite a lot, and if that isn’t enough, you add the defining photo.  And you have no idea how all that privacy stuff works, or you understand it but you don’t care.

7.  You are now angry or upset with the economy or the labor market, who you blame for your problems.  Or your Career Services department, if you are fresh off of a campus or still on one.  (And by the way, this is not just a young careerist’s problem.  Many of us return to school to change careers, not bothering to solve the problems that plagued us in the first one.)

8.  You aren’t making execution mistakes because you aren’t doing anything.  At all.

You can solve either kind of problem, but no one can solve either kind of problem for you.  You have to be in control of your choices, whether they are your strategic career choices or the kind you make every day when you decide what to do, who to do it with, and where it belongs among your priorities.  You can always change your plans; sometimes you must.  And how you spend your time and what you think and say about it really makes all the difference in strategy execution–the rest follows your lead.