Gail Nicholson, MA, LPC
www.gailnicholson.com 503-227-4250
Gail is passionate about helping individuals find a deeper connection with their life and work life, and has over 20 years experience as a personal and career counselor, teacher of career and life planning, and facilitator of groups.

Imagine Your Dad Loving His Work

In memory of my father, Wesley L. Nicholson, (1929-2012)

One morning, when I was in about the 4^th grade, there was a knock at the front door shortly after my father left for work.  It was him, standing on the porch without his shoes.  He was laughing, saying he’d been so engrossed, thinking about a project at work; he hadn’t realized till his feet touched the pedals that he had forgotten to put them on.

Growing up, my father Wesley L. Nicholson frequently talked with me about his career satisfaction.  I think he realized that his experience wasn’t particularly common and he wanted his kids to know that it was something to strive for.  We might be sitting in the backyard and he would usually begin by saying how much he loved being a statistician, how interesting the work was to him and how much he respected his colleagues. He was “having a ball” tackling the problems he was called on to solve, enjoying considerable variety project to project, as well as the opportunity to travel.  Then there were the math games he brought home, another way he shared his joy of arithmetic with us.

His message stayed with me.  Coming home from Eugene on a bus years ago, I decided to pursue a career in counseling, even though I’d given up studying psychology, gotten a business degree and was currently pursuing a career at a natural foods grocery in Portland.  Deep down I realized that counseling was what I felt strongest about, and I was getting in trouble at work for spending too much time talking with the customers.

In the world of career counseling we are aware of the power of parental modeling when it comes to things like career choices and patterns, and work ethics.  My clients sometimes struggle to claim interests that are outside the realm of Dad or Mom’s approval, “what people in our family do.”  If Dad was overly consumed by work you could be “Type A” yourself or perhaps the opposite; find yourself overwhelmed at the prospect of committing to a profession.  If Mom was raising the family herself, completely stressed-out by life and work, it might seem impossible for you to imagine a good career fit.

What message did you receive about the nature of work life from your parents and other key figures growing up?  Draw your Family Work History Tree, including influential others and write or think about what they did for a living and how they felt about it.  Upon reflection, what influence can you identify and how is it affecting you now?  How was success defined?  Take time to separate the influences that seem helpful to you from those that don’t.  Share your thoughts with others and ask them to join the discussion.  Remember you have choices regardless of how it feels.  What might you do if you were free of a perspective that’s holding you back?  What kind of support would be helpful?

Feel free to follow my father’s advice and imagine being encouraged to pay attention to what interests you, to not force yourself to do what doesn’t seem right.  Go after the education and training you want.

Thanks Pops.  Is it a wonder I became a personal and career counselor?

Dave Gallison, MS, LPC
dave@gallisonconsulting.com
www.gallisonconsulting.com
503-704-7796
Dave specializes in a short term, action-oriented approach to providing career management solutions to clients seeking to choose, change or advance their careers and reach their professional and personal potential. His unique strength as a career counselor is preparing you for informational interviews and directly assisting you in gaining access to employed contacts within desired organizations.

Choosing A Career Counselor or Coach

Do it yourself or with professional help?  Have you found some useful tips on Inside Job for getting ahead?  Terrific!  Chances are if you really want to advance your career situation, you could benefit from professional assistance– to sort through all the options and develop a realistic plan– and this site can help you find guidance too!  How?

This blog, with our bios, serves as a directory of a large portion of the career counselors in Portland and is presented in a format that makes it easy for you to compare and contrast. All of the eight co-authors of this biweekly blog are Career Counselors or Coaches in Private Practice (what CCPP blog stands for) in the Portland, OR area.  In fact, all of the blog authors/counselors have been contacted by new clients who first saw our name, photo and bio at the CCPP site.

Finding a good fit.  Begin by reviewing our Bios and selecting several to examine more closely. Then, check out the articles your candidates have written on the blog. Our hunch is that will lead you to narrow the field to two to four of us to call or email.  If you want to expand your list of potential counselors beyond these eight, or are in a different community, ask friends for references, check the Yellow Pages under Career Counseling, or search the Web using phrases like Career Counselors (or Coaches) Portland.

Counselor or coach?  A major distinction you will notice in the career field is counselor or coach, and you may want to determine which approach might best serve you.  While there is some overlap, generally counselors have a master’s degree in their counseling specialty and may have taken the extra step to be licensed (LPC).  This training means that besides assessing who you are and teaching you sound approaches for landing a job, they can help with personal issues impacting a career.  Coaches tend to focus more on the here and now as they partner with you in job search, and utilize strategies to help you identify goals and objectives to improve your personal and professional potential.

Test-driving a counselor.  Once you have decided on whether you want a counselor or coach and have an initial list of 2 or 3, you can further your research on the internet (e.g., website, LinkedIn, listings on other sites like Psychology Today, Yelp, etc.) or proceed directly to contact by email or phone.  All of the CCPP counselors will offer a prompt and detailed response to email or phone inquiries, and most of us will provide a complimentary consultation for a half hour test drive—after all, as counselors we want to figure out if we are the one who can effectively help you achieve your goals.

Further, here are some broadly useful questions that you could ask each prospective counselor or coach:

• Approach:  As a coach or a counselor, how would you help someone like me choose, change or advance my career?
• Qualifications:  How long have you been a counselor or coach?  What experience, education and training have you had?  What do you specialize in?
• Cost:  Hourly fee?  Estimated number of sessions?  Accept insurance or EAP?
• Subjective:  No particular questions, though evaluate your impressions of the person’s warmth, insight, humor, coaching or counseling style (do you feel understood and helped in even the first conversation?)

After the test drives, give each counselor a 1 – 5 rating on the above criterion, and the highest total—along with your gut—should tell you who can best help you.  Otherwise, you can always go back to Finding above and refresh your list.

Going further.  If you do not “click” with one of the eight CCPP counselors, an added advantage is that she or he will recommend one or two colleagues who specialize in your area of concern—such as sector of the economy (e.g., technology, healthcare), emotional concern (e.g., ADD, depression) or special history (e.g. long term unemployment or return to the workforce after an absence).  Finally, if you live in a small town or out of the area, then it might be necessary to arrange distance counseling over the phone or internet video, and several CCPP counselors provide this service.

The upside.  All of the foregoing may seem like more effort than selecting someone to do your taxes for you, and it is.  Consider how far you have progressed, however, from wishing for a new job to committing to work on your career development with a qualified professional of your choosing. After all, an accomplished career development counselor can help you evaluate your interests, personality, skills, and values and unearth a career ‘fit,” or shorten the time of your search and receiving a new employment offer.  Such positive results could be well worth your investment in research and fees, and ultimately you are the wiser for obtaining guidance.

Aly Anliker, Ed.M

alyanliker@hotmail.com

503-891-1108

Aly is a creative organizational and career consultant with over fifteen years of experience in Training Management, Executive Coaching and Instructional Design. She has a background in Human Resources and Marketing and has worked in a variety of industries including telecommunications, high technology, manufacturing and non-profit.

The Technology and “Noise” of Job Search Communication

When I think back to as little as five years ago, technology has changed the face of communication and more specifically job search communication.

As I write this, my iPhone is beeping at me to tell me I have a new email message, a colleague is “pinging” me on Office Communicator, a chime sounds in Microsoft Outlook to tell me I have a meeting coming up and my colleague is talking to me over our cube wall.  If you don’t have a way to ping, beep, call, chat, schedule me or talk to me over a cube, you are out of luck because I might have a job lead for you.

Professionally I have three laptops, two that belong to companies I work for, and one that is my own laptop.  I have five email accounts, three professional and two personal.

In our family there are three iPhones alternately pinging and chiming, if their batteries are not dead. There is also a land line that rings once in a blue moon. At any given time of the day, there are at least two phone numbers you can reach me on.  Like many of you, there are a total of five phone numbers that will connect you to me, not including a toll free number for a select group of virtual clients.

I also use the following apps for both professional and social reasons which make various noises and demands I can pay attention to or ignore, Linkedin, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, YouTube and Pandora. There are many others.

If you’re overwhelmed by all the options available to communicate with employers and networking contacts, you are not alone.  Of course you can always hire a career consultant to help you develop your job search and communication strategy, but basically you want to think about your audience and how they might be using technology.  Are they on LinkedIn?  Are you friendly enough to join them on Facebook?  Do they Tweet?

Email is always a good bet and surprisingly, people often share their contact information on sites like Facebook and LinkedIn.  Sometimes you can Google a person and obtain a wealth of information.  This also becomes important when you are preparing for an interview and have your interviewer’s name.

Finally, think about yourself.  How are you reachable?  What does a Google search reveal about you professionally?  Is it time to write an article about a subject you are expert in that could reach potential employers?

Is it time to make a post on Facebook, LinkedIn and\or Twitter about professional activities, research, or information helpful to others? Do you have a video of you that showcases your professional skills?  Is it on You Tube and have you linked your network to that video?

Are you active in your community?  Do people know that?

Basically you want to establish yourself as a resource to others.  Be the one they find when online and be the one they think of. Let your brand help you stay employed. Let your brand enrich your career.

Andrea King, MS, NCC, MCC
Careerful Counseling Services
aking@careerful.com
www.careerful.com
503-997-9506
Andrea specializes in assisting clients achieve rewarding employment. She works with adult clients from all industries and stages who are either unemployed or employed (or somewhere in between). Whether you are looking for work, trying to figure out what career to pursue, or unsure whether to stay in your current position, Andrea can assist you with these issues and more.

Body Language Tips for Better Work Communication

While at work, job hunting, or interviewing for a position, you probably give a lot of thought to what you say and wear.  These are important to think about and prepare for.  However, what may be even more important is what you are communicating non-verbally through your body language.  In fact, a widely-cited study found that 55% of the messages communicated are conveyed through your body language – not your words. (Albert Mehrabian, UCLA, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Mehrabian)

Do you remember times when you have judged people based on their behaviors?  For instance, picture a co-worker who puts her legs up on her desk, leans back and reads.  What does she communicate to you?  Or how about the new supervisor of yours that always leads meetings with his arms crossed?  How do you feel around him?  Does it feel like a safe place to share your ideas?

Whether we perceive others correctly or not based on their non-verbal behaviors, the fact remains that we ourselves are being evaluated in this same way whenever we interact.  The assumptions that others may make about us can be undermining since you are not in control or even aware of what others are thinking.

How can you make sure you are coming across as professional, engaged, and confident?  Alternatively, if you are not progressing in interviews or in your career, could there be aspects of your body language that need improving?  Here are four tips to assist you in putting your best self forward.

1. A strong handshake

Often our handshake is one of the first ways we are evaluated by someone new we meet.  Is your handshake weak, overbearing, or too short?  You may not know unless you practice handshaking with a colleague, career counselor or someone else you trust to give you honest feedback.  Make sure your handshake is considered firm.

First make eye contact and smile, which both show that you’re confident, friendly, and relaxed. Then, extend your hand for a firm, brief handshake: keep your fingers closed, make sure the web between your thumb and forefinger meets the other person’s, wrap your fingers around his/her hand, and shake. Two to three pumps from your elbow-not your wrist or shoulder is perfect. And make sure you maintain eye contact the entire time!

For many women across the world, including here in the United States, we are taught at a very early age to be gentle and at times submissive.  This is not going to benefit you at all in a professional environment.  It may help to think you are actually shaking too hard in order to shake hard enough.

2. Minimize poor mannerisms

It can be awkward to sit, stand, or talk and not know what to do with your arms and hands. People often solve this by crossing their arms in front of their bodies or by fidgeting, tapping their fingers, or twirling their hair. But the best, most professional stance is to keep your arms right at your sides. If this feels uncomfortable, make sure you have something to hold, like a notepad or file.

Don’t stick your hands in your pockets, which can convey reluctance or cautiousness. Also try to think about the movements of your hands. Your mannerisms should be small and intentional, and never a distraction to what your mouth is saying. Using too much movement when you talk may give the impression that you’re emotional or unsure of what you’re saying, and motions like pointing at someone, even if your voice is friendly, can be misinterpreted as anger or an accusation.

3. Be aware of facial expressions

They call it poker face for a reason: Many people may not realize that when they are thinking hard, they may appear to be frowning and come across angry or unfriendly. Your facial expressions, like raising your eyebrows, breaking into a smile, or furrowing your brow, can speak volumes about your thoughts and emotions. Think about what your face is saying, even when your mouth isn’t moving. A small, calm smile will always make you appear neutral, friendly, and approachable, and nodding and raising your eyebrows shows that you agree.

Keep eye contact with the person who’s speaking (or shift between everyone in the room when you’re doing the talking). Looking up, down, or to the side (or rolling your eyes) all send different messages-and likely not the ones you want to send.  Ask trusted people what you look like at various moments and apply what you learn from their feedback.

4. Posture perfect

Having good posture is good for your back, but it’s also good for business. Whether you are seated or standing, your posture can non-verbally state that you’re interested and engaged or exactly the opposite. When you’re seated in a meeting or interview, sit so that your back doesn’t touch the back of the chair. This prevents slouching (which naturally occurs when you’re sitting), plus it can give off the impression that you’re too comfortable. Plant your feet on the floor or cross your legs at the knees, though this is generally seen as more casual and relaxed, it’s appropriate.

You can also cross your legs at the ankles or press your knees together, slanting your legs to one side. When you’re standing, put your shoulders back, hands at your sides, and keep both feet on the floor, your weight evenly distributed between both legs. And be still – fidgeting or shifting conveys that you’re nervous or anxious.

Your body language will express strong statements for you, so it makes sense to be more conscious of the often overlooked ways we project ourselves.  If you pay as much attention to what you are doing as what you are saying, you can be confident you are sending exactly the messages you mean to at all levels.

Aubrie De Clerck
www.coachingforclarity.net
aubrie@coachingforclarity.net
503-810-2907

Aubrie is a Career and Leadership Coach, working both in her own private practice and for Lee Hecht Harrison (an industry-leading talent development organization). Her career history spans corporate, non-profit and self employment, giving her wide perspective on the world of work. Aubrie is known for being highly inspirational and deeply practical, and loves bringing these qualities to sessions with groups and individuals. Most of all, she is passionate about helping people of all ages and phases of life get the most out of their work life.

Drawing in the Work You Want 

Recently, a client in the human resources field came to me for help.  She was confused and frustrated because she wasn’t being considered for the jobs she wanted.

At first it seemed like her resume, with its clarity in job duties and quantitative results, should have opened doors for her. But then we looked deeper. She had worked in 2 jobs over the last few years where the bulk of her responsibilities were laying people off and creating operational efficiencies.   On her resume, one bullet after another focused on how many people she laid off, how much time and money this saved the company.

Reading her resume gave me the impression she was proud of that type of work and that she wanted more of it.  I was met with a hurt expression and a resounding “no!”  The last few years had worn on her – she really wanted to be helping people, influencing company culture and making companies magnets for the best talent. That is why she had gotten involved with HR in the first place.

Over the years we have been trained to believe that quantifying or qualifying our accomplishments is what makes us and our resumes stand out.   However, in this competitive environment, resumes are missing the opportunity to be powerful documents that draw the work we want to us.  So how do we do this?

Step One – minimize the things you want less of.

During our conversation, I found out that this HR professional had multiple other job duties she juggled before and alongside the layoffs.  Some of her responsibilities included completing benefits administration for the company, updating the employee handbook and supporting managers during the annual review period.  While the layoffs took the majority of her time, it was very important to bring the things she wanted more of to the top of the list of bullets and give them equal footing with her other duties.

Step Two – if you can’t minimize, re-frame. 

As the conversation progressed, she became concerned that leaving out too many bullets around the layoffs would make her experience seem limited. So instead, we re-framed the experience by asking her one key question:

• What was she most proud of?

She was most proud of handling the tough conversations with transparency and kindness, holding to the company value of respect. Her approach resulted in one of the smoothest layoffs in the organization’s long history.

By re-framing, she showed potential employers that she takes the values of an organization seriously and can implement against them, with real benefits.  By threading these attributes through the rest of her work experience, she was able to move the focus to the consistent way her strong interpersonal skills positively impact an organization.

How about your resume?  Are there items you could leave out or re-frame, to more effectively draw in the work you want to you?

Bruce Hazen, MS
Three Questions Consulting
www.threequestionsconsulting.com
bruce@threequestionsconsulting.com
503-280-0151
Bruce is a career and management coach working with professionals who are at career crossroads and wanting answers and action strategies for one or more of The Three Career Questions:

1. When is it time to move up?
2. When is it time to move out?
3. When is it time to adapt my style for greater success?

The Inside Job: Maintaining Your Search Efforts

Just received a rejection letter or two? Can’t get a meeting time with a key contact? Does this trigger a half-hour of vacuuming? Another attack on the Oreo’s package? Re-reroganizing your sock drawer? These are all the ways that a week of job search can easily slip out of gear and into really unproductive time wasters.

Here are some ideas to help you stay fresh and productive in your search. I’ll keep it brief (this is a blog after all) and just explain the first six. There are fourteen on the total Maintenance Checklist (More to come but email me (see our bio tab) if you’d like to get them all now.)

These suggestions will help you maintain productivity during those periods where your search efforts may become mechanical, routine or noticeably low-energy. It’s hard work after all. Just like maintaining a car, food processor or bike, there are certain things you can do during a job search, with small but repeated doses of your time and energy, that will keep you running at peak performance.

MAINTENANCE CHECKLIST FOR YOUR SEARCH

How Many Can You Check Off ?

1. In the last two weeks, I have attended a professional event where most of the people were not from my industry/profession.

[If you’re always hanging out with people in your same profession you won’t appear unique and you’ll be discussing and competing for the same work that is revealed. Attend a different association meeting and presto, you’re a curiosity. You have to have a networking strategy to engage people and learn where the work lurks. More on this in a future blog]

2. I’ve had at least one contact with all of my key networking partners in the last 5 weeks.

[The people that landed work soonest kept their network warm and informed so that the leads and tips kept on coming. Do you talk on a dead phone line? Why would someone keep you in mind if they haven’t heard from you?]

3. I’ve recorded and listened to myself answering difficult interview questions.

[Your positioning statement and your accomplishment stories are always going to sound good in the privacy of your own head. Try saying your answers into your voicemail. When you play it back, this is what you sound like on a phone interview]

4. I have at least three customized versions of my resume.

[Hiring managers want to receive a resume that speaks to the unique needs of their job opening and organization. If you’re using the same resume for everything, you’re about as interesting as one-size-fits-all socks. Good luck with that.]

5. I spend between 25 and 35 hours a week in job search/strategy development activities.

[Somewhere around 30 hours a week is the sweet spot for someone doing full-time search for work. More than that and you risk fatigue, burnout and you won’t “show” well. What are you doing for exercise and increased blood flow to make up for all that sit-time you spend at your desk? You’re just gesturing at search if you’re doing less than 20 – that’s not even four hours a day. If you were running a competitive business, would you only run sales and marketing half-time if you needed customers?]

 I do some physical exercise, at least every other day, that makes me sweat. This does not include eating jalapeno nachos at happy hour.

[Job search is a contact sport. You’ve got to look and act fit if you expect people to want your type of skill and energy around their operation. If you’re not working now, get an accountability partner and get out there to walk, run, fun, and move your booty.]

Anne Bryant, MA, LPC
www.annebryantcounseling.com
abccounseling@pobox.com
503-442-6392
Anne has thirty years of experience offering practical skills and support to people experiencing transitions in their careers and personal lives. Openings available for individual and group sessions.

9 Networking Tips for Introverts, Part I
How do you gain or lose energy? If you get it meeting new people and exploring new opportunities, chances are you are an extrovert and already attend networking events. If the very thought of entering a room full of strangers and engaging in small talk in order to gain contacts sounds exhausting and possibly terrifying, chances are you tend toward the style of an introvert. You may enjoy conversations that go deeper on topics of importance to you, you may even be able to address large audiences, but probably you love solitude to think, process emotions, or be creative.

Accepting Introversion: Listen up. This is NOT pathological, weird, deviant behavior. Introversion is a preference as well as  part of temperament, which Marian Sandmaier explains, is “a set of behavioral and emotional propensities that’s inherited and enduring.” http://www.psychotherapynetworker.org/component/content/article/174-2009-mayjune/588-who-do-you-think-you-are

Studies suggest that introverts make up about 25% of our population. Being in the minority puts undue pressure on us to be like the rest; aim to be popular, sociable, gregarious, and measure friendship by quantity over quality. Whether you are proud of or ashamed of introversion, as a job seeker why is it so important to figure out how to face your doubts and fears about networking?

Why Network: The whole point of networking is NOT to ask for a job, because what you want is to bui ld relationships with people who may know something you don’t about an industry, a company, a career path, or an individual that will lead to more conversations. Even if you discover that you are both looking for work, showing interest in that person’s job search might lead to either one of you providing a useful contact name for the other. That is your goal: developing contacts for informational interviews that will put you in line with people who may know about the vast “hidden” job market right here in Portland. According to a recent Informational Interview Tutorial (http://www.quintcareers.com/information_background.html),
“One out of every 200 resumes (some studies put the number as high as 1,500 resumes) results in a job offer. One out of every 12 informational interviews, however, results in a job offer.” Given these statistics, you can’t ignore this strategy. So, what to do? For many people, not just introverts, the idea of going to a ‘Networking Event’ might feel about as tempting as speed dating after a recent break up.

Tips for Introverts:
1. Your main goal in going to a networking event is to meet people with whom you can later follow up for an informational interview. These later meetings might take place anywhere you both agree on, but they will be within your comfort zone of more in-depth conversations for which you can prepare.
2. In a December, 2012 blog on Mac’s List called “Networking Schmetworking: Tips for Genuine Connection in Oregon”( http://www.macslist.org/networking-schmetworking-tips-for-genuine-connection-in-oregon), the suggestion is to go where your people are, where it wouldn’t feel as forced to strike up a conversation. Examples might be going to professional organizations to hear speakers, volunteering, and attending charity events and fundraisers. One of my shy clients has decided to volunteer to help out at a networking event so she will be sure to show up and relax by performing a task.
3. Find a buddy to go with you, but agree to split up for part of the event instead of sitting on the sidelines together. Introduce your buddy if you meet someone whose background might match theirs.
4. Have a drink (not necessarily alcohol) or a plate of food to have something to do with your hands.
5. Ask open-ended questions of strangers. If you show genuine interest in what brings them to the event, chances are you won’t have to say much else until you feel more comfortable. Anyone, even the most introverted, can learn a few ice breakers, even if it means acting out of a persona, not your most comfortable self. You are probably already wearing a ‘costume’, so play the role of curious friendly newcomer.
6. Make a card for yourself. Even if you have no job title, just use your name and contact information. That’s the minimum. Here is a link to learn more about cards: http://www.quintcareers.com/networking_business_cards.html
7. Set a goal for the event. Perhaps decide to meet just one person you would be curious to talk with at a later date. Ask for a card and permission to call soon for coffee. You don’t have to have your life figured out to do this. Just be clear with them about why you’d like to meet. “I’d like to hear more about what you were saying about____”.
8. If you have made any agreements to follow up, jot them down on the other person’s card.
9. GO HOME AND COLLAPSE. You will probably feel exhausted.

Stay tuned for Part II which will include more tips for introverts on how to network outside of going to events.

Vicki Lind, MS
www.vlind.com
vlind@teleport.com
503-284-1115
Vicki helps clients develop vibrant careers in Portland’s creative, sustainable, non-profit, and health-care communities. As a career counselor, she assists with tailoring resumes, practicing interviewing, and honing job-search strategies. As a marketing coach, she facilitates identification of a marketing plan that matches the individual.

Is LinkedIn worth your time?

If you’re seeking clients or looking for new employment, my answer is an unequivocal yes. While LinkedIn is a counterpart to its playful, social cousin, Facebook, it’s a directory of professional profiles that makes it a more serious business tool. You can always do “LinkedIn light” and see if you’re getting useful results before deciding if it will become a mainstay in your job search.

You don’t need to make a major time commitment. I coined the term “LinkedIn light” to describe a two-part process that gets you up and going, then you can decide if it’s worth it to go further. First, create a fully developed profile including a photo and wording that capture your strengths succinctly and memorably. Second, invite people in your professional life to be contacts so that you can tap each other for assistance, immediately or in the future. An estimated four to six hours is all it will take to have a quality basic presence. My workshop LinkedIn: Writing a Compelling Message on the second Saturday of each month will get you started with two of these hours. http://vlind.com/linkedinworkshops.html

The case for LinkedIn

If you’re applying for jobs, assume that future employers will Google your name. Since LinkedIn has a close connection with Google; your LinkedIn profile will usually appear in the first or second position at the top of the first page. When a perspective employer is seriously considering you, he or she will enter your name on LinkedIn. You want them to see a well-crafted profile, and you’d also like them to smile back at your friendly photo. It’s a bonus if they also see well-articulated references from former bosses, colleagues and/or clients. If you’re looking for a senior-level position, assume that recruiters will look for you on LinkedIn.

If you’re self-employed, you’ll benefit from the growing trend of people seeking a practitioner who start with a LinkedIn keyword search over Google. This popularity is largely because LinkedIn can provide recommendations or endorsements from past colleagues, employers or clients. People trust recommendations by people that they know. For example, if you are looking for a massage therapist with a firm touch, using LinkedIn will show you if anyone you know is connected to a massage therapist. You can then easily ask your contact for a first hand evaluation.

Once you like your profile and have captured the connections you value, you’re in a better position to decide if you want to take the time to expand your LinkedIn presence and build new relationships for networking. If so, check out the following workshops and join Jeff Barnes Executive Director of Learning for Leverage, and myself for “Building Connections that Count” on Saturday morning, February 23rd from noon until two p.m. http://vlind.com/linkedinworkshops.html

Conclusion

While the number of Facebook users is stagnant, the number of LinkedIn users continues to climb. I just looked at the company page for the local energy efficiency non-profit, PECI (Portland Energy Corporation Inc.), which currently has just over 300 employees. The company page shows that 296 people who have or do work at PECI have a profile on LinkedIn. This speaks volumes about the vitality of LinkedIn in many Portland professional settings.

Exploring is not Deciding Part III: A path emerges as you arrive and connect with care and interest.

Gail Nicholson, MA, LPC
www.gailnicholson.com 503-227-4250
Gail is passionate about helping individuals find a deeper connection with their life and work life, and has over 20 years experience as a personal and career counselor, teacher of career and life planning, and facilitator of groups.

“The way is not in the head.  The way is in the heart.”  Buddha

Recap of Parts I and II of Exploring is Not Deciding

Exploring is the phase of career development that follows the assessment, the vocational testing and early journaling that identifies who you are, what you love, and what you can and want to do.  It’s about finding the place where you feel a positive connection in the working world.  Like dating before marriage, career exploration allows you to get a feel for a chosen field, enough to know if it’s right for you.  Prime examples of this exploration are informational interviews, chats with family, neighbors, friends and co-workers, job shadowing, volunteering and taking classes; all great ways to test an emerging direction.   This work of choosing cannot be done from the couch as a strictly cerebral function.  It requires your curiosity, involvement and action over a period of time.  Not investment and commitment but active involvement.

Individual questions and concerns multiply, commonly, as you narrow the results of your career assessment to 2 or 3 best options, a manageable number to pursue.  These possibilities now need to be defined in concrete terms, so you can make a choice.  You’ve defined the territory, steeped yourself in a reflective process and envisioned meaningful career matches.  Things are starting to happen.  At this point defining the hopes, questions and concerns about what’s happening in your life and worklife can help you distinguish the road ahead.  What are the current hopes, questions and concerns about the jobs, education and training, companies and industries that are on your mind right now?  Grab your phone; it’s time to explore.

Exploring is Not Deciding Part III:  A path emerges as you arrive and connect with care and interest.

All of a sudden, you’re clearer about your best career ideas and choices.  Your exploratory process is starting to pay off.  You’re beginning to feel good about the options and possibilities you’ve created.  Even though there are questions still, enough is figured out that there are plausible steps to take for weeks, and hope is running high.  In fact your hope just reached “top of the charts” last week.

Part of it, is because you’ve been connecting with people in your desired fields recently, people you genuinely like and would be excited to move forward with.  Things may be up in the air on many fronts, but there’s much happening in the realm of possibility.  You’ve spent time reflecting on what’s important, following up and it’s starting to show.

People are coming out of the woodwork to help you make connections.  It’s been as easy as talking to your new neighbor at the grocery store, who happens to work with some one on your list of people to contact.  Turns out your aunt knows someone in her department that can get you in touch with the director of the non-profit where you currently volunteer and would not too secretly like to work.

Career happenstance is a description for what happens once you’ve identified and connected with who you are, what’s important to you and what that could mean in today’s working world.  (Given that folks naturally want to help and are drawn to other people’s authentic stories.)

As you’ve dropped by the community college or followed up with your sister-in-law, who knows somebody you should talk to; you’ve learned something valuable, even if it’s meant crossing a career option off your list.  Many times without totally knowing why, you sought someone out because of a gut feeling or vague question.  And it turned out great.  You learned what you came for and more; met potential friends and colleagues.  Fabulous people.  Everywhere you’ve gone, basically.  You sure did target the right jobs and industries for you.

Even Fedore Michelle, from the previous article on exploring is not deciding, feels and is doing better.  His divorce is on hold, due to a fabulous marriage counselor, and the love that was always there.  Given his parents referral to their friend and financial aide advisor at the local college, Fedore Michelle soon begins working on his Green MBA.  Fedore also went back to speak with the boss that fired him, being the excellent communicator that he is, and got his old job back with a promotion.  All that work of continuously defining and redefining his goals and reaching out is paying off.

Dave Gallison, MS, LPC
dave@gallisonconsulting.com
www.gallisonconsulting.com
503-704-7796
Dave specializes in a short term, action-oriented approach to providing career management solutions to clients seeking to choose, change or advance their careers and reach their professional and personal potential. His unique strength as a career counselor is preparing you for informational interviews and directly assisting you in gaining access to employed contacts within desired organizations.

Resolve to Improve Your Career in 2013 – Get a Guide!

help me find a job,

jobs and careers in Portland

looking for a job

I need a new career

career counselor Portland

Can you identify with these web queries? If so, you are in good company, as over 100,000 each month enter these and similar phrases into Google (according to Google AdWords).

No doubt the highest month for voicing career change needs occurs in January, in line with 2013 New Year’s resolutions. Beyond web searches and resolutions, however, taking the first step towards making a career change is often the most difficult.

Among multiple pathways to achieve job and career change, it may make sense to hire a results-oriented career professional to help you attain your career goals. After all, career counseling is the field that specializes in helping you identify talents and skills and in turn relate those to relevant fields, titles and employers. Yet why do so many tend to falter in seeking the help of a career counselor? To improve your chances of answering those Google pleas and reaching your New Year’s career goals this year, let’s first address the resistance many of us have toward seeking help.

Chances are you routinely pay for hairdressers, fitness trainers, accountants and lawyers, yet when it comes to their careers, many people seem to believe they are supposed to figure it out by themselves. Can you relate to some of the following common misperceptions about career counseling?

1. It won’t fix anything and I can’t afford to change jobs
2. I don’t need someone telling me what to do
3. You must be weak to seek help instead of strong enough to figure it out yourself
4. It’s expensive and insurance may not cover it

It won’t fix anything. This may be the voice of feeling down and downtrodden, and if followed, leads to in-action. Okay, career counseling is usually not a quick fix. But what a difference it makes to take responsibility for your employment situation and get started on the path to positive change by making that first phone call.

Simply by engaging a counselor, you become accountable to someone else whose sole function is to help you achieve your goals and remove obstacles. Also you receive the help of an experienced guide who can lead or accompany you into unexplored territory where you might find new and better options either with your current employer, with new employers or in new fields.

I don’t need someone telling me what to do. A graduate-trained career professional knows better, so you should probably run from any counselor or coach who tells you what to do! Instead, they will help you draw out your innate interests and preferences, encourage you to follow those to open new doors, and coach you in practical aspects like résumés and interviews that will optimize your chances for new employment.

You must be weak to seek help. This is often a very ingrained thinking pattern, and difficult to overcome. There may be any number of reasons from one’s upbringing or media stereotypes for this limiting belief (and a counselor can help uncover these), but without developing some insight and understanding about why you believe this, it will be almost impossible to improve your situation.

Consider the larger reality that we are social beings who need to cooperate and assist one another in order to thrive. In that way, seeking objective input from a career counselor and strategy on how to navigate one’s career can be a sign of self-understanding and strength.

It’s expensive and insurance may not cover it. Some individuals have health insurance with mental health benefits or access to Employee Assistance Programs through their employer, so you should check into these options. For those who opt to self-pay, career counseling may be a tax deductible expense. Many counselors offer a complimentary first session or phone consultation to help both parties determine if meaningful assistance can be provided. In the end, if you work diligently with a qualified career counselor, chances are that your investment can be “made back” through increased earnings and the intangible dividends of increased life satisfaction as well.

Resolving to improve your career in 2013. Resolutions for career enhancement take work! Are you more ready to seek professional assistance in reaching your goals? You might start by reading the bios and websites of the eight career counselors who author this blog and then commit to contacting one or two. And, by acting, there’s a good chance you will find your way into a more satisfying and rewarding job at the end of 2013 than you were in at the beginning.