http://www.canada-first.com/cf_contract/index.php/workbytes/index/ A wise and often irreverant look at todays' working world and why more people are choosing self-employment. en hedseeker@gmail.com Copyright 2007 2007-03-02T18:18:01-07:00 http://canada-first.com/cf_contract/index.php/workbytes/i_gots_bad_news_for_ya/ http://canada-first.com/cf_contract/index.php/ workbytes/i_gots_bad_news_for_ya/#When:18:18:01Z The good news is that there appears to be lots of jobs to apply for out there...everybody needs or wants to hire more people. The bad news is that the majority of time you won’t hear back quickly or even at all that you were deemed suitable by the employer for the role you applied for. What do you do? Remember last posting I suggested that when you apply for a position that you apply directly to the hiring manager if you can? Remember that? You know why? Well here’s the bad news about applying for any new job - if you don’t hear right away from them - and I mean within a few days to a week maximum of submitting your information to a legitimate organization - it’s highly probable that you have already been discounted, discarded, nixed, fagettaboutit, been overlooked as a possible candidate for the role you applied for.If you don’t hear right away from them....FAGETTABOUTIT!!!!! News 2007-03-02T18:18:01-07:00 http://canada-first.com/cf_contract/index.php/workbytes/knock_knock_anyone_home/ http://canada-first.com/cf_contract/index.php/ workbytes/knock_knock_anyone_home/#When:18:56:00Z Some thoughts and tips on applying for a career posted on a job board or in the newspaper. It’s frustrating. You’re knocking and no one’s answering. Are they really looking for new blood for their team or is HR just making it look like they’re doing something? Ever been in that situation where you saw a great career posting on an online job board or advertised in the paper and you applied? You carefully crafted your cover letter tailoring it to address some of the concerns and/or benefits hiring you would bring to your new prospective employer. You polished your resume file - made sure all the relevant positions you’ve had over the years are listed, used action words, composed everything using a readable font, checked endlessly for spelling errors and checked that everything lined up looking presentable. The deadline for submissions is stated in the ad and you’re well within that time as you assemble the files in an email. Addressed to the recipient specified in the job posting (or, merely posted on job boards like Monster or Workopolis, etc.) you eagerly click the send (or update) button, smile as the file is sent and then wait for the return email. ‘Everyone stay off the phone - I’m expecting a call soon from my new prospective employer now that they have my application’, you tell your family members.  These guys really need people - that’s what the guys on the talkshows and in the newpapers are continually saying. Can’t find the skilled workers they need. Better relax our immigration policies to let more of those trained overseas get a better job here instead of driving cabs. Everyone needs them! Everyone stay off the phone - I’m expecting a call soon from my new prospective employer now that they have my application Hmm. It’s been several days now since you submitted or updated your position application and still you haven’t heard anything from your new prospective employer. Why? They’re busy? Received billions of applications they’re pouring over? On vacation? Oh well! Actually, when you think about it, it’s been over a week now - going on two weeks and you still haven’t heard anything. What gives? I’ll tell you what gives. Most of the HR people charged with recruiting new talent to their organization’s team are ill-equipped to do it. What do I mean? I mean they aren’t motivated to produce quick, effective results. They have never spent a day let alone anytime at all in a customer service capacity where they would have gained a perspective on how to treat new potential customers (read: employees). They don’t understand that marketing without responding quickly to customer/employee responses tarnishes their organization’s brand, it’s image. These HR people - generally clerks and or socalled “people-learned” professionals are so busy trying to preserve their own jobs that they have created all kinds of programs within their organizations to keep themselves busy in the eyes of their Masters. Hey, we don’t need to reply quickly to an applicant, we’re in charge and they don’t know who we are anyway. Besides we’ve got campus recruiting fairs to attend to, benefits and compensation conferences to go to, Application Tracking Systems (ATS’s) to implement or learn and boy, we have so many applications to wade through. Besides we haven’t really defined all the responsibilities and reporting that this position will have. SO WE HAVE TIME! But you don’t have time! You’ve made the decision to seek employment elsewhere and you want to get going! Does any of the above discussion seem familiar to you? It should if you’ve done any kind of applying online or to the paper these days. Working inside a large organization as a Contractor recently I witnessed firsthand how within a few weeks I became the “GOTO GUY” for recruitment/hr functions within the department I was in. My edict is to deliver results, simply and effectively. The HR folks could have done the same thing if they wanted to but chose not to because of all the other things that they placed in front of what they said was crucial to their business - that is, hiring more skilled people. Hundreds of them that they couldn’t seem to find. But guess what? I could find them. And they found me. Some even stay in touch with me now that my contract term has ended. I still respond to them - one never knows where they’ll end up next or what they’ll be in charge of. It’s a small world. So, how do you deal with the ineffectiveness of the career “black holes” of the internet? GO DIRECT TO THE HIRING MANAGER You see a position posting you’re interested in - do some homework. Find out who the hiring Manager is. If it isn’t apparent, figure out what department the role is in and phone the organization to find out the name of the department’s Manager. Ask them if they are the ones looking after the hiring for the position of interest. Can you submit your resume to them? I’m telling you folks, inside the client I was in, the people that got most of the new jobs were those who contacted the Senior Department Manager and were referred to the individual doing the hiring that reported to them. Check with your friends, acquaintances or friendly competitors who you should speak with at a particular company you’re interested in if they are in the same field. Contact that person directly. Forget HR. Well, at least don’t let them be the only route you use to get your application in. More ideas to be added soon. News 2007-02-21T18:56:00-07:00 http://canada-first.com/cf_contract/index.php/workbytes/goals_missed_goals_set/ http://canada-first.com/cf_contract/index.php/ workbytes/goals_missed_goals_set/#When:21:16:02Z Only 1400 kms. 875 miles specifically. That’s where I ended 2006 with my running program. My goal was to run 1000 miles by Dec. 31, 2006 but it didn’t happen. Why? Lots of reason. Read the full story. Only 1400 kms. 875 miles specifically. That’s where I ended 2006 with my running program. My goal was to run 1000 miles by Dec. 31, 2006 but it didn’t happen. Why? Well, lots of reasons but the main reason I can say is that I fell off the running wagon when other things in my life became more important to me. It started in late summer when I took my son to a hockey school where we camped at. While he was busy skating for hours each day, my little son and I played at the beach. Fun yes, but I only got in a few days of running once my wife joined us. That was the slippery slope to less running. As that week was ending I managed to pick up a consulting gig at a very large international oil company. While I was only about 7 or so blocks away from a good running track and the Bow River running paths, the demands of the consulting contract had me at the client’s office most mornings by 7:00 AM. I went running sporadically during the term of the agreement (which ended mid-December) and the result was falling way short of my running goal. I let work and life get in the way of my challenge. Add coaching soccer, watching soccer, coaching hockey several nights a week and my energy for running seriously wained. Well, thank God 2006 is over! I’m back to reclaiming my goal of achieving running 1000 miles by year end. It’s started slow as conveniently once my consulting contract ended and I had a chance to regroup, spending 2 ice times a day in hockey rinks during the holidays gave me a viral infection that I’m just starting to get rid of. So, I’ve only run 17 miles so far but I’m determined to break through the 1000 mile barrier. Of course, I need to saddle up with some new runners as the ones I’m using have exhausted their usefulness. Anyway I’m very committed to beating this goal and will be running most days now to get a good headstart on the mileage meter. Oh yah, I’m exploring another consulting gig - this time in Denver - hopefully I won’t let that deal effect my running schedule. News 2007-01-18T21:16:02-07:00 http://canada-first.com/cf_contract/index.php/workbytes/back_soon/ http://canada-first.com/cf_contract/index.php/ workbytes/back_soon/#When:17:08:00Z Hey all. By now you’ve noticed that I haven’t done any posting for about two (2) months. Well, with summer and work and kid’s hockey camps and soccer camps and camping, etc. I’ve been somewhat busy. On top of that picked up a consulting gig that has me pretty busy. But rest assured, new posts will be forthcoming shortly and some new ideas. Speaking of new ideas: Apple is making Widget creation a part of the new operating system that will role out (Panther). What a cool thing to do. If you don’t have a Mac yet - get one - they are the cat’s meow - literally!!! News 2006-09-26T17:08:00-07:00 http://canada-first.com/cf_contract/index.php/workbytes/workbytes_widget_for_mac_users/ http://canada-first.com/cf_contract/index.php/ workbytes/workbytes_widget_for_mac_users/#When:05:06:00Z Hey, I created my first Apple Widget for Mac users the other day. It’s a work in progress that I’m getting ready to upload to Apple’s Widget site in the coming weeks. If you don’t know what a Widget is you don’t own a Mac with the Tiger operating system. Widgets are little pieces of software that self-install, taking up very little space on a Mac’s Dashboard. There’s widgets for stock prices, the weather, calculations, horoscopes, games, system maintenance, anything you can think of - most are free - and they can be very useful. When not in use they automatically hide themselves from view but are always ready instantly when you need them. So what’s my widget all about.  The WorkBytes Widget 1.0 is a widget that provides you with hundreds, eventually thousands of career and career help websites. Merely click on a site name on the scrollable list and presto-chango you’re taken in your browser to that career portal. Most of the career sites tend be the Canadian ones with a number of US ones as well. I include the Executive Search community in these links as well. So, it’s not just the Big Boys, it’s everyone who has a site I thought was great for my readers. If you know of some I should be adding, drop me a note and I’ll add them. In the mean time I’ll be adding more features as I go along like the ability to post your resume through this widget, perhaps. Or a specific career search button where you enter your job preferences and the widget searches, then compiles a clickable listing of applicable career sites and jobs for you to look at. But it takes time to make all this work. In the mean time, take a look down below at the Useful Links section and you’ll find the WorkBytes Widget link. Or, if you want, just click on the link below in this blog entry and the widget will download automatically. Let me know what you think of this idea and the widget. IT’S FREE!!!! YAY!!! WorkBytes Widget Apple Widgets Connectivity, Tech Knowledge, Gee! 2006-07-26T05:06:00-07:00 http://canada-first.com/cf_contract/index.php/workbytes/feeling_lousy_at_work_blame_your_boss/ http://canada-first.com/cf_contract/index.php/ workbytes/feeling_lousy_at_work_blame_your_boss/#When:03:47:00Z A recent survey by the outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas out of Chicago found that after surveying a gazillion employees (workers) out there, low and behold 73% of you said that it’s your boss who’s to blame for your lousy feelings at work. And 20% of you lied because your bosses were watching you take the survey and 7% of you went running to your bosses saying “how do you think I should answer this question?” Okay, just kidding on the last two percentages of the survey but it’s clear (and I’ll say since they were first invented) that bosses are the chief source of frustration and poor morale at most companies. So, before you decide to run your own show, be sure to read the attached article. Unhappy at work? Blame the boss an article written by Roma Luciw of the Globe & Mail. And when you get a chance read the comments to the article as well, very revealing. Boss Slams 2006-07-25T03:47:00-07:00 http://canada-first.com/cf_contract/index.php/workbytes/wish_i/ http://canada-first.com/cf_contract/index.php/ workbytes/wish_i/#When:17:13:00Z Need some great ideas on writing that resignation letter you’ve been procrastinating about? Check out this letter a writer named “D” wrote to their boss “J” as they left their employ; it’s hilarious. ‘Dear J. After four years of listening to your hillbilly ass go on and on about things about which you have NO freakin’ clue, I’ve had enough. Please read on.’ ’In the beginning, I thought you were quaint, nice, generous, and a good friend. I even thought your jokes were funny. I thought to myself, “How could I end up with such a nice guy for my boss?” Skip to the present and you find me perpetually grouchy as I drag myself into your presence each and every day of my life. I’ve done some research, and also some snooping, and I have discovered that not only have you been screwing me for the past four years, you’ve also been stupid enough to leave the evidence for me to find. Your excuse for my pathetic salary has been your massive debts. But as I watch you suck as much money from this business as you can, it sickens me that your conscience does not kick in. You have told me it’s raining while you pee down my neck, you idiot. The business is being run into the ground, and you don’t care, as long as you think someone is going to buy it from you and become “your retirement plan.” After four years of listening to your hillbilly ass go on and on about things about which you have NO freakin’ clue, I’ve had enough. Well, you can have your business, because I am out. And be sure that on my way out the door I will call OSHA and the FTC, as I am sure they will be very interested in learning about your business and its lack of safety and other requirements. You may be nicer than your predecessor, but that’s only to my face. Behind my back, you are taking advantage of a man and his whole family. When you’re rotting in Hell, I hope you think of all the people you’ve screwed to get yourself to the position to call yourself “The Owner.” Bite me, -D’ Too funny for words! If you want to read more of these types of letters go to Kiss My Freckled Ass Goodbye and give yourself a chuckle. And maybe some ideas. (Okay, I’m kidding). Boss Slams 2006-07-20T17:13:00-07:00 http://canada-first.com/cf_contract/index.php/workbytes/in_your_neighborhood/ http://canada-first.com/cf_contract/index.php/ workbytes/in_your_neighborhood/#When:21:22:00Z ‘In your neighborhood,...in your neigh• bor• hood!’ There’s a furnace-cleaner in your neighborhood... Isn’t that the song they used to sing on Mr. Rogers or Sesame Street or one of those shows like that? Just got a call from furnace-cleaning company (Castle - something or other) and decided to have a little fun with them. My conversation went something like this with them… Ring..Ring...unknown number shows up on my caller id telephone. Don’t recognize number as a normal telemarketer so silly me I answer it. Silly-marketer (SM): “Hi, am I speaking with the homeowner of the house?” Me: “No, I’m a burgler burglarizing this home...No, seriously, yes and with whom am I speaking?” SM: “Oh, I’m with Castle (something or other) Maintenance Services and we’re working in your neighborhood.....” Interrupting the caller I ask, Me: ”In my neighborhood? Which house are you working at in my street?” (snicker, snicker) SM: (starts giggling) “Heh, heh, we’re just beginning to work in your neighborhood.(names my neighborhood here)” Me: “Oh, well there’s over 4000 homes in the area, which one?” (I ask probingly). SM: “Ah, well (they stutter) we’re in a lot of houses in your area and in (names another area 10 minutes from mine as if I’m supposed to think that they’re my close neighbors too!) We’ve got 5 or 6 trucks in your area!” (She exclaims quite indignantly to me). Me: (I laugh and ask) “5 or 6 trucks in the area and you can’t tell me which neighbor or house close to mine you’re in?” (Twist the knife a little deeper in). SM: “Well no but have you had the service done before?” (Huh?) Me: “What service are you talking about?” SM: ”Furnace-cleaning!" (Really? After all this time on the phone with SM I now learn that the uninvited telemarketing call was for a furnace-cleaning outfit). Me: “No, I don’t need it done because I own a furnace-cleaning company! (Not me but my family is in the heating and airconditioning business so I’d use them!) So, you see (I tell her with my tongue firmly planted in my cheek) my furnace-cleaning company is ALWAYS in my nieghborhood!” SM: click.....unnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn. I guess that was a little wasted call for SM. But, it sure resulted in a little afternoon pleasure for me. Folks if you own a service company like a furnace-cleaning company first of all: • don’t call in the middle of the day - chances are no one will be home - they’ll be working. • don’t lie about being in the neighborhood. Leave a message saying you were at address # such and such today (near your house) and they took advantage of our summer reconditioning service, or fall earlybird special or spring into action sales, etc. - thought you might be interested too (leave number for them to call). Or, you could say with all the homes in the neighborhood being of similar age and this one at address close to your house getting our service done, thought oyu might be interested, etc. • send a mailer or postcard to the homeowner directly with a call to action incentive on it. • try marketing your service with a complimentary service, exchanging leads, etc. • get to your point quickly and be courteous....you don’t know who you’re calling or may be pissing off at the time. Happy Marketing! Business Wisdom 2006-07-18T21:22:00-07:00 http://canada-first.com/cf_contract/index.php/workbytes/master_vs_victim/ http://canada-first.com/cf_contract/index.php/ workbytes/master_vs_victim/#When:15:23:00Z In the previous entry,The Best Way To Deal With A Bad Boss, we were beginning to discuss the things that make up our ability to deal with a bad boss like our driving needs, communication styles (which we’ll get into shortly) and whether or not we’re a Master or a Victim. All these issues need to be considered before we can best handle, deal with, stomache, work with a boss who’s less than ideal. We covered driving needs and maintain that one must remain detached from the process that satisfies those needs (intimacy, control, achievement, passion, love, etc.). We also suggested that based on intuition and faith, a person must sincerely choose or give the needs they want met to either themselves or to someone else in order for them to receive a satisfactory result. It sounds almost contradictory: give yourself what you need? Absolutely! A self-actualized person (a successful person) knows how to meet their own needs - consciously or unconsciously. They are a Master of their life. But what if we’re not Masters, rather we’re Victims. What if we resist taking responsibility for the results we get? Let’s talk about this. Concepts we will discuss here shortly that will help you understand the results, situations you find yourself in and decide whether or not you want to remain a Victim or you’re going to Master your life. We will be discussing: • Accountability • Responsibility • Ineffective Attitudes, Behaviours and Emotions (& Your Rewards) • The Victim Effect • Communication Styles Come back soon. Business Wisdom, Co-Worker Hell 2006-07-11T15:23:00-07:00 http://canada-first.com/cf_contract/index.php/workbytes/the_best_way_to_deal_with_a_bad_boss/ http://canada-first.com/cf_contract/index.php/ workbytes/the_best_way_to_deal_with_a_bad_boss/#When:08:31:00Z Have you noticed something lately? If you’ve been working for longer than a month, you’ve likely encountered a bad boss or a boss from hell in your career. Why is it such big news these days that there are bosses from hell out there? Seems like there’s a lot of boss stuff being written on the internet (How To Handle The Boss From Hell), in magazines and in newspapers regarding the bad bosses out there. Now it could be just because of Ken Lay of Enron, or the character Meryl Streep plays in the new movie The Devil Wears Prada giving bosses a bad name, or it could just be that the bad boss cycle has come around again in this hot economy and people are looking for something better from their work environment. And employees are complaining to anyone who’ll listen. Seems like companies aren’t listening much on their way to their bank accounts. So how do you, a lowly employee (the key cog in getting all the real work done), deal with a socalled boss from hell? You know the one everyone’s talking about, the micro-manager, the meanie, the can’t make a decision guy, the brown-nosing gal, etc.? Well, the real issue at play in any boss-subordinate relationship is “control”. Seems obvious doesn’t it? They have it and you don’t. But the truth is—we all have control—we just need to learn how to give it so that both ourselves and the Receiver can benefit from it. Let me explain. Now, try not to go to sleep here but no discussion of handing over control and/or strategies to deal with people (like bosses, etc.) who are less than pleasant can come without a brief discussion of what drives us, our communication styles and whether or not we’re Masters of the situations we find ourselves in or we’re Victims. Let’s start with our driving needs first; needs that when met let us know our definition of success (DOS) is being achieved. We all know the basic needs every human needs to survive such as: water, food, oxygen, warmth, sleep, health, exercise and sex (males more than females my “sex camel” wife says, but I digress). Add to those security (which I could go on about ad nauseum) and you’ve got the list of basic needs down pat. We need these needs met before we can go on to become self-actualized people, as Dr. Abraham Maslow would tell you. But they’re not driving needs. Driving needs are those needs we consciously or unconsciously seek to fullfill in order for us to learn at a higher level, to move closer to the state of self-actualization, to feel like we’re living at the highest possible level of our existence. These needs may be framed with words like: challenge, intimacy, achievement, passion, control, love for example. It takes a tremendous amount of determination and desire to explore and learn what needs shape up our makeup; what needs drive us everyday; what needs motivate us to act or do things a certain way. Everyone has some driving needs that are being met. If you’re conscious about them, you’ll have some kind of DOS that defines a process, a way for you to be for you to obtain fulfillment of these needs in some positive, society-acceptable way. An unconscious person (someone going through each moment of their life without conscious thought about why it is they’re doing what they’re doing) still gets driving needs met even though they may not consciously choose to satisfy them. For example, I need to have challenge met in my life (according to my DOS) so a positive way for me to fullfill this need is to set a personal goal of running 1000 miles or more in a year. I might also “challenge” myself by running a half-marathon in under 2 hours. I may not necessarily accomplish these goals as I planned but the very act of challenging myself supports my driving need. I feel challenged; I feel good; I feel alive. It may even inspire others around me to do similar things. An unconscious person may choose to speed down a busy rush hour freeway, zig zagging through traffic as if she was in a Grand Prix race or something trying to get home after work by 5:00 PM. It’s a real challenge for her to get by all these slow driving morons who are keeping her from starting her evening. Her need for challenge may be met when she finally succeeds but was it very society acceptable? No, and it would definitely be a very dangerous thing to do especially if she lost control of her vehicle. Meeting needs in ways that are harmful to yourself or unacceptable in today’s society is not the way to go. The point is driving needs are deep needs and wants that a person wants fullfilled for themselves, either consciously or unconsciously, and preferably in positive ways. And the way to get these needs consciously met is by being aware of what they are for you and then giving them to yourself. Know this, that the simple act of sincerely choosing to give yourself or anyone for that matter, what it is that you’re looking for (whether love, intimacy, control, forgiveness, passion, respect, etc.) will help you get your own need met. And you must do this without expectation of outcomes.  Why? Because you must be 100% invested in the process of giving what it is you want without worrying about what the outcome might look like. It’s the process that counts. The outcome will be what it will be; you have no control over that. Folks, particularly salepeople, have trouble with that concept. They’re lead to believe that you should expect to win every deal, etc. Whereas we know that that’s not likely. I look at things a little bit different. I’ve always believed that if I give 100% of myself, my knowledge, my passion, my understanding, my commitment to a deal I’ll either succeed or I won’t this time. Am I a failure when I don’t succeed this time? No! If my process is good, I get back on the horse and go get another deal. The chances are when I give a 100% of myself to a situation, the outcome may not look exactly like I had envisioned but it’s usually in my favor. By… ...staying “detached from the outcome of my process” I can stay open to new possibilities or avenues to satisfy my driving needs… ...if the outcome is not as expected. It’s easier to stay positive in any situation and allows me to be “in control” of me and my feelings. And when I’m positive, I attract more positive things to me. When I’m negative, I attract more negative things to me. Have you ever noticed that happen to you? How about your work environment - why have you attracted a “negative boss”? Perhaps you’re a Victim more often than you’re a Master of your own choices. See the next blog entry Master vs Victim for the continuation of our discussion on how to deal with bad bosses. Business Wisdom, Boss Slams, Co-Worker Hell 2006-07-08T08:31:00-07:00