Finish What You Start

It sounds easy enough to do and actually quite logical.  But it’s something that’s harder to do in practice than in theory.  The other day I was on the bus – on my way to work – and I was fumbling through my purse for a tube of lip balm.  Nothing fancy, just a Blistex stick.  And that’s when it happened…I found my secret stash hidden in a zipper pocket – there were 4 tubes all of different flavours!!  Why in the name of all that is lip moisturizer did I have 4 tubes of the same thing, all of which were almost brand new??  This small, seemingly irrelevant realization got me thinking of something a lot bigger.  How we are all guilty of starting new things and abandoning them before we see them through.  How we are easily distracted from function and purpose to newer and different ideas without closing the book on what we started. 

 This becomes a repetitive cycle and slowly becomes a way of life, simply because the cycle is never broken.  But this type of behaviour generates lots of clutter – both physical and mental – that prevents us from achieving our goals and stretching the boundaries of our potential.

Words of Wisdom for Career Day.

In the last 3 years, I have lived in New York, California, Sheffield, England and most recently split my time between the beautiful southern states of Georgia and Florida.

I have worked in engineering, sales, finance and production operations.

I have done everything from designing equipment for large industrial machinery…to preparing and presenting business cases to VPs…to traveling throughout Europe (to places like France, Belgium and Germany) to work with some of our customers on a number of business issues.

So what do I do?  

Practicality vs. Passion: Which Has Driven Your Career Choices?

This Thursday will be my first speaking engagement at a High School for Career Day.  I will be speaking to senior students about my profession: how I chose to pursue my career, what programs and courses I needed to take, what my career has been like thus far and what my future career opportunities are.  And this has got me thinking about my original motivation/desire for pursuing a career in engineering.

Why did I decide to go into engineering? 

Engineering is one of those little known professions to high school students.  Doctors, lawyers, pharmacists, psychologists, and teachers are common aspirations, but not too many students ever say they want to be engineers.  Maybe it’s because it’s more the “geeky” profession associated with bookworms and computer nerds.   Or maybe it’s because not enough people know how cool an engineer’s job can be?!

Regardless, the pattern seems to be that no one really aspires to be an engineer unless his or her dad, uncle or cousin is one.  It’s just one of those things…Engineering, in my opinion, isn’t well marketed to students…and don’t even get me started on how unattractive promoters make the engineering profession seem to girls!  So how did I choose to pursue a career in engineering?

Hired for Your Ideas, Not Your Resume?! Really?!

There’s a lot of talk out there – on the blogosphere – that Gen Y should be hired for their ideas, rather than for their resume.  While I understand that the main premise and motivation for this is that many Gen Y-ers have limited experience and a more difficult time landing a job, I am not entirely sure that this is the best and most effective way to develop young talent. 

When I was in college, which was a mere 2.5 yrs ago, I had to hustle.  I worked really hard during my 2^nd and 3^rd years to find internships in industries I was interested in.  I networked really hard and volunteered at Faculty Career Fairs to help me land interviews for internships.  I knew that the corporate world was becoming more competitive each year and that the talent pool was getting larger, so

Starting Over, Again: Moving Tips & Interview Prep

Last Thursday I spoke about the brazen qualities needed to get noticed and land an interview.  Let me reiterate that fact please: no network = no interviews.  To date, 100% of all my interviews – 5 – have been secured through contacts.  Peel yourself away from your computer and pick up the phone or get yourself meeting people outside in the real world…NOW.  I thought that I would be mildly successful through online job applications given my unique CV, but you know what…the reality of it has sunk in quite hard.  So please, if you are a true careerist, get yourself out there and promote yourself.

I thought there would also be some value in sharing some random tidbits I have picked up along the way during the last month or so that I have been putting myself out there and trying to land my next big gig!

The Reality of the Hunt…The Job Hunt, That Is.

Ok. So in December I quit my job.  It wasn’t jibing well.  My goals and career objectives no longer aligned with where the company wanted to place me and so I had to make the executive decision about my life and career…so I packed up my bags and returned home to Montreal.

I would be lying if I told you that I wasn’t worried…worried about finding a job, worried about moving back into my parent’s home and worried about rebuilding, yet again, a life back home.  It’s scary.  You’re facing the unknown.  I don’t have a job lined up and there are no guarantees…only the confidence that I would do what I had to in order to re-establish myself back in Montreal.  

So I thought I would talk to all you careerists out there about the job-hunt as it is relevant today.  I know you all hear that “the rules for the job search are different, today,” so I want to illustrate the new rules as I have been experiencing them lately.

Paying It Forward in 2010

It’s the New Year.  2009 is now behind us and we are thrust forward into the throes of the unknown that is 2010.  I could do the usual and write about New Year’s resolutions that I will be making and…ahem…keeping…but I thought I would rather talk about a great theme that we should focus on for the next New Year.  The idea came to me after an in-depth conversation with a great friend!

I was thanking my friend Meghan for passing my CV around her office to a few key managers (because I recently quit my job and relocated back to my hometown of Montreal).  And in response to my thanking her, Meghan said the nicest thing; she said that she thought it was the least she could do seeing as someone had helped her get her job and she was just paying it forward.  Paying it forward.  Yup, that simple gesture of paying forward the kindness you have experienced from others.

For those of you reading this thinking that Meghan is simply a really nice person, well you’re right!  But she is also a careerist: driven, persistent and ambitious.  And paying it forward is such an important thing for careerists to do, as well.  Here’s why:

The Last Impression. Often Overlooked and Undervalued.

There is a lot of talk about first impressions and how important they are.  How first impressions are so powerful that they alone can dictate the success you experience in your career.  

But, what about last impressions?  What about the last impression you leave with people when you change employer or role?  How important is it and what could it mean for you and your career prospects?  The last impression is generally only an afterthought and if you are like most of the population and find yourself undervaluing the last impression, it would be a good idea to keep reading to understand why you need to be more conscious of the impression you leave behind. 

There are generally two ways you can leave an organization, the first is on your own terms and the second is on the terms of your employer.  You can hope that every one of your transitions is of your own volition, however, the reality is that it can very well be a result of company re-organization, or worse, poor performance.  Regardless, the last impression you leave with your coworkers and superiors is just as important as the first impression you gave them when you first started, if not even more so.

Should You or Shouldn’t You: What Can Blogging Do for You?

So I recently finished reading this book, Blog Schmog by Bob Bly.  I initially picked it up because I have been entertaining the idea of starting a business and wanted to understand how blogging could or could not help my business.  After reading the book I am still on the fence.  I’m undecided as to whether the intangible benefits of a blog are worth the time and money investment.  But that’s my dilemma and not really for this post. 

What this book has got me thinking about is the benefits blogging can bring to careerists, like you and me.  The questions are these: How can careerists leverage the benefits of blogging to their advantage?  What can blogs help us achieve in building our careers? What are unrealistic expectations of the benefits blogs can have on our careers?  Can we gain an edge through this social media tool?

What’s that smell? A Stagnant Career, Perhaps?

It happens to everyone.  The minute you land your new job, you’re so excited.  Your heart is racing, you have this desire and drive to do your best, you’re putting in extreme effort to show your boss you were the right hire and you’re off…you feel exhilaration, you feel excitement, you feel unstoppable.  Slowly, the novelty of the job wears off.  This can take anywhere from a couple of months to a couple of years.  But the newness does eventually subside.  And with the loss of its sheen, the job becomes more and more of just that…a job.  Eventually, you find yourself in the offensive place that no one ever wants to admit they occasionally find themselves in, that smelly gutter that runs parallel to everyone’s career, the …R…U…T…

So, how do you know you’ve fallen in?  Well…I really only go by one rule.  You know you’re in the rut when: