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SUCCESSS is a State of Mind!

September 12, 2022 by Daisy

The Monday Rx, a weekly career and job search prescription is back after the summer break, and this edition is about SUCCESS!

How many times have you been rejected, spurned or sidelined, and thought you had failed? Don’t worry. I have been there more times than I care to remember, but am still standing!

Why? Because failures don’t define me. I grow from every one of them. If not, I would be missing the success boat.

But, what if you think that success is a state of mind. What if we change the narrative and acknowledge that we are all living breathing, specimens of success instead of clamouring for that “one more thing” that would make us a success.

What if I told you that when I wrote No Canadian Experience, Eh? A Career Success Guide for New Immigrants, one Ontario college used the book to develop a course for their newcomer clients? Because of that, I have addressed their graduates several times, and right now am working on a project with them. Would you call that success?

What if I told you that earlier in the year, I was contacted by two Ontario universities for career coaching opportunities. I didn’t hear back from one, but I spent the summer coaching staff and delivering workshops for the other. Am I going to view the first one as a failure or bask in the success of the other?

As I write, am in discussions with a company on the African continent to coach their mid-level executive staff. Am I going to wait until it comes through to call it a success? Nope! For them to reach out to me, is already a success. If it becomes a reality, it will just be the icing on the success cake.

When I coached a mentee on salary negotiations two months ago with an 85-year-old Canadian company, she ended up with a base salary of $175K, $32,000 more than what she was offered. And, that’s not the total package. That’s success on both sides.

When I watch the career trajectory of a former client as he moved from IBM to Royal Bank to Amazon and now as VP of Technology at (by coincidence) the same company as my mentee, I thought of his words to me when he got his first executive position, “Daisy, I didn’t believe I could be an executive. You saw what I didn’t see in myself.”

The accompanying image is my formula of SUCCESS. Which line resonates with you? Let each point serve as a guide as you define your own success story. Don’t measure it by someone else’s standard.

Here is an assignment for you this week:

Set aside 20 minutes of your time, grab your journal (I hope you have one), and start reflecting on your success stories, aka your accomplishments. This is a brainstorming exercise, so don’t edit your thoughts. When you are finished, you can go back and edit it to unearth the nuggets. You will realize you are more successful than you thought.

Need help? Let’s have a brief career chat!

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10 Tips to Weather the Layoff Storm

August 17, 2022 by Daisy

It seems we have sauntered from The Great Resignation to The Great Layoff Expectation. There are so many announcements about the layoffs happening these days that employees are becoming jittery, wondering when it will be their time.

Of course, layoffs happen all the time, and they are difficult for those affected, but the disrespectful, and unconscionable ways in which they are happening these days is doubly hurtful. Employees being laid-off / fired over Zoom, email, text, is inhumane!

The reality is that none of us are insulated from layoffs. Although the news is usually shocking, layoffs don’t just happen. Invariably, there are subtle signs that things are amiss, and as companies make these critical business decisions, struggle to maintain a tighter rein on costs, and create “simpler nimbler” structures, job seekers can do their part to weather the layoff storm, if and when it comes.

  1. Keep an eye out for tell-tale signs in your company.

If you are becoming a bit jittery at work because things don’t seem right, and if the grapevine is quite active, conduct your own due diligence. Has the company been in the news lately? What for? Did it meet analysts’ expectations? Did it have a management shakeup? Are there dramatic fluctuations of its share price? This is not to suggest that you become paranoid, but you also don’t want to be the ostrich with its head in the sand. The answers to these questions will be a good indicator of where your company is heading and if you should jump ship.

  1. Take advantage of professional development opportunities offered by the company.

Many employees do not take advantage of their company’s professional development offerings. These may be formal training where you attend classes outside of work, or free in-house courses offered as lunch-and-learn programs. Even if your company does not offer training, don’t forget the myriad of elearning programs available on the Internet, but also on LinkedIn Learning. Although your job may appear safe at the moment, it doesn’t mean you should stop learning.

  1. Be on the lookout for internal vacancies, and assess yourself to see if your skills match the requirements.

Speak with someone within that department to gather additional information about the position and then submit your application. In addition, climbing the career growth ladder might sometimes mean having to make a lateral career move, so be flexible.

  1. Find out if there are opportunities to job-shadow another employee or be cross-trained on a system.

Such initiatives will put you ahead of your competitor, or prepare you for your next career opportunity, whether within or outside the company.

  1. Arrange career conversations and informational interviews to keep abreast of industry developments.

Career conversations are similar to informational interviews but they are usually initiated by your manager. Don’t wait for that to happen. Be proactive. Arrange a meeting to discuss your career aspirations, growth and development. Informational interviews tend to be arranged with people outside your company. They allow you to learn more about a field you are interested in, or to keep current with trends in your industry. These two approaches are not mutually exclusive, so be alert to see if you can use any of the knowledge gained to enhance your current position.

  1. Start a journal of your special achievements, comments made by your supervisor or coworkers, and awards and recognitions received.

Review your performance appraisals. What did your supervisor say about you? What special projects did you work on, and what role did you play? Check your email for messages from vendors, coworkers, even your boss, that attest to your capabilities. All these notes will come in handy when you are ready to brush up your résumé, and articulate your successes in interviews.

  1. Develop and nurture a network of contacts, even if you’re not yet looking for a job.

Many people have the misconception that networking is “brown-nosing,” or it’s done only when one is job hunting. Those are myths. Networking is an ongoing process that takes time to grow, but when you nurture your network, it becomes very valuable when faced with a layoff, or when changing careers. As author Harvey MacKay said, you should “dig your well before you are thirsty”.

  1. Join professional associations, and contribute.

Some people join professional associations but do not participate; they do not volunteer for leadership positions. Their goal in joining the association is to beef up their resumes. Contributing allows you to learn new skills, meet new people and build credibility among your peers. Also, many organizations send their job postings to some of these associations before they hit the job boards. Demonstrating that you are an active member of a professional association will be a great addition to your résumé.

  1. Find a mentor, and ask for help.

Is there someone whom you admire in or outside your company? Contact that person and ask if he or she would be willing to be your mentor. Even if they cannot, you could still discuss your uncertainties or your career plans with them. It’s never a weakness to ask for help.

  1. Embrace change.

There are times when a layoff is just what you may need to propel you to action; to change careers; to do something different. Redirect your energy into something productive and don’t feel sorry for yourself. Take a long hard look at where you are in your career. Are you satisfied? Have you reached a plateau in the company? Is it time for a change?

Bottom Line

After all this, if you are still uncertain about your future, enlist the help of a career coach who can steer you in the right direction. Whatever you do, make proactive choices now, not reactive ones later.

___________

Article first published by the author on Job-Hunt.Org.

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What’s the Matter With Older Workers 45+?

December 14, 2021 by Daisy

You might be tempted to ask, “What’s the matter with older workers, 45+?”, and the answer will depend on who you ask. We don’t really need a survey to tell us what we already know – that many older workers are sidelined for job opportunities because of their age. And the excuses by hiring managers are many: They are too set in their ways; hesitant to learn new technologies, and difficulty fitting in with a multigenerational workforce. Not all of that is true!

The non-profit organization Generation commissioned a global survey to provide an in-depth view of individuals aged 45–60 who are seeking or working in entry-level and intermediate roles. In an interview on a McKinsey podcast titled, The Economic Impact of Ageism, Mona Mourshed, founding CEO of Generation offered some key insights from the survey. 

  • Midcareer workers 45+ and older who looking for entry-level to intermediate positions are struggling!
  • Older mid-career workers make up the bulk of the long-term unemployed in many countries and they face growing barriers to finding good jobs. Average length of time to find a job for 45+ individuals in Canada and USA is 27 weeks.
  • Midcareer individuals across the world are finding it harder to get jobs—despite rising calls to address inequality and advance social justice.
  • People age 45+ face persistent and rising pressure in the global job market. They are unemployed for much longer and their age is one of the greatest barriers to their finding a job.
  • Those from underrepresented communities face even greater barriers. They engage in 53 percent more interviews in order to get a job offer.
  • Hiring managers have a strong perception bias against 45+. They believe that members of this age cohort have poor skills and low adaptability. They strongly favour job candidates aged 35-44 over 45+ individuals. They believe that this younger age group outperforms the 45+ cohort in every area of evaluation – application readiness, experience and ‘fit’. According to hiring managers, this age group has well-prepared documents and portfolios, offer good referrals and do well in interviews.
  • Hiring managers cite three top concerns regarding age 45+ job candidates: their reluctance to try new technologies, inability to learn new skills, and difficulty working with coworkers of a different generation.
  • Although hiring managers may express bias against 45+ individuals, those same employers acknowledge that once they hire people over 45, those same workers (87 percent), perform on the job just as well as or even better than their peers who are a decade younger.
  • Employers value reputable training and credentialing. Individuals 45+ who have successfully switched careers regard training as being important to securing their new jobs. By contrast, 45+ individuals whose job prospects would most benefit from training, are often especially hesitant to undertake training.
  • Of those who switched careers, 74 percent say attending training helped them to secure their new position.
  • Hiring managers are calling for higher levels of education, behavioural skills, tech skills, and technical or job-specific skills, and they are more often requiring work experience for entry-level positions.
  • Tech roles lead the increase in job requirements.
  • Candidates face more job-screening methods than they did one to two years ago, including background checks, skills and personality tests, group panel interviews, candidate presentations and drug tests.
  • The 45+ who need the training the most to get a job are the most hesitant to pursue it.
  • The 45+ who have successfully switched professions believe that training has been central to their ability to do so, and employers agree.
  • National statistics (Canada, Singapore, Spain and the United States) show that 45+ and 50+ individuals have consistently made up 40-70 percent of the long-term unemployment since 2015.

How Can Hiring Managers Rectify Interview Inequities?

Based on the survey, employers and hiring managers have a lot of work to do. They should address interview inequities and treat it as a top priority. Even when they do hire 45+ individuals. Their biases tend to survive despite their experience to the contrary.

“Like attracts like” is often said. Of the hiring managers in the survey, 39 percent were 35-44 (while 33 percent were 18-34 and 28 percent were 45+).

Some 45+ also share the blame; it’s not just hiring managers.  are not the only ones to be

Recommendations from the Survey:

As the survey states, no single action will solve the challenges uncovered by our survey. Deep-seated societal issues and attitudes lie at the heart of age-based biases, and they will take time to address.

National governments and global multilaterals can publish short-and long-term unemployment statistics with narrower age brackets.

More often than not, global data sets assembled by multilateral organizations combine a wide span of ages into a single bracket—typically 25–74 or 25–54—on which they report short- and long-term employment and unemployment outcomes. This sprawling aggregation of data results obscures the unique issues faced by the age 45+ population, making their plight much harder to track.

Practitioners and policymakers can link training programs directly to employment opportunities, and provide stipends, to support 45+ individuals who are hesitant to train.

Midcareer switchers overwhelmingly say that training enabled them to shift to a new career trajectory. But for the segment of the 45+ population who are hesitant to undertake training, employers should take into account the time and money that they probably cannot afford.

Employers can change hiring practices to get a clearer view of potential 45+ candidate talent.

Shift from a traditional resume-centered interview to an interview process that enables 45+ candidates to show their skills through demonstration-based exercises.

Pay attention to the “Like attracts like” factor. Of the hiring managers in the survey, 39 percent were 35-44 (while 33 percent were 18-34 and 28 percent were 45+).

Employers can rethink current approaches to make it easier to fill new and revamped roles with existing 45+ employees, instead of relying solely on new hires.

Success in reskilling 45+ employees will demand deeper reflection and concerted action by employers to overcome age-based biases within their own organization.

While there is enough blame to go around, some 45+ workers need to become proactive and embrace training as the new rule of the job search road, especially since forecasts suggest that one-third of all jobs worldwide will be transformed by technology. 

As the survey states, older workers are capable of adapting and switching careers and mastering new roles but they cannot meet all their challenges alone. Employers and policymakers need to take steps to counter the rampant ageism.

Finally, keep in mind that older workers are our friends, neighbours, and parents. Do we seize the compelling opportunity they offer, or abandon them to lives of quiet desperation and long-term unemployment?

_________________

Sources:

Meeting the World’s Midcareer Moment (www.generation.org) 

Download a copy of Generation’s Report: Meeting-the-Worlds-Midcareer-Moment-July-2021).

Download Kick Ageism to the Curb-Your Career Isn’t Over_Crowd-sourced Resource, a resource compiled by this author with contributions from a number of career coaches: 

McKinsey’s Podcast: The Economic Impact of Ageism (https://mck.co/3ERQB5H)

 

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What Do You Do When You Didn’t Get the Job?

February 24, 2021 by Daisy

“After careful consideration, we have decided to pursue another candidate…”

How many times have you received an email that said something like that? What was your first response? Did you:

  • Throw your cell phone on the wall?
  • Hit your laptop so hard, some of the keys flew off?
  • Hang your head in shame muttering what’s the matter with you?
  • Call your coach to talk it through?
  • Write a follow-up email with a call-to-action?

I hope you chose the last one – wrote a follow-up call-to-action email – even if you tried some of the others.

Napoleon Hill, author of Think and Grow Rich said:

“Every adversity, every failure, every heartache carries with it the seed of an equal or greater benefit.”

There is truth in that quote: every failure carries the seed of an equal or greater benefit.

Consider one of my client’s experience: She had an interview for a communications specialist role after which she was asked to send a sample of her writing. They were impressed, so they sent her a writing assignment a few days later… and then she waited.

Two weeks passed and she received an email that said, in part “After careful consideration, we have decided to pursue another candidate for this position whose skill-set matches more closely with our organizations requirements at this time.”

Yikes! After all that effort!

Let’s face it, it’ is not a pleasant feeling to receive such an email. Your first thought is to beat up on yourself or to blame someone or something. But, sometimes you just have to adopt the attitude that “it’s not over ‘til it’s over”. That’s the mindset my client eventually adopted.

She phoned one day to say she was “…trying to remain optimistic, but it’s becoming more difficult as the days passed.” We talked through her situation and one of the positive actions she took was to respond by thanking them for the update and letting them know that, although she was not the successful candidate, she was still interested in working for the company and would keep in touch. 

Several days ago, she received an email inviting her to another interview because the position was still open. None of us know the real reason for the opening but it could be any of the following:

  • They made an offer that was declined,
  • Their preferred candidate didn’t work out, or
  • They decided to expand the team.

Whatever the reason, if my client had not followed up to reiterate her interest in working with the organization; if she had fired off an email to ‘tell them where to go’ with their job, or if she had just taken ‘No’ for answer, she wouldn’t have been offered the job.

Here is a part of her email that arrived in my Inbox on Family Day (of all the days):

Client Testimonial for Daisy Wright, The Wright Career Solution. Career Coaching, Interview Coaching

“I’m writing with good news! ______ Canada made the official offer. I signed the contract and I start work tomorrow! I’m really happy and excited to be starting this job.

I’ll write with more details about the job offer later, but I really want to thank you for all your support throughout my job search. Your advice and coaching helped me improve my interviewing skills – and become more confident – by identifying and sharing success stories that illustrate my skills and experience. I’m so glad my Google search for an interview coach led me to you! From the first time we chatted, I knew that your energy, enthusiasm and expertise was exactly what I was looking for.” 

Amen to that, but I can’t over-emphasize how much coaching is a collaboration. It’s having someone you can turn to when things get tough; someone who can help you clear the cobwebs that get in the way when you need clarity or someone who listens. This client initially hired me for interview coaching, but we continued working together.

If you ever receive a job rejection email, here are three tips to help you deal with it:

  1. Assess yourself. Reflect on the interview to see what went well, and look for opportunities where you need to grow.
  2. Be courteous. Refrain from bad-mouthing the interviewers. They were doing the job of trying to find the best candidate.
  3. Follow up with the interviewer. Sometimes the candidate they chose didn’t work out, but because of your professionalism and lack of bitterness, they could decide to offer you the position. You just never know.

Finally, here’s some advice I offer to clients and non-clients:

“If you hear “No” from an employer, it just means “No” from THAT employer. There are other opportunities on the horizon. Just push through the obstacles. There’s a “Yes” somewhere out there”. Don’t give up! There’s a job with your name on it somewhere.” 

Ready to have a career conversation? I am all ears. Give me a call or send me an email.

 

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Ready to Create Your Big, Bold and Audacious Goal for 2021?

January 4, 2021 by Daisy

Image: Purchased from Dreamtime

Are you ready to make some Big, Bold, and Audacious Goals for 2021? If you are, then connect with me.

The beginning of a new year is a time of renewal. It’s a time when people get focused on what they want from the year ahead. But, sometimes the year catches us at a cross point, still wavering and uncertain about what to do.

If you are feeling stuck, hopeless, and alone, maybe it’s time to craft a vision of where you want to be by this time next year.

Join me and some other B.A.D. (Brilliant, Audacious and Daring), women at my once-a-year Visioning event. For the first time, it is being held virtually, allowing you to attend from the comfort of your home!

On Saturday, January 9, I will be hosting Visioning 2021: #GettingItDone. It’s a space where you will begin an exciting journey of crafting your 2021 Vision. You will be given tools and resources to help you craft your one-year vision, determine what steps you need to take, then create a plan. This might be the single most important step you will take in 2021 to achieve your goals. And, we do so in a fun setting.

Get the details right here >> Visioning 2021: #GettingItDone, but before you go there, here’s a snippet of what some past attendees have said:

“Thank you so much for inviting me to the Visioning event that was held today. It was a fabulous session ~ enlightening, inspiring, and meaningful. You provided so many valuable tools and resources for participants to assist everyone in setting their Goals to move forward in their life. This was a perfect session to “kick-start” the new year and motivate me to make changes in my life. You’re a perfect example (and walk the talk) when it comes to goal setting and taking action. You’re an inspiration to others! Thanks for sharing your knowledge and expertise. You’re SIMPLY THE BEST!” ~Ingrid N.

 “I am extremely grateful to you for giving me an opportunity to share and be enriched! Perfect time to identify goals for 2018 I am so thankful to you for helping me find my word of the year, envision a bigger purpose through collaboration and being the Oprah Winfrey in action, body and spirit!“ ~Taranum K. 

“Thank you again for the opportunity to take part in your workshop yesterday. I had a tremendous time and am grateful for the chance to meet so many talented people. The real power came from the activities and exchanges with the group.”

This will be a highly productive day. Lots of work, and no speeches, except that a very special guest may join us briefly. (Am awaiting confirmation).

Plan to set aside the time for yourself and get rid of all distractions.

If you wish to gain clarity, confidence, courage and connection, and be part of a community that learns, supports and inspires, you need to attend this event. Act now!

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What Happened at Our Quarantine Networking Party

April 29, 2020 by Daisy
Unsplash

At the start of 2020, the beginning of a new year, and a new decade, many of us had had lofty plans, resolutions and goals, or whatever we chose to call them. A few months in, and COVID-19 has upended every facet of our lives. We are now reaching for some semblance of stability in a world of uncertainties. Some of the everyday things we once took for granted now have a deeper sense of purpose. Chief among these are the relationships between family, friends, acquaintances and colleagues. There seems to be an urgency to connect, of course within the #StayatHome restrictions.

Last Saturday night I decided to host a “Quarantine Networking Party” via Zoom with a few women from my Let’s GROW community. We hadn’t gotten together since January 11, and I thought it would be a good idea to schedule a quick check-in. What I thought would’ve lasted an hour, took two hours.

We opened with an upbeat rendition of Bob Marley’s One Love: “One love, one heart, let’s get together and feel alright.” What is striking about this is, I wanted to begin the get-together with something fun and upbeat. It wasn’t until one of the said out loudly, “Everything is gonna be alright!” (another of Bob’s songs), that I realized we were actually going to get together, and whatever happens post-COVID19, everything is going to be alright.

We took a few minutes to introduce or re-introduce ourselves and discussed how the evening would proceed. We then entered the breakout rooms where the aim was to go beyond the customary “How are you doing?” question and really dig deeper. This idea came from a Quartz article written by Elizabeth Weingarten of Ideas42.org. (Credit goes to my friend and supporter Kasindra Maharaj who shared the resource with me.)

In the article Weingarten says, “In this challenging moment, let’s move beyond “how are you doing?” and get more serious about the questions we’re asking our colleagues, friends, and family…It’s a matter of keeping our relationships strong and solvent during what may be a long stretch of healthy spacing ahead of us.”

Asking the right questions

In line with the article, I preselected a few of the questions to do just that – move beyond “how are you doing?” Each person was to choose any of the questions and discuss them in their group. The seven below is from an original list of 20:

  1. How are you taking care of yourself today?
  2. What part of your shelter-in-place residence have you come to appreciate the most?
  3. What surprising thing have you been stocking up on (that isn’t toilet paper)?
  4. What habit have you started, or broken, during the quarantine?
  5. Which specific place in your neighborhood are you most looking forward to visiting once this is all over?
  6. What’s the easiest part about the quarantine?
  7. What are some things you have realized that you don’t really need?
  8. “What problem—either yours, or something more global —do you wish you could solve?”

The Debrief

We regrouped for a debrief. We learned that someone in the group was recently laid off as a result of COVID-19, and two had been job hunting. Someone immediately shared a link to jobs in the GTA. The others of us are okay at this point. In view of the COVID-19 crisis, it was not surprising during the debriefing to hear comments such as:

  • Family is much more than “How are you?” Deeper conversations are taking place.
  • Nobody knows what the new normal will look like. It is scary in one respect, but exciting in another.
  • People seem to have become more collegial, and empathy and compassion are more evident. This is one thing we would want to see continue.
  • Remote work is here to stay. More employers are going to buy into the concept that remote work makes good business sense. Put another way, the toothpaste cannot be put back into the tube.
  • There is more communication between employers and employees, online meetings are more prevalent, and relationships overall seem to be much better.
  • Those deemed essential workers are garnering more respect. Not only those in health care, but train and bus operators, retail and grocery clerks, delivery drivers, etc. People are waking up to how important they are.
  • Some companies are demonstrating social responsibility by, not only keeping their staff pretty much intact, but also ensuring that PPEs get to some hard-to-reach northern communities.
  • Being laid off come with blessings, but the job search will continue
  • Virtual coffee chats and kitchen table bible study groups have been created.

The last question, “What problem—either yours, or something more global —do you wish you could solve?”, was reserved for the main discussion during the get-together. It was to put legs to a book idea I have been mulling over for my 2020 Let’s GROW theme. It was a question we agreed to contemplate beyond the meeting, but it provided a segue into a brief introduction of Ikigaki.

Ikigai is a Japanese concept that examines all areas of our lives that give us purpose and meaning. “Having a direction or purpose in life, that which makes one’s life worthwhile, and towards which an individual takes spontaneous and willing actions giving them satisfaction and a sense of meaning to life.”

The plan, moving forward, is to apply aspects of the Ikigai concept to our lives: What’s our passion and mission? What can we do in the space that we have? Who can we empower, inspire and motivate? What will our legacy look like, and how can we capture that legacy? Equally important, what are we learning, or what have we learned? How are we growing, or how have we grown?

That’s how we ended our quarantine party – with lots of food for thought, as we consider the book project and where it will take us. The coronavirus may have descended on us and created a lot of uncertainties, but all is not doom and gloom. Out of a crisis comes opportunities, and we need to seize the moment. That’s what the Let’s GROW 2020 project is going to do.

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I Was Zoom-bombed On a Career Chat…and It Wasn’t Pretty!

April 7, 2020 by Daisy
Pixabay

Since the onset of COVID19, and realizing that some job seekers and employees are facing anxiety and uncertainty, I decided to host a few weekly Casual Career Chats where I would answer questions about job losses, job search, career transition. resumes, etc. I invited three of my colleagues, Maureen McCann, Michelle Precourt and Christine Cristiano, to be a part of the panel answering the questions.

The first Zoom meeting was on March 27, and it went without a hitch. Last Friday, April 3, I logged into the meeting a few minutes early to give us (the Panel) a chance to chat before the 3:00 pm start. Suddenly, I saw a message that my screen was being shared, and in seconds the vilest of pornography started broadcasting, interspersed with the N-word. At the time, my daughter and her son were in the adjacent room, and she shouted, “Mom, what’s that I am hearing?” They were not online, and didn’t see the images, but I quickly rambled off what was happening.

As one can imagine, the invasion of my computer screen startled me. I was in shock as I grappled to find a way to end the nightmare. Eventually, I gained some semblance of composure and clicked on “End Meeting for All”. Assuming it was an error, I re-started the meeting a few minutes afterwards, and in a flash, the pornography began. I immediately terminated the meeting.

In speaking with my colleagues afterwards, I learned for the first time about Zoom-bombing. One shared a link to an FBI article on the subject (which is posted below). Prior to the article, I had only heard about the lack of proper security on Zoom, but I didn’t pay it much attention. One reason was that I have had a Zoom account for years, and never had a problem.

After the conversation with my colleagues, I proceeded to do a bit of research, and what I discovered was horrifying. There has been a litany of incidences where hackers have been bombarding online classrooms (from kindergarten to university), and primarily targetting people of colour. A young African American man was defending his PhD dissertation via Zoom when his screen infiltrated. An article in last Friday’s USA Today summarizes what happened to K’Andre Miller, a hockey prospect for the New York Rangers. An online community gathering by a Jewish high school in Vancouver was also invaded. Most of these incidences have escalated since COVID19, when the use of the Zoom app ballooned from 10 million users in December 2019, to 200 million now.

A half hour after my incident, and without contacting Zoom, I received a “Dear Valued Customer” email from them. It was advising me of what they were doing to tighten security and what safeguards I should put in place.

I spoke with Peel Regional Police Communication Bureau to find out what they knew about Zoom-bombing. The woman I spoke with hadn’t heard of it but her colleague did. I then called the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), and they had heard about it, and urged me to take greater security.

Putting the onus on me to adhere to Zoom’s security protocol is not a problem. But, let’s face it, this infiltration of my screen speaks to a larger issue: RACISM! And before anyone hastens to dismiss my pronouncement, let me say this, whenever someone tells you they have experienced racism, believe them. Don’t be too quick to write it off as “playing the race card.” It’s too easy to resort to that, and then miss the opportunity to have a civil discourse on the topic.

Many of us shy away from such discussions because it’s uncomfortable. It’s uncomfortable because race is a social construct that places people in boxes, or on a hierarchy that presupposes one group is more, or less, than the other. Herein lies the problem. It’s awkward to argue such a concept, but if we are not prepared to have a candid discussion about racism, we will continue to perpetuate this fallacy.

Many years ago I was invited to speak to a group of university students in a women’s studies class. Of the 50 students, 3 were non-white. During the Q&A, one student asked me if I had ever faced racism. I smiled, then said, “If I tell you I haven’t, I would be lying. I have had my share, but I never allow racism to stop me from doing whatever I want to do or going wherever I want to go. If it means going up, down, sideways or plowing through, I am going to get there. Obstacles may slow me down, but nothing is going to stop me.”

That has always been my approach. Probably it’s because of my Jamaican background, where we don’t cringe when faced with obstacles like these. We deal with the elephant in the room if it raises its head, and then move on. And, by the way, sometimes, the racism is not as blatant as the Zoom-bombing experience. Sometimes it’s the microaggressions that we face in our workplaces, schools, and communities, both on- and offline. They are real!

There I was, with my colleagues, offering free career advice to job seekers and people who feel uncertain and lost during this COVID19 scare, and someone (or group) decided that invading my online space with pornography and racist taunts was more important. I don’t get angry very often, but this time I did. However, I won’t focus on the anger lest we miss the point of the real issue.

I know what I am saying is not at all comfy, but it is not meant to be. Sometimes we just have to call a spade a spade! That said, I am not going to allow trolls to stop me from doing my work. The Casual Career Chat will continue for a couple more weeks as was intended, but with a different set of security protocols.

As I conclude this piece, I want to say I am privileged to have built relationships, and serve a client base from diverse races and cultures. I am the better from the experiences, and I am confident my clients and connections would say the same. But this should, and will not prevent me from calling out racism when I see it, and this one hit close to home.

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Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Ask for What You Are Worth!

November 24, 2019 by Daisy
Pixabay

“In business and in life, you don’t get paid what you deserve; you get paid what you negotiate.” – Anonymous

In archiving some of my workshop files this past week, I discovered a presentation I gave to a group of mostly International Trained Professionals (IEPs) at University of Toronto’s Rotman’s School way back in 2008. The title: A 30-Day Plan to Put Your Career on the Fast Track. Part of the discussion was about how to speak up and ask for what you want. During the presentation I introduced this Brian Tracy quote:

“The Future Belongs to the Askers: The future does not belong to those people who sit back, wishing and hoping that things will improve. The future belongs to those people who step up and ask for what they want. And if they don’t get it right away, they ask, again and again, until they do get it.”

It was a spirited discussion, particularly around how to advance on the job. I confessed to them that early in my career, I was one of those individuals who believed that working hard would get me noticed and rewarded with a promotion. That was not the case. I discovered I needed to become an advocate for myself and ask for what I wanted. Things changed once I convinced myself of my worth.

Mika Brzezinski, co-host of NBC’s Morning Joe, and author of Knowing Your VALUE – Women, Money, and Getting What You’re Worth, talks about how difficult it is for women to ask for what they want, including asking for a raise or a promotion. “Women”, she said, “prefer to work, work, work, hoping the boss will notice”. If you are such an individual, it’s time to lift up your head from all this work, survey the landscape, and devise a plan to ask for what you want.

Valerie Jarrett, then senior advisor to President Obama, and who was quoted in Brzezinksi’s book, said at a point in her career, she felt if she was working so hard, her boss should recognize that she deserved a promotion. It wasn’t until one of her mentors said, “You can’t sit around waiting for people to recognize your work, you have to ask for it”, that she gathered her courage and went to her boss. Soon after that discussion, she got the promotion and the front office. “If you’re not asking for a promotion…you’re not going to get the gold ring”, said Jarrett.

What if it’s not a promotion? What if you have been offered a new job and you want to negotiate your salary but you are getting cold feet? That’s what happened to one of my clients last week and he nearly gave up an opportunity to negotiate. The salary was not what he had expected, but he was afraid to ask for more in case the offer was withdrawn. I reminded him that most employers expect candidates to negotiate, and as long as he didn’t appear unreasonable, he shouldn’t worry.

Before returning the call to HR, I asked him to explore some ‘what ifs’: What would he do IF he didn’t get what he asked for? What would he do IF they withdrew the offer? After contemplating his options, he decided to ask for two things: a $5,000 addition to the salary, and reimbursement for his professional membership fee. The initial offer represented a $17k increase, but it was not the $110k he was looking for. We discussed how he would frame the ‘ask’ in one sentence: “Would you consider paying for my professional membership, and could you add $5,000 to my salary?” I suggested that once he asked the question, he should remain quiet; don’t utter another word. Bingo! He received what he asked for. What if he hadn’t asked? He would’ve left $22,000 on the table.

Most people want to advance in their career; be it a better pay, increased responsibility, or more meaningful work, but they are afraid of the ‘ask’ word. They don’t want to topple the apple cart. But, think about this, even high profile individuals like Valerie Jarrett and Mika Brzezinski found it difficult to ask for what they wanted, but when they asked, they got it.

Reflect on your situation:?

  • Are you afraid to ask for the job during the interview?
  • Are you hesitant to ask for a raise?
  • Are you waiting on your boss to give you a promotion?
  • Do you feel uncomfortable asking clients to pay for your services?

To help you overcome the ‘afraid to ask syndrome’, ask yourself what’s the worst that could happen? Then prepare to get to the point, being very clear about what you want.

Never doubt yourself when you are sitting at the negotiation table. Know your worth then ask for what you want. Remember, “You don’t get paid what you deserve; you get paid what you negotiate.”

Filed Under: Career Coaching, Job Search Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Your Breakthrough Might Just Be Around the Corner

June 29, 2019 by Daisy
Photo credit: Pixabay

Right now, you may be feeling discouraged for a number of reasons. You may have done more than your fair share of interviews without getting a job offer. Yikes!

You may have put all your effort into a project; it failed, and your expected promotion didn’t happen, or

You tried every networking strategy you were advised to use, and nothing happened!

You are now thinking “I have reached the end of my tether, and it’s time to give up.” My question would be “Give up, then what?”

Pixabay

June has been a breakthrough month for three women I have been working with. Their stories are different, but they had one thing in common: giving up was not an option.

Their names have been changed for confidentiality reasons:

[Sarah] contacted me several months ago. I have chosen to use a significant portion of her email to demonstrate the relentless way she was going about her search and the strategies she had been using:

  • “In about a year, I’ve sent close to 150 resumes, very targeted in most cases. At some point I was applying to a lot of HR jobs but in the last 6 months I’ve been applying to only jobs that I want to do, and researching the companies before applying. 
  • Had approx. 90 phone interviews, 40-45 in-person interviews (1st round), 20 interviews in 2nd/3rd round, and in 5 cases I got to the final round.
  • I do reflect on what went well and not so well in all interviews, take notes, and prepare for other chances. Nevertheless I do welcome any new advice in this area.
  • I follow up when not selected, request feedback, try to reach out later to build a relationship… no luck with that. 
  • I’ve been trying to reach senior people at companies I want to work for, just to have informational interviews.  I send personalized requests, write to them, and follow up twice… not much luck. 
  • I’ve asked most people in my network to introduce me to potential hiring managers, and tell me about jobs in my chosen field. 
  • I also volunteer a lot, I’m super active on LinkedIn

So it’s not that I’m sitting passively and waiting for the phone to ring!  There must be something I could be doing differently….  some interview practice for manager-and-above roles would be beneficial too.”

You are probably thinking that you would’ve given up by this.

Sarah is highly qualified, with an MBA, PMP, and HR (CHRP), certifications. I concluded from her email that she was doing everything right, but I was puzzled by the lack of job offers.

In our conversation, I commended her for her tenacity, a trait that not many people have. She reiterated what was in the email, and I asked her if she had done any assessments. I wanted to get a holistic view at her situation. She said she had just completed a 360o Feedback at work, and it didn’t unearth anything she didn’t know about herself.

During the session, I quickly realized she had some great accomplishment stories. Her homework was to recall some of the questions she was asked and come back with several stories. We arranged to have another conversation a couple of weeks afterwards, to review her homework. After listening to some of her answers, I encouraged her to add more depth to the stories, and allow them to flow naturally.

She continued to get interviews. At one point, when I asked if she had followed up with one particular company, she responded in an email, “I suppose I should have followed up again with the hiring manager but with the discouragement of the rejection I didn’t have the energy to do so.”

I totally understood how she felt. However, weeks later an email arrived with the Subject Line: Good news! The message said, “I have great news to share with you – I got a new job!!!  I am starting June 17th. I’m super excited about it!!!!“

She followed up with a Thank-you card:

I gushed with humility, but my role in this was small, compared to her relentless nature. I gained strength from her tenacity.

*********

[Marissa] had been planning to make a career move for months. This is another highly-qualified lady, with two Masters, and a law degree (LLB).

She was being very strategic in her approach; arranging informational interviews and attending formal interviews.

At the end of May, she received a job offer from one of the institutions she had on her target list, but the salary did not meet her expectation. It was even below what she was getting at the time. Opportunities abound with this new organization, but a salary cut would defeat her main purpose for wanting a new job. She struggled with the decision.

We strategized on the best approach, using a T-Chart to weigh the pros and cons. She had already done a lot of the work. After our conversation, I followed up with this message:

“See if you can negotiate even the same salary you are getting now. Employers expect you to negotiate. You can give them a range and make sure your current figure is at the bottom of the range, even though it’s a unionized environment. If that doesn’t work negotiate for other things. You are bringing value!” 

By the time we had our next conversation, she had decided to make a counter offer, and was willing to walk away if they didn’t accept it. Tadaa! She was offered a salary that fell within mid-range of the scale, and her request to take her vacation in August, as she had originally planned, was accepted. She started her new job on June 26, 2019.

*********

[Kaitlin] has been a long time client, and, like many of my clients, we have become friends. I have also worked with her husband. Kaitlin has had her ups and downs with her job search. One of her main concerns was ageism. She is in her sixties, and always wondered how she could compete with younger job seekers, notwithstanding she is university-educated.

On June 12, 2019, she sent an email with the Subject Line “I got a job!” Her message said:

“Hi Daisy, my dear friend who has been such a humble supporter and ‘way show-er’ all these long years while I struggled to get back out into the world!

I received an offer of employment from X company today.  I am thrilled!!

I knew someone who worked there. They put in a good word for me so even in my sixties, I got a JOB!! So grateful!”

Age is a number. Focus on what you will bring to the table, and not how old you are.

Photo credit: Unsplash

What kept these women going? They knew that, although their paths had many a winding turn, they could not give up. Instead, when they needed clarity and encouragement, they reached out to me, and others. It also helped that two of these ladies were attendees at some, or all of my annual career workshops, including this year’s Why Not Me event.

It is said that “Success is a ladder you cannot climb with your hands in your pocket”. This is true. To get to where you want to go you need to continue to work at it, even though it takes guts and perseverance. It also helps to have someone with whom you can talk; a sounding board, who will not only nudge and guide you, but will listen, help you see things from a different perspective, and more importantly, who will tell you the truth. You don’t need anyone who will sugar-coat the truth to make you feel comfortable.

Yes, there are times when discouragement and rejection will surface, and you feel like giving up. But look, whether you’ve been searching for months or years, or whether you’ve failed umpteenth times, my advice to you is to hold on. You have what it takes to get what you want. If you can’t do it alone, seek help, but don’t give up. Your breakthrough may just be around the corner.

Do you have a breakthrough story of your own, or do you need help in clarifying your path? Reach out to me. I am only a phone call or email away.

Filed Under: Career Coaching, Interviews, Job Search Tagged With: , , , ,

She Re-launched Her Corporate Career After Hitting Rock Bottom

March 26, 2019 by Daisy


Courtesy of Pixabay

“If you really want to do something, you will find a way. If you don’t, you will find an excuse.” ~Jim Rohn

When you hit rock bottom, there’s nowhere else to go but up! Consider Trudy’s story, a woman I had the honour of working with some time ago. (Name changed to protect her identity).

Her voicemail message said she was looking for career coaching, but her ominous tone left me thinking she needed counselling (therapy). When I returned the call she confirmed she wanted career coaching.

A few years prior, Trudy had given up her corporate job with a major Canadian company due to family obligations. She did a variety of odd jobs that allowed her the flexibility she needed at the time, finally settling as a house cleaner with one of the more popular home cleaning franchises. She received a lot of push back from family and friends when she made this decision, and according to her, “My Italian mother saw it as a step down, and was not happy.” Yes, it was a step down, but she thought it would’ve been a great segue into entrepreneurship and owning her own cleaning business.

A little over a year doing this job, she gave it up, concluding it was not for her. By then, things had changed on the home-front, and she decided she wanted to return to a corporate environment. Not only was she now looking for a new job, but her already low self-esteem had reached rock bottom. Is she going to fit in? How will she position herself after a four-year hiatus from the corporate world?

At the end of our first meeting we agreed to work together, but there was one drawback: she couldn’t afford my fees. I asked her what option would work for her, other than having to reduce my fees, and she said she would schedule sessions whenever she had the money. Not only did I see the pain and frustration she was going through, but also the determination to get back up, and that was compelling.

We made arrangements to have face-to-face sessions twice per month. I would offer her as much support as I could, including short spurts of coaching if absolutely necessary. I also explained that for coaching to effective, she had to commit to doing whatever work and assignments that were necessary. Before we tackled the job search, we had to work on the self-esteem issue. After our third meeting and a couple of assessments, I noticed a significant difference in her behaviour. She had started to regain her confidence, her inner dialogues and negative self-talks had subsided, her head was no longer held down, and “people were beginning to take notice”, she said. At one point, she beamed as she told me how she was asked to “take up the collection at Church.” “No big deal”, one might say, but to her, it was!

Before we tackled the job search, we had to work on the self-esteem issue. After our third meeting and a couple of assessments, I noticed a significant difference in her behaviour. She had started to regain her confidence, her inner dialogues and negative self-talks had subsided, her head was no longer held down, and “people were beginning to take notice”, she said. At one point, she beamed as she told me how she was asked to “take up the collection at Church.” “No big deal”, one might say, but to her, it was!

As our work continued, I introduced her to individuals in my network so she could arrange informational meetings. We figured that after a four-year absence from the workforce, she needed to gain insights into current workplace practices and business culture. I developed her resume and cover letter, and coached her on interviews, services that were not included in the coaching agreement.

Two months into the coaching relationship, she said, “I am ready to start my job search, and want to find a job by the middle of next month.”

On her way to her first interview, she stopped by my office to show me her new outfit and to let me know she was wearing lipstick. Trivial, it might seem, but that was an example of increased confidence and transformation.

She didn’t get the job, and was quite disappointed. A week later, on her way back from another interview, she phoned to say she had been offered an administrative position with a leading clothing company, and was hired because of her background in customs and logistics. When we checked the date, it was March 14, exactly one month from the day she set her intention to find a job by the middle of the next month.

Trudy demonstrated discipline, motivation, and perseverance, which helped her move from rock bottom to a new job. These are equal opportunity characteristics that do not require a degree; everyone has access to them.

Some people enter coaching looking for quick fixes, but it takes time to untangle the web of past experiences to get to where one wants to go. And to get results, it’s important to plan purposefully – set goals or milestones – and work diligently to achieve them.

It starts with one small step. If you don’t take that small step and start doing the things that seem frightening, difficult or uncomfortable, you will realize that one year from now, you will be at the same place in your life or career.

Take a chance!

Filed Under: Career Coaching Tagged With: , , ,