Career Applications

05 February 2010 | Uncategorized | Mike Breslin

More online job hunting foolishness can be found HERE.  Seriously folks, clean up your Facebook account.

Ever wondered how the hiring process goes?  Check HERE.  If you know how they decide, you can sculpt your application materials to match.

Find out what you can do to make yourself happier HERE.  Just so you know, I have started doing the following (excerpted from the article):

Write e-mails to your co-workers every day thanking them for something they have done. Meditate daily to clear your mind. Do something for somebody without expecting anything in return. Write in a journal about things you are thankful for; look for traits you admire in people and compliment them. Focus on the process of your work, which you can control, rather than outcomes, which you can’t. And don’t immediately label events good or bad, but remain open to potentially positive outcomes of even the most seemingly negative events.

And with that, choose to have a happy weekend.

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04 February 2010 | Uncategorized | Mike Breslin

I spend a lot of my time at home staring at my 8 week old daughter.  I never thought I could ever be so fascinated by something.  Now that I see her, of course I can’t imagine anything more fun, interesting and awesome to look at.  My wife does the same thing.  All the time staring at our little girl.  Watching her smile, frown, cry, pout, look confused, and all the other faces babies make.  But it never gets old.

Here’s the funny part.  When my wife looks at me she often says, “Wow is your head big!” or “Your nostrils are huge!”  Trust me when I say, they are both the same size they were when my wife an I met.  (Don’t tell my wife, but her head looks huge too…and so do her nostrils).

We spend so much time staring at one face that other faces have started to look weird to us.

By now, I’m sure your’e wondering how I’ll tie this into career planning.  Here goes:

Don’t spend so much time doing only one thing.  It will destroy your perspective of everything else.  Certainly there are some things which need more attention than others (my daughter).  Certainly there are times in your life where some things will need more attention than others (right now, again, my daughter).  Learn to recognize what needs attention and what can wait.

Right now, my daughter needs that attention to develop and grow as she should.  Soon (too soon) she’ll want to try stuff on her own and she’ll need to experience those things for herself…and I cannot always be there to stare at her.  If I only stare at her, then I don’t grow.  I won’t learn new stuff that I can teach her.

Not my most cohesive post but it made sense in my head.

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03 February 2010 | Uncategorized | Mike Breslin

It turns out, you can.  This article gives several cases of a job seeker having no chance at a job because of his reputation.

I can think of several trite statements with which I can follow up:

You are what you do.

You only get one reputation.  Take care of it.

You never know who is watching.

Trite they may be, but great advice they are (and for some reason, typing like Yoda am I).

“You are what you do.” Certainly we all have a vision of ourselves in our mind.  And perhaps some days our actions do not match who we each believe we really are.  Alas, it is our actions that define us because that’s what other people see.  Other people define your reputation.  You can do things to influence for good, ill or other.  But it is the judgment of others that will costruct your reputation.

Try this analaogy:  You are a saint and do nothing but nice things but only when no one can see you.  When folks see you, you’re a jerk and mean and rude.  All those good things (as they relate to your reputation) mean nothing.  A variation on, “If a tree falls in the forest and there is no one there to hear it, does it make a sound?”

“You only get one reputation.  Take care of it.” Once the stink is on you, it takes a long time to wash it off.  ‘Washing’ can mean no job prospects, having to start over somewhere were no one has heard of you, no promotions, etc.  A good reputation, like any solid job searching tool, will open doors for you that might otherwise remain closed.  Think of your reputation as a silent agent working on your behalf.  If you build a great rep, you will have a powerful agent to which people will pay attention.

“You never know who is watching.” One of my favorites.  No one can garauntee that any action will ever remain a secret forever (ask any politician or athlete).  Someone always knows the dirt about you.  So when you have a choice between foolishness and wisdom, think about your reputation.  Remember that, despite the rationalizations in your mind, you really are what you do.

A final story.  Joe Dimaggio was one of the great baseball players of all time.  He always tried his hardest whether the Yankees were winning or losing, whether he was healthy or injured.  when asked why he responded with one of the great quotes of all time:

“There is always some kid who may be seeing me for the first time. I owe him my best.”

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