For my first post of the year, I’m going to talk about the Fish philosophy.  I went to a short session at our opening meeting.  There I learned the Fish Philosophy.  It formed out of a fish market in Seattle where the folks who work there have an absolute blast every day….even though they work at a fish market.  While Sage is not at all like a fish market, there are days when I need a boost to my enthusiasm.  The Fish Philosophy is ideal.

There are only four concepts to wrap your head around:

1.  Play.  Have fun at whatever it is you do.  If you are not having fun, why are you there?

2.  Make Their Day.  Whomever it is that you serve in your job, do your best to make them feel important and valued.  Do your best to make their experience with you the best it can be.  I’ve used this quote multiple times but it bears repeating:  ”There is always some kid who may be seeing me for the first or last time, I owe him my best.”  Joe DiMaggio.

3.  Be There.  Be present.  Don’t ignore or try to minimize interaction.  This person is there to see you and the least you can do is pay attention and make them feel valued.

4.  Choose Your Attitude.  Every one of us will have one of those days.  Flat tires, kids up all night crying, disagreements with friends and family, and so on.  How in the world do we not bring that stuff to our jobs?  We choose our attitude.  When bad things happen, we are forced by no one to have a bad mood.  We choose that mood.  So why not choose to have a good attitude instead?  You’ll be happier.  Folks around you will be happier.

These simple concepts can be transferred to your life at school.  For this semester, choose to have an attitude that embraces learning new things.  Choose an attitude that makes you open to having new experiences.  Choose an attitude that allows you to honestly assess yourself (strengths and weaknesses) and plan based on them.

Choose an attitude that will put you on a path toward challenge, fulfillment and success.

Happy New Year!

I’d venture a guess that these students are fearful about when the next job offer might come along and so are jumping at the chance to work and get paid and be insured.  This time last year, there may have been some arrogance as students thought the perfect jobs were on their way but never materialized.

Here’s a fun bit of data:

“Employers taking part in NACE’s 2010 Internship & Co-op Survey reported that 44.6 percent of their Class of 2009 hires came from their own internship programs.”

Article here. You go get an internship now.  At least 44.6% of you will not regret it.

Tomorrow is graduation so congratulations to all of our Sage Colleges grads.  Celebrate and be merry…and then make an appointment with a Sage Colleges career counselor because you have access to our services for free, for life…and I know not all of you have a resume.

Happy summer!

When putting together a job advertisement, employers have the option of requesting references in the ad.

So when you submit your resume…

DO NOT PUT “References available upon request” ON YOUR RESUME.

They’ve already been requested.  You will look like you cannot follow simple written directions.

Let us assume you get an interview.  It is common sense and common practice to bring a copy of your references to the interview.  At some point during the interview you may be asked, “Do you have a copy of your references?”  At this point you will produce the copy and happily hand it over.

Pay close attention to this:  Whether you put “References available upon request” on your resume or not, the employer will still ask for your references if they want them.  So we must again conclude….

DO NOT PUT “References available upon request” ON YOUR RESUME.

Let us assume that you make it through the interview but no one has asked you for your references.  You may then say, “Would you like a copy of my references?”  They may say yes.  They may say no.  Either way, I am forced to conclude…

DO NOT PUT “References available upon request” ON YOUR RESUME.

At the root of this is the fact that it is assumed everyone has references.  If we accept this as true then we must also assume that everyone’s references are available if requested.  Put another way, I have yet to hear of a situation where it was appropriate to give no references or include the line, “References not available upon request.”

References are a vital part of an employer’s evaluation process.  To make it seem as though they are optional or only available if needed does not make sense.  The employer will always want them if they want you.

Again, everyone has references.  Why waste a line on your resume pointing out something the employer already knows?

Some highlights:

- Getting to know your HR department is beneficial to your career.

- They do act upon your goofy Facebook postings.  Be aware!

- Some do monitor e-mails and internet usage.

- Background checks and tests are becoming more common.

Think about it.  With 10% unemployment and more candidates graduating all the time, HR needs some way to weed through all the applicants.  Why not more background checks?  Why not eliminate candidates who post questionable content to their blog/Facebook/podcast/etc.?

In this employment market, the companies have more power.  Be aware of it and do what you can to increase your own power.

Not so happy news for soon-to-be and recent college grads here. Notice the espousal of having a Plan B.

Benefits aside from salaries are being cut back according to this article. Be aware of how employment compensation has changed these past few years.  What you were expecting when you started your degree might be a far cry from what you are offered when you graduate.

This article asks us to temper our enthusiasm for the Dow closing over 11,000.  It does offer some nice employment numbers though:

“According to the Department of Labor, employers added 162,000 jobs in March – the biggest gain in three years.

“Hours being worked per week by your average production worker is on its up; hiring and temporary employment is on its way up,” Chris Thornberg, founding principal of Beacon Economics said. “These are all indicators that the labor market is going to strengthen over the course of this year.”

So hooray for us, right?

CEO’s are looking to hire more workers.  Corroboration!

Which companies are hiring?  These, of course!

Mixing it up a bit, here are ten recommended cars for the new grad.

Nice networking advice here but why, oh why, did they not recommend seeing a college career counselor?!

Yep.  That is one way to write an objective.  Notice the use of the buzzword ‘leverage’.

The problem (one of them, anyway) with the above statement is this:  Who would not make that claim?  Absurdly, but good for proving my point, if the above exists than the following must also exist:

“I am a barely motivated, layabout who is kind of looking to find a job that will leverage my skills and abilities.”

Obviously, no one would ever include the previous as an objective.  But it would fulfill some of the requirements of what we like to see on a resume.  It’s memorable and it’s honest (one would assume).

The objective at the top of this post is not memorable and if it appeared on a resume among a pile of 100 resumes, it would never stand out.

So how can you be memorable with such limited space and (if you’re the average college student) limited experience?

First, you need to make the objective about you and the specific accomplishments and skills you posess.  If you do not have accomplishments and skills…well…that’s another blog entry.  Second, you must, must, MUST match what you’ve got with what the employers are seeking.

Include your most impressive (and relevant) accomplishements.  If you have numbers that demonstrate your awesomeness, include them.  This is no time to be modest.  Done well, this statement can capture the reader’s attention and make him or her read the rest of your resume and find out about all the awesome you bring to a job.

Another article from MSN about finding jobs abroad.  Look to Asia if you’re thinking of working outside the US.  40% and 20% unemployment for young workers in Spain and France respectively?  Wow!

Pay attention Millennials.  This article (again from MSN) points out your wants from a job and how those wants aren’t matching up with what’s available in the job market.

This WSJ article talks about the problems of the long-term unemployed.  Long-term unemployed are those who are out of work for six months or longer.  This is a thorny problem with no easy solutions.  One takeaway for you should be to keep you skills current so you will always be valued and employable.

I think that’s enough for one Friday.  Have a great weekend.

I never felt real responsibility until I was the only person in charge of my daughter.  Before that, I was kidding myself into thinking I was a responsible adult who did what he was supposed to do.  Now I feel the responsibility in several ways.  I need to set an example for my daughter.  I need to provide for and protect my daughter.  I need to show her what it means to commit to something you’ve said you would do and see it through.  When the time comes and she is not doing what she should, I don’t want to be a hypocritical parent.  I want her to do as I say because I do what I say.

With all of that time alone with someone who can’t talk, I did a lot of contemplating and realized that there are plenty of ways I can contribute more to my life.  I can reach out more.  I can stop letting my fear of failure (or success) rule my actions.  I need to do better for her…and in the process, I’ll be doing better for me.

Now, I’m not saying you should go have a baby to find the key to unlocking a more fulfilled self.  What I am saying is contemplate who you are and give yourself a brutally honest appraisal.  Are you measuring up?  Are there ways you can be a better sibling, student, son, daughter, worker, intern, etc.?  If there are ways, don’t wait.  Do something!

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.

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.