Executive Career Suite Weblog

Personal Values and Career Choices

Each generation seems to have different motivators for work/career choices. My father's generation looked for stability - get a job and stay with that company for 40 years, retire and get the gold watch.

Then we moved into a money motivated society, and then the money and benefits era. Not only did we want the money but we wanted lots of benefits. We went from vacation and health care benefits to life insurance, childcare, disability insurance, petcare, concierge services. Those extra benefits came at a price - instead of the traditional 40 hour work week, salaried employees found themselves working more hours and taking work home too.

The new generation of workers is saying HOLD ON! NO MORE of this! They want a balance of life and work AND in that order.

Research has shown that some will take a lower salary in order to have that balance. The new generation wants their careers to match their values.

I say, BRAVO for that! As I coach my clients and work with them through the personal branding process, one of the first steps is to determine their values. I have found through the years that when someone is unhappy in their job, most of the time it is because there is a value that is not being met.

A benefit of completing the personal branding process is that the employee will be able to identify their strengths and their values and then match that to an employer's value system. This synchronization will lead to a more meaningful culture and each person's role and contribution will take on a new importance. The end result is happier employees who want to stay.

Digital Dirt

Did you read my last post on googling? This morning I read two articles about hiring managers and recruiters using google to research candidates. What they find can keep you off of the "interview" list.

It amazes me what people put out there. Most people think about teens "telling all" - but the dirt can be found in all age groups.

One of the articles reported that a survey by ExecuNet revealed that 75 percent of executive recruiters use search engines to uncover information about candidates, and 26 percent have eliminated candidates because of information found online.

What can you do about digital dirt? You can contact some sites and request that incriminating information be removed--they probably won't do it. Or you can create an online presence with good information through a web portfolio and a weblog. At Executive Career Suite, we specialize in helping you define your true value and getting that information out for people to see.

Here are the links to the articles:

http://tinyurl.com/c6qta

http://tinyurl.com/dup3c

Do you have digital dirt?

Bedazzled?

I spent Saturday evening watching movies with my teenage sons. If you have teenagers, you know how rare this occurrence is! Not wanting to chase them away, I watched the movies they chose.

One of those movies was Bedazzled—a comedy about a guy who is granted several wishes in exchange for his soul. He goes through various personas trying to be Mr. Perfect so he can catch a certain woman. Every “wish” ends in disaster.

As we watched this movie, it was apparent that this guy just needed to be himself—he needed personal branding!

How many of us have tried on different personalities or different careers or even started new business looking for success and happiness, but have fallen way short?

When we brand ourselves, we discover our true strengths and learn to give ourselves permission to be authentic. Being anything other than authentic is exhausting and leads to mediocrity. So, don't sell your soul, just invest in personal branding!

Have You Been Googled?

Have you googled yourself lately? If you can be found, is the information something that you would want a future employer to read?

How can you get relevant, updated material about yourself on the web? Let me introduce you to Ziggs. www.ziggs.com  Ziggs is a "search for professionals" site. You can register for free and input the information you want. Go to their site and find me!

Googling an applicant is a standard procedure used by executives and hiring managers. The Ziggs profile is a great tool to use to get positive exposure on the web. Try it!

If you need help in developing the right content, contact me