Presentation given by Patti Wilson esteemed career developer and owner of the Career Company, which provides career management for high tech professionals.
Patti Wilson started her presentation of over 2 hours raising some stormy issues we are confronting in today's changing economy. She asked the audience two questions, "Do you believe we are now in a recession?" and "Do you think the energy crisis is real?" Patti indeed believes we are in a recession and could be facing a true energy crisis contributing to more economic instability. However, she assured us that if we keep our eyes open and prepare ourselves, any storm can be weathered.
According to Ms. Wilson, the key to staying ahead in the new employment paradigm is to keep an ongoing job search, continually sharpen your skills and make a long-range plan even after you start a new job. Don't sit tight and think you will be secure in your position, keep moving. Due diligence will pay off more than maintaining Company loyalty. The good news that Patti brought cited a Cisco funded study indicating that Internet revenue created by US companies grew 58% in 2000, earning profits of $830 billion and employing 3.1 million workers. She affirms that the Talent Wars are ongoing and that employers are now looking for solid skills and experience in perspective employees.
In planning your career, Patti suggests first clarifying "What you do" and "Where you want to do it" keeping the two defining factors separate to increase your career possibilities. Patti presented her 7 Step Career Model showing slides outlining each step with the tools and pitfalls associated with the step. This model can be seen on Patti's website at www.careercompany.com, which has information on upcoming workshops Patti will be giving.
The 1st step begins with finding our Purpose, accomplished by self-understanding.
The common pitfalls to self-understanding are allowing others, such as parents or peers to influence our career choices, and the cycle of paying never-ending dues, for example, "I just need more classes" or "another degree". A primary tool to gain understanding is Serendipity, which Patti defines as how we feel when our mind and body are in tune while performing a task. We need to access the activities, which provide us with this feeling of being "in the zone" and use these in finding our vocation.
Patti further explained serendipity as being in Gaia time, when we are truly involved in our activities and time disappears as opposed to Chronos time, which tends towards clock watching and parceling our energy.
After discovering our purpose, we Position ourselves by finding the places we fit, identifying the career paths that match our most valued skills and learn to articulate these to a company. Tools Patti mentioned to help in this process include tests such as the Myers-Briggs type indicator. Once we find our fit we can begin the Packaging step that consists of the scripts we develop for use in our job searches. The tools in this step are written resumes and our 60-second commercials where our positions and what we are looking for are clearly defined. These scripts arm us when we go knocking on the doors of potential employers.
In the 4th step, Preparation, Patti examined the role of planned happenstance in developing our search plans, where a plan of action is prepared on many fronts. Our tools in this process are knowledge, making connections and taking a rifle versus shotgun approach towards building contacts. The latter involves doing everything we can, attending job fairs and networking events found on www.workit.com and www.sfgirl.com, going to informational interviews and recruiters, as well as posting our resume online. We can no longer depend on finding opportunities in one place, such as www.craigslist.org.
Patti briefed us on what employers are looking for in the 5th step, Presentation. Essentially they want to know, Can we do the job? and Will we do the job? She listed the 5 top qualities taken from a survey of managers; ambition, confidence, enthusiasm, eye contact and appearance. The tools for enhancing these qualities in our presentations include, courage (to ask questions), practice (in asking the right questions) and play pretend (act enthusiastic and soon it will become natural to you).
Performance and Planning, the final steps in the model, must continue to take place once we are employed. Discussing performance, Patti stresses the importance of balancing our purpose and place to counter workplace anxiety and politics. She quoted a former Coca-Cola executive who said, "Work is like a rubber ball, it bounces back." Patti explained that the other balls of family, friends and self are like glass, and can be broken when dropped. Planning, the last step, involves taking the long view while being onguard for out of control "trucks", or unexpected events. Learn to keep your periscope above the water and have a Plan B ready at all times.
Patti summed up the presentation with her Tools for a postmodern World:
These four essential tools, Patti Wilson believes, can help us emerge >from the storms, droughts and earthquakes and find our optimum place to grow in any weather.
Read more about Patti Wilson at her web site:
www.careercompany.com
Patti Wilson is available for personal consultations and can be reached at:
patti@careercompany.com
Tel.: 408-354-1964
Fax: 408-395-9129
PO Box 35633
Monte Sereno CA 95030
