Roughly 2 weeks ago I got a caterpiller, adding plenty of milkweed it was placed carefully in a clear container and when I awoke the next morning it had wrapped itself in its chrysalis, topped off with a beautiful gold thread towards the top.

A couple of days ago, the butterfly emerged from it’s chrysalis, took a few hours to dry its wings and get its bearings before flying off with a degree of grace that would make you think that it had flown many times before.

I know that the chrysalis experience has been used for eons to describe change and metamorphosis but what truly captured my attention this time was 2 points regarding, not the degree of change, but the circumstances under which the change was made.

1. The chrysalis was smaller than I could imagine the caterpillar could have fit into, and yet not only did it fit but it made such a drastic transformation in this tiny space. When we modern humans look for change we so often seek a new, spacious and comfortable place or method to do so but history tells us that many historical figures became who they were by limiting their circumstances, rather than seeking escape. For ourselves and those we assist, do we look for the escape route first or is there something we need to do within the current circumstances before moving on?

2. Then there was the waiting. For about 10 days there seemed to be no movement or sign of change. I know I’m guilty, as an innovator, of thinking that unless I see the change then it’s not occurring or forgetting that change can be a slow process. I was reminded however, that in the lives of our clients that, so often, change occurs after a culmination of slight mind/action adjustments that then create an avalanche of change. The small mindset changes may be occurring from one day to the next but they are small and easily missed until that critical mass occurs and everything starts to fit into place.

Web Picks of the Week

How to Surpass 95% of Your Competition with One Simple Gesture

Linkedin Jobseeker Guide

Photo by Mike Baird

I’m assuming that of course most people view pessimism in the same way I do. Wikipedia describes it in this way; “from the Latin pessimus (worst), is a painful state of mind which negatively colors the perception of life, especially with regard to future events”. For the purposes of this post I’ll therefore define a pessimist as someone who more often than not looks at the negative side of life and, it often seems, gains some fulfillment out of thinking this way. Optimists obviously can’t understand this perspective and often struggle and at times express frustration with how to work with this group of people, sometimes even looking down on them as lesser thinkers and uncreative.

As such I’d like to suggest a re-labeling or re-think. Rather than pessimists perhaps we can think of this group of people as protectionists. In may be the optimist in me but I don’t believe that, for the most part, people want the worst to happen or to think negatively all the time.

So why does this occur? Perhaps what is happening is not the desire for the bad to happen but that the individual is actually trying to protect themselves, society, friends from something. That something might be disappointment, the discomfort of change, avoiding a situation that makes them nervous, or a sense of mastery over the future.

So, if you’re an optimist working with colleagues or candidates who are protectionists perhaps it would be good to step back and ask yourself what it is that the person is trying to protect and what you could do to help them feel safe with the idea or change. Maybe the thing they are protecting is what needs to be kept from the old model as it obviously has some merit to someone.

If you are a protectionist, perhaps you could consider safe, step by step ways you can begin to extend your boundaries or thoughts to test out new ideas or the proposed changes. The methods or thoughts you are protecting probably were new at one stage as well.

As always I’d love to hear your thoughts and comments.

This Week’s Web Picks

Leadership with humility – As either a professional leader or a leader of candidates, this article evaluates the concept of a powerful leader.

Making presentations in the TED style – If you haven’t heard of TED you need to check it out. The presentations are interesting, to the point, thought provoking and inspiring. This article discusses the 10 commandments provided to presenters at this conference to keep this feel.

10 questions you should never be asked in an interview – A US based legal article. Doesn’t mean you won’t be asked so good answers are essential but a helpful summary.

Photo by Miriam Delirium

Technorati Tags:
pessimist, employment, protectionist, pessimism, optimism
Add to: | Technorati | Digg | del.icio.us | Yahoo |

Seems that the long term unemployed have increased in the U.S., according to the latest report, but that people working part-time for economic reasons was unchanged and in Australia employment has risen. This I would think is good and bad news. The stabilization of those in part-time work for economic reasons probably indicates that the general household has hit a stage where the economic recession isn’t affecting them as deeply and that’s a really good sign for the big picture, especially if it remains that way. The rising employment in Australia, that wasn’t hit so hard by the economic downshift, is also a positive sign for economic change.

However, the fact that long term unemployment has risen means we need to remain vigilant. It’s easy for statistics to show the big picture and for individuals to be forgotten. The signs look good, some economists are saying, but we who work with the long term unemployed know that unemployment is more than just a status, it comes with a variety of psychological and motivational challenges. So, while the news is encouraging for many, there is also an increasing population who may be forgotten in the optimism. We also can’t forget the under employed or those just working to cope in this economy, who when included, take the figure towards 15.4%.

I don’t want to be pessimistic, it is good news, but maybe as we talk to people we can share the bigger picture so they are not forgotten and the assistance they require or request is kept on the social agenda. Times of change allow a greater degree of culture shaping to occur.

This Week’s Web Picks

Jobless rate may be high but Millions are being hired - A more positive spin

Labor/Work statistics that will blow your mind

Shoes, Phones, Backpacks – What they are really looking at During your Job Interview

Employment Stats for recent graduates

Visual CV – It’s not new but its growth doesn’t seem to be slowing

LinkedIn – Linkedin is the professional alternative to facebook. For higher level jobs or simple networking, if you have a facebook account, you need to be on LinkedIn

Photo by Stephen Pierzchala

Technorati Tags:
unemployed, underemployed, statistics, employment
Add to: | Technorati | Digg | del.icio.us | Yahoo |

One example I’ve seen this week is the summary of skills at the top of a resume. It’s an effective and clear way to get an employers eye in some circumstances and it’s been around for years. The objective on the other hand seems to have lost popularity amongst professionals*, I would suggest, due to the fact that most of them state the obvious and do no extra good while taking up valuable page space**. I’m sure you’ve seen the same, and yet this week there was a number of articles proclaiming “The objective is dead” and the Profile summary/Skills summary/Personal Profile is far superior, as if it was some new concept that everyone just caught hold of this week and being breaking news many blogs followed with similar ground breaking stories.

This is great for marketers and businesses who are trying to capture the next best thing but it’s marketing without substance. So the lesson for me this week is, do the methods and ideas I employ actually get results. Not is it the latest and in trend, but to stay with some of the basics such as:

• Can my candidates sustain their career because it matches their goals and desires?
• Do my candidates get interviews?
• Can my candidates integrate into the business culture successfully?
• Do my candidates get job offers?
• Will my candidate be successful on the job?

Weekly Links

Here’s my recommended viewing this week:

Politeness never goes out of style

How I became a millionaire doing nothing – Just a bit of fun

Staples – Seems Staples in the U.S. are offering free resumes and business cards (conditions and fine print apply)

_{* Although because we have taught it so ardently the average person still seems to use it.}

_{** Please note that I’m not against a good objective it’s just that many aren’t that good.}

Photo by Sahba Sanai

• Traditional job search and career strategies still work for Generation Y but the results, methods and packaging need a total rethink. Older generations are missing the effect on mental processes that such immediacy taps into regarding the brain process and streams of thought and consciousness.

• There are many who are successful in reaching this generation on their own ground but they are not offering the best assistance. It works within the philosophy of the generation but the wisdom of time is lacking.

• Generation Y needs to learn depth marketing and networking from older generations, older generations need to accept the idea of sharing ideas to be relevant and valued, even at times involving inter-organizational collaboration.

My website to check out this week are a mixed bag again. Some informative, some just interesting news:

How to find a Job – By CNN Money. Is this the future of online news stories? Nothing amazingly new for assisting jobseekers but really well presented and a good summary of the type of news articles out there. Definately worth a read/listen/look/interact!

Stress Interviews – Recruiters are suggesting that people are accepting jobs they may not necessarily have accepted before. Apparently, interviewers are using these stress interviews to weed out those who will be best.

The Obama Effect - Jobfox (the fastest growing job site) predicts the top industries to grow in the U.S. based on the Obama administration’s economic initiatives.

Businesses turn to Twitter to cut recruitment costs – Title says it all. Facebook, Linkedin have been used for this purpose, makes sense twitter would as well. The success in general is still to be seen.

The Art of your Story – Nice article on making sure your story on why and how you transition into new and different careers works for you.

Feel free to leave a comment below with any sites of interest. Also, feel free to let me know if would you like more or less sites each week.

Photo by xflickrx

Technorati Tags:
generation Y, Linkedin, links, networking, methods, job search
Add to: | Technorati | Digg | del.icio.us | Yahoo |

So why do I get this feeling? Partly, its what I do, but there are a couple of clues that I’ve picked up on, even if they are far from being able to bank on.

Firstly, I have a couple of tools that monitor websites, twitters, rss feeds, etc. and the tone has changed. Twitter is a great tool for getting the feel of a real time culture if you use the right tools and searches, especially if you take the time to research what real people are saying and don’t get caught in a corporate/professional information rut. Over the last few weeks there has been frustration all over the twitterverse around job searching but there seems to me, when I’ve been monitoring, to have been an increase in job offers and possibilties. It’s far from a complete turn around but it’s a good sign. Add that to some economic indicators such as the DOW’s upturn and there’s a hint that things might improve. We’re probably a long way off from anything remarkable good but its nice to be reminded that there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

The websites that caught my interest or I found most valuable this week are:

A Primer for Pessimists – this is the article I refered to above. Worth a read.

7 deadly sins of the job search – From asking career coaches where their clients made mistakes, these apparently were the top 7.

6 Emerging Employment Trends – These are trends in employment, not necessarily in employing individuals, but interesting reading for those watching cultural or business trends.

100 Potential Interview Questions – Some are standard, some are out there but now its been published on Monster.com you know some employers will use it as they’re starter list and so its worth having.

The Books Barack Obama Reads – This was sent to me with the line, ‘Leaders are readers’ which I personally appreciate. A bibliophile has created this list from references made during speeches, interviews, etc.

For those of you reading this far…here’s some fun.

This week obviously had April Fools day and while I enjoyed stories of the invisible car designed to evade speed cameras, Bjork joining Led Zeppelin as their new lead singer, Microsoft unveiling a new yodeling game for the Xbox and Al Gore announcing a new line of vegan frozen meals – my favorite simply because it became more ridiculous as you continue to watch was the story of tiny base stations for mobile phones being implanted into pigeons. I’ve pasted it below for your enjoyment.

Photo by Sara Petagna

But it made me wonder, as way to many things do, if when we are in difficult times we grab hold of what we know works, draw from the same good old power supplies, and keep pushing and recycling those rather than look for new solutions? So, in this time are we locking down are we maybe not thinking as creatively as we could. Just a thought.

These sites however, were the things that caught my particular attention most fully this week:

Effective networking – Although aimed at women this has some great networking tips for anyone

When you feel like a job search failure -  Nothing new here but a nice summary

Recession Update – A group of journalists started this site as a form of moral support for those jobsearching in this recession. Some info, more laughs, but these stats were new to me.

Employment Myths – Good response to some myths of job searching in recession floating around

Photo by Heather Kennedy

I guess that makes sense in that when there is a strong focus on networking ,as I discussed last week, the internet will naturally look for technology to do that and as such the upgrades to sites such as Facebook will get more traction.

What is interesting though is that a number of sites have released new product updates that aren’t directly related to networking.  This suggests to me that there must be a significant amount of confidence that the current economic times won’t last forever as a major investment of money, time and employees are required for such releases.

So the links that got my attention most this week are:

Jobsearch rules are meant to be broken – Another reminder that we need to not follow just a formula but look for effectiveness.

Companies Drop Talent Management Ball – Have some organizations panicked and forgotten about preparing for the future?

PCMag’s Top20 Jobsearch sites – While not employment experts PCMag have listed their top sites for jobsearching on the internet.

Free Napkin – Free Napkin is like eBay or Craigslist but for free items. When job searching and short of money this could be really useful. Not a huge range and it looks to be U.S. only at this stage but it’s a commendable idea that deserved some promotion.

PriceWaterhouseCoopers Career Help – When a company this large gets involved in providing career assistance to college leavers it tells me, apart from good publicity, they are positioning themselves as an employer of choice for the future. Which of course suggests they see a future beyond the current issues.

Augmented Reality – OK, So it’s not employment or career related but it’s cool.

Photo by Tom Woodward

Technorati Tags:
technology, job, search, free, links, networking
Add to: | Technorati | Digg | del.icio.us | Yahoo |