I always feel so privileged when people are willing to open up and share their career stories -- the dreams, the disappointments. And such is the case with the e-mails I’ve received from readers who are interested in being part of a group with whom career author Barbara Sher has agreed to meet.
Having read at this point about half of the 100 or so e-mails, I’m seeing two general groupings:
--Those who genuinely are scanners, as described in her book “Refuse to Choose.”
--Those who are at a career crossroads and need direction, but who do not necessarily have this scanner wanderlust programmed into their DNA. (For this group I’m planning to do a piece in the near future on the basic steps in making a career change.)
I expect to read through the rest of the e-mails by tomorrow, then start doing a few phone interviews to help me determine who’ll be part of the group. So, stay tuned.
The major thing I knew about Pegine Echevarria, who moved several years ago from Long Island to Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, is that her life’s mission is to motivate people to take charge and improve their careers, lives, relationships.
What I didn’t know until just now is that she really did hone some skills – sales and leadership, she says -- on the street. Back when she was in junior high in the Bronx, she belonged to a girls’ gang, with associates like Tex, Rats, Peanuts, and Lefty. But, as she tells it, one day post high school, she had a defining moment and realized, “I had a choice.”
Her new path -- still entrepreneurial, but more constructive – eventually led her to motivational speaking and writing books, such as a recent one named, “Sometimes You Need to Kick Your Own Butt.”
It was during a university speaking gig a year or so back that, when called upon to tell her own story, she ended up revealing her street cred. Since opening that closet, she says she’s met other high-level professionals who toughed it out on the streets, one of whom has earned a doctorate degree.
She sees the message as this – let’s pay attention to kids who are on the fringes. And with those who are already high-achievers, better we help them do their achieving on our side of the street.
A further resource for those considering the world of philanthropy – a free evening workshop for people at all levels this Wednesday at Molloy College Suffolk Center on careers in fundraising and development. (I’m told you can ignore the bit about having to register a week in advance. But do register.)
So, yesterday was the cut-off for “scanners” from the Long Island area to express their interest in being considered for a couple of group coaching sessions with author Barbara Sher, this for a story and/or blog entries I’ll be writing on the experience.
I heard from about 100 people and over the next week or so I’ll read through the e-mails, make some phone calls and assemble a group that, hopefully, will be a good mix. So check in here every now and then for further progress reports. I’ll also send an e-mail to respondents to let them know once the group is complete.
In the meantime, let me share a resource that might be of interest to those looking into the communications field. New York Women in Communications, Inc. is sponsoring an evening of career roundtables next Tuesday in Manhattan with experts speaking on: event planning, fashion journalism, entertainment journalism, radio announcing, news reporting/anchoring, community relations, branding, sports reporting, television production, digital/emerging media. Participants get to sit in on two round tables.
This is the kind of place where you can learn the nitty-gritty on education, skills called for, work culture and career paths. Find out more at http://www.nywici.org/calendar/calendar.html.
In this weekend’s column I wrote about career issues of scanners – those with multi-interests who have a hard time settling on any one path.
As a follow up, Barbara Sher, author of “Refuse to Choose,” has agreed to meet with a small group of Newsday readers who see themselves as scanners and would like help with career obstacles. If you want to be considered, send an email by February 14 to pkitchen@newsday.com with “scanner” in the header. To be considered, you must:
--Live or work in Nassau or Suffolk Counties. --Be willing to meet at least once face-to-face and make time for a follow-up group phone call or two. --Be willing to be photographed and written about in the paper and/or in posts to this blog. --Let me know the following: how long you’ve been in the workplace, the various career/work directions you’ve taken or considered taking, where you are now in that process, the biggest obstacle you’re facing now. (None of this will be written about unless you end up joining the group or unless I get your OK first.) --Include your name and phone number/s so I can reach you.
As I assemble this group, I’ll be looking for a good mix when it comes to gender, race/ethnicity, age, occupational interests, types of obstacles. I look forward to hearing from you.
Just about every time I speak with or hear author Barbara Sher, I end up getting a little insight into myself. This time I heard her at a recent Learning Annex presentation, which I write about in this weekend’s Money and Career section.
Her focus was on scanners, people with multiple interests who often drop one project – or career interest – in favor of something new. And at some point she asked how many people feel guilty when they start reading a book, but drop it about half way through.
Now, I must admit that I have never read in its entirely the blockbuster bestseller “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.” I’ve tried twice, but never got beyond habit number five, which makes me wonder how much more effective I might be if I could just make it to the end. (Truth-be-told, there are plenty of other worthy books I start and never finish, though I do skip around a lot.)
Sher’s take – well, maybe we stop reading when we’ve gotten what we need and that what’s left is just what the author thinks we need. Maybe the author is wrong – at least in our case -- and that the book, for us, really should have ended right where we did. Maybe we should just be happy with what we did learn and not scold ourselves over what we didn’t.
How liberating! And maybe it’s developing that kind of thinking that, for me, is my own personal habit number six.
A while back I wrote about managing your online career persona – not just cleaning up the snarky or embarrassing words and images you would not want a prospective employer to see, but also becoming proactive and seeding the Internet with more professional words and images.
I now see that, along those lines, Vault, a Manhattan-based career information company, just announced a video resume contest, starting with those looking for Wall Street analyst jobs for the summer. Here’s the pitch:
“Aspiring investment banking summer analysts are invited to submit video resumes to Vault.com by February 8, 2007. Vault editors will choose the five most impressive submissions and recommend those winners to its network of hiring professionals at top investment banks.”
And Vault says it’s planning similar competitions for those in other fields, including fashion, advertising and accounting.
The whole idea is to allow prospective bosses to see a poised and dynamic you, so be sure to brush up on your Oprah skills.
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