InterviewChoosing between a career coach or a career counselor| 00:00 | (music playing)
| | 00:04 | Jeff Layton: Hi! I am Jeff Layton and I'm
here in the lynda.com studios with Valerie Sutton.
| | 00:09 | And today we're going to have a
conversation about coaching people's careers. Thank you
| | 00:12 | for joining me.
| | 00:13 | Valerie Sutton: Thanks for having me, Jeff.
| | 00:14 | Jeff: So you are currently the
director of career services, at the Harvard Graduate
| | 00:19 | School of Education.
| | 00:20 | Can you tell us a little
bit about that, what you do?
| | 00:22 | Valerie: Yes, so I work with a variety
of students from anywhere with early-career
| | 00:28 | to mid-career levels students, and I help
them make the transition to their next career.
| | 00:34 | That can mean anything from career decision
making to the really practical job-search side of things,
| | 00:40 | so resumes, cover letters, interviewing, salary
negotiations, and then I also work with connecting
| | 00:48 | them to employers.
| | 00:50 | So we do a lot of events on-campus where we
bring employers on, and they can talk to them.
| | 00:56 | Jeff: Can you tell us a little bit
about the difference between a career coach
| | 01:00 | and a career counselor?
| | 01:01 | Valerie: Yeah, absolutely.
| | 01:03 | So when you're looking at coaching,
it's about moving someone forward.
| | 01:08 | It's not as reflective as counseling.
| | 01:11 | So if you look at the difference, it may be
just a situation where I know where I want
| | 01:15 | to go, but I'm just not sure what are the
steps to get there, and that's where I would
| | 01:19 | use a coach. But if you're looking at counseling,
that's a bit more of a reflective practice.
| | 01:24 | So it may be that you're very unhappy in your
current career, but you're not quite sure why
| | 01:30 | you're unhappy, and so you want to reflect a
little more on that process, and that's where
| | 01:35 | I'd look for a career counselor.
| | 01:36 |
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| Following your passion| 00:00 | Jeff Layton: It seems like oftentimes
friends or family will say "just follow your passion
| | 00:04 | and the rest will fall into
place." Is that good advice?
| | 00:07 | Valerie Sutton: Uh, it's common advice.
For me, it sets you up for failure if you
| | 00:14 | don't find that one thing that you are
passionate about, and the reality is you can be great
| | 00:19 | at a lot of different things.
| | 00:22 | So, it's about analyzing yourself, what you
like, what you enjoy, and then saying, hey
| | 00:27 | where would this fit in the industries
that are surrounding me? How might I play this
| | 00:33 | out in a role that I take with a company?
| | 00:37 | But to set yourself up and say
you know you just find your passion,
| | 00:41 | what happens if you don't find it?
| | 00:44 | You don't want that to happen right, Jeff.
| | 00:45 | Jeff: No. I think I am involved with my
passion now with work, so there is room for knowing your passion.
| | 00:51 | Valerie: Absolutely. There's there
is definitely room, and again it's thinking
| | 00:55 | about what you really enjoy doing.
| | 00:58 | And as long as you're getting to do
that for the majority of time in your
| | 01:02 | work environment,
you are going to be successful.
| | 01:04 | And as long as you know that you can take
this to other areas, if by chance you would
| | 01:10 | need to change jobs, let's say your partner
finds a new job, moves to an area that your
| | 01:17 | expertise isn't needed in,
| | 01:19 | so then if you know yourself really well,
you can say, how can I apply this in the
| | 01:24 | Valerie: new location where I'm moving to?
Jeff: Mmhm.
| | 01:26 |
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| Getting exposure to other industries| 00:00 | Jeff Layton: One of the things you and I
have talked about is that you need exposure to
| | 00:04 | Jeff Layton: learn about new job opportunities.
Valerie Sutton: Sure.
| | 00:07 | Jeff Layton: Do you have any advice for how
to get that exposure to other roles or other industries?
| | 00:12 | Valerie Sutton: Sure, so there are two things
that I would recommend. The first is talking to people.
| | 00:18 | There's a technique called informational
interviewing where you go and talk to people about their
| | 00:23 | careers, learning more about what they do
on a daily basis, what the career paths are
| | 00:29 | like, what are some of the expected
pitfalls of the career, and so it you gives an idea
| | 00:36 | of what may be out there.
| | 00:37 | And then there are a lot of great online
resources now that you can use to explore careers,
| | 00:42 | so wetfeet.com or vault.com, as well as
using LinkedIn to look at companies that you
| | 00:49 | you may have been interested and say
like a lot of people love Google.
| | 00:52 | So what types of roles are in Google?
Well, you can do that on LinkedIn now.
| | 00:57 | So there's a lot of opportunity to explore
careers, but you need to take the time to do it.
| | 01:01 |
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| Looking at personality assessments| 00:00 | Jeff Layton: How useful are
personality tests or assessments?
| | 00:04 | It seems like there's a lot of them
out there when you're looking for a job.
| | 00:08 | Valerie Sutton: Personality assessments or
any type of sort of strength-based assessments
| | 00:13 | gives you a framework to have a conversation.
| | 00:16 | And so I think that oftentimes people
think of them as putting themselves in a box, and
| | 00:22 | that's not what it's about.
| | 00:23 | It about understanding yourself better and
understanding why you fit in an organization
| | 00:28 | or why you may not fit within an organization.
| | 00:32 | So really, I think they're very helpful if
you don't have a really good understanding
| | 00:37 | of why something is not working out.
| | 00:41 | But if you have a really good knowledge of
yourself and what you like to do and what
| | 00:45 | you don't like to do, it may be less helpful.
| | 00:48 | Jeff: Personality tests don't
necessarily translate to, this is your career now; this
| | 00:53 | is your job choice.
| | 00:54 | Valerie:, No they don't transfer directly.
| | 00:57 | One of my firm beliefs is no matter what
personality type that it says you are, you can always
| | 01:04 | learn skills associated with
different types of careers.
| | 01:07 | And you may just work differently than other
people, but the more you know about yourself,
| | 01:12 | the more effective you can
be in any work environment.
| | 01:14 | Jeff: Hmm... That's good advice!
| | 01:16 |
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| Making a career change and examining hiring trends| 00:00 | Jeff Layton: Do you have any words of
encouragement for someone out there who just wants to make
| | 00:04 | a career change?
| | 00:06 | Valerie Sutton: Be patient.
That's the number one thing.
| | 00:10 | When you're making that transition, it can
take time, depending on how dramatic it is,
| | 00:15 | and so you really want to think through
what that process is and you also want to set up
| | 00:22 | sort of a project management plan for yourself.
You want to think about the gap analysis.
| | 00:26 | What do I need to do to get to that transition?
And as long as you're working on that, you
| | 00:32 | can feel good about the time
it takes to make the transition.
| | 00:36 | Jeff: Can you talk about some resources
to find out what specific hiring trends there
| | 00:43 | are in different industries?
| | 00:44 | Valerie: Actually, there's a lot of
government resources, so The Bureau of Labor
| | 00:48 | Statistics, as well as O*NET, can give you
great information on trending industries and who
| | 00:57 | has a bright outlook and some of the things
that may be on the way out Both of those are great.
| | 01:03 |
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| Knowing when to go back to school| 00:00 | Jeff Layton: It seems that when people are
in career transition often the first thing
| | 00:04 | they want to do is just go back
to school. Is that a good idea?
| | 00:07 | Valerie Sutton: It really depends.
| | 00:11 | The first thing I would think about is,
what do you want to do, and does it require the degree?
| | 00:17 | What value will that degree
add to your future career?
| | 00:21 | So, a lot of times it's a
prerequisite for a career.
| | 00:24 | So many positions--let's just take my industry,
higher education--a lot of the positions within
| | 00:29 | higher education require a masters degree
or doctorate degree, and in this case it's
| | 00:34 | really important to think about
going on for that additional degree.
| | 00:38 | Other careers it may not be as important
to have that degree; however, the degree may
| | 00:43 | give you some other things like networks.
Or it may give you just additional professional
| | 00:51 | knowledge that you can leverage,
even though it doesn't require the degree.
| | 00:55 | One other things that I recommend is to
actually look at your future career, analyze it using
| | 01:01 | a gap analysis, and decide how
relevant will that degree and what will the degree
| | 01:07 | do for me in helping me obtain that career.
| | 01:09 |
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| Using a gap analysis to fill holes in your resume| 00:00 | Jeff Layton: The gap analysis, for
those of you who don't know what that is,
| | 00:05 | we actually covered in the Managing Your Career
course, and actually, the gap analysis is something
| | 00:10 | that you did with me when I was making a
transition in my career. I was coming from being a full-time
| | 00:17 | public school teacher into
moving into educational production.
| | 00:21 | Do you want to talk a little
about what a gap analysis is?
| | 00:25 | Valerie Sutton: Sure, so it's looking at a
future job, your ideal job, and saying
| | 00:32 | what are the requirements of that job?
And you break it down into three different
| | 00:36 | area, so the skills that are used, like
analytical ability, the knowledge--for instance in an
| | 00:42 | education case, it might be Pre-K and some
type of specialty--and then the qualifications
| | 00:48 | like a degree. And you compare this to what
you actually have and look at what's missing
| | 00:54 | and then how you can actually obtain that
skill, knowledge, or qualification to help
| | 00:59 | you move to that career.
| | 01:00 | Jeff: Right, the gaps are actually
places that are gaps in your career that you
| | 01:05 | Jeff: would need to fill. Right.
Valerie: Exactly.
| | 01:09 | Jeff: Do you have any advice for someone who may
have done the gap analysis and about
| | 01:15 | how they can fill those gaps?
What are some of the methods they could do?
| | 01:18 | Valerie: There are
a lot of things you can do.
| | 01:20 | Of course education does absolutely help
you fill gaps, but you can also look at taking
| | 01:26 | courses on lynda.com, for example, where you
gain a skill in say how to use Adobe, which
| | 01:33 | can help you find a potential job, or a lot
of the graphic design courses. You can also
| | 01:40 | shadow and look and see how people have
learned those skills and doing some informational
| | 01:45 | interviewing to help you think
through how you might fill those gap.
| | 01:50 | Jeff: One of the ways I filled the
gap was doing an internship. Do you want to
| | 01:55 | talk about who an
internship might be perfect for?
| | 01:59 | Valerie: Yeah, internships are great
for students. I'll say it would be hard to
| | 02:04 | do that if you're not a student. There are
some possibilities there; it's just a little more difficult.
| | 02:11 | But a student will be the perfect person.
Whether your early career or sort of that
| | 02:17 | mid career when you're in graduate school,
it's a great time to gain that experience.
| | 02:22 | I think once you get a little bit older
and you're outside of your career, that's when
| | 02:26 | I would think about how
else can I get this experience.
| | 02:29 |
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| Advice for college students| 00:00 | Jeff Layton: Is there any special advice you
give to someone who's in college or just starting out?
| | 00:06 | Valerie Sutton: Okay. If you're going into college,
you should not pick a major upfront if you can avoid it.
| | 00:13 | There are some schools that you have to,
but one of the number one things about career
| | 00:19 | decision making is exposure to opportunity
is why you choose your career, and so you want
| | 00:25 | to keep yourself open to
all of the possibilities.
| | 00:28 | So get through all of your basic courses
first and then think about the major, and take the
| | 00:34 | time to explore, because that will
open up new doors for you in careers.
| | 00:39 | So, you know, let's takes, for example, my niece.
| | 00:44 | She is looking at colleges right now, and you
know my advice to her is that she not pick
| | 00:51 | a major upfront, and that she explore all
of the options, shadow, do some informational
| | 00:58 | interviewing and then actually pick her
major once she gets her basic classes under her belt.
| | 01:04 | Now, there are some colleges that she is looking
at that require you to pick that major upfront.
| | 01:08 | There are some actually great sites of what
can I do with this major, and you would want
| | 01:14 | no explore that and just make sure that even
if you have to pick a major upfront that you're
| | 01:20 | keeping your doors open and options--you're
looking at different options using the career
| | 01:24 | services office at the campus.
| | 01:26 |
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| Getting into the job market after time away| 00:00 | Jeff Layton: Let's say I have been out of the
job market for a while. Maybe I'm a stay-at-home parent.
| | 00:05 | Do you have any advice for me as I'm
preparing to get back into the job market?
| | 00:10 | Valerie Sutton: Absolutely!
| | 00:11 | So, the major concern that a human resources
person might have is sort of the gap, and are
| | 00:18 | you up to date on all the new technology, the
new knowledge, and can you make that transition easily?
| | 00:26 | And so that's something that you probably
want to start preparing with a little bit
| | 00:29 | earlier than just saying, you know tomorrow
I'm going to start sending out my resume.
| | 00:34 | So you may want to do some things that show
that you have been gaining that knowledge.
| | 00:39 | So for instance, I can give you an example
of my sister, that went back into teaching
| | 00:44 | after several years of staying at home as
a mom. But she always stayed active, and so
| | 00:50 | she was involved in creating a playground.
| | 00:53 | She was definitely involved in creating
some events around special needs kids, and she
| | 00:59 | kept up her certification during that time
| | 01:02 | so that when she was ready to go back, she
had a great resume with all of her activity
| | 01:08 | that kind of filled up that gap, as well as
a current certification. So, she was ready
| | 01:15 | to go and that's exactly what you want to
think about is, how can I prepare
| | 01:20 | myself to go back into the work
environment and show my knowledge?
| | 01:24 |
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| Tailoring your resume| 00:00 | Jeff Layton: How long should a resume be?
| | 00:02 | Valerie Sutton: Good question. It's subjective.
| | 00:05 | It's really depends on
the industry that you're in.
| | 00:09 | For most businesses, I would recommend a
one-page resume; however, there are industries like
| | 00:14 | mine, higher education, that is absolutely
a two-page resume. If you're applying to the
| | 00:19 | federal government,
then maybe a five-page resume.
| | 00:22 | So you really have to understand the
industry that you're applying to and then determine
| | 00:27 | what the standard is for that industry.
| | 00:29 | Jeff: When is it time
to take something off my resume?
| | 00:32 | Valerie: What I recommend is that
you have what I call a "brain dump" resume where
| | 00:37 | you include everything, so it's just a
rolling list of every project, every skill that you have
| | 00:43 | ever done, and then you actually look at the
position that you're applying to and say, what
| | 00:48 | is important to the position I'm applying
to, and then select things from that brain dump resume.
| | 00:53 | Jeff: So you're going to actually tailor
your resume to the particular job you're applying for?
| | 00:56 | Valerie Sutton: You absolutely always want
to tailor your resume to the job that you're applying to.
| | 01:01 | Jeff: What if I've been
out of work for quite a while?
| | 01:04 | I find a job, I'm overqualified for it,
but I just wanted to get back to work. Is it OK
| | 01:11 | to take things off my resume so I don't
appear overqualified and that I'm actually in the running?
| | 01:17 | Valerie Sutton: I would say yes.
| | 01:20 | I will say that you should be committed to
the position and be ready to stay in that
| | 01:24 | position for several years, and if you are
and you're excited about the position, then
| | 01:30 | I would tailor your resume, which may take
things off. So let's give an example of if
| | 01:36 | I had a PhD and the position only
requires a bachelors degree.
| | 01:41 | Employer don't necessarily
need to know that you have a PhD,
| | 01:44 | it's not relevant to their position, so
you don't need to put in on your resume.
| | 01:48 |
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| Looking at job postings on job boards| 00:00 | Jeff Layton: One of our members gave us
feedback on one of your courses that they were a bit
| | 00:04 | frustrated with job postings and job boards.
| | 00:08 | They felt that a lot of the material on
there is recruiters putting job postings on there,
| | 00:15 | and there was not real leads.
Do you want to comment on that?
| | 00:18 | Valerie Sutton: Yeah, I agree.
| | 00:20 | I don't think you should
spend a lot of time on job boards.
| | 00:23 | Sometimes they are viable though, so you
don't want to take them completely out of the mix.
| | 00:28 | And depending on the type of career that
you may have, they will be niche job boards.
| | 00:33 | But like I said in the course, you should
only be spending a small amount of time on job
| | 00:38 | boards, and the majority of your time should
be networking, because you're really looking
| | 00:43 | for those employee
referrals and unpublished positions.
| | 00:46 | Jeff: So its people that'll help you
find that next job more than job postings?
| | 00:50 | Valerie: Yeah, and I think a lot of
people jump to job postings immediately, because
| | 00:54 | that makes you feel like you're doing
something. And so it's you know hey, I looked up and
| | 00:59 | I saw this job opportunity, but really
what's going to help you is the people.
| | 01:03 |
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| Maintaining an online presence| 00:00 | Jeff Layton: What about your online presence?
| | 00:03 | How important is it to maintain an online
presence when you're thinking about your career?
| | 00:09 | Valerie Sutton: I think it's very important.
It's how human resources is finding people.
| | 00:15 | Valerie: Let me give you an example.
Jeff: Yes!
| | 00:17 | Valerie: A couple of searches this summer that I was
helping some employers with, they were asking
| | 00:22 | me for alumni that had expertise in some
particular areas, and I was able to go into LinkedIn and
| | 00:28 | even though those people weren't actively
seeking, I was referring them to the employer,
| | 00:33 | saying hey, these people have the
skills. So they were getting approached about
| | 00:37 | these opportunities, and they're not even
seeking them, which may be a fantastic opportunity.
| | 00:42 | So I think having your profile online is
important, because I can't find you if you're not out there.
| | 00:50 | However, I know that there are some people
that are hesitant to have an online profile
| | 00:54 | and to have their information publicly.
| | 00:56 | There is two things. You can set it as
private, your profiles, and you can also network.
| | 01:03 | This is where your networking is going to be
really important in that you are proactive
| | 01:08 | about presenting at conferences, you're proactive
about going out and having lunch with professionals
| | 01:13 | in your field, so that you are hearing
about this live, if you choose not to be online.
| | 01:18 | Jeff: You and I previously talked
about the importance of keywords on LinkedIn.
| | 01:23 | Can you comment on that?
| | 01:24 | Valerie: Keywords are very important
on LinkedIn. It's the way human resource is
| | 01:28 | going to find you. So they look for
really specific types of words. So it might be a
| | 01:34 | type of technology or a specific knowledge
base, but if you're not keyword-rich in your
| | 01:41 | profile, I can't find you.
| | 01:43 |
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| Having and presenting a portfolio| 00:00 | Jeff Layton: So, many of our members are artists,
graphic designers. They have a body of work.
| | 00:08 | Can you comment on having a portfolio and how
do you present a portfolio when interviewing
| | 00:14 | for a job?
| | 00:15 | Valerie Sutton: Yeah, portfolios can be
really important if you're creative or you have to
| | 00:19 | show projects that you've worked on.
| | 00:22 | Now, there's two types of portfolios,
and I actually suggest having both types.
| | 00:27 | So, there's an online portfolio that you can
use, and a lot of times human resources won't
| | 00:33 | necessarily go to that first.
| | 00:34 | So you need to bring up the online portfolio
in the interview process, and let them know
| | 00:40 | it exists and to point them directly to it.
| | 00:43 | If you have the opportunity and you even
have maybe your iPad with you, you could bring
| | 00:48 | that up in the interview and
show them your body of work.
| | 00:52 | The second is having a hard-copy portfolio
that you can bring with you to the interview,
| | 00:59 | and it's great when they're bringing up a
question--let's take an example of a teacher.
| | 01:04 | If they bring up, where have you
developed a curriculum before? you can pull
| | 01:08 | out that curriculum and actually walk
them through that in the interview process.
| | 01:12 |
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| Increasing your visibility with recruiters| 00:00 | Jeff Layton: Here's another member question:
How can someone who is currently unemployed
| | 00:06 | increase their visibility with recruiters?
| | 00:08 | Valerie Sutton: Are you
talking about executive recruiters?
| | 00:11 | Jeff: I don't know, am I?
| | 00:13 | Valerie: Well, there's actually
three different types of recruiters that you're
| | 00:17 | talking about, and I would spend my time
getting visibility with employees, so you can get
| | 00:23 | that employee referral.
| | 00:25 | Recruiters, then, are less important, but if
you really want to get in front of an executive
| | 00:30 | recruiter--let's say you're at more senior
level--you have to have your story down, of
| | 00:35 | why you have had this transition and really
how you fit with their organization, because
| | 00:41 | they get paid by the corporation that
they're working for; they are not getting paid by
| | 00:47 | you, and so for them to work with
you, they have to see the benefit.
| | 00:51 |
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| Writing a cover letter| 00:00 | Jeff Layton: Here's another
question from one of our members:
| | 00:03 | Do you have any advice on cover letters?
| | 00:05 | Valerie Sutton: Cover letters are important.
| | 00:08 | I don't think they are of primary importance,
because I want to know that you have the skills,
| | 00:12 | knowledge, and qualifications first.
| | 00:14 | So oftentimes as an HR person, I'm going
to go directly to that resume to make sure
| | 00:19 | you have that. But the cover letter
supports your resume, and it tells the story of why
| | 00:26 | you want this organization, going a
little bit beyond what's in your resume.
| | 00:32 | You should definitely keep that to one page
and make it concise, so you want to get to
| | 00:38 | the point very quickly on that cover letter.
| | 00:40 | Jeff: I remember in my cover letter to
lynda.com I gave a little bit of my history
| | 00:45 | with the company that, you know I had first
been introduced in a college class on Adobe
| | 00:49 | After Effects and I had a Hands-On
Training book that helped me learn that.
| | 00:57 | Is it good to tell your story
of how you relate to the company?
| | 01:00 | Valerie: Absolutely!
| | 01:02 | Because that really says I want to work for
this company. It goes beyond the sort of standard
| | 01:07 | you know like, oh I just happened to find
this online posting, but it's not that; it's
| | 01:12 | I want to work for you. And that's what
employers want, they want to know that you want to work
| | 01:17 | Valerie: for them specifically.
Jeff: It's that personal connection?
| | 01:19 | Valerie: Absolutely! Yeah.
Jeff Layton: Yeah?
| | 01:21 |
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| Exploring the biggest mistakes people make in interviews| 00:00 | Jeff Layton: What are some of the
biggest mistakes people make in interviews?
| | 00:03 | Valerie Sutton: There are a lot of
mistakes people make in interviews.
| | 00:08 | I would say not being prepared is the biggest
mistake. You really need to think about what
| | 00:14 | they're looking for and plan
for the interview prior to going.
| | 00:20 | One common mistake is showing up to the
interview late, and so that already sets a bad precedent.
| | 00:28 | And so you should remember to map out your
route beforehand and plan on arriving early,
| | 00:34 | but not too early.
| | 00:35 | So if you arrive a half hour early,
show up where you can sit in your car and wait
| | 00:41 | until about five minutes beforehand
and then go into the interview process.
| | 00:46 | And then I would say finally, is that
you're interviewing with everyone at the company,
| | 00:52 | so you want to make sure that you're on top
of your game throughout the process. So as
| | 00:57 | you walk in and you start talking to the
front desk person, you should be on as if it's an interview.
| | 01:05 | Jeff: Because that person might have
a say in whether you get hired or not.
| | 01:09 | Valerie: Absolutely. Yeah.
Jeff: Right.
| | 01:11 |
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| Discussing negative job experiences in an interview| 00:00 | Jeff Layton: Here's a question that we got
from a member that it seems like a very painful
| | 00:05 | place to be in.
| | 00:07 | They need to answer the question, why did
you leave your last job? and they've been fired.
| | 00:13 | How do you answer that?
| | 00:14 | Valerie Sutton: That is a really tough one.
| | 00:16 | I think the first thing you have to do is
really analyze what didn't work
| | 00:21 | in that situation and why you were let go.
| | 00:24 | And think about how you might rephrase it,
and it's really about fit a lot of times, that
| | 00:32 | you were let go, and so
that's what I would start with.
| | 00:35 | I would start with you know it wasn't a
right fit for myself or the employer. It took you
| | 00:41 | know say x amount of time in the evenings
to do something and I just--I couldn't make that.
| | 00:49 | So I'm looking for that more
nine-to-five working, which I know that you provide.
| | 00:54 | Jeff: Hmm.
| | 00:55 | Valerie: So that just, that turns it
around into something a little more positive.
| | 00:59 | You have reflected on it and now you're
set able to say how you might transition that
| | 01:03 | and create a more positive working environment.
| | 01:06 | Jeff: So if may be you're able to analyze the
situation, and say here's the solution going forward.
| | 01:13 | Valerie: Yes, exactly.
| | 01:14 | Jeff: How do you change a negative
job experience into a positive one during an interview?
| | 01:20 | Valerie: Sure! Most people are not
looking for that negative experience; they're
| | 01:26 | looking for what you
learned from the experience.
| | 01:29 | So let's take an example. They might ask a
question of, give me an example of when you
| | 01:33 | worked on a team and it hasn't
turned out the way you want it to.
| | 01:37 | Again, they're not looking for the fact that
it's negative, they're looking for what you learned.
| | 01:42 | So it may be about well, when I worked on this
team, here's what I would change in this aspect
| | 01:48 | to make the team work better.
| | 01:49 |
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| Moving up in your career| 00:00 | Jeff Layton: So what if I'm very happy in
my current career, but I'd like to just move
| | 00:04 | up to the next level. Do you have any advice?
| | 00:06 | Valerie Sutton: Yes. So the first thing you have to do
is the gap analysis that we've talked about before,
| | 00:13 | really looking at the next position and saying,
what am I missing? And then you want to build
| | 00:17 | that into your current career so
that you're ready to take the next step.
| | 00:22 | The second thing is that you have to create
visibility within your organization, so
| | 00:27 | you want to talk to the next person up,
you want to talk to their boss, and really
| | 00:31 | think about the story you have
of why they should move you up.
| | 00:36 | And then the third thing that I would say is
that you have to subtly put in there where
| | 00:41 | your successes and wins are in the organization,
so that they know, subconsciously, that you're
| | 00:47 | ready for that next step.
| | 00:48 |
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| Transitioning between freelancing and a corporate environment| 00:00 | Jeff Layton: Do you have any advice for someone
who's moving from freelancing into a corporate environment?
| | 00:06 | Valerie Sutton: Yes, you really
have to look for the cultural fit.
| | 00:11 | You're making a pretty big change here, and
there's lot of benefits to go into the corporate environment--
| | 00:17 | the steady healthcare and
retirement and the regular paycheck and all
| | 00:24 | of the technology support that you get
around that type of a position--but you also want to
| | 00:29 | make sure that you fit with the people.
| | 00:32 | And so because you're going to be working
with them every day, and you're not going
| | 00:35 | to have necessarily that
freedom that you had as a freelancer.
| | 00:39 | So I think it's really important to
understand that fit before you apply to a company.
| | 00:43 | Jeff: What about vice versa? Do you
have any advice from someone who's accustomed
| | 00:48 | to working in a corporate
environment and now they want to freelance?
| | 00:52 | Valerie: You should prepare well.
| | 00:54 | I think you have to think about,
a lot of people that want to go to that freelance
| | 00:59 | work, it's they love what they do.
| | 01:02 | So take for instance, a graphic designer.
I love the design aspect of it, but remember
| | 01:08 | you're also now a business person, and so
you have to think through, how am I going
| | 01:12 | to market the materials, how am I going to
get new clients, how am I going to set up the fees?
| | 01:19 | And so there's a lot of things in there
that you have to think about, and so you want to
| | 01:23 | reflect and say, you know, is this something
that I really want to do, because you're going
| | 01:26 | to spend probably 50% of your time on the
business aspect and less on the design aspect.
| | 01:32 |
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| Dealing with frustration and anxiety| 00:00 | Jeff Layton: As anyone who knows who's been
trying to change careers or they're currently
| | 00:06 | out of work, it can be a moment where you're
very frustrated; you might be very anxious.
| | 00:13 | It's difficult, emotionally. Do you have
any advice for someone out there who might be
| | 00:17 | in that situation right now?
| | 00:18 | Valerie Sutton: Absolutely, I would look
for a support network, and the type of network
| | 00:23 | you want is really a developmental network,
so you're looking at creating sort of a team
| | 00:28 | of people that can support you in this process.
| | 00:30 | So you want to look for people that really
have the expertise on the career side of things
| | 00:35 | that can help coach you sort of how do you
do your resume, where the job opportunities
| | 00:39 | might be in that very career,
specific information you need.
| | 00:43 | And then you need to look for people that
are going provide you with that social support.
| | 00:48 | So when you're really down, that person that
picks you up and says you know, hey, its okay;
| | 00:53 | you're going to do this.
| | 00:54 | Just keep moving forward and keep with it.
So that very supportive friend or family member
| | 01:00 | is important.
| | 01:01 | Jeff: Valerie this has
been fun having this conversation.
| | 01:04 | Valerie: It was my pleasure, Jeff.
| | 01:06 | Jeff Layton: Thank you for watching us and thank
you for all of your feedback. We'll see you next time.
| | 01:10 |
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