Your Career Is Calling Radio Show on PRX

If you go to www.prx.org and click on "series" you will see that we have uploaded a couple episodes of Your Career Is Calling. We should have all our shows up by the end of the month.

Enjoy,

Rod Colon

Shape My Career

If you haven’t already done so, take a close look at our logo.

An “S”-shaped section of road blends neatly into the word ‘Shape’. Shape what? “Shape My Career.” The logo serves as a visual reminder of what we regard as our mission in this uniquely designed job search and career management guide.

The mission? We intend to deliver a program of live instruction focused on getting you further along in your journey to the next stage of your career — and far more expeditiously — than any rival outsourcing or career management company. As if that weren’t enough, our program is designed to be custom-tailored for your specific needs and requirements. We will, quite literally, be helping you to decide the direction, speed, and quality of that journey … in short, its shape.

In addition to helping you shape your career, our program will offer resources and support to help you as you continue your efforts even after you’ve left the program! There aren’t many outsourcing agencies that can make that claim!

The methodology contained in the Shape My Career Resource Guide will steer you toward the goal you ultimately set for yourself, whether you are seeking full-time employment, part-time employment, contract work or self-employment.

This is not a “spoon-feed me” course. In fact, it will involve a great deal of work, time, energy, and commitment on your part. But the payoff of putting yourself through it will be enormous when you once again find yourself in the ranks of the employed, or perhaps generating new business, or starting off on your brand new career.

You’re on your way and we’re here to help!

Rod Colon

Social Networking: Sounds Like a Lot of Extra Work … Why Bother?

I’ll tell you why you should bother, but first let’s answer this question: Why do people go online in the first place?

The answer is simple: According to eMarketer, about 70% of U.S. households were on the Internet in 2008. What were they doing?

· Researching

· Sharing

· Shopping

· Communicating

If your next question is "Do I really have time to do all this online networking?” the answer will be no surprise: If you want to win the race for 21^st century jobs then yes, you must make the time!

The time investment is reasonable: Writing occasional blog posts or replying to questions on LinkedIn or Twitter doesn’t take very long. But the return on that investment is significant because your dialogue can be picked up by thousands or maybe even millions of Internet users simultaneously. Try accomplishing that through snail mail, the cell phone, or “texting!”

Here’s another angle to consider: Recruiters and decision-makers are using LinkedIn and other social networking sites more frequently to gather information about job applicants. If you have any desire to shape their opinion of you, why wouldn’t you get actively involved? At the very least, you should be on LinkedIn to build contacts, obtain introductions, ask questions, and support others. It doesn’t take long for a recruiter to spot something special about you, something that’s part of your personal brand — but to benefit from the process you must be actively engaged in it.

Best wishes and catch you on Sunday morning on Your Career Is Calling,

Rod Colón

BREAKING FREE OF TRADITIONAL LIMITATIONS

Career professionals have long been aware that certain kinds of people are better at certain types of jobs and that it’s important to find as good a match as possible between the person you are and the kind of job you choose. The problem is that the traditional approach to job searching doesn’t take enough considerations into account. The conventional analysis looks at only the “big three”: your abilities, interests, and values.

Shape My Career recognizes the importance of these factors. Certainly you need the right skills to perform a job well. It also helps if you’re interested in your work. And it’s important to feel good about what you do. But this is far from the whole picture! Your personality has additional dimensions that also need to be recognized. As a general rule, the more aspects of your personality you match to your work, the more satisfied you’ll be on the job.

Most of us make our most important career decisions when we are least prepared to do so. The decisions we make early in life set into motion a chain of events that will influence our entire lives. Yet when we’re young we have little or no experience making job choices, and we tend to have an overabundance of idealistic enthusiasm, plus a reckless lack of concern for future consequences. We haven’t lived long enough to see ourselves tested in a variety of situations, and we’re highly susceptible to bad advice from well-intentioned parents, teachers, counselors, or friends. No wonder so many people get off to a poor start.

There is no easy solution. But a methodical and relentless commitment to self-discovery will always provide rich career dividends. Getting to know yourself well is not a narcissistic activity; it’s an intelligent and tactical maneuver used by an increasingly large number of professionals to help them carve out “favorable position” within the high-stakes competition involved in finding jobs and satisfying careers.’

Rod Colon

A FRESH APPROACH TO CAREER MANAGEMENT

You might think that just being enrolled in the SMC program practically guarantees a successful transition to a new job or position. But you’d be dead wrong.

The success you experience here will come from a strict adherence to some fundamental principles we will teach you. Here is a partial list:

· Your attitude, behavior, and even the way you think all have an unbelievably powerful effect on your success during periods of transition. If you don’t already know how to do it, you will need to develop a positive mental attitude about literally every task — large and small — you take on every day. Setbacks will happen but they should never be allowed to defeat you.

· You must learn how to think like a business owner with respect to your job search and career management activities. You are the CEO of a business and must learn to think and act like one. All decisions are yours, both good and bad. You must learn to hold yourself accountable at all times.

· You will bear the brunt of all work you attempt — no one will bear it for you. This is a measure of character, determination, and commitment to success. You must be relentless about pursuing all angles of the job search, not just the high-profile or glamorous ones.

· Know and understand yourself well. Know your strengths and weaknesses; capitalize on your strengths and avoid situations in which your weaknesses tend to reveal themselves. Even more important, develop a keen sense of self-awareness with respect to your interests, talents, and special skills.

· Never assume that you have made a lasting impression on someone just because you’ve had a great phone call or a fabulous interview. Be absolutely sure you follow up in all interpersonal activities. Keeping your name and face brightly framed in the mind of a would-be decision-maker can be the difference between getting the job you want and yielding it to someone else.

· Learn to acquire mental toughness. If you’ve been raised on the need for comfort and compassion from others to get through your troubles, you may find certain aspects of the SMC Program difficult. You will need to “steel your resolve” to get through the tough times on your own … and once you’ve done it successfully a few times, it will become not only second nature for you but one of the most valuable weapons in your career management arsenal.

· Become a master networker. The more you know about networking and the finer points of executing it, the more successful you’ll be in making connections with decision-makers and advocates who can help you along on your journey.

Rod Colon