99 Seconds Career Podcast

Thinking about career, how would you put your thoughts into a drawing? When I ask students, a lot of them sketch a ladder. No wonder, we even speak about the career ladder.

What does it stand for? You start at the bottom, and over time and with effort, you step up one level in the hierarchy. That new level will give you more responsibilities, money, and work. Maybe a new title too, higher reputation. You stay at that level, and again, over time and with effort, you step up once more. Even more responsibilities and all of this. 

And so it on and on until you are at the top. And when you are there, you have “made a career”.

But watch out! 

If you look at career like this, you are setting yourself up for surprises. Maybe it is only after many years that you come to realize that your career does not work like a ladder, and you feel stuck and frustrated.

Why is that?

• Organizations are not static like ladders, they change. So where you think the next step on the ladder is, there might not be one when you want you make your next move. 

• Hierarchy becomes less important. That next level might not carry much value.

• What made you successful on the previous step, might not help you on the next one. 

Could you instead image “career” to be something that goes up and down, left and right, forward and backward? Or a maze, a wall like in game of thrones?

Whatever your definition of “career” is, it is influenced by many factors such as your skills, values, opportunities, and decisions. It is not linear, but dynamic, might feel even chaotic at times. Instead of aiming to step up, be clear about what is important for you and grow into that direction.

How would you draw it now?

If I read a résumé, I am sensing trustworthiness if 

• your and my motives are aligned 

• you show credibility 

• you keep your promises and avoid surprises 

• you share about yourself as a person

• you care about others

Your motive is in your narrative. To write it well, you mirror key words you found in the job advert or the company’s website, so I can relate to it.

Credibility is about our achievements. If you use metrics, I tend to believe you know what you are taking about. The better you describe them the easier it is to imagine your credibility in action.

Reliability we find in our skills. Time management, planning, priority setting for example, They are good indicators for reliability. If you have those skills add them to your resume.

Sharing about yourself relates to your interpersonal or social skills. Include for example, “listening”, “team-build”, “giving feedback” and other relationship building skills.

Caring about others can shine through everywhere in your CV. Maybe in your in your narrative, you want to use the word "care" somewhere, or in your skills, e.g., “caring for others”, “flexibility”, “listening”. If you improved something for your colleagues or customers, mention it in your accomplishments.

Your trustworthiness is not something, that exist as a given, like your body height. You can improve each of the mentioned components. Managers and recruiters are aware of the different signals you send and are experienced in interpreting them. 

While "trust" is created (or not) in human interactions, like an interview, it is important to already plant the seeds in your résumé signaling your trustworthiness. This is why your words count. It is not much, not difficult, just signals. But they will increase your chances to get invited for an interview a lot.

Everybody deals differently with the emotional challenges, but must pass the same hurdles:

• Find an organization with an open position

• Write and send the CV

• Pass one or many interviews and tests

• Negotiate a contract

• Start the new job and “survive” the first day, week, month

Finding an open position with the internet is easy. Add “networking” to the equation, you discover roles that have not been published yet. 

You can train for interviews and tests. But even without, you are in the situation, it happens in the “now and here”. The people you meet want to get to know you as a person, see your attitude and confirm that they can trust you. You interact with them, respond and adjust when needed.

Negotiating is a useful skill to develop. But maybe you do not need or want to. The job-offer might be ok, and you are happy to accept. Or you want to discuss a better deal. Like the interview, negotiation is real-time communication.

The first day, week and month in the new organization makes us nervous. It feels like an extension of the interview, and it is. But there are tips available that help you to not make big mistakes.

What is left is the résumé. Statistically, one corporate job opening attracts 250 applications. Out of those, only 4-6 candidates are invited for interviews and only 1 will get a job offer.

If you have an interview, your chance to receive an offer is between 17 to 25 percent, while the chance to get invited to that interview is only between 1,6 to 2,4 percent.

That tells us that the writing of the résumé is the most critical step in the process. You need to focus on it, and make sure that your résumé as good as it possibly can get.

In 2019, more than 600 million pupils were enrolled in secondary education. When they finish, many face a struggle: No job experiences to mention in a résumé. 

But skills are an important part of a CV too. For sure, you have already developed some of them that employers are looking for. Companies understand that technical skills for starters are at a junior level and that you might not yet have much job experience. Unless the open position states that only people with a certain seniority are considered, they want you to apply.

If they hire you, they will not do this mainly because of your technical skills. They know and accept that they need to train you further. In fact, even experienced people need learning time before they can fulfill the new job duties. They hire you because of your attitude and non-technical skills. This is where you can shine.

Here are some you can (and should, and maybe already have) developed before you write your first résumé. Organizations are craving for them:

• problem-solving

• analytical reasoning & critical thinking

• flexibility

• teamwork and relationships building

• computer skills

• communication

• self-awareness

None of them need job experience as an employee. But where do they come from? You build them in school, with your family and friends. Many skills you can take from one place to another, from school or youth club to a job. Put them in your CV. Prepare yourself to be asked about situations where you used those skills. If during the interview you also show passion, commitment, motivation, and confidence, your chance to get the job is high.

If you don’t have enough of them, use the time and every opportunity now to develop them further, so they find their way into your résumé.

The New York Times defined “ghosting” is when “someone cuts off all communication without explanation". 

One third of job-seekers stated they experienced it with one or more organization. 

Let´s look at some reasons why you are left hanging in the application process: 

• The company hired internally.

• The position was eliminated.

• An interviewer changed companies or roles or went on vacation.

• Many candidates applied.

• The hiring process is still ongoing, and you might hear back later than expected.

• Your CV or interview was not convincing

This is reality, but companies often fail to inform the candidates of those circumstances.

Instead of feeling bad about it, take action. 

If you don´t hear back after submitting your application, send a kind email after one or two weeks. Should they not respond, send another message, and give them again 5 to 7 days to react. Still silence? Move on.

To avoid being ghosted after an interview, one of your questions during the interview should always be “when will I hear back from you?”.  Make sure you send an engaging “thank you” email the day after the interview. It makes it more difficult for your interview partner to ignore you. 

Should you not hear back after two weeks, send another email stating that you are still very interested in the role. If they don´t respond after two weeks, cut your losses. 

If emailing was less successful, use something else. Consider reaching out via messaging through a professional networking site, for example. You might also contact other members of the hiring team with a polite and professional message to check the status.

If you were ghosting, stay positive! You don't want to work for an organization that appears disorganized and doesn't value your time and effort. After all, how the future employer treats you now says a lot about how you will be treated once you joined the team.

1. Maintain your goal and go at the pace that feels right for you, regardless of what others may say.

2. Preserve your inner peace.

Finding a new job and going through the process is stressful at times, you often cannot avoid it. Learn how to deal with it. Maybe try meditation

3. Continue (or start) to self-advocate for your work.

Do these three things:

1.     Set boundaries and expectations

2.     Help others to understand exactly what you need and what your requirements are

3.     Communicate what kind of support you need to perform effectively at work

4. Be aware of resources around you, put them to use for you.

5. Some experience is better than no experience. 

Do not reject work you feel is beneath you. There are always new experiences and learning opportunities waiting. Take that apprenticeship. Invest time and build your passion project.

6. 80% of opportunities are not posted. 

Use LinkedIn, other online platforms and your network to tap into the hidden job market.

7. Do things you are excited about. Be an initiative taker.

You can do that in your current job if you want to. If you are not happy in your role now, this could change your perspective. It often is much easier to change something in your current job than finding a new job.

8. Apply for jobs you have disqualified yourself for, especially if you are a woman.

Requirements in job-ads are not requirements to be “allowed” to apply. Everybody will need to learn to get into a new role in a new organization. 

Be careful, men apply if they think they could do 60% of it, while for women it is nearly 100%.

9. Consider free courses to improve your education or skills. 

There are many out there that can help you to get a better-paying job. 

10. Build a strong network. 

Start doing this before you actually need it.

When working on your career it is easy to convince yourself that you do not have the time to pause.

Breaks are often associated with guilt: while on a break, you’re often still and seemingly doing nothing. “Instead of wasting time looking outside the window, better find a job”, somebody might say, our inner voice maybe even more than friends, partners or family.

But continuously working without taking breaks is harming not just your productivity but also your mental and physical health and thus your overall wellbeing. All this on top of the challenges you might have do deal with on the career side of things.

Here are 11 good reasons for taking a break:

1. Breaks help to prevent and reduce stress

2. They can enhance your mood

3. Resting helps to improve your physical health

4. Pausing restores your motivation, especially for long-term goals

5. and fuels your creativity

6. Breaks improve your memory and learning

7. and allow you to reassess and keep an overview

8. Breaks can prevent “decision fatigue.”

9. Pauses prevent overall fatigue, improve concentration and clearer thinking

10. They improve your mental health and overall wellbeing

11. And as paradox it sounds, doing nothing increases your productivity and creativity

There is scientific evidence that breaks are beneficial, weather it is walking in nature, mindfulness meditation or daydreaming, whatever works best for the person and the situation.

Maybe the best activity is doing nothing, meaning getting bord. Because when you get bored, you ignite a network in your brain called the “default mode.” This mode describes the brain “at rest”, meaning that we're not focused on an external, goal-oriented task. Instead, we connect ideas and solve some of our nagging problems. 

What job, role, or occupation do I want? In which industry, sector, and company?

What would make me happy at work?

Do I have what it takes to “step-up”?

These are some of the questions we are turning around in our heads. Do you agree with me, that without answers to those any moves you make might get you into the wrong direction? And if you are actively looking for a job, other people will want to know your answers to those as well.

Trivial responses to these questions will indicate little self-awareness and will limit your opportunities. On the contrary, recruiters and managers are impressed with statements that let some wisdom shine through. 

If you want to know how to do that, there is an answer that is nearly 2.500 years old:

"To know thyself is the beginning of wisdom." This famous quote is often attributed to Socrates. In our case we can say that the more you know about yourself, be aware of your own identity and nature the higher your chances are.

But what exactly do you know when you “know yourself?”. Out of many, here are 4 areas to explore further:

1. Your values 

such as “helping others,” “being creative,” “health,” “financial security,” and so on—are guides to decision-making and great motivators.

2. Your Interests

which include your passions, hobbies, and anything that you like doing over a longer period. 

3. Your natural preferences

Do you get energy from being alone (introvert) or from being with people (extrovert)? Are you a planner or go-with-the-flow type of person? Do you decide based on feelings or thoughts and facts? 

4. Your Strengths

Which includes abilities, skills, and talents, but also personality strengths such as loyalty, respect for others, desire to learn, emotional intelligence, fairness, and so on. 

Those 4 areas not only increase your chances during job-hunting, they will also benefit your whole life: 

• If you can express who you are, you will be happier. Articulating what you want will make it more likely that you get what you desire.

• When your actions are in line with your feelings and values, you will have less inner conflict.

• When you know yourself, you'll have guidelines to solve your different life’s problems, you understand what motivates you and you can resist bad habits and develop good ones. 

• When you are aware of your values and preferences, you are less likely to say “yes” when you want to say “no.”

• Your awareness of your own weaknesses and struggles will help empathizing with others.

All of this will help you feel more alive and makes your experience of life richer, larger, and more exciting.

The Gallup group's recent report, "State of the Global Workplace: 2022," found that workers are experiencing high levels of dissatisfaction, disengagement, and unhappiness. Specifically, 60% of respondents reported being emotionally detached at work, and 19% described themselves as being miserable. These findings suggest that millions of individuals may be considering leaving their current positions in search of more fulfilling employment opportunities.

Or look at job-seekers who just started a job and now feel overwhelmed or underqualified, who are neglected and under-appreciated. No wonder that as many as 1 in 4 new hires quit within their first six months.

“Should I stay, or should I go” is the big question that unites them all.

Just one thing to adress way right away. If you are in a toxic environment, you should go – no question. You risk your health and sanity. 

For all other situations, let’s have a look how to approach the leave or stay question.

Well, you have three, not only two options: stay, go or change it.

To evaluate the options, we use our brain.

Over the last years, neuroscience has shown that besides the brain in your head, we also have a gut brain and a heart brain. Their studies revealed the great power of those in influencing our behavior and decision-making. (read more here)

• Our head-brain is great for thinking, understanding, and making meaning of things 

• Our heart-brain takes the lead on emotional processing, on values and our connection with others 

• And our gut-brain is designed to focus on our sense of self, on self-preservation, mobilization and intuition

When taking a decision, we should consider all three brains. Because if we don´t, we likely feel discomfort, usually in your chest (heart), in your stomach (gut), and we try to avoid thinking about it, or we overthink. (head).

The expressions ‘trust your gut’ or ‘listen to your heart’ are rooted in that truth. But how can we do this?

Listening to your heart is a skill that you can develop. It involves quieting your rational mind, your head-brain, maybe with mediation or listening to your body signals and more. A good start is by simply placing your hand on your heart. This allows you to be more in touch with it. Then go with the flow – you cannot force intuition. If your feelings indicate you that one of the three option feels right, listen to it. Do not shy away from it. 

Write down the reasons why you would want to go and list your thoughts why staying would be good. Think about what would need to change so that you want to stay and how realistic is that you can make that change. How do each of the points in your list relate to your values? Do you find alignment or conflict? All this analytical thinking happens in your head.

There are also neurotransmitters in your gut, so if you get a gut feeling, don´t ignore it. Notice the physical sensations in that area and ask yourself how you feel. Do you feel uncomfortable, tight, or sick? Or energized and at ease?

Just getting three quiet minutes a day can get you in touch with your intuition. Intuition usually comes to us as an “aha! Moment”. They come very quickly. When they hit, don't let them go by, write them down, and follow through. Observe your energy levels, pay attention to whether reflecting on stay, go, change makes you feel tired and drained or energetic and lively.

To maintain mental health and well-being it is important that we access all three of our brains. This will help us to take our right decision and to be more effective in dealing with the ever-changing world we live in.

We live in a dynamic world. Things are changing often and fast and what was successful before might become a problem now. And so on and on, I could talk forever about what is called the VUCA world.

As the world is changing, organizations are adapting and they aims to do that faster and faster – “agil” as it is called. All this has an impact on the people, weather they are employees or external staff. It makes the life of entrepreneurs difficult – or exciting – depending on how they look at it. And even we, as citizens, are confronted with the world changing in many dimensions sometimes even from one day to the next.

Nobody can predict the future. On the other side, we know that the future will come and bring changes with it. We should not bury our heads in the sand, but instead actively looking for opportunities to learn these skills of the future. For many reasons:

• By learning skills that are expected to be in high demand in the future, you can position yourself to be competitive in the job market, increase and future proof your employability. You stay relevant.

• Many of the skills that are expected to be in high demand also tend to command higher salaries. By learning these skills, you may be able to increase your earning potential.

• Learning new skills can also help you grow personally and professionally. It can broaden your horizons, expand your knowledge, and increase your confidence and sense of accomplishment. Learning the skills of the future can be a valuable investment in your career and future success.

There are many skills that are expected to be in high demand in the future. Here are a few examples:

• Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning: they are increasingly deployed in many industries and are expected to continue to grow in importance.

• Data analysis and data science: The ability to collect, process, and analyze large amounts of data will be valuable in many fields, including business, healthcare, and finance.

• Programming and software development

• Cybersecurity: With the increasing reliance on technology and the rise of cyber threats, there will be a need for professionals who can help protect organizations from cyber attacks.

• Digital marketing: As more businesses move online, there will be a need for professionals who can help organizations effectively reach and engage with their customers through digital channels.

These are technical skills. But in an ever-changing world, our ways to operate, think, solve problems and work together needs to change as well. Interestingly, the world Economic Forum hardly mentions any technical skills in their “list of skills of the future” report, but these instead:

• Critical thinking

• Planning & ways of working

• Communication

• Mental flexibility, adaptability

• Mobilizing systems: bring multiple individuals or organizations, equipment, and other resources together in a coordinated way in order to achieve a specific, common objective. 

• Develop relationships

• Teamwork effectiveness, collaboration

• Self-awareness & -management & Entrepreneurship

• Goals achievement

• Digital fluency

• Software use & development

• Understanding digital systems

• Analytical thinking and Innovation

Some manual and repetitive work can and will be automated, but the way we work together, communicate, and solve problems can´t. Even with Artificial Intelligence. 

The good news here is: AI will not replace you, but the bad news is that a person who can use it will. So, keep learning.