We all want to make a difference, from the most senior to the most junior, the need has never been greater. Use this as a starting point for your own contribution, add/subtract as you wish, but please start now.
Author: Paul Wagenaar
Things to consider …
Good organizations want to find good people and good people are seeking jobs with good organizations. In today’s “Tools Everyone Can Use,” there are tips for both sides to use that work that you can start using right now that will make a difference.
Just how easily it can happen.
Sometimes it is too easy to blame the victims rather than to work on solutions to the cause. Not a week goes by where a municipality is not trying to dismantle an encampment of people experiencing homelessness. Our media is full of outraged politicians and community members demanding action be taken, often punitive action.
One of the missing elements in these diatribes is “How” people come to experience homelessness. Few of those demanding punitive action realize just how precarious they and we are.
Could it happen to you, to me, to your friends, and even your grandparents, it could and it could happen faster than you can think.
PEOPLE
One of the questions I am asked the most is about handling staff issues or “problem people” in an organization. Being a leader is full of challenges, but perhaps the hardest one is “How to effectively deal with someone who is causing problems.”
Few issues are “black and white” and often taking actions can create follow on problems. Today’s post is a short guide to helping you overcome these issues and is one more set of “Tools Everyone Can Use.”
An Interviewer guide for interviewees – A place to begin.
Interviews can be tough. Knowing how to prepare for one isn’t something most of us do very often. I have been on both sides of the desk and as an interviewer, I can help with a short guide to help you prepare, practice, and succeed and be more prepared for your next interview.
ADJUSTING, FITTING IN, and CONTRIBUTING
oining a new organization can be both exciting and nerve-racking at the same time. Everyone wants to adjust, fit in, and begin making a contribution as soon as possible. Many people, myself included, can struggle with finding that sense of belonging. Everyone knows what they want to do, just finding the “how” to make that happen is what is difficult.
Building Connectivity and Engagement
Recently I attended a local job fair. Individually all of the participants, job seekers/employers/and organizers, did a good job … but some things were missing.
I came away from the job fair the same way I always do, frustrated and disappointed, as I suspect did many other people. I decided to offer some suggestions or “Tools Everyone Could Use” whether a job-seeker, employer, or organizer … see what you think.
What to keep, what to lose.
Your resume is an advertisement. A very specific tool to show a prospective employer you should be invited for an interview.
It is not your biography of everything you have done in your life. Too many resumes fail for this reason, my own included.
Take a few minutes, see what you should unpack, repack, and create a resume that shows your skills, your experiences, and why you are the best person to be hired.
What to do when you or someone you care about loses their job …
Employers call it different things, “Termination with cause, Termination without cause, Permanent Layoff, Downsizing, Relocation displacement, and many other terms;” what it is called doesn’t matter the effect is the same, you no longer have a job.
The impact can be both sudden and devastating. From my own personal experience how it affects you will change your life. What I have written today are some “lessons learned” from my own experience and from people I trust that can help. They can help you if you are experiencing losing your job, and/or they can help someone you know who needs help.
On the outside looking in – helping to find the way to where you belong.
There are times we all struggle. Some are able to “bounce back” more easily than others. For some, the harder they try the more mired they become. I have a friend who is one of the latter, I know how that feels because at times I have struggled myself. This post was inspired by how my friend is using the lessons of my own struggle to build themselves out of their struggle.