As I begin each New Year, I undergo what has become an annual ritual: a spreadsheet of objectives and goals for the upcoming year. This year, I realized setting goals and objectives is not enough. Measuring my progress against those goals is probably just as important as setting the goals themselves. So I first have to ask myself, what are the top three objectives or goals for my organization this year and just as significant, what are my top three objectives and how do I measure my progress throughout the year.
If we don’t set goals for our business it becomes similar to driving without a road map. You’ll end up in Albuquerque when you were trying to get to Miami. When I create my yearly roadmap, I set three goals a year (no more than four) because once there are more than that, it becomes overwhelming and very little tends to be accomplished.
No one can tell your team what goals should be a priority; that has to be decided on as a unit. If everyone goes in their own direction throughout the year, companies tend to see little progress. Teams have to work together and understand the direction needed to be taken to be successful. The first thing that must be done is to decide what the important goals for me and my team are that we would like to achieve within the upcoming 12 months. Talk to your team, enlist their ideas and come to a consensus on what is motivating and important. Motivation shouldn’t be a dictatorial action, there has to be “buy in” to the goal.
A great guideline for choosing realistic goals is the S.M.A.R.T. Goal standard. Make sure your team’s goals are:
S = Specific
M = Measurable
A = Attainable
R = Relevant
T = Timely
Once you have established those goals, write them down. After you have them written down and have achieved “buy in” from the team, create an action plan. Remember “buy in” doesn’t have to mean every person gets their way. What it means is every person understands and accepts the direction the team will be taking throughout the year. My favorite line is “can you live with that?” rather than “do you 100% agree with the goal?”
Without a written plan of action, it becomes impossible to measure your progress throughout the year. A great way to measure your progress and to keep the team on task, is to set up “two week stretch” meetings to discuss accomplishments and set attainable goals for the upcoming two weeks. Breaking down your goals into attainable segments makes attaining them that much more realistic.
As I consider what goals my team and organization should tackle in the upcoming year, I then apply the same process to my own goals. Again I can enlist outside help in thinking about what needs to happen in my own life over the next year. Good decisions are rarely made in a silo. Reach out and talk to those who know you best and gain valuable insight in the appropriate direction for you. Set your goals, write them down, create a plan on how you will achieve them and then review them throughout the year.
So here is my challenge to you...
If you haven’t thought about and written down your goals for 2012 - then get to work! If you have, I would love to hear what they are and how you plan to achieve them.
Susan Ruhl, founder of OI Partners-Denver, has developed a sharp eye for how both job seekers and leaders alike get sidetracked with inefficiencies, cross- purposes and miscommunication – and how they can retool for a sleeker, smoother, strategically focused career. Her quick wit, combined with more than two decades of operational and management experience, have made her a highly successful consultant.2012 text pushing down 2011 image from Shutterstock
The leaves are changing, the kids are back in school, and that familiar chill is in the air. You think it's the perfect time to look for a job, and it is! But are your job search fears preventing you from making that leap?
It's not uncommon to feel lost when embarking on your job search journey. After all, school teaches us everything except how to get a job. What should you put on your resume? What questions should you ask in an interview? How can you stand out in the hiring process when there's so much competition?
Are you feeling spooked yet?
Believe it or not, there's no need to be afraid of the job search process! You can land your dream job with the right tools and strategy. You can find a job that won't give you nightmares. Here are three spooky secrets every job seeker should know as they look for a job this fall.
1. An Effective Job Search Starts With An Interview Bucket List
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Despite your fears, you've decided to take the plunge and look for a new job. You might be asking yourself, "Where do I start?" The answer is simple: start by creating an interview bucket list.
An interview bucket list is a list of 10-20 companies you'd love to work for. Are you passionate about a company's products or services? Do you feel connected to its mission? Can you relate to its values and beliefs as an organization? If you answer "yes" to any of these questions, that company probably belongs on your interview bucket list.
Once you create an interview bucket list, you'll be able to conduct a targeted job search, one with direction and a foundation upon which everything else will be built. An interview bucket list helps you focus your job search and networking strategies on the right opportunities, making it easier to get your foot in the door at one of your dream companies.
2. Your Job Application Needs To Disrupt Hiring Managers
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In order to stand out in the hiring process, you need to disrupt recruiters and hiring managers. You accomplish this by doing two things: optimizing your resume and writing a disruptive cover letter.
A well-optimized resume includes keywords from the job description. This ensures your resume gets past the ATS and into the hands of the hiring manager. Once it's in front of the hiring manager, it needs to grab and keep their attention. Quantifying your work experience—adding numbers to your bullet points—will make you stand out from other applicants. Hiring managers will want to know more about you and your accomplishments, and that's how you land a phone interview.
Before that, though, a hiring manager will read your cover letter. To disrupt them, you need to write a disruptive cover letter (obviously!). A disruptive cover letter gives you the opportunity to tell a story about why you feel connected to the company you're applying for. It's that storytelling aspect that will stand out to hiring managers and compel them to pick up the phone and give you a call.
3. Employers Hire You Based On 3 Things
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You can't get hired unless you know what employers are assessing you on in the interview process. While your skills and expertise matter, companies actually hire for three things: personality, aptitude, and experience (in that order).
Most job seekers don't realize how important it is to demonstrate their personality, aptitude, and experience in an interview. You could have the right experience for a job, but if the hiring manager doesn't think your personality is a good fit for the company culture, you probably won't get a job offer.
Make sure you demonstrate your soft skills and learn how to answer behavioral interview questions to prove you're the best candidate for the job you're applying for, not just the most qualified.
Want To Learn More Job Search Secrets?
As you look for a job this fall, it might be helpful to know some more spooky secrets so you can get over your job search fears and finally take control of your career.
We know the job search process can be scary. However, it's important to get clear on what you want to do next and focus on conducting a strategic job search, or what we refer to at Work It DAILY as job shopping. This is the only way to effectively market yourself to employers. If they can't see exactly where and how you add value, then that's going to decrease your chances of landing the job.
The competition is fierce, and there are a lot of factors that are out of your control. But the one factor you can control is your job search strategy, the tools and tactics you use to land a job.
If you want to learn the secrets to conducting a strategic job search, sign up for our Job Search Bootcamp, a two-hour, on-demand video workshop that comes with a free workbook.
In this video workshop, you'll learn:
How to use backchanneling to get directly to hiring managers.
The secret to using a connection story to stand out against the competition.
How social media can be your secret weapon to get job interviews.
The resume format that is getting job seekers more job interviews.
As I begin each New Year, I undergo what has become an annual ritual: a spreadsheet of objectives and goals for the upcoming year. This year, I realized setting goals and objectives is not enough. Measuring my progress against those goals is probably just as important as setting the goals themselves. So I first have to ask myself, what are the top three objectives or goals for my organization this year and just as significant, what are my top three objectives and how do I measure my progress throughout the year.
If we don’t set goals for our business it becomes similar to driving without a road map. You’ll end up in Albuquerque when you were trying to get to Miami. When I create my yearly roadmap, I set three goals a year (no more than four) because once there are more than that, it becomes overwhelming and very little tends to be accomplished.
No one can tell your team what goals should be a priority; that has to be decided on as a unit. If everyone goes in their own direction throughout the year, companies tend to see little progress. Teams have to work together and understand the direction needed to be taken to be successful. The first thing that must be done is to decide what the important goals for me and my team are that we would like to achieve within the upcoming 12 months. Talk to your team, enlist their ideas and come to a consensus on what is motivating and important. Motivation shouldn’t be a dictatorial action, there has to be “buy in” to the goal.
A great guideline for choosing realistic goals is the S.M.A.R.T. Goal standard. Make sure your team’s goals are:
S = Specific
M = Measurable
A = Attainable
R = Relevant
T = Timely
Once you have established those goals, write them down. After you have them written down and have achieved “buy in” from the team, create an action plan. Remember “buy in” doesn’t have to mean every person gets their way. What it means is every person understands and accepts the direction the team will be taking throughout the year. My favorite line is “can you live with that?” rather than “do you 100% agree with the goal?”
Without a written plan of action, it becomes impossible to measure your progress throughout the year. A great way to measure your progress and to keep the team on task, is to set up “two week stretch” meetings to discuss accomplishments and set attainable goals for the upcoming two weeks. Breaking down your goals into attainable segments makes attaining them that much more realistic.
As I consider what goals my team and organization should tackle in the upcoming year, I then apply the same process to my own goals. Again I can enlist outside help in thinking about what needs to happen in my own life over the next year. Good decisions are rarely made in a silo. Reach out and talk to those who know you best and gain valuable insight in the appropriate direction for you. Set your goals, write them down, create a plan on how you will achieve them and then review them throughout the year.
So here is my challenge to you...
If you haven’t thought about and written down your goals for 2012 - then get to work! If you have, I would love to hear what they are and how you plan to achieve them.
Susan Ruhl, founder of OI Partners-Denver, has developed a sharp eye for how both job seekers and leaders alike get sidetracked with inefficiencies, cross- purposes and miscommunication – and how they can retool for a sleeker, smoother, strategically focused career. Her quick wit, combined with more than two decades of operational and management experience, have made her a highly successful consultant.2012 text pushing down 2011 image from Shutterstock
