Take Some Time for Self-Development

Years ago when I started out in the Learning & Development field I worked for the Chubb Group of Insurance Companies. In a staff meeting one day, our Director implemented a new policy. She said that for an hour a day, we were required to read an L&D related article.  If it had value, we were to forward the article to the rest of the team with our comments.

When I first heard this I groaned (internally of course). What a waste of time. I was 20-something, just getting started and only wanted to go, do and create. I was so wrong. I came to look forward to the hour after lunch when I would settle in with a newspaper or a trade publication and read about a new method for training assessment, implementation or evaluation. Sharing this information with my peers is when the learning began and we implemented many new methods or techniques due to those articles and discussions. Needless to say, I learned so much.

I continued this practice throughout my career, especially when the staff for the L&D department was lean or whittled down to just me. I rallied for membership to the Association for Talent Development, formerly American Society for Training & Development, subscriptions to Training magazine and even ordered the entire set of ASTD Infoline booklets; a set of amazing training modules for every possible L&D situation. I still have them.

These days I continue the process by searching the internet daily looking for newer ideas, templates, suggestions, trainings or anything that will help me develop my skills as a job search coach and resume writer.

So what’s the “What’s In It for Me”? It’s this. If you are a young millennial or member of the newer, Generation Z, slow down for a few minute and take some time for self-development. Read, look for a mentor, attend training and most importantly, share information about your craft or profession with your peers. If you are older, be open to continually learning (it may help with your job security). If you are a job seeker, continually look for the latest and greatest in your field and be ready to speak about it.

A couple hours a week isn’t much time when you consider that this is a small step in your self-development.  Researching, reading, processing and sharing are a few of the tools that continue to help people get ahead.

Soft Skills to Move the Workforce

In his first public meeting since leaving the White House, President Obama said that he would like to focus on the next generation of leaders. 

One thing he said is that rather than telling people what they need, it is more important to listen to understand what they say they need. 

That’s not just politics; that’s sales, customer service and communication. 

Everything revolves around soft skills no matter the profession.

Postion Accomplishments Worksheet: Free Job Search Tool

Sometimes the tools that you use to create your resume can be used for your other job search needs such as LinkedIn, interviewing, career assessment, a cover letter or networking. The Position/Responsibilities/Accomplishments Worksheet© is an example.

I created is tool as a handy device to capture a candidate’s accomplishments in both technical skills and soft skills and align them to the requirements needed in an open position. (Now that I think about it, this tool can be used for identifying a customer’s needs in relation to a sales call too). 

The idea behind this tool is to list the job requirements of the open position on the left side of the document and on the right, list your accomplishments that support or align to these. For example, if the open position requires that a candidate develop technical specifications for procurement and contractual services, you would list that requirement on the left side of the worksheet and one right-hand side, list examples of your experience doing the same thing, the money you saved, any processes you created to simplify or manage the procurement process, ensure the accuracy of the procurement process, etc.

The worksheet can help you add specific, measurable examples to your resume, cover letter or LinkedIn profile and in addition, allow you to provide strong, results-oriented examples to some of your interviewing questions.  Here is an example of the tool for your use.

 

Based upon your examples you will see your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities for growth, etc. It is a rather simple worksheet but as uncomplicated as it is, it is designed to allow you to align a position to your strengths.

The Interview Thank You Note

About two weeks ago I bought my son a blazer from a local Brooks Brothers outlet as a birthday gift. It was gorgeous gray blazer at a great sale price. He loved it.

Yesterday I received a card in the mail. It was a hand-written thank you note from the sales associate at Brooks Brothers who helped me select the blazer. He thanked me for my purchase and told me that he looked forward to assisting me in the future.

It was short and sweet and it brought me a little bit a faith in human-kind in these days of on-line shopping, little communication and lack of customer service.

After all, who doesn’t like to get a real piece of mail?

So write the interview thank you note. Let the hiring manager know that you enjoyed meeting him or her and share something that you discussed in the interview. It does make a difference and if the hiring manager is stuck between offering the job to you and another candidate and YOU wrote the thank you note, chances are the odds are in your favor.

Here is a sample that you can tailor for your own thank you note.

Name

Address                                                                                                                       Date

Dear Name,

I’d like to thank you for meeting with me to this past Tuesday to speak about the Financial Analyst position with (Name of company). I hope through our conversations that you were able to learn of my commitment to the industry along with my thoughts concerning (state something that you spoke about).

*****As I mentioned in our interview, I would value the opportunity to work as part of the (company name) team.  My financial experience along with my knowledge of (list skills mentioned in position description) best practices, strategic planning, driving results and building relationships have given me a well-rounded view of many business practices.  Most importantly, I have a true respect and deep interest in finance and its enormous relevance in advancing a global business.

I especially admire the strong values and commitment displayed by (name of company).  If I can be of further assistance or if you have any other questions, please feel free to contact me via email or at (area code) number.  I look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,

Name

Email

****This section is tailored to the discussion points in the interview.