Roadtrip Nation

Roadtrip Nation is a show on PBS that has college students traveling across the country in a bright green RV interviewing successful people about their careers and how they got where they are today. The tagline for the show is “define your own road in life.” I showed this to my students on Wednesday with some success. I like how it depicts young people like them who are unsure of what lies ahead after graduation.

One of my favorite parts of the website is the Interviews section. Here you can find the episodes cut down into just the interview portion. A few examples are:

Jehmu Greene, Executive Director, Rock the Vote

Holly Beck, Pro Surfer

Joe Quesada, Editor in Chief, Marvel Comics

There are 147 interviews on the site in fields ranging from art/design to entrepreneurship, medicine and sports.  I watched one with Kate White, Editor in Chief of Cosmopolitan magazine which reminded me of interviewing to be assistant to the editor in chief of that magazine in my early twenties. She provides some gems of wisdom including the idea of taking small risks on a regular basis so that when the big risks come along, they don’t seem so big.

Though this show and website is designed for college students, I think there is wisdom to be gained from these interviews for someone at any stage of their careerpath.

Informational Interviewing – Ten Steps to Success

I’m re-posting a fabulous article by career coach Alexia Vernon, owner of Catalyst in Action, on how to make the most of informational interviewing.  A few tidbits:

Informational Interview Step 1: Scoring Face Time

You explain succinctly and dynamically who you are, what results you have achieved, and why this person should give you the time to discuss existing and anticipated opportunities in the field.

Informational Interview Step 2: Breathe and then Bulldoze Forward

You called your prospect when you said you would. And after a few rounds of phone tag, you have converted the person into an informational interviewee. Most likely you have a couple of weeks to prepare.

It’s important to celebrate this victory, and recognize that a little bit of smart work has paid off.

Informational Interview Step 3: Develop Your Self-Marketing Strategy

Personal branding is the rage right now, and there are oodles of articles, blogs, magazines, and books dedicated to the art of developing and pitching one’s self.

Read the full article with all 10 steps here.

Top Ten Social Networking Sites That Can Help You Find A Job

I recently saw on the website, Mashable, a list of one author’s top ten social networking sites for finding a job. His top 10 are:

1. LinkedIn
2. Plaxo
3. Twitter
4. Jobster
5. Facebook
6. Craigslist
7. My Workster
8. Visual CV
9. Jobfox
10. Ecademy

My two favorites on the list are Craigslist (always interesting job postings on there) and LinkedIn (a great way to follow up with people you’ve recently met with a quick note and an invitation to Link-In).

For those of you who have been searching for a job for a while, I recently received a hopeful e-mail from a friend who wrote about her experience finding a job (after several months of searching):

“I found the job via a posting on the internet. I sent off my resume thinking I would never get called. But the recruiter called and was a very nice man. I’ve been here since September.”

You never know when that e-mail you send will be the one that lands you a job … It pays to keep going!

The Master Mind Principle

I always thought it would be a good idea to read the biographies of successful people for inspiration but never seem to get around to it. Today I was re-reading Laurence Boldt’s How to Find the Work You Love and was inspired to run out and get books by and about the greats of past and present. Here’s why.

Boldt cites Napolean Hill’s book, Think and Grow Rich, about Hill’s quest to raise himself up from extreme poverty, low expectation and limiting beliefs. Boldt says:

“Hill employed [a] useful technique, which he referred to as the ‘master mind’ principle. This technique involves creating a kind of peer group of the mind. By reading the writings, biographies, and letters of the greats of history, you begin to identify with them as people like yourself. You break down the artificial barrier between yourself and greatness. As you ‘make friends with’ great people, you being to engage them in mental conversation, seeking insight, advice, and direction. You start to think the kinds of thoughts they thought, to expect of yourself the kinds of things they expected of themselves. You make common cause with those who have endeavored to hold up the light of human possibilities in every arena of human experience. You develop a deep sense of gratitude for their efforts.”

I especially like the idea of engaging in mental conversations with great figures and not feeling like I’m so different from them. What biographies, autobiographies, letters and writing by successful people of the past or present have inspired you?  Perhaps like me, it’s time to get started.

By the way, Hill’s book appears on this list of Top 50 Success Classics which a friend just sent me. Check it out.

One Thing A Day

At a recent talk for high school girls hosted by Girls Write Now, I heard a senior editor at Seventeen magazine speak about her struggles with writing early in her career. Faced with a boss who was not supportive of her writing, shaking her confidence, her personal mantra became: Do one thing a day toward your goal or dream, particularly when you’re feeling stuck. By the end of the year you’ll have moved yourself so far along, you won’t even have realized it.

I like this idea because it alleviates the overwhelming sense of having to do everything at once and reminds us that it’s often the small, patient steps that get us closer to our dreams.

I recommend brainstorming a list of “one thing a day” actions and then using this list as a guide when you are thinking about that one action you will take on any given day. Here are some ideas for those looking to advance their dream careers:

• Contact someone you’ve been meaning to be in touch with.
• Sign up for a job website and have postings emailed to you daily.
• Update your Linked In profile and add one or two people.
• Research a professional association in your field of interest and join.
• Email one of your mentors and schedule coffee together.
• Clear a pile of papers on your desk related to career/job searching.
• Attend a networking meeting.
• Journal about your dream job.
• Do that one thing you’ve been meaning to do!

I’ve recently begun to test this out and have found it helps me move forward on things that I’ve been thinking about but never seem to get around to doing. When I decide to do just one thing a day (and sometimes more than one thing) related to my career, it usually takes very little time and the results are fairly immediate.

It’s the small steps that open the door to our future.

I’d be glad to have suggestions for other “one thing a day” actions that you recommend.