Essential Tips For the 21st Century Jobseeker

2009-08-17T02:25:00.002+01:00

The Most Important Quality Sort By Every Employer

At a recent presentation on employability skills (which essentially examines the personal qualities that helps an individual to maintain his/her employment once secured) the question was asked 'what is the most important quality sort by every employer?.' Now without question there will be a number of qualities that each employer searches for when recruiting a candidate for a specific position, some of these will include, strong work ethic, honesty, time keeping, drive, presentation skills, technical skills, persistence, communication and so on i could go on listing a number of superlatives that we have all used to describe ourselves at one time or another.

However, there is perhaps one quality that stands head and shoulders above all those listed above, and this was further cemented after a discussion with a colleague of mine who had experienced some difficulties in his life but despite the odds had got his life back on track and is now doing extremely well in his job. It is also a quality that i have noticed has been responsible for the successes of all the successful people i have read and studied from Dave Allen, Richard Branson, Billy Graham, Donald Trump and so many countless others.

So what is it you ask, nothing new and certainly you will have heard it mentioned so many times in the past. The quality is your 'attitude' yes your attitude, often this is what leads to somebody else securing a job instead of you. You might say how do we measure this quality after all i cannot imagine anyone having the words 'bad attitude' written across their forehead and so one of the ways this will be displayed will be in your body language and also in your spoken word, but moreso in the former. Alan Pease, the Australian body language expert and motivational speaker goes into a lot of depth on this subject so if it is an area of interest to you i will suggest picking up one his many international bestsellers on amazon.

After all is said and done, it is your attitude that will determine how far you go in life, another Australian by coincedence, Christopher Howard, describes this as 'meaning' in that the meaning we attach to the way a person speaks or looks at us can alter our attitude and consequently our behaviour. And so this is an area which a lot of people find difficult to control reason why we need to keep working on our attitude because like the saying goes - 'your attitude will govern your altitude'.

Until next time,

Femi Yusoof

2007-11-25T17:50:00.000Z

The Secret To Lasting Success

As human beings we all seek success, whether it be in our careers or business, the recognition is in part what makes us who we are. So it is a very important part of our makeup. But why is it that some people have success in their lives and long before you know it it is all gone. In the end, these people end up feeling miserable, disheartened and lost, fedup of life itself. On the otherhand, there are other successful people who are full of energy and just can't stop working. The reason should not be surprising as you are surrounded by it each and everyday of your life.

What am i talking about you ask? There have been many books written about success, what makes a person successful? Is a topic that has been debated and had tv producers scrambling for entrepreneurs to take part in various tv programmes. More importantly, i feel we need to be asking how can we have enduring wealth and success, because if you work hard and are prepared to go the extra mile in your job or business then you are bound to experience success. I was recently listening to an audiotape of a very popular American motivational speaker who was discussing ways for creating multiple streams of income, and he said if you earn £25,000 (just above the average UK salary) for the next 40 years then you would have had £1 million pounds run through your bank account! That is success isn't it? After all, you would have earned £1million pounds working on an average salary. The key point he was trying to emphasise is how much is leftover far more important, making sure you keep and save enough money for your future retirement. So it is about what you keep and not what you earn that makes you wealthy.

My point is similar but has another dimension just as significant if not moreso in that if you wish to have lasting success and continue to generate an income you must be prepared to face and solve challenges. There it is, life's challenges are the secret to enduring wealth, both financially and spiritually. If you are in a job or business where things look and feel comfortable you need to be very concerned, just ask any ex IBM employee or Enron director. You see, challenges gives meaning to life and overcoming obstables makes life worth living.

If you take a look all around you, the inventions that have occured, beit the internet, the pc, the electric light bulb and so on these were all challenges being faced by people at one time or another and it took someone bold and courageous enough to step up and develop a solution. As a result, their legacy lives on, you only have to think of Thomas Edison who invented the light bulb way back in the 19th century yet he is still being talked about today! That is true wealth and euduring success. Look at modern times, Bill Gates had the vision and goal that he will make accessible personal computers to everyone in their homes and workplace through his software, do you think he has lasting success? You bet he does. Even though he is very successful, i guess this is putting it mildly, he is still willing and prepared to push the frontiers of the technology world further. In contrast, you will find a lot of successful people who are depressed and at the brink of commiting suicide! Though each case is going to be different, for many their lives have nosedived simply because they stopped being challenged and as a result living felt meaningless.

So how can you and i make an impact and have lasting wealth, well as i mentioned before, you need to look for challenges and see them as opportunities beit in your job or business. If you take any great success story past or present you will find a similar running thread in that they were all willing to solve a problem being faced by others, instead of avoiding the issue and turning away.

I will leave you with a couple of quotations which sum up this article.

"Too many people are thinking of security instead of opportunity." James F. Byrnes

"Your rewards in life are decided by the kinds of problems you are willing to solve for others." American Archbishop

So go out there and be daring, be prepared to face all new challenges that come your way, only then will you have enduring success.

Femi Yusoof

2007-06-28T12:33:00.000+01:00

How To Retain Your Interviewer's Interest In You

I have often heard that when attending a job interview you stand more chance of being selected if you are seen first and even more of a chance if last in the queue, maybe there is some scientific proof to this or not you can throw all logic and science out of the window by following a simple tip.

And you do not have to look far to discover the secret to maintaining the interest of your interviewer. This technique could be applied to any situation infact whether a job interview, career move up the ladder of power or in a business setting or meeting.

If you like sport and particularly football, you will be aware of the football star David Bechkham and his move away from the Bernabeu in Madrid, Spain. After 4 relatively mediocre years his club had finally clinched the laliga in Spain they coveted so much. However, not after a few problems with team selection and in particular David Beckham who had been omitted by the club coach for various reasons. In the end, he was brought back and it argued that decision to being DB back into team almost single-handedly turned their season around. So why was one of the famous footballers on the planet and merchandising giants of the game unwilling to stay any longer in a country he had fallen in love with..The answer is rather simplistic in many ways but is the key to enabling that in an interview scenario you retain the interest of the interviewer. Essentially, DB had decided to leave as the club appeared to have lost its enhusiasm for him and therefore were not so keen on him, they did not want him enough, if they had shown the kind of enthusiasm and wanting him enough attidtude at an earlier stage it is perceived by most that DB would decided to a bit longer, now no one would never know for sure, but what you cannot argue with is that it certainly made his decision to move much much easier. After all, why should he stay where he is not wanted.

This is the same thought that should be running through your thoughts when you go for an interview, besides your technical ability and interpersonal skills, the big question you need to ask yourself is, do you want it BAD enough? If yes, i can almost assure you that if you have ticked the other boxes on the employers list you will are highly likely to be offered the job way ahead of any competition. You see companies are not only looking for technically gifted and great communicators to drive their businesses forward but more so is the willingness on the part of you the interviewee and whether you desire it enough. Now enthusiasm might be said by some as being difficult to measure or determine in a person, i do not agree, you can display your enthusiasm through your body language, baring in mind your body convays more information of what is being said and your words far less. At the end of the day, if you really want this great position or job you need to go into that interview room believeing (without begging) that you are the best person for the role and so let it show that you want it more than anyone else they might be planning to see now or in the future.

Dale Carnegie said it best, authour of international bestseller: How To Win Friends and Influence People, he said: "The depth of your desire will determine the swiftness of your progress and success". It is true for your career as well as in business.

Femi Yusoof

2007-05-27T17:38:00.000+01:00

How To Stop Searching For A Job: Get Recruiters, Headhunters And Companies Directly Knocking On Your Door.

Finding your dream job can be a difficult task indeed with so much competition for places, you need to stand out from the crowd and be different in your approach so as to secure the key position and company you desire. You should find the information in the next few paragraphs useful as it shows you how you can adopt the lazyman's approach, after all life is stressful enough without the burden of searching for your next job.

It always amazes me the amount of times that people send in their resumes or CV for a position advertised on the internet or in the newspapers that they are not quite qualified or experienced. The approach by these candidates is one of the scatter-gun method hoping that somehow it sticks and dreaming you get called up for an interview anyway. But how can this be? You will find if you adopt this style that you get less contact from professional recruiters who have little time to scan through all your details as they are constantly looking for relevance for their immediate vacancies. Time is important to all concerned and companies are unlikely to contact you if your CV is not relevant. You may however get a call in the end, but can your stomach wait or go 24 hours or more without any food or water? My guess is no, you want immediate results and contact from the employers asap, therefore, you must realise 1st impressions count. Your CV must stand out in terms of its design format, layout and most importantly its relevance to the job advertised.

Secondly, if you would like to have recruiters, headhunters and companies calling you directly then you must make yourself visible to the outside world. What i mean by this is that you need to be online, on the internet where professional recruiters seek for suitable candidates. The obvious medium online are jobboards which are increasing by the day, it seems almost each day there is a new website that is launched specific to a niche industry profession where prospective candidates can post their details. These are places where headhunters, recruiters and companies all look for candidates at some point, so it does you no harm, even if you are not looking at that time, after all the final say is yours whether you wish to move into a new job.

Another way of increasing your chances of being headhunted or contacted by a potential employer direct is making sure you are prominent in your field online as well as offline. You must have heard of this saying before that the best form of marketing is through 'word of mouth'. So if you have written articles make sure you have these published online, you can also join special interest groups or associations which are relevant to your field. For instance if you are an electrical engineer in the UK you want to make sure you are affiliated to the Institute of Electrical Engineers (IEE), every profession has an association which has been setup for likeminded people to learn and discover new information about their field. This is all networking and today's world is about networking successfully.

This leads us into the next way of giving yourself visibility to employers and recruiters searching for candidates to fill their vacancies. Online networking or Social networking as it is commonly known today is catching on like wild fire, you only have to look at some of the biggest innovations or movements in the internet world over the last 2 to 10 years, the likes of Linkedin.com, Openbc.com, Facebook, Myspace are all fantastic ways of reaching people within and outside of your immediate environment, creating an amazing abundance of opportunity. Linkedin, a US networking site, with more than 7 million people's profile worldwide present on its database is perhaps one of the best, mainly dedicated to professional people, it forms an excellent forum for placing your details, finding work and having people contact you direct for work by some of the biggest and most successful companies in the world. I have heard of many stories where people got hired for great jobs through online networking websites, and in one particular case, the candidate was catapulted above those that had applied through the normal medium, i.e. responding to a job advert in the newspaper. The reason briefly was this candidate had a very good profile on the internet, one that came with written testimonies all visible online. So making yourself visible online is key to your success.

Online networking or Social networking is one of the biggest events to hit the online community in recent years and its impact is one which is likely to last for decades as it appears to be the future for doing business and communicating with people online. It is often said that 'success is not about what you know, but who you know', and online networking allows you to expand your 'who you know' part, creating a level playing field, as a result enabling you to leverage other people's network and thus securing you potentially a dream contact that leads to your dream job.

Femi Yusoof

2007-05-25T13:47:00.000+01:00

The Secrets To Gaining Supreme Personal Confidence

Developing and maintaining your self confidence is as important as any technical skill you might possess in your job or business. Often you might find your self confidence and belief will sway others to your side. So it is a powerful tool to have in an interview scenario. But what is ultimate or supreme confidence? And how can you measure it if possible? Well it is rather difficult to measure such, however i have come to the realisation that you can determine personal confidence through a person's character.

You might have heard of this quote before, but i will repeat it here as it is pertinent to this point: "If you lose your wealth, you have lost nothing, if you lose your health, you have lost something, but if you lose your character, you have lost everything". I believe the statement to be somewhat true, though health would be quite high if not the most important. But for the benefit of this discussion, your character is just as significant, i guess it kind of goes to the heart of the matter, or to the heart and soul of the person. And once you have lost that as a person, it is downhill from there with no coming back, unless you get rescued and get some major help.

Some of you might be saying the secret to having self confidence is acquiring lots of money, nice house, nice family and so on, and my answer would be it is not entirely the case, there are 1000s if not millions of people with all the money in the world and still not happy, so how do you explain that? One thing i do believe is that to be successful at anything in life you must have self confidence in your abilities as a person, it has to be unwavering almost indestructable.

The downfall for most people is the envy which they show towards their neighbour(s). When you are envious of someone else it means you are lacking in self confidence, you feel inadequate, low in self esteem and this can affect your morale. So if you were preparing for an interview and have negative thoughts towards another person because of how well they performed, no one gets hurt but you, this type of thinking is negative and self destrcutive. In my opinion it is at the root to most of mankind problems. Instead of us to learn and be inspired from the success of our friends some look for their downfall, how they can better them anyhow, anyway possible. Now don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong in wanting to be better or admiring another person's success but it is the thinking process, the negative thought patterns of some people which is abhorent and only detrimental to themselves in the end. It shows up their true innerself, they lack self esteem and personal confidence.

Some of the people i admire today as having supreme confidence would be people like Sir Richard Branson, Justin Timberlake, P. Diddy, Sir Alan Sugar, John Harrison, Ted Nicholas, Bill Gates, Warren Buffet to name but a few. What these famous and successful people have in common besides all being multi millionaires and billionaires in their own right, is that they have a certain 'care free' attitude as they look to others for inspiration and support. Money has certainly helped them, but i can promise you envy was not a part of their policy, as it would have ate at their self confidence and belief and surely would kept them at the basement of the success ladder. You know they say envy is the root to all evil. It is also the root to people's downfall and lack of confidence.

I will finish with a little story that illustrates the feeling that envy is somewhat in grained most people. I had attended an interview a long time ago for a position as a recruitment consultant for an executive search firm and i got invited to the 2nd stage, i was asked to do a presentation to the group. I proceeded to give my presentation, at the end there were some questions asked. But i remember one of the employees asking me if i would be envious if one of my colleagues was doing better than me in terms of generating results and revenue, ok and reasonable question. But they were not quite prepared for my feedback, in that i said i would certainly not be envious of he or she, why should i be envious, the money? Well, ladies and gentleman, it is the wrong focus, mine would be on learning from the person, watching, observing and listening to what has got them to the top of their field. Envy is a sign of weakness and if you are this way inclined it is something that can be worked on and must be addressed. With regards the story of my 2nd interview and presentation, the company hired me in the end.

So the secrets to achieving supreme confidence is simply developing your inner self, your self thoughts, and banishing all forms of envy, envy is a cancer that eats away at the mind and spirit of a human being.

Until next time.

Femi Yusoof

2007-04-26T16:14:00.000+01:00

How To Secure Your Dream Job By Playing Dumb

It is often said that the secret to being a good conversationalist is the ability to listen. Active listening is the key, where you depict greater interest in the topic and person speaking to you. I guess it is no coincedence that we have 2 ears and 1 mouth, so it constantly amazes me when people fail to adhere to this principle time and time again. I know it can be a difficult sometimes especially when in a social garthering, but if you are attending an interview then it is absolutely imperative you heed to this advice if you desire to secure your dream job.

Recently, i met with a client who were looking to recruit engineering staff. This was a large engineering firm employing 1000s of staff worldwide. As we began talking, he started to discuss his experiences of candidates who had been to see him for a job interview. His narration of one particular candidate led me to believe it does not matter how good you are on paper, if you do not have the communication skills, which listening is an essential part then unfortunately you are likely to struggle at interviews and unlikely to get the positive feedback you seek.

In the end, my client had told me that he had interviewed for a senior position, they actually liked the candidate, CV was very good, but at the interview and for most part during their discussions the candidate kept talking so much that the interviewer could hardly get a word in. This obviously turned them right off the candidate because by talking and not listening and not giving equal share in the talk it sends out a negative message - controlling, difficult, stubborn, non sensitive etc...And to make it worst the candidate never realised their mistake to try and correct it, which might just have salvage the chance of getting the job. The candidate lost the job and the opportunity to work for a very good engineering firm. So what is the lesson here? When you are at an interview, you need to realise, just like you might be looking to decide if this is the place you wish to work, the people and so on, the interviewer is also looking at you assessing you in all ways. Remember your body language accounts far more than what you speak, so there is no need in talking on and on way beyond the question you have been asked deserves. Keep it short, simple and succinct. Genious is simple!

So you see, it pays playing dumb at an interview, do not talk for more than is required. You must let the Interviewer control the flow as you are on their territory, can you imagine you invite someone to your house for the very first time, and they suddenly go round into your kitchen, your fridge helping themselves to your food, whilst at the sametime talking to you not allowing you a word to speak, walking around your space like as if they own the place! How would you feel? Exactly, that is how my client felt when the candidate came in and kept talking over them not allowing them to speak, it was a big mistake as it cost the candidate the job.

Remember, companies are not so borthered about what you want so much but more keen as to what you enquire about them. Doing this gives you the upper hand when it comes to negotiating your salary package. Put the focus on them, you are a guest at their place, so play dumb, and you just might secure that dream job.

See you soon.

Femi Yusoof

http://www.careerinsights.tv/

2007-04-16T23:02:00.000+01:00

Mastering The Art Of Persuasion: How To Get People Saying Yes..

Every conversation you make with someone is a sales act, it is a selling process. And just like with every process there are guidelines or rules that govern each activity which you must be aware if you are to win people over onto your side. You will find the following information helpful in your career or business as at the end of the day, success in such environments is about mastering the art of persuasion and getting people to say yes. For instance, in a situation where you might wish to sell a client a product/service or infact a discussion you are about to have with a colleague or subordinate, all comes down to how good you are with being able to convince people.

Being excellent at persuading people does not mean you have to be brutal or mean or callous, it is about alignment, sometimes agreeing to disagree and confronting the 2 emotions which are at the root of every person's action. I became more convinced from studying further and hearing from famous motivational speakers such as Anthony Robbins. It is so key that i believe it is vital to anyone in sales or indeed people in business. As i have said before, i believe we are all sales people, and so you must think of yourself as a sales person, i don't mean go round with a loudspeaker letting everyone know that you are a sales person, it is about how you think, not what you say, a concept for you to input into your mind, as this is the ultimate secret for success in business regardless of your position in the workplace.

So what are these 2 emotions to which i referred earlier? Well as i said, this has been concurred by heavy hitters in the personal development world, one of them being Anthony Robbins, in one of his audio tapes, he describes the ability to persuade people to your way of thinking comes down to realising that man is governed by emotions to avoid pain and the other, the pursuit for pleasure. For instance, if you are in sales trying to convince a client, in order to get a sale, what you need to do is to focus on the emotion of avoidance of pain, this is perhaps greater than the desire for pleasure. As human beings we do things to either avoid pain or gain pleasure, think about it for a moment, whenever you have made a purchase, what was the core reason behind it, it is often down to one of the 2 emotional reasons mentioned above. For example, a wealthy person will make a purchase to buy a luxurious automobile not because they actually need it but because the emotion to seek pleasure, we are emotive beings, we use emotions to make our decisions and then back them up with logic.

So if are trying to sell an idea to someone and you are having to convince the person with some effort, you need to focus on the consequences, you need to ask questions that deal with the pain elements for that person not going ahead with your idea/product/service, you get the idea. I remember when i was working for an insurance company, i use to sell life and critical illness insurance policies to people, and our sales trainer would say in order to convince the client you need to paint a picture of where there are at now, and the consequences if they did not take any action now, it might sound like deceiving people, but it is not, as people we hate being sold to, and it is why even though i said we are all sales people no one is going to want to buy from you if you go round brandishing a message across your head with the slogan 'i'm a sales person' it just won't work, so we need to be more aware of how people think, we all want someone who cares for us and is simply not there only for their commission. If this can come across in your pitch then you will find yourself doing very well. As the saying goes: 'people don't care what you know, until they know that you care.' You might have heard of the story of the American insurance man who when asked about what he did for a living, replied: 'i buy the best insurance products for my clients.' Would you have been intrigued to know more from that sales person? I'm sure just like me you would, 'he buys insurance for his clients!.' He is not coming across as trying to sell you, he is showing he cares for his clients, someone you can trust, and that is one of the most important rules in being able to persuade people.

If people can trust you and have a feeling that you care about them then you are likely to find yourself getting more 'yesses', and surely that can only be good for you and your business.

Till next time.

Femi Yusoof

2007-04-09T21:10:00.000+01:00

Every Disapointment Carries The Seed Of An Equal Or Greater Benefit

I truly believe in that statement as i have seen it happen to me as well as many people including celebrities. It is a fact of life that we will all face some form of disapointment in our lives in one form or another. However, at the end of day you still need to carry on with your life. It is often stated that life is not about what you encounter, but how you respond. This is important as your response to a negative situation will ultimately determine your disposition, and your outer self and how you deal with people.

You need to do a reality check and be grateful for what you have, i sometimes wonder as people we are far less humble about what we have and spend time thinking negative thoughts, wasted energy on things which in the end can bring misery to your life. There is a saying: "I constantly complained about my shoes until i saw the man with no feet." Who would you rather be? The man without shoes and no feet or the person possessing both?

You will discover whether in your career, business or life in general that there will be tough times and you just have to be strong, perhaps easier said than done, but also it is said: "Tough times never last, tough people do." I have a dear friend of mine who a few years ago now was unable come to the United Kingdom for a number of reasons he was extremely disappointed as he had the opportunity to study at Cambridge University, he is a brilliant medic in my opinion, a genius of a man, but somehow his plans were thwarted. For most people, they would have cursed heaven and earth and whatever was in between thinking all negative thoughts in the process. But my friend remained steadfast in his desire to continue his studies in the west, in the end, he ended up obtaining a place at a University in the US where he is now on course to completing his course in medicine. I understand today he is highly sort too, by some of the most prestigious hospital in America. So you see, when one door shuts it just means a new and previously unknown door is about to be opened for you.

I have another friend who lost his job after serving almost 7 long years to the same company, he was made redundant less than a month prior to his wedding. As you can imagine one of the most important times in anyone's life, to then be faced with redundancy, how would you have dealt with such news? Ofcourse, devastated, but this friend of mine went ahead with the wedding which turned out to be a great success, and has since gone on to doubling his salary within less than 5 years of leaving the company with greater responsibilty after not having a pay rise in the 5 years previous!

What about some of the famous people me and you know of, people like JK Rowling, apparently she was turned down 12 times before one publisher finally decided to take on her Harry Potter books, which today has become simply a phenomenon. Also, the famous KFC chicken food place, establsihed by Colonel Sanders at age 66, more than 2000 restaurants turned down his idea, and today there is hardly a major town in the country without the KFC sign. Even the billionaire Sir Richard Branson, did you know that most of his businesses actually fail, but due to his vast stream of businesses the few that succeed compensate for those that are not doing so well. And if you were to study most of the successful people on the planet you will see that they have all failed at some point in their lives and indeed continue to fail but what is endurant is their will to win. It is like they are saying to those who say no, fine - i love it when you tell me NO, i will show you - and so being made redundant in your job, failing in your business or whatever it might be should not be taken with disgust and hate for your employer or government, one just has to look upon it as part of life, it is part of your development and it will only make you stronger and more wise as a person.

Follow these tips and you too will soon be telling of your own very successful story. Won't that be nice?

Wishing you every success. Never give up.

Femi Yusoof

2007-04-06T15:38:00.000+01:00

How To Gain Admiration From Your Employer

Whether you like it or not if you wish to gain promotion in your job or career you need to develop good relations with your manager or boss, as you might have read in books on the subject of job interviews when it comes to hiring someone for a job people tend to hire people that are like them or similar, it is just human nature. We tend to gravitate to individuals who like the things we like. It is the same theory that applies for when seeking a promotion or even a pay rise. So how can you gain the admiration and respect of your peers as well as your employer? Well i would like to share with you a story that dates back to more than a century ago, from this you will discover what every employer today in the 21st century is searching for and how you too can reach the top.

The story was compiled by Elbert Hubbard in 1899 and it tells the true story of when war broke out between the USA and Spain at the time, it was important to get a message to the leader of the insurgents - Garcia - who was in the vastness of the Cuban mountains. There was no other form of communication so the President had to find someone who could deliver this message. It was suggested to the President that a man by the name of Rowan should be given the task if no one else will go, so he was given the letter which he placed inside his oil skinned pouch and off he went. After 4 days he landed onto an unknown territory, the Cuban coast, before disappearing off to locate Garcia in the jungle. In 3 weeks Rowan had completed his mission, having traversed a very difficult terrain and ultimately delivering the message which he was sent. The main point from the story is that when Rowan was handed the assignment, he did not ask how will he find Garcia out in the forrest, or how, or why, or what if and so on, you get the picture, Rowan went ahead determind to deliver anyhow possible. And so the moral of the story is that it is not instructions that people need but a stiffening of the vertebrae, which will cause them to be loyal, trustworthy, committed to the cause, concentration and in all do the thing that you have been asked to do, this is why the story is today referred to as 'a message to Garcia', and the question is therefore for you, are you able to deliver a message to Garcia, no questions asked?

You see most people in the workplace when given an assignment or task they focus on all the reasons which might make the task a non starter, they moan about all sorts, they complain or find something to complain about, or ask silly questions, i do actually believe in asking questions but it is how you ask the questions that it is important, by focusing on the positives and having a determination about getting the job done you are far more likely to get the support and respect of your boss or manager and hence the admiration of people in the workplace. The reason is there are few people in the world today who can deliver a 'message to Garcia' and if you are one of the few who when given an assignment does not look for ways to escape from their duties, not faking illness just to have the work passed onto someone else, not arguing unnecessarily because you feel hard done by, but remaining positive there is no doubt in a short space of time you will find yourself being admired by people not only in your workplace but in society at large as every city and community needs a person that can and will deliver a 'message to Garcia'.

See you soon..

Femi

2007-04-04T11:26:00.000+01:00

How To Avoid Being Made Redundant In Your Job

It is fair to say in today's society that at some point in your working life you could be faced with the prospect of being made redundant in your job. With globalisation and companies looking to outsource services to developing countries to cut costs and maintain profits, working in the 21st century jobmarket is going to be difficult and extremely competitive.

However, if you are smart there are lots of things you can do to improve your chances of keeping your job longer than most of your peers. There are generally 3 kinds of jobs, they fall under the heading of administrative, technical and sales. If your role comes under the banner of the first two, then your position is certainly more precarious than someone whose job is more salesy or has a sales edge to it. The reason why is that most companies usually outsource the first two roles, after all why pay someone £1000.00 to do up a website for you when you could equally pay just as good if not better designer overseas £100.00. But when it comes to the communication of your business you need people on the ground, in the country of origin to sell your goods, to communicate your services and products and so on, so you run less of a risk.

A good friend of mine told me that within his company, people were being made redundant to cut cost as the business was looking to go in a new direction at the time, everyone was so worried about lossing their job as well as my friend. In the end, it happened that all the administrative staff were layed off from their jobs. Most of the sales people kept their jobs as the business person is thinking if i am to grow my business i need to keep the people who can generate revenue, we can do without admin for now, we will just have to chip in and do all the admin ourselves, this must have been going through the mind of the Director.

So how can you keep your job if you work in technical or admin, and by the way just because you work in sales does not make you impregnable but certainly you do have a better chance of keeping your job especially if you are doing good sales. As an admin or technical person, you essentially have to find a sales dimension to your role, it has been said so many times in many books about the fact that we are all sales people, at the end of the day when you attended your job interview you had to sell your skills, your experience and so on, so why stop thinking like a sales person, if you do stop, then you run the risk of being booted out first when the redundancy rounds begin to take place.

See you soon.

Femi

2007-04-03T21:43:00.000+01:00

The Power of Words

Alvin Day in his best selling book: 'If caterpillars can fly, so can i,' he describes words as the raw material of life. And this is so true, it is really the magic if there is any behind instant success, massive transformation and confidence in yourself, receiving the adoration of your peers, the weapon for defeating the enemy, the ingredients to making you happy, it is human natures leveller, capable of allowing you to change your life beyond your wildest imaginations.

It was with amazement i learnt that the late great American president, Abraham Lincoln, only had 12 months education in his entire life, yet he rose to become the 16th president of the United States, the most powerful nation in the world. Sir Winston Churchill, perhaps Britains greatest ever leader, for most of his early political life was ignored from the arena. Malcolm X too who most regard as an excellent orator was for the early parts of his life lost in his ways with no direction and faced racism at school. Mark Twain, who had a very difficult childhood is today revered as one of America's greatest ever literary writers.

So what do all the people above share in common? And what was responsible for their transformation from unknown obscurity to public icon? Well, it was simply their sheer desire for knowledge, it was undeniably insatiable. In the case of Malcolm X by the time he left prison to begin his quest as a crusader he devoured works by Shakespeare, and also the English Dictionary word for word, as well as the Koran. His level of diction and the inextricably linked confidence that proceeds such act enabled him to be catapulted as leader of men most of whom would have had far superior academic backgrounds. In the case of Abraham Lincoln, he was devoted to verse, not only did he memorise and repeat most of Shakespeare's work but he made notes and wrote essays about them. Some of his speeches are indelibly etched in the minds of most Americans, especially of the older generation. His speech delivered at Gettysburg is so surreal that it has found a fitting place at Oxford University.

Now this level of transformation does not only occur to people with difficult starts in life, the likes of Sir Winston Churchill and Woodrow Wilson were by academic standards very educated men, but what set them apart was their language, their command of the english language which is my entire point. Ted Nicholas who is regarded as the $4 Billion dollar man because of the amount of products he has sold and marketed for his clients through the years wrote in his best selling book 'how to turn words into money' he said: 'words, not numbers, is the true currency of business.' You see Ted Nicholas understood the power of words and as a result he is today seen as one of the most successful copywriters ever to grace this earth. So what am i saying? Basically, if you wish to get ahead in your job or career, perhaps you did not get a good start in your life do not worry about it, you can really get ahead of your peers as most people once they have completed formal training usually stop at thatpoint and this is where you can catch up and in most cases surpass them as we have seen from some of the names mentioned above. These people rose from the depths of their failings to become world famous, respected, loved, and very successful in the process.

Ultimate power and confidence as well as success in life will come once you begin to realise the importance of self-training, continuos education which is the pre-requisite for high achievement. I urge you to take this advice on board as I have seen the improvements occur to me personally in terms of my confidence massively improving, as well as seeing similar magical effects in other people.

I have compiled an ebook on the power of words titled '101 Most Powerful Bathroom Quotes,' and so if you would like a FREE copy, please send me an email to: femidirect@hotmail.com

See you soon.

Femi Yusoof

www.careerinsights.tv

2007-04-02T22:06:00.000+01:00

How To Be Indispensable in Your Job

You might have a strong case in arguing that no one is indispensable in their job, and i would agree to some extent, especially in today's uncertain jobmarket. So how can you indeed become indispensable in your job? Well, it is really about having a certain mindset that if utilised will enable you to distinguish yourself from the crowd, providing you with confidence and security in your long term career.

I have said in previous articles that in order to succeed in your career you need to think like a business person and not like a mere employee. This is why the solution lies in your thinking and especially how you think of yourself. When you think like an 'employee' it sought of means you place less value on yourself, you rely upon your boss to do everything, he/she pays your wages after all. But when you think like the boss you become indispensable it means you place higher value on yourself you are self sufficient, self motivated, independent, reliable and essentially you are just like the boss. This is not to say employees are not valued, the difference is that though the employee may do those things, working hard and so on, they often do not see themselves in a positive light inside of their own mind, hence they place low value upon themselves.

If you look at football stars today, some might say they have become rather arrogant because of the large sums of money they make, but the point is they actually see themselves as lending their services (just like a consultant might be hired on a contract and paid to work on a certain project) for a period of time after which they would move on to a new team, so in order to get that new contract, that bigger paycheck they work even harder for their current team hoping someone will spot their talents. And so you must do the same as you do not know how long you will be playing on your current team. But whilst you are in the team you need to put in the effort that will get you noticed either inside your company or by people within your industry. Therefore you need to start thinking like a consultant or an agent, unfortunately most people look at their jobs as their final destination point and as a result end up frustrated and miserable.

The term 'Intrapraneur' is the term used to describe an entrepreneur that works inside a business, and in fact i understand that there are some major corporations which have piloted and formalised this theory into practice by having 'intrapraneurs' in their firms, these companies allow their staff to be free in their thinking in the knowledge that any creation which might materialise from their work is equally shared by the company and the individual. This is certainly a new shift of thinking in comparison to the stifiling bureacratic man management style that is so bereft of most organisations today.

The bestselling American author Robert Allen certainly concurs, he mentioned on one of his audio tapes that if you wish to get ahead in the 21st century jobmarket you need to think like an 'intrapraneur' in essence think like a business person, it allows you to see what your boss is seeing. Above all, it will reduce or eliminate the fear that comes from loosing your job or being made redundant knowing that your service to the company was only temporary, long gone are the days when people were guaranteed a job for life. Being indispensable is about knowing your value, your true worth, if you value your skills and ability then people will come looking for you. A very good friend of mine and a man i highly respect, he is a very successful medical doctor in New York city, USA, a specialist in cardiology and the liver. He told me ultimate success in the workplace is when you do not have to worry about finding your next role, the roles come searching for you. Now that is the mindset of an 'intrapraneur.'

See you soon.

Femi

2007-04-01T22:17:00.000+01:00

Success is about being different

It is amazing just how many people are insecure with themselves that they wish to be somebody else. I have even heard of people going as far as having face transplants to look like someone else! Now don't misunderstand me, there is absolutely nothing wrong with having someone to look upto, people you look to for inspiration, guidance and support, this is different to when you seek upon doing exactly what everyone else does, i.e. becoming like the Jones' - following the crowd. This is unlikely to bring you success in your career or business. You are unique, you are the only one with your particular uniqueness, one in more than a billion people, strong and living, that is to be celebrated not discarded.

In Wes Beavis' book - 'Escape to Prosperity' he talks of how we live in a society where people want to be better than the Jones', their next door neighbour, but you do not know how those people got their success, certainly be inspired by them if necessary but do not envy and therefore feel like you are inadequate as a person. What you need to do is work on your inner self, developing your knowledge and skills in whatever you want to accomplish. "There is nothing more that speaks of success than the easy confidence that comes from living debt free," Wes Beavis. Leave the Jones' alone, if you can take some encouragement from them that is fine, but remember keeping up with the Jones' may mean keeping up with their high level of debt.

In your search for the perfect job or business you may have to do things different, like listening to motivational tapes, using a mentor for advice on matters that are pertinent to your career or business, attending seminars on interview skills and techniques, learning from experts in the field, getting advice about the presentation of your resume or CV this is not what most people do, in general people restrain themselves they ignore the work that goes first because they want success now, a symptom of the society they live in to which they have succumb.

I read a passage from John Harrison's excellent book - 'How to stop working and make a £million pounds instead'. In the book he goes on to say that the word eccentric and millionaire seem to go hand in hand it suggest that people who are rich are not normal or different from the rest of us. Though we have to be careful of this notion that rich people are not normal it is worth looking into why rich people are thought of in this fashion. So lets look at the definition of the word 'eccentric', Webster Dictionary defines the word as 'deviating from an established or usual pattern or style.' Now ofcourse millionaires deviate from an established or usual pattern or style! This is the essential pre-requisite to achieving anything worthwhile. Why? Because extraordinary results require extraordinary actions to bring them to fruition. What do you think happens when you conform to an established or usual pattern or style? That's right, you get a normal or the same usual results which does not lead to great success or wealth.

So you see, you need to re-programme your mind in order that you can get over the shackles that were placed on you as a child. As a child growing up we are taught by our parents that there is one right way of doing everything, one right way for holding a spoon, a fork and so on after all it is what the books at school say, it is where we get our instructions from. This middle of the road approach to life is certainly not a recipe for success and therefore we must realise our differences and uniqueness, learn from other successful people understanding that they did not follow the crowd, they simply took bold and courageous steps and went beyond where most people were willing to dare.

In summary, be confident in yourself that being different is okay and normal, people may comment on why you have decided to take the unfamiliar path, but do not despair you are simply doing what most successful people do. Like Shakespeare said: 'Dare to be different.'

See you soon.

Femi

2007-03-16T08:40:00.000Z

Why You Need To Use Self-Help Programs

Recently i met with a gentleman at a networking event and we got talking about his business, and then we began discussing self help programs and his comment was along the lines: "why do people keep going to motivational events? Can't they just do it for themselves?." It was not so much what he said, but how he said it, his negative tone and disgust at why people would consider spending good money to attend such events.

I had to chuckle at his uneducated comment, and so i asked him: "why are you here today?." In a way, he kind of answered his own question. There was nothing particularly different to the people who just a few minutes ago he had damned and his own reasons for coming to the networking event that night, which was to network, learn from others, share ideas and form potential alliances for business.

You see if you are to be successful in anything in life beit business or your career, you must continuosly educate yourself either by attending seminars, reading books, listening to tapes, visiting social networking events and so on.

There is a massive myth out there in the world today that people can be self-made, it is so far from the truth. No man or woman, not even people in the royal family, can succeed by virtue of their own might, it is simply impossible. A lot of people read and use self help programs and these people i would consider to be smart because they are teaching themselves by learning from the experiences of others, those that have gone before them. There is a saying "A prudent person will learn from personal experience, but the wise person will from others."

At University, after 3 years of reading for a degree in whatever subject you decide to take up, the reading and training does not stop there, if you do then you might just as well stop living and fall back on to the social welfare system for support as i hate to say it, you will not be going anywhere fast. Robert Kiyosaki, author of the international bestseller - "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" said in one of his books, "there is no graduation day". I remember when i completed my degree in Manchester and at the ceremony it was one of the proudest moments of my life, and i suppose at that time i might have been forgiven for thinking naively that that was the end of my education, after all i had completed my degree (studying electronic and electrical engineering in my opinion one of the toughest degrees alongside medicine). But that is how most people still think, even after graduation, they feel that is it now, finito, no more reading, no more learning required and this is so misguided.

If you study the most successful people you will find that they are perpertual learners, it is no wonder the gap between the rich and poor gets wider and wider. Have you heard of a certain Donald Trump? Well i am sure you have, he is the American billionaire real estate mogul, i read recently that he said that success cannot be achived alone, you need the support of other people. Dale Carnegie from the famous Carnegie Institute, author of international bestseller - "how to win friends and influence people" said if you are not succeeding in life it is because you are not gaining the support of others.

So you see, as i said earlier, there is nothing like a self-made millionaire. If there is, i would be most obliged to hear his/her story and how they made it. It is all a marketing ploy, if you have any experience in marketing you will know what i am talking about. This happens to be one of my favourite subjects and i have studied some of the best people in the business - Ted Nicholas, perhaps the most successful copywriter on earth will testify to the argumnent above - success is achieved through the support of others. All the great minds, leaders of this world learnt from their peers, mentors and people that have gone before them. If you read the bible or koran you will find all the prophets all used or had disciples. To accomplish their goal, they needed the support of others, it is a fact which was true centuries ago and will be to the end of man, it is timeless.

Dale Carnegie said in one of his books - 'How to have self-confidence and influence people through public speaking' that in order to improve your memory there are 3 main laws. 1. Impression 2. Repetition 3. Association. I would like to pick on for the purpose of this article no.2 - Repetition. If you wish to be good at anything you need to repeat the habit over and over again only then will it stick. This is why people use self help programs, read books, attend seminars.

David Scwartz in his blockbuster book 'The Magic of Thinking Big' said: 'information is fertlized through repetition.' You have to keep learning and studying. Repetition is the mother of all knowledge. Attending an interview, you have to practice, you could even attend interviews as a mock exercise for when you might actually need a new job, study the company, find out about their needs. Attend seminars on interview skills and techniques. If in business, similarly attend forums, networking events, find a mentor. Keep learning, keep meeting with people, keep networking and soon you too will find yourself being marketed as the next 'self-made' millionaire.

See you soon.

Femi

2007-02-23T12:32:00.000Z

Inspiring Lessons From America's Most Wanted!

You must be wondering what can America's most wanted teach me! Well, you will be surprised. The story behind this person has far reaching lessons that we can all learn from and use in improving our lives and help in finding our dream jobs and careers.

Well Stanley 'Tookie' Williams did not quite make it to the list of America's Most Wanted, but he was responsible for cofounding one of America's most notorious gangs in South Central Los Angeles, California, USA. He cofounded 'the Crips' gang, the deadly rivals and enemy of the bloods which have both run riot and damage to the communities involved. But would you believe it, this man went from being a gang leader to being nominated for a 'Nobel Peace Prize'! Is that strange or what? How does someone so violent, on death row at San Quentin prison, go from being a gang member to potentially receiving one of the most prestigious prizes known on earth - simply remarkable. A Nobel prize nomination is something very few men and women ever get to achieve in their lives. And that is the story of Stanley Williams, narrated in his book 'Life in Prison' with writer Barbara Becnel.

I thought the lessons from his book were so significant and useful for people in life outside of prison. He talked of the time growing up when he and his mates in the 'hood' were so impressionable and one of his friend's elder brother who had just been released from prison for murder would garther the kids by the porch and reminisce about the 'wonderful times' in prison! Lesson 1: Be careful where you seek your advise. Stanley would constantly hear how wonderful prison was and that it was a place for men to prove themselves and show how really tough they were, they were even shown pictures of inmates showing off their big muscles in the exercise yard working out on weights. Stanley soon became affixed with the idea of going to prison and looking big and buff. He did, Stanley was a guy well over 6ft tall and more than 280 pounds of pure muscle! He was extremely intimidating to look at, and i guess this fitted well with what seemed cool at the time. Now, he regrets it all and has written numerous books to show and help people it certainly is not cool and the dangers of prison.

Lesson 2: Read Read Read. Stanley 'Tookie' Williams whilst in prison developed himself by simply immersing himself in books and literature almost biblical transformations similar to Saul in the bible. Stanley read books on history, art, economics and anything he could get his hands on, so you see this was infact a very intelligent man. So the moral here, is that self-education is absolutely paramount for you in your life if you want to extend yourself and go beyond your current station in life. You need to learn from the successful people. Learn from their mistakes so you do not repeat them. Remember the saying, i have used it in the past. 'A prudent person will learn from personal experience, while a wise one will from others. Dr Jim Rohn also said: 'Formal education will make you a living and self-education will make you a fortune.' If only Stanley 'Tookie' Williams had known of this before being brainwashed as a kid on the tough streets of South Central LA. You know they say, 'it is what you do not know that will make or break you, not what you actually know.'

So in your contuined search for your dream job and career or indeed if you are in business, you could do no wrong by taking heed of these 2 important lessons. Be careful of who you take your advise from (i have written about this in my previous articles) and also read read read. It will make you a better person, and give you the edge over your competitors, enabling you to get closer to your dream job.

See you soon.

Femi Yusoof

2007-02-14T22:21:00.000Z

How To Make An Impressive Presentation

"Genius, a power that dazzles humans, is oft but perserverence in disguise." H. W. Austin. I would also add the word 'preparation' to that quote from one of Britain's successful tennis players back in the 30s.

Often the difference between a successful presentation and an unsuccessful one is the level of preparation that comes before. So it is imperative you prepare, and indeed very important when attending an interview or presenting to a prospective client.

You may be familiar with the Dragon's Den, the tv series which has entrepreneurs present their business plans and ideas to already highly successful business men and women who form a panel of judges deciding on whether to invest in the products/services being shown to them. Well, i had a thought about what was the main difference between those that got what they came for, which was the investment of cash into their business and those that did not do so well.

And you probably guessed, those that managed to get the cash they needed were those that had prepared thoroughly before coming onto the show, making sure they knew their business inside and out, numbers included. After all, if you are going to ask for an investment of £100,000 or more, it makes sense to prepare in advance.

There is no difference when attending a job interview or when making a speech in front of an audience, the differentiating factor is the preparation. You must do your research, find out about the customer, as i have said in the past you are the product, a solution to their problem, and so how can you solve their issues if you do not know what it is. How would you react if you went to see a doctor, and he/she without asking you or knowing your problem or at least attempting to identify the problem the doctor just by sheer looking at you suddenly gives you a written prescription! Would you be doubtful of such act? Ofcourse you would.

Any interviewer is not going to be impressed and is going to have doubt in you if you have not done your research about them, if you do not have an idea about their business, their problem, their issues, what they do etc etc...You see, as we use to say a few years ago when i worked in the financial markets industry, my boss back then would say, stoploss, stoploss, stoploss as this was important for investors to take heed if they did not want to lose their shirts trading in the risky business of the stockmarket. And so, i will coin something similar, you may have heard this before, but success in an interview or any presentation is down to 3 things: research, research, research. Nothing more, nothing less.

I myself have noticed the difference in my presentations, in the early days when i made a speech to an audience i did not prepare as perhaps i should have done, and my performances in my opinion have not been up to what i would have liked. But since i have begun to put more work and preparation into my research and presentation i feel i have got more confident, amazing how this works, and there is another tip for you, confidence comes from preparation.

So when next you have to make a presentation of any kind, make sure you have done your research beforehand and you too will soon notice the marked improvements in your new found confidence.

Femi Yusoof

2007-02-12T03:56:00.000Z

How To Gain Lasting Recognition

I recently came across a story which goes to prove and confirm what i have said in previous articles. That is, in order to be successful in your workplace or indeed business you need to work on developing your soft skills, i.e. your interpersonal skills, which includes your communication and the ability to deal with people effectively and efficiently.

Your communication with people has lasting impact and is far more important, as ultimately it can determine whether you get hired for that dream job, or perhaps get that long awaited client.

You do not need to be No.1 to be recognised in your field once you have improved communication skills and a understanding of systems or networks. Having these skills will catapult you over and above your competition and put you in the driving seat.

If i was to ask you who invented the light bulb, most would rightly say Thomas Edison. But, what if i told you he was not the 1st! That's right, Thomas Edison was not the first person to come up with a working model of the electric light, he infact was the 23rd person! So how did he manage to be accredited with inventing the electric light system and become world famous.

Thomas Edison was born in 1847, between the ages of 12 and 15 he worked on the railroads selling candies and copies of his newspaper which he printed. From 15 to 22 he went on to work for the telegraph company where he worked on the electric light system which was to later act as the catalyst behind the setup of General Electric (GEC was once the worlds biggest company). In 1869, he receives his first patent before inventing the electric light in 1879.

At ages 12 to 15, Thomas Edison was working on his communication skills, he was a great salesman, he developed his salesmanship as a result during this crucial period. Later, between the ages of 15 and 22 he went to work on developing his electric system to power the light invention he had designed and made, this time he was working and acquiring his knowledge of systems and networks, just like you see today, there are lots of vast networks out there, for example, tv networks, radio networks, satellite networks, marketing networks and so on. So you see he was able leap over those that came before him (22 of them!) because of his developed soft skills and not necessarily his technical know-how.

In Robert Kiyosaki's book series, he describes the 5 essential elements of business, these being cashflow, communication, system, legal and product. Every successful business must have these parts if it is going to be successful. The communication and system part are almost inextricably linked and key for any business success. This is essentially why today Thomas Edison is known as the man who invented the electric light.

Therefore if you wish to be recognised in your field and move ahead of your competition, you must devote time and energy to working on your communication skills as well as your network.

These 2 elements are so important in the workplace, that in an interview situation you will give yourself an unfair advantage. Every business today needs people whether they be technical, administrative or indeed a sales person who can communicate, having a network just makes you even more powerful (I have first hand knowledge of this as i once lost a potentially good job just because i did not have a network of contacts!).

Femi Yusoof

2007-02-09T09:32:00.000Z

The Secrets of Instant Success

You may be thinking what does this have to do with jobseeking or finding my dream job. Well, i will tell you. I have always been of the opinion that into today's world or indeed if you are going to be successful in your career you you need to think like a business person. Gone are the days when every aspect of our lives were centralised, in the olden days our forefathers thought like business people. They went out to the farm and had to be independent, catering for themselves and their family.

It was later on that we saw the advent of the social state where people became more dependent, and this in some ways has led to people not being able to look after themselves or their families, always looking out to someone else for a helping hand. There is nothing wrong in seeking help, but it has to be for the right reasons, and not to make you even more dependent. All good entrepreneurs have mentors but the focus is different, it is about helping business people to be better and not dependent.

If you want to have overnight or instant success you need to work with people, and understanding people is the beginning of attaining your dream goals. In life you will get criticised, told off and so on by your parents, boss or whoever maybe close to you at any particular time.

I like the story from Steven K Scott, American businessman who after graduating from University went on to lose or be fired from his next 7 jobs all while in his early 20s! He described an incident where he was working for a large $multi million dollar firm and while working in the marketing department, he had this dilema of going it alone to setup a business of his own or stay with the employer. The VP of the company turned to him after he put forward his idea, he said, "I don't believe you will be able to make a success of your business, the challenge and everything else you will face". He then thought how could he make such a statement, this VP cannot predict the future, and certainly could not predict his. Steven Scott highlights in his book 'mentored by a millionaire' that when people criticise you and give negative feedback, you need to qualify it, for example, Not Qualified (NQ) means they have no knowledge or experience to judge or pass on comment to you. Somewhat Experience (SE) means they have some experience. Very Qualified (VQ) means they have a lot of experience and knowledge in that subject.

In this situation, Steven felt his VP was very qualified as he was the vice president of a large marketing company, but Not Qualified (NQ) to predict his future, no man or woman on earth could ever do that, not unless he/she was God! And there is my point, you need to qualify those you get advise from and those that criticise, as this will help you in pursuit of your success. Beit in an interview, at work, qualify the comments and believe in yourself. By the way, Steven Scott has since gone on to setup a $Multi Billion dollar advertising/marketing business.

And for the secret of success? There is no secret no matter what you read about all the famous people, the celebrities and so on, besides sheer hard work, and belief in your power as a human being to achieve whatever you conceive.

See you soon.

Femi Yusoof

2007-02-03T21:49:00.000Z

How To Get the Edge Over Your Competition

Just like in business you need to establish your Unique Selling Point (USP), as this will give you an advantage over your competitors. Determining your USP is about identifying your benefits, values that you have to offer the client. There is a lot to be said about not having to re-invent the wheel, that maybe true and why should you, however what i am saying is that in your job, career search when attending an interview you have to know in your mind and be clear as crystal what it is that makes you unique.

Remember, in an interview situation, you are the product offering to solve the customer's issue or problem, so your solutuion needs to have easily identifiable benefits, something of value that can assist the company you intend to work with. So next when you are in an interview, don't just mention platitudes for example, i have drive and ambition and so on, instead state examples, use stories, use 3rd party referrals or speak in third persons, as people are more likely to believe what someone else said about you than what you say of yourself, strange but true.

Some examples from the business world:
"4 Books for a $dollar" – Copywriter Maxwell Sackheim created Book of Month club, now the largest in the world. Other book clubs and publishers have modelled their marketing on this concept

"Buy 1 get 1 free" – Very successful USP coined by Mary Carter Paint company in the 50s and 60s.

"Pizza delivered in 30 mins or it’s free" – Unique USP invented by Founder Tom Monaghan, changed the pizza business. Responsible for huge success of Domino’s Pizza business worldwide.

"Sunglasses which protect your eyes" – Affordable sunglasses at $50 per glass, sold millions.

"Audio Tapes which inspires" – Nightingale Conant is the world’s largest company selling motivational material, selling products for the likes of Anthony Robbins and so on..

Now, i am not saying you should develop some fancy catchphrase which you then read off to your interviewer, no, not if you wish to be taken seriously. These are meant to show you examples of how they have worked successfully in the business world, and so i am just showing you why it is important you too think of your benefits, what it is you have to offer to your prospective client or company. The company is more likely to respect what you inspect as oppose to what you expect from them.

So how do you determine your USP? Write down the benefits and values you as a product have to offer on a piece of paper and focus on your achievements. Also when making your notes, think of how they can benefit your client or company, put the focus on the company, when you do this you are working with human relations, as Les Giblin says.

2007-01-25T17:13:00.000Z

How To Get To the Top of Your Profession

If you desire to reach the top of your profession, and perhaps have amibition of being a senior manager, associate director or indeed a director of your company, then you need to develop your people skills.

This is so key, Les Giblin, author of Skills with People, wrote: 'people skills are the key to life.' From the beginning of time, man has always been interested in himself/herself, and it will remain that way to the end of time. You do not need to be embarrased about realising this fact, it is just how it is.

You need to realise that man's actions are governed by self thought and self interest, you might have heard the 'WIIFM' - What Is In It For Me. Whenever you buy something, that is what goes through your mind, you say how can this be good for me, how can this benefit me and so on...

This trait is so strong in man that in charity the dominant thought is the feeling of goodness that the giver gets from giving, and not the gift, that comes second. So once you understand this principle, you can become better at talking with people, knowing how to set people's mood, knowing how to make people feel good, making a good first impression, knowing how to criticise people, knowing how to convince people is all part of people skills and if you have wishes of climbing the ladder of success you will need to know how to deal with people.

In your career and in life these are the same skills that you need. Think about it, the most high profile job on the planet earth is perhaps most will say being the president of the USA, the most powerful nation on earth. But, when you analyse the role for the presidency, what skills does he/she need, i mean there is no course in being a president is there, maybe we should have one, but there is none. It is the same skills we have been talking about all along, i.e. knowing how to communicate, being able to lead, being to sell your ideas, good organisational skills, good time management skills, and so on and so forth...And so you see if you want to reach the top you need to keep on improving your people skills, this is not something you pick up overnight, so you have to keep on learning. Most successful people are perpertual learners, so why not join them. They say a prudent person will profit from personal experience, but a wise will from others.

To wrap up this article, i will tell you the story of the swallows of Capistrano. Caspistrano is a small town in southern california. These tiny birds annually travelled 6000 miles from Buenos Aires in Argentina to San Juan Capistrano. For many years researches were baffled how these tiny birds could fly non-stop over open ocean, it was impossible they thought. Later, they discoverved that the swallows on their flight of migration, the birds carried tiny twigs in their beaks and would drop the twigs into the water and rest for a while before resuming their flight until they got to their destination.

So what does this mean? Basically, like the twigs are to swallows, so is people skills to people, a life raft in an ocean of constant change called life. You see, as human beings, we are all on a journey, migration called life. Therefore you need the people skills to keep you afloat, otherwise, you will may find yourself sinking.

There is plenty of room at the top, and it is the people skills which differentiates those climbing up and those hovering at the bottom.

How do you improve your people skills. Well i could go on and on about what you can do, but i will say essentially, you need to read motivational material and attend seminars as much as you can each year. Millions of people have read 'think and grow rich' by Napolean Hill, the wisdom is timeless, and what, for less than a £tenner, you get to learn about the life of a multi millionaire. There is a chinese proverb which says: 'if you wish to get to the top of the mountain, you need to learn from those coming back.' So keep an open mind and be teachable, a willingness to learn from your own experiences as well as others.

See you soon.

Femi Yusoof

2007-01-18T20:39:00.000Z

Use the “HIRE” rule to Win Your Dream Job

‘HIRE’ follows on from the rule of the 3 P’s. In order to have a successful conversation with another person, especially in an interview situation you need to apply the following:

Hear – The art of all successful conversation begins with first being able to hear the person who is talking to you

Interpret – This is the point at where you begin your analysis of what is being said, you need to first hear, and then interpret what is being said

Evaluate – This actually comes next in the sequence, after you have analysed the information, you must evaluate, it is at this point you begin to consider your response or answer.

Respond – The final part in the processing of the information is where you respond in kindness to the information given, by combining this with the 3 P’s you give yourself a far greater chance of obtaining your dream job. Essentially it comes down being polite, patient and persistence.

Femi Yusoof

2007-01-16T22:50:00.000Z

How to Handle Criticism In an Interview

Being criticised is something we all do as humans, though there is nothing wrong with this per se, it is how you do it that’s important. In Bob Burg’s amazing book ”Wining Without Intimidation” he says: “kiss ‘em before you kick ‘em” if only all managers use this technique they would get far greater results from their workers.

The problem with being criticised is that it can create some of the worst feelings any human can have as it strikes out the core of your confidence. And so you need to prepare for this and be able to deal with whatever is put your way.

People in positions of power often like to feel important and exercise that power often against another person’s well being. Now, any descent manager or wise person will realise you gain nothing from putting people down, in life you receive according to what you give and most ‘big’ people realise this.

But in an interview situation where you can be subjected to the most intensive of questions, and i know from personal experience, you need to understand why the interviewer may follow this path. More often it is to test your resolve under pressure, especially if the job you are applying for will demand that you are able to cope with a heavy workload, responsibility and meet set deadlines.

So with this in mind, you need to become like an ‘actor’ and put on your best performance, remembering that you are just playing a scene of a ‘pressure environment’, and it is not you personally that the criticism is aimed. Just like an actor who might be playing a scene, its temporary and the focus is on the end-result of producing the best performance. Having this mindset can help you too in dealing with difficult questions that get thrown at you.

Furthermore, remember most employers of any significant clout will not be too borthered about your failures if you can show that you have learned from the experience. History has shown you do not need to be a brain surgeon to succeed in life. Just check the background of some of the people on the world’s richest list. Employers want to know whether you have learnt from your mistakes, whether you are a soft cookie, remember success is about 90% people skills and 10% technical.

So focus on the positives and you will be able to handle any tough interview question.

Femi Yusoof

2007-01-12T13:55:00.000Z

How To Smartly Convince People

Did you know that you can get your colleagues or previous employer(s) to help in securing your dream job? How you might ask, well, when next you are in an interview and have to convince a prospective employer about your skills and ability you might just find this tip invaluable..

It is a simple technique that could apply to any area of your life, in your personal, business or in your career. For example, lets say you are being interviewed for a job as a Technical Writer with a large software house in the city.

Your prospective employer might ask you:

“What skills can you bring to our company?”

Don't just try and run down platitudes down the interviewer's throat, or try and argue your way which is what most people try and do. Instead:

You can respond by simply saying that:

“I believe I am the right person for this job, I have the experience, I am a certified technical writer with the ISTC (Institute of Scientific and Technical Communicators), In addition, in my previous job my employer constantly praised my work as it helped in dramatically reducing the amount of phone calls to our helpdesk. After 6 months of joining, I was offered a much senior position!”

Now how does that sound? You have done 2 things, you have re-affirmed your confidence in your own ability and also backed it up by using 3rd party referral, speaking in third persons i.e. using your employer to boost your credibility.

People amazingly are more likely to believe you if you use 3rd party referrals or speak through 3rd persons, as opposed to relying on just what you have to say about yourself. Why? Following on from the theme above, you are more likely to build rapport, probity or integrity when you talk in the 3rd person, and not talking about I, mine, me. It is just human nature.

However, there will come a time during the interview when you can talk about yourself, it's about being smart and remembering how human nature works.

So in order to add weight to your arguments or convince someone, always remember to use this technique. It can definitely increase your chances of success.

See you next time.

Femi Yusoof

2007-01-09T01:17:00.000Z

The Power of Self-Talk

This can often be a difficult task to deploy, especially when you consider we live in a world where we are constantly fed with negative information, either from the media, news on TV, friends and family.

So you need to build yourself up if you really want to land that dream job. You can achieve this by thinking of all the positive things you have done, your achievements, remember the last time you were given a praise, any positive in your life no matter how little can help in this process. It is the same with actors, when an actor has to play a sad scene on screen or stage and in that situation it might mean they have to shed some tears, I have heard some actors using a negative moment in their life, something that really hurt them, that caused them to cry. So they call upon that negative energy or situation so as to re-enact a scene.

You can use the same technique to work for you in an environment such as an Interview, where you need to be positive.

If you cannot think of anything, just say: “I am the best person for this job and I am going to get this job.” It is almost spiritual, a self - fulfilling prophecy if you like in how this works on your mind, you actually start to feel positive and powerful just by making an effort to change your state of mind. Like the great Henry Ford said: “If you feel you’re right, you’re right, and if you feel you’re wrong, you’re right.” If you go into an interview believing the job is yours, may not always work, but i guarantee you you are already a step up from your competition, with a far better chance of landing that dream job.

I believe Eleanor Roosevelt says it best: “No one can make you feel inferior unless you consent.”

So you have the power and ability to go out there and obtain your dream job, one that you and your family deserve.

See you next time.

Femi Yusoof

2007-01-08T08:47:00.000Z

The Magic of 3 P’s

The 3 P’s are a very important tool to have in your locker when dealing with people in business, relationships and in your career. It can be the difference in living the dream lifestyle you crave and deserve.

In Bob Burg’s amazing bestseller – “Winning Without Intimidation” he describes this communication tool as essential in being able to disarm the most difficult opponent and also capable of enabling you to win at the negotiable table.

The 3 P’s simply translates to being Polite, Patient and Persistence, applied in this combination can yield amazing results in conversation with people.

It’s subtle and yet most powerful to be applied in any scenario. The reason is because again as mentioned above if you are get what you want from a conversation with another person, especially a potential employer, you need to apply the rule of being polite, you need to be apply the rule of being patient and last but not least you need to be persistence.

When applied in this order it shows that you are doing what experts say you must do while having a conversation with people and that is to listen, when you listen you are more likely to respond as opposed to react.

Responding delivers a positive message, whilst reacting delivers a negative message.

For example,

When you go to your GP to discuss the outcome of the medication that had been prescribed to you, your GP will usually say something positive if the medicine has worked, e.g. You have responded well to the medication.

On the other hand, if the medication did not work or worse caused a negative result, your GP would say that, you have reacted poorly to the medication.

So, remember to be polite, patient and persistence and you will find yourself responding against reacting and be on your way to securing your ultimate dream job.

See you soon.

Femi

2007-01-05T22:19:00.000Z

How To Ask The Right Questions in an Interview

It has been said that success is 10% technical and 90% people skills. Therefore, if you are looking to secure your dream job you must aim to give yourself the best chance amongst the huge competition.

So how do you give yourself the best chance? Well, first of all, you need to build rapport (this was discussed in an earlier teleconference) and to do this requires that you talk and ask questions.

You must realise that the interviewer does not care much about what you expect as opposed to what you might inspect, doing this means you are working with human relations. Why? When you are expecting, it conjures desires about me, I, mine etc… And this is not building rapport. With all matters in life, it is about timing, you need to build rapport first before you discuss matters pertinent to you.

For Example,

Suppose you are a mother or father with children, and you are interviewing potential nannies that could help in looking after your kids.

First Nanny:
He/She discusses and reacts to all and everything about what they want, i.e. money, how much they would expect to get paid for the job, the size of the room they would expect to sleep in if you desire they live-in, time for themselves to relax, also time to go out for socialising. Would you offer them the job?

Second Nanny:
He/She looks to find out about you and the family, your kids, what the kids like to eat, what the kids like to wear and their favourite TV program etc… Would you offer them the job?

I know whom I would offer the job, and I am sure most if not all would offer the job to the second nanny, why? Because they have shown to understand human relations and have applied it by discussing you and your family and NOT I, me and mine.

Can you see the difference? Though quite simplistic in many ways when you concentrate on the person/company you are given the information needed to ask the right questions and this allows you to separate yourself from the rest of the bunch, meaning you are more closer to securing your dream job.

Femi

2007-01-01T19:35:00.000Z

"The Irrefutable Law of Success - It is about giving and not necessarily receiving."

First and foremost, happy new year and wishing you a prosperous 2007. It is that time of the year when people start to bring out their pens and pads and jot down their new year resolutions. Planning to cut out those bad habits which may have kept you back from achieving your goals, this could be anything, failing to apply for that dream job because fear of rejection, or holding back in asking your boss for a much needed pay raise or promotion in your job.

Do i believe in new year resolutions? Well, no, as experience has taught me otherwise. I have however discovered what works best is focusing on developing good habits and eliminating bad ones and then maintaining those good habits over a long period of time. Good habits are difficult to form and easy to let go, conversely bad habits are easy to form and harder to let go. If you are a smoker, you may relate to this or anyone who has tried developing a good habit. It is a subtle mind shift so instead of merely writing statements which by and large never get completely fulfilled it is best to focus on developing good habits and that way you will see your plans coming to fruition.

So how does success relate to giving or indeed your career, you ask? Well, massively, your success in life, business or career is directly related to what you give out, they are inextricably linked. Trying to defy this theory is like working against nature. You cannot get what you are not prepared to give.

You will find most successful people have increased their wealth and happiness from giving out either to charity or some other venture. Remember, success is not all about money, it helps a great deal, but by focusing on giving you can truly leave a legacy and be highly regarded among your peers.

Warren Buffet is the 2nd richest man on the planet, the man behind Berkshire Hathaway, the most expensive share on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). He is reputed to be worth $40 billion dollars, and recently donated $30 billion dollars to the Bill and Melinda Gates Charity Foundation, is that success or what? You bet it is, success is linked to what you are prepared to give away, and some have said, it is about what you are willing to keep behind. A pensioner prepared to give £100.00 is a great deal, £1000.00 on the otherhand to a millionaire is nothing.

So when you are next in an interview situation and asked whether you consider yourself successful, don't focus on what you have personally gained moneywise, rather put the spotlight on what you have given in terms of your contribution to the success of your company. Remember, service comes first and, remuneration second. Also, don't forget, you are the product and the client is the customer, so you have to show that you have their best interest at heart.

I shall leave you with some very wise words from one of the greatest leaders of the 20th century - Sir Winston Churchill - "Success is never final, failure is never fatal, it is courage that counts." A timeless piece of advice.

See you next time.

Femi

2006-11-23T15:32:00.000Z

"Join A Network Group And Save Yourself Legwork"

Think about this for a moment, everything you have done or ever achieved has come by making use of a network of people, contacts, colleagues and so on. A computer on its own is termed a 'dumb' terminal as it is unable to function like a computer that is part of a network. If you connect two computers together, you can share, garther, communicate, collaborate, develop and manage resources, increase business, are you getting the picture, your success in business or career is directly propotional to the size and quality of your network.

Need more proof? Well, ask yourself, why is the likes of Google and Rupert Murdock of Sky and others buying up online network communities otherwise known as social networking websites, paying $Billions of dollars for businesses that have only been around a few years, and predominantly online. It is primarily similar to the analogy of the computers in a network. Networking sites are a phenomenon which have gradually crept up on us allowing people to communicate, share, develop themselves personally and professionally, and also do business. Does that sound like an opportunity to you? It is a massive one, where the owners and investors can be the gateway, the main portal hub for people going online. I am sure you have heard of friendsreunited and spin offs that have created as a result, for instance, they have a job section for you to find jobs, so not only can you find friends and family, but you can find jobs, potential long term partners as well as opportunities to chat with people with similar interest.

So why is this is so important for you looking to become competitive and secure your dream job in the 21st century. Well the main reason is, your dream job and dream contact could be lurking on these networking sites. A growing number of savvy recruiters are now utilising these mediums to find their candidates, and so if you are not a part of the network you may loose out to other equally savvy candidates.

Even more wise, is to find niche sites for your interest or career, like engineers, they have the Institute of engineering and technology and various more specific sites. So you need to realise the importance of this so that you don't loose out on a big opportunity.

Networking sites are not the only thing you should be aware of, but also you need to be in tune with other sources of educational material or training, whatever it might be, you need to find a source you can rely upon when needed. For instance, if you need to learn or get your CV done, who do you turn to for advice? If you need a second opinion about a career move who do you ask? If you are looking for a top job, who do you speak with? And so on.. You see every successful business person has a network, it is what they use to save themselves legwork. Do you think Donald Trump, Sir Alan Sugar, Bill Gates, Prince Charles, Tony Blair, Your MD, Your Manager have a network, you can bet top dollar that they all have a ready stream of advisors to turn. So are they any different to you, maybe in terms of bank balance, besides this, ofcourse not. And so, does it not make sense that you have a team of your own. If you wish to get ahead in the 21st century job market you will need to assemble your own dream team.

In Tony Buzan and Raymond Keene's excellent book on geniuses, it's titled, "the book of geniuses and how to unleash your own". They describe the makeup or characteristics of leading world famous geniuses such as Albert Einstein, Michael Faraday, Charles Darwin, Andrew Carnegie, Leonardo da Vinci, Michealangelo, Abraham Lincoln, Dante Alighieri, Socrates, Plato, Achimedes and Aristotle to name but a few..One of the main features of life was that they were surrounded by brilliant minds or mastermind group as they put it in the book. For instance, Lao-Tzu had Confucius and Buddha, Plato had Socrates, Alexander the Great had Aristotle, and so on.. Bill Gates was not only surrounded by some of the brilliant minds on the planet he hired them too.

And so you see, this is a path well throudened, no need to re-invent the wheel. In order to get ahead in the 21st century job market, you need to surround yourselves with brilliant minds as well as contacts whom just might hold the keys to finding you your dream job.

Look forward to speaking with you soon on another exciting tip.

Femi

2006-11-15T09:38:00.000Z

"The strength of a man or woman is determind not by what he or she possesses, but by what it takes to discourage him or her...Author Unknown"

"Do not be afraid to make mistakes or fail."

This is the second tip as we discuss the most essential tips needed for securing your dream job and building a succesful business. Some people will agree with the above quote and some will not, and so although this post will be useful for anyone looking to learn the secrets behind getting ahead in the 21st century job market, it is more pertinent to those who might question the above statement.

And so you might say, you don't want to fail or you wish to avoid failing at all cost. Well if you take this view, and more importantly if you stick with this viewpoint then you are far likely to achieve less in your lifetime. So what would have been your legacy? Some people are just happy getting by, and it is the same people who wonder how these successful people manage to achieve so much and acquire far more. As you read on you will begin to discover how this is done, and what you need to do if you really want to compete in the 21st century job market.

As i have mentioned in previous posts, you are no longer competing with your neighbour(s), we live in a globalised economy which means that you are now cometing with candidates from around the world, and therefore you are going have to look at ways of improving yourself, gaining new knowledge and crucially learning how to market yourself far better than the rest of the competition.

For instance, i will always urge people to attend interviews, sometimes just for the sake of it, as it helps you in improving your skills and gives you more confidence for when you might really need to make that all important move! A lot of people get scared of interviews, and so how do you deal with this fear? The only way is to go for more interviews, as you will learn from your mistakes, it's like anything, the more you do the better you become. So don't be put off by attending interviews, it is part of your learning process, and it is important you view this as part of your learning. In the end you will become so good that you can teach other people. I speak from experience, as at one point in my career i was attending lots of interviews, it was a phase in my life when i was undecided about what i really wanted to do careerwise. The strange thing looking back now when i attended those interviews, some of which i was successful, and others where they said no, it has given me much confidence that i can show others, and almost like an expert in the field, reason i guess why i can share this post with you.

You see, if you are going to be successful at anything in life you need to do it regardless of the consequences, as human beings no one likes rejection, being told NO everytime, or having the phone dropped on you etc...But you have to go through this period in order to reach your destiny. I also read somewhere, if you are succeeding all the time then it probably means you are not trying hard enough or extending yourself. Real success is surviving, succeeding against all odds, isn't that why when we hear about people who have done so well in their lives, we scramble for their books and autographs. You see you can have success, anyone can claim relative success, but true admirable success comes from going the extra mile, going further than normal, being bold, underterred by negative comments or feedback, this shows courage, the ability to rise beyond the ashes of failure gets you far and way beyond others who are happy to stay safe. Indeed, Sir Winston Churchill was quoted as saying: "Success is going from failure to failure without loosing your enthusiasm". Success is the summation of all your failures. So be bold and dare to be different.

In John Harrison's excellent book: "How To Stop Working And Make A £Million Pounds Instead" he highlights this so well in a section of his book - it's ok to fail. He talks of Sir Richard Branson, apparently most of his Virgin businesses actually fail, but he remains one of the UK's richest men because his other businesses do far well than the ones that fail. Another person he mentioned, a personal favourite of mine. He is called the $billion dollar man because of his work for his clients over the years which has enabled him to arguably claim the title of World's highest paid self published author. If you want to learn anything about marketing you need to study Ted Nicholas, he really is the master. But apparently, despite all his successes he is perhaps responsible for more failed advertisements than any other author or copywriter in the world. So do you get the picture, the more you fail, the more you are likely to get nearer your goal, you have to try, banish that fear, look at every situation as a learning experience. A bit like children, we can learn a thing or two from them in the way they never seem to give up!

So the next time you have to attend an interview or make a presentation or whatever it might be, view it as a learning experience. No one knows it all, no matter how experienced or qualified they may be, so while you are on the journey called life, look at every encounter as an education. It will change the way you look at things and you just might be surprised at the results!

Femi

2006-11-09T08:40:00.000Z

"How To Develop Your Non-Financial Resources And Acquire Untold Riches"

This is the first of many job seeking tips which i will be discussing over the next few posts. They do not follow any particular order and so you can arrange them according to your own preference. It is not the position in which they appear as oppose to the wholesome importance of mastering these tips if you wish to get ahead in your career or indeed your business. By no means are these tips conclusive but they are essential if you wish to secure your dream job and have a successful career in the 21st century.

Some people might say why do i need to learn all this stuff and develop my non financial resource, if i have money and all the material things i need and want then surely i am fine, and with all intent and purposes a success. Well that might be true to a point but you miss the important message and potential long lasting success you can have if only you realise that you need to develop your innerself before you can be truly successful.

How many rich people have you heard of or seen on TV that just do not seem content or happy with their lot - the answer: loads. The issue is not that they don't have money or wealth etc...but they developed their financial resources before working on their non-financials, this is partly the reason why there is an ever growing increase of psychologists and rehab centres springing up everywhere.....

The Apprentice:

Do you remember watching the programme where contestants work at tasks with the aim of securing a lucrative job with a business tycoon. The UK version had Sir Alan Sugar as the tycoon, but it was something he mentioned which also proves this point, it was during one of the tasks when the budding apprentices were sent to an east end market to sell goods and beforehand, it showed Sir Alan visiting the market where apparently he had plied his trade and selling skills. He basically said, he could re-accumulate his wealth even if he had to restart all over again.

So why would he say that, initially, i thought this is a man with incredible riches and massive confidence in his ability. But, when you think of it deeply, you begin to realise that he could certainly do it, as what he has developed all those years growing up in the tough streets of the east end of London was his people skills, life skills, essential for the journey which is life. Therefore, i personally have no doubt in him when he says he could re-accumulate his wealth all over again.

What about Sir Richard Branson, Anita Roddick, Bill Gates, Ted Nicholas, George Soros, to name but a few, do you think they could re-accumulate their wealth if they all had to start over again? Ofcourse they can, they will obviously face challenges, but no more than what they have had to face in reaching the heights they have reached.

The Story:

To further show you how developing your non financial resources is critical to your success in your career or business i wish to share with you a story i came across from an excellent book i read, called Dream Making in a Dream Taking World, by Dr. Price. It follows and answers why you need to work on developing your life skills, your people skills, why for instance a lawyer might need to attend a workshop on communication skills, or why an engineer should read plays by shakespeare, or why an accountant should watch a DVD on leadership skills.

You may have heard of the story of the "swallows of capistrano". It is the story of these tiny birds on their migration habits. Each year, the swallows fly 6,000 miles from Buenos Aires, Argentina to San Juan Capistrano, in southern California. Most of the journey is over open ocean and for a long time Researchers could not work out how they managed this trip. The birds could not swim, and they could not fly 6000 miles non-stop.

It was later that Researchers found out that the swallows on their journey carried twigs in their beaks, and so when they got tired they would drop the twig into the water and float on them until they were rested. After a while, they would take off again until they reached their destination.

Like swallows, people are on a long journey, so like twigs are to swallows, soft skills are to people, without them, you are likely to sink! You see having life skills enables you to move from one career to another, they are portable, for example, if an auto mechanic suddenly decided to change career, and there is a good chance this might happen to you, long gone are the days of job for life, and all research shows that people are likely to change careers at least 10 times in their lifetime, and those are conservative estimates, it is the soft skills that will enable you to move on, as once you have the communication skills, the interpersonal skills to back you up the transition is easier.

Soft skills vs Hard skills

I am not saying that hard skills are non-essential ofcourse they are, if you are a car mechanic you need to know your hard job specific skills, and if you are an accountant the same applies or whatever career you are in, but the difference between those climbing the ladder of success and those stuck at the bottom of the ladder of success are the soft skills.

Those people with far developed people skills are likely to be in position of power and moving upwards in their careers. Let me give you a little assignment, in your company where you work try to examine your managers, directors and the CEOs of the business and try to determine what seperates them from the rest of the group, by and large you will find it is their soft skills, and not necessarily any particular hard skills. To be in a position of authority you need to have people skills, life skills to be able to manage, show vision and lead your team.

There is a great saying - the people that know the how's will always work for the people that know the why's. Not all the directors of a company will have the hard specific skills needed for their business to succeed, but i bet you they know a man who knows how! Look at our leaders today, presidents, prime ministers, they all have highly developed soft skills, i mean you can't do a course in how to be a preseident or how to become a prime minister. So what skills do you need for these roles, well it is exactly the skills we have been talking about, i.e. good organisational skills, good communication skills, good time management skills, good problem-solving skills, good sales skills, good listening skills and good leadership skills...So does it not make sense to work on developing your non-financial skills?.

Tony Buzan and Raymond Keene are world experts on the study of intelligence and IQ, you can look them up, they have produced hundreds of material on the subject of the brain and intelligence. In one of their studies they concluded that there were 10 types of intelligence, however only 2 gets tested most of the time, and so most of the tests we receive were not conclusive on a persons abilities. But they pointed out one characteristic which they regard as being key, and that was the interpersonal intelligence, this in short is the ability to relate to other people, and alongside this was the intrapersonal intelligence they described these 2 as perhaps most essential as they help in facilitating the other skills and intelligence that they mentioned (to be discussed in later posts).

It is really amazing stuff, and gives everyone hope, especially those who have been discarded or abandoned by the school system. If you read about most of the succesful people on earth, so many of them do not have high IQs in the traditional areas which are often tested in our schools, not that these are not important, they are, but it is to show you that having a high IQ or exceptional hard skills does not necessarily determine your success in work or business.

So how can you improve your non-financial resources, well some of the answers have been expressed already, but in all you need to develop your self help training. Self-help is essentially helping yourself to succeed, whether it is having a mentor, an advisor, consultant work with you you still need to be responsible for the design of your course, your training, where you go and what you read. Benjamin Franklin once said: "You will be the same in 5 years, except the books you read and the people you meet". I think that kind of sums it up. You need to learn from others, your peers and your mentors, a prudent person will learn from their own experience, but a wise person will learn from others.

Furthermore, you are likely to find, and this may prove controversial, that people with soft skills earn more money than people with hard skills. For a start all the directors, CEOs are people with soft skills. But you do the research yourselves, you are likely to discover all those sales related positions within your company are those with the highest wages and perks. I am also talking from experience having started my working career within a software company.

There are 3 main types of jobs, all coming under one of these three headings, you can disguise them all you like, it will fit under one of these: sales, administration and technical. All essential in any business, but somehow, the sales positions when you consider the OTEs etc.. earn far more.

Now does that mean we should all become salesmen and women, ofcourse not, but what i do mean, is we need to perhaps think more like salespeople, unfortunately sales staff get a bad headline, but if you think about it we are sales people, everyone lives by selling something. As a child you would have requested for your favourite toy or gift and somehow you were able to negotiate, setup a deal with your parent, in which they bought you the present, these are sales skills in action.

As we get older, we seem to loose these soft skills we had in abundance whilst growing up, however, unless you get specific training you loose it for good. Sales people on the otherhand get regular re-programming of these essential skills through tailored training for their jobs etc...And so it is no wonder why some of them are some of the highest paid people in business...So regardless of what you do, you need to basically learn these skills which sales people seem to have autonomy over, as these are the skills which will help you get a promotion, help you build confidence in yourself, help with your organisational skills, listening skills etc.. and more importantly could also help you in landing your ultimate DREAM job.

Finally, to wrap up this particular post, i would like to leave you with an excellent quote from Ansel Adams, it follows:

"You don't make a photograph just with a camera

You bring to the act of Photography all the pictures you have seen,

the books you have read, the music you have heard, the people you have loved."

Hope you enjoyed reading this post.

Femi

2006-11-08T16:49:00.000Z

“There is one quality that one must possess to win, and that is definiteness of purpose,
the knowledge of what one wants and a burning desire to achieve it.”

Napoleon Hill

Essential Tips for the 21st Century Jobseeker:

As mentioned in my first post, we are building a forum for you, mainly where everyone can learn and contribute their experiences within the job market. My personal experience as a recruitment consultant and more recently as an International consultant is that there is undoubtedly an abundance of highly gifted individuals out there all searching for their next career move or simply a new job.

However, the one thing that lets most down is their soft skills and ability to be able to market themselves effectively on a piece of paper. As any recruiter out there will testify, this can be so frustrating when working to targets and monthly deadlines, and you just cannot get the quality you need to secure the deal.

A lot of very good candidates do not get selected for jobs because of this situation as they knowingly or unknowingly do not tailor their CVs for the role they are applying for, and rely on a generic template to get them their dream job. It would seem attimes people can not be borthered with the bit of time it might take in updating themselves on paper and generally improving their skills.

Over the next few posts i am going to go into a bit more detail about some of the most essential job seeking tips you need to learn and develop if you are going to compete within the 21st century jobmarket. Most of this information has come from observing both the business and jobmarket world. Some of it will be what you already know, but i can promise that you will also be gaining a lot of new insight knowledge, ideas and information some of which will blow your mind! So sit back and enjoy the read, as always i look forward to hearing your sucess stories.....

Femi

2006-11-07T15:47:00.000Z

This is a forum where people can visit to learn and share their experiences of the jobmarket. As the world gets smaller with global competition right at our doorstep, you will need to develop new essential skills and techniques in order to compete. Your competition is no longer your next door neighbour but millions of highly educated and qualified graduates from around the world.

But do not despair, with the insight knowledge you will gain from visiting this site i am hoping it will empower you to take charge of your career and ultimately your destiny.

I will welcome all feedback, comments and any additional material which any viewer may see as benefiting other people with intention of learning about improving their lives and careers.

I will ofcourse aim to update this site as regularly as possible, so please remember to come back.

In addition, you will find useful links that offer amazing services, so take advantage of these opportunities.

Look forward to hearing your success stories.

Regards

Femi