Monthly Archives: July 2011

Dealing with disappointment! So, you didn’t get the job!

Posted on 29 July 2011 by | 2 Comments

If you look at Dave’s page today you’ll see he has had a disappointment.  He didn’t get the school administrator job he applied for.  He just missed out to a younger candidate with more direct experience.  The panel thought he interviewed well, but of course he is very disappointed.

When you are looking for work, in the world as it is now, you have got to get used to knock-backs. It is how you handle the news that is all important.

First, don’t take it personally.  Panels make decisions based on what they read and what they made of you at the interview, sometimes supplemented by the results from an assessment centre. They then make a subjective judgment about the best fit for the role.

Their judgement is about a particular role, at that point of time, in their view; it is not about your value as a human being.

Second, use this as an opportunity to learn.  Get all the feedback you can from the panel. If they don’t offer you an opportunity to discuss your application and the interview, then ask for one.  You will find most reputable organizations will have a discussion with you, if you have got to interview stage.

Their feedback is valuable.  Try not to be defensive, take a deep breath and listen as objectively as you can to what they have to offer. But weigh their views up yourself; don’t just take it a face value.  Do you agree with what they say?

After your discussion, send a thank you note to the hiring manager, the recruiter, or who ever took the timeout to give you feedback.

The reason you doing this isn’t out of sheer politeness.  They may have already offered the job to someone but that person may change their mind and never start the job. Or the person may take the job but prove to be unsatisfactory. It happens more often than you think.

Filling a job takes an employer a lot of time and energy. Staff time for interviews plus the cost of posting the job, etc. is expensive for most employers. Your thank your discussion plus your thank you note will remind them of you, particularly, if you include a request that they get in touch with you if the situation changes or another job becomes available.

Take some time out to reflect positively on the experience you have been through and what you have learned from it.  Now it is time to move on!  Sometimes things just happen!  You can’t change what has gone before, but you can make sure that your reaction turns into two steps forward and not one step back.

Have you bounced back from rejection?  Do you have good advice for Dave?  We would love to hear from you!

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I am Wendy Mason and I work as a personal and business coach, consultant and blogger.  I have worked with many different kinds of people going through personal  and career change. If you would like my help, please email me at wendymason@wisewolfconsulting.com or ring ++44(0)2084610114 or ++44(0)7867681439.  I will be very pleased to hear from you.
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Dealing with disappointment! So, you didn't get the job!

Posted on 29 July 2011 by | 2 Comments

If you look at Dave’s page today you’ll see he has had a disappointment.  He didn’t get the school administrator job he applied for.  He just missed out to a younger candidate with more direct experience.  The panel thought he interviewed well, but of course he is very disappointed.

When you are looking for work, in the world as it is now, you have got to get used to knock-backs. It is how you handle the news that is all important.

First, don’t take it personally.  Panels make decisions based on what they read and what they made of you at the interview, sometimes supplemented by the results from an assessment centre. They then make a subjective judgment about the best fit for the role.

Their judgement is about a particular role, at that point of time, in their view; it is not about your value as a human being.

Second, use this as an opportunity to learn.  Get all the feedback you can from the panel. If they don’t offer you an opportunity to discuss your application and the interview, then ask for one.  You will find most reputable organizations will have a discussion with you, if you have got to interview stage.

Their feedback is valuable.  Try not to be defensive, take a deep breath and listen as objectively as you can to what they have to offer. But weigh their views up yourself; don’t just take it a face value.  Do you agree with what they say?

After your discussion, send a thank you note to the hiring manager, the recruiter, or who ever took the timeout to give you feedback.

The reason you doing this isn’t out of sheer politeness.  They may have already offered the job to someone but that person may change their mind and never start the job. Or the person may take the job but prove to be unsatisfactory. It happens more often than you think.

Filling a job takes an employer a lot of time and energy. Staff time for interviews plus the cost of posting the job, etc. is expensive for most employers. Your thank your discussion plus your thank you note will remind them of you, particularly, if you include a request that they get in touch with you if the situation changes or another job becomes available.

Take some time out to reflect positively on the experience you have been through and what you have learned from it.  Now it is time to move on!  Sometimes things just happen!  You can’t change what has gone before, but you can make sure that your reaction turns into two steps forward and not one step back.

Have you bounced back from rejection?  Do you have good advice for Dave?  We would love to hear from you!

Related articles
I am Wendy Mason and I work as a personal and business coach, consultant and blogger.  I have worked with many different kinds of people going through personal  and career change. If you would like my help, please email me at wendymason@wisewolfconsulting.com or ring ++44(0)2084610114 or ++44(0)7867681439.  I will be very pleased to hear from you.
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The Dangers of Social Media

Posted on 27 July 2011 by | Leave a comment
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I love social media – Twitter, Linkedin, Facebook etc.  Those I’ve tried, I love, most of the time!

Of course, I’m aware of the dangers and, yes, I have come unstuck before.  There are a number of us using Twitter who were taken in by a fraudster claiming to do good works.  I learned the hard way not to take people at gravatar value.

I know about the dangers of meeting up but by following the rules about first meetings in public, etc, I’ve met some smashing people and made some real friends.

But today I had my first really negative experience.  I realised the power of the medium and felt quite intimidated by it.

I received a series of what I considered to be fairly “spammy” messages from one particular network (not one of those named above).  I tried to unsubscribe from these particular messages but it wasn’t easy and for some reason it didn’t work.  In all honesty I don’t think the originator of the messages intended them to be anything but helpful and good natured.  But I was very tired of it.

So I sent off a fairly abrasive message and copied it to others. Next I get what I found a fairly sinister message from someone pointing out that by sending such a message I might be damaging my business.  Then I get other messages more or less raising questions about my professional judgement and credibility.

I was left feeling very threatened, realising that it wouldn’t be hard for a few words here and a few words there on social networks to be very damaging indeed.

I’ve taken my own actions to remedy this. And as I mention above I don’t think the writer of the original message meant to do anything but good.  However I am left chastened and wary.

There is huge power in these tools that we are beginning to take for granted.  I, for one, will be much more careful how I engage in future and I will certainly research any network I think of joining quite carefully before signing up.

And I think I need to remember another lesson or two, abrasive messages are much better not sent and, if you were foolish enough to send one, please don’t copy them to others!

 
I am Wendy Mason and I work as a personal and business coach, consultant and blogger.  I have worked with many different kinds of people going through personal  and career change. If you would like my help, please email me at wendymason@wisewolfconsulting.com or ring ++44(0)2084610114 or ++44(0)7867681439.  I will be very pleased to hear from you. I offer half an hour’s free telephone coaching to readers of this blog who quote WW1 – email me to arrange.

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Retirement – What do I do now?

Posted on 26 July 2011 by | Leave a comment

Not everyone leaving the public sector will be looking for work.  I suspect many of those taking early retirement may choose not to work again.

Some people plan their retirement many years ahead.  They have very definite views on what they are going to do and how they plan to live their lives.  They leave work, start to put their plans into action and away they go.

For others it just isn’t as simple as that.

Some people have made no plans at all beyond work. Quite often they are people who are not really choosing to go.  They may be going as a result of reductions in the workforce, or because partner and family have pressured them to go, or because it is financially advantageous to go.  But their heart isn’t really in it and they would much prefer to go on working.

For others, well once they have left work,  life is just so very different to how they expected and they just don’t get round to putting their plans into action.

But retirement presents you with lots of possibilities, even without a lot of money.

I know someone who found it felt like being sixteen again with lots of choice but not in terms of career.  There were so many things she could do – all she needed to do was to make a choice.

For you, now might be the time to try something completely different, just to see if you like it.

For example, you could take some classes.  There are still lots of adult education classes around and many give concessions to people not working.  You could take music or acting lessons.  I know one seventy year old who wouldn’t be without her dance classes.

There are the obvious fitness, gardening and cooking courses, of course. You could set yourself a goal and make a plan for the standard you want to achieve or simply study something obscure to surprise, delight and sometimes, just sometimes, bore your friends and relatives.

There are all kinds of clubs and societies to join that you can find out about at the library or on line.

Volunteering is an excellent way to get out and meet new people – you can do interesting things and be part of a community.  This is particularly important if many of your friends up to this point have come from work.  Find a cause you can commit to and make an offer of help. You will find a list of charities in the library.

 

One thing you should definitely do is to create a “Bucket List“, a book list, a travel list or any list of your choosing.  But it is something you then work to complete adding to it as the whim strikes you, of course.

I think it really helps to have some goals and some structure to your days once you retire. It is very easy to become depressed and just sit at home watching day time television.

You may need to manage a partner or spouse’s expectations as well.  Of course retirement should mean more time to be together if that is what you wish.  But you will be more interesting for each other if you have some interests of your own as well.

I would welcome you views on all this and the thoughts and tips of those who are already out there enjoying a full and happy retirement.

 
I am Wendy Mason and I work as a personal and business coach, consultant and blogger.  I have worked with many different kinds of people going through personal  and career change. If you would like my help, please email me at wendymason@wisewolfconsulting.com or ring ++44(0)2084610114 or ++44(0)7867681439.  I will be very pleased to hear from you. I offer half an hour’s free telephone coaching to readers of this blog who quote LTPS1 – email me to arrange.

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Becoming A Leader Today – What to give up!

Posted on 25 July 2011 by | 5 Comments

Whether you are new to leadership, or an established leader taking time out to reflect, it is worth considering your leadership style.  A summer break provides a great opportunity to contemplate lessons learned and the opportunities ahead.

What kind of leader would you like to be? Here are some thoughts on changes you might make and some things you might like to consider giving up!

  1. Give up talking down! Has your approach always been focused top-down with instructions flowing from the “top floor” to the rest of the organization?  Now is the time to go for a more collaborative approach!  Have you got the confidence to build discussion into your decision making process?  Try it and see whether you get more or less engagement from your team. Of course if it doesn’t work you can always revert, but I bet you won’t want to.
  2. Give up revolution and go for evolution.  If you want to change the team, try focusing on their strengths and build on them. You have a much better chance of getting the results you want if you start small and build on your successes rather than setting out to ‘rock everyone’s world.’
  3. Give up coercion and start changing from within. Stephen Covey states in his change theory that ‘change occurs on a broken front.’  Not everyone on your team will be where you are and some may not want to change at all. Start with those who are likely to come on board most easily and get them to change. Then help the change seep out to those who are less enthusiastic.  This is likely to be much more effective than forcing people to do something and then hitting a wall.
  4. Give up hypocrisy.  Model in yourself how you want people to be. If you expect people to make positive changes, they need to see it in you.  Set yourself as the example and be visible doing what you’ve asked others to do. You’d be surprised how good the human race is at imitation!
  5. Give up taking things for granted!  Make sure that as the ‘right’ things start happening, you recognize the efforts of those who have made it happen.  You’ll find that those who want recognition will work harder for more of it, and push others as well.

There are  other changes you may want to make in yourself as leader.  Give yourself some time for reflection and see what you come up with.  If you are an established leader and want to reflect on your approach in depth then try the mini-stocktake  you will find at this link .

Whichever approach you take, I’d love to hear about your results.
I am Wendy Mason and I work as a personal and business coach, consultant and blogger.  I have worked with many different kinds of people going through personal  and career change. If you would like my help, please email me at wendymason@wisewolfconsulting.com or ring ++44(0)2084610114 or ++44(0)7867681439.  I will be very pleased to hear from you. I offer half an hour’s free telephone coaching to readers of this blog who quote WW1 – email me to arrange.

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