The phone call

I'm reminded of a phone call we received a while back, from a potential client who apparently thought we were a placement agency. As our receptionist told the story, the caller said he "wanted us to put him in a job."
She explained that we don't just "put" people into jobs, but instead teach classes in managing your own effective and efficient job search campaign, including finding companies who might need your skills; preparing to interview and negotiate your best, etc... that essentially we help our clients find and land what is a great fitting job for them.
He replied, "that sounds like a lot of work." She replied, "well no, not really," and he added, "I mean I'll work really hard when I'm in a job - I just don't want to work hard to get one."

Another client reported back after an interview that she didn't get a marketing job that she wanted very much. Instead it had been offered to a candidate who brought a PowerPoint.

Not only does luck favor the prepared - in my experience the better jobs frequently go to the candidate that knows that how they conduct their job search is evidence to the hiring manager of how hard and smart they are going to work once they are on the job.

Priorities

I've wanted to do this for some time. Clients have been asking for it; friends have been suggesting it; my own thoughts and ideas have pressed me to be chronicled and shared. I must write a book... I need to start a blog. Each day I'd put it off, saying I don't yet have the time to start.

The quote of the day today caught me, and made me question my hesitancy:

"I still find each day too short
for all the thoughts I want to think,
all the walks I want to take,
all the books I want to read,
and all the friends I want to see."
- John Burroughs

So being the good coach I try to be to others, I made an observation and then asked myself a hard question. I believe that we prioritize to experience what we really want... and rationalize to avoid what we don't want. It's that simple. I heard myself say I didn't have time yet. Truth is, I wasn't owning my choice to make other activities a higher priority.

To quote a fabulous book I recently finished, It's All in Your Head : Thinking Your Way to Happiness by Stephen M. Pollan and Mark Levine: "we can have anything, we just can't have everything". (Stephen Wright adds, "where would you put it?") Whether or not we own our choices, we are making them.

So welcome to this first step, with which I begin my journey. Oh yes, and I will also frequently write about career coaching, the main subject of this blog, and the job that I absolutely truly love.