Stuff HappensWritten by Dave Balch
Stuff happens. You can't always be perfect, and people don't expect you to be, but when something goes wrong you have a great opportunity to learn a number of interesting things about people in general and yourself in particular, as well as how to handle such situations. As an example, here's something that recently happened to me.I have a free newsletter that I send by email. When someone signs up for it at my website, I send them a "Welcome" message to thank them for subscribing and to send them most recent issue. Last week I accidentally sent this "Welcome" message to my entire list of over 2500 existing subscribers in 20+ countries! I realized what had happened within 5 minutes, and immediately sent a message to entire list (on purpose this time!) to apologize and not to worry; they were not on list twice and would not be receiving duplicate newsletters in future. The reaction was immediate and surprising, to say least. One of first to respond told me that he never subscribed (remember, this message was thanking people for subscribing), that I better not charge him for it or he will report me to FBI (!), and that I was a "stinking con-artist". What made this especially interesting is that this particular individual has been receiving my newsletter every other week for over a year!!! Several others told me that they never subscribed and to remove them from list. Again, all of them had, in fact, subscribed and had been receiving newsletter for many months. (I have never nor would I ever send newsletter to anyone who hadn't specifically requested it.)
| | What's a Career Coach? Do I need one?Written by Deborah Walker
You may have noticed one of latest trends in career management is to have your own career coach. It's not really a new concept. Executives have known for years value of investing in expertise of a career professional. You may still wonder, "What's a career coach?" and more importantly, "Do I need one?"The best way to illustrate value of a career coach is to compare them to personal trainers. Anyone can go to a gym and work out. Having a personal trainer is not a prerequisite to fitness. The value of a personal trainer is that he/she helps their client achieve their fitness goal quicker and with better results. Similarly, a career coach accelerates job search process resulting in significantly higher starting salary. A job-search campaign demands specific skills such as resume and cover letter writing, networking, interviewing and negotiations. The best jobs don't necessarily go to most qualified, but rather, to those with sharpest job-search skills. An effective career coach provides expert advise, insight and training on these essential skills giving their clients a tremendous competitive advantage. The most effective job-search campaign has a strategic marketing plan and focus. No corporation would launch a new product without a marketing plan. Every phase is carefully orchestrated to maximize sales results. A career coaches can help you develop an action plan designed to 1) uncover more job leads, 2) secure more interviews, 3) maximize interview results, 4) increase number of job offers, and 5) significantly increase your salary.
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