I am really excited about the next few weeks on the HigherEdCareerCoach podcast on BlogTalkRadio. I’m lining up some great guests from all over, and we’ll be talking about some really cool things.
This Friday (July 2) we’ll be discussing the difficulties some helping professionals have in accepting help, advice and coaching from others, and some ways that we can approach these situations and help.
Our guest will beSusan Giurleo, a psychologist, business consultant and marketer for health care professionals who want to diversify their income streams and utilize online tools to provide services and market their practices. Susan runs a therapy practice, Child Development Partners, but is also engaged in small business development, online health care, and social media marketing through her blog BizSavvyTherapist, where she teaches psychotherapists and other health care professionals how to ethically market and diversify income streams while utilizing online tools and social media. She is definitely an authority on helping those who may need help, but have issues admitting it. This should be an interesting conversation!
Please listen and call in your comments, thoughts, and questions to (347) 989-0055. You can also get to the show page by clicking the button below, where you can call in via Skype Click-toTalk, using the Blue S (Skype) logo button on the episode page.
We’ll also be joined by guest co-hosts Mickey Fitch and Dennis Charles, and talk about news, events, upcoming shows and the rash of new jobs people seem to be starting this month and next.
Job interviews can be a lot like stacking blocks. Once you have "just enough," it's time to stop.
Lately, I’ve been having some good discussions online, over e-mail, and on the phone with the participants of my 8 Weeks t0 August Career Coaching Program. It’s a small group but we are getting into the swing of things and hopefully having a program like this one, with 1-on-1 coaching, online activities and some dedicated times to have practice interviews, will help the participants find some clarity, focus their searches, and find great jobs by this September.
One of the topics we’re spending time with early on is obstacles.It’s hard to move ahead when you feel stuck, unless you can recognize the obstacles in your path, and clear them.
Since I’m not looking for work right now, I related something that I struggle with as a businessman, because it really isn’t that different from the things I struggled with in my job searches, and it’s this…
Saying just enough to answer the question.
Think about that for a minute.
Just enough.
In a job interview, your answers have to address the question, but beyond that, the issue that most of us struggle with is not coming up with a good answer. It is the “enough.” And more particularly, the “just enough.”
So when do you know when you’ve said enough?
Is it when you describe your job and your tasks?
Is it when you say something memorable?
Or is when you do both of the above, in ways that the interviewer will connect with?
Are your answers “connecting?” If not, where can you find clues on how to connect?
I’d love to hear your thoughts on this, and how you might apply the idea of “just enough” in your interview strategy. Please comment below and share your thoughts on how to say “just enough,” or share some of the obstacles you find yourself up against, and maybe we can help you figure out ways to get over them around them, or to go right through and smash them to pieces.
Sean Cook, M.Ed.
Sean Cook is a Life and Career Coach from Athens, GA. He attended Clemson University, where he earned his B.A. in Political Science (with a minor in Administration) and his M.Ed. in Counseling and Guidance Services (Student Affairs in Higher Education concentration.) Before founding Cook Coaching & Consulting Ltd., Sean spent 15 1/2 years working in higher education, mostly in residence life. His interest in coaching was a natural outgrowth of his personal experiences as a job seeker and his professional experiences as an advisor to college students and student organizations, and as a supervisor to students and young professionals from a variety of backgrounds.
Today, I am introducing a new regular feature on Higher Ed Career Coach. The “Who-Do Review” will profile people, websites and resources that are changing the way higher education works. This new feature grew from my series “How to Tell a Who-Do from a Guru,” which explores the differences between those we think of (or who call themselves) “gurus” versus those who are out there, doing the things they are passionate about, and trying to change the world.
Jeff Jackson and his regular contributors over at BreakDrink (Gary Ballinger, Julie Larsen, and Adrianne Dahms, among others) epitomize the groundbreaking spirit of the Who-Do, and so I’m glad to feature them in my first “Who-Do” Review. I’ll take nominations from here on out and try to feature one “Who-Do” each month. At the end of each year, we’ll choose a “Who-Do” of the Year.
Yes, I am making this up as I go along. But it’s a great idea, and I’d like readers to help me find future nominees, choose people and efforts to feature, and create a process for choosing the “Who-Do” of the Year.
But before we get started with that, there is a way you can help recognize the good work people over at BreakDrink are doing. They are conducting a fundraising campaign on IndieGoGo to support their efforts to offer future conferences and to produce podcasts on various topics of interest to higher ed professionals.
Please visit their campaign by clicking on the widget below, and make a donation. Then, come back here, comment on why you supported the campaign, and give me some suggestions for future people to feature, and any ideas you have about how to create a process for choosing the “Who-Do” of the Year.
In our era of budget cuts, travel freezes and furloughs, it’s challenging to innovate, create new programs, keep our departments adequately staffed, and offer professional development funding opportunities, like conferences and training. Innovation is key to survival, not only in individual careers, but in our field as a whole. On this Friday’s edition of the Higher Ed Career Coach Show, I’ll be talking with Jeff Jackson and others about BreakDrink.Com. We’ll talk about BreakDrink’s upcoming conferences, their expanding lineup of podcasts, and their IndieGoGo Fundraising Campaign. We’ll also be taking calls on this topic, BreakDrink, and suggestions for future people and programs to profile as a part of the “Who-Do” Review series.
These days, you couldn’t swing a LOLCAT anywhere on the internet without banging kitty right into someone pitching themselves as a “guru” of something or other. I’ve become especially aware of this as a new business owner, because people call me to pitch this-and-that, and probably some of the other.
Some examples:
I had a nice lady from a major search engine optimization (SEO) company explain their service and promise to get me to page 1 on Google and entrench my brand, for only $9000 a year.
I signed up for a coaching client management and referral website (for a small monthly fee) that promised to get me new clients and improved SEO rankings. Before they had even sent me a referral, they sent out a message to all their members saying they’d want 20% of a client’s fees for a year for referring someone. I wrote them a pointed-yet-polite you-can-kiss-my-ass comment. I didn’t cancel the service yet, because I am showing up better in search, but honestly, I know I can design a better client management system using Moodle, a blind web designer, and maybe some monkeys. And Moodle is free and easy to install.
I’m constantly getting messages from coach training programs, companies that sell skill assessments of various kinds, web designers, social media consultants, etc., etc. and on and on…
In a couple of earlier posts, I explored what it means to be a guru, versus a “who-do” (i.e., someone who does what they are passionate about, for the sake of doing it, rather than someone who is revered for having some secret source of knowledge, or who promote themselves as such.)
So if you’ve been reading along, you probably won’t be surprised to hear that I think these people are full of shit, and that I’m not really interested in working with them for the long haul. At least not on their terms. If the cost of doing business is negligible and I am willing to pay for benefits that I actually receive, then fine, I’ll put up with some of the annoying BS. At least until I find something better.)
Who have I found to help move my sites and my business forward? Who do I trust to guide me? Where do I take my questions and concerns? How am I learning to be a better businessman, and a better coach?
You.
I learned it by watching you! And talking to you. Or exchanging e-mails. Or subscribing to your blogs. From the co-creative procress. From finding, and interacting with, communities that share my interests and passions.
My involvement in several communities has shown me the way forward, because I have connected with people who are interested in not just the content, but in the communities I serve.
When I got mired down, I found guest bloggers and radio show co-hosts and guests from the Student Affairs Chat community on Twitter.
When I needed fresh perspectives or to stretch myself to understand new and different things, I’ve done guest posts and had guest posters. I’ve tried to plug in to the community and connect around professional issues.
When I needed to understand the needs and desires of job seekers, I joined discussions on Twitter, Linked In and Brazen Careerist, and even gave some free coaching (online and over the phone) to some people met in these places.
When I needed to understand more about business and marketing (and selling), I joined the Third Tribe, a great membership group dedicated to helping people connect with their audience in authentic ways, instead of being annoying. In this group, I get to interact with interesting people like Chris Brogan, Brian Clark, Darren Rowse, Sonia Simone, Chris Garrett, and other top thinkers in social media, business and blogging. That was the selling point for me. What I didn’t expect was all the incredible people in the forums and how affirming it would be just to be there, read about their issues, peek over their shoulders (so to speak) as a community helps them dissect their issues, understand them, and suggestions to get them unstuck and help them move forward. And even though I am a coach, I didn’t expect to be helpful to anyone, but I’ve been surprised a few times already by how easy it is to help others…not by being smarter than anyone (I wouldn’t dare) but by being encouraging and helpful, a decent listener and a helping hand. The power of joining such a group is incredible, and I gladly signed up to be an affiliate. If you are interested in learning more about how to join the Third Tribe, let’s connect. You can always click on the banner ad on HigherEdCareerCoach, but I’d want to talk with you first so you coud really make an informed choice. For me, it’s the best money I have spent on my business development so far.
The lesson here is the same one I learned long ago in a reading from the Elders of the Hopi Nation. I used to read it at the beginning of staff training, to emphasize the power of working together toward community. To summarize the quote:
“The time of the lone wolf is over. Gather yourselves!
Banish the word struggle from your attitude and your vocabulary.
All that we do now must be done in a sacred manner and in celebration.
We are the ones we’ve been waiting for.”
Higher Ed Career Coach Sean Cook delivers a brief introduction to his “8 Weeks to August” Career Coaching Program and his professional and personal motivations for offering it.
Registration for My “8 Weeks to August” program
closes today (Friday, June 10, 2010).
If you are still seeking a job in higher education,
you still have a chance to register at
I will not be extending the registration period past today (Friday). It will automatically close at midnight, or when the registration cap (20 participants) is reached.Why? Because I want to get started, and those who have already registered probably would, too.
As mentioned in the video, please do not let financial concerns determine whether you join this program. If you want to be a part of this inaugural program, just sign up! If you can pay some part now, that’s cool. We’ll figure out the rest later. I’m also offering a money-back guarantee if the program doesn’t work for you, so the money part is neither here nor there to me. Let’s just make this an engaging, interactive, fun, informative and useful experience for all who participate. The rest will fall into place as it should.
So go ahead and register, and let’s get you back in the hunt, and on to a new job this fall!
Sean Cook, M.Ed., Certified Life Purpose & Career Coach, Publisher & Lead Writer
Sean Cook is a Life Purpose and Career Coach who specializes in working with job seekers in higher education. Prior to becoming a Certified Coach through the Life Purpose Institute, Cook earned his M.Ed. from Clemson University, and spent over 15 years working as a student affairs professional.
You can listen to Sean every Friday at 11 a.m. Eastern on His Higher Ed Career Coach Show on BlogTalkRadio.Com.
Today, we’ll be discussing more about the art and practice of the “elevator pitch,” as well as exploring essential interview skills for today’s job seekers. Listeners are also welcome to call in their questions and comments to (347) 989-0055, or by clicking on the Skype “click to talk” logo at the page for today’s episode.
Work with Sean. I help higher ed professionals take control of their careers with tailored services including resume and CV development, LinkedIn profile optimization and networking strategy, interview coaching, and one-on-one career guidance.
