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Some Quick Updates

by | Oct 8, 2010 | Higher Education, Job Search, Podcast, Who-Dos

Things have been really busy lately and so today we did not have a podcast. I will try to return next week and start getting on a more regular schedule again. I am looking for guests, but have a few tentative topics lined up. Here are a few quick updates on some things worth checking out in the meantime. Thanks for visiting!

  • I found a great new web service called paper.li that lets you enter your Twitter username or a hashtag or a Twitter list and it automagically makes an online “newspaper” out of the links shared on those streams. I set one up for my @hiedcareercoach account, and for the hashtags #sachat and #saplacement. Check them out.
  • I never announced that I did choose LeaderShape for recognition for the August Who-DO award. I am going to finally get my act together in the next week to post a “who-do” award page and to actually send out the awards to the recipients so far. I plan to announce the September Who-Do next week. There won’t be a poll this time, because I have already chosen who to recognize. Polls will continue in the near future.
  • I am planning another hybrid coaching program to begin soon, and go through the placement season. I’m collecting information on people who might be interested through a new list. If you are interested in learning more, sign up here.
  • Look for more information about webinars on resumes, networking and job interviewing soon.

Violence on Campus

by | Sep 30, 2010 | Podcast, Student Affairs

This week’s incident at the University of Texas at Austin probably hit a nerve for many of us who work in student affairs, because we are often called to assist in responding to the practical and emotional impacts of violence on campus.

Every time something like this happens, I respond in two ways:

  1. Go into an autopilot sort of mode while responding to what everyone else needs.
  2. Push aside thinking about it as much as possible, until I crash.

The first way is clearly healthier than the second, but for me at least, both are entirely necessary for maintaining focus. And generally, I have done this well.

During my career in Residence Life, I was called on to respond to a few high-profile emergencies:

  • Incidents in the halls in response to the first so-called ArtsFest Riot
  • A completed suicide and the follow-up around it
  • The aftermath of an on-campus shooting

Dissecting this event is inevitable, and the supposed warning signs that people will parse over and second guess have already begun. I’m not sure what all the answers are, but I’d like to create an opportunity to talk about this, share experiences and process.

So I want to open up the conversation a bit to our readers and listeners. This Friday’s edition of my  BlogTalkRadio podcast will be dedicated to discussing Violence on Campus, how to be prepared, how to respond, and how to work through it when you have to push your needs aside and take care of others.

Listen to internet radio with Sean Cook on Blog Talk Radio

It's Never Too Early to Get Your Act Together!

by | Sep 28, 2010 | Coaching

Are you planning to job search this year? Placement may seem a long way off, but the truth is that the most prepared candidates start early, get a lot of feedback, expand their networks continually, and devote themselves to the search as a job, in and of itself.

Since last spring, I have offered a few small group experiences, including a job seekers group, and a self-paced “hybrid” program that featured both online activities and 1-on-1 coaching, including personalized resume and cover letter assistance, mock interviews, and personal coaching throughout the process.

Both my free and paid offerings seemed to help job seekers, but the “hybrid” program seems to have been the most helpful to the clients who participated. Four persons enrolled in my “8 Weeks to August” coaching program, which was aimed toward seekers who found themselves “stuck” after the conference season ended, and summer  began.

Of the participants in the last program:

  • One dropped out without doing any of the activities.
  • One got a job, and
  • The other two have been consistently getting interviews, and will hopefully be employed soon. I believe wholeheartedly that they will, because they have made great strides and interviews keep coming in.

Since my goal was to have both of these people employed by the end of this week, I e-mailed them Monday to see if they wanted their money back, because I believe in guarantees. I couldn’t guarantee these clients a job. But I did guarantee them satisfaction with their progress, and I am only as good as my word.

Since I’ve had an opportunity to evaluate the different programs, I am going to revise some of the content and format, and offer a new program that will last from now until May. I’m calling it the “Placement Partner” Coaching Program. At the end of May or beginning of June,  I will again offer a program more geared toward the needs of job seekers who find themselves “stuck” without a job after the Spring 2011 recruitment period ends.

Right now, I am gathering information on persons who might be interested in this type of program, so I can tailor a couple of levels of participation, and create programs at different price points. My goal is to have programs that will meet the needs of job seekers at different levels, and to offer a value that far exceeds the cost of entry.

Sign up using the form below to be notified when more details become available. It’s free and you will also receive our regular e-mail newsletter. There is no obligation, and you can opt-out at any time.

I look forward to helping student affairs job seekers this year. Sign up below and forward to others who might be interested.Thanks!

Back on the High Horse I Rode In On

by | Sep 23, 2010 | Podcast

Hey everyone, it’s late September, and Friday morning, I am back for a new season of my BlogTalkRadio podcast after a hiatus since early August. I didn’t really plan on being away that long, but August and September have been full of busy. Since most readers of this blog work in higher ed, or aspire to, you know what the first month or so of the academic year can do to you, and how quickly your best laid plans, and best intentions, can get swept away along with your usually productive routine.

I’ll let you know what I’ve been up to lately, and I would love to hear from you about how Fall is starting off in your neck of the woods. Do you have some great stories to tell? Some gripes to vent about? Some advice you critically need? Call in, and maybe I can help you with your Fall kick-start. I bet some listeners can also offer you some great advice. So call in to 1 (347) 989-0055 or via the Skype click-to-talk logo once the show is on the air.

We’ll talk about how August and September can consume you, getting back in the saddle, and the transition issues that higher ed professionals, college students, and their families go through during fall. This show will be a stream-of-conscience free-for-all, hopefully with callers. It’s just been too long. I had to get back on the horse. So tune in for insights, rants, weak attempts at comedy and maybe a few special offers. I’ll be winging it!

Listen to internet radio with Sean Cook on Blog Talk Radio

Building a Purposeful Business to Help You Build a Purposeful Career

by | Sep 7, 2010 | Coaching, life purpose

Today’s post is part 2 of a series about the purpose behind HigherEdCareerCoach.Com and the different ways the site and my business are evolving to meet the needs of higher ed job seekers. Consider it a rough draft “blog manifesto” or sorts.

What you need to know about me:

  • I believe that my purpose in life is to help others along their life and career journeys.
  • I’ve helped many, many people get jobs and get into grad school, and to figure out where they are going in their lives and careers.
  • I am mostly interested in helping educators, artists, musicians, and other creators, who keep pushing people, discussions and our culture along.
  • I believe that knowing your purpose is not enough. You have to find the right way to express it. And for some of my clients, the answer is to not work in higher ed, go to grad school, be an artist or a musician, but something else. If I can help point them away from a wrong turn and be okay with the alternate route, I’ll be happy with that, as well.
  • I got to a point a couple of years ago where I knew that I enjoyed doing this coaching thing more than the job I was doing, and that it was time to move on. There were other personal motivations, too, including decreasing my stress, spending more time with my partner and kids, and living closer to our aging parents and the rest of my extended family. I want to help people who may be similarly stuck know that it’s okay to change your plans and do something different.
  • Residence Life is a high burnout field, and I got to a burnout point with it. Then I got over the burnout, and was happy. And people were happy with me. And I felt like I had done what I came to Penn State to do. And I wanted to leave on good terms, because I love that place, and the people there, just like I love my family (dysfunctions and idiosyncracies notwithstanding.)
  • Once I set a few things in motion, before I knew what had happened, all the sudden, it was time. So I took a leap of faith. And I am happier in my life and career, and get to focus more on what I am meant to do on this Earth, and how I am going to do it. I’m read to help people explore their moments of career serendipity, so that when things come together, they can be ready to take their own leaps.

Which brings me to the whole business thing. Like I said, I have money. It’s not about money. But on principle, I can only justify following my dreams if I maintain the quality of lifestyle my family has, and have a stable enough income to retire one day. I have room to wiggle now, and to figure it out, but I really don’t want to spend my retirement (if there ever is one) living on the street.

So here are the critical points you need to know about me, my sites, and my business.

  • I’m not motivated by money in the strictest sense, but I do want to have a sustainable business that delivers value and creates regular income, because (like most people), I value stability and want to give that to my family. They deserve it for putting up with me!
  • The articles and advice you get on the blogs will continue to be free as long as I can manage to keep putting good content out there and justify the costs of hosting the sites. In some cases, I pay my writers, because this is a business, and their writing keeps your eyeballs on the page and gives my business exposure while actually providing you some value, through different perspectives and ideas. In other cases, I trade posts with other education bloggers and coaches, or accept submissions based on a particular topic (for example: Monday Morning Quarterback columns.)
  • Other services will cost you money. (Resume reviews, coaching sessions, webinars, publications, and eventually one or more members-only sites and coaching programs.)
  • I’m not outrageously priced, but I am not cheap, either. I do have “friends and family” discounts, package rates, and a variety of products and services, either currently available or in development, and I’m developing more short-term and one-time opportunities to meet the demand for low-cost services.
  • I will continue to have some sorts of advertising on my site and more often than not, this advertising will be for affiliate programs I am a part of, for products that I use, have used, want badly (like an iPad) or just think are good. If you buy something from a link or an ad on my sites, chances are, I will earn some money from the transaction.
  • I’m going to stop hinting and start selling, because I want to stay busy with the coaching, help people and support my family. In other words, it’s time to really move from being an aspiring businessman to an actual one.
  • I’m going to enlist your help. Why? Because I believe the assistance of my readers, professional community, and other people and websites I admire can help me improve the sites and give you more of what you want and less of what you don’t, because I don’t want to annoy you and I do want you to keep coming back.

Here are some upcoming things you will see on the sites, as a result of the “course corrections” to get my sites and my business moving forward:

  • I will be placing more prominent links and buttons on the sidebar to encourage people to consider working with me as a coach. No more hinting. If you are a job seeker in higher ed, I want your business. But if you only come to read, that’s cool too. But if and when you are ready, I want to be at the top of your mind. If you know me and trust me already, then that’s a good start, and I’ll take it.
  • You’ll continue to see e-mail list sign-up forms in the sidebar and I do use pop-up forms as well. I’ll try to give you incentives to join the list. For the e-mail list, I am linking them to some auto-responders that will deliver free e-mail mini-courses over a set period, as well as regular newsletters, and the opportunity to get “blog broadcast” summary newsletters. New subscribers who sign up at Higher Ed Career Coach are currently getting a mini-course on “Planning Your Career in Higher Education” in exchange for signing up. This autoresponder mini-course has weekly topics and exercises to help you flesh out some of the steps as you plan your career journey. It isn’t really a “self-coaching” program, but it should help you get started. This mini-course will be available for the next month or so, but will be taken down and replaced by another topic-related mini-course, probably in early October.  Afterwards, it will be offered (probably with some modifications and feedback) as a paid product.
  • This month, I will begin offering some low-cost webinars on career topics and you will see registration widgets on the site, as well as articles about upcoming opportunities. Some of these will have set per-seat prices, and others will be offered as “Tip Jar Webinars.” This means that you pay according to the value you receive. There will be a suggested donation but if you think the seminar was useless you won’t pay anything. If you get something out of it, you’ll be encouraged to support the development of the series by “tipping” based on the length and format, number of presenters and value of the information. (Probably between $5-$20 would be an appropriate tip for most seminars)
  • In the next few months, you will see offerings for e-books and for a book I am contributing a chapter to, called “101 Great Ways to Enhance Your Career.” The book is a cooperative book project from SelfGrowth.Com and that means I bought into the project to get published alongside 100 other career authors and to have books to use for giveaways and promotions, as well as selling them. There is a screening process, so hopefully my article won’t get rejected, now that I am telling you about it. So let me make it clear. I do realize this is a glorified ad in some ways.
  • I’m going to revise my affiliate advertising strategy, and the first step will be to get feedback from you about what you would prefer to see, and what you might buy. I will only continue to participate in affiliate programs for products I use, would use, want or believe in. And if you have a bad experience with one of these programs or think I should stop my affiliation with a group or company, I want to know that, because I only want to advertise products and services that readers would actually use.

Thanks for reading. I’d love your feedback about what I can do to improve the sites, focus my business strategy, and better meet the needs of higher ed job seekers. I’ll be starting later this week with a brief survey about the site features and advertising/affiliate programs.