Coronavirus: Webinar, Career and Leadership Links and Other Updates

Like many of my friends and colleagues and indeed many of us across the globe, among the changes in my life lately are a house full of people all day every day, including two teenagers working on remote learning through their schools. They have been pretty good about managing their emotions around the need to be stuck at home and have even found some time to join in FaceTime calls with their grandparents. (Yep, that’s our dog Carter in the bottom right hand corner!)

Coronavirus: In Sickness and In Health

As I’m reading the headlines at least four or five times a day – trying not to look more than that and get sucked into the never-ending void of the COVID-19 news cycle – I have also been fighting off a stomach bug since Monday. Normally I can take that into stride, but I must admit the fact my symptoms were a potential warning sign for coronavirus gave me some pause, even as I have been “sheltering at home” for over almost twenty days.

Since I live in Connecticut, which is one of the hotspots in the U.S., the choices are rather limited: If you feel well, stay home. If you don’t feel well, stay home. Don’t go to the hospital or otherwise put a strain on medical resources unless you absolutely need it, for your own safety and because you just might save a life. So that’s what I did. 

Thankfully, I’m on the mend!

Like many of my friends and colleagues and indeed many of us across the globe, among the changes in my life lately are a house full of people all day every day, including two teenagers working on remote learning through their schools. They have been pretty good about managing their emotions around the need to be stuck at home and have even found some time to join in FaceTime calls with their grandparents. (Yep, that’s our dog Carter in the bottom right hand corner!)

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Drawing has emerged as a new interest in my daughter’s life, including graphic representations like the one above she made of a “happy coronavirus.” (Irony notwithstanding, the virus is alive, well and probably pretty pleased with itself, if we can personify it for just a moment.) She has also turned our living room into an art studio as of late, and we are waiting for a pack of easels from Amazon to arrive so we can host a homebound family painting night this weekend, which is cheaper than a night at a paint bar and hopefully just as fun if not more. In the meantime, she has tuned into a few Bob Ross videos to expand her range in acrylics.

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It’s an interesting segue into a topic I discussed on a webinar this week (see directly below) about finding your interests and strengths as part of building out your career, especially in the context of a job search or career change. Many of us are finding that we are rising to the occasion and discovering strengths we did not know we had, as our normal routine is interrupted and we are searching for creative solutions to novel problems that face us in the course of our “new normal.”

For my part, I am finding that certain tasks I found challenging before, particularly because they did not feel rewarding, hold my interest much longer than they had a few short weeks ago. Housework is certainly among these! Holding down the fort takes on a whole new meaning in the midst of a pandemic. Keeping order means our mental health stays intact, which in turn helps all of us able to do our part in flattening the curve.

Leading Your Job Search Through a Career Change Webinar

Stomach pains this week notwithstanding, I joined as a co-presenter of Leading Your Job Search Through a Career Change, with Linda Harvey, for the University of Chicago’s Alumni Association on Tuesday afternoon and am happy to share the video here.

Linda takes you through key steps to conceptualizing and planning a career change – and how that might be affected by this brave new environment – and I follow up with advice about how to brand around the change and facilitate your transition.

COVID-19 Leadership and Career Resources

I have started putting together curated resources on crisis and career leadership through the coronavirus pandemic, including a section with specific links for attorneys. Click here or go to AnneMarieSegal.com/covid-19 to access them. I hope they are helpful, and I will be adding to the list from time to time as I come across new resources.

5th Anniversary

Wednesday, April 1, was the fifth anniversary of Segal Coaching! It’s hard to believe that five years have passed. As excited as I am for this milestone, it pales in comparison to all of the chaos of recent weeks. Like many other special occasions that are being postponed, I guess I’ll be celebrating this anniversary sometime in the summer or fall. 

Cupcakes with sparklers

Segal 24/7: LinkedIn Profiles

If you are polishing up your LinkedIn profile – whether it’s for a new job, promotion, recruitment of new candidates or to showcase your talents and increase job security in a current role – feel free to sign on to my free class on Personal Branding: The LinkedIn Checklist.

2020 Article Series

I have decided to postpone future articles in my Board of Directors and Yoga Mantra series until the burdens of coronavirus are lifted, so I can free up time for other projects to help those who are struggling to find their footing during the pandemic. 

I do plan to continue my Modern Career Warrior interviews during this time, but I’ll be shifting my focus to those in the medical field and other “essential workers” and may change the format and length in the coming months to account for their limited time available.

April’s MCW is Francisco Lasta, an occupational therapist whose career spans the domains of medicine, design and technology, with a healthy dose of emotional intelligence. Among other projects, Francisco consults on artificial intelligence, virtual reality and telehealth, and his ideas and innovations are directly relevant for the global health crisis we are currently facing.

I am very excited to (finally finish editing – delay all mine! – and) post my interview with Francisco soon, hopefully by the end of next week, in honor of his dedication to the field and in time for OT Month.

Copyright Francisco Lasta

That’s my Monthly Redux on this beautiful (and scary) day of April 3, 2020. I’m off to host a Zoom happy hour shortly with a few friends, so it’s time to sign off the computer for the afternoon. Stay safe and support each other where and whenever you can!


Anne Marie Segal is an executive coach and writer based in Connecticut. To learn more about her, you can visit her About page or LinkedIn profile.

Image credits: Top two photos © 2020 Anne Marie Segal. All rights reserved. Artwork in top photo © 2020 Tamara Segal. All rights reserved. Video courtesy the Alumni Association of the University of Chicago. Birthday image sourced from Adobe Images. Bottom photo © 2020 Francisco Lasta. All rights reserved.

Want to Know More About LinkedIn®? For UChicago Alumni and Guests: Webinar on Thursday, March 14, 2019

If you want to get up to speed quickly on a range of topics related to LinkedIn, I am presenting a one-hour webinar this Thursday for The University of Chicago’s Alumni Association.

It’s called LinkedIn for Job Search, Networking and Career Building, and it’s free for UChicago alumni and invited guests (including you!) with the link.

Is LinkedIn a platform that you want to make work for you, but you haven’t had time to figure out how to do that?

Do you struggle to write your LinkedIn profile?

Are you worried that you may be missing opportunities because you are not more active on LinkedIn?

Do you want to know how recruiters use LinkedIn’s powerful search features, powered by artificial intelligence and machine learning?

Asian businesswoman in formal suit working with computer laptop for Polygonal brain shape of an artificial intelligence with various icon of smart city Internet of Things, AI and business IOT concept


UCHICAGO WEBINAR

If you want to get up to speed quickly on a range of topics related to LinkedIn, I am presenting a one-hour webinar this Thursday, March 14, 2019, for The University of Chicago’s Alumni Association.

It’s called LinkedIn for Job Search, Networking and Career Building, and it’s free for UChicago alumni and invited guests (including you!) with the link.

Thursday, March 14, 2019
12:00 pm CST
Cost: Free

MindYourCareer_WebinarSeries

 

LinkedIn is simply the most powerful online tool for job search and career building today, and it keeps evolving. In this webinar, executive coach and writer Anne Marie Segal discusses how to build your credibility and opportunities on LinkedIn, including profile writing styles, job search tools and tactics, networking strategies, thought leadership and profile optimization in the age of artificial intelligence.

This hands-on presentation includes content-rich slides and handouts to illustrate advanced functionality and help you leverage the LinkedIn platform to move your career forward.

For more information or to register, click HERE.


MORE WORKSHOPS AND WEBINARS

For more workshops and webinars by Segal Coaching LLC, please visit: annemariesegal.com/seminars.

To view prior UChicago webinars, please click on one of the videos below:

 

 

First image above: Adobe Images.

Mind Your Career logo: copyright 2019 The University of Chicago. All rights reserved.

How to Prepare for a Second Interview – What’s Different than the First?

AdobeStock_83147118 (interview prep).jpg

If you are moving onto a second interview with the same company, congratulations! You have passed through the gatekeepers and are now poised to refine your presentation and move one step closer to getting the job.

So what changes in the second round and how should you prepare yourself differently than for the first interview?

Often companies use further interviews to introduce you to more people, ferret out any concerns, check for consistency (from one interview to the next) and gauge your overall energy level, interest in and fit for the job. They may also present you with new challenges, such as behavioral questions (e.g., “Tell me about a time when…”).

Here are some of the key ways I suggest you prepare for a second interview:

  1. Research any concepts, other companies, approaches or themes presented in the first interview you did not understand or with which you were not familiar.

    For example:

    – a business line, product or service that is new to you
    – a partner or competitor that is significant to the company
    – a type of organizational structure (e.g., matrixed organizations)
    – a certain leadership approach or management style

  2. Reread the job description and make sure you can address all aspects of it.

    Job seekers often have a tendency to focus on certain aspects of a role – the ones that they find more interesting – and assume that the rest will fall into place. You do not need to know every aspect of the job before you even start – and in some cases there will be considerable ramp-up or stretch goals – but you do need to be able to formulate a plan of how you will learn what you don’t know.

    For example, if the job description indicates that you will interact with the Board of Directors or manage a team of 100 direct reports, and you are lacking one or both of these skills in your background, be ready to explain (without sounding defensive) what you have done that is analogous or prepares you for it. In the absence of any related background, you can also build out from what you have learned.

    For example:

    “As you know, I have managed teams of 20, and a good portion of my day is already spent on leadership-building, evaluating and mentoring team members. I’ve spoken with a few of the senior managers in my network, and they have told me that some of the adjustments between managing 20 and 100 are [fill in with some wisdom you have learned]….”

    Half of the battle is to sound upbeat and ready to rise to the task and suffer any growing pains gracefully. Yes, this may nonetheless be a breaking point for your candidacy, but you cannot create experience that doesn’t exist. You can only give it your best shot.

  3. Learn more about management and any interviewers you expect to meet.

    You have likely done some of this diligence before the first interview, but it is good to refresh yourself for the second time around and also check whether what you see presented online matches your view of a company based on what you have learned in the interview and through your additional research and connections.

    LinkedIn® and other online sources provide a great deal of information, as many company CEOs and marketing and recruiting leaders have released videos or articles discussing their goals for the company and talent acquisition. Find out what you can from these sources.

    In addition, become a “mini-expert” on the people who will interview you. You don’t need to know their shoe size or most recent vacation spot – of course! – but you should find out basic information to understand their perspective of the world and what they may want from a candidate.

    For example:

    Do their values match with yours?

    How do they see the firm’s culture and do they participate in creating it? 

    What is their leadership or management style?

    What or whom might you have in common? 

    What topics should you avoid discussing?

    How can you build a bond?

    As an example of the above, I worked with a job candidate on interview prep, and we discovered that her interviewer placed a strong value on diversity. We crafted her “tell me about yourself” story – which was entirely authentic, or it would not have been appropriate – to include the fact that (1) she had moved to the U.S. from Europe at a young age and (2) she was looking for an environment where there were people from many different backgrounds and perspectives. (Yes, she got the job!)

    This candidate had not initially thought of herself as “diverse” but we reframed her perspective, and I believe she will take this larger point of view with her into the job and life going forward.

  4. Be ready for multiple interviewers simultaneously (the panel interview.)

    Another common strategy companies employ in a second interview is to engage you with multiple interviewers at the same time. Some keys here are:

    Remember it’s a conversation, even if it feels like a panel inquiry

    – Show that you are able to relate to multiple people at once

    – Address and show respect for everyone in the room, even if only one person is asking questions (especially if the person leading the meeting is the “boss” and the others will be your colleagues; you don’t want to give the impression that their opinions are not important)

    – Pay extra attention to your body language, as the second or third person may be watching you closely (i.e., facial expressions, hand gestures, eye contact)

    – Give consistent answers and don’t falter if challenged (which is different than thoughtfully revising an answer based on new information)

  5. Prepare follow-up questions to decide whether the job is a fit for you.

    At this second interview, you want to ask what I sometimes call “stage- appropriate” questions to understand fit. That means you can ask more in-depth questions on some aspects of the job than the first stage, but tread lightly on other topics.

    Example:

    I worked recently with a candidate who was encouraged to hear that the office closes early on Fridays but discouraged to note that there seems to be a “difficult person” with whom she will be working closely. We formulated a plan to address the latter but determined that she should save any questions about the workday – do they actually leave at lunchtime every Friday? – until a later stage or (possibly) after the offer.

    On word of a difficult colleague or other negative aspect of the job, I suggest approaching it from a place of curiosity rather than negativity.

    So if Kendra says Lisa is difficult, ask Tomas if he knows more about how you’ll be working with Kendra and what he knows about her rather than seeking confirmation if she is difficult as Kendra would have you believe.

    You also will want to understand – if it hasn’t been explained already – how your group relates to each other and the rest of the company, what success will look like in this role and what you’ll be expected to complete on a daily and long-term basis.

  6. Plan how you’ll clarify any “loose ends” from the prior interview. 

    If your first interview generally went well except that you floundered on a certain answer, be ready to circle that topic back into the conversation in a positive way.

    You may, for example, say that you were reflecting on your earlier conversation and have more to add about a certain question. It could be how you would approach a certain situation or whether you have experience in a certain area.

    Make sure your additional information puts you in a confident light, rather than sounding worried or apologetic. You do not wish to dwell on the point, only supplement and clarify. In addition, address this topic at an appropriate point so you don’t break the flow of the new conversation. For example, if the interviewer asks if you have any questions, you might say, “Do you mind if I expand on something we discussed last time…?” If you have already addressed the topic in a thank you note, you don’t need to revisit it again.

  7. Rehearse situational or behavioral questions.

    As I mentioned above, you may be asked hypotheticals about how you would approach a certain situation or prompted to tell the interviewer “about a time when” you rose to a certain challenge, faced an ethical concern, needed to break bad news or otherwise.

    I discuss how to approach behavioral questions in this podcast, if you have time to review that before your meeting. If not, keep in mind a few key points:

    – Choose situations that speak to the call of the job

    – Have your top accomplishments in mind and pull from those where possible

    – Do not betray confidences of your current or former company

    – Remember that every interview question is a version of “why should I hire you?”  and speak to that

  8. Drive home your value proposition.

    If you do nothing else, have a clear statement of value proposition and be ready to work it into the meeting.

    What are the three or four key reasons you are the one to hire? What do you offer that they need – in terms of soft and hard skills, knowledge and talents?

    Turn back to the preparation you have done for the points above. What does the company need – more generally and from someone in this role – and how can you deliver it?

    If you need more help formulating a personal value proposition, please refer to my worksheets here.

    The second interview is an exciting time! Best of luck!

    Anne Marie Segal - Web Image (Credit Alejandro Barragan IV)

    Anne Marie Segal is an executive coach, resume writer, Forbes Coaches Council member, former practicing attorney and author of two highly-praised books on interviewing and career development.

    Image credit: Adobe Stock.


 

 

 

 

 

Boosting Job Satisfaction (My Two Cents at CNBC.com)

Close-up Of A Tired Businessman

While misery on the job can seem insurmountable at times, breaking down what you can control — and therefore change — can go a long way toward improving your happiness at work before it gets worse.

“The biggest problem comes from disengagement,” said Anne Marie Segal, founder of Segal Coaching in Stamford, Connecticut. “Employees will feel unsatisfied and start to separate their goals from the company’s, and then start to ask, ‘Why am I here?'”

– By Sarah O’Brien, special reporter for CNBC’s personal finance team

To read more at CNBC.com, click here.

Image above: Adobe Stock.

 

Webinar Replay: Solve Your 20 Top Resume Challenges!

Thanks to those who attended my webinar today on 20 Top Resume Challenges. Here is the replay. Stop fighting, start writing!

Thanks to those who attended my webinar today on 20 Top Resume Challenges. In this short half-hour course, I give you an overview of the major points you need to know to write a modern resume.

Here is the replay, and the slide deck and related Forbes article are referenced in the YouTube description.

Stop fighting. Start writing!

Image credit: Adobe Image

A Career Coach on a Snow Day: Grit

As a snow day gives you time to reflect on what you want for your life and career and (for many of us) what you want to pass on to the next generation, I was thankful for the snow.

Red plastic shovel with black handle stuck in fluffy snow.

Here’s a quick thought about snow days from a career coach and mom, as the East Coast is being pummeled by Blizzard 2017, the snowmaggedon or whatever we are calling it today.

As a snow day gives you time to reflect on what you want for your life and career and (for many of us) what you want to pass on to the next generation, I was thankful for the snow.

My son took the snow blower and cleared the driveway this afternoon, which shows grit. He doesn’t always have grit. In fact, as a talented yet distractable boy, it is a key skill that we know he will need to build over time, as it does not come naturally to him. So we try to create situations that require grit but will not overwhelm him, so he will be motivated to push forward.

Grit is as old as time and has become the new power skill, as it is needed in just about every life situation. Here’s some more about instilling grit in children and educating students about grit:

The Carnegie Foundation

The Atlantic

NPR

I think often about how we build grit as a world and within our own families. In particular, what can we do to help children appreciate the skills they need to serve as leaders in the future and “show up” the right way to succeed? Today, the answer fell from the sky.

Snow Day Grit - Snow Blower

Anne Marie Segal is a career and leadership development coach, author, resume strategist and member of Forbes Coaches Council. She is founder of Segal Coaching, author of Master the Interview: A Guide for Working Professionals (available on Amazon.com) and a frequent public speaker in New York, Connecticut and beyond.

First image above: Adobe Images.
Second image copyright 2017 Anne Marie Segal. All rights reserved.

 

On Forbes: The Emotional Life Cycle of a Major Career Transition

Clients often ask for a roadmap for career transitions, whether they yearn for more meaning at work or have other motivations. While I can ask the right questions to uncover their passions and talents and how these intersect with the marketplace, paths taken vary widely and can be entirely unexpected.

 

Eco concept

Jake worked for five years as a transactional attorney and then turned to real estate, managing his family’s portfolio of rental properties. From there, he launched a third career as an artist, painting large-scale murals for corporate offices and collectors.

As an executive coach, I have a front row seat to major professional transitions of brave souls such as Jake. Clients often ask for a roadmap to make such a change of their own, whether they yearn for more meaning at work or have other motivations. While I can ask the right questions to uncover their passions and talents and how these intersect with the marketplace, paths taken vary widely and can be entirely unexpected.

Please click on the image of the caterpillar below for the link to the rest of this article, originally published on Forbes.com.

Monarch Butterfly Caterpillar On Milkweed

Anne Marie Segal is a career and leadership development coach, author, resume strategist and member of Forbes Coaches Council. She is founder of Segal Coaching, author of Master the Interview: A Guide for Working Professionals (available on Amazon.com) and a frequent public speaker in New York, Connecticut and beyond.

Image credit: Adobe Images.

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