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Surf’s Up: What Surfing Can Teach You about Your Job Search

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The “Memories” feature on our phones is a wonderful thing, reminding us of people and places in our lives. This morning’s collection was from fourteen years ago when I and two cousins paddled out for the first time. What a joy that was! A few years later, I wrote an article about how surfing is similar to the job search and am reposting it here for those in job search mode. Have a “swell” day! 

I am a surfer, or at least aspiring to be one.  Recently, I was out on my board in York, Maine on a day with few good waves and plenty of downtime to ponder this gleefully addicting sport and life in general and began to realize that there are many parallels between the job search and surfing.

Like the job search, surfing depends as much on one’s skill and experience as it does a host of conditions that we have zero control over.  Weather.  Crowded surfing areas and beaches.  Wave size and frequency.  Swell direction.  The list of potential challenges may seem endless, just as it is when you are seeking a new job in a competitive market or industry.

Once you have decided to get in the water (or start looking for your next career opportunity), you paddle out and try not to bump into others.  In the job search, this can be those baby steps that are really critical to overall success, such as writing your resume, crafting solid cover letters, beefing up your LinkedIn profile, and letting people in your network know that you are open to a new opportunity.

Experienced surfers will have multiple boards to choose from to suit their mood or the conditions. Savvy candidates will do the same. Perhaps your “board” will be resumes that highlight different skills and career objectives depending on the jobs you are interested in, or cover letters that will be your differentiator. Knowing yourself and the tools that are available to you is key to success.

Like choosing the right job to apply to, choosing the right wave is essential.  It would be physically and emotionally exhausting to paddle out, attempt to get in the right spot at the right time, pop up, and stay balanced if surfers went after every wave that came along.  Be selective in the job search so that you are fresh and energized when the right one comes along.

Hang ten.  Surfs up.  Cut the curl.  These are not sayings that you will hear on a golf course, tennis court, or basketball court. They are specific to the sport of surfing. An industry will have its own language and catch phrases.  Do your research so that you can communicate in a way that resonates with the people you are interviewing with, as it will help gain their trust and confidence.

Enjoy the ride, even if it is not the perfect wave.  There are days that I get out on the board, and I am just not feeling it, but I still enjoy being out there.  The same can happen in an interview when the job and company look great on paper, yet in the light of day you just do not feel that spark.  Relax.  Every interview is an opportunity to practice and a chance to expand your network.   Surfers talk about catching the perfect wave, but in reality, we try and try and keep getting back on the board, even after falling or not doing our best.

Having a good surfing instructor helps.  Even the most experienced surfers sometimes need a fine tuning on their technique, someone who can help them to look at their style and approach and make suggestions.  In the job search, working with a specialized career coach or recruiter can be invaluable, as they will take a fresh look at your resume and help you to identify the skills and experiences that you should highlight in the interview.

Ultimately, you may need to try a few waves before you find the ideal one, but in the end, there is no feeling as satisfying and euphoric as catching that perfect wave.  The same holds true for the job search.  Keep at it, and you will catch the right job and have the ride of your life.

P.S.: If you are in the York, Maine area and want to try surfing, I highly recommend the team at Liquid Dreams!

About Pillar Search & HR Consulting: A woman-owned business based in Boston, Pillar Search & HR Consulting provides executive search/recruiting and human resources consulting expertise to nonprofit and mission-driven organizations, working with senior leaders and boards of directors to hire and develop the very best talent across all functional areas of the organization. For more information, please visit www.pillarsearch.com.

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The Dreaded Office Move: 6 Tips for Navigating the Change

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I am excited to have another article on Thrive Global!  Read more about how to handle the dreaded office move on my Thrive page!

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10 Things Nobody Ever Tells You about Working from Home

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When I started Pillar Search & HR Consulting, I went from working in the office 5 days a week to working from home 3-4 days a week. I have loved every minute of working from home. It has been a total game changer. There have been some surprises, though. If you are considering a role that allows you to work from home almost exclusively, here were a few of my “aha” moments:

  • I miss coworkers. Sometimes. Granted, I no longer have to listen to Ned from Accounting complain about the quality of coffee or Mabel from Client Services go on and on about her cats, but I miss the comradery and the ability to bounce ideas off of people. I try to do client or candidate lunches once or twice a week. Some days I will sneak out to the gym just to see another person during the day, because once in a while it feels isolating.
  • Be prepared to redecorate. Believe me, this was on of my biggest surprises. Spending hours on end in your abode will make you realize that cannot stand the paint color in your immediate work area. It started to feel too dark, so I painted it. And then the bedroom looked too dark. And then the guestroom. If the dog stands still long enough, he may get a coat of paint.
  • My dry cleaner misses me. We used to be on a first-name basis. Now I am just some person who brings in her “fancy” clothes every few weeks since the days of suits and dresses are few and far between.  Now I work in yoga pants.  You know it’s bad when I justify that they are my “dressy” ones, though on the plus side I am saving a considerable amount of money.
  • I now regret the money spent on shoes (okay, not really…) It’s just a wee bit challenging to justify what I spent on my shoe obsession when I now spend most days in gym socks.  Same for the suits and dresses that now collect dust.  If you believe that working from home will be your reality for the foreseeable future, consider paying it forward by donating some of your former work wardrobe to an organization like Dress For Success. 
  • Maintain a Network:  If you work remotely, you can still have a relationship with colleagues, albeit virtually.  However, having people you see live and in person can be crucial to your sanity.  Join a networking or professional group to ensure that you maintain much-needed, real, live contact with others in your profession or industry.
  • Those appointments that I used to schedule way in advance are a breeze. Those annoying four hour windows from the cable company? No problem! I’ll be here!  Doctor has nothing in the evenings or Saturday for months?  I’ll take that random Tuesday afternoon time slot!
  • Toilet paper. Not to be indelicate, but you never think about that when in an office. Ditto for water, pens, post-its, and coffee/tea. In an office, those things somehow magically appear. You will be amazed at how quickly you run through them. Be sure to stock up.
  • Time Management. Without the normal office cues to indicate time, it is so easy to get sucked down the rabbit hole of a project, look up, and realize the day is gone. You do not see people coming and going, or have the same number of meetings to break up the day – it is great because it keeps me focused, but sometimes I need to set a timer so that I remind myself to take a breather.
  • Family and friends think I am free to play. Set boundaries if you start to work from home. People assume that it means that you can chat on the phone at any time or meet them for downtime when they have a day off. That is not the case. I am working from home, with a big emphasis on the w-o-r-k.
  • MOVE! Living in the city, I often walked a mile to and from the office, and clocked thousands of steps while there going to meetings or to grab lunch. Now I need to remind myself to move. One thing that helped my waistline is the lack of the office candy bowl and endless birthday cake and leftovers from catered lunches, and if I  ended a conference call in the office and started doing pushups, I would have been looked at funny. At home, it is a judgment-free zone.

There are a million perks to working from home, and if you can work around the very few challenges, you may just find your professional utopia.  Good luck with it!

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Hop or Not?

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There are many rewards and risks in job hopping, just as there can be lots of rewards and risks in a decision to stay with a current company. But they are not necessarily the same.  Should you job hop or not?

First, let’s understand why job-hopping has been and still is in vogue. Prior to the 1970s, large and medium sized companies were often considered to be paternalistic toward to their employees, to the latter’s delight, and employees often had a “job-for-life” approach to joining a company. Job security was a prominent reason, while job satisfaction, compensation and benefits vied for second place. By the 1970s, in part due to the Vietnam war, which brought into question the honesty and loyalty of big government and large companies, the olden days’ paternalistic scenarios began to break down, as did other factors: the demise of pension plans, large scale lay-offs in many companies in the chase for stock values, efficiency goals, cost-per-unit, and outsourcing of jobs overseas…and it continues to this day.

Fast forward to 2017. Job hoppers are viewed warily by some hiring managers, though they are embraced by others because they are considered to be adaptable, have seen a range of company sizes and approaches (perhaps even those of your competitors!), and have a larger network of contacts. And hiring managers, take note: millennials change jobs, on average, every 18-24 months, so this trend has no sign of slowing down.

What are the risks and rewards of job hopping?

  • Money:
    • Reward: The reward part seems obvious here! If your current salary/bonus/commission are below market, and your current firm is not willing to bring you up to an equitable rate, it may be time to start looking elsewhere.
    • Risk: Job-hopping for compensation alone is a losing battle. You might get the compensation you want, but not have all the positive attributes your current job provides. Be sure to also factor in your total compensation.       Beyond base salary, bonus, and commission (if applicable), how do benefits match up? Differences in health, dental, 401(k), stock options, vacation, sick time, commuting costs and the like add up, and that pay increase may actually cost you in the long run.
  • Fit with the company culture and mission/vision:
    • Reward: Finding a job with an organization with a strong culture, and with a product or service you really stand behind, or a nonprofit with a mission that you believe in with your heart and soul can be a magical thing.
    • Risk: The “magic” may make you overlook some other key things, like fit with the actual job or chemistry with your manager and colleagues. Be sure to dig deep to ensure that you are not taking the wrong job with the right organization.
  • Increased job satisfaction/more interesting work:
    • Reward: It is a great feeling to have work that satisfies you. Moving for even more satisfaction can help you to grow your skills and hone your craft. Another option: if you are the type who bores easily, you may want to consider joining the “gig economy” and look at doing consulting, where you can work on a project basis and do all kinds of different and interesting work.
    • Risk: If you are really, truly disinterested in the work you are doing, think long and hard about it. Is it really the current job, or is it the work itself? If it is the actual work, maybe you are ready for a larger-scale career change. Going someplace else may be a temporary fix, and once the novelty wears off, you may find yourself bored again. If your intuition tells you this may be the case, take a breather to figure out what type of work will fulfill you longer term.
  • Advancement opportunities:
    • Reward: Feeling like you can grow in your career is something that most people find to be essential, but sometimes you do have to go outside to make a move up.
    • Risk: If a better title is your primary motivator, make sure this career move ^^ is going to check some of the other boxes too…or accept that it may literally be a move JUST for a better title.       Also, consider talking to your current manager. Are there ways to advance within your current role by taking on new projects and honing specific skills?
  • A great manager/team:
    • Reward: Let’s suppose that the best manager you ever worked for calls you and asks that you come to his or her new company to work for them. Added bonus? Some of your favorite colleagues will also be joining the team. Or, suppose that you interview and the hiring manager is dynamic, smart, and easy to get along with, and the team members you met with seem committed, happy, and interesting. Ready to sign on the dotted line? I don’t blame you. Chemistry with your boss and colleagues can be a great thing.
    • Risk: In the case of following a manager to a new role, the risk is that you get there and the manager leaves, be it due to personal choice, layoff, his/her promotion, or restructuring. Or, in the case of joining a new manager, that person who seemed so great is…not so great. Do your research to see who your new boss and team are and what they are all about.
  • A startup that you think will take off in a major way:
    • Reward: Working at a startup can be rewarding on many levels. As it grows, your opportunity to take on more responsibility and learn multiple parts of the business will be there. If it takes off, it may result in a wealth event for both the company and you, especially if you can get equity early on.
    • Risk: Do your research on the market that the startup focuses on and the viability of their value proposition. Ask about funding sources, benefits, and if the founders are looking to grow the company, or are ultimately hoping to sell it…because you could end up working for another firm or find yourself out of a job if that happens!

All in all, job-hopping is a bet – but recent statistics show that most professionals will change jobs 9-10 times or more over their working life. Identifying the risks and mitigating them will help you be successful, whether you hop or not.

 

Cindy Joyce is the CEO of Pillar Search and HR Consulting.  With personalized service and proven results, Pillar Search and HR Consulting provides retained executive search and recruiting services as well as human resources consulting to for exceptional nonprofits and socially responsible for-profit organizations.  To learn more, please visit www.pillarsearch.com.

 

 

 

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Teamwork Makes the Dream Work

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Yep, I went there. Teamwork makes the dream work. A bit of a tired cliché, but frankly, teams are the very essence of most organizational cultures. We know the benefits of working in teams: enhanced employee engagement, improved relationships with colleagues, more creative solutions, gaining an understanding of different perspectives, and the list goes on. Whether it’s a new team that comes together during a merger or restructuring, to tackle a specific project, or a collaboration between different departments, these steps can help turn that new team into a dream team.

 

Establish a team leader. In some teams, this will be the person managing the individuals. If this is a cross-functional team, it still helps to have the team assign a leader or two who keep everyone on track.

 

Leverage Diversity: Diversity can mean a host of different things. When it comes to a team, yes, having people of different backgrounds and genders is critical, but diversity can also mean including people with different skill sets and business expertise and levels of experience. Look at the boards of some of the most successful companies and you may notice that there is diversity of expertise. Take a cue from them when assembling teams.

 

Establish ground rules. While it may sound simple, establishing expectations, deliverable dates, and responsibilities up front will help the team in the long run, as this way each individual understands the importance of their contributions to the larger group.

 

Course correct: It would be lovely if teams came together, did what needed to be done, and all got along swimmingly. Sorry to be a Debbie Downer, but it rarely happens! Personal agendas, office politics, challenging personalities, and egos so often get in the way. When that happens, have open conversations to remind people that this is a group effort and that everyone’s input and efforts are important to the outcome.

 

“R before T” (relationship before task): I credit this tip to my favorite professor from graduate school, who started each class with a time for us to share personal updates and catch up. It did bring us closer, and helped us to understand each other beyond our studies and view each other as human beings!

 

Celebrate team success: It can be something as small as a round of applause, a personal thank you note to each team member, a team lunch or happy hour. Marking milestones is crucial, as it lets the team know that they are on the right path or have accomplished what they set out to do.

 

 

Hire the best! With personalized service and proven results, Pillar Search & HR Consulting provides recruiting/search services and human resources consulting for exceptional non-profits and socially responsible for-profit firms. A woman-owned business, Pillar is based in Boston, MA, and works on the national level. To learn more about how Pillar can assist with your hiring and human resources needs, please contact