Success is about Working Smarter Not Harder

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work smarter not harder

Growing up Asian, we are told that hard work is always what is needed to achieve success.Like a good Chinese girl, I followed that advice and worked my butt off at McKinsey, my first job.Fortunately or unfortunately, I learned quickly that hard work is not enough, and sometimes does not even help. ...  read more

Being Proactive Pays

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Literally! We all know the concept, but I want to share with you a true story of how it was used in practice for job search. My friend (Mary – a false name) was laid off just a month ago and was told her last day will be July 24. What does she do?

Mary immediately calls her old company she previously quit (to get this current job) to see if her old position is still open. (Kudos to her for being so open minded and for keeping a good relationship even though she quit) To her surprise, her old position was still open. They were just finalizing on an internal candidate when Mary called and said they were willing to consider her, but it would need for them to open the job in HR to the public in order to hire her from the outside the company. They said they will get back to her next week. ...  read more

Try Low, Sell High

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A true story! A good friend of mine just received a nice offer to a great job. How he got this offer was somewhat unusual. I thought I share it in case it can inspire you to look at opportunities in a new light.

Given the economy, he decided to be more open minded and look for jobs that were below his level (which is Director). He saw a manager job opening on craiglist and applied. When the recruiter talked to him and asked him if it was ok if this job pays around $___ (about 25-30% lower than his last job’s base pay), he decided to say yes. His rationale was if the job is going to be easier and possibly can be done in 35 hours a week, he can always try to get another contract gig for 10-20 hours to make up the difference. He also thought it was another chance to practice his interviewing skills. ...  read more

Waste is Good

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I was just reading an article this week on Wired called Waste is good that triggered me to think about how it relates to entrepreneurship and job search. In a nut shell, the article says that “our brains seem wired to resist waste” – wasted energy, wasted time, wasted attempts, wasted technology, etc… , but in reality waste can be very good for innovation and significant advancement. ...  read more

Job Search is Your Job

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“The trouble with unemployment is that the minute you wake up in the morning you’re on the job”. — Slappy White

Job search is the job you have when you are between jobs. Like any other jobs,

  1. It needs to be a full time effort (30-40 hours a week consistently) if you want to achieve any level of success quickly.
  2. It requires a certain set of skills that are developed over time. No one is born good at this, but anyone can learn to master it.
  3. You need to make yourself accountable, since you are also your own boss in this “job.” Consider getting a “boss buddy” (a topic of a future post)
  4. The skills you build are as important as the result you achieve, because the result you achieve (finding a job) is only helpful to this effort, but the skills you learn for job search can help you a life time.

What can you do to fill up 30-40 hours a week consistently you may ask? Well, check out the Job Search Checklist. Good Luck out there! ...  read more

Job Search CheckList

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Here is a starting check list of what may be involved in a Job search “job.” If you can suggest more, let me know. This is the condensed version. For the detailed version, click here.

Set career goals and job search strategy

  1. Understand what you would like and love to do and also what things you want to avoid doing in your career.
  2. Develop your long term career goals and understand why those are your goals
  3. Define the skills you need and skill gaps to achieve your 3 to 5 year career goal
  4. Define types of jobs you would like to have next and how each type would fit with your goals.
  5. Define detailed characteristics of your ideal next job
  6. Analyze your financial situation
  7. Define your plan A, B, and C and when will you implement each

Package yourself for your job search

  1. Ask people who have the job types you want
  2. Develop your story about your career goals, what job you want next and why, and why you are qualified
  3. Practice your story as often as possible in social situations
  4. Create a resume for each job type you are searching
  5. Build an online presence

Apply for jobs based on your career goals and plans ...  read more