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Motivational Speaker * Author * Career Counselor
BAM Career Advice
Need career advice? Who said nothing in life is free? Get FREE Career Advice from BAM, a former Fortune 100 company executive turned career counselor. Take advantage of the experience of someone who has "been there and done that!" Submit your question using the form below and enlist BAM to be your Career Counselor! BAM will answer your question personally and post his career advice to the forum below unless you say otherwise.
CAREER COUNSELOR FORUM
Q: All my life I have been shy, and nervous in front of more than 1 person. I am 47, in college to be a Paralegal and my professor is preparing the students for public speaking. I do not want a failing grade. He recommened a toastmaster club. I am interested in joining a toastmaster club. WOULD THAT HELP ME? (Carol, Needville, TX)
CAREER COUNSELOR: Thank you for your question. Toastmasters International is a phenomenal organization, one to which I cannot give enough praise. Toastmasters does a great job of helping speakers of all ability levels improve their communication and leadership skills. Do not worry that you are not an accomplished speaker yet. A good Toastmasters club will do wonders for the speaking ability of a novice speaker and can take experienced speakers from “good to great” as well. To ensure you find the right local club for you, make sure that you “shop around” by visiting a few different clubs before you join one. Toastmasters International has thousands of local clubs worldwide, so it’s likely that there are several clubs in your area. You will find that membership dues are extremely reasonably priced as well. You can learn more about Toastmasters by visiting www.toastmasters.org.
Q: My husband is a construction project manager. He has recently become a little unhappy or dissapointed in his current position(works with friends on field, manages a lot of problems on phone etc. A friend of his called recently and wants him to partner a business in landscape supply near the coast of S.C. This intrigued my husband but the cost of relocating, and other concerns keep him from whole heartly accepting. He met with his boss regarding this offer. His boss has offered him a raise and possibly a small piece of land to stay. We have two small children and are in our 40's. He is stumped on making a decision. He would like to have some retirement in next 15-20 years. I am neutral about this, I just want him to be happy. I think he would love to do something more technical, video,computer,he has a good sense of humor. I read an article about you recently and thought you might have some insight! Thanks, from a thrifty stay at home mom. (Theresa, North Georgia)
CAREER COUNSELOR: Thank you for your question. Wildly successful people allow their professional lives to be guided by their passions. Obviously, aptitude must play into professional decisions (e.g., if your husband is 5’2”, don’t encourage him to join the National Basketball Association). However, most very successful people work in their passion, and then use business savvy to capture the economic value they deserve for their effort. Bill Gates, Oprah Winfrey and the “Google Guys” (Sergey Brin and Larry Page) are great examples of this approach. All became very successful by finding a way to get paid for what they love to do rather than just looking to get paid. Passion is critical because it provides the drive to battle adversity and the resourcefulness to secure the support necessary to go beyond competence to greatness. Conversely, those who employ their aptitude but no passion for their work are destined to be mediocre at that work.
Unless your husband’s dissatisfaction with his job is entirely a compensation issue, the counteroffer made by his employer will not solve his issue in the long term. In my experience from “both sides of the table,” reactionary changes in compensation do not solve problems but merely pacify them for a while. I would encourage him to find the place where his passion and aptitude coincide, and then pursue that work wholeheartedly. He is lucky to have a partner like you that will support him no matter the outcome!
Q: I recently came across an article that said that resumes are fast becoming dinosaurs and are "on their way out". It stated that the new "resume" is your website with all of your information, work and clips contained. What is your feeling about this? (Anthony, Santa Clarita, CA)
CAREER COUNSELOR: Thank you for your question. It is clear that nearly every aspect of business, including the hiring process, is trending toward greater use of technology. However, because there are still a large percentage of corporate decision makers that are “pre-Internet” (they did not grow up with the Internet), the death of the traditional paper résumé is not imminent. With that said, offering more than simply a résumé to a prospective employer is an excellent way to differentiate oneself from the competition. In my experience, candidates that present hard copies of applicable past work product in an interview in addition to a résumé put themselves in the top 25% of the candidate pool immediately.
However, there is a trend of which all active Internet users should be aware. As employers get more technologically savvy, they are beginning to use the Internet to the detriment of job seekers. For example, there have been reported cases of employers rescinding job offers after viewing a candidate’s postings on MySpace or similar sites. Call it cyber-reference checking. At its core, the interview process is about successfully presenting a strong “personal brand” to prospective employers. You must be very careful about how you present your brand in all forums because many employers are looking well beyond that which you have shown them in the interview. Anything posted for all to see is fair game!
Q: All my life I have been shy, and nervous in front of more than 1 person. I am 47, in college to be a Paralegal and my professor is preparing the students for public speaking. I do not want a failing grade. He recommened a toastmaster club. I am interested in joining a toastmaster club. WOULD THAT HELP ME? (Carol, Needville, TX)
CAREER COUNSELOR: Thank you for your question. Toastmasters International is a phenomenal organization, one to which I cannot give enough praise. Toastmasters does a great job of helping speakers of all ability levels improve their communication and leadership skills. Do not worry that you are not an accomplished speaker yet. A good Toastmasters club will do wonders for the speaking ability of a novice speaker and can take experienced speakers from “good to great” as well. To ensure you find the right local club for you, make sure that you “shop around” by visiting a few different clubs before you join one. Toastmasters International has thousands of local clubs worldwide, so it’s likely that there are several clubs in your area. You will find that membership dues are extremely reasonably priced as well. You can learn more about Toastmasters by visiting www.toastmasters.org.
Q: My husband is a construction project manager. He has recently become a little unhappy or dissapointed in his current position(works with friends on field, manages a lot of problems on phone etc. A friend of his called recently and wants him to partner a business in landscape supply near the coast of S.C. This intrigued my husband but the cost of relocating, and other concerns keep him from whole heartly accepting. He met with his boss regarding this offer. His boss has offered him a raise and possibly a small piece of land to stay. We have two small children and are in our 40's. He is stumped on making a decision. He would like to have some retirement in next 15-20 years. I am neutral about this, I just want him to be happy. I think he would love to do something more technical, video,computer,he has a good sense of humor. I read an article about you recently and thought you might have some insight! Thanks, from a thrifty stay at home mom. (Theresa, North Georgia)
CAREER COUNSELOR: Thank you for your question. Wildly successful people allow their professional lives to be guided by their passions. Obviously, aptitude must play into professional decisions (e.g., if your husband is 5’2”, don’t encourage him to join the National Basketball Association). However, most very successful people work in their passion, and then use business savvy to capture the economic value they deserve for their effort. Bill Gates, Oprah Winfrey and the “Google Guys” (Sergey Brin and Larry Page) are great examples of this approach. All became very successful by finding a way to get paid for what they love to do rather than just looking to get paid. Passion is critical because it provides the drive to battle adversity and the resourcefulness to secure the support necessary to go beyond competence to greatness. Conversely, those who employ their aptitude but no passion for their work are destined to be mediocre at that work.
Unless your husband’s dissatisfaction with his job is entirely a compensation issue, the counteroffer made by his employer will not solve his issue in the long term. In my experience from “both sides of the table,” reactionary changes in compensation do not solve problems but merely pacify them for a while. I would encourage him to find the place where his passion and aptitude coincide, and then pursue that work wholeheartedly. He is lucky to have a partner like you that will support him no matter the outcome!
Q: I recently came across an article that said that resumes are fast becoming dinosaurs and are "on their way out". It stated that the new "resume" is your website with all of your information, work and clips contained. What is your feeling about this? (Anthony, Santa Clarita, CA)
CAREER COUNSELOR: Thank you for your question. It is clear that nearly every aspect of business, including the hiring process, is trending toward greater use of technology. However, because there are still a large percentage of corporate decision makers that are “pre-Internet” (they did not grow up with the Internet), the death of the traditional paper résumé is not imminent. With that said, offering more than simply a résumé to a prospective employer is an excellent way to differentiate oneself from the competition. In my experience, candidates that present hard copies of applicable past work product in an interview in addition to a résumé put themselves in the top 25% of the candidate pool immediately.
However, there is a trend of which all active Internet users should be aware. As employers get more technologically savvy, they are beginning to use the Internet to the detriment of job seekers. For example, there have been reported cases of employers rescinding job offers after viewing a candidate’s postings on MySpace or similar sites. Call it cyber-reference checking. At its core, the interview process is about successfully presenting a strong “personal brand” to prospective employers. You must be very careful about how you present your brand in all forums because many employers are looking well beyond that which you have shown them in the interview. Anything posted for all to see is fair game!
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