Career Opportunities with Douglas E. Welch

Recently I wrote about how computer consultants could find an entirely new set of clients, and maybe even a new place to live, by building connections with hotels and resorts. It only makes sense to develop relationships where one client is in a position to refer you to many more. Additionally, I have also written about the importance of referrals to any consulting career. This week I had an experience that expanded this concept even further. I hadn’t really thought about it before, but, as with many good ideas, I only discovered it in the course of my work. It is a natural part of any consulting business that you often make clients of people who once worked for you. In my case, a contractor who remodeled part of our house has hired me several times over the last few years to maintain his office and home computers. When he launched a new endeavor, running a high-end photo studio, he called me in once again. Listen to this Podcast Post a Job! $20 for 7 days Books by Douglas E. Welch    As it happened, this studio was connected to a property management company that owns both residential and office properties. In fact, they were remodeling part of the photo studio building into office suites which were rapidly filling up. Before I really knew what had happened, I became the de facto computer consultant not only for the photo studio and the property management company, but everyone who rented from them. Through this one connection, I have added 3 new clients in the last 2 months. Even better, they are all at one location, so I can make one visit to handle a number of problems. Sweet! You don’t have to wait for situations like this to just occur, though. There are a variety of ways that you actively and aggressively pursue these opportunities. First, start with your existing clients. Do they have the ability to make you the default recommendation for all their clients? Maybe they haven’t even thought about it. You need to plant the idea in their mind and see if there is a way for you help to make it happen. You should make it as easy as possible for them, too. Give them special business or referral cards and include a code so you can track the source of all your referrals. Depending on the nature of your current clients, though, you might need to look for other methods of expanding your client base. Using my experience above, one great source could be courting property management companies. As I said, I never really thought much about these companies, but now I keep seeing greater and greater opportunities there. You don’t necessarily have to pursue the big companies that run huge high-rises, either. Connecting with the owner of a local mini-mall, or a small group of office suites, is a great place to start. In some ways, you might even generate more work with these smaller groups since there tends to be more turnover among the clients. Since most of your work will probably come from new tenants moving in, this will probably be a bulk of your work. These small organizations are also a better place to start for an individual consultant like myself. Since the number of clients is limited, and in one geographic area, you should be able to serve them by yourself. Now, of course, if you can partner with a larger company, it could be a major stepping stone to growing your business into a major consultancy. Think of the number of individual businesses in a typical high-rise. Also, think about the specialized needs of one business over another. You might have medical practices, law firms, online services and more, all waiting for someone with your technical expertise. Take some time to think about the possibilities and I am sure you will discover a number of ways to expand your business. How about partnering with your banker? If they deal with small businesses getting loans to start their business or expansion projects, the companies might also need help with their technology decisions. Finally,

Reader letters over the last year have had me thinking about the exact definition of a high-tech career. Just a few years ago it would have been easier to describe. If you worked in high-tech you were either a programmer, in network management or tech support. Today, though, as technology has crept further and further into our everyday lives, high-tech workers might show up anywhere in a business, with titles not necessarily reflecting their high-tech work. These “hybrids” have combined their technical skills with other talents and created an entirely new group of high-tech workers. Even more, these new hybrid jobs might become the future of all high-tech work. Listen to this Podcast Post a Job! $20 for 7 days Books by Douglas E. Welch    Moving over One of the most frequent questions I receive involves people who are seeking to make a move from their existing career into high-tech. In some cases, they have found that their current careers are not a good fit with their temperament or desires. Others are simply looking for the monetary benefits of working in high-tech, which traditionally pay better than most other positions. Whatever the reason for their change, my usual response to them is to develop a hybrid job. It has been my experience that when you are transitioning into a high-tech career, experience is the most important factor of all. In order to get hired and make this career move, you need demonstrable technology skills that provide a solution to a company. One way of developing this experience, and your resume, is to find a position that combines some traditional skills and knowledge with your technology skills. For example, a para-legal might look for positions that could use their legal skills to help develop or sell software for law offices. If you have an engineering degree, perhaps you could become an important resource for engineering companies who are seeking to expand the use of technology in developing their projects. The goal is to develop a hybrid position, which can develop your high-tech resume so that you can move into a more “pure” high-tech position in the future. As I was developing this column, though, I began to realize that a hybrid job need not be just a stepping stone. As technology becomes more and more integrated into our lives these hybrid careers may become the norm instead of the exception. I see now that hybrid careers could help companies better utilize technology while also helping you achieve higher levels of job fulfillment.Imagine being on a building project and talking to a tech support person who understood not only the CAD program they were supporting but also had a grounding in the basics of architecture and engineering. How about a programmer who was able to use his/her knowledge of accounting to design a better system for tracking budgets and expenditures? It would even work for the network manager who had a deep understanding of the needs of salespeople on the road, so that the corporate network was accessible no matter where staff members traveled. There are almost no areas in business where combining technical knowledge with another specialization would not lead to better technology design and use. Finding a balance Not only does the concept of high-tech hybrids work for those entering the high-tech world, it can also be a boon to those of you already deeply involved in a high-tech career. Pure high-tech jobs, such as programmers, require a very specific temperament and personality. Too often I encounter people who have developed a high-tech career only to realize that, perhaps, it isn’t the best fit for them. Maybe they are spending all day developing programs to manage ATMs at your local bank when they have little to no interest in banking. Perhaps they are developing a network for retail stores, but have no desire to understand the workings of this environment. This type of situation can lead to worker dissatisfaction and quick burn out.

If you are like most people, you are constantly researching, reading and watching to find ways to make your career and life better. You read blogs, listen to podcasts, watch videos to see how others have achieved success -- more importantly -- how you ...

Here in the U.S., the end of one year, and the beginning of the next always brings out our desire to reflect on the past and plan for the future. We look back over the past year and note what we would like to change and then look forward, through New Year's resolutions, goals and other plans. Unfortunately, by the time we reach the mid-point of the year in June, many of those thoughts have been forgotten, resolutions have been abandoned and we might find ourselves so immersed in our day-to-day work that we have lost all memory of what we had planned to do. If you aren't doing it already, I highly recommend taking an hour, a day or even a week to re-evaluate the current state of your life and career so you can re-adjust your actions to re-focus on your goals. Listen to this Podcast Post a Job! $20 for 7 days Books by Douglas E. Welch    As you head into the height of the summer, it is easy to lose sight of your goals. Business is moving at a blistering pace, family obligations are increasing and vacations might even be on the near horizon. There is so much competing for your attention that you tend to jump from one activity to another. So the first step in your mid-year review is to stop. That's right. Carve out a portion of a day, or maybe several days, just to review and think about where you want to be by the end of the year. If you don't do it now, it is very likely that you will be well off target when December arrives. This review gives you a chance to adjust your direction or even turn it completely around. Maybe you have forgotten to follow up on an important issues, client or project. Perhaps you have discovered that this project is no longer important or has moved you in a direction you don't want. It could be that some goals have been achieved or rendered unimportant. What new goals should be added? Life changes a lot in 6 months and you if you don't take the time to review, you are likely to be pulled along with the current of life until you are reminded at the end of the year, "Hey, how did I forget about that?" This is also a great time to review your relationships with friends, family and, especially, your significant others. June is a popular month for marriages in the U.S., so many of us, myself included, will be celebrating an anniversary this month. While you might want to take each other out for dinner and a movie, do a favor for both of you and talk together about your life and what adjustments you need to make. At the most basic level, getting a handle on your schedules is a great place to start. I know that trying to coordinate the 3 wildly different schedules of my wife, son and myself, can be more difficult than I ever imagined. What plans do you need to make for summer vacation? What major projects are coming up in your work? Are their family events that require travel planning like airlines, hotels and rental cars? Get it all on the table now, so it doesn't spring back to mind at the worst possible moment. Take the time to talk about your plans and goals for the next 6 months. I find a quiet evening and a bowl of popcorn help to facilitate this. Make sure that everyone is aware of what everyone else is planning and doing. I can guarantee you that you will discover conflicts that you knew nothing about. Typically this includes items like the Scout camping trip falls exactly during the time of your big business trip to New York, or the family wedding, where you are the best man, happens before the kids are out of school. You don't want surprises like this when a little review would have given you an opportunity to address them long before they occurred. Don't wait until the calendar rolls over to another year to review your life and career commitments. Take some time this month to re-evaluate, re-adjust and relax, comfortable in the knowledge that you know where you've been in the last 6 months and know where you are headed for the rest of the year. ***

In today’s connected world, video interviews are becoming quite typical when you are looking for a job. Whether the position is near or far geographically, the realities of gathering a hiring committee in one office at one time can be quite daunting, so many companies are turning to video interviews to allow the the most flexibility possible, especially early in the hiring process. First, all the typical rules about interview dress, preparation and demeanor apply to a video interview as much as a face-to-face interview. Dress appropriately and neatly. Dress completely, even if they will only see you from the waist up. You never know when you might need to move away from the computer to get paperwork or something else. Telephones and cell phones should be off and out of sight unless needed for something like noting a future appointment.  Listen to this Podcast One-To-One Career Consulting Now available exclusively to Career Opportunities readers and Listeners. Click for more information and pricing    Books by Douglas E. Welch      Get your tech in order Next come the technical considerations for a video interview. First, do some practice calls with a friend or family member long before the actual interview. Make sure your computer and software are working properly. You don’t want to have to be troubleshooting technical issues on your end when you are supposed to be interviewing. Even worse, you don’t want to miss the interview entirely because you are having technical issues. Video Find a place in your home or office that has decent lighting and a decent background. You want the interviewer to be able to see you clearly and you don’t want distracting (or embarrassing) items in the background. Set up your camera, laptop or mobile device and look carefully at everything in the background. You might be surprised what you see there. Light should be coming from in front of you (behind your laptop) and be a diffuse as possible. A north facing window is a great source of light for a video interview. Painters have been positioning their studios to take advantage of that light for centuries. Avoid direct overhead lighting or harsh lighting from the extreme sides. Position you laptop or mobile device so that the camera is at the same height as your eyes. This will look the most natural and avoid the “up your nose” view so common in video conferences. This might mean you will have to place your laptop on some books or box, but it certainly worth doing. You can see a demonstration of this in my previous video, “New Media Tip 20081229 - Up your nose”.   If you are using a mobile device like an iPhone or ipad, make sure it is on a stand and stable on a tabletop or desk. Do not hold the device as the constant movement will be distracting to your interviewer. Snugg has iPad covers with integrated stands and the Glif for iPhone can hold your iPhone upright and stable for video calls. Also, when using a mobile device (or in fact any camera) make sure you look at the camera itself and not the screen of your device. If you do not look at the camera, it will appear to the other person that you are not making eye contact. This can be very disconcerting and off-putting to your interviewer -- almost like you are trying to avoid eye contact. It can be difficult, but keep reminding yourself to look at the camera, not the screen. These photo show the difference using my iPhone camera.    Looking at camera lens | Looking at iPhone screen Audio Always wear a nice set of earbuds for any video conference. This allows you hear clearly, but more importantly prevents feedback and echo during the call. Pay attention to audio quality during your practice calls. Make sure that you sound good and there aren’t any distracting background noises. If you think you might have issues with noise from roommates, neighbors or pets during your interview, you may want to plan on being in a different location for the interview. That said,

Sitting around with friends over dinner, talk often turns to blogging and podcasting. They know I have been blogging for a while and that I was one of the first 20 podcasters and they often want to know more about both pursuits. One of the most typical...

In this Year of Opportunity, one of your biggest goals should be create opportunity around you. It may sound odd, but yes, you have the ability to create your own opportunities through your own, direct actions. Creating opportunity requires some work your part, but the results should be more than worth it. Take some of that energy you have spent searching for a job and start searching for -- and creating -- your own opportunities this year.  Listen to this Podcast One-To-One Career Consulting Now available exclusively to Career Opportunities readers and Listeners. Click for more information and pricing    Books by Douglas E. Welch      Know and become known The most important part of creating opportunity is to know others and to make yourself known to others. Opportunities come from the people you know, both individually and as part of various groups. It only makes sense that the more people you know the more opportunities you will be exposed to. Too many of us cocoon ourselves away from the world, refusing to interact with others because we feel inadequate, unaccomplished or just plain scared. You must break out of this. You are a unique, capable, interesting individual and you deserve to know and interact with others and they you. Insecurity can trap you in a hole of your own making and actively prevent you from climbing out. This week, I want you to take some direct action to re-connect and know others. Meet with a friend or family member. Find a new interesting meetup in your area, no matter what the topic, Give yourself permission to explore and re-engage with the world. After my own year of transition, I am having to do the same myself. Sometimes I have to nearly force myself out the door, but I always feel better for having made the effort. Even more, I always benefit from the effort in some way. Each new person I meet, each old friend I reconnect with, is another step towards creating new opportunities. As well as knowing others, you must also seek to be known. You must share your expertise, your thoughts, your ideas, your feelings with those around you. Sharing develops deep connections with others as it often helps to solve a problem they might have. If you want to truly become a friend with someone, solve a problem for them. Nothing creates a deeper bond immediately and over time. Start blogging. Start sharing great tips and links on Facebook or wherever you prefer to spend your social media time. If you are a musician, find a place to play your music in public -- for pay or not. If you are an architect, share your dream designs so that others can be inspired. If you are a caregiver, share your experiences so others can benefit and feel that they are not alone in their challenges. We all have something to share that can help those around us, if we only share it. Be known by your good deeds, your great information, your caring and your conversation. Stop and consider your opportunities Many times we let opportunities slip through our fingers without ever considering them opportunities at all. In this world of rush, rush, rush, it becomes even more important to stop and consider opportunities when they occur. If you don’t stop, other thoughts, other actions, other concerns will quickly push them aside and you will lose them. The next time you think, “Hey, that’s a great idea!”, stop and write it down, note it on your smartphone, scribble it on a napkin, write it on your palm. Do whatever it takes to capture that idea for later consideration. Not every idea will turn into an opportunity, but a certain percentage will -- a certain percentage that would have been lost had you not stopped to consider and capture it. When you start doing this -- capturing your ideas and thoughts, you will be amazed by two things. One, you will be amazed at how much information (and opportunity) you have been ignoring in your life and two, you will be amazed by how interesting your life can be,

All it takes is one indiscretion, one moment of anger, to brand you with a bad reputation. Even worse, once people develop an opinion of you as a troublemaker, they may see issues where none really exist. Sometimes, we can damage our own reputation so ...

As I have done nearly every year for the last 5 years here on Career Opportunities, I have chosen a theme for the coming year. This year is no exception and, in fact, this year's theme is a very personal one for me. I see 2014 as a Year of Opportunity....

It is Christmastime again and many people’s thoughts turn to shopping and presents and consuming in all its forms. As the years have passed, though, I have found myself thinking less about presents that come from the corner store (or Amazon) and more a...

Watching my son’s Little League team, I was reminded once again about the deep difference between knowing what to do and doing it when the time comes. I watch them go through drills at practice, perfectly implementing such concepts as the double play a...

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines jealousy and envy thusly... jeal·ou·sy noun \ˈje-lə-sē\: an unhappy or angry feeling of wanting to have what someone else has: an unhappy or angry feeling caused by the belief that someone you love (such as your husband or wife) likes or is liked by someone else en·vy noun \ˈen-vē\: the feeling of wanting to have what someone else has: someone or something that causes envy  Listen to this Podcast One-To-One Career Consulting Now available exclusively to Career Opportunities readers and Listeners. Click for more information and pricing    Books by Douglas E. Welch      It is a rare person who has never suffered from jealousy and/or envy in their life and career. Both of these emotions are simply part of the -- all too fragile -- human condition. There are many times in our lives when we want what others have and are deeply jealous that they have it. Jealousy and envy can be greatly damaging to your career, though, and lead you to take actions you might not imagine otherwise. They can cause you to be petty, mean, controlling, and outright aggressive towards others if you feel your self-worth is threatened deeply enough. The perverse nature of jealousy and envy, though, is that it matters little in life what others have. Except in the most extreme cases, your accomplishments and your success are your own to control. Life is not a zero-sum game where everything someone else gains, you lose. We all gain and lose on our own merits, our own timeline and our own wants, needs and desires. Often, in my own life and in the stories I hear from others, jealousy and envy most often raise their head when someone -- who we may consider unworthy -- gains something we, ourselves, wish. We find ourselves checking off every negative reason why they shouldn’t have got the job, the money, the project, the publishing deal, whatever. Of course, it matters little what they deserve to get. They have achieved something regardless. Instead of focusing on the other person, each time we feel jealousy and envy we need to look to ourselves, our actions and our own motivations. These are truly the only items under our direct control and feeling jealousy and envy towards another only effects us, not the other person. I know that for myself, when I examine my jealousy closely, I easily see that the other person has often engaged in behavior or actions that I either couldn’t or don’t want to do. Perhaps they invested the time and energy to get an advanced degree. Maybe they spent hours and days cultivating relationships with people that I don’t care to know or engage with. In some cases, they may have engaged in constant, self-aggrandizing behaviors that I find tiresome or distasteful. It matters little what they do, though. I can hardly be jealous of someone if I am unable or unwilling to take the same actions and put in the same effort as they did. I may not like their actions. I may disagree with their motivations, but I cannot deny their results. Neither can I feel jealous of them. They accomplished what they did by direct effect of their actions and, in some cases, I might be able to accomplish the same things. That said, I also have to live with my own desires and morals. I have to live with myself each and every day and sometimes I find that certain actions would make that very difficult. Again, though, there is no need to be jealous, only to understand my own motivations and actions and be comfortable with them, regardless of the results. The deep fact of jealousy and envy is this. Too often we don’t recognize the success, the wealth and the happiness we already have in our lives. We judge our success based on some perverted understanding that you are either an incredibly wealthy and popular celebrity or you are no one. Success has many levels, but if you fail to recognize this you will doom yourself to a life of jealousy and envy. Someone will always have something you want.

No matter who you are, where you live or what you do, if you really want to learn something about your work, your ideas or a particular product, you only have to ask. Of course, asking for feedback can feel embarrassing and even frightening. Still, listening to other's consul and opinion is one of the most important ways that we learn to improve our own ideas. Listen to this Podcast Review Career Opportunities in the iTunes Podcast Directory       Books by Douglas E. Welch    The idea for this column came to me as I was watching a presentation at BarCampLA-3 (http://barcampla.org/), an un-conference here in Los Angeles that runs about every 6 months. One of the first sessions was Susie from SuperViva.com, a goal-tracking web site. I was impressed with the site, but I was even more impressed with Susie. She demonstrated the site and then asked everyone in attendance for their comments, questions and ideas. That takes guts! It also provided her with a wealth of information on what new features people might want and how to modify the site to better meet the members' needs. Susie clearly thought her site was ready for review and knew she needed input from a wide variety of people, so BarCampLA offered her a great opportunity. Now, you don't have to go as far as presenting your work in a public forum, at least not yet, but there is a variety of ways to put the power of "asking" behind any of your projects, personal or professional. Start small and then grow into more public environments and larger groups of people as your project matures. The first step in getting feedback on your ideas or projects is to collect a trusted and smart group of friends. Once you feel you have your idea in some basic form, take the idea to them and ask them what they think. This initial discussion can, and should, alter your original idea, adding features, removing others and getting you to the next step. You start with a small group so you can acclimate yourself to the fear that all of us feel when we ask others about our ideas. We worry that others will hate the idea or even worse, want to change the idea so much that it no longer feels like our own. This fear is real and palpable. It is also the one thing that can keep you from learning and growing, so it must be overcome at all costs. Some of us can dismiss it through our own willpower. Others, like myself, will have to use tricks or rewards or otherwise force us beyond the fear. Whatever method you find best, you must move beyond the fear. After your initial round of feedback, and any tweaks you have made to your idea or project, it is time to implement the first version. This version doesn't have to be complete, but it should offer some clear idea of what you are trying to accomplish. Now it's time to expand your feedback group. From the very beginning, everyone should be enticed to provide feedback on your idea or project. Nothing can replace this hands on "usability" testing that the only the real world can provide. You will quickly notice issues and you should work just as quickly to resolve them. Sometimes, you might change one feature, only to realize that the initial idea was better. Change it back. Do whatever it takes to meet your user's needs. I can guarantee that you will be learning something important every day. Now that you have your idea or project in some basic shape, you repeat the process with an even larger group. This new group will bring different needs, thoughts and experiences to your project and help to refine it even more. Their ideas might contradict the concerns of earlier users, but you might find that this is simply a sign that a feature doesn't work as well for 1,000 people as it did for 100. Again, you tweak and change, add and remove features and continue refining your ideas. At this point, you have probably started to communicate your idea to the world at large, but this certainly doesn't mean you stop taking input from those around you. In fact,

A fun little video of the computer's view of what it sees when I record, edit and post the Career Opportunities podcast. Music: "Shiny Tech" by Kevin MacLeod (http://incompetech.com) by Creative Commons License.    

Read and listen to previous parts of the series: Introduction: The 7 Skills of a Successful Careerist 1. Organization 2. Communication 3. Troubleshooting 4. Empathy 5. Self-Knowledge 6. Moneywise In today’s world, change is constant, complex and crit...