Friday Fun + A New Video Release

Wishing you a wonderful weekend and I'd also like to leave you with some Friday Fun (I just LOVE this scene!):

+ an interview I did with Carol McClelland from Green Career Central earlier this year www.greencareercentral.com

Whilst Carol specifically focuses on 'green' careers and by that we mean any role that contributes positively to the environment, society AND the economy (yes - it is possible!) I think her career strategies are valuable and applicable across all disciplines.  She's a great career coach.

Have a lovely weekend, and enjoy.

Until next time.

Lisa

PS As always I'm interested to hear your thoughts so please share on the blog page via the social media plug-in at the bottom of the blog post on the Intention21 website - http://intention21.com.au/blog/ Please use this as an opportunity to share your thoughts - we all have something to learn from you so thanks for sharing! 

Mojo Monday - Quick Tips About Blogging

To blog, or not to blog.  Can blogging really help you secure the job of your dreams, or is it just for entrepreneurs, small business owners, online business owners….. everyone but you?

We do cover the broad concepts of blogging in our Career Management Program where we reference Nicole Warne, one of Australia’s most successful bloggers who provides great insights into what blogging is really all about.

I believe however, that it's important to understand how blogging can work for you, and then decide what to blog about.  

A great way to consider how blogging can help you to get a job is to simply be pragmatic.  What skills and experience exist on your resume, and how can you blog about what you know?  If you are a marketing professional for example, you can write about content marketing for lead generation or other topics that can create real value for your readers.

When a recruiter or hiring manager investigate you online, they will be able to get first hand experience of what it’s like to work with you.  How do you communicate, what insights do you share?  Blogging gives you the opportunity to present yourself in the best light possible.

We live in the digital age, and showing that you have mastered this era and that you are able to build your network both in the real world, and online can be very appealing to a potential employer.  Why?  Everyone’s ‘black book’ of connections is valuable, and the larger and more diverse yours is, the more interesting it is for a prospective employer.

Writing a regular blog ensure that you keep abreast of current research, trends and statistics.  All this helps to keep your skills current and if communicated correctly, can help you to differentiate yourself amongst your competitors.

Having a dedicated following to your blog can certainly command a certain kind of respect and is an interesting way for prospective employers to engage with you, and want to learn more about you.

Where to start?

The 5 best blogging platforms:

SquareSpace (Web-Based, From $US8 per month)

WordPress (Web-Based, Free)

Tumblr (Web-Based, Free)

Blogger (Web-Based, Free)

You can also shop for pre made blogger templates on Etsy; one of my favourite designers is Carrie Loves Design….you’ll find 25 pre-designed templates, all beautiful and incredibly easy to overlay onto your basic blog.

One final tip, is if you are struggling with generating catchy blog titles, look no further than www.hubspot.com for the blog topic generator.

As always I'm interested to hear your thoughts so please share on the blog page visa the social media plug-in at the bottom of the blog post on the Intention21 website - http://intention21.com.au/blog/ - I'd love to hear from you about your experience with blogging.  If you are just embarking on a blog please use this as an opportunity to share your work - we all have something to learn from you so thanks for sharing! 

Tools to survive the Panel Interview

Panel Interviews.  You've worked through the process of actually finding a job you would like to apply for. You painstakingly addressed the selection criteria, expertly repositioned your resume to highlight the most appropriate achievements and you've FINALLY secured an interview!  Congratulations ..... however, you then notice it's a panel interview and a mild panic begins to set in.  This needn't be the case, since a panel interview is simply a time efficient way of the organisational stakeholders to meet you in one sitting, and for you to get to know the people you will be dealing with on a day to day basis in your role.  You should apply the same three point approach to the panel interview as you would a normal interview.

1. Preparation - know who is asking the questions

You will be given a list of the panelists and their job titles so you can look them up either on LinkedIn or their company website and research their backgrounds.  This will help you to understand what is important to them in their roles, and what they might be looking for from you in terms of your performance in the role.  It will also help you to anticipate the type of questions they may put to you.   Most panelists will be prepared and their administrators would have provided them with a copy of your resume along with some pre-prepared interview questions.  Ensure that you know the name of each interviewer and use it with ease.  Address each person when you respond, but try to also engage the whole panel throughout your answer to make them feel engaged, directing your conclusion back to the person who asked the question.

2. Engage with the group

To perform well, you will need to of course answer each questions directly, but try to elaborate further by addressing the perspectives of each of the panellists.  For example, one interviewer may question you about Project Management but from your research, you know that the CEO and Governance Manager are more interested in how you would prioritise investment funding and apply best practice industry thinking to the decision making process.  So, you could respond with, “Working with Board Members is essential to develop and implement funding strategies.  This has taught me how to target both government and private sector donors, as well as grant-making bodies. From a commercial perspective, I have advised on capacity building building on the training I have received from different government led programs".

It goes without saying to keep your body language in check.  I have personally always struggled with this - will it really mean I don't get an interview because of my posture??  Surely not .... well maybe not but if spending time focusing on this helps to improve your personal power, confidence and self-esteem then it makes sense to me.  This TED talk by Amy Cudder is worth watching.

Remember that engagement leads to just that ... further engagement, so be prepared for those follow up questions.  It's good to have a few layers prepared to your answers so that if your interviewers are interested in peeling them back to reveal more, they will find some substance behind what you are communicating.

3. Post Interview Reflection

Be kind to yourself.  It's not unusual to leave an interview and immediately pull apart every minute detail wishing you'd have said this or that.  Suddenly all the perfect examples will be glaringly crystal clear and on reflection you could have nailed it!  But it's not over yet.  You will be surprised at how many allowances are made for nerves and how much of the hiring focus is on character and culture fit.  So don't beat yourself up until you hear from the client as to the next steps.  Oh, and remember to express your appreciation by sending each interviewer a personalised thank-you note which will send a warm and positive message and also, provides you with the opportunity to lightly reiterate any areas that you could perhaps do more justice to.

What experiences have you had with Panel Interviews and how do you feel about them generally?  Also, have you ever been on the other side, if so what advice can you give to others?  As always I'm interested to hear your thoughts so please share on the blog page via the social media plug-in - I'd love to hear from you!

News Bulletin-January 2014

Happy New Year to you, I hope you are well rested and ready for a great year ahead!  I have a couple of exciting changes to announce, firstly that the Intention21 Career Hub is now available along with a Career Management Program which can be undertaken over 7-days, 14-days or 2-Power Weekends.  I've purposefully kept the structure generic with sustainability themes and concepts feeding into it, and with supporting tools and video's that support you in understanding how to identify what strengths can best contribute to the exciting new career opportunities we see emerging.  Whilst many of these opportunities are not exactly 'new' they are continually being shaped by the global risks that are affecting all areas of our lives whether it is technology, environmental, geopolitical, economical or from a societal perspective.

Turning Green remains focused on working with clients to recruit on a retained exclusive basis placing candidates into executive positions with a focus on sustainability and environmental issues across all disciplines and industries.  We will continue to communicate with you on a monthly basis with a short e-newsletter looking at industry trends and other topical news.  If you do not want to receive communication from us please do use this as an opportunity to unsubscribe below.

Alternatively, if you know anyone who would benefit from working with us please share!  it's also useful to follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook as we regularly post up articles of interest via these forums.

The Intention21 Career Hub is focused on helping individuals gain clarity around their career goals, specifically helping you to understand how you can align your career with your values and work with intention and passion in all that you do.  The aim is for this to become a community; job hunting can be challenging which is why the Career Management Program is structured to be delivered efficiently.  It provides you with resume writing skills, social networking tools, career management strategies, how to prepare your application, interview techniques and salary negotiation tips.  This can help you to find a job or to transition your career as quickly as possible from where you are, to where you want to be.  There's also lots of free resources so head on over and join up now to gain access to materials and video's that will help you on your way.  If you are someone who would like personal coaching, we are delighted to announce that from March 2014 Rosemary Sainty will be available for one-to-one career coaching sessions  - read more about Rosemary here.

Thank you for your support over the years, and I look forward to developing these initiatives further with you.

See you on the inside, Lisa Tarry

Unemployment rate steady at 5.8% ... ABS
Pick-up in activity in the non-mining sectors of the economy ... ANZ Job Advertisement Series
Labour details suggests an end to hiring, but not significant hiring ... ACCI-Westpac Survey of Industrial Trends
Employment (Indicator) has fallen for the third consecutive month ... DoE Monthly Leading Indicator of Employment

Wake-Up Call February 2013

I was interviewed by Awake about what got me into sustainability and what behaviours I have personally changed and intend to change.  Read more here.  Awake provides psychology-based tools and services which support organisations and communities to develop a culture of sustainability.  Visit www.awake.com.au for more info

Commentary in the Fifth Estate Journal on Jobs

We've been a little quiet this year at Turning Green, so a mention in this Fifth Estate article was a welcomed break from a period of heads down.  Read more here about Jobs: Getting set for Sustainability V2

What Does a Sustainability Career Look Like?

My previous coverage on the topic of 'green jobs' has looked mainly at the struggle to define the green economy from a jobs taxonomy perspective in Australia and I feel an update is required!

At Turning Green we see sustainability touching most business functions.  There are opportunities everywhere but a good sustainability practitioner recognises ...

“You Have to Do It Yourself; You Can’t Do It Alone” One of the Seven Paradoxes of Sustainability Practitioners From: Sustainability Champions Guidebook Bob Willard.

You'll have to read the book to hear about the other six but we think that this sums things up quite nicely.

True sustainability must be integrated into all operations of business, and a truly sustainable business is created when all employees are aware of how their roles contribute to the sustainability agenda.

While sustainability needs to be driven from the top, it’s not just the job of a single staff member or department – it involves everyone and should be linked to the broad strategic objectives of the business. It is a coordinated process that requires the development of a sustainability strategy strongly aligned to the business plan that can be easily implemented.   

A good Sustainability Practitioner will be able to quickly assimilate the business situation, understand their operating environment and create a strategy that will engage the whole organisation for competitive advantage.  They will then use a number of tools as they enter into the implementation phase depending on their focus:

Eco-Efficiency – dematerialisation, energy, water, waste, carbon management
Eco-Effectiveness – supply chain & purchasing, green buildings and fleets, renewables, life cycle analysis, ESD, products to services
Sustainability Systems – integrated, materiality and assured reporting, standards and certification, metrics, financial and risk performance
Sustainable Consumption – transparency, green marketing, sustainable branding, Social Responsibility – fair operating practices, Human Rights, Community Consultation, Workplace Giving, ESG

How their career evolves will depend on all these factors and the experience gleaned in the process, plus of course, the success of their programs.  For want of a better phase, what get's measured gets managed and this is critical if their programs are to be recognised through awards or other means which of course feeds into their profile.

Finally - what does this sustainability practitioner 'look' like?  What characteristics do they posses to make them a success?  We think RepublicOfEveryone encapsulate this perfectly in their HeroHandBook and we LOVE it for its simplicity and relevance.  

"A hero is someone who solves the problems that are too big for the rest of us" - the anatomy of a hero includes:

1. Sign in the sky so everyone knows you're in town

2. Speech bubble for memorable catchcry

3. Eye's - x-ray vision - sees things that others don't

4. Mind - clear and focused

5. Heart - determined to be good

6. Jaw - steely in the face of criticism

7. Logo - makes you easy to recognise

8. Belt - so you're never caught with your pants down

9. Boots - to walk the talk

Elements of this such as 'logo' and 'sign in the sky' obviously apply more to organisational brand than individuals, however at Turning Green we work with candidates to focus on their own personal brand, and their name and values become synonymos with their career achievements and credibility.  Thus they become heros as do the brands they represent.

Finally, we find one of the best source of updates for mover and shaker activity is the Fifth Estate.  Similar to their counterparts around the world, many of our active sustainability practitioners in Australia go beyond their day jobs to work with non-profit boards and serve local government, while still holding down their day job.

Others shake things up by launching new ventures or promoting a cutting-edge sustainability initiative as we have recently seen with Ché Wall, who has embarked on a new business venture, setting up a sustainable consulting business with long term colleague Matthew Jessup - http://www.thefifthestate.com.au/archives/38797/ and Siobhan Toohill, who left Stockland to set up Pure and Applied, a people-centred design studio focused on sustainability, placemaking, service design and digital strategy.

We live in very dynamic times, and the kind of leader that thrives in this new world has the humility to admit that the challenges are just too big to do it alone and will collaborate to get on with the ‘bigger picture’.  They build trust through ethical action and run a principled business.