11 The Inspiration for the Ten Steps to a Federal Job®

11 The Inspiration for the Ten Steps to a Federal JobPost 9/11 The Inspiration for the Ten Steps to a Federal JobPost 9/11 The Inspiration for the Ten Steps to a Federal JobEven the smallest act of service, the simplest act of kindness, is a way to honor those we lost, a way to reclaim that spirit of unity that followed 9/11.- President Obama Written by Kathryn Troutman, President of The Resume Place, Inc.My 9/11 StoryOn September 11, 2011, I welches in Portland, Oregon in a hotel, with my 81-year-old mother. I welches on my way to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii to teach a Federal Resume Writing class the next day. I was going to drop my mother off at her sisters house in Baker City, Oregon and pick her up on the way back. Early that morning, I was working on my laptop and Mom went downstairs to get coffee for us both. She went to the breakfast area and happened to look at the TV. She saw an airplane fly into the World Trade Center. She exclaimed out loud, Why do they put such awful shows on T V in the morning? Everyone heard her. A kind man stood up and went over to her and said, This isnt a movie, this is real. This just happened in New York City. We are under attack here in the United States. He helped her sit down because of her shock. Then he came back up to the room with Mom. I saw Mom walk in with coffee and bananas and a strange man. I was surprised and he said, Your mom was watching TV when an airplane struck the World Trade Center. There is an attack on America. I almost burst into tears, because I knew he was telling the truth, and that the truth was simply awful. We solemnly packed up to drive to Baker City about 5 hours south of Portland. We listened to the news all the way down about people looking for their loved ones. It was horrifying and shocking and sad.Of course, my flight to Oahu and my federal resume course at Pearl Harbor were cancelled, so I stayed a couple of days and then went back to Portland to try to get a flight out of Oregon to go back to Ma ryland. My children were teenagers at that time, and I wanted to get home to them.Post 9/11 Americans Wantedto HelpWhen I went back to work at The Resume Place, Inc. we were flooded with phone calls and emails asking how people could get a federal job with FEMA, CIA, NSA, DHS, CDC, any defense agency where they could contribute to the security of America. People were saying on the phone, I want to get a government job where I can make a difference. I want to help make America safe. What can I do to work for FEMA or CIA? People who were working in auto dealerships, warehouses, banks, Walmart, schools, libraries, in all types of work, wanted to get a federal job to help protect America. Since the federal job search is complex, it was difficult to explain to everyone by phone or by email how to get a federal job.I was invited to teach a class at Montgomery County Works about federal resume writing in January 2002, and for that class I created a curriculum called Ten Steps to a Federal Job with an American flag on the cover. There were 35 One-Stop job coaches in the room. I asked them what percentage of their clients were interested in federal jobs. They said, 5%. I was surprised because Montgomery One Stop is one exit away from the DC line and the Nations Capital. They told me later that they didnt coach their clients about federal jobs because they didnt know how to navigate a federal job search themselves. So, that day, I came up with the idea to create a train-the-trainer program for federal resumes and federal job search.Out of the Ashes of 9/11Ten Steps to a Federal Job became a book, course curriculum, workshop,and train-the-trainer program to help U.S. citizens and a few non-U.S. citizens find and land a quality federal job. The main mission of the federal government in 2002 was- and still is to this day- protecting America, supporting our military and defense organizations, and making America safe and a great country. I am proud to be able to help America ns serve America in the U.S. Government with my books, ideas and curriculum for trainers. The book and curriculum have trained thousands of military transition personnel, One-Stop staff, federal human resources staff and Americans in a method to land a federal job. I am dedicated to helping the U.S. Government recruit and retain the best and the brightest for all of the missions of the government, but mostly for our safety against acts of terrorism. Thank you again for your service to America U.S. Military, Civil Service Employees, and Government Contractors Kathryn Troutman

The one time Seth Godin got it wrong

The one time Seth Godin got it wrongThe one time Seth Godin got it wrongHow to identify, attract and keep talent via resumes.Last week, serial entrepreneur and marketing wiz Seth Godin announced on his blog that he is looking for talent.In particular, Seth is seeking people who are skilled, passionate and open to making change happen. The reason why he is embarking on this journey is simple he wants to maintain a file of talented individuals, suited for the execution of the many projects Seths involved in.Yet, the way he is searching for talent has some room for improvement. This article will explain why the strategy Seth has employed to unearth human capital can be enhanced.But first, a bit about who Seth Godin is. For those who arent quite sure. Seth helped invent commercial e-mail (thats not spam) as we know it today. Thats right. For every time your favorite newsletter finds its way to your inbox you have Seth to thank. In addition, he pretty much invented educational computer ga mes for children. And he published 18 best-selling books. And founded Yoyodyne. And Squidoo. Impressed? So are we.Seth knows the nooks and crannies of digital marketing. He crafts each one of his blog posts as if it were his last. He also runs the worlds most selective MBA program the altMBA. The guy could use an extra pair of hands, okay?We Enhancers couldnt agree more with Seths idea for a treasure hunt. Even when they are not actively hiring, smart companies have to maintain a file of talented potential employees/contributors. Yet, what is the clever way to do this? Is there an optimal way to spot talent? To get to know the candidate as a professional and an individual?These were the questions that were running through the minds of founders Volen, Georgi and Dimitar some three years ago. Helping people showcase their lifes work is s mission. Finding clever and efficient ways to do it is the companys present.Related articlesHow to use volunteer experience to make your resume sta nd outA recruiter explains how to make your resume stand outSam landed a job at Spotify with Yet, Seth appears to have missed the revolution. In 2009, he wrote a blog entry titled Why bother having a resume?. In it, Seth argues that remarkable people should refrain from having resumes at all. Well, Seth. We beg to differ.We know that most resumes are boring and ineffective. That they only get 6 seconds of the readers attention and often take the form of a dull, 2-page list of job responsibilities. This is why we exist to breathe life into resumes. We add the extra dose of sparkle and magic dust. How you may ask?First, resumes are crafted to showcase the tangible summary of your work. Start with a verb, measure your accomplishments numerically, detail the skills you acquired on the job, provide a baseline for the measurement of your personal growth. These are just some of the recommendations provided by the automated resume builder. No way to get it wrong.Second, stimulates you to provide a prognosis of what you will do for your future employer, rather than a mere account of what you have done for your previous one.Third, having an online platform where you can store your resumes enables you to make each one contextual, concise and targeted. We discourage the spray and pray technique.Fourth and most important, enables you to design an authentic personal brand. We trigger introspection. When you sit down to write your resume, you dont usually think of the books, which have influenced your thinking the strengths and talents, which make you a capable professional or how a pie-chart of one day in your life would look like. The resume nudges you to ask yourself the self-examining questions that make a good resume great.The traditional resume is dead, people. Long live the kind. So heres a quest for you, cherished reader. Help us convince Seth of the value behind meaningful, well-thought over resumes. Send him your creation, showing you are neither average n or destined to wither in a corporate behemoth. In the meantime, you can draw some inspiration from the one we created on Seths behalf. Cheeky us.Looking for more inspiration? Check out our resume examples section that got people hired at their dream jobs.Photo of Seth Godin by MIMA Photos under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

How to Build Trust on Your Team

How to Build Trust on Yur TeamHow to Build Trust on Your TeamA senior board member once chastised our executive kollektiv with, You dont trust each other enough to succeed. We rankled at this indictment lobbed in by someone who was not part of the daily workings of our firm. It turns out, he was right. An outside observer would have noticed broken trust links in a number of the relationships in this group. Until those links were forged, we flailed. The CEO brought in an industrial psychologist to help the gruppe, but the effort fizzled. Finally, to the credit of the CEO and board, they took action to remove the individuals who refused to set their personal differences aside in pursuit of the mission. Once the dust settled from the changes, the remaining members of the group aligned around the difficult issues of developing and implementing a bold new strategy. While we did not recognize it at the time, the subsequent two years of trial and ultimate success were pivotal moments in our careers. Whether you are CEO or a front-line supervisor, trust in some form is the difference-maker when it comes to performance. It is also one of those squishy topics that busy managers do not think about on a daily basis. Rarely is the action strengthen trust with and between my team members singled out on an annual performance review or on a list of objectives. That is too bad because the trust issue should be front and center in the mind of the manager every day and in every encounter. The failure to engender trust with your co-workers, peers, and team members is a formula for stress, strife, and suboptimal results. Effective managers and great leaders recognize that building trust is a complex and sometimes slow process. They work hard at it every single day. 15 Power Tips to Build Trust on Your Team Give your trust to get trust. Most people will move mountains to repay this simple but powerful gesture of respect.Link individual and team priorities to the firms strategies and goals. People thrive when they have context for their work and its importance to the bigger picture.Keep your team informed of the firms financial results. Whether your firm is publicly-traded or privately-held, the time you invest in explaining and talking about actual results will be greatly appreciated. Your transparency suggests you trust your team members with this important information. Redouble your efforts to understand and support the career aspirations of your team members. Nothing says I care more than investing time and effort in helping someone achieve a goal. Caring begets trust.Show your vulnerabilities. If you make a mistake, admit it. If you are interested in feedback on your performance, ask for it and then do something positive with the input. Make certain to loop back and thank the team members who provided constructive input.Regularly give away your authority. If you run a regular operations meeting, rotate responsibility to develop the agenda and lead the meeting. As often as possible, delegate decision-making to individuals or teams. Any action to show trust by allowing others to decide and act will strengthen their trust in you. Shine the punktlicht brightly on everyone else. No one trusts the manager who constantly elbows her way to the center of the spotlight for the teams accomplishments. Step back into the shadows and your team members will repay you many times over.Take the heat for team member mistakes. When something goes wrong, get to the center of the spotlight and keep your team members safely out of sight.Always match your words with your actions. The do must match the tell or, your credibility will suffer, and trust will fade. And yes, everyone on your team is keeping score. Beware of diluting the value of accountability. Every individual must be accountable for his or her actions and outcomes. Exceptions to this rule destroy credibility and derail your efforts to build trust.Do not let the difficult issues linger. Reme mber, everyone is watching you, and the clock on your credibility is running. While your team members have empathy for you in navigating the big issues, they expect you to do your job so they can do theirs.Hold team leaders accountable for building trust with and between their team members. Your team leads are a direct reflection of you as the overall leader. Teach them well and hold them accountable to the same standards you hold yourself to. Teach your teams how to talk, debate and decide. Instead of demanding easy consensus, teach your team members how to discuss alternative ideas and approaches in pursuit of the best approach.When an employee makes a mistake, encourage them to share the lessons learned. It goes double for your own mistakes. Use your errors to teach others.Always operate from a clear, visible set of values. If your firm lacks clear values, define the values that describe the aspirational and acceptable behaviors for your team members. Teach and reference the valu es constantly. The Bottom-Line for Now Trust is built over time and based on many exposures. You have a thousand opportunities every single day to engender or endanger trust. Work hard to win each one of these small but important moments of trust.