Personal SWOT Analysis

I'm an inveterate planner. It's one of the best skills I learned through my decades in the non-profit sector. I planned everything: programs, hiring processes, budgets, and organizational strategic direction.

Planning is the means by which I mapped out HOW to get to my GOAL, and WHAT I needed to do and assemble along the way. Usually, I planned with others in a team. We started with some vision of our desired outcome, and then made a plan to get us from where we were at that moment in time to our desired end state.

However, planning was more than simply the process of creating a map. Planning allowed me to enroll others into sharing the vision and joining the team. It helped everyone learn how they did and could contribute to reaching the goal. Planning taught people how to plan, thereby enhancing their effectiveness in every area of their work lives and perhaps also their personal life.

Today, I apply my planning skills, methods, and tools to my own life, and help others do the same. For example, today I talked to someone about doing a SWOT analysis on herself. These are the questions I suggested.

Strengths - What are my strengths? What am I really good at? What are my talents? What skills do I have that I love using? What makes me happiest? Where do I feel best about myself? Doing what? When? With whom?

Weaknesses: What am I not so great at? What don't I like doing? What do I wish someone else could take care of for me? How's my attitude? Am I asking for help?

Opportunities: What exists in the outside world that could help me realize my dreams and achieve my goals? Who do I know? What kind of information is out there for me to gather? What networks could I join? Are there opportunities for me to develop my skills, to discover my talents, to build my confidence, to feel more hopeful and positive? What can I do to give value to others, to be of service? Am I willing to leave no stone unturned in my quest?

Threats: Are there things in the external environment that could upset my plans or hopes? Have I put too much emphasis on one or two options? Do I know as much as I can about myself and my abilities? Do I have ideas and negative thoughts that could trip me up?

The point is to identify those attributes, beliefs, thoughts, behaviors, and attitudes that I can a) capitalize on (S); b) compensate for in some way (W); c) maximize (O); and d) minimize (T).

Reference Checks

Great news! You've made it through the interview process and now your prospective new employer wants to check your references.

Reference checks are a little complex these days. Many employers no longer permit their employees to give any kind of verbal reference, instead directing inquiries to the Human Resources Department. And HR is only able to verify dates and terms of employment (e.g. full-time, part-time, contract worker). This presumably protects the employer from potential lawsuits by former employees who claim they didn't get a job because of a bad reference. About the only thing a prospective employer can find out is whether you told the truth on your resume and/or application.

Nonetheless, employers continue to ask for references in the hopes that they will get a live person willing and able to talk about you. Fair or not, it may be a red flag to them if you can't name even one person willing to go out on a limb to give you a substantive recommendation. After all, a positive reference would not result in litigation. Therefore, the reasoning goes, you must be a poor employee or colleague if you can't get at least one person to say nice things about you.

Collect at least three references, people you know will give you a great recommendation. Preferably, these people are former supervisors and close colleagues. If you have a lengthy work history, I recommend identifying two supervisors and one close colleague. If you're relatively new to the work world, you can list a former professor and a supervisor from a summer job or internship, plus a current colleague. At more senior levels, it's great to have four or more potential references. Then you can include current colleagues from other companies.

You'll need to do a few things to make sure your reference list is in top shape.

First, make sure you ask each potential reference if they are willing to serve as such. Nothing is worse than someone being surprised by a call from a recruiter. Here's why: It's presumptuous on your part to assume they are willing to be positive about you or give a reference at all. What if they aren't allowed to give references? Recruiters know if someone is surprised, and will immediately give you major demerits for behaving unprofessionally. In addition, the person should have a chance to think about what they might say about you.

Second, it's a good idea to reconnect with references every time you seek a job even if they've agreed to do so in the past. Alert them that someone will be calling to get a reference from her so they are aware and can start thinking of what to say. Plus, you can chat a bit about the position and why you want it, subtly emphasizing the things you want them to say. You also can tell them you want to make sure you are giving the correct contact information.

Third, put the list in writing. Make a Word document that lists each reference by name, gives their current title and employer (if they are working), identifies the nature of your relationship and length of time the person knows you (e.g. direct supervisor at XYZ Company for 4 years), and provides current contact information (preferably a telephone number). If you save it on your hard drive, you can e-mail it or print it out as needed, as well as update it.

November 12for12K Challenge is Tweetsgiving!

Join a global expression of gratitude on YouTube, Flickr, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Posterous and blogs within the 48 hours of Tweetsgiving (11/24 - 11/26).

The goal of Tweetsgiving is twofold: 1) Create a viral expression of gratitude and 2) raise $10,000 in two days for a fantastic yet struggling school in Tanzania.

Tweetsgiving is a chance for all of us to express thanks for whatever we’re thankful for. It could be a new job, overcoming an illness, awakening to something within your life, chocolate chip cookies – anything at all!

Your gift will make your gratitude tangible. I've already made a donation in gratitude for my wonderful nieces and nephew, because I don't know if I'll remember during Tweetsgiving. You don't have to wait until then to make a gift.

The money raised will go to support a primary school in Tanzania. Epic Change and its local partner Kamptoni will build a technology lab at the same school in Arusha where Tweetsgiving helped build a classroom last year. The Tumblr site shows great photos, student comments, and tweets about the classroom's impact and kids' hopes, dreams and struggle. It's very moving.

From the Tweetsgiving site: Epic Change launched the original TweetsGiving celebration in November 2008 as a 48-hour celebration of gratitude and giving that successfully raised over $10,000 to build a classroom in Arusha, Tanzania. Epic Change invested the funds to build a classroom at a school founded by Tanzanian Epic Change fellow “Mama Lucy” Kamptoni, a woman who used to sell chickens and used her income to build a school that now serves over 300 children near her home in Arusha. In this classroom built from gratitude, the Twitter handles of donors are now painted on the walls.

THERE's MORE! A donor has pledged matching funds! So all we need are 500 people to donate $10 each to reach $5000; the matching funds will bring the Tweetsgiving donation to $10,000. We also could use 100 people donating $50... And raising more than $10,000 would provide funds for a dormitory/orphanage, library, school cafeteria and additional classrooms.

Epic Change believes that people's stories are assets that can be used as resources to improve their lives. We help people in need share their "epic" true stories in innovative, creative and profitable ways to help them acquire the financial resources they need to create positive "change" in their communities. "We help hopeful people in need share their stories to acquire resources that will improve their lives."

Now Available! Your "Right Fit" Job: Guide to Finding Work You Love

Now available is my e-book Your "Right Fit" Job: Guide to Finding Work You Love.

The guide is like having me coach you through your job search process. You will follow the same step-by-step process I use with people who get the jobs they really want.

Your "Right Fit" Job is based on two main premises.

The first is that you can get work you really love to do. If you're already searching for work, you know that job search is a long and sometimes painful slog. I say that if you are already working hard, you might as well devote that energy to getting the best possible outcome.

That leads to the second premise: job search is essentially a marketing campaign, where you are the "product" and the specific kind of work is your "market." Successful marketers know their product and target market really well. Using Your "Right Fit" Job, you will get to know yourself extremely well, including your "core value proposition" - what you offer employers that is unique to you and very valuable to them. You also will know what kind of job or work you want - where and how you will do your best work and be happiest. Being very specific will help you find a job.

Then I will help you develop really effective marketing materials (resume, cover letter, 5-second intention statement aka "elevator speech")and a networking strategy to help you get interviews. The guide gives great advice on how to handle interviews, especially difficult questions. I also include suggestions for how to battle "job search fatigue."

I believe that when you do your "right fit" work, you will be happy at work. And when you're happy at work, you'll be happier in life. Use Your "Right Fit" Job: Guide to Finding Work You Love to direct your job search efforts most effectively and find the "right fit" for you.

To get your FREE copy of Your "Right Fit" Work, put your e-mail contact information in the comment section. I promise not to publish it on this blog, but simply to use it to send you your copy of my e-book. I'll be offering it FREE until December 31, 2009, so make sure you get yours now.

Cover Letters

I look at a lot of cover letters, and find that the majority can be improved with a few key changes.

1) Write it well.

This means good grammar and sentence structure, logical flow and relevant content, as well as perfect spelling. If you are not a great writer, find a friend who can edit your letter. A well-crafted cover letter conveys that the writer is a clear thinker and smart person. Mistakes (like typos or mixed up verb tenses) give the reviewer a great reason to toss your resume into the recycling bin or shredder. Don't do their work for them!

2) Use the cover letter to make the case for why you are the right person for the job.

In marketing terms, your resume is your "value proposition" while the job posting and description put forth the need that must be met. Your cover letter articulates how your value proposition - skills, experience, expertise - matches the stated need. To make that case, you will refer to the job description, often using language taken straight from the ad or posting. This demonstrates that you are paying attention to this employer's specific needs, and that you understand that work is a two-way street. You want a job, they want an employee. You need a paycheck, they need results. Show that you understand that the employer has needs, too, and you will start to stand out from the competition.

3. Give enough specificity to invite more questions at an interview, and absolutely no more.

Cover letters allow you to go into a bit more detail than your resume about specific accomplishments - looking from about 8,000 feet instead of 10,000 - and definitely no lower. No one wants to read every last detail. It's boring and off-putting. One person wrote a letter that gave lots of detail about one accomplishment - it was hovering at about 1,000 feet.

As a fundraiser, I have developed successful proposals to a number of foundations and government agencies over the past 12 years. One example of my success in this area is my spearheading the effort that resulted in a $22,000 planning grant from the such-and-such Foundation to look at increasing the number of older adults in our volunteer base. My analysis of the ensuing focus groups led to our being invited to apply for full funding. We were awarded a $150,000, three-year grant as a result. I continue to monitor the programming and reporting on that grant. In addition, at both MNO and BCD, I successfully increased foundation fundraising and income from billable contracts during my tenures.

The content definitely was relevant; it was just too much of a good thing. Here's a small edit to show how to highlight the essential point, give an example and curtail extraneous detail.

As a fundraiser, I have led or been an integral part of efforts that yielded many millions of funding from foundations and government agencies during my career. For example, I spearheaded XYZ's effort that raised first a planning grant and then a $150,000 multi-year grant from a major foundation. In addition, at both MNO and BCD, I successfully increased foundation fundraising and income from billable contracts.

You might get an interview because the reviewer wants to know HOW you accomplished these things. Then you can go into more detail.

4) Talk about why you want to work for the organization or company.

The cover letter is your chance to show them how you are the perfect fit, not simply in terms of your abilities and qualifications but in terms of their mission and programmatic needs. You certainly are technically qualified. Why should they choose you? What's your motivation for seeking this position? A little flattery goes a long way, as does a thoughtful rationale for why your experience will translate into the new company's focus.

When applying to a non-profit organization, make sure you weave any experience - professional, volunteer or personal, that ties you to the organization's specific mission and issues.

5) Get the reader to go to your resume.

The cover letter is supposed to give employers a slightly different perspective on you. It's the place to amplify the key messages contained in your resume and to make the case for you being the right person for the job. It should not take the place of the resume. It's good to give the reader instructions: So don't repeat everything that's in your resume. Get them to go to the resume by saying things like: "My resume is enclosed." and "As you will see from my resume, I have experience in ..."

Targeted Cover Letters

I just edited a cover letter to add in more specifics about the position and correlate the person's past experience with their needs. Usually, those letters are more effective than the ones that simply talk about your experience.

A cover letter is a marketing tool. The goal of any marketing is to demonstrate that you understand your market's challenges and have the experience and skills to help them meet those challenges. Thus a great cover letter will make the case for why you (the product or service) are the right person for job (solution) at the company (your market). A great cover letter will help an inside connection make the case for you, too.

From my own experience writing and editing hundreds of cover letters, two great marketing tools for a cover letter are:

* Do the analysis for the employer
* Speak the employer's language

Here's a simple way to construct a targeted cover letter: take the lead responsibilities and craft sentences that blend your experience with language from the posting, to show the match between your background and their need. For example, this is the first responsibility of a job for a facilities and space planner at a financial institution:

- Understand key business and market drivers and develop workable long-term and implementation plans that support business needs and meet annual and multi-year portfolio performance targets.

For the cover letter, I take key words and write a sentence something like this:

At [name] Investments, I developed and oversaw the implementation of many excellent and workable facility plans that enabled a range of internal clients to increase their business effectiveness and meet their performance goals.

I used the words "implementation," "workable," "business" and "performance" from the posting to match my experience to that responsibility. Using the word "workable" was key to because it is an uncommon word that is specific to this posting. Words like "implementation" and "performance" are likely to be picked up on a key word search.

I also could have used the phrase "business and market drivers" because it is clearly a buzz term for the company. In a complete letter, I would probably insert this phrase somewhere else to reinforce that I understand their core business needs and fit in with their culture.

Hope this helps!

Becoming a Consultant

I've worked with a few people to develop a consulting "brochure" to help them make some money while looking for work.

Generating income is one big benefit of being a consultant. Another is keeping your skills current. A third is having a reason to get up in the morning and having actual work to do.

All that may be obvious. A less obvious benefit to developing a consulting brochure is that you get to look at what you really want to do, what skills you love to use and are really good at, and the value you deliver sufficiently to get paid for it.

It doesn't have to be fancy and printed; in fact, it's better as an electronic PDF attachment to an e-mail. You can use it to network, announcing to people that you are launching a consulting practice and they should feel free to pass this on to people who might be interested. In this way, your name gets out there attached to precisely the kind of work you want to do full-time. You never know what will happen. Just yesterday, one person just landed a full-time job doing exactly what she described doing in her consulting piece.

Knowing what you can and want to do is the key to finding your "right fit work" whether that is working at a job or starting your own business. Being a consultant is your own business.

Often, the biggest challenge is shifting your mindset about how you get paid. Employees get a salary and usually work whatever hours they need to get the job done. Consultants get a fee, usually on a retainer or project basis, and sometimes with a daily or hourly rate. Your time and expertise both are resources, and consultants need to understand the relationship between the two.

Here are some ways to start thinking about Fee Structure.

1. How many hours can you give each client a week or month?

* that determines your ideal number of clients
* can have a range of services, some more time intensive than others - all are valuable
* no client needs to know what you do for the other
* Managers have multiple clients all the time; as long as you meet the client's needs, they don't care who else you work for (with some bizarre exceptions)

2. How much client turnover do you expect? Meaning how long will clients sign up for to work with you? AND how much time off during the year do you need, are you willing to give yourself?

* rule of thumb is to figure 40 weeks of the year working (sometimes people figure 32 or 36 weeks, depending on how constant the clients are)

* some of your time has to be focused on marketing your services and getting new clients

* your fees are sufficient to cover all your costs; shared among several clients, you can give them a relative bargain AND make what you want to make

3. What's the basis on which you want to get paid? Here are some options and what they mean.

* Monthly retainer, where over a year the client gets an average number of hours a month, with some months heavy and others lighter. This is best all around because you and they can count on regular income and expense, so it's great for budgeting. Only caveat is you must produce enough outcomes for the client to be satisfied with this monthly outlay. This is a great method when you are involved in a lot of different projects or areas with a client, including "soft" projects like advising, coaching, and strategizing with a senior person.

* Project basis, where you get paid for producing a specific outcome over a period of time. Usually there are several payments, one upfront to get started, then one or more milestone payments tied to progress, and a final payment to be paid after satisfactory completion. This is the best method for facilitating an entire strategic plan (not simply advising), writing a funding proposal (or indeed any kind of writing where there will be edits), and delivering a specific product within a specific time frame.

* Daily or hourly rate, where you are paid for your work based on an estimated time involved. This kind of payment is best when you are doing something that is pretty straightforward and it is easy to give the client an accurate estimate of how much time is needed. Examples of such services are training, word processing, facilitating a retreat, advising on strategic planning, and one-on-one coaching.

So think about yourself as a consultant. What would you do? What services would you offer? What could you do for a client that they would love to pay you for? How would you talk about what you do? What would be your 5-second pitch description of what you can deliver to a client? Chances are that's what you want to do in a job, too. You may even discover that you love being in business for yourself.