Horizon Point Consulting

Category: Beyond Work

Beyond Work is our line of resources for people and community leaders looking for something new and innovative outside, be it a new job, career change, or personal development outside of work.

  • 3 Tips for Knowing What to Wear in the Workplace

    3 Tips for Knowing What to Wear in the Workplace

    Whether you’re headed out the door for an interview, starting your first day of work or wanting to move up in your career, what you wear (and what you don’t) can be an important factor in success. Although the workplace has become more casual than it once was, it’s important to know the different cues in order to dress for success. Here are three tips to identify what to wear:

    1. Look around you. What the majority of people are wearing around you is probably what is the unspoken norm of acceptable. I walked into my first interview for a job coming out of college, and it was obvious everyone there was dressed like they were going to an interview too. Suit. If you had a skirt on, put hose on, do not show your arms. It was obvious what was required, and I ended up shelling out almost all of my first paycheck on a new wardrobe of business attire. And sweating all summer long… But if I hadn’t worn this, I would not have been seen as acceptable in the environment I was working in and I would not have been respected as a new person coming in.

    2. Simply Ask. If you are unsure of what the dress code is for an organization or what is most appropriate after looking at the people around you, simply ask. Many employers don’t have formal dress codes anymore (but they might- and you should read it if there is one), but there is usually an unspoken standard. Ask about what that is. I remember coming from previously mentioned corporate job, to accepting a position at a much smaller organization. I wasn’t sure what the protocol for dress was at this new place because I had seen people that worked there in a variety of attire. So I asked. The response I got was “just don’t wear anything you would wear to the river on the weekends,” which was code for, “Business casual is the norm, unless there is an important meeting or something going on.”

    3. Think about where you want to be. This is the most important point to consider. Dress at a workplace is an unspoken pulse on company culture. Once you’ve identified what the dress is for an organization or a job within an organization, you need to consider whether or not that is a fit for you along with other organizational fit factors. This is also an important point to consider if you want to move up. A good piece of advice I think we have all probably heard is, “Dress for the position you want, not the position you have.”

     

    Have you ever dressed inappropriately in the workplace and been “punished” for doing so?

  • The Mind, Body and Spirit of Job Seeking

    The Mind, Body and Spirit of Job Seeking

    If you are considering a career change or are out of a job, you may consider doing what most people do – immediately begin to update your resume. While this is a great thing to do (whether you are out of a job, are hot on the job seeking trail, or not), sometimes it is important to take a step back and reflect on things before launching into the tactical aspects of job transition.

    One way to look at this is by giving the right side of your brain some exercise. The right side of our brains deal with the mind, body and spirit of ourselves. It is more abstract in its processing than the left side of the brain that attends more to the tactical and concrete aspects of things, like for example a resume or interview techniques or updating a LinkedIn profile, which is what most job seekers focus on.

    (If you want to know more about left vs right brain issues, check out this quiz and this blog post)

    To get in touch with the right side of the brain can mean better long term job satisfaction and job search results. To do so:

    1. Start with career assessment.

    2. Get in touch with your mind by letting go of past failures, creating a list of what brings joy, envisioning what your life looks like, what you want to change, the sacrifices you are willing to make, etc.

    3. Get in touch with your spirit by getting a personal board of directors to help you. Find someone who is more successful than you and begin a networking relationship with them, then, set up your own success timeline.

    4. Get in touch with your body by branding yourself for marketability. Look in the mirror and assess your own personal image –what are you conveying? Does it fit with where you want to be? Create the physical and electronic brand you need to be successful.

    When you can reconcile these two sides of your brain by getting them both to work and work together, you can then commit to an action plan with timelines and deadlines that incorporate both the tactical stuff as well as the mind, body and spirit.

    Need help doing both? Our Beyond Ready Workbook can help you do both things.

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    In the interest of full disclosure, I learned about a lot of these ideas at the NCDA conferencefrom an informative roundtable by Beth Bryce. You can learn more about Beth here:https://www.linkedin.com/in/bethbryce

  • Your Resume Needs a Summary of Qualifications

    Your Resume Needs a Summary of Qualifications

    Creating or revising your resume can be a daunting task. Resumes are often the best and only way to market yourself when applying for a job. It’s your foot in the door. That being said, we believe an amazing Summary of Qualifications is essential to getting noticed.

    What is a Summary of Qualifications? It’s a great alternative to an “Objective Statement.” Truth be told, companies aren’t interested in your objective, they want to know what you can do for them. The Summary of Qualifications should be placed underneath the standard information included in the heading of your resume (name, contact info, linked in address, etc.).

    What should you include in your Summary of Qualifications? Three things are important:

    1. Results (professional or personal as long as it is related to the position for which you are applying)

    2. Key skills (job specific)

    3. Accomplishments (money saved, time saved, money earned)

    Summary of Qualifications Sample:

    Skilled Information Technology professional with 22 years of experience managing the full cycle ofIT infrastructure, including planning and managing system requirements and integration, developingapplications to solve problems, testing, managing upgrades and resolving system issues all with a focus onmeeting user requirements and business needs. Knowledgeable of Healthcare compliance regulations and requirements and how they relate to IT infrastructure. Skilled in designing and implementing financial softwaresolutions.Proven information technology project management experience by managing projects on time and under budget.

    Check out our Beyond Work Workbook for more Job Search tools.

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    If you are needing assistance with your Summary of Qualifications, resume, or preparing for an interview, we offer services that may be beneficial to you. Contact us today!

  • 7 Networking Do’s and Don’ts

    7 Networking Do’s and Don’ts

    Networking is great for business development, but more often than not, it’s key to career development. Whether you’re in search of your first job or seeking a career change, you need to be networking!

    Networking is marketing. Marketing yourself, marketing your uniqueness, marketing what you stand for. – Christine Comaford-Lynch

    The vast majority of job vacancies are never advertised and part of a hidden job market. Experts say at least 75% of job openings are part of this hidden market. To be in the loop, you must network.

    Here is a list of dos and don’ts to help you get started:

    1. Do join professional organizations related to your field.
    2. Do network online. LinkedIn is a great online networking tool. Read 20 Critical Dos and Don’ts of LinkedIn Networking.
    3. Do volunteer (volunteer opportunities often lead to job opportunities).
    4. Do always have business cards or copies of your resume on hand when attending a networking event.
    5. Do keep track of your networking. Use Horizon Point’s Networking Log.
    6. Don’t only talk to those you know at networking events. The entire purpose is to grow your network. Branch out and meet new people.
    7. Don’t overshare – especially in relation to anything negative about your current or previous employer or job.

    Check out Networking Your Way to a New Job for more great ideas and let the networking begin!

  • 4 Things to Do After An Interview

    4 Things to Do After An Interview

    You’ve made it through an interview, or two or three interviews, as it seems to be these days. You relax for a second, happy that this part of the process is over, but that lasts only about half a minute before you begin going through every possible scenario in your head about how things could play out. Do you get a call back with an offer? An invitation to come back for another interview? A thanks but no thanks letter in the mail? What will happen next? And what do you do in the meantime?

    It can be extremely nerve-racking as you wait after an interview, but here are four tips to keep yourself focused on what you can do instead of focusing on what you can’t.

    1. Respond with thanks. Immediately send a thank you note, handwritten if possible, to everyone you interviewed with. Beyond that, focus on having gratitude for the opportunity to interview, and regardless of the outcome, how the opportunity to do so can help you in the future.

    2. Be patient. Many people become frustrated by how long it takes to hear back after an interview. Put yourself in the employer’s shoes and realize how much they are also probably doing on top of trying to select a candidate for this role (of course this empathy needs to go both ways). In addition, some of the control on timing is out of their hands due to things like reference and background checks.

    To help with this, inquire in the interview about what the next steps are and when you should expect to hear something back. Then follow their guidelines with your follow-up. For example, don’t call asking about the position two days after your interview if they told you it would be two weeks before they get back with candidates. As a rule of thumb, if you don’t know their timeline for follow-up, wait at least two weeks before following up with them.

    3. Continue to look and apply for openings that are of interest to you. This helps to keep you focused on what you can control instead of dwelling on if and when and what you are going to hear from those who have interviewed you.

    4. Continue to network. In fact, this should be a strategy regardless of whether you are waiting on interview results or not, whether you are an active job seeker or not. We’ll have more tips for you on networking here on the blog this week.

    What is the most nerve-racking thing for you post interview? How do you combat this?