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Americans have a funny way of dealing with our lack of global business experience – we typically import the expertise.

Alexis de Bretteville, CEO of the Americas at Michael Page International in New York is a case in point.  The European born executive, who heads up the Americas region for one of the world’s largest executive recruiting firms, addressed the American Business Forum on Europe recently on the Risks & Opportunities of Managing an International Career.

When it comes to exporting globally experienced executives, we’re a little undersupplied. “Companies are always struggling to find good people to move abroad,” says de Bretteville, who offers advice about positioning yourself for a global opportunity.

“Offer or propose new products for new markets abroad,” says de Bretteville. “Show interest, passion and commitment and make people (especially your mentors) aware that’s what you’re looking for. Show that you have language, skills, adaptability to moving to new environments. ”

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Archives for Career Advice

Have you noticed any similarities between your dating experiences and your job searches?

What these two puzzle parts have in common is a quest for better relationships. Granted, for some of us, both of these personal quests are fraught with frustration.

But in Shawn Graham’s book Courting Your Career, he spins the metaphor in amusing and insightful ways. Networking is matchmaking. Career fairs are akin to clubbing. Cover letters are like pick-up lines. And job boards are linked to online dating (and about equally successful).

Graham, a Fast Company Experts blogger, has served as a career counselor at UNC-Chapel Hill where he field-tested this metaphor and found that it resonated well with students. When you’re looking for a job you want to work with amiable people, right?

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Archives for Career Advice

Are you unfulfilled in your job? You are not alone. One-half of US employees are dissatisfied with their jobs, up from two-fifths 10 years ago.

Perhaps it’s time to move on. But where? And will you be successful in your new job? Or would it be a case of “out of the frying pan into the fire”?

You can minimize that risk. You should find a job that fires you with hwyl—the Celtic concept of passion, fervor, and spirit that can lift you to extremes of success. Then you need to check that market conditions at this job are favorable, and that you will be at least reasonably well placed to succeed in the job. But first things first.

Find a Job with Hwyl

To find a job you feel passionate about, you need a process. Make three columns on a sheet of paper or on the computer. In column one, write down all the names of people who have jobs that inspire you. In the middle column, write down the type of work they do. In the third column, put 1–5 tick marks according to how passionate you feel about these jobs, where 1 = okay job, and 5 = truly inspired.

For ideas, look to friends, family, and colleagues—and their friends, family, and colleagues. Think of fellow members of interest groups you belong to. Think of people you have read about in the press or seen on TV. Don’t forget fictional people in books, movies, and plays. Don’t limit yourself. Dream large. Write down any job that sounds fun or exciting to you.

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Archives for Career Advice

To call today’s economy tough is like calling Moby Dick a big fish. Let’s face it, with the threat of double digit unemployment looming ahead it is down right scary for the vast majority of people I hear from each day.

However, if you can stay focused, determined, upbeat and flexible these times offer opportunities for not only continuing but also advancing your career. Here is the straight scoop as I see it. While the number of jobs may be on the decline there is still work to be done. Doing more with less is a mantra I hear resonating with employers I speak to around the country.

So here are a few tips to help you get and stay employed:

• Be a “force multiplier”. Both in interviews or with your existing employer show that you will make a difference by giving 110% and being willing to wear more than one hat. Become that “go to” person in your department.
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Archives for Career Advice

The world economy is in flux but emerging economies continue to drive significant growth for global enterprises. Global companies recognize that their best chances for success lie with recruiting managerial talent with international experience – it’s the big resume differentiator.

For students who have studied abroad, this is good news, especially considering the contracting U.S. job market. However, many students with who have lived abroad don’t understand how to package this experience in a way that’s appealing to prospective global employers.

And what do companies value most in the study abroad experience? Based on my conversations with many large, multi-national companies, the general attraction stems from the inherent curiosity in these global-minded citizens. For some industries or companies, the benefit ends there as they need global thinkers not employees willing to go overseas.

For those global companies for which an international experience is a true hiring differentiator, however, the payoff can be huge. The vast majority of professionals I interviewed on this topic agreed that if two applicants have essentially the same resume credentials, they would choose the one who studied abroad or possessed other international experience. The following attributes were cited:

• Enhanced cross-cultural awareness critical to diverse, global teams
• Ability to bring global thinking skills to bear on problems across the board
• Multiple language skills, especially for non-American students who go abroad to English-speaking campuses
• Predisposition to and experience with global mobility

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Archives for Career Advice

If you think about it, we’re negotiating on the job all the time.  Whether we’re asking for the big promotion, the funding to attend a training or conference, or to take a vacation during “busy” season, we’re in more bargaining situations than we realize at work.

Women, in particular, need as many negotiation tools as possible, given that we’re still paid less than men for equal work, and don’t have a critical mass―and therefore equal decision-making authority―at the top of companies.  Consider the following strategies the next time you enter a negotiation at work, and remember, real-life practice is the very best preparation for negotiating!

Do Your Homework

Before a negotiation, take the time to organize yourself from an informational standpoint.  Write out why you are negotiating for whatever it is, and the reasons for it. Then begin to assemble any supporting research. The more relevant research you have, the better you will feel about your argument and the more compelling your case will be.

So, if you were going to ask for an assistant, for example, you might do research within your company to see what the standard criteria is for hiring an assistant. How many people does an assistant typically support? How senior does one have to be to have an assistant? What kind of revenue does a department have to produce in order to justify having an assistant?

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Archives for Career Advice

To be highly successful in your career requires that you engage in risk taking. But risk is accompanied by fear–fear that you’ll screw up, fear that others will judge you, and fear of the unknown. Confront your fear and use it as a motivator!

The benefits of being a courageous risk taker are many. If you make a mistake, you’ll become wiser. If you succeed, you’ll learn something about your capabilities and potential. Either way, being a risk taker at your job will position you as a leader and an innovator. The key is to learn how to be a smart risk taker. Here are six ways to do it.

Trust your instincts.

Don’t wait for complete certainty on an issue before making a decision; it often arrives too late if it arrives at all. Once you get a good idea, don’t incubate it–act on it and work to make it happen.

Don’t be afraid to ask for help.

If you’re in a job or doing a project for which you lack experience, have the courage to tough it out and ask for help. If you operate on fear instead–the fear that asking for help will diminish you in the eyes of your boss or coworkers–you’re setting yourself up for a disaster.

Unleash positive energy.

Fear, stress, and uncertainty can be friends, not enemies, as long as you use them as motivators rather than as energy or action blockers. Get used to tolerating these uncomfortable feelings. Remind yourself that progress won’t happen without taking a step forward, into the unknown.

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