We're All Faking It

Throughout my life I have been given a lot of advice. Some hasn't stuck with me, and some I knew was just wrong. But there are two things that I was told to me right before I entered the workforce that I have lived by since then. The first as that if you don't try at something, it is the same as failure. The second thing, nobody else knows what they are doing either.

That last piece of information seemed crazy to me. How is it that nobody knows what they are doing? Surely somebody has it all together and sees the forest among the trees. Right? Wrong. Sure everybody has an idea of what it takes to make it to the end of the day or quarter, but nobody really knows what they are doing. If you don't believe me, ask your mentor if they know what they are doing. I'll wait...what did they say? I bet it was something like, "not yet" or "I do now". Note that the latter is a half lie. Or better yet, ask a parent where they learned to be one? I bet you will get laughed at.

A lot of people are tossing are the term of Impostor syndrome. The idea that you can do something but fear keeps you from trying. Everybody at one point in their life goes through this feeling, and if they say they didn't, they're lying. This is the opposite of impostor syndrome. You don't know what you're doing and dive in anyway. This is what separates successful people from the rest of the world.

“Whenever you are asked if you can do a job, tell 'em, 'Certainly I can!' Then get busy and find out how to do it.”

Theodore Roosevelt

Don't let the idea that you don't know what you're doing stop you from trying something. Remember, at one point you didn't know how to use the internet. It was this thing that you kind of understood. You could type in some words, and get to places. Now here you are, reading a blog post from some guy in Kansas City who should probably be working on something instead of sitting here rereading a blog post.

Don't let the fear of the unknown or fear of failure stop you. Failure is always an option, just make sure that you learn from it. Remember, if you don't try, it is just as good as failure anyway. So you might as well dive in and try. You just might surprise yourself at how well you can complete a task that you don't know anything about at first. Change can be scary, but without it nothing can grow.

It's time to slay the Monster

So you've gotten to a point that your resume is in good shape, and you are wanting to find a job. What do you do? Well there are lots of job sites out there on the internet, and a lot of people use them. I mean a lot too, Monster boasts that there are over 150 million resumes on their site. You ever heard the term 1 in a million? Well if that its the case, there are 149 others just like you. So go ahead, add yours to the pile. What else are you doing? Also posting over at dice since it is just for tech jobs? Well go ahead and slide your resume in the middle of 1.5 million other people and hope for the best.

While at least having something on these sites might be a good start, you are going to need to find a way to stand out in the crowd. You are going to have to slay a monster. This is when you are going to need to start building your brand. The best place to start, LinkedIn. If you haven't created an account yet, why not? And if you have, are you finding that you are getting a lot of hits? If so, awesome you are doing something right. If not, how about we take some time and update your profile to maximize exposure.

So the first thing that you need to look at is the exact thing that everybody else will see first; Your profile picture. I am no saying you need a professional headshot, that doesn't hurt, but a picture from a college party with your shirt off won't send the right signal to those that will want to hire you. I would say post a picture that would be exactly how you look going into an interview.

The next thing that you need to put down is your title. Now if you're unemployed, put down that you are a consultant in your field of expertise. Consultant is a much more palatable than unemployed to somebody looking to hire. Secondly if you have a job research your job title. While "Code Warrior" is a fun title of mine, it is tough to search for if you are an HR employee looking for a specific title from a list handed to them. You will need to find a title that is more generic, while still getting the point across as to what you do. So do a little research and find out what are some industry. Start here and find a title that suits your needs. Also, don't forget your Jr, Sr, or level in your title, that will help people know how to question you in the time of an interview.

The next big chunk on your profile is your summary. This is where you are going to put your elevator speech about your life. Remember, this isn't just an electronic version of your resume, this is the electronic version of you. If I wanted to just read your resume, I would go to Monster. This is your chance to show your experience as well as your personality. Tell the story of you, where did you first find your passion for the field you are in or want to be in? What have you done to strengthen those skills? Where do you want to be in the next year? Next five?

Next up, job history. This one is pretty self explanatory, you are going to put down what you have done at all your jobs up until now. Apply the same rules as you would with the summary, only explain about some of the projects you have worked on. BE WARNED this can be a double edged sword, as the summary and experience sections are used in the search engine. So if in a past life you worked with VB.NET and you put it down. You better believe that people are going to hit you up with VB.NET jobs.

Let's get back into that search functionality. How do people find you when they search? Well a lot of things are taken into consideration, but the biggest impact will be from your job title. LinkedIn will match you up to a search based on what you have titled yourself. This goes back to finding something that is an industry standard. The next thing you can do is sprinkle your title or variations into your summary and experience. So for me, my title is developer 1; In my summary and experience I have developer, dev, develop, developed, etc. over a dozen times. This moves me up in the search rankings because I look to have more experience than the next guy.

Well there you have it. Go ahead and update that LinkedIn and take on the world. Or you know, you can sit around and roll the Dice while hoping that the Monster under your bed doesn't attack.

Do you even network?

I can already hear it now. Before I even make it to the third sentence. "Curtis, I don't have time to go network. I have a family, and responsibilities". I know this may seem like a difficult task to start if you have never done it before, but you better believe that other people are out there talking with future employers, and you are sitting at home watching Elementary on CBS. Which if you are doing, shame on you. Sherlock on the BBC runs laps around that sad excuse for a TV show on CBS.

Networking events are happening all around you. No matter how small the city, or how small the subject. There is a group meeting and discussing something. Most groups meet at least once a month, maybe more, but almost always never less. And this is just for a couple hours, you can take a couple hours a month to meet up with a group and start networking. There are a lot of places to start looking to have a meetup. Let's discuss a few.

First off, there is the easy place to start looking of www.meetup.com/. This website will allow to search by city all the things going on in your city. Meetup is easy to use. Just create an account, or link to Facebook and go. You can add you interests and how far you are willing to travel and go from there. You will find lots of stuff there that might interest you. And let's say your interest isn't there? Well then, maybe you should start the meetup in your area. You will be small at first, but it will grow. If you are looking for a group to meet, you better believe that you are not the only one. Just not anybody will start a group, you should be that somebody.

OK what if you don't want to meet up for a particular interest, just want to meet new people. Well there are other options there as well. If you city or county has a chamber of commerce, check there. Here I just did a quick search at the Johnson County, where I live, chamber of Commerce and find this link. nejcchamber.com/networking/ Right there are networking events listed for you to travel to.

Now the most important part of this, why? Why Curits, should I go and network? Do you have a job? Do you love it? Are you making enough money to be happy? Do you not want to physically hurt anybody you work with? If you answered no to any of these you should consider networking. If you answered no to all of those, why are you still at that place? It sounds awful. You can look online for jobs, and you can post your resume on Dice or Monster(please don't). But so are about 100 other people, and they are just sitting back and waiting for opportunity to fall into their laps. That isn't they way it works in real life. You have to go out and make your own luck.

Sales and looking for a job have a lot in common. If you are working in sales, you have a product that you have to be knowledgeable about. You must be passionate about it, and you certainly need prove to a person who is unsure about the product that it is everything they could want and more. Looking for a job is no different. You are just selling yourself, you are the product. So just as before you must show people why you are a good buy. Looking at your resume is just as good as a product description online. You are still going to want to talk to an expert before you make a purchase that is going to cost you 10's of thousands of dollars a year. You are that expert. So if you have been networking, you have a leg up on those who don't. Employers can now put a face to a name, and now your personality. They will know if you are good fit with their culture over another applicant.

When a job posting is listed, 100's of resumes are set to HR. They have a list of keywords to look for, and if they aren't there they will move on. Unless somebody has told them to just call you. Make sure you network, so that your name will get brought up. Just by showing up to an event, you put yourself ahead of at least 50% of the people applying for the job. Depending on where you live, getting a job is a competitive sport right now. You want every advantage that you can get on this playing field. As this game, can mean life or death. 

The Other 16

So you show up to work, do a great job, do as your told, and meet all your requirements. Yet, come review time you just get your cost of living adjustment and no real raise. But you busted your ass at work, worked some late nights here and there, and got all your work done. Congratulations, you have completed the bare minimum and show no reason that you deserve any more pay that you were getting the year before. Look you work 8 hours a day. What are you doing the other 16 hours of the day?

I know that part of that is sleep, and it better be. But what are you doing outside of work to help your case for a real raise? Are you leaving work and going to play video games? Or are you going home and sharpening your skills in development, networking, or whatever field you want to go into in your career? I am going to go over a few ways you can improve your skills so that come review time, you can show off.

Step one is figuring out if you have a job, or have a career? I know that is a silly question to some, but think about that. What are you doing right now? Is this the field that you want to be in? Or does this just pay the bills? If you said this is where you want to be, then it is your career. Your focus should be improving your skills to get that raise come time for your review. Is this just to pay the bills? Then this sounds like a job to me. Your other 16 should be trying to get the abilities needed to get to that career you want.

The next step is to figure out what skills you need to improve. I am in the IT industry so I had a few choices; development, management, sales, or networking. (And by networking I mean meeting people and creating your brand.) So do you know what to do to improve some or all of these skills? Let's go over some simple steps first.

Development is the easiest to figure out how to gain abilities, but the hardest to stick to. Some steps when picking what to learn, is find a language or method to learn that will help your career. Whether that be python, puppet, or some JS library, you just need to learn it. This seems easy at first, you pick something and find a book or a website. There are tons, http://learnxinyminutes.com/ or http://learncodethehardway.org/ are just two of many sites you can grow your development chops. The hard part is sticking to this learning process. You have to be willing to change to get that raise or get a better career.

Management is the hardest to really prove that you are gaining these skills. Some tricks are take on outside projects, moonlight, or start building tools at work and record your efforts. These things show that you can lead, even if it is just leading yourself. You're able to budget, if you're moonlighting, and listen to customers needs to meet them. These are just a few of the skills of a manager, but a lot of people don't understand all that is needed. And being able to show you know the ins and outs of management will be a huge leg up.

Sales and networking go hand in hand. Networking is all about selling yourself. Networking is a great asset because you never know who you're going to meet and how they might help you. Or even more so, how you might be able to help them. There are always networking events in your city. No matter how big or small, there is an event. Whether it be going to your local chamber of commerce, mixer at a bar, or even a fraternal group meeting. These places and events will have people from all walks of life. I have been to a Kansas City Chamber of Commerce meeting where I was talking with an unemployed guy looking for work, and then turned around to discuss my career with the VP of IT at Garmin. You never know who you will run into.

PROTIP: Be sure that if you are moonlighting and/or networking, that your managers and bosses know. The last thing you want is to do is something that goes against your contract and you lose your current job. This leads us to your review.

So next year when you are going up to get your review, are you going to be ready? Have you done all or some of the above? Who knows that you have done any of this? If you say just you, then you are doing it wrong. When you are improving your skills, don't keep it a secret. Let your peers know, let your managers know, let your bosses know. If they don't know, they will only judge you based on the 8 hours a day that they see you. The key is that they need to know you are doing something to help the company and yourself in the other 16. If you don't do anything outside of your 9-5, then expect to be just doing that until you retire, doesn't that sound like fun....

Mentor: Not just a character from the Odyssey

Do you have a mentor? Do you even know what a mentor is? A mentor is somebody that you can turn to for advice. A mentor is different than a friend, even though they might be a friend. Friends will tell you what they would do; A mentor is someone who can tell you what they did. If you don't have a mentor, I will give you some steps on picking one or more.

First thing, generally a mentor is somebody you see as a senior. This is a person who you trust and can confide into. This person has been around the block and has been successful in their field. They are a person that you strive to be like. Make sure when choosing a mentor, that you can open up to them. Otherwise what is the point.

Second, make sure it is somebody that is willing to help. The worst thing you can do it pick a mentor and then they never respond to your calls or texts. I am not saying that this is a person who you will talk to daily or even weekly. This person is just somebody who will be there when you need them.

Lastly, you don't have to have just one. You can have as many that you think are helpful. I would suggest keep it at no more than three. Somebody who has been there, somebody who is where you want to be, and somebody who can offer a different perspective altogether. If this is the same person, great. But chances are this will take at least two people to get this.

What if somebody is asking you to be their mentor? Well chances are, they aren't just coming forward and asking you to be their mentor. You are just going to slide into this role as they ask questions. The best advice you can give them is honest advice. Don't sugar coat things if you are in this role. While at the same time, don't just crush this person's spirit. They are coming to you because they legitimately need help. So do your best that you can. If they are bouncing an idea off of you, let them know if you think it is good or will suck. But you can't just leave it at that, you need to explain your reasoning for your opinion. This is why they are coming to you; To figure out a problem or just need advice.

Having a mentor is a great tool in your growth. Never underestimate the power of having the knowledge of an elder at your disposal. Also, never underestimate what you can learn while being a mentor. There is something to be said about ideas coming from someone who "doesn't know better yet". Right now I am a mentor for about 3 people, and it feels good knowing that you are helping. If you would like to get some good experience with mentoring, sign up for your local "Big Brothers, Big Sisters" program. You have a lot of good advice to give these kids, and they will listen. Just remember that what you tell your Telemachus, they will follow that advice; They trust you.

Who Moved My Cheese?

I just read Who Moved My Cheese? by Spencer Johnson, M.D. Here is a quick synopsis of the book.

The book is a short story followed up by a group's reaction from hearing the story. Story is of two mice and little people in maze. The names of the mice are Sniff and Scurry, the little people are Hem and Haw. Like most mice in a maze, their goal is to find cheese. At about the same time, all four find a cheese that they declare their cheese. Hem and Haw settle down and take off their running shoes to hang them up. To really settle in, they start building houses and buildings around the cheese. Mean while Sniff and Scurry just take their running shoes off, and tie them around their neck. Over time the cheese starts to disappear from it being eaten. Now this is where the meat of the story can be found.

Sniff and Scurry are mice and react only on impulse. So they untie their shoes from their neck, re-lace up and head off for more cheese. Scurry running blindly and Sniff shortly behind following his senses. Meanwhile Hem and Haw wake up to find the cheese missing. They assumed that it has just been moved. Even though it had been vanishing, they believe that it will come back. Over the next few days they try many things to get the cheese to return or find where it had moved. All the while Sniff and Scurry had already found a new stockpile of cheese, bigger than they had ever seen.

Finally after a few days, Haw went looking for his shoes to move on find more cheese. Hem sat around and complained about being too old, not needing to change, and how it wasn't fair that he needed to change. Haw went on without him. As Haw explored, he realized that he was afraid of being alone and went back to Hem with the little bit of cheese that he found. Using this he tried to convince Hem that there were other cheeses out there. The cheese might not be the same, but there was cheese to be found. Hem wanted nothing to do with it. Hem felt entitled to his old way of life and refused to change. Haw left him behind.

Haw left, looking for find more cheese out in the world. After another day or two, Haw found a couple familiar faces; Sniff and Scurry. Behind them, the biggest pile of cheeses he'd ever seen. Haw then took of his shoes, and tied the laces around his neck, so that when he saw change coming, he could get on his feet and go.

The point of this story is that you must be ready for change. It will happen, and there is nothing you can do about that. Your role might change, your market may crash, or your venue changes. If you stick around thinking your cheese is coming back, you will be left behind. Part of Hem and Haw's problem was that they got complacent and didn't bother watching for signs of change. The cheese was getting old and moldy yet they kept eating. When the cheese started getting down to its last few bites, Sniff and Scurry took off to find more cheese. Hem and Haw waited until the cheese was gone.

So let's look at this in business terms. If your skills are in say COBOL, and you see that the market is starting to value C# developers you have three choices;

1. Learn C# that you can stay employed
2. Move to where your skills are needed
3. Do nothing and starve.

This is a pretty big example. The more likely scenario will be that your role will change in the company you work for. It might be something that you want nothing to do with, or isn't your strong suit. You can complain about it until you are relieved of your duties, or you can become awesome at your new role. By trying to find your new cheese, you will end up being rewarded with more cheese. And if your current job won't value your new abilities, well there is somebody who will. And it might be time to find that new cheese.

Ultimately the story is about doing what makes you happy and what makes you grow. For Sniff and Scurry, it ended up just being able to eat. Haw, began to love the quest for finding more cheeses. Hem, remained unhappy and bitter refusing to change anything to make life better. Haw even tried to get Hem to come with him, but Hem refused. This came to the hardest lesson of the book; When to leave old friends behind. There will be a time that you have to eliminate the negative people from your life. These people will slow you down, and blind you from your surroundings changing around you. You can try and help these people, but ultimately they will be a poison to you and those around you.


So there you go, Who Moved My Cheese. This was a very quick read, about 45 minutes to finish. I would recommend you read it at least once and think about all the things in life that you just deal with, and if maybe you should try and find a new cheese.