When To Find A Job
Most of us never think about it before it’s too late – the pink slip, the shaft, the big squeeze, the layoff, cutbacks – there are thousands of ways to describe “The Event.” No matter what you might call it, one thing is for certain – it’s usually dreadful rather than liberating, it’s normally fraught with sudden bursts of panic rather than a cathartic cleansing release, we see darkness rather than light. Our first thoughts are normally, “What do I tell my husband or wife?” “What do I say to my friends?” “How will I pay my mortgage, my rent, my car payment, my cable or electric bills?” The one question we never seem to ask is “How did I get myself into this situation?” We have the ultimate test of facing true accountability but most of us would rather look the other way. I have quit, been laid off and fired so, I have experience with all three. And, as a headhunter, I see variations almost daily.
Our only security in our work life is our ability to perform. I didn’t author that phrase but I sure wish I had. Relaying upon the algorithms of yesteryear: managing your boss, employment contracts, severance packages, being “connected” won’t really protect you. There are no real guarantees anymore, the entire work place is so dynamic, so changing that you really need to be on your toes, especially when you think that you are so valuable to your company that they won’t survive without you. Believe me, no one is irreplaceable, no pedigree, no experience level -not even you! My advice is simple, perform to your utmost every day , go above and beyond the call of duty, become valuable in ways beyond your job description and absolutely protect yourself by keeping your eye on the market place. Companies do it and so should you!
The absolute best time to find your next job is when you are perfectly situated in your current job. It is the singular time when you will hold the most leverage. Without the chaotic pressure of “having to find something” is the only time when you’ll be able to make a fully informed, unbiased decision about next steps in your career. Because keeping the job you have is actually more important than finding the next one, making use of a career agent or headhunter is the best way to insure anonymity, market coverage and that your expectations will be managed and accurately shared with prospective employers. This creates a unique set of circumstances for you. Look, actors, athletes , authors, radio personalities and even sports broadcasters have agents. When you think about it even prostitutes have agents. Some of the highest paid members of society and hardest working members of society have agents and so should you.
Your first thoughts might be that you don’t have time or you can’t see any reasons why your firm would let you go or ( my favorite) that you are “HAPPY.” How do you know that a new situation couldn’t make you even happier? There are hundreds of reasons to begin the process but there is only one to avoid it – the pain of staying the same is greater than the pain it takes to change. It’s time to take back the responsibility for your career and manage it, treat it with respect and dignity – don’t fall prey to the subtleties of perceived security. Think of it as similar to going to the gym, taking care of your body. Healthy body healthy mind, right? Well, healthy career, healthy life! We spend so much of our life at work, commuting to /from and attending after hours functions that we simply don’t take the time to manage that career they way we should.
How do I know when we are successfully “managing my career?” Here are a few steps to help you assess where you are in the “career management process” and to help you maintain control:
1) Dust off your resume or c.v. – get it in shape, update it and have it ready to go at a moment’s notice
2) Ensure you are familiar with your accomplishments, those things which you are truly most proud of
3) Those need to be in your resume and you need to be able to discuss them in detail
4) Be prepared to discuss where you are in your career where you want to go and what you want to achieve
5) You absolutely must be prepared to discuss what you can do for the firm
3) Reach out to a headhunter or career agent of your choosing – who is knowledgeable in your space, who is interested in building a relationship with you, not simply a one-time transaction
4) Explain your professional interests and that you are enacting a plan to manage the next phase of your career
5) Reach out to the market on a quarterly basis, through your agent, this is the only way to receive real market data about your worth and the impact you can make
6) Always be prepared to receive an opportune phone call or communiqué from a headhunter – the say that success is when opportunity and preparedness meet
7) Plan for two -three meetings with organizations every quarter – if you don’t put those dates in your calendar those appointments likely won’t be set
I know it’s old hat but do attend professional association meetings and reach out your hand while there
9) Develop a web presence, even if it’s only on LinkedIn – you’ll be contacted directly
10) We will handle how to interview in another article but lastly, get yourself physically ready to interview. Young, healthy and vibrant leaves a great impression. Old, tired, fat and expensive do not.
When you begin to take charge of your career and actively manage it rather than letting your boss manage your career, you’ll have every reason to be excited, to be optimistic. You’ll be breaking the traditional supplicant position of employee to employer and will naturally be liberated to new heights of professional self-respect. Combine that with doing your very best everyday and one of two things will happen: either your current job will become the job you’ve always dreamed about or you will find it right around the corner! Happy Hunting
You can view my interview prep videos for free at www.orbitalsearch.com. I guarantee those videos will help you. I have been a headhunter for 17 years and want to help you in any way that I can – just give me a call (904) 699-8369 or reach me via email: bill@orbitalsearch.com
Geert Wilder’s speech to Holland’s Parliament
Madam Speaker, allow me, first, to express my sincere thanks to you personally for having planned a debate on Islam on the very day of my birthday. I could not have wished for a nicer present! Madam Speaker, approximately 1400 years ago war was declared on us by an ideology of hate and violence which arose at the time and was proclaimed by a barbarian who called himself the Prophet Mohammed. I am referring to Islam.
Madam Speaker, let me start with the foundation of the Islamic faith, the Koran. The Koran’s core theme is about the duty of all Muslims to fight non-Muslims; an Islamic Mein Kampf, in which fight means war, jihad. The Koran is above all a book of war ““ a call to butcher non-Muslims (2:191, 3:141, 4:91, 5:3), to roast them (4:56, 69:30-69:32), and to cause bloodbaths amongst them (47:4). Jews are compared to monkeys and pigs (2:65, 5:60, 7:166), while people who believe in Jesus Christ as the Son of God must according to the Koran be fought (9:30).
Madam Speaker, the West has no problems with Jews or Christians, but it does have problems with Islam. It is still possible, even today, for Muslims to view the Koran, which they regard as valid for all time, as a license to kill. And that is exactly what happens. The Koran is worded in such a way that its instructions are addressed to Muslims for eternity, which includes today’s Muslims. This in contrast to texts in the Bible, which is formulated as a number of historical narratives, placing events in a distant past. Let us remind ourselves that it was Muslims, not Jews or Christians, who committed the catastrophic terrorist attacks in New York, Madrid and London; and that it was no coincidence that Theo van Gogh was brutally murdered by a Muslim, Mohammed Bouyeri.
Madam Speaker, I acknowledge that there are people who call themselves Muslims and who respect our laws. My party, the Freedom Party, has nothing against such people, of course. However, the Koran does have something against them. For it is stated in the Koran in Sura 2, verse 85, that those believers who do not believe in everything the Koran states will be humiliated and receive the severest punishment; which means that they will roast in Hell. In other words, people who call themselves Muslims but who do not believe, for example, in Sura 9, verse 30, which states that Jews and Christians must be fought, or, for example, in Sura 5, verse 38, which states that the hand of a thief must be cut off, such people will be humiliated and roast in Hell. Note that it is not me who is making this up. All this can be found in the Koran. The Koran also states that Muslims who believe in only part of the Koran are in fact apostates, and we know what has to happen to apostates. They have to be killed.
Madam Speaker, the Koran is a book that incites to violence. I remind the House that the distribution of such texts is unlawful according to Article 132 of our Penal Code. In addition, the Koran incites to hatred and calls for murder and mayhem. The distribution of such texts is made punishable by Article 137(e). The Koran is therefore a highly dangerous book; a book which is completely against our legal order and our democratic institutions. In this light, it is an absolute necessity that the Koran be banned for the defense and reinforcement of our civilization and our constitutional state. I shall propose a second-reading motion to that effect.
Madam Speaker, there is no such thing as “moderate Islam”…. As Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan said the other day, and I quote, “There is no moderate or immoderate Islam. Islam is Islam and that’s it”…. Islam is in pursuit of dominance. It wishes to exact its imperialist agenda by force on a worldwide scale (8:39). This is clear from European history. Fortunately, the first Islamic invasion of Europe was stopped at Poitiers in 732; the second in Vienna in 1683. Madam Speaker, let us ensure that the third Islamic invasion, which is currently in full spate, will be stopped too in spite of its insidious nature and notwithstanding the fact that, in contrast to the 8th and 17th centuries, it has no need for an Islamic army because the scared “dhimmis” in the West, also those in Dutch politics, have left their doors wide open to Islam and Muslims.
Apart from conquest, Madam Speaker, Islam is also bent on installing a totally different form of law and order, namely Sharia law. This makes Islam, apart from a religion for hundreds of millions of Muslims also, and in particular, a political ideology (with political/constitutional/Islamic basic values, etc). Islam is an ideology without any respect for others; not for Christians, not for Jews, not for non-believers and not for apostates. Islam aims to dominate, subject, kill and wage war.
Madam Speaker, the Islamic incursion must be stopped. Islam is the Trojan Horse in Europe. If we do not stop Islamification now, Eurabia and Netherabia will just be a matter of time. One century ago, there were approximately 50 Muslims in the Netherlands. Today, there are about 1 million Muslims in this country. Where will it end? We are heading for the end of European and Dutch civilization as we know it. Where is our Prime Minister in all this? In reply to my questions in the House he said, without batting an eyelid, that there is no question of our country being Islamified. Now, this reply constituted
a historical error as soon as it was uttered. Very many Dutch citizens, Madam Speaker, experience the presence of Islam around them. And I can report that they have had enough of burkas, headscarves, the ritual slaughter of animals, so-called honor revenge, blaring minarets, female circumcision, hymen restoration operations, abuse of homosexuals, Turkish and Arabic on the buses and trains as well as on town hall leaflets, halal meat at grocery shops and department stores, Sharia exams, the Finance Minister’s Sharia mortgages, and the enormous overrepresentation of Muslims in the area of crime, including Moroccan street terrorists.
In spite of all this, Madam Speaker, there is hope. Fortunately. The majority of Dutch citizens have become fully aware of the danger, and regard Islam as a threat to our culture. My party, the Freedom Party, takes those citizens seriously and comes to their defense.
Many Dutch citizens are fed up to the back teeth and yearn for action. However, their representatives in The Hague are doing precisely nothing. They are held back by fear, political correctness or simply electoral motives. This is particularly clear in the case of PvdA, the Dutch Labor Party, which is afraid of losing Muslim voters. The Prime Minister said in Indonesia the other day that Islam does not pose any danger. Minister Donner believes that Sharia law should be capable of being introduced in the Netherlands if the majority want it. Minister Vogelaar babbles about the future Netherlands as a country with a Judeo-Christian-Islamic tradition, and that she aims to help Islam take root in Dutch society. In saying this, the Minister shows that she has obviously gone stark raving mad. She is betraying Dutch culture and insulting Dutch citizens.
Madam Speaker, my party, the Freedom Party, demands that Minister Vogelaar retract her statement. If the Minister fails to do so, the Freedom Party parliamentary group will withdraw its support for her. No Islamic tradition must ever be established in the Netherlands: not now and also not in a few centuries’ time.
Madam Speaker, let me briefly touch on the government’s response to the WRR [Netherlands Scientific Council for Government Policy] report. On page 12 of its response, the government states that Islam is not contrary to democracy or human rights. All I can say to that is that things can’t get much more idiotic than this.
Madam Speaker, it is a few minutes to twelve. If we go on like this, Islam will herald the end of our Western civilization as well as Dutch culture.
I would like to round off my first-reading contribution with a personal appeal to the Prime Minister on behalf of a great many Dutch citizens: stop the Islamification of the Netherlands!
Mr Balkenende, a historic task rests on your shoulders. Be courageous. Do what many Dutch citizens are screaming out for. Do what the country needs. Stop all immigration from Muslim countries, ban all building of new mosques, close all Islamic schools, ban burkas and the Koran. Expel all criminal Muslims from the country, including those Moroccan street terrorists that drive people mad. Accept your responsibility! Stop Islamification!
Enough is enough, Mr Balkenende. Enough is enough.
How To Negotiate Salary
After reading this brief article you should be able to implement the following ideas into your own personal strategy for discussing a salary increase with your current employer or with your prospective employer.
Salary Negotiation is an often asked about and largely misunderstood topic amongst professionals at all levels. There are two critical times in everybody’s career when compensation is a very important topic for discussion – when you have a performance review and when you are interviewing for a new position. My first advice is don’t do it yourself unless absolutely necessary. There is a reason why every entertainer and every professional athlete has an agent or two. They recognize that when it comes to promoting their own merits, it has much more impact when coming from a third party. And, most people are actually uncomfortable talking about themselves as it relates to money. The other issue is that organizationally, you could very well be in a supplicant relationship with your employer. It is a position imposed by the corporate structure and most people have a very difficult time breaking through this barrier. If you aren’t working with a headhunter or career agent who is looking out for your best interests, then you need to focus on these few principles of salary negotiation:
1) The end result needs to be a win for you and a win for your company
2) You need a posture of confidence supported by facts, not arrogance, in front of the person who can say yes to your request
3) Understand the value you bring to the organization – this by the way has nothing to do with how much your peers earn, this is about you not about them!
4) You need to further understand that CEO’s think in terms of financial impact – how much money you have made or saved for your company and so should you
5) You demonstrate this buy your accomplishments, those 3-5 things of which you are most proud. If the list doesn’t impress you it won’t impress anyone else!
6) Take those achievements which stick out in your mind and get them down on paper, examine them from your perspective then put yourself in your boss’ shoes and ask yourself the question, “Would I a premium for these results?”
7) Think in quantifiable terms of how you have impacted clients both external and internal – if you can’t quantify it, neither can your boss! For example, you worked with a dissatisfied client, solved the client’s issues and salvaged the relationship which brought in an extra $500,000 in revenue. Perhaps you developed a unique cost savings program for project management and time keeping which resulted in a cost savings of $75,000. Maybe it was your principal strategy and presentation that won a key piece of business which brought in $4 million in revenue. Or simply, you have been the “go to” person on your team, no matter what the circumstances have been, you’re the one the company always relies upon billing your services at premium rates. Do the math!
Anytime you can demonstrate how you have added accretive value to your company, everyone wins
9) Keep in mind that your personal expenses, your lifestyle or your desire to have “the finer things in life”, are not reasons why you “deserve” a certain level of compensation
10) Every good company and every good manager wants to reward their top performers, those who produce the very best results – if you’re not a one of these then you need to work harder before you can justifiably state your case
11) How much to ask for? Normatively, you should be able to substantiate a 10%-15% increase, more if you are demonstrably underpaid.
12) Increases beyond 15% require significant contributions in most cases and unless you can demonstrate this, don’t even bother with the request
13) Once you have put your facts together, write a script and practice it until you know it thoroughly then bounce it off of your spouse or friend – they’ll always give you solid feedback
14) When you feel you are ready, make the appointment and plan for 30 minutes – be polite, respectful but firm
15) When should you raise the issue of Salary Negotiation? If you are interviewing for a job with a new firm, the money is only appropriate after you know for certain they want you. Remember that the first party who mentions money generally loses the negotiation. Never be the first to put a figure on the table. If you put a figure out there, you’ve basically created the artificial ceiling without even realizing it. If you say for example, “$95K” guess what? You’ll never get a penny more than the $95K. Let the employer fire the first salvo and respond according to your financial plan.
15A) If you are going to be negotiating with your current employer for a raise, there is no need to wait for your review date. This is arbitrary and artificial and isn’t an appropriate schedule in which to reward superstars. If you have made significant, measurable achievements which go above and beyond your current compensation level, then today is the day!
16) So, how do you actually open the conversation with your boss? Directness and honesty are the best policies – “I have asked for this meeting so that you and I can discuss my performance to date, my accomplishments for the company and how I should be rewarded for that impact.”
17) How do you close the conversation? You need to give a reasonable timeline for a decision – probably no more than a week for your current employer and when negotiating for a role with a new firm, it should be a “one call close.” In other words, get the answer then and there. In either case, the decision maker needs to know that there is a definite action item before him because nobody should take your career more seriously than you do. And, if this company isn’t going to pay you what you have established as your true value, then you shouldn’t have any hesitation with permitting someone else to!
18) You absolutely need to know three important numbers: the ideal, the acceptable and the minimally acceptable amounts and stick to your guns
19) Know that your boss or the hiring authority may not agree so you’ll need to know your options in case you don’t receive an acceptable outcome
20) In some cases, you’ll feel so strongly that your only option may be to leave if you can’t get what you want – ensure that you are prepared for this
21) Remember that this is a negotiation, not an antagonistic battle- you are on (or going to be on) the same team
22)There are some organizations which claim that due to “internal pay equity issues”, the compensation you want isn’t possible – well that’s fine for widgets but you’re not a widget, you are a unique individual contributor who shouldn’t be compressed into some arbitrarily defined pay scale and you deserve to be paid what you are worth
20) You can’t always get what you want – sometimes you need to walk away from the deal and there is nothing wrong with that
21) There are several forms of compensation besides cash and you need to know if any of these will satisfy you (psychic, time-off, assistant, etc)
In closing, know that you can (and should) be the one who controls your financial destiny. You alone have the power to impact what you earn because you have the power of choice. You can choose to be a highly paid superstar within your organization or you can choose to be someone who shows up and collects a check. You earn what you can justify and now you know how to justify what you should be earning! State your case, state it clearly, cogently and passionately with facts, facts which can’t be denied. This isn’t the time for opinion, impressions, arrogance or bravado. Make it a pleasant, win-win, dialogue for both parties. And, you will win!
You can view my interview prep videos for free at www.orbitalsearch.com. I guarantee those videos will help you.I have been a headhunter for 17 years and want to help you in any way that I can – just give me a call (904) 699-8369 or reach me via email: bill@orbitalsearch.com
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