June 2011

No. 1 secret for a successful career

Over and over I see a job search or career get stalled.

You develop the perfect resume and prepare the 30- and 60-second commercial. You list your strengths, write letters to employers, set up networking meetings.

Then the wait … and frustration …

We get stuck when the emphasis is on us. We need to focus outside ourselves. The cornerstone of a healthy, productive life and career is giving, sharing time, talents and energy just for the purpose of helping.

What happens when we give without keeping score? We're at our best. We get out of ourselves. We lose ourselves and our interests when we focus on someone else. We're changed.

Test your Giving Quotient!

Have you:

• Served as a mentor?
• Invited someone to a professional meeting/workshop?
• Written a letter to management complimenting a colleague on a great job?
• Called a colleague and asked how their presentation (interview/test) went?
• Offered to email your seminar notes to someone who couldn't attend?
• Spoken up on behalf of an employee in your organization who'd been misunderstood?
• Volunteered for a task no one else wanted?
• Let someone in line ahead of you?
• Struck up a pleasant conversation waiting in a long line when everyone's nerves were frayed?

Watch your career and your job search take off when you concentrate on being interested, rather than interesting.

Kathleen Martinek, former UNCG alumni career counselor, has more than 15 years of experience in career development, management and human resources. Kathleen.martinek@yahoo.com