A Demonstration of Twitter's Power

One reason I'm blogging less is that I'm tweeting more. I'm finding that for many ideas, Twitter's 140-character limit results in my offering more help per my minute of my work and per minute of the reader's time.

Here are my 90 tweets. It should take you about 10 minutes to read them all. I believe you'll find that a rewarding use of ten minutes. Let me know if you agree.

If you do find my tweets useful, just click on the "Follow me on Twitter" button near the top of this blog and you'll get all my subsequent ones.

Solve doc/dentist/nurse shortage while improving quality: Replace long, abstract-science-based training with a short practical program.

The right health care reform: consumers have the most skin in the game, their choices abetted by excellent, accessible consumer info.

First it was storefront, then truck, now cart. Next? Backpack. e.g., In high-foot-traffic area, wear cute cap w. dozens in your pack.

Looking for a college? A commnty coll honors pgrm may be THE wisest choice--even if you're rich and kid is Ivy-level. http://bit.ly/a4quVF

Career coaches & counselors must often go beyond career: Help clients craft a life: esp. relationships, avocations & developing perspective.

Worried? Feeling sorry for yourself? Fill your time helping others and otherwise being productive.

In selecting an employee, these things count far more than experience and knowledge: intelligence, drive, ethics, kindness, and being low-maintenance.

The Repub. win reflects not just anger at big govt but voters resisting the media's efforts to manipulate them into voting Dem.

Do not begin a note with, "My name is XXX." That makes a terrible first impression because it's redundant with your signature line.

Meg Whitman would have won if instead of spending her $140M on ads etc., she donated it to charity. She'd have won while being a hero.

There's no good answer to how to increase US jobs when avg US income is 50K + generous benes & protections while the worldwide average is 1K.

Tip for establishing eye contact: What's his eye color? Does her eye area look kind or mean--eyes are a window to one's soul.

Many colleges market themselves as unscrupulously as a sleazy business might: http://bit.ly/aZl8YO.

Odd coincidence that the Giants representing the U.S's most liberal city beat George Bush's Texas Rangers on election eve. An omen? ;-)

Are you cut out for self-empl? 1. Would you sell and sell well? 2. Are you a self-starter? 3. Have the knack of buying low, selling high?

When setting a phone interview, have the person call you--that makes him feel he/s pursuing you. You'll more likely get what you want.

Want to be a better speaker? I used to tout Toastmasters but I'm now more impressed with Speaking Circles: http://bit.ly/cXfZRI

Love is feeling good when you're just sitting next to a loved one. My doggie, Einstein, is sleeping next to me at my desk now. I feel love.

Before prepping for a job interview, put yourself in that employer's shoes, "Would you hire you for that job?"

When it's out of your control, let it go. Let the river run, my friend.

Try pitching yourself to a RELATED field: For example, higher ed. reporters quote me because I'm a career counselor not another professor.

I've been watching many candidates on C-Span and I'm finding, in general, the Republicans vaguer and less direct.

How to get promoted even in this market? "Think two steps ahead of your boss and give her what she needs." Maya Mavjee, prez, Crown Publ.

Sign of the times: I've heard this so often: "I'm thankful to have any job." Scary.

It seems EVERY field is hypercompetitive. Ex: A guy wanted to make promo videos for realtors. Alas, many already do it well and cheaply.

Good Google-searching can make you more expert about your situation than are most experts.

Obama's racial policies are getting ever crazier and more unfair to Asians and whites: http://bit.ly/aRsylG

Be kind where possible, tough where necessary. It all comes down to that.

Would we have better political leaders if they were selected by a panel of 20 for-profit, non-profit & govt leaders plus random citizens?

Bringing a drug to market costs average $1.2 billion--FDA requires 3 truckloads of docs collected over 12 years.

Most older people don't mind a young boss. They mind a young boss who's inferior and thinks s/he's superior.

I've noticed that drivers of status cars (e.g., BMW, Jag, MB) are more likely to be mean to other drivers--e.g., won't let them into lane.

Language matters. That's why, for example, Dems changed "liberal" to "progressive." The liberal media picked it right up.

To uncover what's wrong with an organization, ask employees; "What's bothering you?" It can also be a good Q to ask of anyone.

Career counselors act as if IQ & its proxies SAT/GRE, etc don't matter. They think "Just merge skills, interests, values." Wrong.

Voting is the ultimate crowd-sourcing but it is near-impossible to be a fairly informed, not brainwashed voter.The media is so liberal-biased..

Glut of degree holders. Now, 17M w. B.A. are janitors, car parkers, waiters. 5,000 janitors with PhD. .http://bit.ly/aZEluG

Why should anyone be paid more than anyone else? Their success is largely preordained by their genetics, parenting, and birthplace.

I've been working with some constrained people. Encouraging them to sing unconstrained is making them live less constrained.

Better than franchising: Talk to non-local bizes top-rated on Yelp, etc. Merge their best ideas. Use the best as your consultant.

Don't let ego or embarrassment keep you from asking your network for help landing a job (or anything else) These are tough times.

Key: Publicly funded campgns w. only a debate, simulation (run a meeting on key issue,) & a doc w record & platform. http://bit.ly/bNxLu3

You can't be honest re race/ethn. e.g., NPR's Juan Williams got fired for saying he feels nervous on seeing full-garb Muslim get on plane.

Would we elect better leaders if we banned political TV and radio commercials?

Classes have bad ROI. Screaming need for online ed filled w must-have content, immersively, interactively guided by transformational tchs.

New use of offshoring: Even many large accounting firms outsource U.S. tax return preparation to India--at 80% savings.

My goal when writing how-to: Maximum fresh, valuable ideas per minute of the reader's time.

Mortgage paperwork "scandal?" No/minimal wrong foreclosures yet Obama + 49 AGs investigating--poor use of taxpayer $. It's all politics.

Teach for America tch: "I'm tired of dealing w soiled pants, burning garbage cans, and yard fights. Their problems are too big for me."

Interesting how the term "hoodlum" changed to "disadvantaged" and now "underresourced." It mirrors our externalizing responsibility.

Think twice before saying no. Is there any way you could twist it around so you could say yes?

When employed, it's worth building a network. When unemp, It takes too long to turn strangers into source of good job.http://bit.ly/96HASB

Good way to identify your ideal target job: list your job non-negotiables and your "nice-to-haves."

Phillip Roth: "It's hard to give up what you've been doing for 55 yrs...I'm kind of a maniac. How could a maniac give up what he does?"

I have many physician clients. That has led me to believe, alas, that many docs prioritize making money over quality of care.

Do you find that Google search results on sociopolitical topics are biased toward liberal perspectives? I do.

League of Women Voters used to be a neutral. Now, I got calls from them advocating CA props. and they funded a biased voter "info" site.

Job seekers: Don't overdress for interviews. It makes you look like you're selling, and no one wants to be sold. Ask what's appropriate.

Linkup.com, which aggregates job listing from individual employers' sites, now includes federal job openings from 341 divisions!

Cold contact is not working. http://bit.ly/ab1St4

DC schools spend 30K per kid, #1 in world + SuperSupt Rhee yet st. ach. is worst. Tch unions are everywhere, so that's not it. What IS it?

Write one charming note per week: to a friend, coworker, client, employer. Even if it yields nothing, it contributes to a kinder society.

Today, the norm is to not respond to queries. A polite, quick, no is so much more humane.

An anesthesiologist told me he started using drugs to cope with a romantic breakup. Sometimes I wonder whether relationships are worth it.

I don't know if it's just the Bay Area but here, many people take offense so easily. The culture of offense-taking offends me. ;-)

Twitter's turning out to be a way to archive my ideas. And I use my week's tweets on my radio shows.http://bit.ly/cFc0rz

If the govt provided NO safety net, would the private sector step up and provide a better one or worse one? I dunno.

When I was young, I was sure that giving good advice, even if unwanted, was wise. I'm not so sure anymore.

They say "Outsource your low-level work" but I clean my house. That offers exercise, tangible accomplishment, break from the intellectual.

When you wake each morning, you have a choice of mindsets: gird for battle or enjoy each moment. Which you choose makes all the difference

Good counselor Qs: Your best hope? What diff. would that make? What's already helping? What would be the next sign of progress?

The best artists are self-taught. Teachers make you mechanistic and/or follow the teacher's preferences--all disempowering.

Esp. when applying for a high-level job, writing a thank-you can make you seem obsequious. Perhaps don't.

Cool avocation for sports nuts: Announcer for kids' sports league. How fun for a kid to hear his/her name over loudspeaker.

How to be a good salesperson: Listen more than talk. When you explain the product, pretend you're talking to a 6th grader.

Hire teachers who are NOT a natural: http://bit.ly/b3SA2H

My blueprint for a breakthrough, reinvented general education curriculum. http://bit.ly/dfoJNK. Feedback welcome.

HOW you receive a businesscard can make all the difference: #businesscardetiquette http://bit.ly/9X0Coq

Cool career: book packager: come up with title, angle, structure (table of contents,) look and feel, marketing.

Biz idea: organic perfume. http://bit.ly/aK7v9c

Choosing a career is like choosing a college. It matters far more whether you make the most of it than which one you choose.

Unlike say MD, most careers don't have obvious labels. To find em: search indeed.com using skills you want to use.

Mainstream media can only thrive if providing rich multimedia content. Otherwise, bloggers, tweeters, etc will trump. http://bit.ly/aIUEjU

Obama technique: He holds his chin up. It appears authoritative.

Obama's fatal flaw: insistence that major taxpayer $$$ to have govt rejigger, regulate, and prohibit, will be a net good

A fad: "Making a Difference." See my blog post: http://martynemko.blogspot.com/2010/09/fad-making-difference.html

Keys to landingajob today: walk in, usajobs.gov, write a White Paper, start a low-risk biz (e.g., an gourmet sandwich/salad cart, then clone it)

Again, if you found these tweets worth your time, just click on the "Follow Me on Twitter" button near the top of this blog and you can get my subsequent tweets as soon as I post them.

Have a job search or career change success story?

Do you have a job search or a career change success story that you'd like me to share on my radio show? If so, email me at mnemko@comcast.net

It's Time to Rage Against the Higher Education Machine

As a member of the media, I often get pitches for colleges trying to boost their enrollment. I am repulsed by colleges' marketing practices because they try to be perceived as beneficent institutions rather than businesses that only care about profit, yet they hide the crucial consumer information: for example, how much growth in critical thinking do average students derive, what percentage of students graduate in the expected time, and the percentage of graduates that are professionally employed within a year of graduation.

Today, I received a pitch from a college that I found particularly odious.

One of NYU's PR/marketing firms, G.S. Schwartz & Co., sent me a marketing pitch for their art business certificate (no degree) program. The teasing subject line: "Art Business a growth field for workers chasing their passions- case study available."

It turns out that the program consists only of 19 total class sessions (the approximate equivalent of one regular college course) yet costs $2,000. The pitch invited me to interview a student in the program named Dean Harmeyer who landed an internship at Christie's. (I append the NYU pitch at the end of this blog post.)

I shook my head in derision. I've had so many clients who hold far more than a mini-certificate (for example, a BFA, MFA, or MBA in art business or other similar fields) who never earn enough to pay their student loans let alone make a middle-class living using such a degree. Yet a brand-name school like NYU descends to trying to seduce students into its program using a pitch whose rigor its own professors would dismiss as utterly invalid (a cherry-picked anecdote of one student who got an internship) to make students believe they'll likely have a real arts career if they complete the program. Of course, even when I then reviewed NYU's web page for the program, there's no information on the graduation rate, let alone the percentage of graduates are earning a middle-class income in an art-related field.

It's high time we recognize that higher education is not a beneficent national treasure but just another business and an often sleazy one at that. It's time to rage against the machine, the Higher Education Machine.

Here is the pitch I received from that PR/marketing firm hired by NYU:

From:Keith Campbell [mailto:Kcampbell@schwartz.com]
Tuesday, November 02, 2010 8:33 AM
To:mnemko@comcast.net
Subject: Art Business a growth field for workers chasing their passions- case study available

Dear Marty:

The current unemployment crisis has seen many American workers refocusing their career plans. In many cases, recently laid off workers are reassessing their past jobs, and whether they were in fields that they were passionate about, or just showing up to cash a paycheck. In the pursuit of their passions, many people are looking to the arts, the business side of which is a booming industry.

I would like to offer an interview with Terry Shtob, coordinating chair of the Department of Liberal Studies and Allied Arts at New York University School of Continuing and Professional Studies, and oversees programs in Arts Business, including professional certificates in Arts Administration and Art Appraisal. Terry can discuss the opportunities open to art lovers with business skills in the field.

I can also put you in touch with Dean Harmeyer, a student in both the NYU-SCPS Art Business and Art Appraisals programs who is currently interning for Christie’s. Dean can describe his transition from the music industry, which was floundering even before the global economic crisis, to the world of art business, and how he sees the prospects much brighter in the business of fine art.

I will follow up to gauge your interest in an interview with Terry and/or Dean.

Keith Campbell
For New York University School of Continuing and Professional Studies
Tel: (212)725-4500 Ext. 318
mailto:kcampbell@schwartz.com

Tom Torlakson for California State Superintendent of Schools

I've never endorsed any candidate on this blog but I'd like to encourage you to vote for Tom Torlakson. His opponent is a good man, a reasonable man, but there are a couple of significant differentiators:

• Torlakson believes that one-size education does not fit all--Not every student should be forced into a college-preparatory curriculum. He opposes the "everyone to college" fad.

Tom recognizes that some students, for example, those still reading on a fifth grade level when entering high school, are far more likely to find school, employment and life success in a career-technical curriculum: Instead of learning abstractions about the Peloponnesian Wars and geometric theorems, students in career-technical courses learn in a concrete context, which, for example, would prepare them for in-demand occupations such as robotics technician, chef, or medical equipment repairer.

Not surprisingly, when students who were weak academically K-8 are forced into a college-preparatory set of courses, they're more likely to drop out of high school and certainly from college. And even if they defy the odds and graduate, it will likely be with a low GPA from a third-tier college in a not-marketable major. With today's oversupply of college graduates and shortage of job openings, few employers will be excited to see an applicant with sociology degree and 2.5 GPA rom Cal State, Dominguez Hills. Tom Torlakson recognizes, indeed prioritizes the importance of high quality, well-suited options for all students.

• Unlike his opponent, Tom has had experience both as a teacher and as a respected and well-liked California state legislator. That combination is key to getting things done legislatively.

So I encourage you to vote for Tom Torlakson.

How Political Campaigns Should Be Run

In that I generally lean libertarian, this may surprise you but, observing the obscenely expensive, obfuscatory political campaigns reminds me how much we need 100% publicly funded campaigns. My model:

• Length: two weeks.
• One or two debates, broadcast on TV, archived on YouTube. Debates would be designed to push the candidates off their prepared message and to truly engage. If a debater isn't directly answering the question or otherwise being obfuscatory, the moderator would interrupt, calling the debater on that, and insisting on a direct answer.
• At the end of the debate, still on camera, each candidate would participate in a simulation: running a brief meeting with mock legislators on an issue of the day. Perhaps retired legislators could be used for the simulation.
  
• A neutral body (for example, C-Span) would create a candidate summary consisting of his/her voting record and platform on key issues. That would be mailed to all registered voters and posted on a website such as CSpan.org.

I believe that model would yield better candidates because they wouldn't have to run a four-year, press-the-flesh, be-beholden-to special interests campaign. Also, the public would get a far better sense of what the candidates would be like as our leaders than with our current commercial-, special-interest-, and speechifying-driven process.

What do you think?

My latest Twitter Tweets

I've started tweeting and am surprised that I'm doing it a fair amount--an average of one a day. Indeed it's reducing my blogging. If you'd like to see samples of my tweets before deciding to click on that "Follow me" blue button on the side of this blog, here are my most recent ones:

Classes have bad ROI. Screaming need for online ed filled w must-have content, immersively, interactively guided by transformational tchs.

New use of offshoring: Even many large accounting firms outsource U.S. tax return preparation to India--at 80% savings.

My goal when writing how-to: Maximum fresh, valuable ideas per minute of the reader's time.

Mortgage paperwork "scandal?" No/minimal wrong foreclosures yet Obama + 49 AGs investigating--poor use of taxpayer $. It's all politics.

Teach for America tch: "I'm tired of dealing w soiled pants, burning garbage cans, and yard fights. Their problems are too big for me."

Interesting how the term "hoodlum" changed to "disadvantaged" and now "underresourced." It mirrors our externalizing responsibility.

Think twice before saying no. Is there any way you could twist it around so you could say yes?

Identifying Your Ideal Job

This is from my colleague Steve Piazzale:

My ideal job description? It's hard enough finding any job let alone an ideal one!

Yes, yes that's true but since you're looking for a change anyway, isn't it better to start from a position of knowing what you do best?

It's vital to know what work brings out the best in you--that is jobs where you both enjoy the work and are productive for your employer. Once you understand this, you'll know what you're looking for and will be more likely to recognize it when you see it.

So how do we go about doing this?

1. List the characteristics of your ideal work.

Without necessarily listing a job title, start writing work qualifications, duties, and environment that resonate with you. Maybe you'd start with:

• I spend 25% of my time traveling.
• I get to use my financial and analytical skills on a regular basis.
• I have a manager who provides direction, but doesn't micromanage me.
• I work with a small collaborative team.

Maybe by looking at various job descriptions on job boards, you can find other entries:

• I interface with end users (or the general public) 10% of each day.
• My commute is under 30 minutes and I work from home once a week
• I'm in a minimal number of meetings.
• I believe in the mission of the company.

Thinking about past work you've had, try to recall the situations where you were the most productive and time flew by:

• I own my own project but contribute on others.

• Promotion is a possibility.
• Management encourages career growth
• I can earn $100K within 3 years.

2) Rank order the ideal job characteristics.

Ok, so now you have a dozen or so aspects of work that would be ideal in that you'd be both interested in the work and productive. Now put them in order of importance. And after finishing that, draw a line between the entries that MUST be in your future work and those that would be nice to have.

Now, let's take a moment to explain these "must" haves. If you don't know where your next meal is coming from then you take whatever job you can. But if one of the must haves is missing, you know that from the get-go, you're going to keep looking for a better job. A must have is just that--an aspect of work without which you wont be happy and/or will not be maximally productive.

3) How to use the ideal job description

By identifying your ideal work environment, you can compare any job you're applying for or networking about to this ideal. You know what questions you need answered for the job to be a "go" for you. You can even tailor your personal brand (elevator pitch, resume profile, success stories) to match this ideal vision.

Potential employers whose vision of your role doesn't match yours can back away from you without losing face. Instead of having to say "we micromanage here and don't allow our managers much freedom," they only have to say "I don't think we have a good match here" and they back away from you, but if that freedom is a non-negotiable for you, you want them to back away.

On the other hand, if they like the role and vision you describe, they will be attracted to you. Then there is a win-win scenario—you’re happy and they get the best effort and value you can produce.

Now we all know that there's no perfect job any more than there's a perfect person. But the question to ask yourself is "how far off my ideal is the potential position I’m considering and can I live with the aspects that aren't ideal; are there any show stoppers?"

As I mentioned before, do not use this strategy if you're desperate for work and want the job at all costs. But in situations in which you have some latitude, this strategy maximizes the likelihood that you'll find work that makes you come alive and you deserve that!