Peak Careers

Professional Development for Career Practitioners

professional development

Why you need to think like an entrepreneur.

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You are adding value to the marketplace, but can you describe it?
think like an entrepreneur
———-Think like an entrepreneur———-

Whether you want to start your own career consulting business or not, I recommend you think like an entrepreneur. I know a number of you have thought about moving out of higher education, or government, or K-12 education, or where ever you currently work and would like to work for yourself. But even if you don’t plan to go into consulting, there is value in viewing yourself in this light.

Here are some things to consider.

What is your value?

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Respecting all Career Pathways

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There are many career pathways to success.

career pathways

Our job as career coaches and practitioners is to help our students and clients discover a career by exploring career pathways that match their strengths and interests. Then to explore all the career pathways on how to get there, whether it is an apprenticeship, bachelors degree, trade school, or certificate.

All too often, I hear people say they will go to college and figure it out there. That is a very expensive and time-consuming way to do career exploration. I do get the sense that the “college for all” mentality is slowing down, but we still have a long way to go. The message that everyone should go to college to be successful has hurt our economy a couple different ways.

  1. Many people attended college who should not have been there and incurred lots of debt that will need to be paid back.
  2. Those same people could have been working during that time and making money.
  3. Many of those people would have been happier in trades and technical positions which are in need of people.

One problem, in my opinion, is that we have too many colleges in our country fighting over the same 18-year-olds. The college’s motivation is to fill seats at their college, not to help these people discover their best career pathways. We have begun to see higher education institutions closing down and I think we will see more.

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Are you faster than 300? You could save hours of time each week if you were.

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According to a speed-reading test sponsored by Staples as part of an e-book promotion the average adult reads at 300 words per minute. (Source Forbes)

Following up on last month’s “bite-sized professional development” blog focusing on how TED Talks are inexpensive and “bite-sized,” typically about 15 minutes, this month I want to talk about reading. Primarily books, but also professional journals, and magazines / articles, in our profession and outside of our profession.

Staying up to date in career development is a key piece to raising your credibility and the credibility of the entire career profession. I try to have at least one or two ‘professional’ books waiting for me either on my shelf or on my Kindle reader. My current two books are,  The Couple’s Retirement Puzzle by Mintzner and Taylor; Callings. By Gregg Levoy (Yeah, I know this has been around for awhile, I’ve just never read it).

I also have pleasure reading books that I mix in between the professional readings. I can’t wait to start reading Jeff Shaara’s book, A Blaze of Glory.

My book goal:  Read 15-30 minutes each day

Challenge yourself to grow, to think differently by reading different views, to try and understand others, especially if you don’t agree with them, and learn something new. [Read more…] about Are you faster than 300? You could save hours of time each week if you were.

Bite-Sized Professional Development – TED Talks

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Develop a passion for learning. If you do, you will never cease to grow.
Anthony J. D’Angelo

As career practitioners it is our responsibility to continue to learn and grow in order to serve our clients best. I was talking with a client the other day and he said, “I can’t believe how much things have changed to find jobs!”  Clearly he was frustrated that he could not just open the newspaper, find a job opening, and apply with a resume. It is my job to know the current practices in my profession. It is my job to stay “fresh.” It is my job to be inspired to do good work, so that I can provide the best services to my clients.

It is our responsibility to stay current and to challenge ourselves to learn. For people who have good size budgets for professional development, that may mean attending the National Career Development Association conferences, or taking classes or seminars. For those with little financial support for their professional development, you need to be more creative.

TED Talks are a great way to continue to learn and grow.

  • They are free
  • Often they are people you would see at national conferences
  • They are “bite-size” too, between 10-20 minutes
  • They are inspirational and often challenge us to do better
  • The diverse range of presentation styles from the speakers is always helpful to identify strategies for improving your own presentation skills

Take 15 minutes (Read my blog on “Take 15” here) each week and put in your earbuds and find a TED Talk that inspires you to be your best or gives you a different angle on a familiar topic. We can all find 15 minutes. Yeah, I know you are busy, but seriously, 15 – 20 minutes somewhere in your 40+ hour workweek. Find it. It’s there.

What about using a TED Talk for staff development? Why not take 20-30 minutes out of your staff meetings once / month to have the entire staff to watch and then discuss a TED Talk? This is where you can grow your team, get to know people better, and possibly provide better service to your students/clients as a result. Have each staff member take a turn at choosing a TED Talk.

No matter what you do…take the 15-20 minutes and keep yourself energized, learning, and growing.

Here are the results from a survey I sent out recently asking people for their favorite TED Talks. 

Special thanks to all of you who took the time to fill this out.
I now have a few more “20 minute bite sized professional developments” to watch.

Angela Duckworth talking about GRIT, the power of passion and perseverance   6.12 minutes

Susan Cain, The Power of Introverts in a world that can’t stop talking. Very good talk on how introverts have an important effect on the world.   19.04 minutes

Amy Cuddy Body Language 21 minutes 

Astro Teller. The unexpected benefit of celebrating failure 15.33 minutes

Kelly McGonigal’s TED Talk, “How to make stress your friend.” 14.28 minutes.  It dovetails with her book, The Upside of Stress: Why stress is good for you and how to get good at it. The book title pretty much says what’s cool about the talk.

Shimon Schoken. What a bike can teach you 15.40 minutes.  There are a lot of life lessons tied to athletics, he uses a real example, very touching, nice photos, and only 15 minutes long.

Graham Hill: Less stuff more happiness   5.43 minutes. Touches on minimalism in a short, direct way that reminds the audience that less = more, powerful message, well delivered.

Ruth Chang’s “How to Make Hard Choices.“14.38 minutes.  I love to hear/read views on career development from professions outside of career counseling, and she’s a philosopher. I love her message that some decisions are tough because there is no “right” choice. I also like watching her reason out the problem step by step.

Jia Jang’s “What I learned from 100 Days of Rejection” First, because what he did was just amazing. So simple– to go out and look for ways to be rejected so you can desensitize yourself to it. Then, I love his whole manner. He’s funny, and humble. Two of my favorite qualities in a speaker. 

Meg Jay, PhD, Why 30 is not the new 20. 14.49 minutes. She had real first hand experiences dealing with a variety of issues facing 20 somethings.

Simon Sinek, although not a TED Talk, Millennials in the Workplace.  15 minutes

Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon, Princeton Graduation speech. What Matters More Than Your Talents. 18.44 minutes. “Our character is reflected, not in the gifts we are endowed with at birth, but by the choices we make over the course of a lifetime.” I use this as a writing prompt for my students to reflect on what they want to have accomplished. The puzzle of motivation – my client base, high school juniors/seniors, keep me looking for solutions in this area. The happy secret to better work – Reminds me of the importance of setting boundaries between my work and personal life…a major challenge for me.

Mel Robbins, “How to stop screwing yourself over”.  21.39 minutes. Her message about not being complacent (our satisfaction with being “fine”) and her practical advice for a couple ways to kick-start ourselves is inspirational.

Brene Brown-–On vulnerability, which I fully endorse. 20 minutes

I’m a constant learner. You need to be a constant student because things change and you have to change and grow.
And I emphasize the word “grow.”   Zig Ziglar

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Jim Peacock is the Principal at Peak-Careers Consulting and writes a monthly newsletter for career practitioners. Peak-Careers offers discussion-based online seminars for career practitioners focused on meeting continuing education needs for CCSP, GCDF and BCC certified professionals as well as workshops for career practitioners and individual career coaching.

Sign up here to receive my  TOP 10 TIPS WHEN WORKING WITH AN UNDECIDED PERSON.  You can also receive the career practitioners newsletter which includes a variety of career topics, industry news, interesting events, and more. 

Career Credentials…What are they? What is that new NCDA credential, CCSP? Why should you get one?

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NOTE: This article is my understanding and my personal thoughts on the new CCSP certification. Although I am on the CCSP Advisory Council for NCDA, this article is not affiliated with NCDA, only my attempt to answer the many questions I have received from a variety of people.

The world of work has changed over the years, and now certifications and credentials are more important than ever. Nearly every profession out there has professional standards and with those standards are often credentials that tell the consumer you have met a minimum requirement in training. It means something to the consumer.

Career services is no different. We need to have standards for our own credibility and to improve our professional reputation in the eyes of the consumers.

The National Career Development Association (NCDA) has recently created five (5) credentials to represent that many different types of professionals who deliver career services. I will focus my thoughts here on the Certified Career Service Provider (CCSP).

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Why podcasts should fit into your day – learning while you walk or drive.

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As many of you know, I am a huge promoter of professional development in our field. We need to constantly be learning how to better serve our clients and we can do that a variety of ways.

  • Attending conferences like National Career Development Association and Mid-Atlantic Career Conference and your state associations
  • Participate in classes, seminars (online or live), webinars
  • Watch Ted Talks (look for my April newsletter on this)
  • Read professional books or journals

I would like you to consider adding podcasts to this list.

A few years ago, a person in my Boomer online seminar turned me onto a podcast called Meditation Oasis which has a number of different meditations to listen to. My favorite is her “Relax Into Sleep.” Then last summer I was talking with Marc Miller of Career Pivot via video-conference. He talked about how he was listening to a number of different podcasts when he walked to the coffee shop, and how much he felt he was learning daily because of it.

Since then I have added about eight different podcasts to my regular listening. They range from a few that focus on entrepreneurship and marketing topics, to a number that focus on career topics. Of course there are many others that include news agencies like public broadcasting and entertainment.

I try to listen to a few podcasts weekly. Occasionally I download one to my phone and listen in my car while I drive to Portland once a week where I work at a career counseling and outplacement firm. Other times I will plug in and listen while walking in the neighborhood on one of my daily breaks, or I will just take a half hour and sit and listen to a podcast because I may want to take notes.

Regardless of when and how you do it, I strongly encourage you to add podcasts to your professional development modes of learning.

  • Read my interview with Marc Miller to learn what his and my favorites are. Click here.
  • Interested in reading other blogs on professional development? Click here.

Do you listen to podcasts?

If so, what are your favorite podcasts?

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Jim Peacock is the Principal at Peak-Careers Consulting and writes a monthly newsletter for career practitioners. Peak-Careers offers discussion-based online seminars for career practitioners focused on meeting continuing education needs for CCSP, GCDF and BCC certified professionals as well as workshops for career practitioners and individual career coaching.

Sign up here to receive my  TOP 10 TIPS WHEN WORKING WITH AN UNDECIDED PERSON.  You can also receive the career practitioners newsletter which includes a variety of career topics, industry news, interesting events, and more.