Guide for Boomerang Parents Receives Review

The slow to no-growth economy and high unemployment rates have kids of all ages returning to their parents’ homes as they transition from college to work or from lost job to new job. Co-authors Joyce Richman and Barbara Demarest have been getting some attention for their guidebook, Getting Your Kid Out of the House and Into a Job, which they wrote to help parents deal with these times of transition in their children’s lives. Steve Sumerford recently reviewed the book in the Greensboro News & Record the title is Tips for dealing with kids who say, ‘I’m coming back’ and we’ve republished it here:

Tips for dealing with kids who say, ‘I’m coming back’

People all over the country are finding solace, encouragement and a passel of practical tips from a small paperback written by two Greensboro authors, Joyce Richman and Barbara Demarest. With decades of executive and career coaching between them, the pair teamed up to address a very timely topic, “boomerang kids,” a term coined a few years ago to describe adults, who, for a variety of reasons, have to move back in with their parents.
A recent CNN Money story reported that 85 percent of last year’s college graduates say they would move back home with their parents if they couldn’t find a job.

Question from a reader: What do I do if I’m left hanging?

Q: It is very frustrating and unprofessional to keep someone “hanging” after an interview and not inform them if they have the job or not. People want to work and want to know if they should continue their search. Over the past year I’ve been on at least two dozen interviews and several firms never informed me as to the status of their selection process. What’s your take on this?

A. Unless you’ve experienced both sides of the interviewer’s table, it’s hard to know what job applicants or hiring managers face when conducting a job search.

Companies can be flooded by responses to advertised positions. Many applicants produce work histories that have no obvious connection to the position posted. That doesn’t mean that people applying couldn’t do the job, but that their resumes don’t make their case for them. So, they are eliminated, often without a company representative writing or calling to say that they will not be considered. Like it or not, that is customary and acceptable.

This reader has gotten through the resume-screening portion of the search. He has landed interviews and has not received status reports from his interviewers. He should have. When a company representative invites an applicant to become a bonafide candidate there is an unwritten but professional expectation that each party will keep the other informed as to the level of interest one has in the other. That’s how it ought to be, but what do you do if the company hasn’t bought, ought?

Candidates who are interested in the job are proactive in advancing their candidacy.

What can they do to get the information they need?

Here are a few strategies that take the offensive without being offensive:

“Mr. Jones, this is Sam Ram. I interviewed with you on June 11th for the position of Senior Accountant. I am very interested in that position and would like an opportunity to speak to you at greater length. I am available Tuesday or Wednesday mornings of next week, at either 7:30 or 8:30 a.m. Which would be the better time for you?”

You stated your interest in the position and your availability for a second interview. There are no guarantees that Mr. Jones will agree to see you but you will get one of a variety of responses: 
“Sam, I’m glad you called. Right after you left our office the boss’s son stopped by and we offered him the job. You know how it goes. Sorry, Sam.”
“Sam, we put that job on hold. Didn’t anyone call you? Our sales aren’t what we hoped for and we’ve frozen all openings for the next quarter.”
“Sam, glad you called. Next Wednesday morning at 7:30 a.m. works for me. See you then.

What if Mr. Jones won’t take or return your calls? You’ve tried all times of the day and night and after several weeks and more than a dozen attempts later you decide to try something different. You send a self addressed stamped postcard with three requests for action: 
Sam, call us to set your next interview.
Sam, we’d like to hire you. Call us to talk specifics.
Sam, you’re a good man but we’re no longer interested in your candidacy.

Ask Mr. Jones or his representative to check the appropriate statement and return the card to you.

Manners, time crunch, and professionalism aside, most employers don’t follow up on interviews for two reasons: 1) they don’t have good news and 2) the recipient isn’t apt to like bad news. If hiring authorities are willing to take applicants’ time and energy to interview, they have an obligation to return the favor with the truth when they know it, straight up and without hesitation.

Candidates: if several weeks pass without response to your interview or follow-up calls, assume that the opportunity no longer exists. Their silence says more about how they do business than you ever wanted to know. Let it go and find something better.

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Yes! You may use this article by Executive and Career Coach, Joyce Richman, in your blog, newsletter or website as long as you include the following bio box:

Joyce Richman (www.richmanresources.com) has been specializing in executive and career coaching since she started her own practice in 1982. She works in a variety of environments including: higher education, manufacturing, sales, marketing, media, technology, pharmaceuticals, medicine, banking and finance, service, IT, and non-profit sectors. A member of the adjunct faculty at the Center for Creative Leadership, Joyce is certified to administer a number of feedback and psychological instruments. Joyce is a weekly guest on WFMY-TV and the career columnist for The Greensboro News & Record. She is the author of Roads, Routes and Ruts: A Guidebook to Career Success and co-author of Getting Your Kid Out of the House and Into a Job. A popular speaker, Richman conducts seminars and workshops throughout the United States, Canada andEurope. Her coaching profile can be found at TheCoachingAssociation.com.

Putting Your Best Foot Forward: Interviews

We’re getting calls and emails from readers who have questions and concerns about layoffs. Here’s a sampling:

“With all this talk about layoffs, I’m so worried I can’t concentrate on my job. What can I do?”

The last thing you want to do is worry yourself out of a job. Change your unrealized fear from something you can’t control to something you can. Put together an employment emergency kit. Fill it with a financial plan, an updated resume, lists of contacts, and a personal inventory of strengths and work accomplishments. Then get back to work. That’s what your employer is paying you to do.

“What’s the difference between a merger and an acquisition? Am I safe in one and in jeopardy with the other?”

In business parlance a merger implies the coming together of equals. An acquisition suggests that the stronger (by whatever definition) has taken over the weaker. The true meaning and the outcome intended are in the minds of the players who cut the deal. Employees who are affected seldom know what that is. When are you safe? When you proactively direct and advance your own career.

“We’ve been laid off. None of us saw it coming and a bunch of us are angry and upset. If we interview now we’re going to blow it. We’ve got to find work, what can we do?”

Take advantage of your shared frustration and release your emotions with each other. The more you get out of your system, with safe people in safe places, the less apt you are to blow up where it’s not and when it isn’t. After you’ve finished venting (that can take a while) contact job seeker support groups in the area, where you can reframe your frustration into positive job search strategies.

“What three things do I need to know before I interview?”

There are more than three, but if I had to choose, they’d be:

Know what you do best and examples of when you’ve done it.

Know what you don’t do well, so that you won’t do it again.

Know what you’re looking for in a job (besides the money).

“What’s the difference between a strength and a skill? Which is more important?”

A strength is innate, a given, you have it without trying. You enhance your strengths by recognizing them (they’re not always as obvious as you might think) and expanding upon them. A skill is acquired. You learn it by study and repeated application. Strengths are immediately transferable, no waiting. Skills transfer, but may not be applicable. You need a combination of both. Proven success combines skills, strengths, and experience.

“How can you network if you don’t get out and meet anyone? I tend to be on the shy side and have never been a joiner. Help!”

You may not be a natural at networking, but you can learn the skills necessary for organizing one: Get together with like minded individuals (they like what you like and they’d go where you’d go, if you went anywhere). You’ve indicated that you don’t like to get out much. If you did, where would your interests take you? For example: If you were a reader, you would hang out in book stores, libraries, museums, and galleries. You would attend book reviews; book signings and book sales. You’d meet the people who attend, talk about mutual interests, and learn what they do, professionally. By describing your current job search you’d ask for suggestions of people you should meet and places you should go.

When you network with people who share your interests they send you looking in the right places.

“I’m over fifty! Who’s going to hire me?”

If you are emotionally and physically healthy, with a positive, energetic outlook, what’s not to like (or hire)? Companies are always in the market for stable, mature, nonjudgmental employees who know how to contribute to the workplace and come ready to work. What you may have given up in physical agility you’ve (hopefully) gained in wisdom and insight. As long as you don’t sign on as a contortionist in the circus, you’re a good bet as a new hire.

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Yes! You may use this article by Executive and Career Coach, Joyce Richman, in your blog, article in your blog, newsletter or website as long as you include the following bio box:

Joyce Richman (www.richmanresources.com) has been specializing in executive and career coaching since she started her own practice in 1982. She works in a variety of environments including: higher education, manufacturing, sales, marketing, media, technology, pharmaceuticals, medicine, banking and finance, service, IT, and non-profit sectors. A member of the adjunct faculty at the Center for Creative Leadership, Joyce is certified to administer a number of feedback and psychological instruments. Joyce is a weekly guest on WFMY-TV and the career columnist for The Greensboro News & Record. She is the author of Roads, Routes and Ruts: A Guidebook to Career Success and co-author of Getting Your Kid Out of the House and Into a Job. A popular speaker, Richman conducts seminars and workshops throughout the United States, Canada and Europe. Her coaching profile can be found at TheCoachingAssociation.com.

Lonely Layoff? Get Moving!

It’s easy to get stuck between lonely and cranky when you lose your job, particularly when your neighbors and friends still have a job to go to. You know you have to get on with life and start interviewing, but you’re having a tough time getting off the couch and putting on your shoes. If that’s your situation and you have the energy to read this column, I have some ways to remedy your situation.

Begin by confronting your feelings. You’re going through a difficult experience and it’s natural to be bombarded with a variety of emotions, everything from disorientation to denial; guilt to grief.  Be patient with yourself. You can’t rush feelings; they unfold in their own time. So deal with them, and they’ll pass, even though it’s slow going.

You may get in a habit of sleeping in or hiding out. Whatever you call it, it’s time to rejoin the living. One of the best routes to reentry is through exercise, which is as good for your head as it is for your heart and all your other parts. Whether you power lift at the gym or power walk in the neighborhood you’ll start feeling better about yourself.

Once your energy’s returned and your optimism restored, you’re ready to launch your search. There’s plenty to do, so dig in.  Start with your resume. Organize your information in reverse chronological order, listing job titles, locations, employment dates, duties and responsibilities. Quantify your accomplishments.

Next, write a basic cover letter that accompanies your resume. You can customize it later. Keep it simple with three brief paragraphs: The purpose (the reason you’re sending a resume), rationale (how your experience demonstrates you’re the one for the job), and expectation (the date you’ll call to secure the interview). That’s it.

Now you’re ready to Network. Let your friends and acquaintances know that you are looking for a job by describing what you want to do and why you’re good at doing it. Ask for suggestions of people to contact, and offer to keep in touch regarding your progress.

Prioritizing and time management will offset procrastination. Know what’s most important, make a plan, then do what you find most difficult, first, what you find easiest, last, and stick with the program five days out of seven. You’ll have the weekend to do it the other way around.

Next on your list of must do’s: What do you want in your next job? For some, it’s more of the same, for others, it’s a clean break from the past. If you’re heading down a trail you’ve never been before, you’ll benefit from the advice of those who have already completed the journey as well as those whose business it is to advise about such things. Once you get the direction sorted out, describe it to others in ways they can understand so they can help you get there.

Now it’s time to make a list of individuals who can directly or indirectly connect you to the job you want. Who are the people who know people who hire people? Here are a few ideas to jump start your thinking: the person you sit next to at a ball game, religious service, concert, or dinner party. The person you typically stand next to at a soccer match, meet in the grocery store, or visit at a coffee shop. Former or current classmates, work mates, play mates. And what do you say after you ask them how they, their kids and the job is doing? If you’re changing career paths, try something like this:

“I’ve given a lot of thought to my next career move and what I want to do: (describe what it is and why you’d do well). I’d like to speak with people who do similar work and who enjoy it. They might know of businesses that could benefit from my interest and abilities. Who do you suggest that I contact?”

For every setback we experience, we learn important lessons about life and about ourselves. It takes courage to do something productive with what we learn.

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Yes! You may use this article in your blog, newsletter or website as long as you include the following bio box:

Joyce Richman (www.richmanresources.com) has been specializing in executive and career coaching since 1982. She works in a variety of environments including: higher education, manufacturing, sales, marketing, media, technology, pharmaceuticals, medicine, banking and finance, service, IT, and non-profit sectors. A member of the adjunct faculty at the Center for Creative Leadership, Joyce is certified to administer a number of feedback and psychological instruments. Joyce is a weekly guest on WFMY-TV and the career columnist for The Greensboro News & Record. She is the author of Roads, Routes and Ruts: A Guidebook to Career Success and co-author of Getting Your Kid Out of the House and Into a Job. A popular speaker, Richman conducts seminars and workshops throughout the United States, Canada and Europe. Her coaching profile can be found at www.thecoachingassociation.com.

Rejoining Your Life After an Unexpected Layoff

I bet you know him. He goes to work early and stays late. He’s known as a company man. He’s dedicated, loyal, with a work ethic that challenges the most diligent. His only fear is failing health even though he’s never taken a sick day. (He’s never had a day that he stayed out sick. He’s had several sick days.)

He’s just been laid off and never saw it coming.

He was starting to think about retirement. Not that he wanted to, but he was losing his edge; slower than he liked, more forgetful, less enthusiastic. It took energy to be enthusiastic. He’d need to save his energy for nights that he worked late.

Retirement’s gone. He’s been laid off. Now he needs to get a job.

***

If this sounds familiar, it is, and you’re not alone. The good news is, you can get your bearings, you can figure this out if you use your time and energy wisely and think differently than you have before. To get the next job you’ll need to connect with people you haven’t paid attention to in a very long while.

Rejoin your family. You need them to welcome you home. You’ll need to be as vital to them as you’ll soon find they are to you. You’ll want to have a place to be and a role to play. You’ll need to be a wise listener; an empowering husband, and an encouraging father. You want to learn about their life’s lessons, their struggles, and their successes so they’ll want to care about yours.

Take your time and stay the course. It won’t happen overnight. You worked your way out of their lives, you’ll have to earn your way back in, one day at a time.

Rejoin your community. Learn how to connect so you’ll know where to contribute. When you combine who you naturally are, with what you inherently do, and where that combination is needed most, and you give fully of yourself, you will get more in return than you can possibly anticipate.

Expand your thinking. When is the last time you read a book because you wanted to? If it’s been a long time (or you’ve never been a reader) you’re in for quite a surprise. There’s a world of information waiting for you. Explore and experience learning where other people go to learn. Go to the library, go back to school, go to a play, go to concert, google.

Take care of your heart, your head and your feet. If you’ve avoided check-ups because doctors tell you what you don’t want to hear, check-in. Tell them you’re ready to listen. And if they say it’s OK, lace up your shoes and take a brisk walk. Walk alongside babies in strollers, and dogs on leashes. Wave at children on swings and families on cookouts.

There are extraordinary ordinary people in this world who are ready and willing to assist you in your job search if you will let them know that they are important to you. Not because of what they do, but because of who they are.

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Yes! You may use this article in your blog, newsletter or website as long as you include the following bio box:

Joyce Richman (www.richmanresources.com) has been specializing in executive and career coaching since 1982. She works in a variety of environments including: higher education, manufacturing, sales, marketing, media, technology, pharmaceuticals, medicine, banking and finance, service, IT, and non-profit sectors. A member of the adjunct faculty at the Center for Creative Leadership, Joyce is certified to administer a number of feedback and psychological instruments. Joyce is a weekly guest on WFMY-TV and the career columnist for The Greensboro News & Record. She is the author of Roads, Routes and Ruts: A Guidebook to Career Success and co-author of Getting Your Kid Out of the House and Into a Job. A popular speaker, Richman conducts seminars and workshops throughout the United States, Canada and Europe. Her coaching profile can be found at www.thecoachingassociation.com.

“I can’t find a job! Is it me or the economy?”

A recent caller wanted to know if she could blame the economy for her inability to find work. I told her that if it made her feel better to do so, please, be my guest. She said that it didn’t. She wanted to somehow get past the fact that there were so few jobs and so many people looking for them.

“I’m not a spendthrift,” she said. “I have bills to pay and no way to pay them unless I dip into savings. What can I do to get a decent job?”

We talked about her search and the obstacles she’s encountered. Much of what we discussed had universal application so I asked if I might share the conversation with you. She agreed.

Obstacle: How can high school graduates compete effectively when compared to college graduates?

Key word: Self-confidence. In this market, most companies are under the gun to keep expenses down and production up. They want to hire employees who can hit the ground running, who are as efficient as they are effective. They look for people who can combine strong work ethic with high-octane performance.  In other words, if you can sell yourself as energetic, focused, and flexible, with a track record to match, you are competitive.

Obstacle: How can you overcome a bad case of interview-jitters, particularly when you’ve always been scared of authority figures?

Key word: Focus.  Authority figures scare most of us. The trick is to remember that you’re a responsible adult, not a dependent child. The person sitting across the desk or standing across the room hasn’t the moral or legal authority to judge your beliefs or your behaviors unless you give them that right. They may approve or disapprove of your actions, but you get to choose what to do about it.

Focus on what you’re there to accomplish. Tell your story and don’t get hijacked by your emotions. Ask good questions. The best questions enable the interviewer to describe the challenges the company and department must confront and what they need and expect from their best employees. Then, respond according to your strengths and abilities.

Obstacle: When responding to ads, whether in print or the internet, I know I’m going up against hundreds of people who are as anxious for that job as am I. How can I move to the head of the line?

Keyword: Network. People who position themselves ahead of the crowd rely on and dedicate at least 80% of their search time to networking. Networking contacts can introduce you to decision makers who get you in the side door without your having to wait in line. Here are three examples of how it works: 1. Talk to people who work where you would like to work or know people who work there. If you don’t know who they are, (I realize they don’t walk around advertising the fact) ask people you know to help you find them. Next: tell the person why you’re interested in that particular company (have a few good reasons) and ask who you might speak to, to learn more about opportunities there. Note: you didn’t ask for an interview. You want a “conversation” to determine that there’s a match between what they need and what you do. 2. Talk to people who are supervisors or managers in their respective places of business. Describe what you do best and ask them for recommendations as to where you might look and with whom you might speak. 3. Talk to people you know personally and with whom you have a great deal in common. Describe what you do best, which, to no great surprise, is what they do best. Ask them to brainstorm with you regarding job possibilities and, hint, hint, who would be good personal leads for you to contact.

Obstacle: What can you do when you’re your own worst enemy?

Key word: Affirmations. Negative self-talk does you more damage than what anyone possibly could think or say about you. Believe in yourself, and say so. Believe that each encounter you have, each meeting, each interview, is a positive opportunity for something good to follow, and tell yourself so. 

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Yes! You may use this article in your blog, newsletter or website as long as you include the following bio box:

Joyce Richman (www.richmanresources.com) has been specializing in executive and career coaching since 1982. She works in a variety of environments including: higher education, manufacturing, sales, marketing, media, technology, pharmaceuticals, medicine, banking and finance, service, IT, and non-profit sectors. A member of the adjunct faculty at the Center for Creative Leadership, Joyce is certified to administer a number of feedback and psychological instruments. Joyce is a weekly guest on WFMY-TV and the career columnist for The Greensboro News & Record. She is the author of Roads, Routes and Ruts: A Guidebook to Career Success and co-author of Getting Your Kid Out of the House and Into a Job. A popular speaker, Richman conducts seminars and workshops throughout the United States, Canada and Europe. Her coaching profile can be found at www.thecoachingassociation.com.

Getting Back to the Basics

If you’re looking for work and your looking isn’t working, get back to basics.  For example…

Get off your duff. That’s right, get off the couch, the recliner, or where ever else you choose to occupy too many hours of your job search day. What’s that? You’re working hard, looking for a job on the internet, cutting out ads, writing letters, organizing files, and bolstering your self confidence by reading self help books and motivational magazines? You’re doing lots of good stuff but not the kind of stuff that gets you in front of the people who make hiring decisions. Get out there and make your case.

Did I hear you correctly? You don’t want to call those people because they’re busy and you could offend them and they might get angry at you? I’m not suggesting that you call strangers or strange people.  I’m suggesting that you contact people you know and respect, people with whom you share common interests or experience; people who know people who make business decisions (Yes, you do know these people. You sit next to them at church and football games. You know them from your old high school, your neighborhood, PTA, and where you volunteer) and ask for 20 minutes of their time. Why? Because you can benefit from their perspective and if you present yourself well enough, from their contacts.

Just don’t call the meeting an ‘informational interview’. That’s code for “I’m out of work and you aren’t” and a non- starter. You want a meeting with an outcome; you want the people sitting across from you to brainstorm options with you, even make calls on your behalf to other decision-makers. And they’ll be willing to do all this because they respect you and the people who referred you, on this one condition: that you can make your case. You have to describe, in living color, what you do best and how your best has made a difference in the past and will make a difference to the company that hires you.

If you can’t or won’t, the daisy chain of referral is broken and the game’s over.

Whoa. I see hesitation in your eyes. Yes, I know you were laid off. You and plenty of dedicated, hard working people, smart people were laid off and that doesn’t make you less effective, less successful, or less accomplished than your competition. It does make you savvy to vagaries of world economies and realistic about the need to get out there and make something happen. 

So yes, it’s up to you.  Finding a good job that’s a good fit is hard work. You’ll have to network again and again and if you run out of friends and friends of friends and instead of getting referrals you’re getting blank stares, or worse, cold shoulders, you’re making some mistakes.

The likely culprits are how you look, what you say, and how you say it. Bottom line, if you sound down (even if you think you don’t), act down, and look like last week’s laundry, the person you’re talking to doesn’t want to go down with you.

Do a daily sound check. Here’s how: Call your answering machine, leave the same message you’d leave a prospective employer, then listen to it. If you sound gloomy, punch it up. If you sound hyped up, level out. If you sound tinny and tense, do some deep breathing. If you sound toneless and boring, add some expression. Exercise. Watch your weight. Employers hire applicants who look good and sound better because they want to work alongside people who are energetic and have a positive attitude. When you make your case, make sure, absolutely sure, that you look and sound like you mean it.

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Yes! You may use this article in your blog, newsletter or website as long as you include the following bio box:

Joyce Richman (www.richmanresources.com) has been specializing in executive and career coaching since she started he own practice in 1982. She works in a variety of environments including: higher education, manufacturing, sales, marketing, media, technology, pharmaceuticals, medicine, banking and finance, service, IT, and non-profit sectors. A member of the adjunct faculty at the Center for Creative Leadership, Joyce is certified to administer a number of feedback and psychological instruments. Joyce is a weekly guest on WFMY-TV and the career columnist for The Greensboro News & Record. She is the author of Roads, Routes and Ruts: A Guidebook to Career Success and co-author of Getting Your Kid Out of the House and Into a Job. A popular speaker, Richman conducts seminars and workshops throughout the United States, Canada and Europe. Her coaching profile can be found at TheCoachingAssociation.com.

Some Questions Answered

Here are two “role-play” responses to questions you’re asking…

Q: “In one of your recent columns you said that we shouldn’t initiate networking calls to prospective employers on company time. When are we supposed to make them? After we get fired? We should be able to make calls on the clock as long as we don’t make a big deal about it. Please comment.”

A: Rather than battle the pros and cons of the subject, I’ll focus on the nub of the question:  When are the best times to make networking calls? When you and the person you want to reach are both at work but off the clock.

Your target audience is working hard, balancing competing demands, trying to get as much done as daylight hours will allow. Like you, many have gotten into a habit of extending those hours, going to the office early, staying late, and working through lunch to keep within sight of what’s most pressing. That’s why you can reach them between seven and eight in the morning, during the noon hour, and between six and seven in the evening.

Keep your objective in mind. The people you’re calling have potential as prospective employers or networking leads. Your goal is to create sufficient interest so that they’ll agree to meet with you.

They answer their own phones because they’re there and their telephone screeners aren’t. Acknowledge that you are an interruption. If you’re lucky, you’ll have 20 seconds to turn your interruption into an opportunity.

“Mr. Jones, this is Sam Seeker. I’m calling at the suggestion of our mutual friend, Bill Smith of the XYZ Company. Bill said you’re a great problem solver, relationship manager, and a wise counselor. Would you be willing to meet with me, briefly, to brainstorm about my job search and critique some possibilities I’m currently considering? I’ll be very respectful of your time. (Pause for response. If positive, continue.) Great, when are you available?”

Next question…

Q: “I’m sick and tired of my employers always asking me to work all hours of the day (and night) to get their work done. I obviously need another job and a boss who won’t take advantage of my dedication and work ethic. What job should I be looking for?”

A: Rewind. This sounds more like a communication problem than a job problem, and a classic example of the proverbial chicken or the egg question. What comes first, the employer who asks too much of an employee or an employee who takes on more than she can handle? There are unspoken expectations, misplaced intentions, and mixed results, on both sides.

Your boss gives you the impression that she’s insensitive to or unaware of your need for work/life balance, limits or boundaries. In turn, you may be giving her the impression that implies your willingness to do “whatever it takes”. You end up feeling used and unappreciated. Nothing will change until each of you communicate your meaning to the other and recognize the impact of what’s left unsaid.  Since you posed this question and not your boss, I suggest that you begin the dialogue. It might go something like this…

“Helen, I enjoy my job, and hope I’ve been successful in demonstrating my dedication and work ethic by the quantity of work I complete and the accuracy of the work that I produce. (Pause for a reaction. If her response surprises you, clarify its meaning before resuming the conversation).

I’ve come to realize that I’ve not done a good job of communicating my need to establish a balance between what I’m asked to do and what I am capable of managing, in the time frame you’ve allowed. I’d like to have that conversation with you, at your earliest convenience.”

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Yes! You may use this article in your blog, newsletter or website as long as you include the following bio box:

Joyce Richman (www.richmanresources.com) has been specializing in executive and career coaching since she started he own practice in 1982. She works in a variety of environments including: higher education, manufacturing, sales, marketing, media, technology, pharmaceuticals, medicine, banking and finance, service, IT, and non-profit sectors. A member of the adjunct faculty at the Center for Creative Leadership, Joyce is certified to administer a number of feedback and psychological instruments. Joyce is a weekly guest on WFMY-TV and the career columnist for The Greensboro News & Record. She is the author of Roads, Routes and Ruts: A Guidebook to Career Success and co-author of Getting Your Kid Out of the House and Into a Job. A popular speaker, Richman conducts seminars and workshops throughout the United States, Canada and Europe. Her coaching profile can be found at TheCoachingAssociation.com.

Passport 2 Success

WFMY News 2 Television station is hosting a career event June 24, 2009 in Greensboro, NC.  The event is called Passport 2 Success and features a pathway for participants to travel and connect with 11 different coaches with varying expertise and backgrounds.

Two TCA Coaches, Joyce Richman and Barbara Demarest, will be featured.  Joyce currently appears on WFMY offering career and executive coaching advice.  She is serving as one of the sponsors and hosts of the event.  Barbara Demarest will offer “curbside” consulting to up to 250 participants during the 8-hour event.  Barbara’s will offer coaching to participants interested in using online tools in managing their career transitions.

More information about the event can be found on the WFMY News 2 website.

http://www.digtriad.com/news/local_state/article.aspx?storyid=125845