When a Mistake Turns Into A Blessing
April 4, 2011
You know there are many situations that cause us to become anxious, freeze or avoid. As I thought about writing this post, I found myself both anxious and filled with anticipation and excitement. My original intent was to simply re-cap the key points for The Right Fit seminar and provide you with a way to get a copy of the PowerPoint presentation. But something wonderful happened.
Last week I was scheduled to present The Right Fit at ProNet Charlotte but I got the dates mixed up. Fortunately, when Tammy called I was able to quickly rearrange my calendar and drive to the ProNet offices. I arrived late, without the presentation, embarrassed, and very apologetic. I walked in wondering “how I was going to deliver the seminar without the PowerPoint presentation or my notes.”
As it turned out, I remembered most of the presentation and covered the main concepts.
· 3 Big Mistakes Made During an Interview
· Manager’s 4 Points of View
· Ensuring you get your message across and how to understand if there’s a cultural fit.
As usual we covered a variety of changes in the job search market like
· It’s a plug and play economy – generalists are out and specialists are in.
· Hiring managers and recruiters are overworked and overwhelmed. As a result,
o Great candidates are being eliminated for all kinds of reason.
o Listen intently and the interviewer(s) will tell you what you need to hear. Stephen Covey says, “Most people do not listen with the intent to understand; they listen with the intent to reply. They are either speaking or preparing to speak.”
· Be prepared to answer all questions. Practice your responses.
o Why did you leave or were laid off?
o What are you looking for now?
o What are your salary expectations
o What are your weaknesses?
Towards the end of the presentation we talked about how to really connect with our passion and gifts. The experience of losing a job can be so gut wrenching. Sometimes we over identify with the job and forget that we are so much more than it. We were told we would be rewarded for our hard work and dedication. We were told only poor performers loss their jobs. But we weren’t poor performers. We were told it was just the economy… just business.
But losing your job feels personal. So personal that for some it’s really hard to separate our self worth and identify from the job we held. We talked about how to regain our identity and so much more.
But upon reflection, there were other reasons why this was a very special seminar. Yes, I knew the material but I think there was one other reason it got high marks. The audience – they were engaged and open to trying to make sense of a senseless experience.
All I know is by the time we finished co-creating this seminar all of us, including me, had received a blessing. Our willingness to go with the flow turned an ordinary seminar into an unexpected, soul stirring, experience.
For those who didn’t attend I’ll be around next month and if you’re willing; know that I’ll do whatever I can to recreate the magic. Sometimes a mistake is really a blessing in disguised. Last Wednesday I was blessed.
N Joy
Denise
