Find Your Dream Job: Insider Tips for Finding Work, Advancing your Career, and Loving Your Job

A dream job is one that perfectly fits your abilities, passions, preferred working habits, and lifestyle needs. As such, the first step in finding the perfect job is understanding yourself and knowing exactly what you're looking for in your career. On this 5-minute bonus episode of Find Your Dream Job, Linda Williams Favero, career coach and program director at the University of Oregon Alumni Career Services Office, shares the questions you should ask yourself before you start looking for a job. She reads "It's All About You, Knowing Yourself is the First Step in the Job Search Process", her contribution to our book, Land Your Dream Job in Portland (and Beyond). If you’re looking for more advice on how to stand out as a stellar job candidate, check out Land Your Dream Job in Portland (and Beyond). The updated Mac's List guide gives you all the tools you need to identify, find, and land rewarding work.  Thank you for listening to Find Your Dream Job. If you like this show, please help us by rating and reviewing our podcast on iTunes. We appreciate your support! --- Full Transcript Mac Prichard:    This is Find You Dream Job. The pod cast that helps you get hired, have the career you want and make a difference in life. I'm Mac Prichard, your host and publisher of Mac's List. On today's bonus episode, we're sharing exclusive content from our new book, Land Your Dream Job in Portland and Beyond. Land Your Dream Job in Portland and Beyond compiles job search tips and career management tools into one simple easy to read guide. It's the definitive tool kit for anyone looking for meaningful work. The book also includes special contributions from an array of job search experts and today you'll hear from one of them. Here's Linda Williams Favero, program director at the University of Oregon Alumni Career Services Office reading her contribution, It's All About You, Knowing Yourself is the First Step in the Job Search Process. Linda Williams Favero:  I encourage you to answer the following questions to begin your own self assessment process. First, what do you do best? What are your skills, knowledge and competencies acquired through education and experience of all kids, whether it's employment, volunteer work, life experience and so on? They represent your principle assets in the job market. So, an important part of communicating your value is correctly identifying and labeling these skills. Also, your personal characteristics or adaptive skills are inborn or developed early in life. They can include abilities, talents or predisposition to certain career directions. Third, your accomplishments or the things you've done that you are most proud of. Next, what do you like to do? Your interest should help shape your professional objective which should be something you are interested in as well as something you are good at. In addition, your values or your core beliefs about what is the most important in life that usually evolves slowly and may change across your life. Next, consider what are your priorities in life. These are your personal preferences or things that might relate to location, schedules and income. Your professional objective should be consistent with your career vision and lifestyle needs. Also, your motivation. Consists of the drivers or needs that propel you along in your chosen career direction such as a sense of accomplishment, the satisfaction of being part of a team or the desire to travel. Next, where do you fit? Although you may appreciate a good wage, you should also consider many other factors especially when you're working in Portland. First, culture. Do you want a clear line of command or something less hierarchical? Wellness. Does the company offer yoga, encourage noon time runs, discount at gym memberships? Global opportunities. Do you like to travel to the far reaches of the planet or hang close to home? Workspace. Have you dreamed of the corner office or prefer an open environment with beanbag chairs? Flexibility. Do you need an office to stay focused or enjoy the opportunity to work from home? Professional development. Do you want an MBA or the chance to travel to conferences in sunny spots? It does get awfully grey here sometimes. Explore your strengths and weaknesses in other ways. Sometimes more tangential approach can yield productive insights and results. What's most important is to really that you are important in this decision making. It's important for you to consider what you do really well, what you enjoy doing, what are your priorities and what is the most important fit when you think about next job, your next career, your next move. Mac Prichard:  If you're looking for expert advice and insider tips like what you just heard, check out Land Your Dream Job in Portland and Beyond. You'll find everything you need to get a great job whether your in Portland, Oregon, Portland, Maine, or anywhere in between. The 2016 edition includes new content and for the first time ever, it's available in paperback, as well as in an array of e-reading devices including Kindle, Nook and iBooks. For more information on Land Your Dream Job in Portland and Beyond, visit Macslist.org/book. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Most Americans begin work full-time after high school or college and hope to retire at age 65 or older. That doesn’t mean, however, that we remain in the workplace continuously for 40-plus years. Along the way, many of us will stop working outside the home to care for children, parents, or other family members. You may also choose to take time off for yourself, to explore the world, or get clear on what you want from life. Whatever your reason for putting your career on hold, one day you will likely be ready to go back to work. Jumping back into the professional world after a prolonged absence can be difficult; and the challenge grows proportionally to the time you've been away from the workforce. This week on Find Your Dream Job, we’re talking about how to return to work at any age. Our guest is Kristin Schuchman, a career coach who works with professionals in transition, whether they’re changing careers, starting businesses, or re-launching into the workforce. As a mother who returned to school after age 40, she is especially attuned to the needs of midlife professionals in transition. In this 33-minute episode you will learn: How your professional priorities may shift and change when you take time off work How to talk about and frame time off with prospective employers Why volunteering is a crucial part to stepping back into the workforce How to manage expectations when going back to work Tips for getting clear about what you want to do when you return to work This week’s guest: Kristin Schuchman (@aportlandcareer | LinkedIn)Career Counselor and Solopreneur Marketing CoachVicki Lind & AssociatesPortland, Ore. Listener question of the week:  I paused my career for several years to raise my children. How should I explain that gap on my resume? What’s the best ways to frame this experience with a potential employer? Answering our question this week is Aubrie De Clerck, principal at Portland-based Coaching for Clarity. If you have a question you’d like us to answer on a future episode, please contact us at communitymanager@macslist.org. Resources referenced on this week’s show: Reboot Your Life: Energize Your Career and Life by Taking a Break Find The On-Ramp | Working Mother Vicki Lind & Associates Strong Interest Inventory Myers Briggs Type Indicator Never Eat Alone, Expanded and Updated: And Other Secrets to Success, One Relationship at a Time Aubrie De Clerck | Coaching for Clarity Find Your Dream Job in Portland (and Beyond) If you have a job-hunting or career development resource resource you’d like to share, please contact Ben Forstag, Mac’s List Managing Director at ben@macslist.org. -- Thank you for listening to Find Your Dream Job. If you like this show, please help us by rating and reviewing our podcast on iTunes. We appreciate your support! Opening and closing music for Find Your Dream Job provided by Freddy Trujillo, www.freddytrujillo.com. -- TRANSCRIPT BELOW: Mac Prichard: This is Find your Dream Job, the podcast that helps you get hired, have the career you want and make a difference in life. I'm Mac Prichard your host and publisher of Mac's List. Our show is brought to you by Mac's List and buy your book, Land your dream job in Portland and Beyond. To learn more about the book and the updated version that we published on February 1st, visit macslist.org\book. Ben Forstag:: Hey Mac, so, I've been involved in this iteration of the book and I know that you had a first edition that was out before I started working at Mac's List. I've always kind of wondered, what inspired you guys to write this book? Mac Prichard: It was our readers of our blog that really drove this Ben. We wanted to share our best advice from the blog, especially the insider tips from more than dozen local experts. We had readers tell us they didn't have time to weigh through three of years of blog post. We as you know, because you added the blog now, there are three to five posts every week. We wanted to make all of our best work available in one easy to read book, and that's what readers will find, eight chapters, a hundred and twenty pages. They'll find in the book insider information you won't find anywhere else. Most Americans begin work full time after high school or college and hope to retire at age sixty-five or even older. That doesn't mean however that we remain the workplace continuously for forty plus years. Along the way, many of us will stop working outside the home to care for children, parents or other family members. Sheryl Sandberg author of Lean In estimates that forty-three percent of highly qualified women with children are leaving careers for a period of time. The Huffington Post says that there are more than ten million Americans older than age fifty who are caring for aging parents. Whatever your reason for putting your career on hold, one day you will likely be ready to go back to work. This week on Find your Dream Job, we're talking about how to return to work at any age. Ben Forstag has a book that shows you how to plan a break from your job and return to employment when you're ready. Aubrie De Clerck answers a listener's question about how to explain a gap on your resume when you stay at home to raise your kids, and I talk to this week's guest expert, a career counselor who helps people return to the workforce after a long absence. We're back in the Mac's List studio, joining me are Ben Forstag, our managing director and our guest co-host this week, Aubrie De Clerck of Coaching for Clarity. All of us are employed full time right now, but I'm wondering have either one of you taken time out from your career either to care for children or other family members or for another reason? Ben Forstag: I've never taken a prolonged period of time off. I did take a month off when my son was born a few months ago. My wife though, she graduated from law school, worked for one year and has not worked for the last three years as she's been taking care of our children. Managing that dynamic of a professional taking time off, being home and trying to balance family responsibilities with a desire to do something with her career, that's something that we face everyday. Mac Prichard: That's a lot to juggle. How about you Aubrie? Aubrie De Clerck: I haven't taken any specific time off. I have had a period of my time in my work life where I used the flexibility from an employer to its maximum amounts. My mum has MS and there is a time where with her illness she needed a lot of support and care, and I was really fortunate to have a company and a manager that supported me in going and coming whenever I needed to, trusting me to get my work done, which I did. I have felt the pull between family needs and also work needs. Mac Prichard: Yeah, I'm glad you had that support and you were able to have that time with your mum. Let's turn to Ben who is always out there doing research every week between shows, he's looking around the Internet for blogs, podcasts and other tools you can use in your job search. Ben, what have you got for us this week? Ben Forstag: This week, I want share a book that I read actually about a half a year ago and it's called Reboot your Life, Energize your Career and Life by Taking a Break. It's by Catherine Allen, Nancy Bearg, Rita Foley and Jaye Smith. This book is all about the value of taking time off from work, which I admit is an odd topic for a podcast that's all about getting a job. I thought there were some really valuable insights in this book that I wanted to share with our listeners. I think most folks recognize that many professionals if not all professionals today are genuinely overworked. The scope of this problem is probably bigger than we often recognize. Not just corporate big wigs are being overworked, it's everyone really.If you think about how we take our work home with us now in ways we didn't five, ten, fifteen years ago, it's really clear. The authors write, "Today, we rarely have time for rest, we have lost even our short breaks as technology, pagers, PCs, laptops, the Internet, cell phones, Blackberries and smart phones beckon us to be on 24/7. Even when we're supposedly off on weekends or in the evenings, we're on and it's taking a toll." The solution according to the authors is to create more time and space away from work, which gives us not just an opportunity to relax, but also a chance to examine and think about the challenges we face in the workplace. This last point is really important as one of the underlying premises here is that of all the hours we're logging in the office each day and all the emails we're responding to, the truth is we're really not that productive in our day to day work lives. This is a classic quantity over quality issue where we're doing more, we're just not doing it as well as we used to do or could be doing. The big push by the authors here is to take full sabbaticals, three to six months out of the office. The book is full of testimonials from people who've taken those kinds of sabbaticals and about the value it's brought to their lives. It reduces stress, it encourages creativity, and upon returning to work, these people report dramatic increases in productivity. The authors provide a fairly comprehensive list of tools to help you prepare for a sabbatical including financial planning and how to manage things like health insurance and retirement savings. Here is the bottom line, not everyone is going to be able to take three to six months off of work. In fact I'd venture to say that most people can't, I include myself in that. That being said, I think there's some important lessons in this book that can apply to most people's work experiences, and that's really what I want to focus on here. The first lesson is the importance of stepping away from work even for short periods of time. As the authors say, this provides perspective, it reduces tension and it generally improves the contentment you have with your job. When we operationalize this idea, it doesn't need to be big prolonged times away from the office, but things like turning off your email when you leave for work at the end of the day, or taking weekends off or stepping away from a project if you have eaten your time line to do so, so you can get some clarity about that project, think about in a way that's not time line driven or deadline driven. I know I have a problem with this as well. Mac, you're a great boss and you don't demand that I'm checking email over the weekends, but I have a hard time not checking email and part of that is just I don't want to be ambushed by a negative email on Monday morning kind of mentality. I know that the more I can step away on the weekends, the more fresh I am and the more productive I am on Monday morning coming in and addressing things at a more creative way. The other nugget of information I want to take out of this is that they talk a lot about the gift of time. That we need to give ourselves time to decompress from work, to think differently about work. I actually read this book when I was unemployed and the value I got from it was not taking a sabbatical, I was already kind of on a sabbatical but, treating that unemployment time as the gift of time, that because I didn't have a job, I could use this opportunity to think differently about what I wanted to do with my career, or think differently about projects or courses or issues or workplace dynamics that were important to me, or new ways to approach the kind of work that I knew I wanted to do. Taking advantage of that unemployment and that gift of time to reset my professional clock and my way of thinking. It's a really interesting book and again, I encourage everyone to read it whether you're working or looking to take time off or maybe you already have time off, there's a lot of good insights there. Again, the book is called Reboot your Life, Energize your Career and Life by taking a Break, and I'll include a link in the shout outs. Mac Prichard: Great. Thank you Ben and kudos to you for during your time of unemployment seeing that period as a gift of time. I certainly struggle myself, I got two long periods of unemployment in my career with just the anxiety that comes with not knowing where your next job is going to be. Intellectually, I think personally I was aware that well, I should take advantage of this time off but, I, myself found it hard to do because I thinking about how do I get that next job. Ben Forstag: Don't sing my praises too highly Mac, I panic just about everyday. It's this unfortunate reality that you either have time or you have money but rarely do you have both of them together. After a month of actively searching and driving myself nuts during unemployment, I came to this realization that I can use this time not just to find a new job but, to do other things with my life and kind of reframe how I think about things. Mac Prichard: Okay. Thanks. Well, do you have a suggestion for Ben? A book or a website or a podcast that has been helpful to you with your career or your job search? Write him at ben@macslist.org and you may hear your suggestion on the show. Let's turn to you our listeners, our guest host this week is Aubrie DeClerck of Coaching for Clarity. She joins here in the studio to answer one of your questions. Aubrie, how are you? Aubrie De Clerck: I'm very good. How are you Mac? Mac Prichard: Good. What did you hear from our listeners this week? Aubrie De Clerck: Well, this is what we have this week. I paused my career for several years to raise my children. How should I explain that gap on my resume? What are the best ways to frame this experience with a potential employer? This can be a really painful question for a lot of people, that the gap is something where they have a lack of confidence, they put a lot of time and attention on this gap. One of the things I wanted to mention is there's a great article on Working Mother called Find the On-Ramp. On-Ramping is a phrase that's used a lot in these scenarios. It talks about speaking about that time regardless of whether you talk about that in terms of volunteer work, in terms of the work that you did at home, but doing that with confidence and not going into a lot of detail. I love that suggestion because we want to focus on what's going to open the doors for someone rather than go down this detailed trail around what that time at home was about. I think also looking at what was going on during that time and thinking about relevancy around the skills set and the contribution of the things that did happen, so that's the time at home or the time during volunteer work or connection around the community or doing part time which a lot of people dismiss, but has a lot of validity during this time. Making sure that the conversation and the threads that pull those things together relate directly to what an employer is asking about. That's one way of addressing with an employer let's say in a verbal context a lot of times, during an interview. When we take a look at the resume, there's a couple of choices that are there. Some people state they put something in specifically about their time at home that covers that gap so there isn't that an empty spot. You can fill that in with the things that I was already mentioning like the community involvement, the volunteer work, part time work or connection to the skills. A lot of times if people are home schooling their children, there's a lot to be said about the skills set that takes to do that in application to a future work. Mac Prichard: I think that's terrific advice Aubrie as a job seeker, when I've been unemployed for more than a few weeks, I've used my volunteer experience and plugged that into my resume. Then as an employer, when I'm reviewing resumes, I think that volunteer experience is certainly a valid use of time and I've also seen applicants talk about spending time at home caring for parents or raising kids and just having an explanation of some kind makes all the difference. Everybody has a parent or many of us have children, we're all going to sympathize and understand why people take that time away to do it. Aubrie De Clerck: Yeah, I think that's one of the things I'm looking forward to hearing Kristin talk about is what's an employer reaction to this kind of thing. I think we have a tendency and we are thinking about things that we perceive it's going to be difficult or challenging to tell a story about what employers response is going to be, "Oh, it's going to go like this. They're going to toss my resume out at the very beginning." I'm not saying that those things don't happen, I'm just saying that there's many different stories around the way that employers feel about their kind of experience and the values that they have and the connection like you're talking about Mac, to their own lives. And the willingness to have conversations about what that means for someone and see those connections between what that person's life experience has brought them and what that life experience can bring as a value to where they're working. Mac Prichard: Okay, good point. We'll certainly explore that in the interview Kristin. If you have a question for us, we'd love to hear from you. Please email communitymanager@macslict.org. These segments with Aubrie and Ben are sponsored by the 2016 edition of our book, Land your Dream Job in Portland and Beyond. We've made that book even better, we've added new content and now we're offering it in multiple formats, including the paper back and Kindle editions. For the first time, you can download it on your Nook, iPad, Kindle or buy it via us or Amazon as a paperback. Whatever the format, our goal is the same, to give you tools and tips you need to get the meaningful work you want that can make a difference. For more information, visit our website www.macslist.org\book and sign up for our special book newsletter, and get updates not available else where, exclusive book content and special prices. Let's turn to this week's guest expert, Kristin Schuchman. Kristin Schuchman works with professionals in transition, whether they're changing careers, starting businesses or relaunching into the work force after an absence raising kids or returning to school. Before focusing on career counseling, Kristin run a branding business and a women's magazine Nervy Girl. As a mother who returned to school after age forty, she's especially attuned to the needs of mid-life professionals in transition. Kristin, thanks for joining us. Kristin Schuchman: You're welcome. Thanks for having me. Mac Prichard: Yeah, I appreciate you making the trip downtown and coming to the Mac's List studio. We're talking today about returning to work at any age. Kristin Schuchman: Right. Mac Prichard: I think for many of our listeners, that means time spent at home often raising a family or caring for a parent or other family member. What do you find in your work? What do people need to do first when they're ready to come back to the workplace after a long absence? Kristin Schuchman: Besides the obvious things around getting your resume in shape and what not, I think what's important to remember is to maybe be willing to be a little bit humble about what your expectations might be about going back into the workplace. Maybe take something not entry level but maybe a step behind of where you were before. It's not always necessary, but it's just willing to sort of be open to that. Mac Prichard: Tell us more about that because I think I've certainly been in periods in my career where my pride got the better of me and I thought, "Oh, no, I'd moved beyond that." Obviously, the show is not about me but I know that some people might think, "No, I'm senior enough," that I shouldn't have to take a step back. Why can that help people in the long run Kristin? Kristin Schuchman: Because I think it's important to remember that even if you have to take a step back that a lot of companies are willing to move you up pretty quickly, once they see that you have a drive. I've heard that New Season does actually really good about that, that if they know that you have a lot of potential and that you're really committed to their values and being a part of their family so to speak, that they will move you up within weeks, not just months or years. So, just to be open to that. I hate to say this but I find that it's harder for men to believe that than women sometimes. Mac Prichard: I can see that, yeah. Kristin Schuchman: Yeah, that they might have to ... I've heard that about that when the economy took a hit that it was easier for women to accommodate to that because of that, because women were willing to take less senior positions and yeah. Mac Prichard: Yeah, okay, so people have gotten their resume in order, updated their LinkedIn profile and they're looking for opportunities, they're ready to go back and they're mentally prepared to take a position a step or two below where they were when they last stepped out of the work force. Kristin Schuchman: Right. Mac Prichard: What else should they think about? Kristin Schuchman: They should think about strategically volunteering and by strategically volunteering I mean volunteering in a way that is going to put them on the path to their career. A lot of times people when they come back to the work force after taking a break from like you said either parenting or care giving or what have you, an illness sometimes, they want to change because their priorities change, right. Those are the best examples of times when it's maybe a good opportunity to find an organization, and it doesn't have to be a non-profit, it can be, those are awesome places to volunteer and to get strategic volunteering experience. I like people to also think about community projects that they might not think of like if you hear that a farmers' market is getting started in your neighborhood, jump on board with that and you'll meet people from all walks of life and you'll pick up skills from not just the people that maybe are supervising the project but, but all around you. A lot of people join those projects who have given skills but they want to give back, so to be open to that. Mac Prichard: I'm a big fan in volunteering that I can imagine some of our listeners, friends and family might say, "Well, you know what you really need to do is start applying for jobs, and sit down and start looking at job boards or for the very old-fashioned, look in the newspaper." Kristin Schuchman: Sure. Mac Prichard: Why shouldn't that be the logical first step? Why can volunteering help you more perhaps when you're coming back into the workforce? Kristin Schuchman: If you're ready to jump back in, I think that's great. I think sometimes when you're in a period of transition where you're not sure if what you're next step is, stepping back and volunteering for a while can be great because it can give you the opportunity to not only explore the realms that you might not have explored before and see what that's like, and why not take advantage of that. Also, it can give you a chance to grow skills that may not be open to you in the workplace or like maybe grant writing might be a good example of that. You can't just go out and necessarily and go ahead and say, "I'm going to be a grant writer." Even if you've taken a couple of classes. In most cases, you're going to have to write a grant for someone to prove that you can win some grants or at least have some writing samples to prepare to other employers. That's what I would say to that. Mac Prichard: Okay, that makes perfect sense. What about people who say, "Well, gosh, I want to return to that professional I was pursuing, and I've got ten, fifteen, twenty years experience before I stepped out of the work force." Why does volunteering make sense for me now? Kristin Schuchman: It's not as competitive as it has been for the last several years but it's still competitive and you just going to want to show up those resources and get those recommendations, references that you're going to need when you go back into the work force. It doesn't mean you can't take a two pronged approach, apply for jobs by all means but also think about places where you might volunteer to get that experience that are going to put you on the right path. Mac Prichard: Not only the experience but the relationships ... Kristin Schuchman: The relationships, the networking exactly, growing your network and yeah. Mac Prichard: And the recommendations. Kristin Schuchman: Right. Mac Prichard: You talked about expectations, Kristin about perhaps thinking about applying for a position a little more junior than the one you might have last had. Kristin Schuchman: Right. Mac Prichard: What other expectations should people have when they're getting ready to go back to the workplace after a long absence? Kristin Schuchman: Things change and things seem to be changing more now than even with technology and things like social media that some people have different feelings about, let's put it that way. At the same time, there's sort of these things that are changing and there's [agism 00:21:14] and what not. Remember that you do have a lot to offer, you have years of experience that you can bring to the table and not to forget that and that can be, it can be really easy to feel kind of minimized in a youthful centric culture that we have. Remember that you do have experience and a lot to offer. I encourage people to remember that. Mac Prichard: Good. We were talking earlier in the show, we had a question from a listener about how to describe a period like this when you're out of the work force for some years, how to best describe it on you resume. The three of us were saying that we think that employers generally understand, they're just looking for an explanation. Kristin Schuchman: Right. Mac Prichard: What's your best advice about how to not only talk about in your resume but in interviews about an absence from the workplace. Kristin Schuchman: Kind of what you just said, it's realizing that people do understand but, then also being ready to talk about it, being ready to maybe role play before your interview and talk about your absence and why it happened, and not to get plastered. We can often feel if we're taking care of kids for years at a time or parents or we're like ill and spending time doing things in coffee shops so we feel like our brain is rotting or what not. If you're able to speak about it succinctly and actually talk about the skills that that experience taught you, that being a mother taught me to multitask and taught me to prioritize, taught to make decisions quickly. Those things have value. Not every employer is going to get that and that's okay. The right employer for you, the one's that going to understand your lifestyle because it's probably pretty likely that you still have kids in the household if you're going back to work, or that your illness to recur, it's an illness that took you out of the work force. You're going to need a workplace that's going to understand that and be accommodating for you, so you're going to want to work for somebody who's not too hard nosed about it, if that makes sense. Mac Prichard: That makes perfect sense. I know you work with a lot of people who are making this transition back into the workplace. What are some of the most common concerns you hear? Kristin Schuchman: Just the idea that their priorities have changed, whether it's because they got divorced or because they experienced having kids and that changes you or this illness, an illness can be a life changing thing, taking care of a parent, all those things can make you reassess your earlier priorities. Often, I just hear people, "I just can't go back to that. I can't go back to managing data," or whatever it is and they want something that's going to be sort of more life affirming. Mac Prichard: As people go through that process Kristin of discovery, how do you see them get clear about what they want to do next and what steps do they take? Kristin Schuchman: We do a lot of self-exploration so we do things around looking at our values, a values assessment sort of sorts that we do with cards actually, and we look at skills in the same way, like what do you want to do for fifty percent of your day, what do you want to do for twenty-five percent of your day? What do you want to be a minor role in your day? That has a way of sort of just helping people to clarify. Things like the Myers Briggs is another tool we use to help people get some self-understanding. You might have heard of the strong inventory, we do that as well. Sometimes I have some other exercises I have people do. This one's a little bit more person specific, if they tell me they're a writer or they like to write, I like them to write their own obituary. It sounds a little morbid but it's a great exercise for determining what do I want to be written on my tomb stone, what do I want to have achieved in my life. Mac Prichard: I think that's a great exercise and it's actually the one I'm doing myself. Kristin Schuchman: Have you? Mac Prichard: Yeah, so it is very illuminating when you think about what you want to be remembered for. Kristin Schuchman: Right, and vision boarding is another thing that I've added recently that is really fun for people to do, yeah. Mac Prichard: Yeah, so what I'm hearing you say is that it's common for people to think about a different goals when they come back to the work force because ... Kristin Schuchman: That's right. Mac Prichard: ... Of an experience they've had with family or an illness or a parent. Kristin Schuchman: Right. Mac Prichard: They need to be prepared to address that and get clear about what those goals are. Kristin Schuchman: Right. Part of that self-exploration is also determining what do you want your workplace to look like, do you want it to be a small startup? Do you want to go back into like a fast paced busy environment? Some people like that. Determining what you want that to look like. Mac Prichard: What are some other points you like to make when people are returning to the work force after a long absence? Things they should think about. Kristin Schuchman: They should be patient that it might take some time and to really not under emphasize the aspect of networking and a lot of introverts really get kind of freaked about that. What I say is I go back to that the never eat alone guy. Mac Prichard: Oh, Keith Ferrazzi. Kristin Schuchman: Yeah, I know it's an Italian name. Mac Prichard: Yeah, I think it's Keith Ferrazzi. I've actually got that book on my book shelf. Kristin Schuchman: Yeah. Mac Prichard: Never eat lunch alone again. Kristin Schuchman: Yeah, and just the idea that you ... Don't necessarily go to sort of dry, boring networking events that leave you feeling like standing in the corner. Go do things that like to do, go kayaking and network with your book group and also let people know even your friends that you're looking and you're exploring and people want good things for you so they want you to be linked up with opportunities. Mac Prichard: Good. What are some mistakes you've seen people make that our listeners should avoid? Kristin Schuchman: I think maybe the high expectations too soon. Being wanting that great job that they had before they left, again that $130,000 job, they want to get back into that right away and they might have to be patient and wait. Or wanting the great pay but they don't want a long commute, they don't want to work long hours. If you're working for a six figure job, you're probably going to be working long hours. Mac Prichard: Yeah. We need to start wrapping up Kristin, anything else you'd like to share with our listeners? Kristin Schuchman: Just, that I want to maybe add that I am really prepared to help people with more the solopreneur aspect of things too. A lot of people come to me and they end up at the end of it, particularly if they've been out of the workforce for a while, deciding that they want to start a business, so that's something that's ... I like people to just really think of that too, that it is an option and there's a solopreneur boom going on right now and to not dismiss that instinct that you might have to start a business. Mac Prichard: Yeah, self-employment isn't for everybody but I think the point you're making is a really important one which is that there are more opportunities to do that I think than there ever have been in the past. Kristin Schuchman: Right. Mac Prichard: Depending on your goals, especially if they have changed, can make it be a very smart option. Kristin Schuchman: Right. Mac Prichard: Great, well, Kristin, thanks so much for joining us. Tell us, what's coming up next for you? Kristin Schuchman: Well, I'm getting in the spirit of entrepreneurship. I'm getting some groups started in the next month. One is going to be for people starting a business, and it will be about five people kind of a sounding board for people to come and put a bounce ideas of each other and work through their concepts. In some cases, a few people will be welcomed who don't quite know what they want to do. If they do know what they want to do, they would get started on getting a business plan started for them. Another group is more for creative people who have a business who have been doing it for a while but also want that sounding board, wanting that group of people to work with that will give them feedback and keep them motivated. Mac Prichard: I imagine people can find out more about that on your website. Kristin Schuchman: They can. Mac Prichard: Okay, terrific. You can find Kristin Schuchman online at www.aportlandcareer.com. Kristin Schuchman: That's right. Mac Prichard: All right. Kristin Schuchman: Thank you Mac. Mac Prichard: All right, thank you Kristin, thanks for joining us. Kristin Schuchman: Okay. Mac Prichard: We're back in Mac's List studio, Aubrie, Ben, what were some of the most important points you heard Kristin make? Aubrie De Clerck: The point that resonated with me most and I know will resonate with the listeners is this notion of when you take some time off that priority shift and change, and allow yourself sometime to re-evaluate what that might mean for your career. I think a lot of times we're in a rush to move from one thing to the next and transitions have their own natural flow and their own natural unfolding and so I appreciated the space that Kristin talked about, in creating one's own desires around what they want their work to look like and also patience with what happens after that. Mac Prichard: People for all the right reasons want to rush immediately to the application process and they start applying to job boards and positions they hear about online and if they're not clear about their goals and what they want, there could be a lot of ways to differ. Ben, how about you? Ben Forstag: Well, Kristin hit on one of our recurring themes on this podcast which is networking, networking, networking and how important networking is to finding a job. I liked her point about not just the formal go to industry events or mixers kind of networking, but the just putting yourself out there and letting your friends and your colleagues and your Facebook acquaintances and your kayaking club know that you are looking for work, because you don't know the kind of connections those people have and I know many, many people who found work through those kinds of connections. Mac Prichard: Yeah, word of mouth is a powerful to learn about job openings and you do that through networking. It doesn't have to mean going to an event where business cards are exchanged, it can be as simple as just chatting with your neighbors and friends or people you meet while walking your dog. Ben Forstag: Yeah, the key is just putting yourself out there and being open about what you're looking for and why you're looking for it and people are happy to help. Mac Prichard: Well, thank you both and thank you our listeners for joining us. We hope that you'll come back next week. In the mean time, visit us at macslist.org, where you'll find hundreds of jobs. You can read our blog and learn more about our new book, as well as get show notes and transcripts for this and other podcast shows. If you like what you hear on the show, you can help us by leaving a review and a rating at iTunes. This helps us discover our show and helps us serve you and other job seekers betters. One of the reviews recently we received is from Pap RV who writes on our iTunes pages. "The folks at Mac's List are offering information, guidance and support for efficiently finding the right work in this economy. The traditional popularized approach is a dysfunctional game of chance says Pap RV. Spraying resumes and cover letters and praying for results works well only for the very few. These folks know what works and share it." Great contributions to the community, thank you. Thank Pap RV and thanks to the scores of other listeners who've left a review. We hope that you will take a moment and leave your own comments and ratings, just go to www.macslist.org\iTunes. Thanks for listening and we'll be back next Wednesday with more tips and tools you can used to find your dream job. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

More than 10 million Americans work for nonprofits today. Even the Great Recession couldn’t stop growth in this sector. According to the federal government, the number of nonprofit jobs increased by 18% between 2000 and 2010. And that trend shows no sign of slowing down in the near future. And while the demand for skilled nonprofit workers is huge, it’s often be difficult for established professionals to transition into this sector. It can be a challenge to frame skills developed in the profit world in a way that resonates with nonprofits. Plus, there’s a huge amount of diversity within the nonprofit space. This week on Find Your Dream Job, Mac talks with Marcia Ballinger, an executive recruiter for nonprofit organizations and co-author of The 20-Minute Networking Meeting. Marcia shares her tips for how professionals in the private sector can make the jump into a nonprofit career. She believes it’s all about fit; you need to find the type of nonprofit--and a role within that nonprofit--that aligns with your skills, passions, and professional narrative. In this 33-minute episode you will learn: Why so many people want a nonprofit career The multiple paths into the nonprofit sector How to find the best “nonprofit fit” for your professional background Why you need to get specific and focussed in your nonprofit job search How to manage salary and benefit expectations when you move into the nonprofit space The role of passion and values in a nonprofit career This week’s guest: Marcia Ballinger, Ph.D. (@marciaballinger | LinkedIn)Co-founder and Principal at Ballinger | Leafblad, Inc.Co-author, The 20-Minute Networking MeetingMinneapolis, Minn. Listener question of the week:  I’m currently hunting for a job in the nonprofit space. I’ve recently saw an opening where the job duties perfectly align with my skills and professional interests; unfortunately I’m not really passionate about the organization’s mission. How should I address the “passion” issue during my interview? Answering our question this week is Aubrie De Clerck, principal at Portland-based Coaching for Clarity. If you have a question you’d like us to answer on a future episode, please contact us at communitymanager@macslist.org. Resources referenced on this week’s show: ASAE: The Center for Association Leadership Ballinger | Leafblad, Inc. The 20-Minute Networking Meeting Aubrie De Clerck - Coaching for Clarity Land Your Dream Job in Portland (and Beyond) - 2016 Edition If you have a job-hunting or career development resource resource you’d like to share, please contact Ben Forstag, Mac’s List Managing Director at ben@macslist.org. Thank you for listening to Find Your Dream Job. If you like this show, please help us by rating and reviewing our podcast on iTunes. We appreciate your support! Opening and closing music for Find Your Dream Job provided by Freddy Trujillo, www.freddytrujillo.com.      Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Among human resources professionals, it is commonly held that at least 85 percent of all resumes “suck.” Most resumes are are poorly written and formatted, and–most importantly–they don’t showcase the candidate’s value to the prospective employer. Where does your resume fall? Is it in the mediocre majority or the awesome, “non-sucky” 15%? On this bonus episode of Find Your Dream Job, Dawn Rasmussen, president of Pathfinder Writing and Career Services, shares her advice on crafting a resume that stands out, grabs employers’ attention and lands you the interview. Dawn reads from “The Secret Sauce of Kick-Butt Resume”, her contribution to our book, Land Your Dream Job in Portland (and Beyond). If you’re looking for more advice on how to stand out as a stellar job candidate, check out Land Your Dream Job in Portland (and Beyond). The updated 2016 edition is an A-to-Z reference guide for how to find and land the perfect job.  Thank you for listening to Find Your Dream Job. If you like this show, please help us by rating and reviewing our podcast on iTunes. We appreciate your support! Opening and closing music for Find Your Dream Job provided by Freddy Trujillo, www.freddytrujillo.com. -- FULL TRANSCRIPT Mac Prichard:    This is Find You Dream Job. The pod cast that helps you get hired, have the career you want and make a difference in life. I’m Mac Prichard, your host and publisher of Mac’s List. On today’s bonus episode, we’re sharing exclusive content from our new book, Land Your Dream Job in Portland and Beyond. Land Your Dream Job in Portland and Beyond compiles job search tips and career management tools into one simple easy to read guide. It’s the definitive tool kit for anyone looking for meaningful work. The book also includes special contributions from an array of job search experts and today you’ll hear from one of them. Here is Dawn Rasmussen, President of Pathfinder Writing and Career Services, reading her contribution, The Secret Sauce to a Kick-Butt Resume. Dawn Rasmussen:  Ask any Portland area human resource manager, recruiter, hiring manager, or headhunter, and believe it or not, he or she will tell you that at least 85% of all resumes suck. I know. I’ve asked them. The good news is that there’s really a simple solution to this common problem. It’s all about shifting your perspective. You may think this document is all about you, but the truth is, it’s really about them. Them being the employer who’s reading your document. With this staggering statistic in mind, in order to get into the top 10% of awesome resumes, your goal and mission is to start thinking about what you’ve done in the past and start positioning your accomplishments as value. That means not simply including your job duties beneath each employer. You’ve got to do better than that. Now is the time to start keeping track of on-the-job accomplishments. What have you done to make it better? What problems have you solved? How have you helped the company reach its goals? Have you helped make money, save money, or save time? Fear not, you who have not kept track of such important things. Many times the answers to these questions lie in performance reviews, plans of work, staff reports, kudos letters, and many other recaps. If you don’t have access to these documents, then your best guess is your best guess, but always be honest and also be conservative. The same thing goes for quantifying your results. You should always try to put a number on your accomplishment statements that helps answer the question the employers have been thinking about when reading a candidate’s resume. Based on what this person did for the previous employer, what is he or she going to be doing for me? That’s the secret sauce to a kick-butt resume, when you can win them over with results not fluff. Mac Prichard:  If you’re looking for expert advice and insider tips like what you just heard, check out Land Your Dream Job in Portland and Beyond. You’ll find everything you need to get a great job whether your in Portland, Oregon, Portland, Maine, or anywhere in between. The 2016 edition includes new content and for the first time ever, it’s available in paperback, as well as in an array of e-reading devices including Kindle, Nook and iBooks. For more information on Land Your Dream Job in Portland and Beyond, visit Macslist.org/book. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Every day we bring to our jobs unique talents and ideas that nobody else has.  When we have the opportunity to put that creativity to good use, our work becomes more rewarding and our employers and the customers we serve benefit. It is a myth that a creative career means a lifetime of poverty. Nearly 1.4 million Americans work in creative occupations. And while only a small number of those become famous household names, a vast majority maintain successful and rewarding creative careers. This week on Find Your Dream Job, we’re talking all about creative careers. We’re joined by Cory Huff, an actor, writer, and expert on the business of being a creative professional. Cory’s website, TheAbundantArtist.com, provides resources for creative professionals looking to better  market and sell their products and services. Cory shares tips on how to start and maintain a strong, independent, and financially sustainable creative career. In this 32-minute episode you will learn: Why a creative career doesn’t mean you’ll be a starving artist Why "business" and "marketing" can't be dirty words for a creative professional How to build a solid artistic career without being famous or “anointed” The irreplaceable value of relationships for creative professionals This week’s guest: Cory Huff (@AGoodHusband | LinkedIn)Actor and Owner, The Abundant ArtistAuthor, How To Sell Your Art OnlinePortland, Ore. Listener question of the week:  I really want to work for a specific company. I'm thinking about taking a lower level job to get my foot in the door, in hopes I’ll be able to move into the job I want. Is this a good idea? Do you have a question you’d like us to answer on a future episode? Please send your questions to communitymanager@macslist.org.  Resources referenced on this week’s show: Pixlr TheAbundantArtist.com Bohemians of the Latin Quarter: Scenes de la Vie de Boheme Matt Richards - Ekko Mobiles Chris Cornell How To Sell Your Art Online The Abundant Artist Conference | July 1-2, 2016 in Portland, Ore. Land Your Dream Job in Portland (and Beyond) - 2016 Edition If you have a job-hunting or career development resource resource you’d like to share, please contact Ben Forstag, Mac’s List Managing Director at ben@macslist.org. Thank you for listening to Find Your Dream Job. If you like this show, please help us by rating and reviewing our podcast on iTunes. We appreciate your support! Opening and closing music for Find Your Dream Job provided by Freddy Trujillo, www.freddytrujillo.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gender unfortunately matters in the workplace. Women, on average, earn less than men in virtually every single occupation. In 2014, female full-time workers in the United States made only 79 cents for every dollar earned by men, a gender wage gap of 21 percent. That pay gap has barely budged in 10 years and, at the current rate, it won’t close for decades to come. Women also struggle to move out of middle management and break through the glass ceiling into the highest level of leadership.  This week on Find Your Dream Job, we discuss how women can win in the workplace. We explore the dynamics behind gender discrimination and discuss tactics woman can use to overcome systemic hurdles. We’re joined author and journalist Farai Chideya, who has written extensively about race and gender in the workplace. Her newest book, The Episodic Career, explores the future of employment, identity, and personal satisfaction. In this 33-minute episode you will learn: The myriad factors that drive down pay for women Why you should “be your own archivist” and document your accomplishments before leaving a job How to strategically “lean in” when negotiating for salary or other benefits Why the most valuable professional leads can come from people you don’t know well Why gender discrimination is about more than just pay This week’s guest: Farai Chideya (@Farai | LinkedIn)JournalistAuthor, The Episode Career: The Future of Work in AmericaNew York, N.Y. Listener question of the week:  How can I position myself as an industry leader or expert in my field? And how important is it to do this? Do you have a question you’d like us to answer on a future episode? Please send your questions to communitymanager@macslist.org.  Resources referenced on this week’s show: AllBusinessSchools.com | Winning at Work? A Look at Women in Business Today Farai Chideya MomsRising.org The Episode Career: The Future of Work in America Innovating Women: The Changing Face of Technology Women Don’t Ask: The High Cost of Avoiding Negotiation--and Positive Strategies for Change Land Your Dream Job in Portland (and Beyond) - 2016 Edition If you have a job-hunting or career development resource resource you’d like to share, please contact Ben Forstag, Mac’s List Managing Director at ben@macslist.org. Thank you for listening to Find Your Dream Job. If you like this show, please help us by rating and reviewing our podcast on iTunes. We appreciate your support! Opening and closing music for Find Your Dream Job provided by Freddy Trujillo, www.freddytrujillo.com. FULL TRANSCRIPT Mac Prichard: This is Find Your Dream Job, the podcast that helps you get hired at the career you want and make a difference in life. I'm Mac Prichard your host and publisher of Mac's List. Our show was brought to you by Mac's List and by our book, Land Your Dream Job in Portland and Beyond. To learn more about the book and the updated edition that we published on February 1st, visit macslist.org/ebook. Gender matters in the workplace. Women on average earn less than men in virtually every single occupation. In 2014, for example, female full-time workers in the US made only $0.79 for every dollar earned by men, a gender wage gap of 21%. That pay gap has barely budged in 10 years and at the current rate it won't close for decades to come. Women also struggle to move out of middle management and break through what's called the glass ceiling. Even though women hold more than half of the professional jobs in the United States they only make up 34% of middle managers, 14% of executive officers, and a mere 4% of CEOs. This week on Find Your Dream Job our topic is how women can win at work. I talk with author Farai Chideya about the factors that push down wages for women and how you can negotiate better with your boss. Ben Forstag has an infographic that gives you the facts about the gender gap and other problems women face in the workplace, and Cecilia Bianco answers a question about how you can position yourself as an industry leader. Ben, Cecilia, it's good to check in with you. Let's talk about this week's topic. What examples in your careers have you seen of gender discrimination. Cecilia Bianco: Not necessarily in my career, but I remember when I was in high school I had a friend whose mom was a news anchor and she had found out that her co-anchor was earning a lot more than her. It was a pretty big debacle and it ended in her leaving because she wasn't able to get the money she deserved from that company. It was in the media and it felt like a huge deal at the time. I don't think things have changed much since then, so it's a big topic for us today. Ben Forstag: Let me share a story from my wife's career. When she was out interviewing she happened to be visibly simple fact is they didn't want to hire someone who was going to take 3 to 9 months off to take care of a child, but those are pressures that many women face. Those are situations that many women see themselves in, and so finding ways to work around that is certainly key to helping women achieve equality in the workplace with men. Mac Prichard: A story that comes to mind for me is when I was in high school I had a job working at a restaurant at a hotel. I was in the morning shift with another person, a woman in her 30s. I was 17. It was a summer job for me and I enjoyed it, but she and I, I learned, made exactly the same amount of money, which to me was even, that kind of wage at 17 seemed extraordinary. It struck me for a lot of different reasons, but one was that for me it was a part-time job and I was saving for college and spending a lot of my income on things that teenagers buy. Music, fast food, putting gasoline in a car. For her, it was her whole income. I remember we didn't make a lot, just a little more than minimum wage, and she had to save for several months just to move from one apartment to another. That made a big impression on me. Ben, let's turn to the resource that you found for us this week. You're out there every week looking for blogs, podcasts, and books. What do you have for us? Ben Forstag: I want to start off this week with an infographic I found all about women in the business world. This comes from the website allbusinessschools.com and it entitled Winning at Work? A Look at Women in Business Today. I'll admit it's a little bit odd to talk about an infographic, which is decidedly a visual medium, on a podcast, which is a audio medium, but I'm going to try to do this anyway. I'm a big sucker for a good infographic. Cecilia Bianco: Yeah, and this one is particularly good. It's super in-depth and it makes what you're seeing easier to comprehend. Mac Prichard: I certainly love visuals too. If you ever visit us here at the Mac's List office you'll find an infographic on the refrigerator. Ben Forstag: What I really liked about this infographic was that it nicely frames both the accomplishment women have made in the business world as well as the lingering barriers they face. For example, in 1965 only 1.2% of graduates from the Harvard Business School were women. Want to take a guess of what that number's going to be in 2017? Cecilia Bianco: I hope that it's a lot higher, but ... Ben Forstag: You are right. It's going to be 41% female, which is still not on par with men but certainly a huge jump. This is representative of a general overall trend of women excelling in terms of higher education. Right now women have 60% of all the undergraduate degrees, 60% of all the graduate degrees, and 45% of all advanced business degrees, which is really exceptional. The infographic also includes information about the highest paid female executives and other benchmarks of success for women in the workplace. Of course we all know that women face a lot of professional challenges, and to be blunt the playing field is not equal at all. Across all levels of employment, as Mac mentioned earlier, women only make about $0.79 on the dollar compared to men. Things are slowly getting better, but there's a lot of room for improvement. One of the most shocking facts I found in this infographic was this, that at the current rate of progress, women won't achieve pay equity with men until 2058. Cecilia Bianco: Wow. That's way too long. Hopefully that doesn't play out in reality. Ben Forstag: Are you willing to wait, Cecilia? Cecilia Bianco: Not really, no. Mac Prichard: Not to be gloomy, but it is a gloomy number. When I got out of college, Cecilia, I remember going to an event and someone there had a button that said $0.63, and this was way back in 1980, 35 years ago now. I said, "What's that about?" She said, "That's what a woman makes compared to a man." I thought that number, "Oh, that can't last. That's going to go up." Here we are 35 years later. Cecilia Bianco: Yeah. We're crawling at this pace. Ben Forstag: It's bizarre because this is such a political issue that gets brought up over and over again, but we just don't see a whole lot of movement on it. The other shocking status in this infographic was that women are significantly underrepresented in the highest levels of executive management, as Mac brought up. The one stat I pulled out that I thought was crazy is that women are only 16.9% of board members at fortune 500 companies. That's just shocking. I mean, most of these companies at least 50% of their customers are women, but the folks running the organization are not, which is insane. If this is a topic you're interested in, and I think we all should be, I'd suggest you check out this infographic. It's "Winning at Work? A Look at Women in Business Today." I'll put the URL in our show notes. I also want to do a quick plug for an organization that I've a friend who works for that is doing a lot help close that pay gap and helping women in the workforce. The organization is called momsrising.org. One of the reasons that women face so many barriers in the workplace is because they have most of the burden of taking care of children. That means watching the children on a day-to-day basis from 9-to-5 when many people go to work. That means taking maternity leave for young children. That means taking time off when your child's sick, and frankly a lot of organizations don't offer paid sick leave, maternity leave, or any childcare benefits as part of an employment package. MomsRising works with local governments and state governments to try to implement mandatory paid sick days, mandatory maternity leave, issues like that. If, again, this is an issue that you find important and that you want to do something about, I certainly suggest you check out their website. It's momsrising.org. Mac Prichard: Thanks, Ben. Ben loves to do research, but he also welcomes your help. If you have an idea for him or suggestion, a favorite website, book, please write him. His email address is ben@macslist.org. Now let's turn to you, our listeners, and to Cecilia Bianco, our community manager. Cecilia, you're here with us every week to answer our listener's questions. What do you have for us this week? Cecilia Bianco: This week I had a reader tweet at me and ask, "How can I position myself as an industry leader expert in my field, and how important is it to do this?" When I think of industry leaders and experts, I think of people who have a strong and present voice in their field. Having a voice these days typically starts online through platforms we all have access to and can use, blogging, LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and really any platform where your voice is going to reach many people. If you want to position yourself as an expert or leader, you want to get your voice out to as many people and groups as possible and find ways to prove your credibility. Writing's a good place to start since it's an easy way to share your thoughts, especially online, and build a following of people who agree with you. Speaking at professional or industry groups in your sector is another great way to prove credibility because 1, someone has endorsed you and your voice in order to book you to speak, and 2, you're growing your network through new people in the audience. Mac, you're seen as a community leader in our field, how do you think others can position themselves as experts or leaders? Mac Prichard: A strategy that could work for anybody is to be generous and share what you know. You've laid out specific strategies that people could follow to do that, Cecilia, whether it's sharing their ideas through blogs or social media posts, I think that would serve anybody well. I would just add in addition to being generous in sharing your expertise, be consistent. You don't have to publish on the hour every hour, but if you are going to commit to, say, doing a blog, commit to a schedule. It could be as little as once a week, or if you're going to run a social media account or post, say, to your LinkedIn page, find a schedule that works for you and then stick to it and people will come to expect to hear from you. They'll look forward to it as well. Ben Forstag: I'll just echo what Mac said. I think it's so important to help other people in your field. When you help others you really position yourself as a leader and as someone with integrity. I think if you can match subject matter expertise and integrity you can't lose. Cecilia Bianco: To answer the second part, as far as how important this is to be and industry leader, I think that really depends on what level you're at in your career. Obviously entry-level people can and should mimic the actions of leaders in their field, but it's unlikely at that stage that others are going to look to you as an expert or a leader. Once you're at a higher level, it's a little bit easier because you likely have years of experience that back up your opinions and your ideas. When you're just starting out I don't think it's a priority to be seen as an expert or a leader. It's more important to focus on getting that experience that you need. Once you're further along, making an effort to become an expert in your field can go a long way towards career stability and future success. Do you guys agree with that assessment? Ben Forstag: Absolutely. I think it's important that being an expert in your field, it's more than just style. Frankly, you see a lot of folks in the online world who, they produce a lot of content and a lot of style behind it but there's not much substance behind it. I think unless you really have mastery of your subject and you're new to the field, trying to position yourself as an expert is probably not going to work. You need to get a little bit of experience before you can really sell yourself as that expert. Cecilia Bianco: Right. I think that has to do a lot with proving your credibility before you try to be a leader in that field. Ben Forstag: Absolutely. Mac Prichard: I agree. One way to get that experience and then acquire that knowledge is buy curating content that others create. One of the biggest challenges that we all face is that we're overwhelmed by information. Somebody who sifts through what's out there in a particular field and presents the best ideas that they're seeing is doing a great service and building relationships and providing value and serving others along the way. Cecilia Bianco: Yeah, I definitely agree. Mac Prichard: Okay. Well, thank you Cecilia. If you have a question for us here at Mac's List, please email us at communitymanager@macslist.org. The segments by Ben and Cecilia are sponsored by the 2016 edition of our book, Land Your Dream Job in Portland and Beyond. We're making the complete Mac's List guide even better. We've added new content and published the book on multiple e-reader platforms. Now that we've launched the revised version of the book on February 1st, for the first time you can read Land Your Dream Job in Portland and Beyond on your Kindle, your Nook, or your iPad. You can also order a paperback edition. Up until now you've only been able to find it as a .PDF, but whatever the format, our goal is the same: to give you the tools and tips you need to get meaningful work. To learn more visit macslist.org/ebook and sign up for our newsletter. We'll send you special publication updates, share exclusive book content, and provide you with great prices. Now let's turn to this week's guest expert. We're pleased to have with us Farai Chideya, who is an award-winning author, journalist, professor, and lecturer. She has a new book out. It's called The Episodic Career: How to Thrive at Work in the Age of Disruption. I had the chance to read it over the weekend. I highly recommend it. Definitely add it to your Amazon wishlist. Farai currently teaches at New York University's Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute. She also frequently appears on public radio and cable television. She's a graduate of Harvard University where she earned a BA. Farai, thanks for joining us. Farai Chideya: I'm really delighted. Mac Prichard: It's a pleasure to have you, particularly to talk about this week's topic, how women can win at work. I think when many listeners think about the subject, the first thing they go to is the pay gap. We talked about that earlier in the show. What are some of the factors, Farai, that drive down pay for women? Farai Chideya: One of the most prominent ones in our day and age is the life cycle of women versus men. Women are much more likely, even now, than men to be involved in hands-on care giving. Of course immediately we think about children and women leaving jobs or not going on a fast track at a career because they have to, and want to, spend time with their children. There's also elder care giving, there's any number of moments at which people of both genders are asked to step up and women are somewhat expected to step up. I think that there's certainly a lot to women wanting to be a part of care giving, but there's also a cultural expectation around it. There's also, unfortunately, not a lot of infrastructure when it comes to women being able to step out of the workforce and then step back in. That's one of the biggest problems is that when women take that time for care giving or for other reasons and try to reenter the workforce, they find it very difficult to get back in. Mac Prichard: Let's pause there for a moment, Farai. What advice do you have for women who are about to take that time away from the workforce and for those who want to get back into it? All of us here at Mac's List, we hear from a lot of job seekers. This is a common issue and people are looking for successful strategies that they can use to make that transition. What have you seen work? Farai Chideya: I definitely think networking is the biggest solution. The reality is that most people have some set of close network ties. That is not actually what is most likely to get you a job. It's the weaker ties of people who are on the outer edges of your circle who have very different life experiences, sometimes than you, and they're seeing you through a little bit more of a remote lens. They're not your best friend. Maybe they're that person you went to college with and you see at a reunion every now and then. It's really important to go to those people to expand your vision of what opportunities are available to you. Also, as long as there's a good base for the relationship, even people who are not deep personal friends of yours will give that much needed recommendation and say, "You should really hire Jane or you should really hire Keisha. This is someone who I can vouch for." That very specific, personal, "I'm vouching for this person," is the way to go and often is a way for women to reenter the workforce. There's also great job training programs available to some people, not everyone. In the book I profile people who have switched careers through federal job retraining programs, sometimes by teaching themselves, so self-taught computer programmers or people who teach themselves even something like scrapbooking, which now is a skill that you can market to other people. People hire professional scrapbookers to help them organize their memories. There's also sometimes a transition where you can work part-time in a new field while raising children or while care giving, and then work your way all the way into a full-time job. Mac Prichard: Okay. If you're getting ready to get back into the workforce, think about how networking can help you. I agree completely with your point about the value of weak ties. It's surprising how sometimes the most valuable leads and recommendations can come from people that you only know slightly. I'm also hearing you say look into job training programs that might be available through state or federal government. There might be opportunities there. Then think about reinvention about new careers or opportunities. Those are good strategies for people getting back into the workforce. What about people who are getting ready to leave to care for a parent or a child, a woman, what should she think about before she leaves with an eye towards that reentry, which might be months or even years later? Farai Chideya: First of all, there's an increasing tendency of people to do exit documentation when leaving a job. This is obviously leaving a job under friendly circumstances. Let's say that you're pregnant or you are taking time out for a family leave and you know that you're probably not going to come back for a while. Sit down and say, "I want to just document the work that I've done over the past year and the skill sets I have. I'd like us to produce a document that I can take with me." You have to be delicate about it. If you're not planning to leave the company permanently you can say, "I'd love you to put this in my personnel file." Also keep a copy for yourself because workplaces change. If you know that you're really not coming back, but you're on good terms with who you're working with, you just say, "Well, you know I know there's probably not going to be a job for me by the time I'm ready to work again, but I'd love you to write a permanent documentation and recommendation that I can take with me when I either come back to this company or go elsewhere." You have to basically be your own archivist. You have to document your own career, you have to have people sign off on things, and don't just go back to someone 5 years later and expect them to know what you did. Take care of that beforehand and take it with you. Mac Prichard: Yeah, that's a great idea. An even more tactical suggestion I've seen people follow is just getting something as simple as LinkedIn endorsements or recommendations from supervisors and co-workers before you leave a position. Whether you're moving onto a new organization or you're going to leave the workforce for a period. Let's talk about pay. You mentioned how the life cycle, how it influences wages for women, what about negotiating salary? What advice do you have for salary negotiations? Farai Chideya: Well, this is a huge hot issue right now because women have been told to lean in. Then women have been told you can't lean in, that's fiction. Really, you have to be strategic about how you lean in. There's a professor at Carnegie Mellon, Linda Babcock, and she wrote a book, Women Don't Ask, Negotiation and the Gender Divide. Basically, she has done all these studies that show that when women make a direct ask in a negotiation like, "I got this job offer from these other people. Can you raise my salary?" Companies react fairly badly to that for women only. Men are allowed to say, "This is my market value. I'm laying it on the table. What can you do for me?" Women are viewed as disloyal. It's a very gendered and emotionally fraught workplace culture around women and negotiation. You have to make a case as a woman for why your advancement or your higher pay or whatever is good for the company, good for everyone. Women are being asked to make a group argument, whereas men are allowed to make a bit more of a unilateral argument. Just understanding that allows you to frame things. Mac Prichard: Money matters a lot in negotiation about pay. What are some of the other measures of success that women should consider when going into those conversations? Farai Chideya: Certainly women and men should also consider, "How am I going to be evaluated?" Some companies unfortunately really look at productivity as just hours in the office. You may not be that great, but if you're there for 8 to 10 hours you are amazing. I co-authored a book previous to this about women in the technology industry and this one woman talked about how she was told by her boss that she was working "mommy hours." She worked the same number of hours as men, but because she was raising a child she wanted to start earlier in the day and leave earlier in the day. She was working just as hard doing just as much work, but she was working "mommy hours." She left the company. She was like, "I'll never succeed here if people don't recognize how hard I'm working." One of the things you need to ask is, based on my needs, what is my desired schedule and can my company accommodate that? If the company can accommodate it, you need to be very clear and say, "I'd like to come to work at 5:30 in the morning. I know most people won't be here. I'll do my heavy duty project work there. Then when people come in we'll do our collaborative work and I'm going to be gone by 3:30 in the afternoon and go home and be with my family." If you get a negative reaction to that, you have to think about it. I also don't want to pretend that it's just something that women with children need to think about because again there are many different factors. I have friends who are serious athletes well into their 40s and 50s, and they play in ... One of my friends actually is the reigning Golden Gloves champion, "senior champion," which just means that she's in her 40s. She's a female boxer. She's married. She has 2 kids. She's got a great, happy life, but boxing is important to her, and so she has a schedule where she can go and be this amazing national champion boxer. You may have any number of reasons for asking for a specific schedule, but scheduling is really important. Mac Prichard: Certainly that's an issue that comes up a lot when employers talk about millennials in the workforce wanting to have flexibility. I think your point here is an important one. It's all age groups and women and men that are increasingly look for that kind of flexibility. The glass ceiling is real. It exists in the workplace. What advice do you have for women who are seeking promotions and how they can move up? Farai Chideya: I do want to point out although we've been talking about the life cycle, which is how I framed things initially, that according to studies at least 12% of the pay differential between women and is due to "other factors," which basically means sexism. It's a polite way of saying sexism. When you control for everything, women still earn less. I definitely feel like when it comes to looking at the big picture of pay, time, advancement, you have to seek out people who you trust and then if they slip in that trust you have to remind them of the kind of social contract that holds you together. Like, "Well, I don't want to be annoying about this, but when Jason asked for so and so, he got such and such." There's a precedent for this, or if there isn't a precedent for something you're asking for in your workplace you can acknowledge that and say, "I know no one has ever done this before, but based on my record of productivity, blah, blah, blah." When you're talking about whether it's salary, scheduling, all of the other factors that are important, you have to really seek out people you trust, but also be willing to give them a little nudge if they're not acknowledging your skills. Mac Prichard: Right. Be clear about what you want and have a clear ask. Farai Chideya: Exactly. Mac Prichard: We need to start wrapping up, Farai. Tell us about what's coming up next for you. Farai Chideya: Well, I'm touring with this book The Episodic Career. I'm doing some dates in various parts of the country. For me, I just did a date in New York and it was at the Harvard Club of New York, and so one presumes a very educated crowd and a white collar crowd. Let me tell you, everybody there was focused on the anxieties of the modern workplace. Whether I'm talking to people who are more middle income, higher income, everyone is anxious right now. I'm really doing a lot of active listening as I get to enjoy going around the country and talking to people about this book. I'm really listening to what people have to say because there's a lot of anxiety and fear. One of the things I really want to stress to people is that we all deserve to lead good lives. Work should not be a constant fly in the ointment. If your work is a fly in the ointment, you really need to think expansively about what kind of work you want and how it fits in with your life and look towards those personal factors of satisfaction and being in a good, comfortable zone with the choices you've made. We all make choices. Not all of them are comfortable for us, but you have to at the end of the day say, "I made the choice that's right for me." It's about self evaluation. In the book I have a tool called the work-life matrix that really tries to integrate the personal with the work because at the end of the day it's not just about a pay check, it's not just about advancement. It's about what kind of life you get to lead. Mac Prichard: I was impressed by the number of tool and tactics that you had in your book. They're practical things that people can do to act on those choices. I encourage people to dig into it. Good, and I imagine the dates of your book tour are on your website. Farai Chideya: Yes. If you go to farai.com, F-A-R-A-I.com, you'll find both the dates of the book tour and some press that we've gotten and a few different excerpts of the book. There's a lot of material there and hopefully I'll be getting to a lot more cities over the course of the coming months. Mac Prichard: Good. I know people can also find you on Twitter. Your handle is @farai, F-A-R-A-I. We'll be sure to include that, the website, and the books you've mentioned in the show notes as well. Farai, thank you so much for joining us and it's been a pleasure having you on the show. Farai Chideya: I have been so delighted and I really think the work that you're doing is critically important. Thanks so much. Mac Prichard: We're back in the Mac's List studio. Cecilia, Ben, what are your thoughts after hearing Farai? Cecilia Bianco: I thought she had a bunch of really great information and tips for how to navigate your work life. I loved her point about being your own archivist because I think a lot of people forget to do that and then they regret it later on. That was an important takeaway for me. I just liked how she made work more about what type of life you want to lead and now just what type of job you want to be doing. I think that goes a long way towards your work life balance and your happiness overall. She had great tips. Mac Prichard: Good. What are your thoughts, Ben? Ben Forstag: My blood is still boiling over that mommy hours response that one of her clients got at an employer. That's just ridiculous. Obviously, I'm not a mother myself, but I am a father, and I understand the value and importance of getting home and spending time with your kids before they go to go bed. Any employer who doesn't recognize that, I can't think of anything nice to say about those kind of organizations. In terms of tactical advice what she gave, the most important thing is being clear with your ask and with your demands of an employer. Unfortunately you can't just expect employers to give you what you want or to respect the work-life balance, so you need to go in with targeted requests and say, "Here's the value I'm bringing to the organization and here's what I expect back in return." Hopefully you've got reasonable employer who will meet those requirements that you have. Mac Prichard: I think having a clear ask is just vital. I think I've made this point before on the show. There's an old lobbyist I know, or experienced lobbyist I should say, who says the definition of a failed meeting is when you get up from that appointment and there's no clear next steps. That happens because people don't have a clear ask. It's great advice. Thank you all for listening. We'll be back next week with more tools and tips you can use to find your dream job. If you like what you hear on the show, you can help us by leaving a review and a rating at iTunes. This increases our standing in the iTunes career chart and helps us reach more people and help more job seekers. We have 2 reviews we'd like to share with you this week. Ben, would you like to share one? Ben Forstag: Sure. This one comes from [boney girl 00:32:16] who writes, "This is really valuable stuff. It kind of smashed old assumptions and expectations and offered a totally new approach that is energizing and exciting. Thanks for the wake up kick in the butt." You're welcome. Glad you found value there. Mac Prichard: All right. I have a review from [red dirt girl 00:32:33] who writes, "I will be graduating with my Bachelor's degree in 1 year and this is giving me so many helpful tips and recommendations that I'm already putting to use." Thank you red dirt girl for sharing that and we hope that you'll take a moment and leave your own rating and review. In the meantime, thanks for listening. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Few people's careers play out exactly as planned. Changes of interest, new opportunities, and life in-general all interfere with the perfect, linear career plans we made with high school guidance counselor. But even if you don't know exactly where you career is going, you can still control its direction. The key is being clear about what's important to you as a person and a professional. You don't need a detailed roadmap--just some guiding principles. On this bonus episode of Find Your Dream Job, Ben Forstag, Mac's List managing director, shares the fundamental concepts that have driven that have animated his career. Ben reads "Four Principles to Guide Your Career", his contribution to Land Your Dream Job in Portland (and Beyond). If you’re looking for more advice on building a meaningful and rewarding career, check out Land Your Dream Job in Portland (and Beyond). The updated 2016 edition will help you get clear about your professional goals and provide you with actionable steps for getting where you want to be. Thank you for listening to Find Your Dream Job. If you like this show, please help us by rating and reviewing our podcast on iTunes. We appreciate your support! -- Full Transcript Mac Prichard:    This is Find You Dream Job. The pod cast that helps you get hired, have the career you want and make a difference in life. I'm Mac Prichard, your host and publisher of Mac's List. On today's bonus episode, we're sharing exclusive content from our new book, Land Your Dream Job in Portland and Beyond. Land Your Dream Job in Portland and Beyond compiles job search tips and career management tools into one simple easy to read guide. It's the definitive tool kit for anyone looking for meaningful work. The book also includes special contributions from an array of job search experts and today you'll hear from one of them. Here's Ben Forstag, Managing Director of Mac's List reading his contribution, Four Principles to Guide Your Career. Ben Forstag:  Four Principles to Guide Your Career. Careers develop continuously over forty or fifty years of our working lives. They're subject to both internal forces, like family dynamics and changes of interest and external ones like the economy and the local job market. Accordingly, I've always been dubious about mapping out an entire career in advance. The linear progressions of model career development, law school, clerkship, federal prosecutor, night circuit, supreme court, rarely play out so cleanly in real life. I've certainly worked to navigate my career's direction. However, rather than targeting a predetermined destination, I focus on the journey itself. My career plan is less a road map, than it is a set of four practical guidelines. Here they are. Do what you're good at. We've all heard the dictum do what you love. This is great advice if you have strong passions and a clear vision for how to monetize them, but sometimes, the things we love most don't translate into a job that pays the bills. At least, not right away. In these situations, I urge people to focus first on their skills rather than their passions. Do what you do well. Skills can transfer to different jobs, industries and interest. Focusing on professional strengths gives your career flexibility while also eliminating potential avenues to work in the field of your choice. Ultimately, passion and skill are two sides of the same coin. There's a reason you're good at some things and not others. Your skill set is a reflection of the interest and enjoyment you derive from doing those activities. In this sense, doing what you're good is actually a way to do what you love. Keep learning. Taken by itself, the do what you're good at rule could lead to a monotonous and boring career. That's why it's important to stay curious and explore new interests and skills. Read books and blogs, take classes, network outside of your field. Do anything that exposes you to new ideas. You may discover professional interests that you never imagined. Throughout my own career, I've tried to say, 'yes' to learning opportunities whenever they appear. As a result, I've gained new passions for statistics, data analytics and coding. A surprising development for someone who went out of his way to avoid math classes in college. Stay balanced. It's good to be passionate about your job, but it's also important to have passions outside of the office. One of the best things you can do for your career is to have a healthy work/life balance which provides an escape valve from the stresses of work. It can also insulate you from the inevitable down periods of your professional life. Live your own dream. This is the final rule, but perhaps the most important. You have to evaluate your career according to your own criteria, not anyone else's. Measuring yourself against other people's success is like trying to live their dream rather than your own. Try to focus on what you want in life to do. Without worrying about what others may think. Remember, professional contentment is neither objective nor relative. The only question is whether your job and career path bring you happiness. Mac Prichard:  If you're looking for expert advice and insider tips like what you just heard, check out Land Your Dream Job in Portland and Beyond. You'll find everything you need to get a great job whether your in Portland, Oregon, Portland, Maine, or anywhere in between. The 2016 edition includes new content and for the first time ever, it's available in paperback, as well as in an array of e-reading devices including Kindle, Nook and iBooks. For more information on Land Your Dream Job in Portland and Beyond, visit Macslist.org/book. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Everybody knows that changing jobs regularly is the new normal. The days of working for just one or two employers through your adult life are long gone. But what about switching not just jobs, but careers? Most of us will be in the workplace for four decades or more, so it’s a choice each of us will face. In fact, we may have three or four distinct careers over the course of our working lives. This week on Find Your Dream Job, we’re talking about the challenges and benefits of changing your career. Our guest expert is Michelle Hynes a career coach who specializes in helping people in the midst of work transitions. Michelle has, herself, gone through several career changes. She shares her insights on how to reinvent yourself, not just to improve your marketability, but also to increase your happiness. In this 30-minute episode you will learn: Why everyone--no matter your age--needs to plan for career change How changing careers can empower you as a professional and improve your life How to use informational interview to guide your career change The importance of continuing education, training, and certification How to manage the uncertainty involved in switching careers Resources for older professionals looking for an “encore career” This week’s guest: Michelle Hynes (@mhynesPDX | LinkedIn)Principal, Michelle Hynes ConsultingPortland, Ore. Listener question of the week:  What advice do you have for working professionals who would like to shift careers to a new field? Do you have a question you’d like us to answer on a future episode? Please send your questions to communitymanager@macslist.org. Resources referenced on this week’s show: Michelle Hynes: Coach, Consultant Growth Guide Encore.org: Second Acts for the Greater Good The Encore Career Handbook: How to Make a Living and a Difference in the Second Half of Life Encore 2016 Conference: February 9-11, 2016 The 20-Minute Networking Meeting Laura Carstensen: The Longevity Dividend Laura Carstensen: Older People Are Happier Land Your Dream Job in Portland (and Beyond) - 2016 Edition If you have a job-hunting or career development resource resource you’d like to share, please contact Ben Forstag, Mac’s List Managing Director at ben@macslist.org. -- Thank you for listening to Find Your Dream Job. If you like this show, please help us by rating and reviewing our podcast on iTunes. We appreciate your support! Opening and closing music for Find Your Dream Job provided by Freddy Trujillo, www.freddytrujillo.com.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Did you make a New Year’s resolution to do something different in your career? The list of changes you seek in the next 12 months could include a raise, a promotion, or a new job. Or maybe you want to improve your professional skills by stepping up your networking, increasing your industry knowledge, or adopting new work habits.   Whatever your goal, you’re not alone. More than 40% of Americans make New Year’s resolutions, according to some estimates. (Alas, research suggests only about 8% of people stick to those resolutions.) So what are you doing to ensure your professional resolutions turn into a reality? This week on Find Your Dream Job, Mac talks with Victoria Crispo, career development expert and manager of career content at Idealist. Victoria shares her advice on how to set and attain achievable career goals so that 2016 is a year you move closer to your dream job. In this 33-minute episode you will learn: How to unpack your big career goals into specific and measurable objectives Why you need an accountability partner The biggest mistakes to avoid when you’re setting career goals Tips for making big (and possibly scary) career choices This week’s guest: Victoria Crispo (@_AskVictoria | LinkedIn)Manager of Career ContentIdealistNew York, N.Y. Listener question of the week:  Should people who want to relocate move before they have a new job lined up? Do you have a question you’d like us to answer on a future episode? Please send your questions to Cecilia Bianco, Mac’s List Community Manager at cecilia@macslist.org. Resources referenced on this week’s show: Ten Questions You Should Ask When Facing A Tough Career Decision The Scientifically Proven Way to Overcome Your Career Fears IdealistCareers.org Stickk.com Land Your Dream Job in Portland (and Beyond) - 2016 Edition If you have a job-hunting or career development resource resource you’d like to share, please contact Ben Forstag, Mac’s List Managing Director at ben@macslist.org. -- Thank you for listening to Find Your Dream Job. If you like this show, please help us by rating and reviewing our podcast on iTunes. We appreciate your support! Opening and closing music for Find Your Dream Job provided by Freddy Trujillo, www.freddytrujillo.com. -- FULL TRANSCRIPT   Mac Prichard:   This is "Find your Dream Job," the podcast that helps you get hired, have the career you want, and make a difference life. I'm Mac Prichard, your host and publisher of "Mac's List." Our show is brought to you by Mac's List and by our book, "Land your Dream Job in Portland and Beyond." To learn more about the book and the updated edition that we're publishing in February, on February 1st, actually, visit MacsList.org/ebook. A new year means a new start, and as 2016 beings, you're probably making resolutions to something different in your career. The list of changes you want to see in the next 12 months may include a raise, a promotion, and a new job, or maybe you want to improve your professional skills by stepping up your networking, increasing your industry knowledge, or adopting new work habits. Whatever your goal, you're not alone. More than 40% of Americans make New Years resolutions, according to some estimates. In spite of those good intentions, however, most of us don't have much success in keeping our promises to ourselves. Researchers at the University of Scranton found that only 8% of Americans achieve their goals. This week on "Find your Dream Job," we're talking about resolutions, why most of them fail, and why those that stick work. We're recording this in January, but the issues that we're talking about and the information we'll share with you today you can use in any month. Our guest expert this week is Victoria Crispo, who will tell us what people who are successful at keeping their resolutions do differently. Cecilia Bianco, our community manager, has advice about what to do if you're thinking about this is the year that you move to a new town. Ben Forstag, our managing director, has 2 blog posts you can use to make difficult career decisions. All right, Cecilia, Ben, let's talk about your New Years resolutions before we move onto our guest expert and our resources this week. What's on your list? Cecilia Bianco:  Well, for me, I try to make my resolutions based on something I learned in the previous year. Last year, I learned that if I don't keep up with having all my work organized, then I kind of start to fall apart. In the coming year, I want to make a huge effort to stay organized throughout the entire year. Ben Forstag:     For me, I want to be better about getting out there networking on a regular basis, going to industry events, and just social mixers here in town, just so I can meet other professionals in Portland and in other areas. In the past, I've always done that sporadically, and my goal now is to set a regular schedule, a modest schedule, maybe once or twice a month, but have a schedule and go do that consistently. Mac Prichard:    Good. For me, I've found in the past that I have the most success when I just focus on just one or two things, so one of my resolutions last year was to publish the Mac's List book. We brought that out as a PDF this year. The 3 of us have talked about the new e-course that we hope to introduce in the second half of the year, and that's on my to-do list. I'm curious, before we move on, are there tips that you have for our listeners about once you make those resolutions, the things you do that you find make it more likely that they'll happen? Cecilia Bianco:  I find that if I set aside time on my calendar to actually meet that goal, then I'll end up doing it. Setting a weekly reminder on Fridays, or something like that, "It's time to get organized," will keep me on track. Mac Prichard:    I'm also impressed, Cecilia, we share our calendars as a team, when I see that you blocked out time on your calendar to do certain tasks. That prevents the rest of us from interrupting you by scheduling meetings or appointments. Cecilia Bianco:  Yeah, it helps. Ben Forstag:    I think for me it's about setting realizable goals for yourself. There's always this inclination, when you set a resolution, to say, like, "I'm going to go from not running ever to running a marathon this year." That's a nice audacious goal, but sometimes it's just too much. It's really hard to reach that goal. The moment you find that you're not on the right step in the progress, you just give up. I would say for me, my goal is not to go to a networking each week. It's once a month, right. It's a modest goal. I can do it. It's achievable, and if I can do that for the next 6 months, then maybe I can adjust my plan and say, "It will be twice a month, now, or 3 times a month, or once every week." Just setting realistic goals that you know you can hit, but that are going to create a real effective change in your life. Mac Prichard:    Keep it realistic. Put it on your calendar, and those are ways you can make it happen. Speaking of resources, let's turn to Ben, who is out there all the time looking for tools you can use. What have you found for us this week, Ben? Ben Forstag:   This week, we're talking about career resolutions. Resolutions, as you know, often involve some kind of change, taking a new job position, going back to school, confronting your professional challenges, and things like that. Change can be scary, right? Especially if we're talking about taking a step into the unknown, something that you're unfamiliar with, taking that new job, where it's a big question mark of what it's really going to be like. This week, I'm sharing 2 blog posts that I've found that can help you manage your fears and make the right career decisions, the right career decisions for yourself, that is. The first post is from the Life Hack blog, and it's titled, "10 Questions You Should Ask When Facing a Tough Career Decision." The author provides some good, high-level questions you should think about whenever your career is at a fork in the road. I'm going to kind of cover this broadly, here. It's a post I'd suggest you go through and read because the author does go into each of these questions in detail. In general, his questions are: Are you willing to learn new things? Will you learn about yourself? Does this new opportunity scare you? Does a new opportunity change the way you think about success? For example, have you been thinking about success solely in terms of money, and then this new opportunity re-frames success as fulfillment, social good, or something like that? Does it excite you to talk about it? Does it affect people in your life, and how does it affect them? Is it fiscally responsible? Does it elevate your skills? In other words, how does this position position you for future career choices you have to make? Is it an advancement in skills and opportunities, or is it stepping back? Is it in line with your brand? Does it provide value? In other words, does it solve major problems or improve the quality of life? Simply, these aren't clear yes-no questions. This is not the cheat sheet for making decisions in your life. These are really more open prompts. They get you thinking about the full impact, cost, and benefits of a prospective change. I love how each question frames the decision-making process around your own needs as a professional. I'd really suggest you check that out. Again, it's, "10 Question You Should Ask When Facing a Tough Career Decision," and it's in the Life Hack blog. I'll have the URL to that in the show notes. Mac Prichard:    That's a great list. One thought that occurred to me as you were talking, Ben, is a question I saw posed on a different blog, which is: When you think about how you want to be known professionally, whether it's as a manager, speaker, or a writer, ask yourself: How are you spending your time doing those things, and does your calendar reflect that? If it doesn't, then something's out of whack. Ben Forstag: Yeah. I think these questions are kind of the micro way of getting at that general, big question in there because I think sometimes that's a little bit too big of a thing to figure out or to put into your mind. This really gets at that. I particularly like the question about, "Does it fit with your brand?" That's just a fancy way of saying, "Does this fit with who you see yourself as and who you want to be as a professional?" Sometimes, people make decisions that don't fit with their brand. I think, at the long run, that's typically a bad decision. It's something you want to think about when you're making that big career change, whatever kind of change that is. The other blog post I want to share is from the Muse. It's called, "The Scientifically-Proven Way to Overcome Your Career Fears." I'll admit, this title is a little bit click-baity, but I think the content in here is really good. We can excuse that title. We all know that sometimes fear immobilizes us and makes it almost impossible to make a good career decision. I know this has been true for myself in the past. I was once in a job that I was miserable at. Every day was painful to go to work. I didn't like it here at all. I didn't leave because I had this voice in my head that says, "What happens if you leave? You'll never get another job. You'll be destitute on the street." That's all just crazy talk in your head. (laughter) Mac Prichard:    I think we've all had that, that vision. Ben Forstag:    So we're all a little crazy, right? Mac Prichard:    Mine involves sleeping in a cardboard box. Ben Forstag: Okay, well maybe we can be neighbors, when we meet. I like this blog because it shares some tips on how you can overcome that knee-jerk fear reaction that you have, which is often not based in anything real. The author borrows from some controlled exposure strategies that psychologists use to treat other fears, like the fear of flying, or arachnophobia. Basically, it's a 3-step process. 1: Analyzing the fear, figuring out where that fear comes from, what it's costing you, how it manifests, and so forth. 2: Creating a plan to slowly expose yourself to that fearful situation so that you can give yourself a little leeway and test the waters without jumping right into something that you find scary. Then, 3: Executing on that plan in a meaningful way. I also like that the examples the author uses here about fears in a workplace situation. It's not just about switching jobs, which is a great unknown out there, but also about issues like how to confront a boss that you have issues with, which can be a very scary situation, or the fear of meeting personal professional expectations, which is one I, frankly, struggle with. Again, that blog is, "The Scientifically-Proven Way to Overcome Your Career Fears." It's on the Muse blog. Again, the link will be in the show notes. Mac Prichard:    Thank you, Ben. If you've got a suggestion for Ben, please let us hear from you. You can write him to his email address. It's ben@macslist.org. Let's turn to our inbox, the high-tech mailbag, and hear from you, our listeners. Cecilia joins us to answer one of your questions. Cecilia, what are you hearing from listeners this week? Cecilia Bianco:  Yeah, this week our questions is, "Should people who want to relocate move before they have a new job lined up?" That's a great question. I don't necessarily think there's a general yes or no to this question. It really just depends on your circumstances and how much of a risk it's going to be for you to relocate without first having a source of income. That being said, I do think it's easier to get a job once you're in the city that you want to work in. If you're able to relocate without taking a huge financial or personal risk, I would probably suggest it. Ben and Mac, you've both relocated more than once. Did you move before you had a job? Ben Forstag:    Well, I've done both. Back in the early aughts, I was living in Spain. My visa in Spain ran out. I had to move back to the States and didn't have time to find a job beforehand. Without a job, I moved to Washington D.C., somehow convinced an apartment building to let me move in without any provable income. It took me a while to find a job there. It was scary, but in that situation, I didn't really have many other choices, so I did that. When I moved to Portland, I actually got a job lined up before I moved out here. I think that was a unique situation, though, because first, it's pretty rare, but second, I had a very strong case to make that I was moving to Portland whether I had a job or not. I think that reassured the employer that this wasn't just some flighty application. In the case of moving to Portland, I said, "My wife and I already have plans to move to Oregon. Here's the move date. We've already lined up housing and everything else." The employer knew that I was a real candidate. I wasn't just someone from Washington D.C. applying for a job. Mac Prichard: I've been lucky enough to have a job to each city I've moved to for the first time, Washington D.C., Boston, and Portland. I will say when I went to D.C., I had just graduated college and was coming off a political campaign. I had a promise of a job for 4 weeks, and it turned out, once I got there, I stayed at that position for 2 years. I didn't think twice about getting on the Greyhound bus from the Midwest, and I think it was just youthful optimism, not something I'd recommend to everybody. Cecilia Bianco:  Yeah. It sounds like good experience. I do want to mention that while it is probably easier to find something once you've moved, we've actually heard plenty of success stories from people who have moved before having a job. We actually just published a post featuring a woman who found a job within a week of moving because of the preparation she did beforehand. If you don't have a job, but you want to move anyway, there are things you can do, like she did, to make it a smoother transition. Doing research on local organizations that you want to work for and getting connected to people who currently work there, that's a great way to start. You can also use social media as a tool to get a pulse on the local job market. On Twitter, it's always worth checking for a hashtag that covers what jobs are available. Then, Facebook and LinkedIn, there are tons of job groups in each city that you can join. You can also follow local companies, which often post if they're hiring on those 2 sites. One more note: I think if I was planning to relocate, I would probably reach out to recruiting agencies in the town I wanted to live in because they're always looking for talent. They can really help you make the connections you need to before you move. Any other thoughts or suggestions? Ben Forstag:   I have a question for you. In the past, when I've applied for a job when I was out of state, I've thought, "Well, if only I had like a P.O. box that said 'Portland' on it when I applied to this Portland-based job." Do you think there's any value in that, or is that just disingenuous? Cecilia Bianco:  I don't think it's a good idea to make that up. I think that there's little things you can do, like changing your location online. On LinkedIn, if you change your city, that's a great thing to do. If employers are looking, they'll see, not that you're in that city necessarily, but if they're looking to hire in that city, if you're there, they can find you. Ben Forstag:       You've publicly committed to moving to that city. Cecilia Bianco:  Right, right. Mac Prichard:  I like your suggestion, Cecilia, about connecting with a temporary agency because not only can you make good connections that could lead to a permanent position, but if you do come to a town and you don't have a job there, that's a way of getting work right away, beginning to meet people, and make those connections that you can't do from afar. Cecilia Bianco:  Yeah. I think that's really important. The quickest way to find a job is through people you know, so doing what you can to make those personal connections in advance is the best thing. Ben Forstag:     I'd just throw out there as well that, from what I know about employers and how they work, if they think you're the right person and you're going to solve their problems, they will wait for a couple weeks or a month until you are able to relocate to the town for them. Obviously, the location differences create a barrier, but it's not an insurmountable barrier. It puts just a little more onus on the job seeker to prove that they are the absolute, unique, right match for that position. Cecilia Bianco:  Yeah, definitely. Mac Prichard:    Thanks for that great information, Cecilia. If you have a question for Cecilia, please email her. Her address is cecilia@macslist.org . These segments by Ben and Cecilia are sponsored by the 2016 edition of "Land Your Dream Job in Portland and Beyond." We're making the complete Mac's List guide even better. We're adding new content and publishing the book on different e-reader platforms. On February 1st of this year, 2016, you'll be able to access for the first time "Land Your Dream Job in Portland" on your Kindle, Nook, iPad, and other digital devices. You'll also be able to get, for the first time, a paperback edition. Whatever the format, our goal is the same: to give you the tools and tips you need to get meaningful work. For more information, visit macslist.org/ebook and sign up for our e-book newsletter. Once you do, we'll send you publication updates and share exclusive book content, as well as provide you with special pre-sale prices. We're recording this in mid-January. We encourage you to get out there soon because there are great deals coming. Now, let's turn this week's guest expert, Victoria Crispo. Victoria Crispo is manager of career content at Idealist Careers and author of the "Ask Victoria" advice column, where she answers questions for social change job seekers and career changers. Before joining Idealist.org, Victoria helped non-profit job seekers as a resume writer, career coach, and in higher education. Victoria, thanks for joining us today. Victoria Crispo:   Thank you so much for having me, Mac. Great to be here. Mac Prichard: It's a pleasure to have you on the show. We're recording in January, and a topic that is on many people's minds are resolutions for the new year. It's also a subject that I think has relevance throughout the year. Let's talk about New Years resolutions, Victoria, and let's go straight to the dark side. Why don't most New Years resolutions work for job seekers, career managers, and just people in general? Victoria Crispo:   Sure. I think that there are a couple of important points to keep in mind, actually even before you even start to make the resolution, which will then cause it to be a lot easier to keep. One of those aspects that I think can really help is making sure that the goal that you craft, the resolution that you're trying to achieve, is something that is very specific and also measurable. The measurable piece is important because you want to be able to have a way to know that you're progress and that you are actually making change and seeing improvement. That's definitely one area that is really important as you think about not just keeping your resolution, but the first part is how to create a resolution that you will be able to keep and the other things that are involved in that. Mac Prichard:   Let's unpack that for our listeners, because I imagine many people are thinking, "Okay. This is the year I want to get a new job." They write that down. How do they make that measurable and specific, Victoria? Victoria Crispo:    Actually, almost just what you said, unpack it a little bit. What are the other details that are going to be involved in getting that job? That might require doing a little bit of research and reflection. First, figuring out what type of job do you want? Beyond that, what are the things that you need in order to get that job? It might involve taking a look at job descriptions that relate to that type of work. What are the responsibilities that are involved? Have you done that type of work before? What are the skills that are necessary? Do you have those skills, or do you have other ones that might be able to serve as a supplement? In regards to having something that's measurable, it might require having some additional steps before you get to that main resolution of, "I want a new job for 2016." For example, if you see a job description that you're really interested in, and there is a requirement for a certain skill, whether it's computer skills, social media management, whatever it might be, if it's a skill that you don't have, start thinking about what is it that you need to do to get yourself on track and make sure that the resolution that you've developed for yourself is something that you can actually achieve in the time frame that you've given yourself. Mac Prichard:    Okay. Define what that job is, find out what the typical title might be, look for examples of specific job postings that you might see online on job boards or elsewhere, then identify the skills that are required to do that work, and think about the gaps that you might have than employer might see and how you might address those gaps. Victoria Crispo:    Absolutely. Mac Prichard:   Okay. You need to be clear about what you want. What are some of the other steps that people need to take in setting these career resolutions? Victoria Crispo:     Absolutely. Be clear about what you want and the steps that you may not have thought about beforehand that you'll need to get there. I think it's definitely helpful to build in smaller tasks along the way, things that you can use as milestones, reasons for celebration. You are your best judge as to what that means for you. I can certainly give some examples, but it might be gaining entry into a specific area by volunteering and maybe developing a really great relationship with your volunteer manager, which perhaps then leads to an informational interview with someone else, who can take you to the next step. Having a good idea of what success might look like and also knowing that it might not be the exact picture of what you might think, and how to really determine that you are staying on track. Developing some little, smaller tasks that kind of show you that green light of, "Yes. I'm on the right path. I'm getting someplace," are things that you can celebrate, those little, the small victories that you can celebrate and feel good that you're getting to where you want to go. Mac Prichard:    Yeah. Baby steps can pay off. As you move forward, even though it might be in an incremental way, you'll see the progress. Reading your blog before the show, I know you've talked a lot about the importance and the value of having accountability partners. Tell us about the difference an accountability partner can make in setting these kinds of resolutions or in job hunting in general. Victoria Crispo:  I know, for myself personally, I love having someone who I can speak to about the things that I'm looking to do, and someone who is giving me that metaphorical tap on the shoulder of, "Oh, hey. Did you ... ? How are things going with x, y, z?" It is so, so helpful to have someone there in your corner who is able to just be a person who you can check in with and help you evaluate whether you're still on-task. Of course, it doesn't mean that you're going to necessarily take a lot of time out from this other individual. It can be very quick emails. Let's say you, as well, are a writer, and one of your goals is to develop a personal/professional portfolio that showcases the type of work that you do. You might, for example, share a link with your accountability partner. It can be a very informal, yet scheduled arrangement, where maybe you check in once a week or once every other week, but that there is someone there who can attest to, "Yes. You said you were going to do x, y, z, and you did it." I have definitely found that to be helpful in the past. In fact, there are sites that exist, I don't know if you're familiar with Stikk.com? Mac Prichard:    No. Tell us about that. Victoria Crispo:   Sure. It's actually Stikk with two k's. It is a way for individuals to set a goal, set the time that they are expecting to complete that goal, and they can set up a referee. That would be, in essence, you accountability partner. If you like, you can also have financial stakes in the game for when you accomplish your goal. I believe it's set up so that you can have that money go to a charity, the charity of your choice. You can also do the opposite, so if you miss your goal, you can have it sent to a charity that you really don't want to support. Therein lies and even deeper blow. (laughs) Mac Prichard:    All right. Well, that can be motivating. Victoria Crispo:   Absolutely. Mac Prichard:  Yeah. I've certainly had good experience with accountability partners. I remember during one job search, there was a friend I would call. This was a long time ago because we were still looking at newspaper classified ads. When the Sunday paper came out, we would call each other and say, "Okay. I saw this position. I saw that position. I'm going to apply for this one or that one." Just that weekly call was very affirming, and it was nice to have that connection. I'm sure you've had this experience too. I've had colleagues who've had good success with job support groups, groups of people who meet together to just keep each other updated on their progress, but also to set goals and exchange tips and other information. Victoria Crispo:    Definitely. It's so helpful to have that. I know there are some local job search support groups around here that have been really beneficial for the members. If there's not an in-person group in your area, there may be one online that you can join. That, too, can be effective, if it's a place where you can check in via email or in an online group. I definitely recommend that, as well. Mac Prichard:   Okay. Let's talk about mistakes you see people make that they should avoid when setting New Years resolutions for their careers. What stands out for you, Victoria? Victoria Crispo: I think the main things that stand out are again, not really doing that leg work beforehand of really discovering whether it's something that you can achieve in the time frame that you've given yourself. In some cases, it might be that there are, again, additional steps that you need to take in order to get to where you want to see yourself next. I think that that is definitely one of the bigger quote mistakes that I see, is not really factoring in some of the other things that might come into play as you're doing the work. I think the other mistake is, while it's great to have a goal, definitely building in some leeway for yourself and not beating yourself up too hard if you don't in fact make it by your set time. Job search is only one part of life. In fact, it's all of the other aspects of living. If you look at it in a holistic way, all of the other things that affect life, your relationships, your health, et cetera, do have a place in what happens in your job search as well. Sometimes, the drawback that a job seeker may have when they're trying to meet a resolution that they've set for themselves is forgetting those other aspects that come into play and that sometimes you may need to account for unexpected things that come up in life. Just because you haven't necessarily met your goal exactly doesn't mean that you haven't gone any distance whatsoever. I think that seeing those changes and improvements in your life, even if you haven't necessarily gone exactly where you expected to be is something that should be considered, too. Mac Prichard:    In summary, be specific, break your tasks down into small, manageable pieces, and be kind to yourself. Realize that you're not going to get it done in one day or one month, but you will make progress if you're focused, over the course of a year. Victoria Crispo:  Definitely. Mac Prichard:    Victoria, what's coming up next for you and your organization, Idealist.org? Victoria Crispo:                  Sure. Next month, we will be running an email-based course called find your fit. I definitely encourage anyone who might be interested in exploring their passions and figuring out where they want to go next professionally to sign up. It is a free course, and we will be making the announcement on our site, IdealistCareers.org, and also, of course, on our email list, which you can subscribe to on IdealistCareers.org. Mac Prichard:   Thank you, Victoria, and it's been a pleasure having you on the show. Victoria Crispo: Thank you very much, Mac. It's been great talking with you. Mac Prichard:    To learn more about Idealist, there are 2 great web pages you can explore. The first one is IdealistCareers.org, that's all one word. IdealistCareers.org. When you go there, you'll find career resources and tools. Idealist has a wonderful job board with, actually, thousands of listings. You can find those at Idealist.org. Victoria is on Twitter, and her Twitter handle is @AskVictoria. We'll be sure to put all of these links in the show notes. We're back in the Mac's List studio. I'm sitting here with Ben and Cecilia. What did you 2 think of the conversation with Victoria? What were some of the key takeaways for you? Cecilia Bianco:  Well, the main takeaway I got, I really like her point about breaking down your goal into steps so you can really determine if it's unrealistic or realistic for you to achieve that goal, and then edit it from there. Ben Forstag:   I thought her point about accountability partners was so important, not only so that you've got someone providing some oversight for you and making sure you're staying true to yourself and your goals, but also just so you're not doing this by yourself, right? Sometimes you need another person to share your frustrations or your triumphs with. I think having an accountability partner like that is a great idea. Mac Prichard:   I agree. One of the things that I think is surprising to many job seekers, particularly people who have been unemployed for a while, and I certainly have been there. I've gone through 2 long periods of unemployment, is in my case, I'd began to think I didn't have a lot to offer. We all have a lot to offer. We all have lots of experiences and skills, and helping somebody else by being that accountability partner is one of the most important things I think we can do. Okay. Well, thank you all for joining us and holding us accountable to our weekly production schedule. We'll be back next Wednesday with more tools and tips you can use to find your dream job. In the meantime, please visit us at MacsList.org, and you can sign up for our free newsletter there. It's published every Tuesday, with more than a hundred new jobs every week. If you like what you hear on the show, you can help us by leaving a review and a rating at iTunes. I've recently read that more than 80% of podcast listeners find shows on iTunes. By leaving a rating and review, you help us rise in the iTunes rankings, get in front of more job seekers, and help more people. Thanks for your help, and thanks for listening.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Government jobs are always tough to land. Mastering the oft-byzantine formal application process takes practice and insider know-how. In this bonus episode of Find Your Dream Job, Mac Prichard shares his experience applying for government jobs. Mac has worked in multiple departments for the State of Oregon, as well as for several local and state-level elected officials. Mac reads "How To Get An Oregon Government Job", his contribution to the Mac's List book, Land Your Dream Job in Portland (and Beyond). And while he speaks primarily about his experience in Oregon, the practical lessons Mac shares are generally applicable to any government job, whether at the federal, state or local level. If you’re looking for more advice on developing a brand that attracts employers, check out Land Your Dream Job in Portland (and Beyond). The 2016 edition, available February 1, includes new content and will be available on a wide range of e-reading devices, including Kindle, Nook and iBooks. You will even be able to order a paperback edition! To learn more, sign-up for our ebook mailing list at www.macslist.org/book. When you join this list, we'll send you publication updates, insider ebook content, and special pre-sale price discounts. Make 2016 the year you land your dream job! -- Thank you for listening to Find Your Dream Job. If you like this show, please help us by rating and reviewing our podcast on iTunes. We appreciate your support!   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices