Failure, empty advice and mentorship Were looking at it all wrong

Failure, empty advice and mentorship Were looking at it all wrongFailure, empty advice and mentorship Were looking at it all wrongLets talk for a second about a spooky topic that scares away too many people.The idea of failure.I resent the idea that when something goes wrong in business, its considered a failure.If you work hard, take chances and learn from mistakes, then you dont fail. You know what we should call the situation? Life as an adult in the business world.No one gets it right the first time (or probably the second or third, either). But when the approach doesnt work, its too harsh to call the outcome a failure. It was an honest attempt, and with each try you move closer to the winning formula.Dont shy away from a project because you might fail. The only failure is to stand still and NOT try at all.You know what I dont like? Advice that doesnt come with instruction.For instance, leadership gurus often say, You must do the work youre passionate about.Well, duh. We all want to spend time doing what we love. But HOW do we find that work?Heres my instruction, nice and simple.What do you like to do? Make time (dont try to find time) to pursue it. Like, every week for at least two years. Im serious - go all in or dont bother.As you move along, share your progression and thoughts online. By writing it down, you will grow as a person and begin to define your area of expertise.Monitor your web traffic and look at the topic(s) people read most. Over two years, the audience will tell you where you provide the most value (and solve the biggest problem). But only if you write a lot (every week, I mean it).Focus on the niche (where you provide the most value) and leave the other topics alone. Be great at one thing and one thing only. The narrower, the better.At that point, you will have aligned your passion with solving a problem. And thats the holy grail of careers. Youll wake up every day to do what you love and improve the lives of others.What could be better ?Its important to remember, as you work hard on your career, that you are not alone. Yes, you need to do the work and make it happen for yourself. But if you stop and think, you have many people in your network who can provide guidance and feedback.I call these people mentors for the moment. Between Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and your email contacts, you have a HUGE list of people who can give you objective, honest advice. Take advantage of it.When friends ask me for career advice, I do what I can to help. The next minute, I might seek out the same person to draw on their strengths (ex finance, business strategy).Its not a weakness to ask for help. It shows youre serious about getting better every day.Thiscolumnfirst appeared onDannyhRubin.com.

Separating Navy Sailors in Bahrain Get Federal Jobs Help

Separating Navy Sailors in Bahrain Get Federal Jobs HelpSeparating Navy Sailors in Bahrain Get Federal Jobs HelpSeparating Navy Sailors in Bahrain Get Federal Jobs HelpBaltimore, Maryland July 31 2012 This Spring Kathryn and Emily Troutman, expert Federal Career Trainers, travelled to the small island state of Bahrain near the Persian Gulf. Their mission welches to provide four-days of special federal-job-search training to 40 sailors in the process of leaving the US Navy.The effort is all part of a new program Troutmans firm, the Resume Place, is offering. The program combines one-on-one editing and focusing of federal resumes for exiting US military with training on how to apply to the federal governments USAJobs site. Many say this long difficult-to-use federal jobs site became even more challenging, not easier, during a recent overhaul.The Navy and all the services are downsizing, said Kathryn Troutman, also known as the Federal Jobs Guru. Its a big transition to move from the service to a job outside the military. Without adequate assistance and know-how, many federal resumes for ex-military are not even getting the eligibility score of seventy, which would only be like getting a C in school. Then there is the online application process through USAJobs, which is very complicated.Three auditorium presentations at the Naval Air Station, Bahrain will titelseite Kathryn Troutmans popular 10 Steps to a Federal Job course, applying for the Senior Executive Service (SES), and the governments behavior-based interview style. Then nine small-group two-hour classes will be given. The size of the small classes will be kept to only five sailors each, so every jobseeker can get personalized attention. The classes will includeHow to set up a USAJobs account onlineHow to search USAJobs for announcements of the right positionsInstruction on how to submit the federal resume to the USAJobs resume builderInformation on how to answer the self-assessment questions on the fede ral questionnaire that comeswith every announcementBackground on the additional paperwork separating military must submit to the USAJobs site and how todo itHow to track and follow the progress of the application through the USAJobs systemIn an earlier leg of the program, certified federal-resume writers at the Resume Place spent four hours on each sailors federal resume. With Kathryn Troutmans input and their specialized knowledge, the writers targeted every resume so it matches the best federal job for that sailors skill set based on Office of Personnel Management standards. The Navys Fleet and Family Support Program (FFSP) counselors had worked with the sailors previously to get draft resumes created.The resumes that most ex-military people write are not focused properly, noted Kathryn Troutman. Without the right focus, the resumes will not work. Plus jobseekers often ignore the fact that additional paperwork must be submitted to USAJobs, and this is another major reason applicat ions get rejected. Its critical that the separating sailors know how to use the application process correctly as well as having completely on-target resumes.The sailors participating in this unique program were invited by FFSP.In addition to the Bahrain sailors, Kathryn Troutmans team of Certified Federal Resume Writers will provide customized federal-job-search services for 140 more sailors in the near future. There will be 25 sailors each from Rota (Italy), Naples (Spain), Sigonella (Italy) and Souda Bay (Greece). Resumes for these sailors will also be reviewed and focused and training given for the USAJobs website through distance learning.Parties interested in learning more about federal-job-search training for exiting military or other groups or federal job search certification for career professionals should contact the Resume Place offices in Catonsville, Maryland. Our phone is toll free 888-480-8265 or local 410-744-4324 and email, resumeresume-place.com.

Oprah Winfreys 9 best pieces of career advice

Oprah Winfreys 9 best pieces of career adviceOprah Winfreys 9 best pieces of career adviceWhen Oprah Winfrey speaks, she can command a room to listen. Many of us were reminded of zu sich oratory powers when she received the Cecil B. DeMille Award for lifetime achievement at the Golden Globes on Sunday night.The media mogul, actress, philanthropist, and self-made billionaire brought the audience to their feet in a rousing speech recounting her career as an interviewer and TV talk show host, and how that intersected with the black men and women who have come before her and the women she believes will come after her.Winfrey has had a lifetime to build her wisdom. As a daytime talk show host, Winfrey became a pioneer in making a career out of giving confessional advice.Heres a roundup of her best career lessons.On gratitudeYou radiate and generate more goodness for yourself when youre aware of all you have and elend focusing on your have-nots, Winfrey said when explaining why she kept a nightly gratitude journal for a decade straight while building her television network.On failureThere is a supreme moment of destiny calling on your life. Your job is to feel that, to hear that, to know that. And sometimes when youre not listening, you get taken off track. You get in the wrong marriage, the wrong relationship, you take the wrong job, but its all leading to the same path. There are no wrong paths, Winfrey told Stanford Graduate School of Business students about the one piece of career advice she wanted to leave with them.On getting olderWe live in a youth-obsessed culture that is constantly trying to tell us that if we are not young, and were not glowing, and were not hot, that we dont matter.I refuse to let a system or a culture or a distorted view of reality tell me that I dont matter, Winfrey told her magazine readers in 2011. I know for sure that only by owning who and what you are can you step into the fullness of life. Every year should teach you something valu able whether you get the lesson is up to you. Every year brings you closer to expressing your whole and healed self.On how to achieve balanceI can eat anything I want I just cant eat it at the same time, Winfrey told People in January about her history of dieting.Which is the entire philosophy of life You can have it all. You just cant have it all at the same time.On identifying toxic relationshipsWhen someone talks to you about other people, know that theyre talking about you behind your back, too, Winfrey answered after her Golden Globes acceptance speech when asked about the best career advice she had learned.On how to relaxI always give myself Sundays as a spiritual base of renewal - a day when I do absolutely nothing. I sit in my jammies or take a walk, and I allow myself time to BE - capital B-E- with myself. When I dont, I absolutely become stressed, irritable, anxiety-prone, and not the part I want to be in the world, Winfrey explained to her magazine readers on what she do es to relaxOn the power of saying noIf a person turns against you because you say no to them, you recognize that that wasnt real love anyway. True love, true friendship, true support comes from people who want you to tell your own truth. They dont want things given to them that dont come from a pure place, Winfrey told Dear Sugars podcast in an episode where she explained how she could say no to musician Stevie Wonder.On self-empowermentThe truth is, I try not to let other people define for me whether I have power or dont, Winfrey said at a 2013 Essence Black Women in Hollywood luncheon. I ended the show, and then there were a whole bunch of people who said, Oh, you dont have power anymore. But the truth is, I know who I am, and the thing about power for me is that its connected to a source thats obviously greater than myself. Any time you can connect to the source and understand that thats where all of your energy, your creativity, your joy and your triumph come from, I consider th at to be authentic power.On what she would tell her younger selfSeven-year-old OprahI was so sad. All of my real love came from my teachers, Winfrey, who grew up in extreme poverty and was the victim of abuse,said when asked by reporters on what she would tell her younger self. I would say this to anyone in this room You have no idea the power of noticing another human being and what it feels like when somebody knows that they have been seen by you. It is the greatest offering you can give.