Average Joe

After over 7 months of job searching, I am back in the workforce. I have obtained gainful employment, in the loss prevention field. I am very excited about the new opportunity, and have already jumped in with both feet. My new position provides me with a lot of opportunity for growth, I think, and will hopefully be a good place to continue to grow my skills and gain some great experience.

My co-workers seem to be a great team, and I’m grateful for this opportunity. In the next few days, I’d like to write about my job search experience in the hope that it will help others who are out there looking. You’ll be surprised, I think, at just exactly how I came to be back in the loss prevention field, working at a rewarding job again.

Stay tuned for more on this topic. I hope it will be interesting and helpful to you.

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April 23rd marks six months of unemployment for me; and for the past six months I have focused my efforts on gaining employment within the Retail Loss Prevention industry. I have found it to be frustrating, to say the least. I’ve had tons of what I thought were very favorable interviews, only to never hear from the prospective employer again.

In one case, I drove 5 hours, one way, at my own expense, to meet with a prospective employer. Once there, I left thinking the interview went very well, and was told that I would definitely hear back by such and such date. I didn’t. When I sent a follow up email to try to find out where I stood in the process, I got no response.

What is very frustrating is that this is typical of my job search experience. There is a lot of competition, I know. Employers are interviewing lots of candidates, and can be very selective about who they hire. I get it. What I don’t get is why it is apparently so hard for employers to conduct follow up calls or send emails, or return calls or emails. Did I mention it is frustrating?

So, with all that going on, I’m thinking maybe it’s time for a change. I love loss prevention. It’s my passion, but I also like to eat, and my energy and focus has been on getting back into an industry that has been hit very hard by the economic crisis, apparently. I have had a lot of interested employers who have put me through screening processes and interview processes right up to where I’m just waiting for an offer or a “No Thank You”. In every case, I get neither.

At the same time, my wife has been working on building her photography business. I built her website, and learned a lot along the way. However, I don’t think I’m ready to jump into web design just yet. So, I have a dilemma; I have to re-evaluate my skill sets and decide what career best suits me if loss prevention is no longer on the table. The problem is that it is hard for me to picture myself doing anything but LP, so this is going to be a difficult task for me, at best…

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It is very likely that anyone who is asked this question would say that they plan to be successful. But I wonder how many really do plan for success. Real success in business, or in life, takes planning. Spontaneity has its place in life, and even in business, but only proper planning will guarantee success.

Below are some tips that will help you plan for success:

Set Goals In Varying Terms

Start with longer term goals, then work your way to the short term goals. Write them down. Long term goals are those that, obviously, will take more time to reach. These could be educational goals, career goals, etc. Write these goals as headers, then identify the steps that will be necessary for accomplishing them. These steps become shorter term “benchmark” goals, and should be listed, chronologically, below your larger, long-term goal.

Identify Your Needed Resources Early

You will need resources to accomplish your goals. As you think of your goals, identify those resources so you can begin to gather and collect them. You may need a network of people. Start networking. You may need books or educational materials on the subject of your goal. Check the library, or check for the availability of continuing education classes at your local college. Whatever your goals are, you will need resources. You need to identify those resources early on so you can begin to collect them. The last thing you want is to get close to your goal, only to find that you are missing resources that you didn’t plan for.

Use Smart Goals

Last week I discussed SMART goals to some degree. It is very important that your goals be specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and timely. Think of it like this: If you don’t write down your goal as specifically as possible, have a way to measure success or failure, make sure your goal is achievable and realistic, and if you don’t have a time frame in which to reach your goal, then do you really have a goal? Or, do you just have an idea? There is a difference. I can say to myself that I’d like to make more money. But, until I put that desire, or idea to paper and give it substance, it is just an idea, and nothing more.

You MUST Want To

I used smokeless tobacco for about 30 years before quitting last year. In fact, the 23rd of this month makes one year that I’ve been 100% tobacco free. I tried many, many times to quit, but always ended up going right back to the habit. I made plenty of excuses. It was too hard, or it helped me handle stressful days. Sound familiar? What I found out when I really did quit was that I had the ability to quit all along. What I didn’t have was the desire to quit. You can write goals and plan for a wonderful future, but if you don’t have the “Want To”, you won’t follow through. Having the “Want To” will make you do what it takes to reach the goal. It will give you the drive and ability to get over, through, or around any obstacle because you WANT TO  achieve the goal. Your plan is important because you want the goal. You follow the plan and make adjustments as necessary because you WANT the prize.

I honestly believe that the #1 cause of failure when it comes to our success and goals is the lack of “Want To”. I had to want to quit tobacco more than I wanted to use tobacco before I could accomplish the goal. No matter how specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and timely your goal is, if you don’t WANT TO, you won’t reach it. If you DO want to, then you will, and it’s as simple as that.

We’ve discussed how to prioritize our goals, identify our needed resources, setting SMART goals, and Wanting To. Next time we’ll discuss the possible obstacles that we may have to face, how to either avoid or solve those problems, and some examples of SMART Goals, how to measure, and waypoints. Be sure to stay tuned.

In the mean time, please leave a comment below and let me know what you think of this series.

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Every year, we make new years resolutions. We intend to keep them, but somehow, they tend to get pushed aside or re-prioritized into obscurity by sometime around say, mid-February. I don’t know about you, by my 2009 pretty much sucked wind. It was a very rough year for me career wise. In fact, I ended up joining the ranks of the unemployed in late October, and as of today I have submitted resumes or bid on over 200 “open positions” or contract jobs. I’ve had 6 interviews.

In this article, I’d like to share with you how I plan to create and keep my resolutions for 2010. It will involve setting clear goals, identifying waypoints along the way to those goals, and re-directing efforts whenever things get a little off course. It’s really pretty simple.

1. First, prioritize what’s really important. I know that things change over the course of time, but when setting your goals, one has to try to look ahead and determine what is absolutely most important, what is very important, and what would be nice, but not absolutely necessary. Setting goals without prioritizing them is a recipe for the February Failure.

2. Set SMART Goals.  Don’t just say you’re going to lose weight, or that you will be a better person in 2010. If you need to lose weight, how much weight do you need to lose? Is it 10 lbs? 20 lbs? More? Less? Make your goal/resolution as specific as possible so you have measurable results when you reach your goal. I have always subscribed to the SMART Goals template. It makes real sense to me. Goals should be Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Timely. Know what you want to accomplish specifically. If you can measure it, you can manage it, so make sure your goals are measurable. Achievable simply means don’t bite off too much at one time. It is extremely unlikely that you will lose 25 lbs in one week, but it is achievable to lose 2 lbs in one week, and 25 lbs in 13 weeks. it is better to have 20 achievable goals than one unachievable one.  Being realistic in your goal setting simply means to keep the goal do-able. For example, if you do not have access to the resources you will need to meet your goal, it is not a realistic goal. Finally, set a time table for the goal. Hold yourself accountable to that schedule. Work toward beating the deadline, or at the very least, meeting it. 

3. Set waypoints along the way to your goal. I’ll use weight again because it simplifies the point. If your goal is to lose 20 lbs and exercise at least 3 times a week. Then you need to set yourself a realistic deadline, as stated above. Now, let’s say your goal is to lose 20 lbs in 20 weeks, and exercise 3 times a week for at least 45 minutes each time. Your waypoints should be scheduled far enough apart to show you real impact and allow you to measure successes and opportunities, and to give you the time to re-direct if necessary to get back on track. They should also be scheduled regularly, say weekly, so that your reviewing your successes and/or opportunities in “equal installments”. Having a weekly touch base with yourself is absolutely a great way to keep on track.

4. Have a plan. Having priorities and goals is great, setting a schedule to review your progress is necessary. But without a solid plan as to how you’ll achieve your goal, it’s just ink on paper, so to speak. Write it down (Or type it out). Make sure you try to think about the possible obstacles and how you will need to deal with them. What resources do you need? Where will you get them? A good plan will help you stay on course, and will help you adjust your pace, etc. as required.

Think about your Goal Planning for 2010 like this: “My goal for 2010 is to (insert smart goal here) by (insert deadline here). To do this, I will need (needed resources), and these are the steps I will need to take to reach my goal (begin listing steps to be taken). I will review my progress each week on (day of week), and re-direct as necessary so that I achieve my goal by (date) or before.

Of course you don’t have to write it out like that, but if it helps to keep you on track, why not?

[Image: stock.xchng]

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I have been spending a lot of time lately on new projects. For example, I just put Gaston Lincoln Weekly online last week. It’s a new web magazine for the Gaston and Lincoln County areas of North Carolina. Along with that site came a classified ads site, a new social network that is still in testing, and a photo gallery site.

I have also updated the Bunker Blog and Joe’s Bunker themes, as well as the theme for this site. I like to keep the look fresh on my blogs, so if something doesn’t work with a plugin that I need, or if I just get bored with it, I go out and find something new and fresh.

I have pretty a pretty good theme for Precious Seed, but I have got to get some content up there. I have let that site go for far too long, now. That one may be the most important one, too. I really need to get over there and start doing some work on it.

So much done, and so much left to do. I have a vision for Gaston Lincoln Weekly, that it would supplement local news sources, and become more of a resource for the “whole story” for local interest stories. I would also love to see the social network get up and then grow.

Like I said, I really need to get back to work on Precious Seed, so there’s another whole project all by itself. And, all of this in addition to my real life job, my family, and day to day obligations. I get exhausted just thinking about how I get any of it done. I can tell you I don’t sleep much.

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I spent the past two days traveling stores, along with my boss and three colleagues, in a market sweep that just lost its DLPM. Mostly, the stores were okay. There were issues in all of them, but all stores have issues, and when you dig, you’ll find them. The good news was that mostly, they were minor issues that can be corrected quickly.

However, one of the stores that will be assigned to me had some pretty significant issues. Broken programs, an interim store manager, less than enthusiastic staff, etc. That means that I have to fix it before it gets worse. Which means spending time there. It is 3 1/2 hours away. Can you say satellite office?

Oh well. It happens. This isn’t the first time I’ve been tasked with a challenging situation. The good news is that the interim store manager seems strong, and has already made some major improvements since my visit.

The real challenge will be to get the culture in the store back to where it needs to be, and to do that without lowering morale. The employees need to see that somebody cares, and will spend the time with them to make sure they are properly trained and supported.

With any luck, we will have them back up to speed within a few days as far as compliance, and then we can begin the real work of re-establishing our culture in the store. Wish me luck

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Today, I drove three hours, one way, just to assist in an investigation of a colleague. I’m not opposed to any investigations. In fact, I really enjoy investigations, and interviews. However, when a colleague is involved, I can’t help but second guess every thing I do throughout the process. Every single step in the investigative process is important, but again, when a colleague is the subject of the investigation, I tend to over-think everything.

On top of all that, I feel terrible about it all. I know I shouldn’t, because facts are facts, etc. I know, I know, I should be professional about the whole thing, and not let my personal feelings or opinions influence me. And yet, this is a co-worker, and a respected colleague, so I can’t help but feel like crap for being involved in this.

This isn’t the first time for me, though. I have been involved in many investigations in the past where I have had to investigate co-workers, and even my own supervisor once (I still don’t agree with that one). Each time, it was the same. When the facts showed wrongdoing, I felt like crap for being part of the investigation.

This has never stopped me from doing my job, though. I know what the expectation is. I also know that, if the allegations are true, I am doing the right thing for my company. Still, it sucks.

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I will be out of town this week, so I won’t be able to post as frequently as I normally do. I will have a couple of new articles up on the Bunker Blog, and I’ll try to keep things updated here, too. There is a lot to be done, as always, so hopefully, I won’t get too far behind.

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My wife has begun to build her portfolio. She has been studying, practicing, and she is available locally for some photography sessions. She has been working tirelessly on her blog, and today, we set up a gallery for her to showcase some of her best work. It is very new, and she will be adding albums and photos over the next few days and weeks.

Take a lookat both sites, and when you do, rate the pics and leave a comment. 

Since she is planning to pursue photography as her career, we have a lot of work to be done. She continues to develop and improve her skills. At the same time, we are exploring business models, products, services, necessary equipment, etc. This could be a huge undertaking. However, I’m convinced that her drive to succeed, added to her natural talent, will make her a success.

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