Are you a premium candidate for promotion

Recently I have been trying to buy a house, house buying seems a lot different from the last time I brought a house, one of the reasons for this is there is a new concept I had to learn

Premium buyer

The area I am house hunting is a popular area, the majority of properties are sold before they are marketed and put onto Rightmove/Zoopla/other websites

Premium buyers at an estate agent get alerted when a new suitable property is added, enabling them to look round the property before the other buyers on the estate agents list even know about it.

The house viewing order is

1. Premium buyers on estate agents list

2. Normal Buyers on estate agents list

3. Everyone else who see's it on Rightmove/Zoopla

What is a premium buyer

A premium buyer is someone who have their mortgage agreed and in place, credit checks done, offer accepted on their house. Everything is done and they are ready to buy.

The premium buy is a no chain buyer who can put an offer in straight away, obviously very desirable for someone selling their house

If you want to buy a house in this competitive environment you need to be a premium buyer.

If you want to get a new job or a promotion, you need to be a premium candidate.

When I started my career I worked on a helpdesk, the next step in my career I wanted to make was to move to the development team in the same company. I had gone for one internal job there once and didn't get it. I asked for some feedback and the conversation went as follow

Hosk - Why didn't I get the job

Manager - You weren't the best candidate

Hosk - Why was the other person better suited for the role

Manager - The person had some coding experience

Hosk - How can I get coding experience when I work on the helpdesk

Manager - Learn it outside of work

My initial thought it was unfair the person expected me to get the knowledge/technical skills/experience for the job before I had the job and in my own time.

Ruminating on this idea more over the days, realizing it was very good advice. If you want to be the best candidate for a position, learning the skills used in the new job is a great idea. Below are the reasons why

Initiative

It shows initiative, it shows you are proactive because you making a more compelling reason for you to be

Desire

You have put in extra work to try and get the role and prepare yourself for the role when you get it. The extra work shows you want this job/promotion and this extra work can put you ahead of your competitors.

Intelligence

Learning the skills for a new role shows the employer/manager you have an understanding of the new role and the skills needed.

The Best Candidate

If you have the technical skills\experience\knowledge needed for your next role it could make you the best qualified candidate for the job, particularly if it's an internal promotion

If you want to move your career forward then you need to be proactive and make things happen. Why wait until you move into a position to start obtaining the skills needed to do it.

So make sure you are the premium candidate for your next position, start preparing for it now

image by Pascal

Networking will find you your next job

Nigel Frank are one of the larger CRM recruitment agencies in the Dynamics market place. They do a yearly survey and persuade people to fill in the survey by offering the winner a Surface or some other gadget.

I remember one of my previous employers saying customers only ever replied to questionnaires if there was a chance of winning a gadget.

The data is collected fro 17636 Dynamics Professionals in 130 countries, you can download the document here. The results are for the Microsoft Dynamics Industry so it could be different for your industry.

30 percent Dynamic workers are using personal contacts to find new roles, so this should be some incentive to get networking in person and in LinkedIn if you want to move jobs.

I was quite surprised that recruitment consultants only contributed 27 percent but this must be bumped up through people using Job Boards because these are usually recruitment consultants posting those positions.

LinkedIn I should think is responsible for people contacting companies directly and I should think this will grow in the future as will companies doing direct recruitment

The Importance of Networking

If you are one of those people who doesn't get networking or feels it's not worth the effort then consider the facts shown above. Personal contacts and Business networking were responsible for 49.6 percent of new jobs. Half the people moving jobs last year in the dynamics industry did so using their personal connections or through business networking.

The advantage of cultivating a network will allow potential jobs within your network of contacts may reach out to you and mention they have a new job coming up, allowing you to snap up the job before anyone else knows it is available.

Your network will give you the lead on jobs, you will also have a great reference because either they know you directly or one of your network has recommended you for the job.

If there are a number of candidates for a job but one of them has a personal reference (e.g. a contact in your network) from someone who already works at the company, this is a massive advantage because this is a reference from someone the company trusts.

Job Finding You

Recruitment consultants are great at using LinkedIn to find potential candidates and then bait the fishing line and drop it into the email/LinkedIn mailbox. I like the cheeky, do you know anyone who would be interested in this job...nudge nudge, I've looked at your profile and you would be a great match!

Recruitment agents are cheeky/clever, well the good ones are I suspect. If you want to be found then you need to have your profile up to date with the keywords in.

Finding the Job Yourself

The network should be your first method because you may find jobs which are not yet advertised, you will be saving the company recruitment fees and they can hire someone they already know.

There are jobs on LinkedIn, Rockstar365 (and other job sites) and you can search on the various job board sites or directly with the recruiters like Nigel Frank (who I mention just because it was their survey data which prompted the article).

Networking can be Motivating

Don't think of Networking as a choir or necessary evil. Networking can be enjoyable, interesting when connecting with new people, listening to their experiences and ideas. A great career motivator is meeting someone who's has been successful in your area of interest.

Creating connections on LinkedIn can be very beneficial, particularly with the articles people in your network are sharing, it's a great way to keep up to date and interact with your network. The sharing of articles also allows you to share your own content with your network and showcase your knowledge/skills in the community.

What does it mean

For all those people who don't understand the benefits of networking or think of networking as handing out business cards at conferences. The evidence in this survey is saying you have a 50 percent change of getting your next job through your personal or business contacts. Having a bigger network will increase your chances of finding a job within your network.

The results show it easier to connect to people in your industry with the internet and LinkedIn, being active and creating and sharing relevant content will increase your visibility/credibility to the people in your network. When a new opportunity arises your network will work effectively and bring new jobs to your attention (if you want that).

The take away point is - make sure you are networking with relevant people in your industry because they may have your dream job for you in the future.

Here are a few more interesting articles on the subject

NETWORKING BRILLIANTLY CAN HELP YOU FIND YOUR NEXT JOB

How to Network Your Way to Your New Job

robot picture Arielle Nadel

Acknowledging your emotions, focus on the present and keep your cool

Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment. Buddha

I was preparing lunch and getting out some plates; I dropped one of my favorite plates featuring a Robin with his nest (pictured).  

The smashing sound brought my wife and 2 kids rushing to the kitchen, then I heard

"What's happened, oh no, no the Robin plate, that was my favourite".

"Daddy, you are a silly sausage"

I've been reading Eleven Rings an autobiography of Phil Jackson NBA coach.  Jackson was known as the Zen master because he incorporated mediation and Zen principles in his coaching.

Two zen principles I learned

• Acknowledge your emotions (read in Sit Like a Buddha: A Pocket Guide to Meditation)
• Live in the present moment (Eleven rings and Zen practices)

Acknowledge emotions

Braking the plate and being told how of the greatness of the plate.  I tried to acknowledge my emotions/feelings

• Stupid Hosk - for not being careful
• frustration - if I hadn't tried to pick up a bunch of plates and sort in one motion I wouldn't have broken the plate
• Anger - At myself for dropping the plate, at others for reminding me how lovely the plate was.
• Sadness - it was an awesome plate

The process of acknowledging my emotions, helped me pause and consider how I should react.  During reflection of an emotion and identifying the cause, I have noticed it often seems less reasonable to act aggressively because logically it doesn't seem worth a reaction. 

Frustration and anger are instinctive reactions, which is why it's harder to react angrily to situations after you have slept on the problem.

In this situation I reassigned myself to losing the plate and being angry wouldn't help.

Acknowledging my emotions has helped me stop shouting at the kids as often (despite outrageous and persistent provocation) and getting angry at annoying but not important irritations.

Anger is a negative emotion, the side effect of anger is channeling your energy negatively for little or no reward.  Anger leads to frustration which leaves you in an agitated state until you calm down and have control of your thoughts again.

This article How to Gain Control of Your Emotions discusses steps to gain control of your emotions, the first one is to acknowledge them and the second step is to breath.

Live in the now

Stay focused on the task at hand rather than dwelling on the past or worrying about the future. - Phil Jackson

When looking at the broken plate, I reminded myself to live in the present.

The plate was broken in the past, that time has gone, using the plate in the future isn't going to happen anymore

Focusing on the present meant focusing on the task, clear the broken plate and set the table for lunch.

This quote from Phil Jackson highlights how thoughts can influence you present actions and feelings.

At its heart, mindfulness is about being present in the moment as much as possible, not weighed down by thoughts of the past or the future - Phil Jackson

Focusing on the past or the future distracts you from concentrating and enjoying the present.  Thinking about the future can frustrate you in your current activity, Parents feel frustrated looking after children and think about what they are going to do once the children are tucked up in bed.  

To avoid this frustration, focus on the moment, get involved and play with the kids and then when they are in bed focus on doing what you want to do.

Mindfulness is about focusing and enjoying the present, get the most out of what you are doing, you will enjoy the present more and do a better job.  These two articles are a great place to learn more

• Stop Living in the Past and the Future

• Living in the moment really does make people happier

Thoughts

“If you want to conquer the anxiety of life, live in the moment, live in the breath.” ― Amit Ray, Om Chanting and Meditation

Thoughts and ideas obtained from books can change how you view the world, allowing you to see more in a situation than you previously saw.

It was interesting applying the techniques I read about in two different books, how those techniques overlap and interact with each other.

Focusing on the present is a useful technique to focus my thoughts on the task at hand and stop it wandering.  Thinking about the past and present occur all the time

The future

Nerves about an exam you are going to take

thinking about things you are going to do, instead of doing what you should be

The Past

dwell on previous mistakes

This anonymous quote encapsulates this thought

 "If you worry about what might be, and wonder what might have been, you will ignore what is."

Worry, stress and be anxiousness are caused by thinking about the future, but you can't influence the future until it becomes the present, it's better to focus on the present.

When thinking about the future, remember the Mark Twain quote below because you could be worrying about something which might not happen

"I have known a great many troubles, but most of them never happened." Mark Twain

Guilt, regret, sadness, bitterness come from thinking about the past, thinking about the past comes at the cost of missing out on the present.

Flow

In sport thinking in the present it's called in the flow, the person isn't distracted and is focused entirely on doing.  When athletes can stop their mind being distracted by the past and future they can focus entirely on the present, focusing all attention to the tasks.

I have heard this called trust the process by Phil Jackson NBA coach, this article is a great story about trusting the process

Kobe Bryant Had A Stunning Quote About Phil Jackson Never Preaching Defense

The insight I take from the story is don't think, trust the process and concentrate on executing the process.  When executing a process you need to bring your thoughts to the present, and not the past or future.

Further Reading

How to Gain Control of Your Emotions

Living in the moment really does make people happier

Wandering mind not a happy mind

The Art of Now: Six Steps to Living in the Moment

Birdy Plates from Magpie

Don't be afraid to ask questions

Some times when you are working with fellow developers, they can use some terminology or design pattern which you either don't know or can't remember, this results in a conversation where you aren't quite understand their point.

This happened to me recently when a developer mentioned the Gateway pattern. Design patterns in coding terms are standard/best practice for reusable code for common design problems. You can compare (ish) design patterns to cookery books, it you wanted to cook a shepherds pie you would use a recipe from a chef in their latest cookbook. If you want to learn more about design patterns start with this Wiki article

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Design_Patterns

This can be a bit awkward because you can feel like a bit of an idiot and the other person was talking about it like it's something everyone knows.

Don't be embarrassed about not knowing something

There is nothing wrong with not knowing something, it will happen often in life, so get used to it and embrace it.

If you don't something grab the opportunity to learn something from someone who knows about it. They won't look down on you and 99 percent of people will be happy to help and explain it to you (because it makes them feel great being the teacher/master). If they do look down on you, so what, you will be learning more knowledge and improving your value to the company and yourself.

One benefit of a person explain a topic, is it can be easier to understand in comparison to reading it from a book/article and you have the benefit of asking questions and clarify points you are unsure of.

One of my core beliefs is too constantly keep learning and improving, if you don't understand something, don't sit quietly, hiding in the corner, be proactive and learn that piece of information, you never know when it may come in useful in the future (when you really need it).

Don't stay quiet

If you choose to nod your head and try and bluff your way through the conversation, not really understanding what they are talking about then you are losing out on an opportunity to learn and grow.

It's a similar situation to a class or talk when the speakers asks if there are any questions, there is something you really want to know but you think you would look like an idiot if you asked that question.

If you are thinking that question, probably a number of other people are thinking it as well and they will be glad you asked it. Work out the logical outcomes of asking and not asking

Ask (potentially) stupid question

1. You will get an answer from the speaker
2. Some people may think you are stupid
3. Some people may think, great question I was thinking that myself but I was too scared to ask.
4. People will know of your existence
5. You learn a bit more
6. You are interacting with the discussion, this will make it easier for you to remember the details of the point being discussed at a later date.

Don't ask (potentially) stupid question

1. You learn nothing more
2. No one notices you
3. Nothing else happens

I added people notice you as a benefit because this could be used by someone to strike up some small talk with you later, it also shows people you are a proactive person

Gateway Pattern

Back to the Gateway pattern.

The gateway pattern is a lot simpler than it sounds, but sometimes it takes great skill to describe things simply and concisely

Microsoft has a great description of the Gateway pattern, which you can find in full here

a Gateway component that abstracts the access to the external resource. The gateway presents a single interface to the integrated applications while hiding the external resource interface. In addition, the gateway encapsulates any protocol translation that may be necessary to communicate with the external resource.

pictures can often set the idea in the mind

So you can see the Gateway pattern creates a single source of access (a single interface), behind it, it can offer lots of different methods.

You could consider paying for an item on amazon/ebay. The seller only wants to be paid but behind the payment there are lots of different methods of paying likecredit card, debit card, paypal etc.

question image by Raymond Bryson