Angels and Emails

You don’t consider your compensation standards to be unreasonable, putting 3 good years into a 4 year bachelor’s degree supplemented by serious intentions to complete a PMP certification in the next 2 years.  You are a dedicated, creative, and hard working individual and your online resume is bursting with search engine friendly “descriptors” to maximize recruiter exposure. The past two years have been unpredictable in the mortgage industry however, and you are ready to find a project manager position in the next few months within the $80,000/year income range.

Salary.com can be one of the best places to initiate the personal salary benchmarking process. You are able to input measurable personal data like job description, education, # yrs of experience, # of direct reports – and additionally filter by geographic location, company size, and industry.

Example: For the category search of Project Manager, there are 714 functional job titles to narrow down salary information. A Project Manager 1 located in Minneapolis, MN with 2-5 years of experience and a completed BA degree has a median salary level of $70,446. 

Get out of the escalade mindset, and ground yourself behind the wheel of the pinto – your salary expectations need to be centered in-between.

Weeks 1-7 Who are you? 

 1 Finish the statement “I am…” with 8 adjectives 2 Finish the statement “I feel…” with 4 emotions and/or expressions of sexuality 3 Finish the statement “I do…” with 10 things you are passionate about and/or skilled at 4 Finish the statement “I love…” with 5+ people, animals, or things 5 Finish the statement “I speak…” with words with which you associate your truth6 Finish the statement “I see…” with words you associate with your future 7 Finish the statement “I understand…” with words you associate your religious, spiritual, or quiet place knowledge  

Weeks 8-14 Who do you want to be?

8 Write down the gaps in your foundation and/or areas you feel unsafe 9 Identify 6 actions that make you feel alive and/or give you pleasure10 Establish 6 functional goals to enhance your passions and/or skills 11 Create 6 activities that allow you to share love 12 Identify 3 people in your personal and/or professional life that allow you to speak freely 13 Create 4 long-term goals related to your future and who you want to be 14 Establish 1 weekly activity that brings center to your understandings and beliefs

Weeks 15-21 Become extraordinary, Footprints Forward!)

15“Be grounded!”Do 2 things every day that make you feel safe 16 “Be energized!” Do 1 action every day that fuels your emotional fire 17 “Be extraordinary!” Act on the first step of 2 of your functional goals related to your passions and/or skills 18 “Be loved!” Do 3-6 things this week to share love with those around you 19 “Be authentic!” Have a 30 min conversation each day with 1 person that openly accepts your truth 20 “Be visionary!”Act on 1 step per day that put you 2 steps closer to your future goals 21 “Be wise!” Do the activity that brings you inner peace

… (Week 22 – same as Week 1)

Assessment.com Home of the MAPP Assessment, located in Edina, MN offers a portion of their MAPP career assessment free online. http://www.assessment.com

One of the biggest mistakes a person make when composing a formal document is the common misconception that you can ride on content alone. You may make the mistake of assuming that it may not matter what your document “looks” like, if you are a talented, educated, and dedicated individual behind the mess of your virtual appearance.

Think again. When a friend of a friend offers to review your resume for an open position at his/her firm or when you send your presentation in advance of an off-site client meeting, the minute the ‘Open’ button is clicked on their end, you have already walked into the recipients office. If you don’t take the time to focus on your virtual presentation by making sure every formal document sent from your desktop is a true reflection of what you have to offer, then you might as well bring your Snuggie with you to be comforted after rejection.

One of the best kept secrets out there, the Holy Grail of document templates that has saved countless in the dark hours of writing terms papers to executive presentations, is the Microsoft Office Templates website. http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/templates

From business cards to presentations, cover letters to resumes, calendars to letters/memos this may just be the only place you turn to in the future to get over the hurdle of a blank page.