Today we welcome to the show Richard Kirby executive career coach, consultant and co-founder of Executive Impact Inc.
Richard is a certified management consultant and a board certified coach in the career field. He is also an electrical engineer and a registered professional engineer.
Richard contributes Weekly to the personal branding blog and he’s the Author of the book – Fast Track Your Job search and Career: How to get paid what you’re worth.
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Recommended book(s) for the show
Since I believe that reading is a necessary part of becoming a BRAND New You, I ask all of my guests what non-fiction book are you either reading now or just recently finished.
Richard is currently reading a book written by Simon Sinek called:
Start with Why (Affiliate link)
Summary – People like Martin Luther King Jr., Steve Jobs, and the Wright Brothers might have little in common, but they all started with why. It was their natural ability to start with why that enabled them to inspire those around them and to achieve remarkable things.
Drawing on a wide range of real-life stories, Sinek weaves together a clear vision of what it truly takes to lead and inspire. This book is for anyone who wants to inspire others or who wants to find someone to inspire them.
Fast Track Your Job search (and Career!) (Affiliate link)
Summary – This book is written by Richard. Just like in our interview Richard’s goal is to help you get your career on the FAST TRACK.
Learn the secrets of career advancement from the successful experiences of hundreds of career seekers during the last 10 years. Start using strategies proven to deliver results in both weak and strong job markets.
Richard Kirby Interview Highlights
ATTITUDE AND EMPLOYMENT SECURITY
Richards starts his book by discussing the important of attitude not just in your job search but in your life. Your attitude is always on display for everyone to see even in places that never occurred to you to look.
When was the last time you checked the message you left on your voicemail? Richard tells you why you need to check it and maybe update it.
To say there has been a shift in employment over the last few years would be a huge understatement. We used to think about job security now we need to consider employment security.
Employment security is all about you becoming the CEO of You, Inc. You need to be vigilant about the changing career landscape and required skills in order to develop transferable skills and knowledge that other employers will want and need.
Employment security keeps you relevant and will help you weather the economic storms that will happen throughout your career.
We discuss job hopping and I ask Richard how long is too long to stay with one employer. You can either hand around in a bad situation and wait for something to happen to you or you can be more proactive and look for an opportunity elsewhere.
If you subscribe to employment security over job security you’ll know when it’s time to go.
CAREER PLANNING STARTS WITHIN
If you’re struggling with answering the question “what do I want to do with my life” it’s probably because you’re fixated on a job title rather than where you can add the most value.
To help you understand what you are naturally wired to do, Richard discusses different assessments all designed to help you assess your Behaviors, your skills, your interest, and motivations.
1 – DiSC (Dominance, Influence, Steadiness, Conscientiousness – $18)
2 – CISS (Campbell interest and Skill Survey – $20)
3 – MAPP (Motivational Assessment of personal potential – $90)
Once you understand your skills and what motivates you, you can start to look at developing a career plan but who needs them and who doesn’t?
Richard and I discuss the types of people who need a career plan as well as what should be included in one. Hint: If you’re unhappy with your work a career plan might be for you.
Included in your career plan will be a targeted list of companies for you start following. To locate employers in your area, Richard suggests the following resources.
1 – Reference USA – Can be accessed at your local library for local searches.
2 – Hoovers – Costs money but you can get to some local employer data
3 – Dunn and Brad Street – Costs money but you can get to some local employer data
NETWORKING
Once again we discuss the importance of networking not just for your career but for your life as well. I think we can agree on the important of networking for your career, after all, it’s estimated that 60 – 80% of jobs today are found via networking.
But what about networking’s importance in our lives? Whether we know it or not we have been networking all of your lives. Have you ever asked someone for a reference on a good roofer or a plumber? Whether you believed it or not you were networking.
CAREER COACHES
We use coaches in many aspects of our lives; Fitness, health, sports (golf, basketball), etc. Why do we use them? Simple. We want to get better. We want someone to hold us accountable, to keep us motivated.
Career coaches do the same for your career. Ask yourself, are you happy with where you are in your career? If so, then you probably don’t need a career coach.
However, if you’re like nearly 70% of employees today who are not engaged in their workplaces or careers and you aspire to get better, increase your opportunities or even the percentage of your net worth, then a career coach might just be for you.
Ask yourself the following questions. If you answer Yes to any of them, that could be and indicators that you might be ready for a career coach.
1 – Your not achieving goals you set for yourself
2 – You feel stuck
3 – You’ve tried different positions and they didn’t work for you
Let’s say you answered Yes to the questions above and you’re interested in learning more here are a few things that a Career Coach will help you do.
1 – Resume re-writes
2 – Networking skills
3 – Develop a strategy
4 – Target employers and people in those employers
5 – How to leverage LinkedIn
6 – How to interview properly
7 – Develop a Career plan
INTERESTED IN TAKING ACTION?
Here are the best ways for you to get in touch with Richard.
Web: executivecareerconsultant.com
Phone: 678-547-0072
eMail executiveimpact@gmail.com
Book: fasttrackyourjobsearch.com
Richard’s final thoughts are:
“You are getting what you deserve because of what you’re doing. You can always change what you’re doing but you need to realize that you are the person who is responsible to make it happen. Take action!”
