career guide - Don Huse's Blog

Fortune's Best Companies to Work For

Recently, Fortune published their annual list of best companies to work for. Of course these companies have worked to create a culture that makes for a good work environment, and for this they are to be commended.

Three companies headquartered in San Antonio made the 2010 list:

    21 NuStar Energy

    38 The Scooter Store

    45 USAA

There were also three from the 2009 list:

    43 Rackspace Hosting

    44 NuStar Energy

    93 Valero Energy

Check out the full list from this year and previous years at

http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/bestcompanies/2010/full_list/

Is it time to reinvent yourself?

Seth Godin thinks it may be and I agree. No, not the creation of something artificial. Rather, the discovery of more authentic work. In his recent ChangeThis manifesto titled Brainwashed: Seven Ways to Reinvent Yourself, Seth challenges us with the following:

“Years ago, when you were about four years old, the system set out to persuade you of something that isn’t true...to teach you that you’re average. That compliant work is the best way to a reliable living. That creating average stuff for average people, again and again, is a safe and easy way to get what you want."

Seth continues,

"Are you serious about transformation? I’m not talking about polishing yourself, improving yourself,making things a bit better. I’m talking about the reset button, a reinvention that changes the game. That means an overhaul in what you believe and how you do your job. If you’re up for that, then right here, right now, you can start."

I encourage you to download and read the ebook here.

Important: coach your references!

 If you have not discovered the Job Search Strategy Guide ebook, you can find it here. Below is an excerpt from the fifth section:

Develop a “Who Loves Me?” Reference List 

Develop a list of four to six people who can testify to your specific professional skills and related achievements. Choose from: past/present supervisors, subordinates, peers, customers (internal or external), or vendors.

Plan to prepare each reference as if the person were part of your “marketing team.” Verify that the daytime contact information (phone and e-mail) you have for them is correct. Share your self-introduction commercial and ask the reference to confirm specific skills they saw you use during the time you worked together. Coach them through developing “success stories” that support your identified skills so that they can relate these specific stories to potential employers when contacted.

Send each reference a copy of your current resume. Once references are presented to a potential employer for verification, plan to contact each reference with details about the position you are being considered for so that they can be prepared for a call from the employer.