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Quintessential Answers:
Q&A's with Career & College Experts

 

Questions and Answers with Career Expert Bill Dueease

 

Please note: On a somewhat infrequent basis, Quintessential Careers asks noted career experts five questions related to their expertise and publishes the interview in the current issue of QuintZine, our career e-newsletter. Those interviews are archived here for your convenience.

 

Bill Dueease is a business coach and president The Coach Connection.

 

Q:

What's the one job-hunting secret you share with clients/students but that may not be widely known?

A:

One of the most important factors people use to decide upon which applicants to hire is the applicants genuine enthusiasm and desire to perform in the job. The more applicants can show that they have a strong personal desire -- almost passion -- to produce the results desired by the company (because they really will enjoy performing the duties of the position), the greater chance they have of being hired.   In essence, employers will hire applicants who really want the position and can show that they will perform exceptionally well in the position with little management, motivation, and involvement by employers. Virtually all positions will require some form of training, because of company policies, standards, methods, and the uniqueness of the positions. Applicants who show a strong desire to learn every aspect of the new jobs on their own, because they love performing in the position, make great employees.   People should not try to fake enthusiasm, or look at the potential salary as the motivating force behind seeking a job. Their eagerness has to be very genuine and be focused on performing the job itself and not on the compensation levels available.   People must discover beforehand, which job positions will allow them to fulfill their passions, desires, and priorities, and that will result in the genuine enthusiasm discussed above. They will rarely develop this enthusiasm during job interviews or during the application process. Instead, they will want to research which jobs exist that allow them to perform the job functions they are eager to do. Then, they need to find which industries and companies have the jobs they really want. They will want to apply for only the specific jobs they are genuinely enthusiastic about, within their own personal limits, whether the jobs are known to be open or not.   Applicants will be amazed how receptive employers will be to unsolicited applications for very specific jobs, when genuine enthusiasm for the position is shown, whether the positions appear to be vacant or not. In fact, employers give specific, focused, passionate applications serious consideration. In the specific position being so eagerly applied for, employers may have disgruntled, non-performing employees or employees who are likely to leave. Or the positions may be vacant, a fact that the employer has not reported to avoid the typical stampede of general applications.   One of the reasons employers lean toward younger applicants rather than more experienced older applicants is that the degree of enthusiasm is normally greater in the younger applicants. Older applicants' cautiousness and protectiveness of their egos and pride often prevent them from revealing their true enthusiasm.

 

Q:

Thinking "outside the box," what's the best way for someone who just has no clue of the type of job/career he/she wants -- perhaps a career changer -- to figure out what career will give him/her the greatest happiness?

A:

The very best way for anyone to discover what career will provide the greatest happiness is to engage the services of a career coach. In fact, having someone provide true objective, honest coaching is the only way people can figure out what they really want to do in their work and lives.   A career coach will act as a truth-seeking mirror to reach in and pull out and then reveal the true passions, desires and priorities, beliefs and values, and talents of the people they are coaching. A coach provides an objective, nonjudgmental, non-critical view of their clients' inner workings in the same way a mirror on the wall reveals a picture of a person's face. People cannot see their own face, head or back, because their eyes are looking out. Similarly, people cannot see their own passions, priorities, values and talents without someone acting as an objective, honest mirror. When a person uses a coach, to discover the truth about him or her, he or she will become "The World's Leading Expert on Himself or Herself."   Please notice that the coach will not discuss strengths or weaknesses. Why? Because a coach only uncovers what is there and does not make any judgments.   Once the coach and client uncover their true desires, passions, values and talents, they can then work as a team to develop, build, create, find, those income positions that will allow the client to fulfill passions and priorities, follow values, and maximize talents. In essence, coach and client build the positions to fit the person. They then work together as a team to actually get the that best fits the client at the time.   It is my personal opinion that assessments mislead test-takers by providing conclusions that are frequently wrong. Assessments are based upon statistics. The assessments consider the percentages of how test-takers follow patterns set by the control group and reach conclusions using these percentages. Far too many variables enter into the determination of the conclusions of the assessments to allow much, if any accuracy. Some of the variables that affect the accuracy of the assessments include how the test-takers feel; how the test-takers read and interpret the questions; how the questions are composed; the relevant accuracy of the questions themselves to the control groups that created the results; the interpretation accuracy of the assessment evaluator; and the relevance of the purpose of the assessments to the test-taker's goals and expectations.   It is my opinion that assessments should be used sparingly and only as one of many different tools to uncover the truth about a person. Personal coaching, when conducted under the four conditions it was designed for, will provide the most accurate and most valuable insight into what a person really wants to do.

 

Q:	What's your advice for the job-seeker who is returning to the workforce after an extended absence (because of for example, raising a family), to re-enter the workforce?
A:	One answer to that question can be found in my article, 7 Secrets to Convert Motherhood into a New Successful Career.

 

Q:

What do you feel are some of the biggest mistakes career-changers make? What's the wrong way to go about making a career change?

A:

Most of us spend approximately 25 percent to more than 67 percent of our waking hours working. Eventually, most everyone will want to work in a career that they enjoy doing and are paid well enough to live a prosperous life. Yet, far too many people end up being miserable in their job and find themselves stuck in a career that they did not choose and do not like. Yet, there is really nothing wrong with the people who are stuck and miserable, and there is really nothing wrong with the people they are working for. Instead, they are just working in the wrong position for them. They do not fit. This misalignment does not have to happen, but does because people do not take control of their career-selection process. Here are the two most common and most disastrous mistakes people make in making their career selections.   Mistake No. 1: Following the normal trial-and-error career-selection process. Many people follow the same trial-and-error path to work. They take a job that appears to be the best opportunity and try it out. They adjust to what their employer requires to achieve advancement. They bend even more to the wishes of their employer because they are normally rewarded with praise and advancement for doing so. Eventually, they discover that they have adjusted so far that they are stuck in a job or a career that they really don't like. If they are lucky, they might find another job and try it out, using the same trial-and-error process. They eventually end up at the same unhappy position. Unhappy people rarely do well at their job or position and lose income favor or both. Unfortunately, many people then get down on themselves and think they are not that good, when in truth, only their selection process is flawed, and they will excel at the position that is right for them.   Mistake No. 2: Following a career path to please others. Many people feel obligated to follow a career to please others or that they feel they should pursue. Spousal influence, peer pressure, family tradition, parental pressure, societal pressure, and other outside pressures are frequently allowed to dictate career paths. In these situations, they end up working to suit the needs, wants and expectations of someone other than themselves, and deep conflicts arise. These conflicts become a festering sore that will eventually seriously strain or damage the relationship with the person or group they are trying to please. What a rut to be in. They end up working at a position they do not like, and they become strained from the people they wanted to please in the first place.

 

Q:

Given that most employers would prefer to hire someone with experience for any given opening, what are some ways that career-changers can demonstrate their enthusiasm for a new field, and more importantly, their ability to do a job they may not have done before?

A:

First, I do not believe that most employers would prefer to hire someone with experience. Employers want employees who will require the least amount of training, effort, management, or time to reach a high level of performance at their position. Past experience of applicants is just one of the many indicators of their capability to perform in the position.   The first way to demonstrate enthusiasm for a position is to determine, in advance, what jobs you really are enthusiastic about and apply for them only. In addition, research the position, the company, and the industry to discover as much as possible about what the position entails, before the interview. That way your enthusiasm will be genuine, and you will more confident in expressing it. Employers can easily spot fake enthusiasm. Another way is to ask questions about what you can do in the position to create more profits and value for the employer, so that the employer will be assured of profiting from your employment. Focus on the results desired and ask the best way to achieve them. Show your enthusiasm and willingness to produce the desired results on your own.   Employers want people who will produce greater than expected results with the least amount of management on their part. A high degree of genuine enthusiasm for a specific job, coupled with enough experience to show an employer that you can perform the job, creates an almost unbeatable new employee.

 

 

Bill Dueease is a business coach who is the president The Coach Connection (TCC), which he co-founded in May 2001, to assist people to achieve their greatest results from life and career coaching. More than 96.5 percent of TCC's clients have achieved their initial life and career goals because they were assured that the four key conditions to successful coaching were met before engaging their coach. Fortune Magazine, Female Entrepreneur, The Brazen Careerist, and The AMEX Platinum Card Newsletter have described TCC to its readers. Bill had previously founded other very successful companies, including a Texas petroleum company in 1980, a New Zealand ski area in 1982, and a nationwide US office products distribution company in 1992. Bill was featured in a 30-minute 1988 documentary film produced by the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) and the New Zealand Government describing how a simple sheep-grazing mountain was so successfully converted into the Cardrona NZ ski area. Bill's educational articles on career and business coaching solutions have been published more than 97 times throughout the US and Canada, by 71+ magazines and periodicals. Bill can be reached at The Coach Connection or via e-mail at bill@findyourcoach.com.

 

 

Check out all our interview with career experts in Quintessential Answers: Q&A's with Career & College Experts.

 

 

Maximize your career and job-search knowledge and skills! Take advantage of The Quintessential Careers Content Index, which enables site visitors to locate articles, tutorials, quizzes, and worksheets in 35 career, college, job-search topic areas.

 

 

 

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