By Sue Deisinger

On January 19^th, a “CARAvan” descended upon the first 2012 dinner meeting hosted by the Chicago Chapter of ASTD (CCASTD).  My colleagues—Susan Beyers, Barbara Coughlin, Tina Jandris—and I were curious to hear CCASTD President, Sue Weller, address how learning professionals can better prepare for 2012 and beyond.  Sue spoke on the topic, “State of the Industry…State of YOU!”

Sue’s sources for her address included the ASTD State of the Industry Report, reports from Bersin Associates and Training Magazine.

The good news?  Employers are spending more on learning programs, and the top 3 content areas appear to focus on more advanced, strategic competencies:

1. Management and Supervisory Skills
2. Professional or Industry-specific Learning
3. Mandatory Process or Compliance-related Expertise

These skill-sets are driven by the business need to invest in employee performance.

Sue’s presentation style engaged the audience. She held our interest as she summarized five trends in learning for 2012 and beyond.

1. Increase in the use of social learning and the emergence of the “Social Cyborg” and the implications of talent management.  These are the people who have integrated social networks and information technology into their lives, (think constant Facebook posts) and how they think, learn and solve problems.
2. Increase in mobile engagement; a broader adoption than just mobile learning.  Smartphone applications are creating a more robust environment to access information in general.
3. Increased “gamification.”  Ideas include reward tools to engage the learner like giving out points or virtual badges of completion.  Completion status, or progress, is compared to others, and rewarded. For example, if you complete a certain activity—contribute to a knowledge exchange—you receive a badge, or lead a discussion and receive a more impressive badge.
4. Stronger consideration of change management within learning. Learning leads to understanding, and understanding leads to a commitment to change. Leaders are recognizing that in order to transform an organization they need to consistently communicate their vision and enable the behavior change to occur.
5. Rise in virtual training.  With the economy slow to recover, there is a need to continue to save costs and improve learning effectiveness.  Virtual training is an economic method to bring together people in geographically dispersed.

There is a movement toward individualization, where the learner takes more responsibility on what she/he needs to learn and when vs. participating in an event-based structured program designed for a much broader audience.

What does this all mean to Learning Professionals?  The days of being a purist are gone. We need to be even more multi-disciplinary, beyond solid instructional design skills.  We may also need to develop change management and talent management expertise, for example.

Sue suggests a three-point action plan to brush up on your personal skills and remain competitive for the future:

1. Don’t underestimate the challenges in achieving a goal.  Instead of just stating the goal, be sure to anticipate the challenges in achieving the goal.  Mentally prepare and plan to overcome obstacles to success.
2. Don’t overestimate the rewards. Recognize upfront that your progress maybe incremental, and while meeting your goal may be slower than you hope, the important thing is that you don’t give up.  Keep trying and celebrate the milestones along the way.
3. Don’t try to do it alone. Join your colleagues at future CCASTD dinners where you’ll continue to develop your skills and knowledge. Maybe you can find a colleague to help hold you personally accountable to achieve your goal.

The evening was a practical investment in my own professional development, learning more about emerging Industry trends and enjoying the venue with a supportive group of learning professionals.

We’d like to know what you seeing emerging in your workforce environment.  Please feel free to comment on this article and share your own insights.

By Barbara Coughlin

CARA had the privilege of sponsoring the 10^th Annual Chicagoland Learning Leaders Conference again this year.  It was held at McDonald’s Hamburger University on September 28, 2011 and engaged Learning Leaders from corporations around Chicago and across southern Wisconsin.

As an Account Manager, this is a main event for me – an opportunity to network with my clients and other strategic members of the learning community, in a non-sales environment. I always come away with valuable lessons learned and this year did not disappoint.

The theme of this year’s conference focused on accelerating leadership development.  Here are some highlights:

ACCELERATING LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT

The morning’s keynote speaker was Harry Kraemer, former CEO of Baxter, Professor of Management and Strategy at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, and author of the book, From Values to Action.

Mr. Kraemer shared his insights on leadership, including characteristics of an emerging leader.  Emerging leaders:

• Lead immediately even though they’re not in a leadership position.  This is the type of person that doesn’t wait for permission, he or she takes the lead and makes things happen.
• Are disciplined and choose good habits.
• ‘Lead up’, meaning they know how to influence the C-level (this is key and the hardest to accomplish).
• Undergo self-reflection. Kramer advised a leader needs to know and lead herself before she can lead others.
• Demonstrate true self-confidence, he knows what he’s not good at, and admits it so he can surround himself with people who are good at “it”.

In summary, Harry Kraemer high-lighted his own lessons learned in identifying four key elements of a successful leader:

1. Self-reflection
2. Life/work balance
3. True self-confidence
4. Humility – never forget “the cube” you came from

Well, the morning’s keynote presentation set the tone for a day of collaboration with 70-80 corporate thought leaders and a difficult choice to select among 25 interactive sessions, including a case study presented by CARA’s own client, Kathleen Long, Director of Organizational Development at Career Education Corporation.  Kathleen presented Building Foundational Management Skills to Accelerate Organizational Change.  Kathleen shared how her organization rebuilt the necessary skills across middle management that had been depleted by the economic impact of corporate downsizing.  She provided an inspiring model for other organizations to go back to basics.

The afternoon keynote presentation was equally noteworthy.

THE FUTURE OF TRAINING & DEVELOPMENT

Cigna’s Chief Learning Officer, Karen Kocher, was the afternoon’s keynote speaker. In her session, The Future of Training & Development: Identifying Behaviors, Competencies & Skills to Sustain High Performance, Karen shared trends emerging in the workforce over the next 10 years. 

Karen’s insights were drawn, in part, from a recent study of more than 3,000 global CEOs.  The study indicated that talent development is one of the top five differentiators a company must leverage for future success.  Here are some other highlights that will impact the future of corporate learning and development:

• ”Smart mobbing” or “Swarming” – a process where sources from across the organization come together just to solve one problem and then dissolve.
• Millennials, born between 1980 and 1995, will be a force, and with only about 80 million of them, there will not be enough to fill the jobs required.
• Telecommuting will continue to be on the rise.
• Employees will prefer more job flexibility for less pay.
• Company Alumni networks will continue to grow, leveraging social media practices to stay in touch.
• Employees will want to be treated as individuals by HR, personally tailored programs and initiatives will be important to retaining key employees.

These trends appeared to resonate among the learning and talent executives in the room. The challenges facing corporate leaders to attract and retain the future brightest and best in the workforce are both exciting and daunting. 

On a personal note, I have to continue a conversation with my clients to ensure CARA stays ahead of the curve and provides value to their future learning, performance and change management needs.

The 10^th Annual Chicagoland Learning Leaders Conference was successful again this year.  Learning thought leaders and vendor partners seemed to come away with solid lessons learned and an optimistic view of the future of workforce learning and development.

By Barry Larson

I recently attended the June dinner meeting for our local chapter of ASTD (American Society for Training and Development). Knowing the room was full of training practitioners and the keynote speaker was Bob Pike, aka “Train-The-Trainer Guru,” being a lonely sales guy, I was anticipating a very technical presentation that I could only hope to follow. Who would have guessed that I would have walked away with meaningful life lessons?

The title of Bob Pike’s presentation was “11 Ways to Survive & Thrive in Turbulent Times.” No one disagreed that we are deep into turbulent waters, so Bob Pile observed that “rising tides float all ships.” It’s in the tough times you need to ensure that your ship is sound to weather the storm, so that by working on yourself and focusing on others’ needs, we can all succeed during these rough times.

Now, I’m not the best note taker, so I can’t be sure that I counted 11 techniques. No matter – what I took away were some important lessons on how to survive and thrive in turbulent times:

1. Work on your interpersonal skills. These are the assets that sustain you throughout your career, and in particular, focus on listening skills. “The awesome power of the listening ear,” was a phrase expressed by Bob Pike. Listening differentiates you from the noise in the world. You’ll be ready to respond more effectively when someone needs to be heard.
2. Become a life-long learner. Actively seek knowledge of your industry, your client’s company and industry, new skills – whatever. Learning keeps you sharp and helps you think more strategically. As Bob says, “Don’t learn to pass [the test]; learn for living.”
3. Become a trusted advisor:

• Earn trust – make small promises and keep them. Bob says, “Promise much, deliver more, and do it consistently.”
• Provide advice based upon what someone needs; not what you get out of it.
• Build relationships – deepen your network by providing value for someone.

This inspirational session closed with a message of appreciation. When Bob asked the group if anyone was over-appreciated, not a single hand was raised. He cautioned us not to let a generous impulse pass, as “the greatest need for every human being is appreciation.” After a few heartfelt personal stories by Bob Pike, I could see a few teary eyes among the audience members. It was clear people were taking the message to heart.

Well, thanks, Bob Pike. I truly appreciate the wisdom of your teaching.

10 Tips from Recruiters to Get & Keep You in the Job Search Game

By Gina Arinyanontakoon and Lisa Vitale

As if the recession wasn’t tough enough, now job seekers have a jobless recovery to endure. And while “jobless” may be an exaggeration, today’s slightly improved employment numbers have only increased, rather than relieved, the competition in the job market. It appears that people who gave up searching for jobs in recent years are now willing to give it another shot. More resumes are flowing in for every opportunity and more interview candidates are squeezing into every reception area.

You might imagine, with the increased competition and limited opportunities, that job seekers today would present a pristine resume and sharp interviewing skills. Not so. The fact is, the majority of job seekers—even experienced ones—still make fatal flaws in these early phases of the job search cycle.

As two recruiters who interview thousands of professionals seeking jobs each year, and review 50 times as many resumes, we understand the pressure you are under and the competition you face. To give you an informed edge in the job search process, we are happy to share with you our top 10 tips for resume and interview success. Use these guidelines wisely and you will elevate yourself high above today’s crowds of job seekers.  Trust us—we have seen firsthand what you are up against!

10 Insider Tips for Job Search Success

Resume Tips:

1.    Perfect Your Resume Grammar – It’s more unusual today to come across a resume that is free of grammar errors than one with them. So make your resume one of the precious few without grammatical flaws and you will certainly get a jaded recruiter to take notice.

Avoid grammar issues by enlisting a team of proofreaders. Use friends and family but also try to get an industry peer or mentor to read through it. Check to make sure you are spelling and capitalizing technologies correctly. No one will believe you are an expert in SPSS® Statistics 18 or Articulate Studio ‘09 if you can’t spell them.

It also helps to read your resume backwards line by line. Why? Because your mind stops reading a text once you are overly familiar with it. By reading a document backwards you can trick your mind into focusing again and picking up the little errors you weren’t previously catching.

2.    Use Job-specific Examples – Take a few minutes to tailor experience listed at previous jobs on your resume to the position to which you are applying. This simply means modifying the experience you list under each previous position to demonstrate skills and knowledge you would use in the new job. While this minor adjusting might not work for every prior job, you will be surprised to see how you can better align yourself as a job candidate to the role. You are helping recruiters see how years of experience have cultivated you for their opportunities. Chances are they will thank you with an interview request.

3.    Add Skills and Accomplishments Sections – We recruiters are notorious skimmers. We do not read every line of a resume but tend to hunt for the information we need. To ensure your skills and big achievements are not overlooked, add sections dedicated to these areas. Skills sections should focus on technologies you are proficient in, language skills and any abilities required for your specific profession. If you have notable accomplishments (awards, publications, etc.) create an accomplishments section as well. Don’t let your resume get tossed to the wayside because recruiters were unable to hunt and peck to find all your talents, skills and successes. Display them proudly and prominently.

4.    Keep the Length Reasonable – Unless you’re Neil Armstrong or Hillary Clinton, there is no reason your resume should be more than a few pages long—three at the very most but two is still ideal. It’s good to be proud of what you have accomplished but if those accomplishments are from your high school and college years, let them go and focus on more current experience.  (Obviously, if you’re a new grad in your early twenties, you’ll want to include those years to represent the sum total of your work experience.) You can keep your resume more succinct by choosing which four to five recent roles to highlight in detail (with bulleted experience) and using only key data, such as employer, years employed and role, for other, older jobs.

5.    Keep the Design Clean – Recruiters love a streamlined resume in terms of design. This does not mean your resume must replicate high art, but that the design should allow the eye to flow easily along the page, it should distinguish key sections and it should look clean and organized. Leverage your proofreading team to find out how clean your resume looks and to help you watch for the warning signs of a messy document: more than two fonts, a myriad of headlines and no clear margins or sections.

Interview Tips:

6.    Make Eye Contact – While this may sound like a skill learned in kindergarten, many, many interviewees forget the importance of making eye contact during the interview. If direct eye contact makes you nervous, simply direct your gaze slightly above the eyes (such as eyebrow and forehead region). And eye contact is just the start of good body language. Remember a strong handshake and confident posture are also essential in telling the interviewer you are smart, engaged and competent.

7.    Prepare, then Prepare Some More – Go into the interview informed. Learn about the employer and get all the knowledge you can about the position before you enter the interview room. You can do this by asking for more insight directly from the hiring manager, getting insight from a peer or colleague in the company and doing some good Internet research. The knowledge you gain will allow you to ask interesting, informed questions during the interview and help you tailor your responses directly to things you know about the job. We recruiters are always impressed with candidates who do their homework. It shows that you are self-reliant and ready to work hard.

In addition, you should arrive at the interview with your work samples ready for review. You should be able to flip through them—in a portfolio or on your computer—with ease and expertise right in front of the interviewer. If you are scrambling to find the right example, you come across as disorganized.  Remember, being perceived as “disorganized” is never a good impression for a job candidate to leave.

8.    Answer Questions with the Job in Mind – Rather than simply answering each question the recruiter throws at you, take a moment to think and ask yourself this: “What does this question have to do with the job?”  In most cases it will be obvious, but you always want to keep in mind that the interviewer is looking for specific information from you. Do your best to try and relate your responses to the job in question and the work they will want from you. And don’t be afraid to ask. If you are not sure about a question say this: “That’s an interesting question and I hope I answered it well. How does it relate to the Program Development position itself?” You might get the interviewer to tell you more so you can better address their concerns and/or questions.

9.    Sit Up and Engage – Interviews can feel long and stressful but don’t let your interviewer know it. It’s important to stay cool, not fidget and never check your watch. If you are bored, fight the urge to slouch or fiddle. You may have decided that the opportunity is not right for you, but not taking the interview seriously could come back to haunt you. Remember, recruiters and hiring managers have wide networks that extend far into your industry. Even if the interview doesn’t work out, being professional in the interview mitigates the risk of others hearing anything negative.

10.    Groom Yourself for Success – Appearances matter, it’s a fact. Unruly hair, unshaven faces and disheveled clothes are all warning signs to a recruiter that the candidate is not serious about the job.

At CARA, we were recently surprised to hear that a high-performing training consultant fared poorly in an interview. The problem? She wore lots and lots of perfume. The scent was so intense it distracted the interviewer who had a difficult time focusing on the interview.  Needless to say, if you are interviewing for a project/job, everything needs to be toned down: perfume, jewelry and dress.

The “Keep-it-Simple and Clean” rule applies here. If you have outgrowth, get rid of it before the interview. Stubble? Shave it? Beat up fingernails and hands? Try a manicure. Wrinkled clothes? Iron or dry clean them. Show up looking sharp and you will not only look better, you will feel better.

Searching for the right job is hard work and it’s easy for today’s job seekers to get discouraged. That’s why we counsel candidates to treat the job search process itself like a career.  Prepare, dress professionally, work hard and take the process seriously. The more committed and professional you are in the job hunt, the more quickly you will be identified as a hard worker worth hiring.

Do you have any specific resume or interview questions for our recruiting team? Send us your toughest questions and we will answer them here.