Who says your failures can’t lead to success? Employers it seems.

We are fond of saying, “Failure is not an option.” And “when it’s rough, the tough get going.” That may be a positive result of the United States unemployment situation and lagging economy.

Today’s unemployed may have failed in nailing a specific job or holding on to one in hard economic times, but they are learning fast from previous mistakes and have an attitude more in tune with success than failure. If they don’t get a job, they’ll make one. Highly successful start-ups are one result. And leaders who think finding alternative options and problem-solving are sometimes one and the same.

That raises an interesting question. What might happen if you were to submit a list of your failures and what you learned from them as a résumé?

How many people do we know who made it “big,” after years of failure? Today, fewer people may be unemployed statistically because rather than be unemployed, they kept plugging away at re-designing themselves to fit in, but since that didn’t appear to be happening, they had to do something on their own. So they created.

You hear it all the time. Statistics show we can be expected to have 11 to 13 different careers in a lifetime. That tells me times have changed. Do employers really think a job hunter will be with the company for 30 years with an eye toward retirement? If they do, they’re out of touch. Especially when it comes to employing the millennials in the workforce today; a long-term commitment, tied to one place, is not the life for a millennial. In fact, most millennials would probably prefer to be unemployed than work for a company that puts itself first.

Listing major accomplishments has been the format for effective résumé for a long time, and companies still ask for the obvious position-related experience.

That’s not the norm in the Silicon Valley and other high technology centers where creativity and failure is used to evaluate candidates for new jobs.

Companies and organizations are forever complaining they can’t find innovative workers with problem-solving abilities. However, the real problem is that companies aren’t hiring employees or even training employees in most cases to be innovative; instead they hire people, using the same barometer and that barometer has changed.

Can we predict an applicant’s future performance based on the failure résumé? Probably not. The applicant will have, however, demonstrated a pioneering, entrepreneurial spirit, a form of leadership, in overcoming the odds with persistence. In computer science, “persistence” is a characteristic, outliving the process that created it. In humans that persistence seems more a sort of perpetual motion, once thought to be impossible. Survival. Not survival of the fittests, but survival nonetheless.

The idea of using a “failure resume” is intriguing to contemplate. So intriguing, in fact, it could and should become the way we look at ourselves and others. After all, scientists overcome many failed experiments to form a new theory, discover a novel idea or develop a unique product. Artistic professionals, albeit in art, in music or in theatre, withstand many failures or rejections of their work before they become successful. It is about creativity or talent, doggedness, and, most of all, learning from mistakes. As a society we try to learn from our mistakes often over and over again.

The HR’s idea of having a “proven track record” should change, but only in the way we look at people who learn from their mistakes and go on to have successes based on what they learn.

We all learn best by doing. Isn’t that what apprenticeships were for in 16th through 19th century? To allow apprentices to learn the trade, expecting they would make minor mistakes under the guidance of a seasoned mentor, but that they would learn from their mistakes.

Experience is still what we need in business or any organization. The hiring system needs to be more welcoming as far as candidate failures. Negative candidate behaviors such as stealing from the company, abusing their position or treating their workers inappropriately are still not forgivable. But some failures, any failure at all really, is used to narrow the pool of otherwise qualified candidates.

Some management and leadership experts, including university professors, now suggest we look at an applicant failures and the after result. A few universities and colleges are developing this approach, but change is hard across the board. Many corporations, still wired to the market approach to business, adhere to that tradition and do not develop creativity and problem solving within; if the market dips for their products they often look to buy thriving innovative start-ups, absorbing their creative personnel. In general, you might say, creativity and unproven problem-solving is not embraced; although if you look closely, the most successful CEOs are innovative in their thinking and leadership. Companies will often hire from that proven traditional “success” pool—hence the increasingly large salaries. Perhaps, they should do otherwise, finding creativity outside among the “losers” who aren’t really “losers.” These are dedicated professionals who have redirected their creative energies out of frustration with the status quo.

If they accept this notion, how do companies and organization go about updating their system? Change doesn’t happen overnight either, so they should start small. Hiring creative managers (maybe even developing a creative manager position for the company) would be a good start. They should also begin by taking the same risk creative people do, trying on a number of options. That means hiring former failures and trainers to maintain that sharp, creative edge. There’s no other way to find a Henry Ford, Nikola Tesla, Thomas Edison, Albert Einstein, and more recently a Bill Gates or a Steve Jobs. They all have a wealth of ideas and the willingness toward innovation in common. And the determination to continue until they created a novel occurrence in the form of a product or idea. Of course, they all failed miserably at first.

But the business communities aren’t the only ones ignoring creativity as a means to success. So are the schools with their “right and wrong” testing. As a college professor, I offer my students a chance to fail an assignment and then succeed at it; I want students learn from their mistakes and correct them. It has always made sense. If in education, why not in training? Why not train a creativity manager for a company or organization? Or, become one yourself.

Be sure to use a “failure resume.” Why not a resume that lists failures and corrective actions (and the bigger picture: what was learned)? List your biggest failures versus achievements. Then, ask yourself, what you learned from those failures. Did those failures, in any way, help you with your achievements–what you are most proud of.

Is it time for a failure resume?

Yes, according to David and Tom Kelley in their article, “To Find Your Success, Write Your First Failure Resume,” reprinted in FastCopy, an online magazine focused on leadership. This isn’t new idea. Failure theory has been around since the days of the caveman, when it made sense to keep trying to improve their present grasp on rudimentary tool making—the technology of the day. Officially, it’s been around in scientific journals since at least 1870s. You could say it’s paid its dues and earned its place.

Fifteen years into the new millennial era, we are still in the Technology Age–a fertile world for innovation. Even the idea of left brain/right brain determination of creative ability has changed. Current views favor the notion that both parts of the brain contribute plenty, depending on the individual and the type of activity, i.e., artist versus engineer. Creativity flourishes in the face of adversity.

Just as it’s healthy by psychological standards to accept your failures, accept change, adapt and move on, all the while learning from those failures. Failure and our adaptability define us.

Check out these related links. See “A Resume of My Failures,” and “How ‘Failure Resumes’ Can Boost Leadership Development.” You may also be interested in “Einstein’s Big Brain” and Steve Martin’s play, Picasso at the Lapin Agile.

Of course that’s not the end of the story…only the beginning.

Happy Training.

By the way, this is not all I do. I believe in connections. Information and communication is applicable in training and development as well as education. If you are interested in my approach here or in other offerings on the site, you might also be interested in my book, The Cave Man Guide to Training and Development. “Cave” and “Man” are separate on purpose. The “cave” is simply where we train. I promise there will be a II and III based on my articles here. If you like what you see here, I have a blog site, Shaw’s Reality, where I look at the world’s reality from a variety of perspectives. I have also published a young adult science fiction dystopian novel, In Makr’s Shadow.

By all means though, check out The Free Management Library’s complete training section.

The Age of Technology seems to be creating more introverts than ever. Although not true in every workplace, introverts in most work environments used to be the minority. Now that’s changed. Our electronic devices are pulling us inward. We all have phones but rarely use them to make a call. The idea of talking to someone directly or via a device is not the preferred method to communicate. We text, text and text. Well, sometimes we Skype, but mostly we communicate with abbreviated text, often incognito, in the freedom of the internet world.

At work, more people are sitting in the shadows these days, hiding behind a computer screen, locked on to hard-fast rules, knowing only one answer to a problem. It is comfortable to stay invisible. We all know that the world of work may appreciate that some people have to turn in work without communicating; however, few would deny that most of our business and community leaders are high achievers in part because they are good or great communicators. These leaders know the value of face-to-face communication and have the confidence to use it.

Most of us feel we are connected, but we aren’t really. What we may have gained in our reach for knowing the world, we’ve lost in knowing ourselves, in our personal connectivity. So many things we do in person, we leave to an abbreviated script. It allows us to maintain aloofness, disguise our intentions, and forsake our fellow humans because it’s easier to be shy. Or, distant. Or, above the fray.

As if it all didn’t matter–it being not IT, but interpersonal communication. Pun intended.

Naturally, good communication is important in work, play and home. So, why then is it pushed aside for efficiency? It is, and you know it. You’ve experienced it. You know how bad it feels when someone sends a text or email and you think they should have called or spoke in person. The rules have changed and there are probably only a few handbooks on what is appropriate now.

It’s not just about appropriateness. We need to communicate honestly with spoken words.

Since this blog is about training… How do we inspire people who don’t see the need for soft skills acquire them? It’s a tough call. Check out my next blog. Better yet, offer some answers yourself.

I’ve written on communication skills for trainers on occasion, but this is–a rather unusual piece of writing addressed to “students” to help them understand the connection among us and the significance of communication to their world of work.

Before I was a trainer, I was a teacher. Now that I have somewhat retired… No one who really loves their work really retires… I am teaching again–this time teaching English, Critical Thinking and especially Public Speaking at a proprietary college, where no one majors in these subjects and, for the most part, find them redundant if not totally unnecessary. “Public speaking” is code for communication plain and simple.

Today’s reality is not so stark, yet employers are concerned that workers have problems interacting and problem solving. The idea of selling oneself is almost a thing of a past–or at least in eyes of job-seekers. Mostly, they want their résumés to do the talking when good communication skills are what the job interviews and the jobs really calls for.

As I perused some of my older blogs to ensure they are still up-to-date, I discovered an article I wrote awhile back discussing the question: are condensed progams, hybrid and online classes the answer for students in education today or even trainees in a part online/part classroom session? I suppose today I might have come to one or two different conclusions. And, my focus was a little different then. Check them both if you have time.

In that other article I talked about the results as if, all things being equal, that the students who come from hybrid or online programs would be perceived as “educated” as those who came from a traditional program. So that is one factor we’re going to consider here, but also a few others.

And, not to be considered biased, I have to ask, were the students who came from the traditional programs up to the maturity level of those who waited to go to school later and balanced work, family and studies to get a degree? I can remember teaching at one of these proprietary schools, “night schools,” or hybrid schools and discovering students so far above the rest academically, I wanted to ask them and I confess at that phase of my early college teaching career I did ask, “Why aren’t you at such and such university.” The answer usually made sense, certainly to them, and made me feel a little foolish. I don’t ask anymore.

Everyone has their reasons. By the same token, I have seen students who wandered in and out, called themselves adults who didn’t have to come to class, and simply refused to do anything they didn’t have to do to pass or hold onto their grant. They were full of excuses. Full of themselves. Full of attitude. Even in the condensed hybrid classes, which consists of only eight or fewer classroom meetings. The students read some chapters, do some a few activities, and use some kind of thread to stay connected to each other and the professor two or three times a week. At that time, the students are usually required to answer specific open-ended questions twice a week. The idea is for the students to stay involved and thinking during the week when not in class. Some students easily managed to miss two classes and be dis-enrolled from the class. Somehow I manage to make all eight classes and rarely leave the room beyond breaks to answer my cell phone. Most students are deserving, some just hard to get through to, which is why I teach in such an environment. You have to learn the way the world works somehow and the college classroom is a much better environment than on the streets.

My students are getting the idea now that it is a good idea to go to college. What makes the most sense to them? Getting the degree in the shortest amount of time. To some, unfortunately, it means a minimum of effort as well.

Again, as a professor myself, I discovered I had to work harder to ensure the students were pulling for themselves, propping them up, and encouraging them. The traditional schools don’t do that. Some say they do, but I don’t recall it happening at any of my schools. But I can tell you this: the students were ready to learn. Teaching at a school where students want to be there (and it’s not an afterthought or a move of desperation) you don’t have to over-perform, and you don’t have to feel badly if someone doesn’t do an assignment or misses class. I realize there are always exceptions to every generalization and that’s my point.

Not everyone at a traditional college or university is worth hiring anymore than someone who gets their degree online or non-traditionally. What is true is that the person who sits there actively listening, treating you and everyone around you respectively, and seems honestly interested in the company is someone who is worthy of being employed. If not by your company, by another.

Look carefully at the student/employee in front of you. Technically, I teach speech, but with it I’m also teaching or training confidence and credibility. If that person sitting in front of you seems right (comfortable and together), maybe he or she is. If Human Relations sent you his or her file, that person made the cut. See if you can’t connect with that person without knowing or caring what school or what kind of education he or she received. Is that really important to the job? Try it at least once. I promise you, there’s always a gem.

How can I say this? I know in my classes my standards remain high and I work hard with my students to meet them. They don’t all make “A”s and “B”s, but they know where they stand and what they need to do. Sometimes the challenge is so great they all get the grades they want and deserve. I like that.

We are all so busy these days and the entire world so electronic it makes sense for schools to change with it. Libraries are loaning electronic books. Schools are assigning students books that the students can buy less expensively as an e-book. Yes, there’s an app for that. For that matter, I can’t think of any traditional college or university, state or private, that doesn’t offer evening classes, condensed or hybrid or online classes. Our students are changing before our eyes. For the trainers among us the same could be said of our younger trainees; they come from a different place–it’s still Earth, but more electronic than we remember.

Happy Training…and Teaching

– See more at: https://staging.management.org/blogs/training-and-development/2011/05/18/using-the-turn-over-training-guide/#sthash.uParCHgr.dpuf

Most of us would agree that internships are probably the best kind of training since it involves real world experience usually attached to related academic work. There are some disagreements as to the value and cost to the company. And, although how internships operate, whether paid or unpaid, and does depend on the country involved, it appears to me it is the best value for the money all around–for the student intern, the university, and the company.

Even under the strictest scenario, the rules are very simple, the intern is there to learn, not take a job from someone else in the company (therefore, not free labor), and the most damage is take a little extra time away from a worker. Properly managed, if no cost to the company, a win-win situation.

So, why the negativity? It’s the way the world works. Whenever there are too many options, there are always those who will try to take advantage. A buck is a buck. While not to deny a person his or her livelihood, it seems little cost to bear for the fruit it delivers down the road. It seems here vision is somewhat short-sighted. What are the current options?

In America, for example, internships may be offered as paid or unpaid, credit or no credit, given to the needy or only to those of a particular university. If someone can get paid and still benefit, that’s good. If a company can get paid by the university to take a student because it is offering credit, that’s good. You see, there’s a lot of room for self-serving here, while the benefit for the dedicated student and company is the same either way. That is the caveat. The dedicated student.

In a perfect world, it makes sense for internships to be offered to deserving candidates–those students who have shown an aptitude or willingness to work hard. Put a committee together of academicians and company representatives and decide who would be the best fit over a few months of the internship.

Next comes, the notion of paid or unpaid. Who is paid? The student? The university? The company? Answer this question: Is the student working for a grade, possible position or experience to put on a resume, and does the company want first choice? Complex answer to a complex question.

Note. I just happened on a flyer recently at Drexel University in Philadelphia offering students internships $1,600 a month to learn three jobs in company. The pay’s not great, what an opportunity to add to the resume and be in a key position to apply for a job with this company if the student is interested and has made a good impression.

So, what is the answer? We have to be very careful in asking for what we want. I would like to see simpler terms and my less than Ivy League background would prefer that specific schools not be targeted, but that’s not my call. I have seen interns treated both poorly and used to great benefit to themselves, in this case the Federal government. Make the most out the interns you have, not so much in the work you have them do, but in the learning of how things work in your organization. Give them a project or two and let them run with it. The example I mentioned above? The two interns I felt were managed well actually came back to the program after graduation and were instant assets. They were also quickly promoted. They were enthusiastic, knew what they wanted and knew how to get it.

If your company has not had interns in the past, now is the time to give one or two a chance at the experience. Most schools have senior practicums or independent projects and the students write a paper at the end of their experience summing up what they learned–essentially taking the book learning and matching it with the real life experience. The school may even offer internships and all it takes is a phone call to get on their list. A pretty good connection, if you ask me.

By the way, just so you know. In other countries, students are often required to have benefits, work a certain number of hours, and may include vacations. We aren’t there yet, but the prospects anytime of a win-win-win is always a good thing.

The article below is a good reason for internships. Students are not perceived as performing up to par. For more information on what he and other perceive is needed to succeed in the world of work, check out Jeff Selingo’s article: Congratulations College Graduate Now Tell Us What Did You Learn. Some of the following posts offering different perspectives. They are just that–perspectives. I believe every type of learning: educational, training, or experiential, depends on the motivation of the user, and how the employer perceives the value of that source of learning. It’s the human factor. I still feel Internships are a good way to see what’s really there from both sides of the equation.

For more resources about training, see the Training library.

A final reminder: I do have a website where you can find other items I have written, including my best selling, The Cave Man Guide To Training and Development and my novel about the near future, Harry’s Reality! Happy Training.

There are career centers and networking groups all over advising us to perfect our elevator speech. Armed with this advice, many get busy writing and practicing (well, maybe practicing) their 30 or 45 or 60 second commercial. Once the speech is perfected off you go to your networking event, conference or career fair ready to make connections.

However, often times the attempt to make an introduction and get out the elevator speech (especially at career fairs) turns into an awkward combination of a flawed sales pitch and a bad pick up line. And when this attempt is followed by an immediate presentation of your business card or resume it just makes it worse!

So why is this advice so common. Well, the statistics tell us that majority of jobs are found through networking and connections. The flaw in the elevator speech advice is that is missing the actual networking and connection building premise. Networking and building connections is not about going to an event, meeting someone and then emailing them at first opportunity with your sales pitch or resume. Making connections requires two way communication. It requires give and take. If you aren’t willing to give in the relationship, you shouldn’t be willing to take.

Next time you go to a career fair or networking event, set realistic expectations about what you want to get out of the event. If you want to network to find a job, instead of practicing your elevator speech, spend some time determining your career goals and what types of experiences will help you get there. When you meet people, spend some time getting to know them and don’t offer your business card or resume without a request or without the willingness to continue the dialogue in some fashion with the person to whom you are speaking. And if you are using a professional organization to network, get involved by volunteering. There is no better way for your to demonstrate your skills to those in the profession.

Get out there and get networking!

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For more resources, See the Human Resources library.

The stores are getting prepared by filling their shelves with back to school items and advertising their door busters prices including pencils and crayons for $.25. While one could argue it is too early to begin the “back to school” preparation, I am one who likes good planning. And while the summer becomes a season most of us long for during the cold snowy winter months, the “back to school” season signifies that my favorite times of year is approaching, fall.

Fall is full of great things including the beautiful scenery brought by the changing leaves and joys of trick or tricking with the kids while they are still young enough to find magic in a big bag of “free” candy. For those of us in HR and Recruiting, fall brings the season of college career fairs. And just like the stores preparing for their “back to school” revenue, recruiters are preparing to find the best and the brightest.

So are the best and brightest preparing for us? Are they getting ready to find their start in a great career? I am sure that many of them are doing just that; and these are the ones recruiters will be thrilled to meet at their local career fair. However, my guess is that there will still be hundreds of them that can check at least some of the things on the following list.

Ten Ways to Not Get Called by a Recruiter You Met at Your School’s Career Fair

1. Dress in the outfit your wore to your best friends luau and pool party last week. Or any other inappropriate one for the job you want. How you dress should be a non-issue. Don’t be remembered by your outfit; be remembered for the great questions you asked or your solid communication skills.
2. Have no idea what companies will be represented. If your idea of preparation is showing up sometime before the thing ends and just wondering around the aisles, you might get overshadowed by the more prepared. Find out who is attending the fair in advance.
3. Find out who is attending the job fair and not do any research on the companies. You need to research the companies you want to target before you arrive. Find out what companies may have positions in your field or which ones seem to be a good cultural match for you (values, mission, hours, environment, dress code). Not doing research will leave you unarmed for a good impression.
4. Just wing it once you get there. After you do the research, prepare the questions you want to ask the recruiter. Know which companies you want to target, find out where they are going to be located during the fair, and plan your route.
5. Wait until after graduation to attend a job fair. Waiting until you have the credentials is going to put you behind your better prepared peers. Attend fairs beginning in your freshman or at least your sophomore year. This is a great way to see what companies are out there. Spend some time chatting with recruiters from companies you may want to get into in the future. Ask about internship opportunities and other programs for college grads. If you find an interest, write down their name and follow up with them at the next fair. (or sooner, see below)
6. Go to the fair without any idea of what you want to do. Know your goals going in. Be prepared to let the representatives know the type of work in which you have an interest. Know some of your goals in the next few years. If you are early in your educational journey, know you goals for this fair. If it is just to meet recruiters and learn what companies are there for when you graduate, let the recruiter know that. Whatever it is, know it and be able to communicate it.
7. Don’t follow-up with any companies after you leave. If they are interested, they will call you. Always follow-up.
8. Fail to ask how to follow-up. Recruiters are busy. Find out how they prefer you to follow-up and listen to them. If you are too pushy, you won’t get called back. And when you follow-up, know their name and where you met them. If you are leaving a message, be specific about what you spoke about. Recruiters talk to hundreds of candidates. Help them remember you. (and like I said before, not by your outfit.)
9. Ask the recruiter if you really have to complete an online application. If the recruiter says you have to do it. Do it. No further explanation. And when you complete the application, complete it. All of it. And don’t put “see resume” on the application in place of educational credential or work experience. Actually, don’t put it down for anything.
10. Get angry with the processes or the long lines at the booths and complain about the give-a-ways. This is another way in which you do not want to be remembered.

What can you add?

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For more resources, See the Human Resources library.