No More Excuses! Today's a New Work Day

In my household, we have kind of a silly ritual. Whenever my wife or I or our daughter launches into a long list of reasons why we haven't done something, or can't do something, one of us says,

"No more excuses. Today's a new day."

 Although each of us cringes a little when we're called out on our excuses, more often than not, the truth is that we have been hiding behind one or all of them. They're comfortable. They help us rationalize why we have been putting this or that off. And sometimes it takes a little push to get us out of that cozy lull we've been in.

Does that describe you when it comes to your career progression? Do you have a list of excuses a mile long and several feet deep?

I bet many of them are even very reasonable ones. The problem is, of course, that even if they are valid, they are still holding you back from progressing in your career. A valid excuse is not necessarily a good excuse to stay in that comfortable place. If you stay there too long, you might be in for a rude awakening.

So, no more excuses! Today's a new day!

Not too long ago, my team and I introduced 4 "crash course" options. These are 4 great ways you can begin to work toward your career progression without getting in too deep, too fast. Think of them as baby steps, but key ones, because they will get you a solid primer of what to expect in today's tech job market and a starting point for launching that career move you've been putting off.

SPECIAL 10-Day Promotion

To help give you a gentle nudge, we are even offering a 10-day promotion on each of our courses. From today, July 21, to Thursday, July 30, if you send me an email at Stephen@ittechexec.com with the subject line "Crash Course Promo", we will send you a special promo code to give you $50 off each course. Our courses are normally $295 each, but for the next 10 days, you can get them for $245 each. By the way, that's $50 off each course, so if you reserve a spot in two, then you get $100 off!

Four Crash Course Offerings

All four of the courses outlined here are conducted by either myself or Sue, our concierge Job Search Agent. They are all one-on-one, don't require too much of your time (usually 1-2 hours at most), and highly valuable because of how market relevant they are, Instead of basic pre-recorded webinars that speak generally, we offer them as customized, 1-1 training. You can learn more and reserve your spot in the personalized "course" today by clicking on the links with each course description. 

Don't forget to email me at Stephen@ittechexec.com, though, for the $50 off promo code!

LinkedIn Crash Course: Because of the rising relevance of LinkedIn in not just the hiring process but also in ongoing career management, we find that many of our members are not really using it or are unaware of how best to use it for them. They know enough to dabble with it, and they know it is important, but they don't have the time or energy to research how to become an "expert" at it. That's where we come in!

Salary Negotiation Crash Course: Our most popular course, here we dive into the nuances of salary negotiation to look at how to "win" by focusing the discussion on value, not experience. Most people try to negotiate from a position of experience, thinking that should "sell" it. Instead we devise a strategy for how to shift the discussion to one of value.

Video Interviewing Crash Course:The higher up the corporate ladder you go, and especially if you are dealing with global companies, the more likely it is that you will face video interviewing. This course includes a mock video interview session with subsequent analysis. Even if you don't end up having a video interview, you can still benefit from a third-party analysis of your interviewing strategy (notice I did not say "skills," I said "strategy."

Recruiter Engagement Crash Course: As you work with Sue on either obtaining our customized recruiter list or the full-service recruiter matching campaign (where Sue takes the list and makes the introductions on your behalf), or if you go about it on your own, you will begin to engage with recruiters who respond and show interest in you and your background. Sometimes it is great; other times it is a confusing world. When recruiters come to you, things can be good, but when you reach out to them, then things can get complicated. I have many recruiter connections, and admittedly, they will tell me that they often say one thing when they mean another. So it is wise to get educated on "recruiter speak."    

  --About Stephen----

Stephen Van Vreede is not your average IT/technical résumé writer. He provides career strategy and concierge job search solutions for senior (15+ years) (ITtechExec) and up-and-coming (NoddlePlace) (5-15 years) tech and technical operations leaders. Stephen and his team focus on building simplified, targeted, and certain career move campaigns, be it an external search or an internal promotion. He is co-author of UNcommon with career development leader Brian Tracy (out June 11, 2015). Contact Stephen directly at Stephen@ittechexec.com or send him an invite at https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephenvanvreede. To see whether Stephen and his team are a good fit for you, take their free (and anonymous) 1-minute compatibility quiz, Is the ITtechExec Approach a Good Match for You? Also, feel free to take his complimentary resume self-assessment quiz, How Certain Can You Be About Your Technical Resume? You might be surprised by what you find out!