Rory Cullen, Kaizen Software Developer

When I was younger, much younger, I believed there was a guy in my town named Guy Smiley.  His name was Guy, and he wasn’t too smiley.  But in my memory, my oldest brother put this idea in my head.  A quick Google search today reveals that Guy Smiley was a Sesame Street character, so it is likely that I was familiar with this character on my own accord.  In fact, I seem to recall his “This is your Life” parodies now that I have been reminded by Wikipedia.  Unfortunately, this also means it is unlikely that my brother, ten years my elder, knew of this kid in my town who was a year younger than me.  I have a tendency to blame that brother for most of the issues of that era as it turns out, but that’s for another post.

If you have ever been unemployed or underemployed, you know one of the hardest things to do is to keep your spirits up all the time.  In fact, there are posts written all the time about “getting your smile on!”  First, no one wants to talk to a grumpy sad sack.  Second, no one wants to work with one either!  Third, your family and friends won’t want to be around you.  All good reasons, but still easier said than done!  By the way, if none of those reasons is good enough, smiling is also a key to phone interviewing.  They say to speak with a smile on your face, and people can tell.  Smiles impact the sound and tone of your voice.

Why am I going on about this?  Because on Wednesday, I worked, and it felt great!  It was only an hour, but it felt good to do something interesting.  This is why I can’t wait to get back to work.  The backstory:  I submitted my name for a web usability study for a local company.  I signed an NDA (non-disclosure agreement), so I can’t talk about anything technical, but it was basically user testing of a new website.  I spent the time there with a usability expert, using a prototype of new features.  Since I have been doing web application development myself, I recognized a lot of the functionality and potential ways it was implemented.  I was able to speak in detail about the methods used, and pitfalls to some of the changes we were discussing.  It felt great to be doing something useful, and although my specific skills sets were not required, they certainly were helpful above and beyond expectations.  Clearly, I was pointing out things that they had never seen, but I also brought ideas and suggestions that they were not expecting from a “man on the street.”

So what made this day so rewarding?  I was able to show my technical acumen, my attention to detail, and make suggestions.  In just an hour, I felt like part of the team.  I was there to help solve problems, and I knew that I had contributed in a major way.  It felt useful, and I got a lot of genuinely positive feedback from the expert during the exercise.  The best part of the day was when she brought me my check.  No, not because of the money, but because of the feedback she brought from the other side of the two-way mirror.  Per the expert, one of her assistants said, “This guy is great, we should hire him.”  The pessimist might think, “Maybe she says that to everyone,” but why would she bother?  You don’t need to make me feel good; you’re already bringing me a check.  My read on the situation was that was a genuine expression that I was of value.  Ironically, many people don’t get this much feedback at work all year!

The rewards above are the same reasons why I volunteer to review people’s résumés, why I volunteered to give a speech on personal branding in a few weeks, and why I spent 45 minutes talking to someone I just met at a networking meeting last week.  I want to help, I want to be productive, and I want to be useful to others.  I know a few things that might help you, and you know things that might help me.  And in the end, I want to be thanked for my contribution.  Money is money, and it’s a requirement in the end, but heartfelt appreciation is pretty valuable.

This is exactly the point of this blog.  All it took was an hour to see that I bring a lot to the table.  Skip the interview, and bring me in to do some work for an hour.  If that works out, make an offer!  Ironically, this would take a lot less time than the usual interview process!

On a job search note, I did wear a tie today, and I had my business card out on the table prior to the feedback.  I was there to do my job, but also to make a good impression.  It does not hurt to advertise, and it does not hurt to look like a professional, even when you don’t have to.  You never know!  Do I realistically expect a call from this company in the future based on my performance?  No.  But did I make a great impression on a few people there?  Yes.  Baby steps…treat everyone you meet like a potential employer.  Hmmm, that might be a good idea in general, right?

Oh, in case you were wondering, Guy Smiley had hardly worked since 1990, poor guy.  But if he keeps on smiling, he’ll be hosting Letter pageants again soon!  Keep smiling big guy!

I must have struck a chord last week, because my blog had more comments than ever before. I appreciate all of the feedback, mentorship certainly hit home for a lot of people.

In job search news, I had an interview today for a very interesting job. I don’t want to share too much information at this point, but suffice it to say that it is much more interesting than it first appeared, and I really feel like I made a good impression on the interviewer.  As my fellow job seekers know, this is a clear sign that it went horribly wrong!

More importantly, this interview finally gave me an opportunity to plunge headlong into the wonderful world of thank you notes.  Prior to today, I have been emailing thank you notes to people with whom I have interviewed. In this day and age, it seems like a no-brainer. That said, I’ve had a nagging feeling that I was walking the thin line between convenience and laziness.

Does using a universally accepted method of communication indicate laziness? If you want to contact me during the day, I would suggest the most efficient way would be via text, or email. Since I’m not going to text a thank you note, it has to be email. However, email is very easy. Heck, I’m sure that’s why it’s so popular, along with the fact that it is basically free. I feel like I need to do something more. I can’t afford to send a gift card to every interviewer along the way, but I can afford to send a personal, hand-written thank you note.

Let’s think about the purposes of the occasionally maligned thank you note:

• To express genuine thanks for the person’s time. And additionally, though not written, thanks for actually pulling your resume out of the pile of hundreds!
• To remind the interviewer of why you are the best candidate for the job
• To show you are interested in the position
• To show that you understand the laws of courtesy in the interview process

My new approach now goes like this:

1. Thank you via email, same day. In this note, I express my thanks for the time, reiterate my interest in the position, and refer to anything I might want to highlight from our conversation. Maybe apologize for an F-bomb as necessary*
2. Hand-written card sent within 24 hours, but preferably the same day

Good intentions are all well and good (hence the name), but here’s where we hit a potential roadblock. My handwriting is atrocious. Well, not unreadable, but certainly not evidence of my ample time spent in finishing school. I am embarrassed that it is so poor, but I am hoping the obvious effort and care put into a hand-written note will carry more weight then the quality of my penmanship. I can’t even call it penmanship, for that is too flowery a word for my Times New Chicken Scratch.

I am a programmer. I spend most of my time on a computer. I have written hundreds of pages of documentation in my life, but I don’t think I have hand-written a letter since 1994. Need I be so ashamed that my grasp of the “written” word has drifted so far from what would once have been considered acceptable? Don’t even get me started on cursive; it might as well be Latin for its application to my daily life.

Am I right to think that a handwritten card trumps the fact that it appears to have been issued from the desk of a five year old? Have you run into this same dilemma? Do you now see why I don’t send hand-written cards around the holidays?

* F-bomb did not actually happen. However, if this ever happened, I don’t think I would mention a slip like that in a thank you letter. Better to let such things fade into oblivion!

Tough font!

I’ve been thinking about mentorship lately due to my schedule of meetings last week. I had lunch with my last manager last week. He was the guy who had to hand me my “blue folder” when my position was eliminated this winter. Poor guy, he got his own folder three months later. We had only worked together for just over a year, and I admit our relationship is still developing. Working out of separate offices didn’t help, and we hardly worked together on the same projects. Due to all these circumstances, he never really became a mentor in the true sense of the word. As I get to know him better, I realize we have a lot in common, so I’m glad we remain in touch.

The next day, I had lunch with another of my former managers. He is a good guy, and someone I get along well with. Again though, our relationship was not one of mentorship. In this case, I had already learned most of the technical aspects of my job prior to reporting to him, and already had the reputation as “the go-to guy” for all things tech. In general, I would say we have different strengths, and both worked to use those to move the group forward together.

We all have a lot of managers in our lives, but not a lot of mentors. Mentors don’t need to be managers, but could be anyone in your life who influences you in a positive way. Nearly all of my managers have been valuable, or even friends, but not all are mentors for whatever reason. Professionally, I have had three primary mentors in my life. I thrive with mentorship, and would like to figure out why they were good mentors compared to other managers I have had over the years.

Paul B was my first mentor. Paul moved in next to my parents’ house when I was about 10 or so. He didn’t really move in, as much as he bought the land, and proceeded to build the house himself. My family is great, but we don’t have a history of building things. This alone was impressive to me. Anyway, time moved along, and Paul hired me to work part time in his office when I was about 14. He ran a steel fabrication company across town, about a 20 minute bike ride for me. I would work mornings from 9:00-12 or so, opening mail, answering the phone, etc. I worked this job for about four summers, eventually working full days, and expanding my responsibilities. I was copying blueprints, delivering steel around the state, one time supervising some onsite work. Ok, I may have been supervising because the other guy lost his license in a DUI, but we take our promotions where they come! Anyway, Paul was a great businessman to watch. From my desk in our one room office, I heard every call, every deal, and an occasional curse while looking over plans. He dealt fairly and sternly with his employees, and clients. I guess Paul was the first person to give me a chance to do things I’d never tried. If I typed up a letter and it had a typo, he would have me retype that letter. It might take me all morning, which was costing him money, but he was willing to let me learn on the job. I made other mistakes, and he might reprimand, but he always gave me a second chance.

My next mentor was one of the great leaders in my career, Geno from my first professional role post-college. Geno had what great leaders should have: Powerful voice, great suits and ties, and he was tall. Geno hired me on to my first job after college, and he was a master motivator. He was a dynamic leader, and knew the value of his people. He was only my direct manager for part of my time there, but before that he had identified me as the guy to take over a lot of his tasks. He was the “tech” guy on the team. He took the client questions about our software. He dealt with the largest clients, he dealt with the trickiest data, he went to the client when necessary. And he chose me to be his protégé. I took to the tech side very easily, going on to be an Operations Manager myself (his former role), and eventually founding the help desk for our company. Geno made this happen by making me feel important, and truly believing in me, and being a natural leader. I made this happen by being smart, a quick learner, and willing to do whatever it takes to get the job done right.

Most recently, I had a solid mentor early in my development career in Bob. Bob and I butted heads as often as not, but he was the technical guy in the group. Although not a natural leader in the frame of Geno, Bob was the perfect person to help me take that next step from software support to software programming. Again, I was groomed to take over for the top tech guy, and I did. Bob showed me the ropes, answered my questions, and taught me the right way to do things. Again, we never really did things exactly the same way, but we both believed in doing things right.

It’s been fun recalling these memories, now I just need to determine what made them valuable to me. Paul gave me chances to try things I’d never done, and he gave me responsibility with the possibility of failure. Geno believed in me, and taught me that great leadership goes a long way. He also taught me about respect. Bob taught me how to program. In the end, I took over the jobs of two of these three mentors. They all had this in common: They saw my potential, and gave me a chance to shine in their organizations. In exchange, I achieved that potential each and every time. I also learned how to be a mentor, which is just as important. These are the relationships that breed success, and that breed loyalty. I hope I can find another one of these guys in my next role.

Have you had mentorship in your career? Is it something you look for in a company? I do. I haven’t seen Paul for years now, I’m going to arrange to meet him soon and say thanks in person.

I have a great opportunity coming up.  I have volunteered to speak about personal branding for one of the networking groups I meet with every week or two.  I have been researching and applying personal branding to my own job search for over a year now, and feel pretty passionate about its effectiveness, although I don’t really have too much solid feedback yet.  There is a lot to personal branding, but the basics involve coming up with a unique value proposition that people can equate to you.  In addition, it’s all about a consistent message associated with your name.  Basically, think of yourself as a brand.  I say Geico, you think gecko, and “so easy a caveman can do it”.  I say Nike, you can see the “Swoosh” symbol, maybe Tiger Woods, maybe Michael Jordan, maybe excellence because of those associations.  Branding is marketing, and all job searchers need to become marketers nowadays.

In some ways, this is an extremely difficult task, and in others, it’s quite simple.  It’s certainly the type of thing that you can ease into.  Here’s tip #1:  Use the same name whenever you need to refer to yourself.  Resume, business card, LinkedIn, Facebook.  Don’t be “Bill” in one place, and “William” in another.  People will fail to connect because you can’t be found easily.

So how does this affect me today?  Well, here in the northeast, we recently came off a beautiful weekend of temperatures in the 80s and 90s.  This usually starts me thinking about shaving my beard for the summer.  I have been a seasonal beardie for about four or five years, usually dropping the beard in May, and bringing it back in December.  I spend a lot of time outside in the winter skiing or snowshoeing, and it makes a big difference.  Usually, this is not a really important decision.  I might shave on a Friday, so I have the weekend to get a little color on my face and not seem so pale.  It’s rarely very long or unkempt, so the change is relatively minor in some ways.  However, how does this affect my personal brand?

I have met a lot of new people in the past six months.  And if they were to describe me, they might mention that I have a beard.  In fact, it might be one of the few differentiating factors in my appearance that they would use.  (Hopefully “balding” would not be a factor.)  I have been on TV twice in the past six weeks or so…with a beard.  My business cards have my picture on them…with a beard.

I think you get the point.  This is not just a personal hygiene issue; this is a branding issue.

Case in point:  I went to a networking meeting last week.  No less than three people in the room, out of 20, commented on the fact that I wasn’t wearing a tie.  As it turns out, I had successfully branded myself as a guy who wears a tie to networking meetings, even though it isn’t necessary.  I just figured I’m better off overdressed, than underdressed.  At least one of those guys I didn’t recognize at all, but he recognized me.  In some way, that is good.  At least I’m not the guy who wore shorts and crocs to the meeting, right?  Who looks more professional?  Again, it became part of my personal brand.  Too bad though, as I don’t own that many ties!

Thankfully, we’ve hit a spell of cooler weather, so my decision is put off for a few days at least.  However, soon enough, I’ll have hit the point of no return.  Once the weather is warm, and I have started to get some sun on my face, I may not be able to shave at all without going through a brief period of having a two-toned face.

I have quite a few business cards with my picture left over.  Do I save them for December?  The whole point of having your picture on your card is to make it easy for people to remember you.  Does it make any sense if you have to say, “Yeah, I shaved” every time you hand one out?  Will they make a note on the back?  “Looks like this guy, but with no beard.”  Not likely.  In fact, I’ll seem stupid for handing out a card with a picture that doesn’t really look like me at all.

Maybe I’m making a mountain out of a molehill here.  Ironically enough, I have always felt like I should shave for an interview anyway.  For some reason, it seems more professional.  My career consultant says it doesn’t matter, but who knows?  Does it make me look older?  Like I’m hiding something?  Like a guy who is balding and trying to make up for it?  These are the things I’m facing.

So many decisions to make.  I guess I’ll go brush my teeth, at least that’s an easy decision.

Just the beard...