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Everyone knows that Christmas is one of the best times to network.  All those parties and mixers.  You never who you will be passing the nuts to or line dancing with

Let me tell you that summer is just as good.  There are so many different activities that mix people up and get them off schedule, it’s bound to present some pretty good opportunities to talk with people you don’t know and find out what’s really going on either in your current organization or your future organization

• Golf
• Charity Rides/Runs
• Picnics and other social outings
• Long weekend potlucks
• Resort Vacations
• Long lunches outside

If you see an email about joining in on one of these activities, go for it.  Dust off the clubs, bake a cake, whatever is required. The key to uncovering new and cool things is to be with different people. That’s where the real learning happens.

When you go to the event, try to put your shy self away. Listen and observe but make sure you throw in a few points here and there.  It’s like going to a meeting.  You want to be mentioned at least once in the minutes.

If you meet someone or stumble across new information that you want to learn more about, don’t fawn all over the source or dominate the conversation.  You can follow up after with a note or a call.

Lastly, make sure you thank whoever invited you.  Let them know you found it beneficial and that you appreciated them thinking about you. Things like that ensure you will be included and invited into more circles.

So dust off your grin and get out there!

Picture yourself at an interview.  It has gone really well. The conversation has flowed nicely and you really like the hiring managers.  The interview has given you a really good understanding of the role and the company.

And then it happens.

They ask if you have any questions and you draw a complete blank.

All of your questions about the job and the compensation have been answered.  You panic.  What’s left to discuss?

Here are some suggestions:

• What are the challenges facing this group over the next year?
• What have you liked about working here?
• Who are the strongest competitors?
• Is this a powerpoint organization or a spreadsheet organization?
• Who do you think is the most successful person in this company?
• Do people here still believe in the founding principles?

You don’t have to ask these questions specifically but they will get you thinking.  You only need a couple to make an impact.  It’s a simple way to demonstrate that you are thinking ahead and not just concerned about the role up for grabs today.

But they are not just symbolic.  You might actually learn something new that did not come out in the earlier part of the interview.

You might get a good gem to use in, say, the thank you note that you send later that day.

There is nothing like the pain of a lunchtime bikini wax to really bring things into perspective.

I stopped thinking about why some hairs grow faster than others and started thinking about important things like keeping in touch with people who are leaving my everyday work life.

My company has had some layoffs over the last two weeks and I have found it to be a very intense experience.  Finding out that your friends and sponsors no longer have a place in the organization is pretty tough.  But it took a blinding flash of pain for me to realize that its not about me.  I still have a job.  They need my support in a different way than before and I need to figure out how to provide it.

I need to make sure that I reach out regularly.  I know that my tendency is to get wrapped up in my everyday projects.  I guess I should put some notes in my calendar, just to make sure they stay on my radar.

I imagine they will go through alternating waves of happiness that they have some time to enjoy the summer and anger and grief that they lost their job.

It will be important for me to be supportive no matter which way they are feeling.

Also, I will need to keep my eyes open for networking and referral opportunities for them.  That’s probably one of the best things I can do.  I can invite them to industry events and professional meetings. After all, we had fun when we worked together.  Why would it be any different now?

I guess I better book at spa appointment for next month.  In case I need another reminder…..

Podcasts seem to have fallen out of favour recently.  I am not sure why.  They are free, useful, sometimes relevant and allow you to listen to different points of view while you are carrying out mundane tasks like vacuuming or commuting.  What could be better?

Here is my top ten list of job podcasts.  Just log on itunes, search for the title and hit subscribe.

• Career Cloud Radio  – lots of interviews with experts
• Three days to a Raise – career tips with a bit of inspiration
• HBR IdeaCast – highly credible information, sometimes a little dry on the delivery
• Career Tools – Lots of variety and interesting ideas
• TED Talks Business – TED talks are always good
• LJN Radio Job Search Guide – small market podcast with good info
• Human Workplace – Liz Ryan is a very popular LinkedIn columnist – practical and funny advice
• Get it Done Guys Quick and Dirty Tips to Work Less and Do More – these guys have been terrific for years
• The Ziglar Show – including tips from Zig Ziglar’s mom

And finally, when you have had enough, you can turn to CBC’s Laugh Out Loud Podcast.  It features Canadian stand up comics doing their thing.  It won’t help with your job search but it will definitely put a smile on your face.

At lunch yesterday, we were talking about what other types of jobs we would consider doing.  We said that we might want something that was more reflective of our passion or maybe something that had a little more joy associated with it.

I discovered that people (even in my business) have a pretty narrow view of the jobs available.  Not a lot of interesting stuff floated to the surface in our conversation.

So, I did a little research and have compiled a list of jobs you might not know exist.  This is a handy little list for yourself, your partner or maybe your kids.  (Take the salary ranges with a grain of salt – you can’t believe everything you read on the web!)

• Golf Ball Diver: $50,000 – $100,000
• Sex Toy Tester: $39,000
• Professional Snuggler: $60 dollars per hour
• Food Stylist: $33,000 – $58,000
• Embalmer: $45,000
• Oil & Gas Diver: $80,000
• Ethical Computer Hacker: $24,760 – $132,322
• IMAX Screen Cleaner: $45,000
• Voice Over Artists: $50,000 – $80,000
• Personal Shopper: $25,000 – $100,000
• Air Traffic Controller  $120,000
• Packaging Engineer $85,000
• Technical Writer $65,000
• Hot Air Balloon Tour Guide $35,000 – $50,000
• Snake Milker  – $30,000-$50,000
• Laughter Therapist – priceless

You can google (really….you can) any of these jobs to learn more about the lifestyle impacts and transferable skills that you may already have.

Can you hear your next career calling? 

I met some stellar candidates this week.  They were in various stages of their job searches.  Some were just starting to think about looking. Others were deep in their search journey.

One of the things that struck me was that most of them had left community work and extracurricular activities were absent from their resumes.

They had focused so much on getting their experience and skills right that they had not considered the activities and responsibilities that they take on outside of their core work tasks.

Being a gourmet cook or an elite triathlete is laudable that’s not the sort of thing I am talking about.  We usually remember to put those types of activities on our resumes.   It’s the under the radar, “it was just part of my job” things that I think we are missing.

One of the candidates sits on a special philanthropic committee at his company.  That says a lot about him. It says a lot that about his standing in the company he would be selected for that role. It also has a different decision making level that his regular work and that’s relevant also.

One of the other candidates sits on industry working groups that advocate and deal with industry wide issues. That gives him a much wider view on his industry than the average person might have.  Employers notice that.

These sorts of activities are often overlooked as recognizable achievements either because we don’t see their value to an outsider or we just consider it to be part of the role.

Try this:  look at your calendar for the last couple of weeks.   Which activities and meetings were not directly related to your day to day responsibilities?  Maybe you are on your local United Way board or maybe you help organize a charity ride/

The fact that you are willing to lend your time to these activities and more importantly, that you are able to balance those things with the rest of your life are the things that really make you stand out as a candidate.

They also give an interviewer additional material to probe and provide a platform for you to display knowledge and responsibility that other candidates would not have.

So make sure you are getting the full value out of all that you do.  You just never know when that clown school committee work might come in handy.

If you will indulge me, I am going to use this space this week to tell you about a great man that we lost yesterday. He certainly had a successful career but it was about more than the way he did his job.

My grandfather designed HVAC systems for manufacturing facilities.  He would tour a shampoo factory or an M&M factory (my favourite) and identify the issues with air flow, heating and cooling and then design systems to fix the problems.  He was proud of his role and he was generous with his time. He spent lots of hours with the “new fellows” helping them learn the business.  He kept in touch with former colleagues well into retirement.

But this was only what he did during the day.  In addition to raising three daughters, he acted in community plays, was a lay minister at his church, arranged to have exchange students stay in their house and developed very fine woodworking skills

As if that was not enough, he also worked with a man who had been in an accident and was a paraplegic.  My grandfather went to his house in the evenings twice a week to help with his therapy, both physical and emotional. He did this for years.

When he retired, he was naturally just as busy as before.  He took on a whole new set of roles.  He became a trustee at his local library and he and my grandmother helped serve lunches at a daycare centre.  They also volunteered at their hospital.   He and a friend took their mechanical knowledge and learned how to fix gurneys and wheelchairs.

It turns out they saved the hospital thousands and thousands of dollars.  Not just because they could fix the rolling stock but because they figured out how to get on the web, find the part numbers and then call the manufacturer and get the parts sent out for free.  Who can refuse an 80 year old man?

And he tutored people too.  He met a man in his fifties who, after a life of illiteracy, wanted to learn to read.  My grandfather met him several times a week to help him with letters and sounds.  They would go to the grocery store together to practice reading labels.   My grandfather was 90 and he was stilling helping people open new doors.

I am sure he did a lot more than this – these are just the things that he shared with me.  He has set a very high bar for me and the rest of my generation.  If we are going to truly follow in his footsteps, we had better get a move on.  There are a lot of people who need help and we have the best possible example as our guide.

I am at a conference in Ottawa this week.  Not just any conference but the annual meeting of the Canadian Nuclear Association.

When I tell that to people, I get a blank look in return.  Completely blank.

This is a not small meeting.  There are 800 delegates from across Canada and likely more post graduate degrees per square inch than anywhere outside a university campus.

These people are not just involved in generating power but also mining, food processing, nuclear medicine and more.  And it’s not just engineers.  The nuclear industry directly employs 60,000 people in Canada.

Yesterday was student day here and I can’t tell you how many students stopped by our Women in Nuclear booth to say they really knew nothing about the industry but someone told them they should stop by and check it out .  Did I mention the free food?  That could have been an incentive as well, I suppose.

So, here is an industry that is responsible for putting five billion dollars (yes, billion) into our economy and people don’t know about it.

How many other industries are out there under people’s radar?

If you are looking for something new to do, you have to stretch your horizon.  It may be lovely to work for a Fortune 500 company but there are so many other interesting, stable, well-paying options.

How do you find these out about these industries?  Stop where you are right now.  Identify six things that are in your immediate area.  Where do they come from?  Who made them?  Where did they get developed?  That’s a good way to start.

For example, I have a banana beside my computer.  I know to get that banana to me involved people working in shipping, importing, trade regulations and inspections, food processing, distribution and hospitality.

Could I work in one of those industries?  I don’t know but I think it’s time to find out.