via Philippe Desrochers.

What new choices would you make in your life if you won $20,000,000?  Would you continue with your current job? Why are lottery winners always smiling?

Let me explain why money is most important to you.  Safety, and that is it.  It’s the second most important human need, right after breathing and going to the washroom.  When you have money you can rent an apartment where you feel safe, buy food that will nourish you, and provide the same for your children you love so much.  Having money to have these things will make you happier.

Earning more money than you need to feel safe WILL NOT make you happier.  The research clearly has indicated that you will not be happier if you strive to be rich.  Then why do it?

To help people.  I believe that if we help a lot of people we will receive a lot in return, including money.  If you help enough people get what they want you will get everything you want.  I believe there is a sense of contribution you seek when you strive to make lots of money in your career.

My best friend trades billions of dollars for a living, earns a very good paycheck and has always told me he loves money.  After 14 years in our friendship I asked him why he loved money so much.  I was shocked by his answer.  He told me it was because he was poor as a child and that he never wanted to feel that way again.  He also said that with his savings, he planned on building a home for disadvantaged youth, also part of his past.

He wants to feel safe and contribute.

Lets however admit, that if you drive a BMW over a Honda, you will be envied more. Some belief systems believe that coveting or envying someone for their possessions is a sin.  Whether you believe this or not, why do you think this is?

After reading this article you will continue to strive to make more money.  May I propose to you that quite possibly, this extra money will make you happier only because it will allow you more time to spend with those you love so much.

Secret Formula to Riches: Ask not how much money you want to make.  Ask for direction on what you plan to do with all that money you make.

“Carla” was invited by her colleague to access a file on her computer.  While “Carla” was searching she came across a file entitled by her own name.  She opened the file and to her complete amazement was a log of her lunch habits.  She closed the file and said nothing knowing full well that this colleague was not well liked in the office and not invited to join them for lunch.  Three weeks later “Carla” had a review with her boss and the boss said that she was taking too many lunches outside of the office and that she was supposed to eat her food at her desk.   The boss was reading the file from her colleague.  “Carla” quit on the spot.  She did not realize it at the time but she was a victim of workplace bullying.

Stephen Hill is a seasoned Employment Counselor with a fascination for teaching people to take personable responsibility in ones career.  He believes that many of the current workplace systems are a perfect breading ground for bullying where people rely on human resources or the union to take care of them. He is the co-founder of www.nobullyforme.org, a useful source of resources.

His organization has also sanctioned the first ever Canadian Survey on Workplace Bullying and while they are no longer taking cases due to a high volume of request for help, the survey will be made available on the site.

Stephen himself was bullied at work…for seven years, before he realized what was going on.  He has dedicated his spare time to this volunteer cause and advocates for respectful workplace environments where high standards are maintained in communication, integrity and etiquette.

Workplace bullying is more common that you may think.  Different from harassment, which is more of an attack on your rights and who you are (ie. discrimination), bullying relates to what you do and how you behave.  You become a target for a bully for your style.  You are not at fault for being bullied.

Most bullying is based on envy and jealousy or suspicion. You, the target of the bully, have something they don’t have.  Bullies are at heart insecure.  An insecure person will find something wrong with you being perfect or imperfect.

Bullying is very seldom overt.  Examples include being asked to create a report and not given everything you need to perform well and then criticized for your poor output.  Being asked to give feedback on something only to find out that the task has already been completed or being micromanaged by post it note. At the core of bullying is inappropriate communication to the task.

If you suspect you are being bullied you have three choices: stay and try to fix it, stay and look for a new job, or get out now.  If you leave the job because of the bully you might not think that is fair.  Stephen’s experience is that the impact of looking for a new job will not even come close to the trauma you may experience if you stay.

Set a time limit of three months for example where you will try and fix the situation before you look for new work.  Many people who remain in bullying environments suffer from “posttraumatic stress disorder-the same type soldiers have upon returning from the gulf war.”

Interestingly, the stereotype of the male boss bullying the subordinate is not prevalent and the gender imbalance towards men being the bully is incorrect.

Philippe Desrochers, known as Dr. Career can be reached at philippe@dr-career.com and is the author of 99 Things You Wish You Knew Before…Landing Your Dream Job available on Amazon.com and 99-series.com.

During the past few months I have been asked the same question many times.  “I have been to four straight interviews with no offers.  I must be doing something wrong.  What are employers looking for?”This is an article I wrote three years ago and I would like to share it with you again.  You may be missing out on a golden opportunity to sell yourself. Here it is.

An employer only wants the answer to 3 questions in an interview.  But funny enough, they don’t ask them outright.  They disguise them with other questions.  No more guessing, here are the three platinum questions.

1. Do you have the skills? You already know this.  All questions must be answered with an example from your past.  Past performance predicts future behavior.  So when they ask: “What is your leadership style?” they are actually asking you: “Tell me about a time when you demonstrated leadership.”  Even the weakest question must be answered with an example from your past where you demonstrated improvement.

2. Do you like the skills? It’s not enough to have the skills to do the job.  Many people have the skills.  The next step in your interview evolution is to tell the employer that you also enjoy or are passionate about the skill.  When you enjoy the skill you are more likely to remain with the company and make a contribution.  Have you been doing this?

3. Why do you love our company? Instead they ask: “What do you know about our company?” or “Why do you want to work for our company?”  Remember: You are not hired by a company.  You are hired by a person who is proud of their department and they want you to want them…genuinely.

Next step: Memorize this perfect answer:  “I have these skills.  I have used them in this setting.  I love the work.  I look forward to applying them at your firm because I admire your company.”

HOT TIP:  Combine your business and personal personality.  If you do this, they will feel more connected to you as a person and more likely to hire you.

Philippe Desrochers, aka Dr-Career, is the author of 99 Things You Wish You Knew Before….Landing Your Dream Job available on Amazon.com and 99-series.com.

Are you unhappy?  Do you crave something more in life?  The answer to being happier in your life lies in building a community around you in your career.

For over three years I have been writing to you about the value of doing work you love in order to be successful and happy while earning great money.  The unspoken assumption, I have recently realized, is that I have implied that you are do it alone.  I have come to the conclusion that in order for you to reach a level of fulfillment you crave, you must surround yourself with people you care about.

It is well-documented and common knowledge that North American society is an individualistic one.  The foundation of this individualism is the desire or craving for financial wealth.  And so, as you pursue financial freedom you create competition and division between you and those who are a threat to your security.  There is a huge cost to this mentality.

Your pursuit of success is stealing away from your pursuit of fulfillment.  To be successful you must work hard over a consistent period of time.  To be happy, in large part, is to feel loved, supported and to be a part of a group.  What group are you currently part of?  Which type of group do you want to be a part of?

Family and friends and lovers are important parts to fulfillment and feeling loved, however, to fully experience the kind of satiation you crave you must invest in surrounding yourself with loyal and like minded people at your work.  What type of community can you create within your field?  I would simply like to pose that question to you.  I would like to hear your thoughts about this article or your ideas about community.  Email your comments to philippe@dr-career.com.

Philippe Desrochers, known as Dr. Career is the author of 99 Things You Wish You Knew Before…Landing Your Dream Job available on Amazon.com and 99-series.com.

Last week I talked about how you can get started in writing your book.  In this article I will show you how to attract a publisher to sign you on and distribute your book.

Start a private practice: Your book can be based on the work you do with clients.  Whether you train painters, actors or high school kids you can turn your success stories into a book.  In my practice of working with over 4000 people I shared the insights my clients received and the breakthroughs they accomplished by applying my principles of personal leadership.

Be special: If you don’t have a unique perspective on your common subject go to the bookstore or search online for all the books on your subject matter and position yourself differently from others.   To do this, use an acronym to summarize your message.  I based my first book, “Land Your Dream Job in 12 Weeks or Less” on a 5-letter acronym called The V.A.L.U.E.S.ä Method.

Followers: Publishers want you to have something called a platform.  Which is an already existing database of clients or readers who are interested in hearing what you have to say.  Your private practice group will become a part of this list and so will the people who subscribe to your blog.  When your book is launched they will be the first people interested in buying your book and spreading the word.  You can also create an “org” site and give away your best product in order to attract a loyal following.  I gave away a copy of The 1 Day Dream Job Challengeä, which very successfully expanded my brand.

Hire a media trainer: I then paid several thousands of dollars (well worth it) to Ann Shatilla, an Emmy-award winning media expert and host of the Hollywood Trend Reportä to coach and train me on how to approach media to get interviews and perform effectively on radio and television.

Radio interview: Ann landed me an interview on CJAD in Montreal to talk about The 1 Day Dream Job Challengeä.  The next day I received a call from one of the promoters of the 99 Seriesä (www.99-series.com) to write a book on careers as part of their self-help library.

Best business card: As an expert, a book is the best business card you could ever have. My book, as will yours, will open doors for you.  Media responds more positively to authors and so do employers.  Here is what can happen when you are published.  Companies will want you to speak to them.  Universities will want you to address their students.  Media will want to interview you.

Philippe Desrochers, known as Dr. Career is the author of 99 Things You Wish You Knew Before…Landing Your Dream Job available on Amazon.com and 99-series.com.

Have you always dreamed of writing a book?  Are you procrastinating in getting started?  This article will inspire you to start.   I will base the information on my experience in writing and getting “99 Things You Wish You Knew Before Landing Your Dream Job” published as a non-fiction book.

1. Writing: Many books win awards for being best written but more books get noticed for being best selling.  Doubts and fears around getting published will stop you from getting started.  You do not need a publisher to write a book.  My first book, “Land Your Dream Job in 12 Weeks of Less” was self-published.  To self-publish purchase an ISBN number which can be found below the bar code on all published books.
2. Selling: According to Daisy Maryles of Publishers Weekly, an estimated 200,000 books are published each year in the United States, and less than 1% achieves best seller status.  If you sell 5000 copies in Canada you are considered a best seller.  I make $1 for each book that I sell-which is standard.  As a best seller I make $5000 for two years work.  Bill and Hillary Clinton received advances to write their books which means they were payed before the book was written or sold.  They got 12 and 8.5 million dollars respectfully.
3. Why write? The odds suck.  Very few authors make sustainable income.  You write because you have no choice.  You absolutely have to.  There is a voice inside of you that has to come out.  You MUST express yourself.  It is a matter of life and death.  To write is to be you.  You cannot imagine how crappy your life will turn out if you do not share what is inside of you.
4. Progress: Your first book will not be your last.  As you write you mature as a communicator and you find your style and equally important your audience.  Your followers will find you.  They have been waiting for your message.  You cannot grow if you do not have other people reading your work.
5. Humility: You may not believe that you have something worth publishing.  The definition of humility can be described as not being better than anyone else, or worse.  To compare yourself to others, not from a competitive perspective, but from a better than or worse than perspective will destroy your confidence.
6. Getting noticed: Fill a need.  Peter Drucker went to the library in 1954 to find a book that would help one manage a business, “but there was nothing,” which is “why I had to make it up” (jeffreykrames.com, 2009).  His book is still in print today.  When I visited the library and did a search online there was not one book on how to find work in one day.  That is why I wrote my second book “The One Day Dream Job Challenge”.

To learn how I landed a publishing deal please read next weeks article.

Philippe Desrochers, known as Dr. Career is the author of 99 Things You Wish You Knew Before…Landing Your Dream Job available on Amazon.com and 99-series.com.

Assessments: Most of us at one point in our life take an assessment tool such as Myers-Briggs or the Strong Interview Inventory.  As an accredited Myers-Briggs instructor I take my teaching one step further by showing clients how to use their increased self-awareness in their job search.  The interview is one of these areas and a great opportunity for you to demonstrate emotional intelligence.  For example, at your next interview say this: “I recently took a career assessment and it identified me as being very practical when making decisions.  This highlights that I am strong at acquiring the input I need to make informed and timely decisions. An example of where I demonstrated this strengths is…”.  Caution: use this only once in the interview-if you do it more it comes across as corny.

Hair: I am referring to any hair on your body.  Whether it be the bangs that cover your eyes (which comes across as hiding something), that long facial hair you forgot or missed when shaving or plucking (which looks like you don’t care) , or the hair sticking out of your nose (that is just plain disgusting).  You have got to get that under control. Cut, pluck, and shave all hairs that stand out.

Handshake: I shake the hand of about 1500 students or clients a year and over 60% cannot shake professionally.  Actually, the hand is not bad it’s the lack of eye contact that does not come with the handshake.  The next time you introduce yourself at the beginning of the interview make sure to consciously and with focus look at the interviewers eyes as if you are trying to tell what color they are.  This comes across as being present and very relatable.

Theoretical vs. Practical: If I were interviewing you and asked you what type of manager you work well with, you would most likely tell me that you like a boss that supports you, shares their ideas, lets you take ownership of tasks and challenges you to grow.  At that point you may not realize that you have answered only 25% of the question.  The balance must be an example from your past where you had this type of boss and how they demonstrated these qualities.  95% of all questions must be answered with a concrete example.

Memorize the job posting: I recently coached a woman on a position she was applying for and after the practice session I asked her if she had read the job posting.  She had not, as she was very busy.  We all lead busy lives, but I would like to stress that if you want to land the position I heavily encourage you to use words from the job posting in the interview.  More specifically, I ask that you plagiarize by stating the very exact words and sentences.

Philippe Desrochers, aka Dr. Career, offers interview coaching to maximize your chances of receiving the job offer.  For more details email philippe@dr-career.com.

To get you started, here are three pieces of advice you may have shared but now can act on.

No pain no gain: We know that organic food has more nutrients than conventionally grown food because it struggles more to survive than food that is covered in pesticides and has no predators such as bugs to fight off.  We also know that if a butterfly is manually removed from its cocoon too early it will fly crippled for the rest of its life.  This is because it did not develop the strengths to fly by struggling to leave the womb. This highlights the value that struggle has in building strength and character.  Now, one persons struggle could be another person’s opportunity.  An Olympian sees training pain as an opportunity to win a gold medal.  An Marketing Manager for a telecommunications company sees a tyrant of a boss as daily hell.  Both are feeling pain but both have completely different outlooks.  What difference do you see in them?

Follow your passion and the money will come: Actually, to be exact, follow your passion and you will most likely earn a decent living.  Are you prepared to make the kind of money that your passion pays?  Of course you can work hard and get lucky and make $10 million, but if you don’t, will you be satisfied?   There are many childcare workers, accountants, biologists, and doctors, people who are not rich, but who love their work.  If you are expecting to get rich doing what you love, then always remember that the only way to get massively wealthy is to invest your money, win the lottery, inherit money or run a business.

Believe in yourself: Tranquility is achieved in two ways.  One is to accept who you are and the other is to not accept who you are and make the changes that destiny is calling you to do.  Which category  do you fall into?  Does accepting yourself mean surrendering to your nature and stop fighting or does it mean to finally start fighting and get more of what you know you deserve.  Putting others down is not noble, nor is putting yourself down.  Believe in yourself.

Here is a sample of  some of the most popular chapters in my latest book “99 Things You Wish You Knew Before Landing Your Dream Job”.

Present Value Pain: Pain is a great motivator.  To instantly get motivated to make the changes you feel you need to make in your career, is to feel the pain of the future today.  To borrow a finance term, a present value, is the price of a stock you should pay today based on the profits the company will make in the future.  Now, if you look into the future of your career in the next 1, 3, 10, 20 years and did not make one change in your career, what would it look like.  Feel that pain, and act on it.

Cashmere Blend Technique: I purchased a winter jacket that said cashmere on a large label on the inside of the coat.  I later noticed that written in much smaller font was the word “blend”.  That is when I realized that the jacket was only 10% cashmere.  I was pulled in by good advertising.  You too can apply this technique on your resume.  Simply expand the part of your past experience and make it a larger part of your resume.  You do not have to call yourself a “blend”.  You can call yourself cashmere.

Grass is Greener on the Other Side: Yes it might be. Your neighbor’s grass may be greener than yours because it is better taken care of.  Instead of being envious, learn how you can better take care of your property, or in this case your career.  How can you spend more time and effort on your career?  Note that worrying about your job or financial situation is very different than doing something about it.

Expect less get more: Research shows that successful people have more realistic goals than unsuccessful people.  This is because you are more likely to get started on a feasible goal versus an unattainable one.  Lower your expectations.  Expect less from yourself, get into action, take baby steps, and get far greater ahead then if you set high goals.  The only downside is that other people may not be as impressed by your goals…but who cares anymore.

#1 Lesson not Taught in School: In school you study then take the test.  In life, you take your test and then you learn from it.  It’s the opposite.  School is good but is also teaches us to eliminate all risk before a decision.  This results in fear of failure and in making decisions in your life.  Grow your career by making more decisions and realize the truth that the only way to learn more is to decide more.

>Philippe Desrochers, aka Dr. Career is the author of 99 Things You Wish You Knew Before…Landing Your Dream Job available on Amazon.com and Sony Reader.