Richard Maun

Author: moderncareers

  • Is Your CV A Fossil Or A Friend?

    Mr T-Rex says "Get some CV action or you're nuts!"
    Mr T-Rex says "Get some CV action or you're nuts!"

    If you open a bottle of wine and leave it (who am I kidding, but run with it) the contents will eventually go sour.

    If you make a tasty cheese sandwich and then leave on a plate, it will go hard and curly. (Some then find their way into railway buffet cars, the others go furry).

    If you write a CV and leave it for three years the minerals in it will become calcified, eventually turning it into a fossil. Which is useless when you need it in a hurry.

    Our pick and mix world of Modern Careers means that we have to be flexible thinkers, resilient enough to take a few knocks, and still bounce back, and prepared at all times to respond to the expected ‘unexpected’ events that are more easy to predict than many people think.

    If we don’t have an up to date CV we run the risk of forgetting our proudest achievements and of falling out of step with our own brand.

    So, the question is this: When did you last update your CV? Last week? Last year?

    Dig it out and dust it off. You want it to be a friend and not a fossil.

    We all know why the dinosaurs died out… it was nothing to do with a meteorite impact. They were simply out-competed by small hairy mammals with crisp CVs and elegant interview techniques.

    Don’t leave it too late. Take care of your friendly CV this week.

    Have fun!

    PS…. Like Disney who had 101 dalmations, this is my 101st post…! Thanks to you all for reading them and tweeting them out. Writing a weekly blog is a tough discipline to follow, but it’s fun to do and I’m pleased with the way my ‘Modern Careers’ branding is starting to get traction out in the world.

    And please do have a look at my Second Video – which is all about the energy for change and coffee vs water. What do you choose?

  • You Can Follow Your Talent

    You can dance if you want to! Use your talent!
    You can dance if you want to! Use your talent!

    I’ve been working with a couple of people recently who had difficult decisions to make. What they both had in common was a desire to follow their talent and also a struggle to square that with the needs of other people.

    In both cases they knew in their heart what they wanted to do and they had a small voice in their head holding them back saying:

    ‘Hang on… think about how the others will feel if you do this. Think about them first and put your ambition on hold.’

    It’s normal to have doubts and it’s okay to wonder what the future holds.

    And yet if you have talent and ambition it really is okay to follow it and see where it leads. That doesn’t make you ‘selfish’ it just means you’re putting your talents to use, which is an entirely different matter.

    The cautious voices we hear are just there to encourage us to double check our thinking and make sure we know our heart.

    In the pick and mix world of Modern Careers there are always opportunities waiting to be created and if you have a talent for something then you CAN follow your heart and engage your ambition to power you forwards.

    Here are some questions to help you make progress:

    1) How can I be resourceful and make a success of this?

    2) Who do I know who can support me?

    3) What do I have to let go of in order to create space to do this?

    4) Who already uses their talent in a similar way… and what can I learn from them?

    5) What am I going to be saying to myself when I’m retired and wishing I HAD followed my talent?

    It’s okay to be talented and to follow your ambition.

    It’s okay to put yourself first.

    We can follow our heart and go for our dreams, because otherwise we’re just treading water and not living life.

    I’m taking my own advice and this week am off to Future Radio to record a demo show with a friend, as the next step towards getting my own show. It’s going to be great fun and I’m looking forward to honing my ‘radio voice’ …and hopefully I’ll avoid all cliches, Pop-Pickers!