As working adults, all of us have a great degree of understanding and experience on things with which we are familiar. A lot of that experience happens to be focused on our jobs and our hobbies. In those areas, we can offer solid advice and counsel to our children and younger adults that are walking on similar paths. But one area where many of us don’t have much experience is helping someone get a job in a career in which we don’t have much experience. It’s then that we sometimes like to call on professionals for a helping hand. But let’s take it a step further. What if that career coach had children that were at the age where they were starting to think about careers? What would they do if their own children were the individuals looking for a role in life? That’s where we land today and talk to John O’Connor, founder of Career Pro, Incorporated. Because if you’ve ever wanted to know how to get on the inside track, it’s good to know someone that lives on the inside track.
GUEST BIOGRAPHY
John O’Connor – President & CEO of CareerPro, Inc. BA, MFA, CRW, CPRW, CCM, CFRW, CMRW Among other accomplishments in the world of career services and outplacement, Mr. O’Connor became the first private practice Reach Branding Certified Specialist in North Carolina and is the first Certified Federal Job Search Trainer (CFJST). With a unique fiction writing pedigree with fiction publications, he obtained a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from Bowling Green State University. He is a sought-after author and contributor to recent career transition stories for Yahoo! Hotjobs, Monster.com, CNN-Money, The Ladders, AOL.com, and in many newspaper publications including the Wall Street Journal. His diversified experience includes serving as a college professor and as a United States Army officer. John is a keynote speaker and corporate trainer offering consultations and HR Services.
SHOW NOTES
0:00 – Intro
2:36 – John O’Connor
3:02 – What are you doing for your kids as a career coach as they start making career choices?
3:40 – Something that surprised John a lot about his own kids.
5:00 – John’s opinions of assessments as an outside objective instrument.
5:50 – Bill’s “Passion Project” – do a research paper on the history of something in which you are absolutely and completely interested.
7:15 – The question that got John going – “what do you want to do?”
9:17 – How much should parents be involved in the process of helping your kids get their first job?
11:45 – Have your child put together an “advisory board.”
13:30 – Do you, as a parent, get involved when you feel strongly that your young person is doing something wrong or misguided regarding their career?
15:07 – Would you go directly to your kid with suggestions about how they are handling a career decision or career preparation?
18:22 – What would you do as a parent if your child wants to do something or go into an industry in which you have no familiarity or experience?
20:28 – GOOD IDEA – Go to an event in which your son or daughter has the interest to see what they find attractive about that career.
22:30 – How do you handle salary negotiations when it comes to making sure that your son/daughter is making a livable/satisfactory wage?
25:33 – What would you recommend not doing when it comes to helping your kids make those career choices?
28:40 – How, as a parent, do you help your child when the time comes when the first job your child takes isn’t working out? Answer: don’t get caught up in social media, but be cognizant of your brand so that you will be more attractive as a hiree.
32:15 – Dealing with parenting styles that are very lenient or very strict. Give them more exposure to the outside world – whether they gravitate to it or not is up to them no matter if the parenting style is lenient or strict.
35:19 – The Pathfinder’s Backpack
38:33 – Final Thoughts