By Larry Stybel, CMF

Two stores on the same New York City block sell pizza.

One store is selling generic basic cheese slices for $1 each. That is less than the going rate in New York City. The second store is selling slices of basic cheese pizza for $2.80. And that is higher than the going rate.

The store selling the higher priced slice had physical differentiation—a wood burning stove versus the traditional cast iron oven. It had tables and chairs on the sidewalk. But the chemical composition of slices sold in both stores was identical. And the caloric content was probably similar.

Which store was making money?
In New York City, they both make money.
Are you charging the business equivalent of $1 a slice for your career management services?

Stop it!

Your Certification in career management is the marketing equivalent of that fancy wood stove in the high price store. Your colleagues’ lack of Certification is the equivalent of an industrial strength cast iron pizza oven.

When I talk and write about my Certificate I use the following words in my email signature: “I am one of 240 career management consultants around the world nominated by my peers and put the body of my professional work to peer review.”

GOOD, BETTER OR BEST?

My prospects are faced with decisions of good (enough), better (than average) or best (in class).
It is my choice as a professional to want to work with clients who want to work with me because I am (at least) better than average. And they are willing to pay for that opportunity. Being a Certificant allows me to discuss the good, better, best framework without being negative about my competition. I didn’t grant myself the Certificate. My peers did! I didn’t lobby for the honor. I was invited to apply by a Certificant.

Do I win every sale because I have an ICCI Certificate?
I LOSE some sales because the prospect can articulate that he/she wants good enough and only wishes to pay for good enough. That’s fine.

I want to focus on the high end of the marketplace.
In the City, there is room for both on the same block.
But you can’t be low and high end at the same time.
Eat a slice of pizza and then drop me an email about your business development successes/concerns.
Your Certification is a marketing tool. We at ICCI want to help you to use that tool to increase your net income.

Laurence J. Stybel, CMF is on the Board of Governors of the Institute for Career Certification International. He is also President of Stybel Peabody Lincolnshire, an Arbora Global Company. (www.stybelpeabody.com). Email: lstybel@stybelpeabody.com

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As ICCI Certificants, we are among a handful of thought leaders and exceptional practitioners in the field of career management.  Of course, we want to be seen, recognized and sought out for our excellence, expertise, experience and perspectives. 

You can leverage our new ICCI site and LinkedIn Group for your own web presence.  This is a no cost, simple and formidable opportunity that will take but a few minutes to execute. 

We invite you to share an update (recent publication, interesting project or new position) with your ICCI colleagues in this new Global Update section.  Just send us a reply to Marilyn Stika, Editor at chartyourcourse@msn.com and we will post your entry in our November issue.

And, please visit the ICCI LinkedIn Group, to participate in or start a discussion or join the ICCI Group by putting ICCI in your Groups search field.  Currently, we have 48 members and would like to see this number increased.

Let us know if you have any other ideas about ways we can add to the value, vitality, and visibility of ICCI for you!

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By Maribeth Renne, CMF

Those hot, lazy days of summer have come to a close and, in many parts of the world, the month of September brings fresh breezes and new beginnings of all shapes and sizes.

Outside my office window are sounds of excited children awaiting their school bus and the start of a brand new year. Hopeful parents have given good luck hugs to their college-aged students as they send their children miles away to learn and prepare for future jobs and professions.

For those of us already working in a profession, we don’t have to be left out of all the ‘new beginnings’ excitement! Fall is a time for us to re-evaluate our career goals and set forth to grow and improve our professional competencies.

Personally, I have been toying with the idea of finding a credential to enable me to introduce the practice of meditation into my leadership/talent management coaching practice. Having learned meditation at my father’s knee over forty years ago, I understand the value meditation brings in stress reduction and overall well-being. I am exploring whether this proficiency might be something that would deliver client benefit and elevate my professional competency.

So now I challenge YOU to harness the excitement of September!

Is it time for you to upgrade your ICCI Certification? Perhaps you obtained your Career Management Practitioner (CMP) certification four or more years ago and it’s time now to upgrade to Career Management Fellow (CMF). Or maybe, after five additional years of experience in the field, is it time for you to upgrade from Career Management Associate (CMA) to CMP?

Visit our new website, www.careercertification.org and explore the various career certification levels to determine if it’s time for you to take the next step. There you will find all sorts of new resources and an easy-to-follow step-by-step process to facilitate your upgrade to the next level and the improvement of YOUR professional competency in the field!

I hope YOU make this a memorable September full of new beginnings!

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Sheryl Spanier, CMF shares her annotated reading list:
Psychology Today, articles are stimulating and keep me posted on some of the newer concepts
Power by Robert Greene which depicts 48 Laws of Power gathered from history; instructive to clients who are naïve about politics in the workplace
Blink by Malcolm Gladwell is helpful in assisting clients understand nuances of how they may be perceived and how those perceptions can affect workplace success
Happier by Tal Ben-Shahar focuses on the positive psychology movement; an easy reference for clients who feel victimized or overwhelmed by life right now.
Primal Leadership by Daniel Goleman, Richard Boyatzis and Annie McKee is a terrific compendium of articles on Emotional Intelligence.
Drive by Daniel Pink summarizes past and current thinking about what motivates people at work and poses the concept of Motivation 3.0, which incorporates research on Flow and the most effective morale, motivation and effectiveness management techniques

Recommended Reading:
Becoming an Exceptional Executive Coach: Use Your Knowledge, Experience, and Intuition to Help Leaders Excel by Bob Lee, Founding ICCI Governor, Michael H. Frisch, Karen L. Metzger, Jeremy Robinson and Judy Rosemarin. The book is written in an intelligent and insightful manner.

Susan Chritton, CMF has read:
Never Eat Alone by Keith Ferrazzi
The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin
The Psychology of Executive Coaching by Bruce Peltier
Strengths-Based Leadership by Tom Rath
The Coaching Bible by Ian McDermott
Mojo by Marshall Goldsmith
Drive by Daniel Pink
Be Yourself by Mike Robbins
The Female Brand by Catherine Kaputa
The Renaissance Soul by Margaret Lobenstine
Career, Work, and Mental Health by Vernon Zunker
Career Counseling by Vernon Zunker
Portfolio Life by David Corbett
10 Laws of Career Reinvention by Pamela Mitchell
Land the Job you Love by Eileen Williams
I'm in Job Search-Now What? by Kristin Jacoway
Twitter Job Search Guide by Susan Whitcomb
I'm on LinkedIn-Now What? by Jason Alba
Creating Your Best Life by Caroline Adams

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By Beth Ann Wilson, CMF

Share your expertise with colleagues at a conference.
Respond to a Call for Proposals:

NCDA Career Development Conference Call for Proposals

The 2012 National Career Development Association Conference Committee is looking for Proposals. Now through October 3, 2011, you can submit your proposal online at www.associationdatabase.com/aws/NCDA/pt/sp/conference_info.  More details about the conference to be held in Atlanta, GA, USA, June 21-23 will be posted on the website.

ICCI does not offer training and professional development for your Certification Update does not have to be pre-approved. ICCI respects that certificants are capable of identifying and evaluating appropriate development opportunities.

2011 International Career Guidance Conference

19 – 21 October in Cape Town, South Africa

Since its inception 57 years ago, the International Association for Educational and Vocational Guidance (IAEVG – an ICCI Strategic Alliance Partner) conference has yet to be hosted on African soil. PACE Career Centre, in association with the IAEVG, looks forward to welcoming career professionals at this historic event. Career Guidance and Development Practices around the World is thetheme as career guidance practices in South Africa are flourishing. Government policy, which promotes and enables career guidance delivery, is driving this profession to a higher level. As a new democracy and an emerging economy there is much to learn from career guidance practices around the world. The delivery of career guidance in environments with high unemployment, a scarcity of essential skills and insufficient funding for education is not solely a South African reality. Indeed, there are many countries, both first world and third world economies, experiencing similar challenges.  www.pace.za.com/conference 

Association of Career Professionals International - Greater Philadelphia Network
Professional Development Conference

October 21 in Philadelphia, PA, USA

“Future Trends in Career Management” is a day long conference featuring Richard Feller, Ph.D.  Dr. Feller is Professor, Counseling and Career Development, Colorado State University and President-elect of the National Career Development Association. Having consulted and presented worldwide, his publications include three books: Career Transitions in Turbulent Times, Knowledge Nomads and the Nervously Employed and A Counselors Guide to Career Assessment Instruments”. He also co-authored the Career Decision Making System and the www.cdminternet.com  program used by 14 million. Key conference topics are Changing Workplace Trends: What it Means for Career Development and Latest Tips, Tools and Techniques in Career Development. Please visit www.acpi.groupsite.com.

ICCI’s Strategic Alliance partner Association of Career Professionals International’s Networks offer programs and webinars in cities around the world www.acpinternational.org.  

2011 Society for Vocational Psychology Conference

November 4-6 in Boston, MA, USA

Forging Career Policy for the Greater Good is thebiennial symposia of the Society for Vocational Psychology. Supported by the International Center for Career Development and Policy (iccdpp.org) and the National Career Development Association (ncda.org) to become stronger advocates for career policy, the aim of this conference is to create a dialogue on career development policy, research and practice among a wide-range of national and international colleagues.  Presenters will be individuals who are engaged in policy making efforts or research that could have policy implications.  The goal is to help participants learn to shape research in ways that will have the strongest impact on international, national, state, and local career and workforce development policy.  Raimo Vuorinen from the Finnish Institute for Educational Research, University of Jyväskylä, will make a keynote presentation.  Raimo is the coordinator of the European Lifelong Guidance Policy Network (http://ktl.jyu.fi/ktl/elgpn ) which organizes communication on innovative career guidance policies and activities among 29 EU countries.   www.bu.edu/sed/2011-svp-biennial-conference/

Canada's National Conference on Career Development - Cannexus 2012

January 23 – 25 in Ottawa, Canada

Career Coaches, Career Development Specialists, Career Educators, Trainers, Facilitators, Career Practitioners, Employment & Career Counsellors, Executive Directors and Program Managers, Guidance Counsellors, Human Resource Professionals and Job Developers are expected to attend the sixth anniversary conference of the Canadian Education and Research Institute for Counselling (CERIC).  Keynote speakers include Mark Savickas, Trey Anthony and Michael Adams. Workshop topics include career coaching, youth entrepreneurship, school-to-work transition, aboriginal employment, career trends, mentorship and more!  www.cannexus.ca/  

CAREERS CONFERENCE 2012

January 30 - February 1 in Madison, Wisconsin, USA

The Careers Conference is hosted by the Center on Education and Work, part of the School of Education at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The 26th annual conference expects to be one of the largest and most comprehensive events of its kind, featuring top quality professional development for those who work with students and adults of all ages. This conference prides itself on presenting practical information for career practitioners. 2012 keynote speakers include Christian Moore, an internationally renowned author, speaker and advocate for at-risk youth and John D. Krumboltz, Ph.D., a leader in the theory of career counseling and co-author of Luck is No Accident: Making the Most of Happenstance in Your Life and Career.  www.cew.wisc.edu/careersConf/default.aspx

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If you wish to write an article to be published in The Global Update, please contact Marilyn Stika, Editor at chartyourcourse@msn.com, Sheryl Spanier, Co-Chair, Marketing Division at sheryl@sherylspanier.com or Kristina Vohma, Co-Chair, Marketing Division at kvohma@vohmaconsulting.com.

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ICCI
World Headquarters
618 Church Street, Suite 220
Nashville, TN 37219 U.S.A.
tel: (615) 250-7789
fax: (615) 254-7047
info@careercertification.org
careercertification.org

We hope you enjoy this issue and, as always, look forward to hearing from you. - Marilyn Stika, MSO, CMP, Editor, ICCI Global Update.