Happy UN Career Podcast

Welcome to today’s episode which is related to something many of us dread - the annual performance review process! 

Oh, the hours I spent on this in my UN career. And, to be frank, not always convinced that the value of the process compared to the time I and everybody else invested in it. So, although I very much agreed with the theory of the performance review (I was working in Human Resources after all!) – I must say that I didn’t personally look forward to the process. Having to evaluate myself. Try to write about how brilliant I thought I’d done through the year. Not exactly my cup of tea!

So, I’m happy to let you know that today’s episode is not really about the performance review process itself. It’s about seeing the performance review process from a different angle. 

You can find the show notes for today’s episode at www.Barbarakandersen.com/15.

So, you should no longer see the performance review as a stressor in the middle of other urgent work. 

Instead, let the performance review serve as your annual prompt to stay on track with your career development and ensure that you take time to take action and take charge of your career. I actually already touched on this in episode 9, the one called “Why You Always Want to Have an Updated CV!” (You can find that episode at www.barbarakandersen.com/9 ).

3 ways to get much more out of the performance review process!

#1 Use it as an Opportunity to Go into “Career Mode”

You’re busy. It feels like there’s never really enough time to think about your career, your professional development, networking and looking for jobs.

But for the performance review process you’re required to sit down and update your goals. You have to review your results and your competencies. You’re forced to think and write about what you’ve done well during the year. And you should welcome that as an opportunity. 

You may not necessarily expect big results from the performance review itself, but I say it’s actually good that you’re forced to do this because you need to think about it for you. 

 So, take this opportunity to go into “career mode” and line out: 

• Everything you’ve achieved and all you’ve learned during the year
• The results you’ve created
• The competencies you’ve displayed or developed
• The skills you’ve displayed or developed

While you’re in this “career mode”, think also about:

• What’s the next thing you’d like to do? 
• What would you like your next job to be? 
• What are the skills you’d like to develop further?
• Would you like to diversify?
• Would you like to go to the next level in terms of expertise – or in terms of authority and responsibility?
• Would you like to develop by moving to the field? Or to HQ or a regional setting?
• Is there a particular part of the world you’re eager to experience? 
• Would you be interested to see what difference your experience could make in an NGO setting?
• Or would you like to go home and use your expertise in a government context?

You should of course talk with your supervisor about as many of these things as you feel comfortable with. Seek his or her support for your development and your next steps. If you don’t think this is feasible, think about how else this can be done? Who else will/can support you?

Think about what you will do in order to move in that direction.

Read the full show notes at www.barbarakandersen.com/15.

Hello, and welcome to this 14th episode in the Happy UN Career Podcast - about 3 reasons why you want to set goals for the next year (and the 8 steps you need)!

So, today’s episode is about looking forward in the next year – even if that seems difficult in the midst of the pandemic. But most of us are geared in such a way that we function best with something to look forward to.

And if the outside world is not providing that – you should look to create it yourself.

I believe that if we want change in our lives, we really have to find a way to look for – and create – that change ourselves. We can’t change the pandemic. We can’t change the restrictions that may apply in the place we live. But we can start making plans for the things we can make happen. That we want to make happen.

So today I’ll share the 3 reasons why you should create goals for yourself for the next year – and the 8 steps to do that.

So, this episode is really about goalsetting – laying out a direction for the year. For your year.

Reason #1 for creating goals for the year: Good goals let you work on your plan

Because if you don’t have your own goals – and plans to reach your goals – you’ll end up spending your time working on other people’s goals. Other people’s plans.

Goalsetting is really about setting intentions. Figuring out where you want to go – so you can plan a way to get there. If you don’t know where you’re going how will you know how to get there? And how will you know when you have arrived? 

If you just follow the flow, one day after the other, one email after the other, you’ll be fine for a while probably. But one day you might look up from your desk and realise that the world changed around you. People left the team. Your supervisor is new. And now the scope of your work is being changed. 

It seems like everybody else had a plan and moved on. And maybe you were so busy responding to emails, meeting deadlines, and attending meetings that you didn’t get around to figuring out your own plan. Let alone taking action on it.

This was my life at one point. I was so busy doing the day-to-day stuff that I never really had the energy – or thought I had the time - to step back and deliberately make a plan for what I wanted to happen. How I wanted to develop. What I wanted to try. 

Maybe I was also a bit afraid? Because I knew what I had. I was comfortable with feeling really good at my job. If I left for something else, then maybe I wouldn’t feel as confident. At least for a while. And what if I wouldn’t perform as well in the new place? In the new role? 

And possibly there was also a level of procrastination involved. When you’re already very busy, it takes extra energy to pull yourself away from that. So, you just get on with your job and respond to the next email and tick off the next thing on the to-do list and thus leave the goal setting and the bold decisions for – tomorrow. 

Reason #2 for creating goals for the year: Good goals put you in control

When you set goals (and make a plan), you have conscious thoughts about what you want. What you want your life and work to look like. And feel like. You’re taking responsibility. You’re being proactive instead of being reactive. 

When we’re spending most of our time and resources reacting to all the things others want from us, demand from us – that can easily make us feel despondent. It can make us feel like we haven’t much control over our lives. And that is not good for us in the long run.

Read the full show notes at www.barbarakandersen.com/14.

Hello, and welcome to today’s episode which is about using the end of the year to take stock and celebrate everything you did and all that you accomplished in 2020. 

Remember the Career Car analogy that I talked about in Episode 3? 

Well, imagine that you’ve been driving for a while now. 

The traffic has been dense, and you’ve often had to find new routes – trying to get around big holes in the road or avoiding an accident you could see further up the road. But you’ve still been driving as fast as you could because it often felt like you were a bit late. And there was still a long way to go.

Now you’re feeling tired and in need of a break. You might be a bit concerned about the route you’re taking. Is it still the best one? Are you going to be able to arrive at your destination in time? And are you sure still sure about your destination?

So, today I want to give you an opportunity to pull over, get out of your car and have a good, long stretch. Lower your shoulders that have been sitting up around your ears for the last while. Turn and look around and behind you – and get out the map and really notice how far you’ve travelled. And faster than you thought after all? Maybe you visited places on the way that you had not at all anticipated from the beginning. What did you learn and experience on the way? With whom? How did you cope with the challenges and problems? Etc. 

2020 has been a hard year. A truly challenging year for everyone, and it’s easy to just want it over and done with. And then forget it all. But that would be a big shame, I think. After all, many things happened that I want to remember. And be mindful of. 

And I’m sure that’s the case for you too. A lot happened in 2020, and you coped with a lot– and my guess is that some of those things you probably already forgot about. 

From a work perspective, working in the UN, I’m sure you still delivered a lot – under different and more challenging circumstances due to the pandemic. 

So, this episode is about taking time to remember, acknowledge and celebrate everything you did. All the things that went well after all. All the things that turned out differently, but in the end were ok. The battles you fought. The challenges you overcame. 

The work you still managed to do while homeschooling your children from the dining table. The training you pulled off, but now online instead of physically. The support to colleagues and supervisees that you had to do via Zoom instead of being able to chat informally in the office. Missing social and professional interaction with your colleagues. And so on. You will of course have many more examples yourself.

Privately, you probably had to cope with many challenging situations as well. Working from home – maybe in settings that were not really conducive to focused work. Maybe sharing your internet connection with the rest of the family having to negotiate whose Zoom meeting would take priority. Suddenly being responsible for your children’s schooling from home (and I’m sure many of us have gained a lot of respect for the teaching profession!). Missing parties and celebrations. Not being able to be with your family and friends, etc. It’s been hard, but you are still here. 

So, I have a small exercise that I always enjoy at this time of the year

Read the full show notes at www.barbarakandersen.com/13 

Welcome to this 12th episode of the Happy UN Career Podcast!

I’m so pleased to see that the podcast has been well received by you who are listening to this. Because without you – there really wouldn’t be much point in doing this.

It’s very interesting to see the metrics for the different episodes and I can see already that some episodes are particularly popular. One of them is episode 10, the one I called “Take a Chance” where I interviewed my former colleague from UNDP, Mike Dodd, about how he’d taken chances in his career. So, if you haven’t heard that one yet, I’d encourage you to go back and give it a listen at www.barbarakandersen.com/10 .

Your career belongs to you

And inspired by my talk with Mike, I wanted to talk a bit more in today’s episode about how important it is to acknowledge that your career really and truly is a personal and individual thing. Your career belongs to you.  

And now you might say: well, that’s obvious, isn’t it? We’re all individuals with distinct personalities, and competencies and skills. How can a career not be personal and individual?

However, so often when I talk to people (and this goes for both clients and friends and old colleagues) it strikes me that we constantly compare ourselves to others and how they’re doing. What they’re doing. Especially those that are ahead of us in terms of being at a higher level in the hierarchy or are working in areas that are somehow deemed more important or influential. 

It’s easy to get a feeling that you should be more like those people, find out what they do and maybe try to do the same thing. Progress in the same way as them. And that feeds the sense that so many of us are struggling with already. 

That we’re not quite measuring up. 

That we’re not making the choices we ought to make. Or succeeding in the way others expect of us.

So, I have a question for you today: 

Do you feel that your career has to live up to other people’s expectations?

What I have noticed is that we attach quite a bit of value to what other people think of us, and our career. How they evaluate how we’re doing in our career. What we’re doing. Or who we report to. Or what our title is. And so on.

I wonder if you recognize this?

We’re influenced by societal norms. But maybe even more by organizational norms. That makes us look at what others do. Thinking, maybe that’s what I should do? 

But we’re also influenced by others’ opinions and expectations of us in a very direct way. We’re influenced by what our parents taught us, by what our spouse or partner wants for us, by what our supervisor expects, what our friends suggest, and so on.

This goes from: what next job you should pursue to how to do networking or promote your work – or yourself! 

And all these expectations and suggestions come from a good place. All these people care for you and want what they think is best for you. For you to fit in. Be successful. And be safe. Based on their own experiences and how they see the world.

But what works for one person does not necessarily work for the other. 

And yet, I find that a lot of advice around career is not particularly centered on supporting that sense of the individuality. Or finding out what inspires and motivates you in your work life.

Read the full show notes at www.barbarakandersen.com/12

Hello, and welcome to this 3rd episode in a small series I’ve called: “Professional Development - Job Hunting and CVs”.

In the previous episode in this series (the episode called “Why You Always Want to Have an Updated CV!”) I talked about 5 problems you solve by always having a good, updated CV. You can find that episode at www.barbarakandersen.com/9.

As I also promised in that episode, I’m back today to talk about some important guiding principles for writing a CV you’ll feel proud of – and that you’ll be happy to share with your network and send with your applications. 

So, that’s the topic for today. I’ve identified 5 important CV writing principles that nearly always come into play when I discuss CV’s with my clients. I’ll share those with you of course – plus, I’ll share a tip to make CV writing interesting and rewarding! 

So, who likes CV writing, anyway?
The thing is – as I know I have said before - I have yet to meet a person who told me that they enjoyed working on their CV! 

I have met a few people who treated CV writing as just another task on their to-do list that they would just sit down and work their way through. According to plan. 

But then I’ve met a lot of people who really don’t enjoy it. In the same way they really don’t enjoy the annual performance review process.

Maybe you recognize this? 

Of course, you want to be recognized for your efforts, but you find the whole CV writing process somewhat tedious. And you feel uncomfortable having to point out your own talents and achievements. 

I definitely felt like that myself! I had a love-hate relationship with CV writing for many years. 

I wanted, of course, to have a crisp and professional-looking CV clearly outlining my experience and competencies. And which would hopefully give me an edge in the recruitment process.

And I certainly enjoyed the feeling of accomplishment and professionalism when I finally got it done and felt I’d done an OK job of it. 

But frankly, I felt very self-conscious about the whole process of deciding what to keep in and what to leave out. Suddenly everything seemed important. But was it? 

At the same time, I felt very awkward about having to promote myself. And I felt uncomfortable with the tactics I felt were going on with the CV writing and the whole application process. 

The whole thing triggered feelings of frustration and discomfort – and, honestly, a lot of procrastination. 

The problem, I found out later, is that this way of thinking about CV writing is very much focused on me, myself, and my feelings. And all those feelings make it difficult to sort the essential from the non-essential in the CV.

A good first tip is to get yourself – or at least your feelings - out of the CV, so to speak. And that’s where it’s often very helpful to get support from someone else. 

So, to help you get started, I'm happy to share 5 important CV writing principles. 

5 Key Principles for Writing or Rewriting Your CV

Principle #1: Make it short(er)

There are no laws or regulations on CV’s. But there’s good advice. Which is based on common sense really. I may tell you that your 8-page CV is far too long. But then you may tell me that this is the CV you used when you got hired for your current position. So, an 8-page CV does not necessarily mean that you won’t get shortlisted. But it does not really signal competence in filtering the essential from the non-essential. Or strong written communication skills.

Read the full show notes at http://www.barbarakandersen.com/11

I’m thrilled to be able to share an interview with my good friend and former colleague, Mike Dodd. Mike is from the UK and he started with UNDP in 1991 and retired at the end of 2015. 

 I asked Mike to come on the podcast because I think he’s had a very interesting career path, but maybe more importantly – because of the way he has approached work and career and the way he’s taken decisions in his own career over the years.

 Mike began as a UN Volunteer in Zimbabwe, moved to supporting the global rollout of UNDP’s ERP IT infrastructure as a Regional Information Manager and he finished as a headquarters-based Learning Specialist at the P4 level. Mike’s worked on three continents and his work with UNDP spanned both Country Offices, Regional Centres and Headquarters.

In the interview, Mike shares his own career journey and how the chances he's taken along the way have enriched not only his career but also his personal life.

I always get inspired when I talk to Mike and I think that in his reflections on his career there is something to take away for all of us. So, I hope you’ll enjoy this interview as much as I did.

Read the full show notes at www.barbarakandersen.com/10

Hello, and welcome to this 2nd episode in a small series I’ve called: “Professional Development - Job Hunting and CVs”.

In the previous episode (the one I called “Keep Your UN Career Open - Look for Jobs”) I talked about the importance of staying open to new opportunities. Regularly looking at vacancies and applying. You can find that episode at www.barbarakandersen.com/8.

In that last episode, I also promised that I would share some guiding principles on CV writing, but while preparing for that I realised that there’s an important point I wanted to bring up first. 

And that is:

Why you should always have an updated CV.

So, here’s a short episode on that.

The thing is, I’ve yet to meet a person who told me they enjoy CV writing. And I know that I certainly dreaded that task myself for many years. 

Maybe you recognize this situation:

You have been in the same job for the last good many years. You made an effort when you dusted off your CV for the application for the job, you’re currently in. And then you were relieved to leave the CV at the bottom of your drawer once you had signed your contract. And it has stayed at the bottom of your drawer ever since. 

There was that situation a few years ago where somebody mentioned an interesting job you thought you ought to apply for. You were very busy at work at the time, but you decided you’d still give it a shot. 

But then you had to work late on the day of the application deadline. And when you thought about the updates you needed to do to your CV, you entirely lost steam – and confidence. And you decided that you just didn’t have the time (and honestly, you couldn’t muster the energy) to make the application. And so, you didn’t.

Or maybe you recognize this situation: 

You applied for a job recently because it sounded really interesting and was a good match for your skills. And, lately, you’ve been feeling that it’s about time to move on. 

But you were so busy with work and so exhausted when you came home in the evening that it was hard to really put in the necessary time to update your old CV. 

So, in the end, all you had time and energy for was to add a paragraph about your current job experience and then throw in some keywords from the vacancy announcement. Hoping that it would still catch the eyes of the people doing the long listing. 

As you finished your CV with tired eyes shortly before midnight, you suddenly remembered that you learned in a seminar once that it’s important to write something about your key achievements in your CV… 

But you were so tired that you just knew that either the CV was going to be sent as it was – or you were not going to make it. 

So, you sent it off as it was. Hoping that the recruiters would still be able to spot what a hardworking and competent professional you are – just right for the job. But not actually feeling super professional in terms of the application you’d just made.

What’s the problem?

Well, the problem is that when your CV is not updated, that means you’re not ready to apply when an opportunity suddenly appears. And most times these opportunities are unexpected. It’s rare that we see great job opportunities appear on the horizon with plenty of time for us to get ourselves into gear and take half a day off (or more) to prepare.

And the thing is, that when you can’t or don’t want to share your CV at short notice, that can unfortunately also leave you feeling a bit unprofessional.

Read the full show notes at www.barbarakandersen.com/9

Hello, and welcome to this 1st episode in a small series I’ve called: “Professional Development - Job Hunting and CVs”!

In the last episode, I suggested that you should prioritise time to work on your CV and keep yourself updated about vacancies. 

Even if you’re perfectly happy in your current job! 

So, in this and the next episode, I’ll delve into the CV and job-hunting sphere. 

When I speak to my clients, they often tell me that they think they ought to look for another job. But they just don’t feel they have the time because they’re so busy with their current job. And they’re exhausted at the end of the day, so they don’t get it done. 

Or, occasionally they see – or are pointed towards - a relevant job vacancy, but they find it hard to find the time to apply because their CV has not been updated in a long time and they know they really need to put some work in, in order to present themselves well.

And they often tell me this with a slightly embarrassed smile. If you recognize this there’s nothing to be embarrassed about it. As you can hear it happens to many people and it’s totally natural. 

And I’ve certainly had that experience myself. That when I was in the most need of a change – I had the least energy to pursue it.

We are so engrossed in what we’re doing in our daily life – performing in our current job – that CV writing and looking for other jobs seem to end up at the bottom of the to-do list.

But then I discovered that our energy levels and what we think we have time for are a strangely fluid thing! I also spoke about this in episode 7 (the one I called “Are You Ready to Take Action in Your UN Career?” and which you can find on www.barbarakandersen.com/7).

You can make time for applications and CV writing. If you decide it’s important. 

And maybe more importantly, if you decide that it’s something that you want to do because it will develop your career and professional life and make it more interesting.

I have identified 5 reasons why you should be open for opportunities and scanning the job pages – even if you’re perfectly happy in your current job...

Read the full show notes at www.barbarakandersen.com/8.

Hello, and welcome to this episode which is all about taking action!

In all the episodes until now, I’ve offered you ways to reflect on what works and what doesn’t work in your career and work life. 

And then I’ve suggested that you look for and decide on action points. Big or small. 

So today, I’ll share some tips that will help you do exactly that: take action. 

Because it might seem like there’s so much you could do or should do? 

But how do you prioritise? How do you find the time and resources for taking action?

You’re busy. I know! And I totally understand if it feels like you have enough on your plate. How can you possibly find time to do something new or different?

But the strange thing is that when something is important enough, you find time for it. 

Or if it’s attractive enough. Or maybe just small and easy enough.

Remember when you’ve been in love? How suddenly you always had time and energy to see or call your loved one. Even if you were crazy busy with work. But, Barbara, you might say - that was hormones doing their work! Or that you were younger, maybe? 

But still, somehow you managed to do more with the same amount of time. Because your priorities changed! And you felt a surge of energy, sure. But you can create that situation in other ways!

If you think I’m a bit far out here, I have another example that I think anybody who’s a parent will be able to identify with:  

You get a call from the kindergarten. Your son had an accident on the playground. He’s bleeding from a small wound on his forehead and they think it’s best if he’s taken to the emergency room. Just to be on the safe side. 

Until this moment you were totally absorbed with your work duties for the day and your long to-do list. Now, suddenly you have no problem changing your priorities. There’s no question that you have to go to the emergency room. And you quickly prioritise what tasks can be dealt with by phone in the car, what can be handed over to a colleague – and what can simply be postponed or written off.

What happened? All your work tasks are the same. But your thinking around the tasks and your prioritisation changed.

You can make this happen yourself without accidents on the playground.

So, if you know that there are things you want to take action on for your own UN Career Project, I’ll give you 3 simple and concrete steps to follow...

Read the full show notes at www.barbarakandersen.com/7. 

Hello, and welcome to this episode which I’ve called “Pump your Wheel of Life and help your UN career!" (Alluding to my favourite career car analogy...)

This episode belongs to the “What drives you and what drains you?” series and today we’re going to talk about drivers on a more existential level, you could say because we’re going to look at your whole life. Not just the work part.

Because, often when we think about work and career, we think in a quite linear and traditional way. 

We think in interests (hopefully!) and ambitions, but also very much in terms of promotions, prestige, expectations and what not only we, but also our surroundings, think would be the appropriate or logical next step. 

But there are many other aspects to consider when making decisions around work. 

Because your job has to hang together with the rest of your life. And your family. One example is that a career in the UN often means living away from your family and your country and the culture you grew up in. 

Or it means that your partner and children travel with you and leaves your home country and extended family behind. This can be a wonderful and rich experience that helps you all grow and come closer to each other. But it also presents its own challenges. 

What does that mean for how you see your career? And what does it mean for your partner’s career and professional development?

The reflection exercise I’m offering today is called “The Wheel of Life” and it offers a possibility of a 360-degree view of your work and private life combined. 

And it also offers insights into their influence and effect on each other. That can be both positive and negative. But the great thing is that once you see it, you can do something about it. 

Often, small changes can go a long way to create a new balance or positive effect. And then again, sometimes we realise that a bigger change, a bigger decision, is needed. 

Often, we had an idea already that this bigger decision was waiting to be made. But it’s easier to make those decisions when we see the realities clearly in front of our eyes and that helps us take action and move on.

So, the wheel of life is an interesting reflection exercise that will often offer an additional angle on what’s important for you to consider when you make work and life decisions.

And this is how you do it...

Read the full show notes at www.barbarakandersen.com/6.