Higher Ed Life Coach » Higher Ed Life Coach on BlogTalkRadio

HigherEdLifeCoach.Com Going on Indefinite Hiatus

Sean Cook — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 03:10:16 +0000

When I first launched HigherEdLifeCoach.Com in August of 2009, I was focused on creating a blog that would help s students and their families manage the transitions that are a normal part of college, and to create opportunities to craft a brand name for myself as a coach that could help them in navigating these difficult journeys.The idea seemed to resonate with higher ed professionals, especially those in student affairs.

I started networking with others, and several talented writers stepped up and wrote regular guest posts for the blog, most notably Mickey Fitch and Mallory Bower, two of the nicest people I’ve met in a long time, and who I know support the ideas behind this blog, and me, and I am grateful for all the support I received from other guest bloggers, including Shonda Goward, Lee Skallerup, Sarah Howard, Andrew Henck, and Brian Fisher, and from my periodic guest hosts on my podcast, Bryan Koval, Mickey Fitch and Dennis Charles.

I’m also grateful for the many readers who have stopped by and for their comments and feedback. I still get between 600-1000 visitors in a given month, but I’m not reaching the audience I was hoping , and honestly, my interests have changed. As my coaching practice started to get going, career coaching clearly became my focus. I have been a part of the national conversations about employment and professional preparation in student affairs, and I’ve gained a few paying clients.

But, in reality, my attention to this site has trailed off, and I can’t spend the time here that would be necessary to really have it gain the kind of traction to make it feel worthwhile. I need more clients, and I need the regular income that comes with them, so I am going to follow the money, and spend time focusing on HigherEdCareerCoach.Com, my clients, my podcasts and webinars, and place HigherEdLifeCoach.Com on “pause” for a while, while I seek partners who can help bring the content up to par, and help manage it better.

I’ve reached out to some of these people (or they’ve reached out to me) in the last few weeks, and I am going to try to work on getting some regular contributors and maybe some interns and advisors. Until then, this blog is officially on hiatus.

Thanks for reading and for your support.

Is Your Student Safe on Campus?

Sean Cook — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 12:02:34 +0000

Following this week’s incident at the University of Texas at Austin, it’s understandable that many students and their families are concerned about safety on campus. On this week’s Higher Ed Life and Careers Podcast, we’ll talk about violence on campus and how students, families, and university staff can respond to violent incidents at their institutions.

Please join us at 11 am EDT Friday as we discuss this important issue.

Listen to internet radio with Sean Cook on Blog Talk Radio

Do You Have Advice for Incoming College Students and Parents?

Sean Cook — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 16:01:16 +0000

As the academic year begins this August, approximately 2 million new students will flood campuses in the United States (according to the National Center for Education Statistics), representing about 68% of the nation’s recent high school graduates. It’s a time given a mythical status in the minds of many of these students, and their families…. a time for exploring new ideas, opening of the young mind, discoveries of purpose, new friends, new opportunities, and new challenges. A place where you will start your career, join organizations that will change your life, and maybe even find “that special someone” to spend the rest of your life with.

And many of these things do happen to college students, so the myths were born of the seed of truth. But like many seeds, myths grow in fertile soil that is often full of…well, crap.

Things aren’t ever perfect, and the fall arrival period is a time when many students (and their parents) discover the truth…when they arrive and the experience doesn’t match expectations.

The roommate is going to be your best pal, and you’ll go everywhere together, until you’ve built a solid bond for life…best man or maid of honor at each other’s weddings, future business partner, godparent to your children, etc. Maybe you’ll even name your children after them. Except that when you arrive, the kid you met at orientation, and decided to room with, isn’t assigned to you, and you find yourself in a 4-person lounge that was converted into temporary housing. And you have nothing in common with the three other roommates, and don’t see the point, since the situation’s “temporary,” and you’ll be moving as soon as they find a space for you.
The classes will all be engaging, and you’ll spend time outside of class out on the green lawn with your favorite professor, talking philosophy, debating quantum mechanics, or imagining the next big thing in technology…which will lead to a fabulous research assistantship or internship, the adulation of all the best minds in your field, and of course, a great job upon graduation. Only when you get there, the class has 300 people (or more) in it, is taught by a grad student, with occasional input from a professor you’ve never actually met, and probably won’t, because he only has open office hours once a week, during the time you have 3 classes back-to-back. And no one spends a lot of time on the campus green talking philosophy, because they are all on their cell phones with their parents and friends back home, or texting someone.
And let’s not even get into parking, the dining halls, whether you can get football tickets, or the alcohol policies that never seem to get mentioned in movies like Animal House and PCU.

So the first critical year of college starts for many students well before they get to campus…in their mind, which is full of expectations (realistic or not), and the plans they’ve made based on them. And anyone can tell you the quickest way to frustration is paved with unrealistic expectations.

Last week, I wrote a post, titled “If They Knew Now, What You Know Now, That You Wish You’d Known Then…. What Would They Know?,” and asked readers to comment and share advice and perspectives. It didn’t get the comments I was hoping for, so I thought I’d try again. If you have some brief advice you would share (or a life lesson that would serve as a good example), please visit the post and comment.

I also think that many readers out there would have some good perspectives to share, so I am hoping to have guest bloggers for the next three Mondays featuring life lessons and advice for this year’s incoming college students, and to talk some about the back-to-school season and college transition issues on my BlogTalkRadio show.

So, whether you are a current college student, a graduate, a parent, a career coach, or a higher ed professional (or from some other category entirely), you’re invited to share your thoughts as a guest blogger. Please e-mail me at sean@higheredcareercoach.com this week if you are interested, and check back next week, as I extend the “Monday Morning Quarterback” guest blogger series from HigherEdCareerCoach.Com to include HigherEdLifeCoach.Com as well.

Happy Birthday to Us!

Sean Cook — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 14:19:45 +0000

A year has somehow passed since I first registered HigherEdCareerCoach.Com and HigherEdLifeCoach.Com, so today I’d just like to say “thanks!” to all our readers and guest posters, and to all the other people who have supported and sustained the sites through this critical first year.

Today, I outlined some milestone events during year 1 on our companion blog, Higher Ed Career Coach. Read that post if you are interested in knowing more about what we’ve been doing with our sites!

For now, though, just know that the development of these sites, (and my coaching practice) would not have been possible without the support of an awesome community of readers, contributors, friends and colleagues. You’ve helped the blogs “find their voice,” attract new readers, and explore new territory in our efforts to play a contributing role in discussions about the emerging directions in higher education, how we serve our students and their families, and how we train and prepare future professionals for success in working with college students.

In the next few weeks, you’ll see even more changes, including:

A new tab where you can find more information on upcoming live webinar classes for job searchers and professionals starting their new positions, short courses, teleseminars, and the next editions of our hybrid coaching programs. (Another for students hoping to attend placement next Spring, and one on getting your act together to apply for graduate programs.)
A new provider (aWeber) for our mailing list, and free e-mail “short courses” for new subscribers
E-books, videos, and audio content, including interviews with higher ed professionals about their career development.)
A membership area for premium content, discussion forums, and online coaching.
New sites in our web portfolio, including HigherEdCoach, a site for coaches and consultants working in higher ed to share their tips for getting into coaching and consulting, and to learn from each other. The site will also have a directory for coaches and consultants, that will hopefully assist those in need of coaching and consulting in finding someone appropriate to their needs.

Help celebrate our blog birthday! Your support and encouragement keep us going. Here are some great ways you can help us kick off Year 2:

Tell a friend or colleague to check out the sites.
Even better, send out links to your favorite articles from the last year to your Twitter List, or “like” them on Facebook (you can use the Wibiya toolbar)
Go back and comment on your favorite post.
Add our sites to your blogroll if you have a blog.
Write a guest post.
Sign up for an upcoming webinar class or coaching program.
Give the gift of coaching to a friend, colleague or family member who needs a motivational kick-start in their job search.
And most importantly, keep reading!

Thanks for everything! We’re looking forward to Year 2!

Moving Forward, Plus My Follow Friday for 6.4.2010

Sean Cook — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 20:02:43 +0000

It’s been a busy week in my life and with my business, and I wanted to take some time to share that have helped me move forward, and feel a “sense of joy and ease” (as my friend Monica Moody puts it). I also want to share some of the things, people, and conversations I’ve been following out there lately.

First, I am very happy that I’ve had a few chances to put on my BlogTalkRadio shows this week.

Earlier this week, Eric Stoller (@ericstoller) and I had a great discussion about how to use RSS (Really Simple Syndication) and RSS feeds in your job search. I learned a lot.
Today, I was lucky to have an episode on developing your own “elevator pitch” to highlight your unique strengths during a job search. I had two guest hosts, Mickey Fitch (@mickeyfitch), a regular guest writer for both my sites (Higher Ed Life Coach and Higher Ed Career Coach) and Dennis Charles (@fourth_wave) who is a career coach up in Massachusetts. See his site at http://fourthwaveinstitute.com/ We also had two great call-in guests, Jason Cassidy (@bowenkge), one of my former colleagues at Penn State, and Melissa Brown (@Brown_Melissa), a candidate seeking mid-level positions in Residence Life. They gave their elevator pitches and the guests helped critique them and offered suggestions. It went pretty well, but at the hour mark, the switchboard hung up on me and the show went on without me for a few minutes. We’re going to revisit the same topic next Friday at 11 am EST: elevator speeches and interview skills. Go to the episode page titled “Honing Your Message: More on Elevator Pitches and Interview Skills” to listen.

Also, last week, I rolled out a new coaching program on my HigherEdCareerCoach site. The program is a hybrid of 1-on-1 coaching, online groups and some one-shot teleconferences and activities. Today, I added some new features to the program, lowered the price and extended the deadline. For more details, go to http://higheredcareercoach.com/2010/06/03/beefed-up-and-slimmed-down-for-the-summer-8-weeks-to-august-coaching-program/

This week, I had some great client meetings, did some resume and cover letter revisions for people, and met a milestone goal for paid clients. (A small one, but it was great to break this barrier, and gave me a lot of confidence in how I am moving forward.) I also had my first paid, in-person client here in Athens. The meeting went great and I am really looking forward to helping this client with her goals, which include getting into a graduate program in Psychology and starting her own business.

I also joined a great community called Third Tribe. This site is a members-only forum to help people learn more about how to market themselves, network and build their businesses authentically, without overly-schmoozy marketing approaches. I’ve made some great connections already and gotten advice well worth the membership fee. I get to pick the brains of some of the smartest social media experts like Chris Brogan (@chrisbrogan), Brian Clark (@copyblogger), and Darren Rowse (@problogger) Check it out.

I also want to give Follow Friday mentions for a few other people and things out there:

I watched the movie Searching for Angela Shelton on Netflix. If you are not familiar with the actress Angela Shelton from this movie, your kids might know her as SafeSide SuperChick from the DVD of the same name on child safety. I did not know much about Shelton’s story until my wife (@paxsarah) told me about this movie. Shelton made the film to raise awareness about sexual abuse. She suffered abuse from her father and other family members as a child and as a filmmaker, she illustrated very powerfully the impact of this kind of violence on has on people and its wide range of occurrence, by traveling the country to meet other Angela Sheltons who had also suffered from sexual abuse. Shelton is can be followed on Twitter at (@angelashelton) and you can visit her website at AngelaShelton.Com
Jeff Jackson over at BreakDrink made some announcements the other day on his BlogTalkRadio podcast about his efforts to re-brand his site as a podcasting site for podcasts on issues related to higher education. I am all for this and actually recently discussed this kind of thing on Twitter with several others. Jeff wants to make it happen and has set up an IndieGoGo fundraising site for his efforts. Please follow him at (@jacksonj or @BreakDrink), visit BreakDrink for more details about this and his next BreakDrink Online Conference.

There were probably some other things I meant to mention, but I’ll save them for later. It has definitely been a productive week for me, full of discovery, goals (set and met!) , new experiences, and a feeling of moving forward. I hope the same goes for you.

Thanks for reading!

Go out there and put your purpose to work! Have a good weekend.