Career Coach Andrew Castillo Credits Networking and Bears

Andrew Castillo, a life and career coach, brought a devil bear and an angel bear to a full house at the HR Roundtable Network for his Angels and Devils; Friends and Foes of Your Success speech today.  He used the bears as props for the careful balance of being pessimistic enough to be proactive to find a job (devil) and to be optimistic enough (angel) to have a good vibe when meeting others during the job search. 

Before I move forward with my account of the meeting, you must know that Castillo has a following of fans...his training delivery, relate-able analogies, and story-telling skills make him an inspiring speaker.  You may listen to a sound clip about recognizing your self worth if you want to hear a snippet of his training.

Castillo alluded to a couple of stories in the Bible that teach us to have faith in God, have a plan, follow the signs, embrace those around you through the journey, and not complain.  He shared how 19 months of unemployment, the death of his mother, and having his car repossessed made it the worst time of his life.  He got by those times thanks to the bonds he made with a career network in Katy.

His best story during the training was about how the law of opportunities happen at the most inappropriate or unexpected times.  One day, he was waiting at Starbucks out in Katy to meet an executive who was running extremely late.  While he was working away on his computer being productive, someone recognized him from a former networking introduction and a chain of synchronized introductions, which 100% led him to his present job.

Here are the Top 10 takeaways from the meeting to build a career:

1. Design a one-year, three-year, and five-year plan for you and your family.
2. Actually write your goals down.  Read the correlation to success in this study by Dr. Gail Matthews.
3. Plot your timeline.  Do you know the date you want to achieve your goal?
4. Chronicle all of your efforts and encounters in a journal.
5. What do you want to be when you grow up?  If you don't enjoy your current profession, don't allow your subconscious to sabotage you in your career or job search. 
6. Use a bulleted list for a clear networking speech.
7. Treat every encounter during networking as a first impression for a job opportunity.
8. Always remember, who we are is much greater than what we do as a profession.  Serve a greater purpose and get a higher perspective of your self worth.
9. Note to self:  Hang out at Starbucks more often.  Work in public, so people can reach out to you in person.
10. Castillo has a networking group that meets every month at Ruby Tequilas, 7748 FM 1960 West
    Houston, TX 77070, from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM.  His next meeting is Tuesday, July 17.   MAP

About the Speaker:  Currently, Castillo is contracted to British Petroleum where he is part of a large Upstream program. He also works with a U.K. based group to facilitate communication workshops for BP based on the Insights Discovery Model in which he is accredited. He conducts seminars on Leadership and Management, Communication Styles and Techniques, Successfully Managing IT projects, and 'All Things Job Search'.  For more information about Andrew Castillo, please visit his career coach site. 

About the Host:  For more information about Lee Hecht Harrison and the HR Roundtable Network please join them on LinkedIn.