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Get Off Your Butt and Out of the RutIt's amazing to see so many people who are prepared to sacrifice their lives for the sake of their careers. I'm sure you know of someone like that. They get up at the crack of dawn, drag their weary bodies out of the house and head off for another exciting day at work. Ten or twelve hours later they head home totally exhausted with all their energy sapped from their body. They might make the effort to find out how the rest of their family's day has been, even read their children a bed-time story. Finally after having something to eat, taking a hot shower or bath, they then veg out on the couch. They immerse themselves in the newspaper (again) or watch the news or some mindless television show (if they don't fall asleep beforehand). And this is a common scenario for many people who work for someone else! I can understand it if you own your own business where there's so much extra pressure riding on you, yet to sacrifice so much for someone else??? The Solicitor I met Jerry at the gym. He was telling me that for the past two years he has been working at a legal firm in the city. An average day commenced at 8.00 a.m. and finished at 7.00 p.m. Working weekends was common. Lunch breaks and time off were unheard of. This was the culture instilled at his company! No wonder staff turnover was high! Here was a young man, only 25 years old, absolutely stressed to the max. He felt he was on a rollercoaster and couldn't get off. Clearing the Clutter Jerry was so entrenched in his situation he couldn't clearly see what he could do. He felt powerless so did nothing. I suggested to Jerry he write a list of all the options open to him.Some of these were: Speak to his boss and work out a compromise. *Plan his working day and be strict about the time he would leave each day. Take charge himself by starting later if he had to stay back. Or finish earlier if he had to commence work earlier. Learn to say 'no'. Look for another job where they put their people first. (According to Jerry most legal firms treated their people the same way). See our newsletter Look After Your People and They Will Look After You Jerry really did know his options and just needed to have someone to confirm what he already knew (and ask a few hard questions). So what did Jerry do? He spoke with his boss who agreed to a compromise. Unfortunately that only lasted two weeks and Jerry found himself in the same situation. He did what he knew deep down he should have done months ago but couldn't be bothered doing as it was more pressure in his life. He allowed time to go job-hunting. I suggested he use our weekly planner so he could plan his week effectively with the key focus on finding a new position. He contacted everyone he knew and told them about his situation. Jerry scoured the internet for vacancies and the weekend papers. He invested time and energy into his own life. Within three weeks he had a new position handling legal matters in a medium sized business (not a legal practice). By taking action Jerry moved forward. He got himself organised and focussed and took control of his life. He realised he had the power to make the change. Are you holding yourself back? Is it time for you to stop drowning and start swimming? 5 Ways to Get Off Your Butt and Out of the Rut #1 Make a list of what you'd like to change.(eg. Change job, lose weight, find a partner) #2 Prioritise which item on that list is the most important and write no. 1 next to it. Continue numbering the rest of the items. #3 Look at the first item and prepare a list of the possible solutions.(e.g. Change job - contact everyone I know and see if they know of any openings. Contact companies I'd like to work for. Start my own business - attend a small business course) #4 Decide which of those solutions is the first one to take action on.(e.g. Change job - contact everyone I know and see if they know of any openings) #5 Act! (e.g. Phone or email everyone you know and make sure you follow up) The Final Word Whatever is happening in your life it is all down to you. If you're happy and content with both your work and home life that's fantastic. If you're not, then maybe it's time you got off your butt and out of your rut. You can either do nothing or take action. The choice is yours. Lorraine Pirihi, principal of The Office Organiser is Australia's Personal Productivity Coach. She specialises in working with businesspeople showing them how to dramatically boost their productivity, reduce the stress and the mess in their lives and have more time for enjoying their life. |  | | | RELATED ARTICLES Business Dress for Women: Making Impact Buying a suit can be an important investment when you are trying to improve your look for business or career advancement. Wearing a standard off-the rack suit for business or a job interview does not always mean success. Fit is very important. The outfit may be great but if it does not accentuate your positive features or is not the right color, you will not look as good as you can. How to Become a Real Estate Agent If you're wondering how to become a real estate agent, the basic process is fairly simple, although it does vary a lot from state to state.. You will need to take classes, pass exams, earn a real estate license, find a broker to work for, then find sellers or buyers as clients. Seven Success Tips For Recent Graduates Entering the Professional World 1) Build a Relationship With Your Boss Should You Telework/Telecommute "WOW! I can work from home and make money? I can sit around in my PJ's and work whenever I want? How great, I want to be a Teleworker!" De-Bunking The ?Follow Your Bliss? Myth Hello Fellow Seekers! Theres No Need to Pad Your Resume It seems like a good idea, harmless in fact. Your friends assure you that everybody does it and that employers rarely check resume facts. Going on blind faith and convinced the truth hasn't been helpful so far, you seriously consider fabricating information on your resume. You adapt the school of thought that a little white lie never hurt anyone and lying on a resume is just that, a little white lie. CV Writing ? How to Write a CV A winning CV has 2 objectives: To illustrate your strengths and maximise your chances of getting through to interview and to put factual information, such as dates, places, names together in a presentable and readable form. Focal PointIt is claimed that the human eyes are naturally drawn to a focal point one third down from the top of the page. Therefore, put your most useful information in this area. It might be your Profile, Key Skills, Professional Qualifications or details of your most recent employment. You can choose whichever you think is most important and relevant to your application. Always get a second opinion when you have put your CV together. It is difficult to be objective about oneself. Presentation It is often thought that a CV should be fitted on to one side of A4. This can be difficult if you are a mature applicant with a long employment history. If you need to go on to a second page make sure that the CV is spread out over 2 whole pages, not one and a half pages as this looks messy. As a 'rule of thumb' there should be more white than black on a page to make it easier to read. Always write a rough draft first. It can be as long as you like as you will edit it later. Always start with your Career History as this will highlight your Key Skills and help you write your Profile. Once you have compiled your draft copy you must edit it. 1. Take out anything that will not help you get where you want to be. 2. Write in the 'third' person as much as possible keeping 'I' to a minimum 3. Never use the past tense e.g. use "supporting senior management" rather than "supported senior management". 4. Use short sharp sentences cutting out any waffle and jargon.Headings Name Print your name in bold type at the centre top of your CV. If there is any doubt as to which is your surname, e.g. James Martin, indicate by using capitals or underlining. Address Top left of CV. Full address including post code. Telephone Top Right of CV. Full dialing code and daytime and evening numbers if possible. Date of birth Put in full such as 13th December 1962. Do not put your age. Bearing in mind that you will be close to the Focal Point now, this might need to go at the end of the CV under 'Personal' along with other details such as marital status and children. Marital status You do not have to include this at all. If you choose to, make sure you use only "married" or "single". Do not use divorced or co-habiting. Put at the end of the CV under 'Personal'. Children Its up to you whether you include this information or not but if you include it put it at the end of the CV under 'Personal' Profile This is an introductory statement about who you are and what you have to offer. You should complete this last although it is positioned prominently in the CV, possibly in the Focal Point. It should be no more than two sentences and include the most important facts about yourself. You can include skills, achievements, responsibility or personal qualities. e.g. Highly motivated Account Manager with successful direct and telesales experience in hardware and software industries. Key Skills Several Key skills should be highlighted after you have analysed and edited your employment history. Pick out no more than six. Make sure they are relevant. Do not include dates. A key skill can come from an earlier job or an outside interest. If you are short on direct experience and qualifications you may have skills arising from your personality, i.e. Interpersonal skills, e.g. "the ability to relate and communicate with others". Some examples of descriptive words to use in key skills are: Administering Implementing Budgeting Leading Reorganising Forecasting Advising Employment History Always start with your most recent employment. Break down your job functions as much as possible. The job description on your contract might provide a starting point or, consider how your employer might advertise your job. You should have more to say about your most recent, and therefore most relevant, employment. Include successes and achievements especially if it saved the company money. Don't have any employment gaps. If these occur explain them briefly. Qualifications If you are a mature applicant you can leave these out as career history is more important. Put the highest qualification first with year achieved. If you have a degree you can leave out the lower qualifications altogether or include the basic information. Do not include poor grades or failures. Professional qualifications Only include those that are still current. Training Only include training that is relevant to the position for which you are applying. Interests Only include interests that are unusual or which indicate transferable skills, achievements or responsibilities. Reasons For Applying This finishes the CV off with a concluding statement and puts the application into context. Don't imply you are out to gain advantage to yourself such as "I would like to join the company to gain additional experience". Instead, concentrate on what you have to offer, "my experience at??would be useful to the company because????." Finally Your CV should be available soft copy or on good quality plain white A4 paper. Do not use double sides. Only fold once and enclose an SAECopyright 2005 CVwriting.net If Youre Fired, Will Past Employers Keep Your Secret? Despite what some job seekers think, it is not illegal for former employers to tell reference checkers that you were fired. They can say anything they want as long as it's true. How To Survive A Job Loss Has this ever happened to you: You have been working at a particular job for a few years. It's not the greatest job and it hasn't always allowed you to capitalize on your unique gifts or talents. But it's ok, and it pays the bills. The job has become a part of your life's routine. The Top 10 Mistakes Job Seekers Should Avoid In Contacting An Employer There are numerous tools and resources available to guide job seekers through the steps of a career transition. These tools are very useful and suggest much that you should do. At the same time, some individuals benefit equally by learning what to avoid. If you count yourself in this latter group here is a laundry list of things that "turn off" an employer. Make sure you steer clear of the following: Mastering The Lunch Interview Interviews can be nerve-racking, brain-draining, headache-inducingexperiences. These days, recruiters have found a way to make theinterview even more difficult by combining the experience with ameal. This means that in addition to listening to the interviewer,formulating intelligent responses, and trying your hardest to beconfident, you now have pay attention to how you look while eating. Wanted: A Diva for the Job of a Lifetime! "When I was a child, I always thought the world was mine, A stomping ground for me, full of opportunities. I always had this attitude that I was going to go out into the world and do all the things I wanted to do." ?Madonna Create a Network and Catapult Your Job Search Networking is still known as a great job-search strategy, yet it eludes some individuals simply because they don't know how to go about it. Individuals also tend to shy away from networking because it's time consuming. Unlike online résumé submission or folding a résumé, stuffing it in an envelope, and adhering a stamp, networking requires far more time and dedication. The results, however, can be quite different than those experienced from traditional résumé submission. Career Moves: Take Charge of Your Life Every day millions of people let their inner fears stop them from creating the life of their dreams. No one will deny that it is scary to step out of your comfort zone, but once you challenge your fear and take action, you can attain great things. Do I Have to Provide a Salary History? Often you see job postings with a request such as "Send resume with salary history to?" I don't know about you but the first thing that pops into my mind is what do they expect to pay? The next question I ponder is whether or not it's legal to request this information. Who will see my salary history when my resume and accompanying documents are received? Will it be the hiring manager, someone in the human resources department, or will it be a notoriously nosy employee whose job it is to open the mail? Will that individual broadcast my confidential information to other employees? Five Mistakes That Can Derail Your Job Search No matter how much time and energy you invest in job seeking, critical mistakes can derail your efforts. Consider the following job search scenario. Each of the mistakes described below can put your job search off track, but all are easy to avoid. What is My Calling? "What is my calling?" Do any of us really have complete clarity about our life calling? Even those of us with the knowingness we must teach, write or sing may often ask, "What direction am I to go, now?" How do we answer these soulful questions? Successful Job Seeking ? The Importance of Your Cover Letter As an employer I receive many job applications each week. Some cover letters are so well written that I am compelled to review the attached resume even if our company is not currently hiring. I don't want to miss an opportunity to contact an outstanding individual. Other cover letters are sufficiently interesting that I will file them away and review them later in the week, while others simply beg to be deleted immediately. 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To build rapport successfully with another individual you need to understand 'where' they are coming from and have 'empathy' with them.  People often think of empathy as a mystical commodity, a special, almost uncanny ability to experience the thoughts and feelings of someone else. In fact 'empathy' is quite simply applied imagination and only requires a little exertion and discipline. The next time you are sitting in a room conversing with three or more people, try this very simple activity: Temporarily remove yourself from the conversation. Be very quiet for a few moments. Pay particular attention to the person doing the most talking. Imagine the following things: Imagine the physical sensations the speaker is experiencing. Mentally place yourself in that person's body, sitting or standing in a particular position, eating the same food, drinking the same drink. Mentally become that person. Do you feel energised? Tired? Irritated? Imagine what kind of day the speaker has had - using all your knowledge about the speakers' day. If you know little about the person, guess. Continue to imagine yourself as that person. How does your day colour and affect what you are saying? Imagine the person's relationship's to everyone in the room - including yourself. Continue to mentally be that person. What kind of feelings are generated by the people around you? How do they affect the things you say? Now step back into yourself and rejoin the scene. Does your own role in the conversation feel different?  Empathy, like memory is a creative act, not a mystical property and it requires imagination and practice. It lies within the grasp of all of us. Moving Without A Job: Should You Move to the Location of Your Dreams and THEN Look for a Job? Moving without a job will challenge your identity -- but for some people, it's the best way to go. |
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