Career Search from Within
Seeking meaningful and fulfilling work can become a discouraging, confusing and overwhelming journey. Beware spending too much time looking for your answers outside of yourself. Ultimately, coming to know our right livelihood is the inner work of our whole being. In order to nurture our well-being and come to our right livelihood; it is best to frequently pause and halt the busy "doing and thinking" process. Pause, relax and trust. This runs contrary to the belief espoused within the employment industry of "looking for a job is a full-time job." Woe upon those who follow this motto. Follow the Voice of Your Heart If we push ourselves non-stop into our career/job search (or within our jobs/lives) how can we hear the voice of our heart? The small still voice within is buried under a constantly busy mind and hectic life - so applauded by our society. I am not advocating that we wait for manna from heaven to supply our answers. We need to do our research and seek the help we may need in order to make wise choices. However, I have found great value in pausing and waiting rather than trying to force a decision or an action. Try it. Through pausing and exercising patience much is often revealed to us. Also, by pausing, relaxing and trusting we are aligning ourselves moment by moment with our heart and our God. How do we distinguish between the voice of our God and that of the busy-mind pushing us along - often driven by the underlying insecurity of being human? As Robert Johnson, Jungian analyst and author of "Balancing Heaven and Earth," says; "How do we know if we are truly following the will of God? One knows instinctively; there is a sense of peace, balance, and fullness, an unhurriedness." From my own experience I would add there is a clean, direct simplicity to my small, still voice. Also, if the voice directing me from within is harsh, hurtful or driven by fear I know with certainty this is NOT the voice of my God. Finding work that is meaningful and fulfilling is not something we 'figure-out,' abdicate to external forces, nor something we push ourselves to do. Rather, it is more a process in time wherein we come to know and trust our deepest desires, intuition and clarity of mind. Coming to know our right livelihood involves our whole being. Seeking the Slender Threads Seeking the slender threads weaving our lives can also lead us toward meaningful work. What are the slender threads? "Being in a particular place at just the right time, meeting someone who steers you in an unforeseen direction, the unexpected appearance of work or money or inspiration just when they are most needed. Whether called fate, destiny or the hand of God, slender threads are at work?weaving the remarkable tapestry of our lives." Robert A. Johnson, Balancing Heaven and Earth. Viewing my own life I see how those slender threads - chance meetings - patterned decades of my life. I see how some of my best career choices came about through some great benevolent force guiding me, connecting me to necessary people and experiences more so than my well-made plans or goals. All I did was get the information I could, put myself out there and then, follow the little steps revealed to me. If you are in job search or looking for career direction put yourself "out there" and be open to slender threads. Participate in free local employment programs - looking and listening for unexpected connections or clues. Pay attention to meaningful words that suddenly catch your attention or replay in your mind whether from a passing stranger, friend, dream, song, TV show, book title, or?. Tell everyone you meet you are in career change, soul searching, job search?find your own words. In a sentence or two let them know what you enjoy doing, what your skills are, what interests you or where you would like to work. Ask if they can think of a job title that might suit someone like you, or where you might apply for work, or who else could they suggest for you talk to. People love to help if we will but open ourselves to their generosity. Take little steps. Pause, relax and trust your small inner voice. Look for the slender threads weaving the majestic tapestry of our lives. Herein, follow the guidance toward your right livelihood. Teresa Proudlove is the publisher/editor of http://www.yourlifework.comencouraging people to listen to their inner guidance, be gentle with themselves and practice present moment awareness. Herein, we learn to navigate through life with more acceptance and peace. Teresa has been inspiring, supporting, and guiding over 3000 people upon their career and life path for fourteen years - with compassion and heart. This entrepreneurial woman also, successfully owned two clothing boutiques for ten years. A well-read columnist for twelve years, Teresa continues her successful writing and teaching today as an editor/writer on line and off line. | | | | RELATED ARTICLES Do Dream Jobs Really Exist? More than four out of ten thirtysomething professionals want to change careers, but feel trapped and don't believe that they will, a new study shows. Free Resume Template: What Makes a Good One? You can drown in the "free resume examples," "free resume templates," and "free resume samples" on the web. Building Your Army of Supporters: How to Build Strategic Relationships in the Work Place! Once you have accomplished your task of getting in the door and getting the job the real job of career advancement begins! Finding the Right Travel Nursing Placement Agency Travel nursing is becoming one of our nation's fastest growing professions, and it's no surprise. 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I really wanted to move away from serving full means and introduce my customers to a variety of food from all over the world. 15 Tips for Writing Winning Resumes The thought of writing a resume intimidates almost anyone. It's difficult to know where to start or what to include. It can seem like an insurmountable task. Here are 15 tips to help you not only tackle the task, but also write a winning resume. 1. Determine your job search objective prior to writing the resume. Once you have determined your objective, you can structure the content of your resume around that objective. Think of your objective as the bull's-eye to focus your resume on hitting. If you write your resume without having a clear objective in mind, it will likely come across as unfocused to those that read it. Take the time before you start your resume to form a clear objective.   2. Think of your resume as a marketing tool. Think of yourself as a product, potential employers as your customers, and your resume as a brochure about you. Market yourself through your resume. What are your features and benefits? What makes you unique? Make sure to convey this information in your resume.  3. Use your resume to obtain an interview, not a job. You don't need to go into detail about every accomplishment. Strive to be clear and concise. The purpose of your resume is to generate enough interest in you to have an employer contact you for an interview. Use the interview to provide a more detailed explanation of your accomplishments and to land a job offer. 4. Use bulleted sentences. In the body of your resume, use bullets with short sentences rather than lengthy paragraphs. Resumes are read quickly. This bulleted sentence format makes it easier for someone to quickly scan your resume and still absorb it. 5. Use action words. Action words cause your resume to pop. To add life to your resume, use bulleted sentences that begin with action words like prepared, developed, monitored, and presented.   6. Use #'s, $'s and %'s. Numbers, dollars, and percentages stand out in the body of a resume. Use them. Here are two examples: Managed a department of 10 with a budget of $1,000,000.Increased sales by 25% in a 15-state territory. 7. Lead with your strengths. Since resumes are typically reviewed in 30 seconds, take the time to determine which bullets most strongly support your job search objective. Put those strong points first where they are more apt to be read. 8. Play Match Game. Review want ads for positions that interest you. Use the key words listed in these ads to match them to bullets in your resume. If you have missed any key words, add them to your resume. 9. Use buzzwords. If there are terms that show your competence in a particular field, use them in your resume. For marketing people, use "competitive analysis." For accounting types, use "reconciled accounts."  10. Accent the positive. Leave off negatives and irrelevant points. If you feel your date of graduation will subject you to age discrimination, leave the date off your resume. If you do some duties in your current job that don't support your job search objective, leave them off your resume. Focus on the duties that do support your objective. Leave off irrelevant personal information like your height and weight. 11. Show what you know. Rather than going into depth in one area, use your resume to highlight your breadth of knowledge. Use an interview to provide more detail.   12. Show who you know. If you have reported to someone important such as a vice president or department manager, say so in your resume. Having reported to someone important causes the reader to infer that you are important. 13. Construct your resume to read easily.  Leave white space. Use a font size no smaller than 10 point. Limit the length of your resume to 1-2 pages. Remember, resumes are reviewed quickly. Help the reader to scan your resume efficiently and effectively.  14. 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