Half the battle in successfully managing your emotions during a job search or career change process is in recognizing and naming what you’re feeling. Most of us could barely brainstorm a dozen or so emotions, yet many, many more exist.

As you begin naming what you’re feeling, this list of emotions, each arrayed within a cluster of similar but different emotions, will help you expand your awareness of the depth and breadth of all that you feel in the course of any given day: Continue reading →

How can you manage your emotions during your career change or job search? To answer this practical and wise question, let’s first define what emotions are. Emotions, also commonly referred to as feelings, are energy released in your body in response to perceived events, that is, to data received via your five senses. Continue reading →

Are you a career changer? Or, are you satisfied with your stable career but interested in updating your resume? Are you a professional who has tried different things but are still searching for the kind of work that best suits you? Whatever your career situation, what your resume most needs is a stellar career summary. Continue reading →

The perfect resume presents hiring managers with a four-fold vision of who you are and what you bring to the table:

The perfect resume offers Logical Proofs:Â Â Â Â

Facts
Quantifiable data
Logical conclusions
Achievement and success statements
Relevant professional goals/accomplishments
Limits the use of jargon
Maximizes use of occupation/industry-specific key words
Your capabilities and skills
Clear, specific, measurable, and quantifiable words and phrases
Sells you based on your achievements to date
The perfect resume offers Your Vision & Creativity: Continue reading →

The values landscape of our nation is changing, and with it your personal values landscape is changing as well. What does this mean and what does it have to do with midlife?

Researcher Dr. Paul Ray says that the predominant values set held by Americans has been one he terms Modernist, with roots in the Renaissance. Modernists presently represent 88 million U.S. adults, or 47% of the population, but the numbers of Modernists are shrinking as those who hold these values are increasingly leaving this subculture and choosing instead the values of one of the other two subcultures ray has found, the Heartlanders (representing traditionalist values) and the Culture Creatives (representing newly emerging integral values, never before seen in human history). Heartlanders represent 29% of the population, or 56 million adults, while Culture Creatives represent 24% of the population, or 44 million adults. Continue reading →

Imagine a huge river that has been flowing for centuries: See the thick underbrush that has grown up on either edge of the river’s expansive banks and the moss-lined stones that litter its shallow edges. Feel the power of water so deep and so strong because it has been pulsing through this landscape since the Renaissance, yet now this mighty river approaches a “Great Divide” such as has never been seen before in human history. Continue reading →

With today’s economy, more and more companies are finding themselves faced with the situation of having to reduce headcount to remain competitive. Here are five key factors to consider when selecting an outplacement firm if your company is ever faced with a workforce reduction.

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1. Types of Services Provided. One decision you will need to make regarding outplacement is whether your displaced workers would benefit most from group or individual one-on-one outplacement. For the majority of outplaced employees, if your budget permits, individual outplacement is the preferred option since it provides one-on-one support that will help them move forward more quickly than they would on their own. Continue reading →

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.

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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. Continue reading →

It’s startling to discover how having kids changes the way you see the world. Just compare your “before kids” vs. “after kids” views on what counts as:

A good place to live.
A desirable car.
A great restaurant.
A wonderful evening.
Your ideal or “plum” job.
Give that “plum” job a closer look. Back in college or graduate school, you may have dreamed of a job that offered intellectual challenge, travel, or a chance to use your talents to make a difference in the world. Continue reading →

When we ordered the stained glass window as an accent piece for our home, the artist-proprietor told us he was a bit behind. “So,” he said, “to be on safe side, plan on six months.” That was two years ago. We still don’t have the window. Each time we call or stop in, he has yet another plausible reason why our project isn’t done, the appropriate apology and a new promise of a delivery date. What he doesn’t have is credibility. Continue reading →