Is Your Career Your Calling or Just a 9 to 5?

Do you remember your parents asking you what you want to be when you grow up? By the time I was in the 9th grade, my mother started asking me that same question until I graduated from high school. At that time I wasn’t 100% sure what career path I would take, but I had several ideas.

Your calling is that passion that you have deep inside ? the career that defines your purpose in life. Someone once told me if you find a job that you love you’ll never have to work a day in your life. Some of us work in careers for so long that we are numb on the inside and outside. We go from appointment to appointment and our days are so mundane. We hardly get any enjoyment out of what we do because it is just another 9 to 5. Have you recently said, ‘I could do this job with my eyes closed?’ Continue reading

Five Qualities Employers Want

More than ever, employers want employees who can produce results! Here are five qualities employers seek in such employees.

1. Attitude. You hear a lot about folks with “an attitude”. If you’ve got “an attitude”, lose it! Employers want employees with these attitudes:

* “Can do” attitude
* “I’m willing to risk failing to give it a go” attitude
* “I’m willing to apply myself and learn” attitude

Smart employers hire for attitude and train for skill. Continue reading

What Not To Include In Your Resume

Do you have a difficult time determining what does not go in your job resume? The rule of thumb is to only put enough information about your qualifications in your resume in order to get the employer interested enough to contact you about an interview.

If the information doesn’t highlight your qualifications, keep it out. Many people make the mistake of putting the word “Resume” on their resume. This isn’t necessary, since the employer will only have to look at your resume to know what it is. Continue reading

Career Change – Is Your Career A Good Fit Or Is It Causing Pain?

Do you leap out of bed in the morning looking forward to the day ahead?

Do you love your job and find that your working day goes past in the blink of an eye?

Are you a solicitor, secretary, scientist or social worker because your parents or your careers teacher thought it was a good idea?

Would you choose to do your job, even if you were not being paid? No?

Well, take heart because the same goes for others! So many individuals are working in jobs which they find unfulfilling and meaningless. Many work in jobs which are inappropriate for them, simply because the pay is good. Others don’t even have the sweetener of a decent hourly rate to make them feel better about what they are doing. Continue reading

Children At Work: Looking at Child Labor in the Victorian Age

Today, it isn’t that uncommon for some children and teenagers to work. They may earn extra money by baby-sitting, doing yard work, or maybe even walking dogs. Others, once they go on to high school, may go to work in their local grocery store, malls, or food chains. However, in the Victorian Age, it wouldn’t seem at all strange to see children as young as five or six, go to work full-time (sometimes sixteen hours a day!) in often dangerous conditions. Continue reading

Career Education Options For Working Adults

Ask yourself this question: “Do I like what I do for a living?” If you answered “no”, what are you doing about it? Maybe you have a “good” job, but it’s not very rewarding to you personally. Maybe you have job with good pay, but bad hours or worse ? a job with good hours, but bad pay. Perhaps you’ve just done your job for too many years, or are excited to work in some of the new careers that just weren’t available when you finished school. Continue reading

Leave Your Dead End Job?For Good!

So here you are?stuck in a dead end job. Are you hitting the glass ceiling in a job you once loved, but now can’t stand? Maybe the hours are long. Maybe you can’t stand retail customers anymore. Maybe you’re like 70% of college students who didn’t earn a degree and you feel this is the best job you can get without one. Continue reading

When Should You Update Your Job Skills?

With the U.S. economy still slumping and unemployment numbers barely moving forward, many workers may be considering what their employment future could be like if they were to lose their job. If you’re in a healthcare field, or possess computer skills, you don’t have much to worry about, except explaining why you left your last job. On the other hand, if you’re employed in production or manufacturing, you may be asking yourself, “when should I update my job skills?” Continue reading

Ten Great Careers That Don?t Require A Four Year Degree

One of the great myths associated with the “American Dream” is that you need to have a four-year college degree to be successful. As the economy has shifted to the information age, with a greater reliance on technology and services, this belief applies less and less.

The new economy relies on technology more than any time in the past. In fact 70% of existing jobs require specific technical knowledge and this technology is being applied in newly created industries like biometrics, homeland security, nanotechnology and reusable energy. Continue reading

How to Turn Career Mistakes into Career Wins

I recently talked with a client who was paralyzed at the thought of making another “mistake” in her career.

She was stuck and unable to choose a direction. Her fear of looking stupid, of choosing another career that she wouldn’t like, loomed over her. Her negative thoughts were keeping her from making any move at all.

Does this sound familiar?

Have you pursued a career, or taken an advanced degree, only to find it’s not for you? Continue reading