Does your job search feel like a big weight on your shoulders?

Are you confused about what you should do next?

Do you have starts and stops in your search activities?

Are you beating yourself up because you haven’t done enough?

Okay, first things first.

Conducting a job search can be overwhelming under the best of circumstances.

Add to that a full time job, kids and/or other pressing responsibilities, and it gets even trickier. Continue reading →

Career change is no walk in the park.

If it was easy, the castle gates would have burst long ago under the stampede of restless corporate warriors. Even with a burning desire to escape, the gritty issues of money and future work loom larger than life. Add in the trauma of a lost security blanket and you’ve got a love-hate relationship that keeps you marching stoically in place.

It doesn’t have to be that way. Successful career-changers take one step at a time. Learn a little?make a little progress. Learn a little more. Take a giant leap forward. You control the process from beginning to end. When you’re energy is strong, act boldly; when you’re feeling less confident, slow down. Continue reading →

As much as you are yearning for career-change, and as much as the trends actually favor it, just contemplating a shift is a glittering invitation to four emotional stalkers who love nothing better than to play a nasty game of team-tag at your personal expense. When you unmask these bandits — even a little — they begin to lose their emotional charge ? leaving you free to more fully explore the opportunities to re-invent yourself.

Stalker # 1: The Devil You Know. Just imagine that you’re headed for work. You’re at the station, briefcase and newspaper in hand, waiting in a narrow sea of gray look-alikes to catch the 6:10 train. Or, jailed in your car, radio droning, you crawl along the highway, hypnotized by the swaying bumpers ahead. Continue reading →

Meaningful work honors the deepest part of your being. It is the embodiment of your gifts and talents and all that you value. Finding it in a safe, smart way requires these six steps:

1. Soul Searching. Your journey begins with some intriguing self-examination. This step goes beyond looking at your work experience and skills. You also consider your values, interests, and personality preferences. This can be done informally through the use of specially-designed exercises or it can be done formally through professional assessment testing. Taken all together, the soul-search phase allows you to come up with a comprehensive personal profile that will help you develop future work possibilities. Continue reading →

Two weeks ago, I received a newsy email from a former client. Dan gave me the scoop on his life and new love, and ended by saying that while work had improved, he was feeling the itch again to go after career change. He would soon give me a call for some personal coaching sessions.

I replied nicely to all his news, and on the itch, I said: “Call me when it’s a burn.”

Why this tough love response? Continue reading →

One day I walked into my boss’s office and said, ” I think all staff should do a time sheet, including you, from now on.” I definitely surprised her but the results of thisrequest certainly got the attention of all of our staff.

I work for an email marketing software and services firm. I am currently wearing my third hat within this firm. We have been under a ‘massive spring cleaning’ for about six months. We have new staff, new websites and new tasks. I work in the Marketing/Send Service departments where I have specific tasks and responsibilities but often I take onvarious new tasks. I began to wonder if my productivity was affected by the quantity and variety of tasks I was working on within a single workday. This uncertainty, leadto my request of implementing the use of time sheets to myboss. In past careers, I had experienced the use of time sheets as well as time clocks and I was quick to remember how a sense of efficiency as well as commitment went with this practice. Continue reading →

Legging Up Your Competition

Let’s face it. When you graduate from college you need an edge over the competition, right? Every year thousands of college students just like you enter the job market looking for the same thing you are, a job / career. Since that is the case you need something other than a paper degree to get your first job.

Here are a few suggestions you can do while you are still in school:

Project-based experience Continue reading →

In the current climate, many people are looking away from the traditional job market towards working for themselves. The massive redundancies and job-insecurity has caused many people to radically rethink their career plans. With the ever rising cost of living, many would be happy just earning extra money to support their family and to pay the bills.

In this article, you will discover what you really enjoy in life and how to turn it into a money making opportunity, and perhaps even a full-time career. Your only limitations are those you impose upon yourself! At the very least, what you learn will help you to be happier with your current job. Continue reading →

As the business sections of today’s papers and magazines read more and more like the police blotter, ”Integrity” is fast becoming a hot topc of conversation in business boardrooms, around water coolers, and in today’s business best-sellers. Integrity is defined as walking the talk when it comes to living one’s true values, being authentic. Take this self-assessment and explore how you walk your integrity talk when you show up at work.

Integrity is a lot like being pregnant. In other words, either you are pregnant, or you aren’t. There’s no middle ground. I”s the same with integrity. Continue reading →

Employers have fears, uncertainty and DOUBT (the FUD factor) over your ability to actually do what you claim you can do in your resume and cover letter.

Combine this with the fact that EVERY candidate looks good on paper, no-one leaves their previous job because they were paid too much, the work was too interesting and all the people were fantastic, and you can see the challenge you’re facing. (I’m yet to see a resume or cover letter that says the candidate is just average…)Specifically, here’s what they fear about YOU: Continue reading →