What Are Your Career Priorities?
Whether my client comes to me for career exploration and/or for help with the job search, we are likely to discuss career priorities. We consider priorities as the circles around the center of a target. The bullseye is the actual job as it might appear in a job description. The career priorities are other factors that are important for you to have a rich and satisfying life.
Priorities can include factors as obvious as income and as simple as commute. I had a client who loved her work life until the company moved and she found herself twice daily in the worst commute in the city. These priorities matter. [Read More...]
What Is Career Coaching?
My coaching approach with my clients is a creative partnership. We do something together. Together we create a new work life.
I spoke this week to a woman about my services. Let me call her Susan. It gradually became clear that Susan believed her success in career coaching would depend entirely and totally on me. So she was understandably nervous about turning herself over to be “fixed”.
Susan believed that career coaching resembles a service like dentistry where you present yourself and the professional provider does something to you to improve you. But career coaching is not like that. Career coaching is much more like the service of physical therapy. [Read More...]
Is Your Resume As Good As You Think?
Career coaching clients often have college degrees and strong experience. Some have graduate degrees. And most have resumes that really need help.
They know that a resume cannot have spelling or grammar mistakes. They know careless errors can be fatal for interviews. So what resume errors do these smart and capable people produce?
They often use too many words. You must write a resume as if you are paying for every word. Every word should cost you ten mental dollars. No exceptions.
Why does this matter? Imagine the person with a resume stack on her desk. That stack may be thick in today’s economy. She sits and sighs and thumbs quickly through the resumes. What is she looking for? Readability and keywords.
What Is Career Transition?
Career transition can have various meanings. Last week I was contacted by a former client who said thanks for helping him feel the confidence to continue searching and find work again. He landed a position in the same industry doing work he enjoys.
His transition was simply from one position in his field to a slightly different role. The help he needed was to believe it could happen after his industry and self-esteem tanked with the economy.
I am helping a client find work that will let him relocate from one side of the country to the other. His transition will be to another region and to another role in his profession. He wants to be more hands-on and out-of-doors. When we met, he was discouraged. He now has a phone interview set for next Wednesday.
“Whether this position works out or not,” he said with a smile, “getting this interview tells me I can succeed.” He is on his way. [Read More...]
How to Learn from Stress At Work
What can you learn from stress at work? Quite a lot. Is your work stress a sign to consider another career? Does it mean that your work does not fit with your skills, interests, values?
Work stress is an opportunity to take a thoughtful look.
You may know whether your work is a good match for your skills, interests, values. If you are not sure, there are ways to learn. You may do this alone or you may want some help.
Where your work seems a good match and your stress is still high, relationships may play a part. Are you having trouble with supervisor or peers? Are relationships [Read More...]
Career Goals Can Draw You Like A Magnet
Nourishing and meaningful work grows from career goals that pull you to them. Career goals can draw you like a magnet and transform your work life into your life/work.
How do you discover career goals that pull you like a magnet? Honesty is required. You must focus on what you truly want to do. Sometimes this requires additional information. Sometimes you know, but other factors get in the way.
As a career coach, my job includes helping you find and say what work you want to do in the world. I don’t mean what you should do or what you think it would be smart to do. I mean what you deeply want to do. [Read More...]
you and the yellow pages
I have career clients who sit down with the Yellow Pages in hand or online. They find headings of interest. And then they call businesses which fit their goals and their skills.
They create a calling schedule. They speak with a memorized statement of friendly and concise introduction. They have practiced and rehearsed the performance.
Some will have researched the person to speak with. Some take their chances. All will have checked out the organization. They have done their homework. They find interviews.
They take notes. Even where no interviews emerge, they learn. They learn important information and gain important skills.
This approach is one effective method in job search. It is worth your consideration after you are clear on who you are and what you want and how you can contribute.
To schedule your complimentary consultation or ask a question, simply contact me. Based on our talk, I will create a career coaching plan to be emailed for your consideration. I hope to hear from you soon!
Ways to Find Work
In a recent post on ways to find new work, I introduced the number one job search method according to internationally famous career expert Richard Bolles. My own experience as a career coach over twenty plus years is the same. The foundation for a creative and effective job search is to take the time to know yourself.
This means getting clear on who you want to be in the world of work and what you have to offer. Many of my clients explore this question with me. Once we have learned who they are and how they want to contribute, we are on our way. Some walk in the door with this awareness, and we are on our way. We are ready for next steps. We are ready for the resume. [Read More...]
Learn How to Read Job Statistics
My job as a career coach includes believing in my clients even when they are discouraged. It is my job to help my clients see their possibilities in new ways.
For example, we discuss how to read job market statistics in a way that is both encouraging and accurate.
Let’s say you have read that job seekers in your age group have a 30 percent chance of finding a position within a year. You may hear that news as discouraging. And certainly it would be preferable to hear that job seekers of your age have a 70 percent chance.
However, you have two perfectly accurate ways to think of the initial statement. You can think of yourself as in the 70 percent who won’t find the job in a year. Or you can remember that 30 out of every 100 are finding the job. That becomes 300 people of every thousand who are finding the jobs. [Read More...]
Many Ways to Find New Work
How many ways can you look for work? I am guessing that you said two. Well, I have great news!
Great news from life/work expert Richard Bolles, internationally acclaimed author of What Color Is Your Parachute? He identifies eighteen (yes, 18) choices for conducting a creative job search.
The cornerstone (holding first place) is what Bolles calls a self-inventory to clarify what strengths you want to offer and what interests you want to pursue and what areas of work can provide that life opportunity. He considers this inventory a necessary foundation for all other search methods. To be clear on what you deeply want and what strengths and skills you can offer is key.
In upcoming posts, I will share some of the ways that my clients and I design their creative job search. To schedule your complimentary appointment for discussion of job search and/or career exploration, just contact me. I look forward to speaking!
An Excellent Interest Assessment
There are usually a number of careers that a person will find deeply engaging. My clients often choose the first-class Strong Interest Inventory as part of our work. The Strong organizes occupations under five broad families of careers based on what interests and appeals to you. These career families are called themes
There is the Artistic theme which covers careers ranging from fine arts to applied arts all the way to careers working with the arts, such as literature teacher.
There is the Social theme with a focus not on partying but on providing a human service. My own work falls within the career group called Social.
There is the Enterprising theme with a focus on business and sales and entrepreneurial careers. Both Enterprising and Social are people categories and involve working with people in different ways. [Read More...]
Occupy Wall Street
Occupy Wall Street has important lessons for career seekers. You cannot take the future for granted. You must be the change you wish to see. You succeed in cooperation with others.
Whether you are creating a new career path or seeking an employer who is a good match or establishing your own enterprise, the way forward requires that you exercise your creativity and capacity to build with others.
If you wish to schedule a complimentary appointment, simply contact me. You will leave our talk with information to help decide whether creative career coaching makes sense for you.
Work You Have Never Heard Of
I listen to a radio show called On Being. On that program, I heard mention of a field called Environmental Humanities. What is that, I wondered. It sounded intriguing. I learned that it is part of a movement to cross traditional subject lines and create new interdisciplinary majors.
About a week ago, I did some research on engineering. The number of specialties is astonishing. Some I was aware of and some were brand-new. I am a career coach. Very interesting.
It is impossible to be aware of the thousands of occupations that workers perform in the world or in your region. This is why I place such emphasis with my clients on research, research, research. Learn, learn, learn. It is easy to do and it really pays off long-term.
New careers are emerging as you read. One of those may be just the path you want. If we work together, you will choose from an informed place. My clients and I are dedicated to smart choices.
To talk over your situation and my services, just contact me for your complimentary initial appointment. You will leave our talk with information to decide whether my services are a good match. I look forward to speaking!
Perform Your Work Life Large!
As a career coach, I encourage my clients to play large. In this job market, anxiety or caution can make you play small. Regardless of how you feel, this is a time to play bigger.
If you are looking, you must enlarge your search unless your field is in high demand. Most workers face tough competition, and so most need to learn new and creative ways to search. Most need to expand.
If you want to establish your own enterprise, any time can be a good time depending on how creative and thoughtful and persistent you will be. Establishing your own small business is, by definition, playing large.
Perhaps you want to grow in your workplace. You want to play larger and give more. Creativity and communication will be key to expanding your presence and impact. [Read More...]
Use Good Career Resources
One resource for your career exploration is the Occupational Outlook Handbook. Based on research by the Department of Labor, this very readable resource can be found online or in print. The OOH contains information on occupations that most Americans go into. You will not find unconventional work here. Those positions will require other research.
The OOH provides the same information for each included career. Remember that this is not local information and check the publish date to see how recent the information is. Supplement as needed with information published in the current year and with info that is local.
The OOH predicts demand in the American workplace for each career. Local demand may be different. You are given ways to find additional information. That is a valuable section. General nature of the work and the usual required training are also included for each occupation. [Read More...]
Should You Job Seek Abroad?
As a life/work coach, I follow career trends. An emerging trend is that the American job search is more often global.
Ben Bernanke, Chairman of the Federal Reserve, testified to Congress that the world is seeing two economies developing at two different speeds. In what he called the industrialized economies, the speed has slowed down. That includes America and Europe. In the emerging economies, there is rapid and dynamic growth. That includes China, India, Brazil, and more.
Consequently, we are seeing more job seekers in the slower economies expanding their searches to include the emerging and dynamic sectors. This includes experienced workers who are looking afar to see where their expertise may be in demand.
We are in a new world that calls for new eyes and creative imagination. To explore your options locally and/or abroad, you may contact me to schedule a complimentary conversation. Perhaps I can help.
Who Do You Think You Are?
There is a revolution going on in psychology. This impacts life/work coaching which shares certain views with the field of psychology. Traditional views show us to ourselves as primarily individuals leading private lives.
Cutting edge work in psychology shows us to ourselves as always in relationship. Not just always part of a family. Not just always part of a friendship group. We are seeing ourselves more as part of the world.
You can focus your attention on a leaf or you can focus your attention on the leaf on the tree. You can focus your attention on the tree or you can see the tree merging into the earth. A leaf falling from the tree is integrating into air and earth. Always part of something larger.
We are learning that is who you are. That is who we are together.
The natural sciences have known this for a long time. Physics and biology do see an integrated world. It is the social sciences that are catching up. [Read More...]
Labor Day Born in Struggle of Workers
Americans are more likely to think of Labor Day as an end-of-summer day than as a day associated with the 1886 Chicago Haymarket Massacre when workers died in a general labor strike for the eight hour workday.
Oregon was the first state to establish Labor Day one year later in 1887.
Seven years later in 1894, President Grover Cleveland signed legislation to make Labor Day a national holiday following the deaths of American workers during the Pullman Strike. President Cleveland hoped to quell further disturbance.
Thirty states had already established Labor Day as a holiday.
Labor Day is much more than the end of summer. Every worker needs to know. Pass it on.
Workers Want To Create and Do Good
I have served career clients of all ages for many years. What most people want is the chance to make a positive difference and the chance to be creative in their work.
I recently read an article listing nine careers that people over fifty find most appealing. That list consisted entirely of service occupations that contribute to a sustainable world. My clients are typical. Workers of all ages want to make a positive difference. Sustainable work. Sustainable world.
Creativity can be understood in a narrow sense as producing fine or applied arts. I prefer a broader understanding of creativity. I think of creative work as work that requires some improvisation. Some discovery. Some going beyond what you know.
Creative work stretches you. Sustainable work supports the greater good. This is what our world needs. This is how we grow.
Do You Need A Four Year Degree?
According to a Harvard University School of Education report released this year, the U. S. needs to learn from several European countries which provide strong education and career tracks as alternatives to college.
Countries including Norway, Germany, Denmark and Finland see roughly half of high schoolers choosing training that combines books and hands-on education such as apprenticeships.
These programs lead to qualifications that are well-respected in their job markets. In Finland, students choosing a three year vocational track gain employment skills and have a chance [Read More...]
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