Easy New Year On-line Career Coaching Tips
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Out of 10, how happy would you rate yourself in your current job/career.
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If you could have any job/career you wanted, what would this be?
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Out of 10, how happy would this make you?
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Compare your answers to questions 1 and 3.
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If your answer to question 2 makes you happier, what obstacles/challenges are stopping you doing this now?
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Write down key actions that you are going to take over 2011 to move closer to your ideal job/career.
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To subscribe now and get further details go to: Free Career Tip of the Month
5 Signs You Are Ready To Leave Your Job
If you have a job in these uncertain economic times, many of us simply feel so lucky to have one that to be considering leaving is almost ridiculous. However, how bad does it have to be before you decide it is time to move on?
The following signs are the most common reasons I hear from my clients why they want to leave their current job.
- Change in Circumstances – your life situation has changed. Perhaps you’ve got married, had a baby or the kids have all gone to school. Your current employment no longer supports your home situation.
- High Stress Levels – your work (or elements of your work) gives you so much stress that it impacts your relationships with your manager, colleagues and friends and family. At the end of the day you literally feel so drained that you can hardly even find the remote to change the channel of the TV.
- You dread Monday mornings…and most mornings for that matter! The mere thought of work the next day makes you feel sick and depressed. In fact, at this stage you have completely given up control and your fear (often the cause of which is unknown at this point) is overwhelming.
- Boredom – You feel unchallenged, under used and frustrated in your current job. Or to put is simply: you are bored! Many people don’t see this as a reason to leave a job, but remember the feeling when you are doing something you love, something you are passionate about and how excited and motivated that makes you feel? Changing jobs will allow you to attain this again.
- Your job doesn’t match your values – whether this be the organisations values, the values of the industry you work in or even your managers principles and values. Whatever it is, this mis-alignment with yours causes you to feel frustrated and stressed.
So yes you can believe all the hysteria created by Governments and media etc that we are in dire economic straights and changing jobs is senseless but again you are giving yourself another reason to stay in a job you are unhappy with.
Yes, the economic climate is uncertain, however when you are working in a job you love that motivates you and empowers you, you are more likely to do well and ultimately make you more valued by your employer. Surely it’s worth it?
Book a free discovery session now: http://www.claritycareercoaching.co.uk/discovery-session/ with a qualified Career Coach and discover if it is time for you too to change jobs.
At Clarity Career Coaching, Kerry Lindsay works with professional working mums who want to find a job they love and successfully combine this with family life.
Things School Didn’t tell us about CV’s
CV’s are a convenient tool when job searching. All you need to do is list your experience, send off several copies to employers and sit back and wait for the phone to ring! Well kind of…
Here I explore the principles required in today’s recruitment market for you to create your own powerful CV:
- Your CV is your marketing tool. Think of it as a business card, rather than a biography. The job market is a market, with buyers (employers) and sellers (job seekers). Being good at your job is not enough, so are many others. You need to sell yourself. Take care not to present your previous experience simply as a chronology of your life’s work; ensure the information you detail makes you more marketable.
- The primary purpose of your CV is to get an interview – not a job. If you keep this in mind you will be ahead of 97% of the other job seekers.
- It takes a skilled HR person 8 seconds to review a CV; 30 seconds if they are taking their time. They can screen out 50 CV’s in less than half an hour. It is essential that you ensure that the first third of page one contains your critical information. Unless you graduated within a year, your experience should precede your education.
- Customise your CV for each job application- Employers are looking for specific ways your experience meets their requirements. Tailor accomplishments and key results to ensure they are aligned with their requirements.
- Use a chronological CV- i.e. detail your work experience, achievements and education in reverse chronological order. You may use a functional CV where you have limited work experience; changing careers or have a wide range of skills to present.
Many of my clients suffer from procrastination when preparing their CV. With this in mind, I have prepared my October Career Tip of the Month to help which is about my Top Ten Tips for The Perfect CV.
Sign up now via the following link: http://www.claritycareercoaching.co.uk/career-coaching/free-career-tip-of-the-month/ and get exclusive access to this and many more secrets about getting your dream job.
I offer all my subscribers a free CV Health Check, sign up now and book yours today: http://www.claritycareercoaching.co.uk/discovery-session/
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Common pitfalls when using LinkedIn for job seeking
Studies show that LinkedIn has rapidly grown to be a key tool in recruitment, both for candidates and recruiters. With 70 million users and over half a billion searches for specific skills and experience last year alone, you must embrace LinkedIn as part of your job search strategy.
Here you will find my vital rules of business for job seekers when using LinkedIn:
Do’s
- Connect with your “real life” friends (after setting up your fabulous profile!) Use your email contacts and also search for colleagues and uni contacts.
- Keep your profile up to date – a must if you are to keep your contacts engaged with your progress. Send out genuine updates to let your connections know about your good news.
- Ask for recommendations – use the tool to seek selective recommendations from people you have worked with in the past. Naturally, ensure that you provide a few genuine recommendations in return.
- Accept requests to connect from others. You can’t expect others to connect to you and not connect back!
- Join groups. An absolute must for any job seeker today’s market. Not only will you keep up to date with developments in your field, and make more connections, you can also share your views on a topic too.
- Remove connections when required. LinkedIn has a tool that permits you to disconnect from nuisance connections who don’t play by the rules and standards.
Dont’s
- Become an “invitation spammer” wanting to connect with every person in and out of your network. Be selective in who you connect with and write a personal message in your invite.
- Become a “connection addict” and confuse building a big network with a strong network. Ensure that you connect with people that you are genuinely interested in connecting with and have enough in common with so you can follow up with a phone conversation.
- Pass on requests you are unsure about – your friends may ask you to pass things on to your network. If you think it is purely a marketing message and you don’t support it, is better to go back and let them know you feel uncomfortable doing this rather than randomly sending it onto your network.
Job seekers are fortunate now to have LinkedIn so they can connect with people quickly. Many recruiters are now using LinkedIn rather than advertising, so there are plenty of opportunities out there. However a key part of using LinkedIn as a job search tool is to quickly follow up screen to real conversations.
I invite you to check out my Linked In profile and connect with me via the link at the top of my webpage.
Post a comment below to let me know if you have recently found a job using LinkedIn and share your success with my readers. To receive automatic updates from me click on the RSS feed icon.
Top 5 Career Change Myths Exposed
After many years dreaming about my dream job, last year I actually took the plunge and decided to go for it. I am well on track to achieving my dream. However, this has not an easy road…believe me!
In the following article I will share with you some commonly held career change myths that my clients tell me that had put them off making the change and following their dreams.
Career Myth 1: I can’t do what I love and get paid for it
Top of the list – you can’t make a career out of something you are passionate about.
If you find yourself buying into this myth, consider this question – As you look back on your life, what will you regret more? Following your passion or following your fears?
Also consider – If you are doing a job you love are you not more likely to enjoy it, do well at it and get more praise from it? No brainer really! If you are willing to be open minded to all new opportunities you are likely to find a job you love and get paid for it.
Career Myth 2: Our job defines who we are
A really common error of thinking it to equate what we do to how valuable we are within society. This leads us to the “What do you do?” question when we meet people for the first time.
Changing your career means that you leave this piece of your identity behind and we may need to admit that we made a mistake with our first career choice. However, standing still and not making the change is lethal if you are dreaming of doing so. This desire for a change will not go away; it will always be under the surface waiting for you to make the change.
Career Myth 3: Asking “What’s the best thing for me to do?”
This is one of the most common questions asked when considering a career change. It seems like a logical analysis – weigh up the pros and cons. Believe me, don’t ask yourself this question!!
The real question you need to ask is “What do I really want to do?” This is a very different question to “what’s best?”
By asking this question you really search inside and discover something that you can put your heart and soul into. Admittedly it does take courage to follow your heart. Once you discover this vision it will act as your compass and give you the focus you need to make this happen.
Career Myth 4: I don’t like my job so I’m in the wrong career
Many of my clients want me to help them find their perfect job because they don’t like their job and want to change career. Within our first meeting a revelation often occurs a people realised that one or two main elements are causing them the dissatisfaction.
You need to work hard to pin point the exact area that is causing this pain so that you can move forward and find a job you love. Admittedly this can be a very difficult to do by yourself but a career coach can support you with this (…I know, a shameless plug for career coaches here!)
Career Myth 5: If I ignore my career dissatisfaction it will eventually go away.
If only this were true! It’s easier to ignore it in the beginning but as time goes by it keeps re-surfacing so you build up a list of reasons to ignore it:
- I’ve spent years developing my career
- I don’t want to go back to studying
- I can’t afford to take a pay cut – I’ve got a family to support
- It’s too late to change
I work with my clients to help them accept that this denial creates inactivity…and so does hopelessness! Once they accept that this fear stems from the unknown and moving out with their comfort zone, each little step they take takes them closer to their dream and so their fear diminishes.
I’m interested to hear your thoughts. Have any of the above put you off making a change? Why not challenge me – have I missed any myths out, let me know and see if I can expose it for what it is!
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School Holidays Survival Guide
Hooray…the school holidays have arrived! For many of us, summer holidays are a time to chill form the stresses of the usual working life.
However, for many working parents, the long school holidays can be just as stressful. My survival guide will give you all the tips you need for a stress free summer:
- Tip 1: Be Organised
- Be in control in your environment (both at home at work) and don’t let it control you.
- Tip 2: Be Focused
- Make a plan for the day or the week ahead so that there is something to suit everyone. This will stop little ones being bored and help you spread activities throughout the week.
- Tip 3: Create a routine that works for you
- And yes, you can be much more relaxed in the holidays.
- Tip 4: Learn to put yourself first
- So that you can look after your family. Spend time during the holidays on yourself (schedule some “me time” into your routine) this will help you feel relaxed and re-charge your batteries.
- Tip 5: Spend time fostering good relationships
- Catch up with friends you’ve not seen in a while. Have a giggle over a bottle of wine – this is a great de-stresser!
- Tip 6: Create a support group
- Get a group of mums together and plan an outing with the kids…an ideal chance for all to let off steam!
- Tip 7: Invest in yourself
- Use the time to do some blue sky thinking, evaluate your achievements during the year and set new goals for the future.
For further details check out my free e-course: 7 Habits of Highly Effective Working Mums, The stressed out working mums bible: http://www.claritycareercoaching.co.uk/career-coaching/coaching-for-mums/
This guide is written for all us working mums striving to have it all but instead are stressed out and left feeling we haven’t achieved anything at all.
This e-course will help you discover the secrets to success – perfect summertime reading!
Share your comments on this article; connect with me and post a comment. I’d love to hear from you.
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Quick steps to discover a job you love
Many of you will know friends and family members who have found their dream job and I bet you wish you knew their secret?
In this post, I will share with you my thoughts on how you can discover a job you love.
- Firstly, in order for you to find your dream job, you need to know what you are seeking. I love the following Buddhist quote as I think it sums this up beautifully: ”Your work is to discover your work and then with all your heart to give yourself to it.”
- The key to discovering a job you love is firstly to understand who you are and what you love to do out with a work situation.
- Ask yourself: What did I want to do when I grew up? What hobbies and interests did I have when I was younger? What do I find easy now? What would I do if I knew I couldn’t fail?
- Next, look at what motivates you. Once you know this and then what your unique talents are, you are then ready to begin to discover what will make you feel fulfilled and reach your potential.
- You can start to discover now work that you love by asking asking yourself: What criteria do I need as part of my perfect job? What do I enjoy doing? What drains me of energy? What am I good at? What do I want to do more of?
- Then look at your answers: What strands come out of this? Are there any common themes? How much of this is present in your current job? What can you learn from this?
- Naturally, you also need to consider your personal circumstances and your vision for your future life together with your family. Typical things to consider such as working hours, commute and the type of environment you want to work in.
If you are like many of my clients who work with me because they want to change jobs now that they have a family, they do find this bit of inner reflection challenging. Take some time to start to discover who you are; make it a special mini project for you over the summer nights and enjoy your process of discovery.
For more of my free on-line coaching tips check out the following links to help you start to live the life you have imagined.
- Get free monthly career tips packed full of inspiring tips for working mums.
- Get instant access now to my free E-course: 7 Habits of Highly Effective Working Mums: The stressed out working mums bible.
- Book your complimentary Discovery Session now.
At Clarity Career Coaching, I work with professional working mums who want to achieve career success and combine this with family life.
Let me know your thoughts on this article by posting a comment below. Perhaps you’ve recently found a job you love; why not share this with my readers?
Thanks for reading!
If you know someone who could benefit from this, feel free to forward it to them!
What a Career Coach can do for you
When athletes want to improve their game, they hire a coach. With life running at such a fast pace now, more and more working mums are working with career coaches to help them focus on where they are going and help them get there!
By working with a Career Coach, you will:
- Recognise your potential and discover what makes you tick.
- Appreciate your positive qualities, strengths and your natural talents.
- Enhance your self awareness so you can build better relationships with people and communicate more effectively.
- Create the life you want – Once you get this vision it will act as your compass for everyday life.
- Get results - Your coach will guide, support and challenge you at each step of your journey until you get to where you want to be.
So, why is this important?
I passionately feel that life is too short to spend one third of your life (average time of our lives spent working) working in a job you don’t like…or even hate! Especially when we are sending our children off to nursery or school for this pleasure!
Through coaching, my clients most of which are working mums, discover work that they love and find a way to happily balance this with the needs of their families. And yes, many of them are just like you that need to work rather than choose to work. But now when they sacrifice time with their children to work, this is now at least for a job that they love!
Sounds ideal?
Well, you can make this a reality for you too. Check out the following links to free on-line coaching tips to help you start to live the life you have imagined.
- Get free monthly career tips packed full of inspiring tips for working mums.
- Get instant access now to my free E-course: 7 Habits of Highly Effective Working Mums: The stressed out working mums bible.
- Book your complimentary Discovery Session now.
At Clarity Career Coaching, I work with professional working mums who want to achieve career success and combine this with family life.
Let me know your thoughts on this article by posting a comment below. Perhaps you’ve recently made a change, why not share this with my readers?
Thanks for reading!
If you know someone who could benefit from this, feel free to forward it to them!
