Job Search Quotes of the Week

“Ever tried.  Ever failed.  No matter.  Try again.  Fail again.  Fail better.”  – Samuel Beckett

“No man can win ever battle, but no man should fall without a struggle.” – Peter Parker (Spider-man)

Job Search Quotes of the Week

"If Plan "A" didn't work, the alphabet has 25 more letters." - Unknown


“Success comes from taking the initiative and following up… persisting… What simple action could you take today to produce a new momentum toward success in your life?” – Tony Robbins 

Career Tip: ONET – The Career Exploration Resource

If you are looking to change careers, have never known what you truly want to do for your career, or know a high school student deciding on a college major to pursue, then ONET http://www.onetonline.org/ is your source.  We all realize to make a truly good decision, it is all about the data, and you can gather a great deal of that data for a career path determination on the ONET site.

Whether you search by an SOC code (Standard Occupational Classification) or a job title, an impressive summary of over 12,000 different job types awaits.  From the knowledge, skills and abilities needed for a specific job, to expected salary, related professions, hot tech skills, green jobs, jobs with a bright future, and typical education needed, it is your go-to research resource.

Give ONET a try and discover a wealth of information concerning your next career. 

A portion of this post was originally posted in July of 2015.

Career Management Quotes of the Week

"Dreams are free, but the journey isn't. There is a price to pay. First, you must pay the price of dealing with criticism from people who matter. Second, you must pay the price of overcoming your fears. Failure, rejection, and looking foolish are common fears - but they are just feelings that can be conquered and removed from your thoughts. Finally, you must be willing to pay the price of hard work in order to realize your dream." - John C. Maxwell 

“If you have no critics, you’ll likely have no success.” - Unknown

Career Tip of the Week

When creating your LinkedIn profile, other social media, blog posts, and on your career documents (resume/cover letter/reference listing), use proper name capitalization.  I often see resumes and LinkedIn profiles with names in all lower case, which can have a negative influence on your job potential.  Showing your understanding of proper capitalization and when it is used, particularly with your own name will help you significantly in making a great first impression on paper or online.  Here is a terrific resource on when, and when not, to capitalize: http://grammar.yourdictionary.com/capitalization/10-rules-of-capitalization.html 

To your career success!

Job Search Quotes of the Week

“After climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb.” - Nelson Mandela

“No one every injured their eyes by looking on the bright side.” - Unknown

Job Search Quotes of the Week

"Look in the mirror... That's your competition!" - Unknown

"Don’t wait for the solution, create it." - Unknown

Career Management Quotes of the Week

“If you want something you never had, you have to do something you’ve never done." - Unknown 

“Of all sad words of mouth or pen, the saddest are these: it might have been.” - John Greenleaf Whittier

Career Management Quotes of the Week

“If you do follow your bliss you put yourself on a kind of track that has been there all the while, waiting for you, and the life that you ought to be living is the one you are living. Follow your bliss and don't be afraid, and doors will open where you didn't know they were going to be.”  - Joseph Campbell

“If you can see your path laid out in front of you step by step, you know it's not your path. Your own path you make with every step you take. That's why it's your path.”  - Joseph Campbell

Career Management Quotes of the Week

"If you don't know what you want, you'll never find it.  If you don't know what you deserve, you'll always settle for less.  You will wander aimlessly, uncomfortably numb in your comfort zone, wondering how life has ended up here. Life starts NOW, live, love, laugh and let your light shine!" - Rob Liano

"Replace I should with I will and you will change your life.  Replace I will with I AM and you will change the world. - Unknown 

Keep Going...

I have definitely covered how delaying your job search during the summer or the holidays can be problematic, but there is one other time that can challenge a jobseeker – back to school.  It is so easy when the children go back to school or the young adults go back to college to take time off of your job search.  The problem is, it is hard to get your search started again any time you take time off.  While all the back to school shopping, and meetings, and upcoming events that start right after school begins can take up your time, you still want to make the time to search.  Even though your job search may be a little bit more abbreviated as you ready youngsters for school, don’t stop, keep going, the reward of a consistent job search is that bright, shiny new job.  To your job search success! 

A Great Resource for any Job Search

O*NET, an incredible database resource to learn about various jobs, education required, salary ranges, and whether a particular job type is in demand, green-related, or declining, has made some updates.  Not only have they updated information for 116 occupations, but they revised the Tools and Technology section.  O*NET added 121 new technologies across 134 occupations, and has now created a new identifying category of “hot technologies” featuring 17 in-demand technologies.

Visit O*NET today at http://www.onetonline.org/ and learn more about a job type you have interest in for career transition, explore several potential careers, or gather additional information to assist you in writing your resume.  To your job search success! 

Career Management Quotes of the Week

“Learn from others whom have walked the path before you, but be smart enough to know when to cut your own trail."

Narciso Rodriguez

“You’re never too old to reinvent yourself."

Sir Martin Sorrell

Top 10 Ways to Cope with Job Transition

Job transitions can be stressful—whether they’re due to layoff, a new job or working extra hours because others workers were laid off.  If you’re facing one, consider the following.

1. Take an honest look at yourself.  What are your strengths, weaknesses, skills?  How did those influence, positively or negatively, your transition?

2. Step up your self-care.  Major changes are physically and emotionally taxing.  You need self-care now more than ever.

3. Engage your curiosity.  What went wrong, or right?  What could you have done better?  What worked really well?

4. Focus on what you want… and less on what you don’t want.  Keep your eye on the prize.

5. Find support.  Since your transition affects your family as well, it may be better to seek the outside support of friends or professionals.

6. Work on your thoughts.  Calm your fears and reinforce your sense of hope and happiness.

7. Reassure (or avoid) those who are threatened by, or jealous of, the change.

8. Create your own rite of passage.  Ceremony and ritual, religious services and communing with those of similar faith, all can help with transitions.

9. Let go of how things were “supposed to be” and accept “how things are.”  Find appreciation for what is and where you are going with your career.

10. Keep things in perspective. Or try on a new perspective. Don’t get stuck. Remember, the only constant is change.

Author’s content used with permission, © Claire Communications

Job Search Quotes of the Week

”Someday is not a day of the week.” ~ Denise Brennan-Nelson

"Don't wait for the perfect moment. Take the moment and make it perfect." ~ Anonymous

“Action is the real measure of intelligence.” ~ Napoleon Hill

Changing Careers: Is it really the career causing the problem?

Before you change careers assess why you might want a change.  Often it isn't a change of career that is necessary.  Here are some questions you can ask about where the dissatisfaction exists:

--Do you like your current company?

--Do you like your current boss?

--Do you like your current fellow employees?

--Is there an issue in your home life affecting your work?

--Do you like your daily work?

--Do you like the potential of working at a job related to your current career?

--Do you prefer to work alone, in a team, or a bit of both?

Frequently a person wants to change careers when the issue is the company the work for, the boss (one of the most common reasons), or fellow employees and their actions.  You must first analyze whether your unhappiness is truly with the career or another reason.  Sometimes the motivation has nothing to do with work, and is something happening in your personal life.  If, after evaluating the above, you determine the reason is still the work, then you need to ask yourself if you might like a related career,  something different within your current company (maybe you aren't challenged anymore in your current role), or if you are working within an environment that isn't ideal?  Too many people have changed careers when the real issue was something else entirely.  Make sure you investigate all the possibilities before reaching a decision.  To your career success!

Alison.com

For the 3^rd recommendation in my blog series on professional development I want to discuss Alison.com.  This site offers free online learning in business and enterprise skills, IT and digital literacy, personal development, languages, and financial and economic literacy.  Course offerings include Fundamentals of Human Resources, Fundamentals of Project Management, Accounting-Control and Monitoring of Cash, Business Intelligence and Knowledge Management Systems, and Fundamentals of Operations Management.  These courses include assessments where you much complete with 80% accuracy to achieve a certification, and the site tells you time to complete lessons and minimum level needed to take class.

Courses are provided by a number of publishers (sources), and encompass MIT and MIT Media Lab, Saylor Foundation, Khan Academy, Stanford, Cambridge University, Microsoft, and Sun Systems.  Alison.com seems quite suited to the majority of online learners wanting to bolster their resume, transition into a new career area, or learn more about their current industry.  Give Alison.com a try, it’s free and a great resource.  To your career success!

Networking 101: It Isn’t About You!

Networking is already a difficult task for jobseekers and those merely wanting to stay connected to their network while already employed.  Finding networking events, asking the right questions, introducing yourself to someone new, exchanging business cards, and following up can be downright daunting.  Today, I would like to discuss a way to take some of the pressure out of networking:  remember it isn’t about you! 

We tend to look at networking as that opportunity to meet, hopefully impress, and ultimately get something from engaging a new contact.  I am here to say that is too much pressure, and not the way to look at your interactions, and that instead you should always network with the intent of helping the other person.  By taking the burden off of yourself to “perform” and as an alternative learning how you can help others, you will reap better quality contacts, individuals will be more likely to help you, and you will appreciate or even enjoy networking to a much greater extent. 

When having a conversation with a potential contact, ask questions that help you discover more about them and what they are wanting from the interaction.  Those questions can include:

--What brought you here today?

--Where do you (or did you) work?

--What do you like most about your current job (or recent job)?

--What does your job entail?  (This is a much better question then just asking “what do you do?”)

--Are you working on any interesting projects?

--How long have you been in your current field?

Now you can discern important information to offer some help.  Are they looking for a job – perhaps you can tell them of a company that is hiring in their field?   Are they new to LinkedIn – perhaps you can tell them about how to use the tool more effectively in a job search or for overall career management?  Are they new to the area – perhaps you can tell them more about the companies and industries in your city? 

When you help others, they tend to return the favor, but if they don’t you haven’t lost anything, just move on to another person.  Try this approach and you will find yourself less stressed about networking in general, and people will very likely offer you some important referrals and leads that can help your career.  To your job search and career management success!

ONET – The Career Exploration Resource

If you are looking to change careers, have never known what you truly want to do for your career, or know a high school student deciding on a college major to pursue, then ONET http://www.onetonline.org/ is your source.  We all realize to make a truly good decision, it is all about the data, and you can gather a great deal of that data for a career path determination on the ONET site.

Whether you search by an SOC code (Standard Occupational Classification) or a job title, an impressive summary of over 12,000 different job types awaits.  From the knowledge, skills and abilities needed for a specific job, to expected salary, related professions, and typical education needed, it is your go-to research resource.

Give ONET a try and discover a wealth of information concerning your next career.