unemployment the NORM, not the exception

unemployment the NORM, not the exception So, in this great economy with record lows on unemployment, layoffs are still coming. Here is one that we all should have seen coming Ford. (ya, this is a few days old, and there have been new things in the news like numbers of layoffs!) So, if you know anyone in HR at Ford, have them shoot me an e-mail. I can either hook them up with a super-cool outplacement firm that I have a lot of respect for, or I can maybe squeeze out a deal for all of their thousands of users that they are about to displace! Welcome to unemployment guys! Oh, and this got me rolling on the floor from a friend of mine that launched a cool on-line experiment, check out this image that he tried to put on his t-shirts: If you have any geek in you, or someone you know (wouldnt this be a great present?) go check out his site: http://www.MilitantGeek.com The point is, you need to understand that this thing called layoffs, and the idea of being between jobs is not an exception, it doesnt only happen to incompetents, it is not just for losers, and is not only for struggling companies this is the norm! Remember, the average time between jobs is 2.8 years! It will happen to everyone. What are people doing to prepare for this time? What can or should they do? What are you doing? If you want to get started right now then go into JibberJobber and put your network together, and begin to list companies you would want to work at. Hint: if your answer is that they should be sure to get the right education and background, as I thought 9 months ago when I got laid off (geez, its been that long!), and their time unemployed will be shorter, you may be wrong. Just having credentials doesnt make them employable! Go back and read some of my blog posts unemployment the NORM, not the exception So, in this great economy with record lows on unemployment, layoffs are still coming. Here is one that we all should have seen coming Ford. (ya, this is a few days old, and there have been new things in the news like numbers of layoffs!) So, if you know anyone in HR at Ford, have them shoot me an e-mail. I can either hook them up with a super-cool outplacement firm that I have a lot of respect for, or I can maybe squeeze out a deal for all of their thousands of users that they are about to displace! Welcome to unemployment guys! Oh, and this got me rolling on the floor from a friend of mine that launched a cool on-line experiment, check out this image that he tried to put on his t-shirts: If you have any geek in you, or someone you know (wouldnt this be a great present?) go check out his site: http://www.MilitantGeek.com The point is, you need to understand that this thing called layoffs, and the idea of being between jobs is not an exception, it doesnt only happen to incompetents, it is not just for losers, and is not only for struggling companies this is the norm! Remember, the average time between jobs is 2.8 years! It will happen to everyone. What are people doing to prepare for this time? What can or should they do? What are you doing? If you want to get started right now then go into JibberJobber and put your network together, and begin to list companies you would want to work at. Hint: if your answer is that they should be sure to get the right education and background, as I thought 9 months ago when I got laid off (geez, its been that long!), and their time unemployed will be shorter, you may be wrong. Just having credentials doesnt make them employable! Go back and read some of my blog posts

About to graduate with no idea what to do next

About to graduate with no idea what to do next… If you feeling apprehensive about life beyond graduation, you are not alone. Making a decision about your future may feel like a daunting prospect and you may not even be sure where to begin. How can you put things in perspective so that you can feel more positive?   At the Careers Skills Service we often meet final year students who describe finishing their degree as an anti-climax. This experience may be more acute for those finalists who have not found a graduate job or applied for postgraduate study â€" you may be feeling even more anxious if you have no idea what you   are going to do next. What can you do to stay motivated? Be kind to yourself. Choosing a career can be a challenging and even frustrating process. For some people it is quite instinctive but for others it requires a lot of research and reflection.    You may find that ideal career straight away but it many not happen until a second or third job or a career change. Recognise your achievement. It may have been a struggle at times but that will only serve to highlight your determination, ability to overcome a challenge and resilience â€" all qualities valued by employers. Whatever your degree classification you should be proud of yourself. Don’t compare yourself to other people. Yes your friends may have already found employment or further study but making decisions and planning your career is a   personal journey. Don’t have regrets or be overly self-critical if you haven’t taken the steps that you feel with hindsight could have made a difference. You can be very successful without a career plan â€" you may be someone who enjoys the flexibility this can bring. It can be exciting not knowing how your career may develop and evolve A long term approach to making your career decision   may work. You may have no idea now but that’s not to say things can and will change. It’s not as though employers will only consider you for their graduate schemes for this year. A period of volunteering, part time work or work shadowing, for example, may help to increase your self-awareness. Understanding yourself in terms of what you want from a career will help you to make good career choices. Take a risk. Careers consultants interview a variety of students who are are concerned that they will get stuck in a role that is not for them. This isn’t the case however, you can always change direction. If that first job isn’t quite what you expected and doesn’t provide any job satisfaction, look for another job. The experience and skills gained (even in a role that ultimately wasn’t enjoyable) are still very important. Understanding and reflecting on why a job role and industry wasn’t suitable may help you to understand what could be a good fit. Have you researched a variety of job roles? If you haven’t felt motivated enough to make an application, ask yourself what your ideal job description would look like. If you could write your own person specification for a graduate role what would it say? That might help you to clarify what a career would need to look like to excite you. It may help to give you a steer when you start your job search again. There are still lots of graduate  vacancies out there  . You could lower your expectations and accept that your first job may not be the perfect job. But it could be a stepping stone to what will be an ideal fit. A placement or a graduate internship could provide valuable experience. It will  give you some insight into the world of work. You may start to learn how to apply your skills and subject knowledge in a practical way. Organisations such as the  Step  and    GTP  organise graduate internships and placements, generally with small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) If you are considering further study, what are your objectives and expectations? Are you applying for a postgraduate course because you are unsure what to do next? Or are you assuming that a career plan will emerge during another year of study? Ask yourself if this is a realistic basis for undertaking what will be an intensive, academically challenging course. If making a career decision feels overwhelming, take away the pressure of trying to develop a specific career aim. Think of it in small steps, what would the first one look like? Set yourself a realistic deadline for completing it so that you feel like you are you making progress and taking action. Remember that support from your university careers service will be available after you have completed your degree (University of Warwick graduates can use their Careers Service  for up to 3 years after graduation). The opportunity to reflect on your career decision with an adviser (who will be completely objective) may provide the insight to help you feel reassured and more confident.

5 Reasons you should specialize right now

5 Reasons you should specialize right now We are in a drought. Not a metaphorical drought. Thats for city people. We are in a drought that is crop failure. Ive read a lot about the Dust Bowl during the Depression. My favorite book is a children’s book. And, let me just say that I mostly read children’s books. It makes sense, because I’ve been reading below grade level for my whole life. I remember in fifth grade when I tested at the eighth grade reading level and I wanted to die every time I got pulled out for the gifted reading program because the reading was too difficult for me. Now I know why. So much of literary fiction depends on the reader understanding  the language of nonverbal communication. Like, in The Reader, I didn’t discover the protagonist was illiterate until the end. Too many of the clues were nonverbal. So I have been comfortable reading below grade level forever. I’m a big fan of learning about history through children’s books. Here’s a totally great one about slavery. I’m not going to ruin it for you, but if you have a 6-10 year old you should just buy the book. I learned about the Dust Bowl from Out of the Dust, by Karen Hesse. In the book there is dust all over the house.   And it’s hard to imagine, but now I can. We had a thick coat of dust on our dining room table that I couldn’t remove for more than a day at a time, until it rained, yesterday. During this time, the Farmer used his Bobcat to help me dig up a half-acre of the farm, around our house, and turn it into garden. I did raised beds, paths, tree stumps as jumping challenges through beds of Veronica. I watered and watered and watered, and after three weeks of no rain I felt bad telling the Farmer that I had three shrubs die. His whole corn crop died. The crop failure is painful, but I confess to have loved learning so much about corn from the situation. The Farmer had to call in a specialist for corn. “I thought you are a specialist,” I said. “Compared to you.” “What do you specialize in?” “Livestock.” You know why I fell for the Farmer? He specializes. He knows what he’s good at and he’s passionate about it and he sticks to it. I have told all of you about the research that makes it clear how important it is to specialize, but I often wonder if I’ve ever converted anyone. If you don’t specialize you’ll be unemployable, and if you don’t specialize your life will get boring.  For the most part, I think  people don’t specialize because they are scared. But youre kidding yourself if you think you have a choice. 1. Specialists garner special help from other people. Here’s how a drought works. You call a corn specialist. The corn guy has sold seed for thirty years. In the comments you can talk about how the corn seed people are scoundrels and abusing the patent system to sue two-bit farmers who are completely innocent,  but here I will tell you that I found the corn guy to be entrancing. Because I love a specialist. Specialized knowledge is so interesting. He comes to the farm, walks onto the field with a pocket knife, digs up a corn sprout and looks. He can tell if the seed was planted in dirt that’s too wet because there’s smearing and he can tell if it was planted in dirt too dry because it doesn’t sprout at all. This sprout was okay, but the water ran dry. I look. I want to ask questions. What does the smearing look like? Should the herbicide guy pay for the Farmers lost labor? But the Farmer only lets me come along if I don’t ask questions. I can ask questions later. Specialists stick together and help each other. There is a mutual respect. A specialist is a hard worker, and committed and diligent and other specialists are encouraged to help because of that. Which means you get more access to a wider range of help if you specialize and risk needing a wider range of help. 2. Specializing is evidence of hard work. I have had the book High Heat: The Secret History of the Fastball  in a pile in my kitchen for three months. I asked the publisher to send it to me because I thought the history of the fastball was so specific that the book couldn’t possibly be bad. The pitcher, Amos Rusie, first showed promise when his dad discovered that his son could kill a rabbit with a stone. Amos Rusie threw the stone and hit the rabbits head every time. The dad was dumbfounded. But to the kid it was nothing. Because the kid had practiced so many hours, month after month, that it was the natural result of diligence. Before he was the best fastball thrower, he was the best kill-a-rabbit-with-a-stone thrower. 3. Successful specialists don’t get in a rut. If you know how to specialize once, you can do it again. This is true of Rusie. I have found it true in my own life, too. I was ranked #17 in US for beach volleyball. Once I left that, I knew how to apply that focus and work ethic to do the next thing in my life â€" Internet startups. GQ has an article  by Drew Magary about the process of Justin Bieber going from teen heartthrob to grown man. The article so fun to read,  (“His rep says he’s five feet nine, but he looks about four feet four, maybe one hundred pounds,”)  but it’s a serious topic, really, the shift from one specialty to another, it’s clear from the article that Bieber got where he is with discipline and focus and he will get to the next thing that way as well. 4. Specialties sound crazy. That’s why they’re good. Sometimes, when I’m coaching someone on how to figure out their best specialty, the person will suggest something like marketing. That is not a specialty. That is a field. Marketing in semiconductor companies is a specialty. Social media for semi-conductor companies is better. If you say that is your specialty, no semi-conductor company will doubt your ability to manage their Twitter feed. My point is that the more specific the specialty the less you have to sell yourself as an expert. I just talked to  Kathy McMahon who specializes in counseling men in the geology and oil industries who are overwhelmed by anxiety from Peak oil. Seriously. I tell you this, and you don’t wonder what her degree is, do you? Because this is such a crazy specialty that just the fact that she thought of it makes her an expert in it. (For the record, she’s a clinical psychologist.) 5. Specialists are so committed that they get respect immediately. Robert Caro has been writing about Lyndon Johnson for his whole life. He just published his fourth book, and there’s an interview with him in Time magazine where it’s clear that he has so obsessively focused on his specialty that he has become a celebrity in his own right. For commitment. The traits of a specialist are traits we admire: focus, hard work, diligence, creativity, commitment. So you are immediately appealing if you have an immediately understandable specialty. 6. Specializing is a safety net you can retreat to. The drought has brought lots of trouble for the Farmer. He is deciding if he should go organic. He is deciding if he should plant buckwheat (to sell to honeymakers). He is a big experimenter. And to be honest, I am not nearly as big a risk taker as he is. But he can do that because our ability to accept risk is commensurate with our own expertise. The Farmer is a national expert on hog genetics. He went to grad school for swine genetics, and he left because he realized he knew more about farming than the professors. He has been selecting pigs since he was a young boy, and he knows he will always be great at managing pigs no matter how far astray his other experiments take him. This is why specializing makes life so interesting. It’s a solid home base for further personal growth. So try it, really. Your life will get better in so many different ways if you can just see past the initial fear of picking that specialty for yourself.

Your Recording + Special Announcement from Iowa! - Classy Career Girl

Your Recording + Special Announcement from Iowa! Do I sound any different from Iowa!? Recording available now here just for you challenge ladies because I know you are busy: http://events.instantteleseminar.com/?eventid=74041977. Then you’ll want to take a look at my BRAND NEW and UPDATED “Love Your Career Formula 2.0” Here’s the link so you can read more about it: http://www.loveyourcareerformula.com But don’t delay, because in order to make this 2.0 program a no-brainer for you, I’m offering 3 incredible bonuses 1) A ticket to my Launchpad Live event in San Diego 2) The physical workbook shipped to your door 3) Instant access to Whats My Calling College   Hurry because these bonuses are only available through the end of today. Close your eyes and visualize yourself jumping out of bed and excited to go to work. Even if you don’t exactly know what you want to do yet, it’s ok. Just visualize what your life would be like. Would you be a happier woman? Would you be more fulfilled and excited about life? Would you have more time for your family and social activities? Would you feel proud to tell someone where you work and what you do? Would you feel alive? All these things are possible no matter where you are at right now. Remember there is something bigger and better out there for you. Somewhere where you can actually make a difference and have meaning in your career. Love Your Career Formula 2.0 can help you find it that somewhere where you are actually excited to wake up every single day and go to work. That is priceless. Living the life of your dreams like I am now is priceless. Having time for my family and doing what I was born to do is priceless. I honestly can wake up knowing that if I don’t make it to tomorrow, I have no regrets. I did everything I could, from where I was every single day. Now it’s your turn to live a life of no regrets and do every single thing you can do from where you are at right now. Your dream career awaits my friend! Love, Anna P.S. Remember our 3 incredible bonuses go away after today. Check it out now. I have never offered such exciting bonuses like this ever before. I want to buy my own program, is that even allowed? www.loveyourcareerformula.com

5 Services That Freelancers Could Provide and Profit From - CareerMetis.com

5 Services That Freelancers Could Provide and Profit From Photo Credit â€" Pexels.comThose days are far gone when there were limited freelancing opportunities available. Nowadays, a significant increase is observed in the availability of freelancing jobs. Many companies are providing the freelancing jobs for people to let them earn a fair amount through their knowledge and skills.Freelancing gives you the liberty to handle and manage the work in your own way. It helps you in gaining the experience of running a business. Freelancers are considered to be greatly autonomous. Freelancing has so many benefits that one could not resist trying this privilege.Looking forward to earning some extra income? Or want to freelance full-time?evalGo through and discover your passion right here:1. Assignment WritingevalAssignment Writing is one of the most common freelancing opportunities available today. Many people need assistance in academic content such as research essay and thesis. Writing requires a lot of research but you don’t have to use any part icular equipment in writing. In order to emerge as a successful assignment writing freelancer, you must:Have the knowledge of writing high-caliber content in the variety of subjects.Possess excellent writing skills and strong command of the English Language.Have researching skills.Be familiar with different types of formats.Be able to develop plagiarism-free content within the due date.Be capable of avoiding the grammatical mistakes and other errors.Have effective editing and proofreading skills.Well versed with the various citation styles and types of writing.Many students face difficulty in writing a thesis as it requires concentration on immense details. Freelance writers can direct the students to potentially fruitful research areas in the thesis which the students haven’t thought of yet. You can even assist them in clearly reframing the thesis.It is estimated in the United States that an experienced freelance writer earns an average of $24.00 per hour.2. ProgrammingThe softwa re industry is developing significantly. Therefore, there is a rapid increase in the demand for programmers. A lot of people are pursuing the programming career, therefore; the competition is rising day by day. Many firms are finding the best talent for their projects.You can create a portfolio to impress the companies right away. There are many programming languages such as Java, C++, SQL and JavaScript. Each language has its own specifications, skills requirement, employment rate and the average salary.According to the Freelancer Income Survey 2015 by Payoneer, the freelance programmers charge an average of $22 per hour.3. Search Engine OptimizationevalEach and every business requires search engine optimizers to enhance their online presence and attain a higher rank. SEO strategy is necessary to increase the traffic, site usability and brand awareness. It is also a popular freelancing service.The requirements for an SEO freelancer are:You must have the SEO strategy skills.You shou ld be updated with the changes in Google algorithms which can have an effect on the website placement.The top-of-the-line SEO specialists, high-end freelancers and newcomers charge about $1,000, $300-500 and $50 per hour respectively.4. MarketingThere is a prompt rise in demand for marketers. More and more businesses are looking out for professional part-timers who can flourish their brand through marketing campaigns and enhance its visibility.evalYou have to promote and educate the potential audience about your client’s product. In order to have a potent marketing strategy and pursue freelancing, you should:Have the knowledge of targeting audience, advertising, engaging the customers, marketing, communication and branding.Be updated with the trending marketing strategies and the additional tools that can power up your efforts.5. PhotographerevalPhotography is becoming the much-desired profession for the people. People are looking forward to freelance photographers that excel in d ifferent forms of photography such as Architectural, Candid, Food, Fine art, Fashion and Documentary photography. The different photography specializations have different price tags.The highest earning specialization is wedding and portraiture photo shoot. Photography requires a little equipment investment but it’s worth it. The skills required for a freelance photographer include:Time-managementCreativity in shape, form and color schemeExcellent communication skillsTechnical skillsEnthralling editing skillsA photographer can start up with anywhere between $1,500 -$2,000 per project which includes shooting as well as editing.Freelancing is all about investing your time in something you’re passionate about or have expertise in. You must have a comfortable and professional environment at home to work. It is imperative for negating the hindrance in creativity. A place full of distractions will never allow you to invest your full focus in the work.Freelancers are paid higher than th e regular employees because of the flexible nature of the relationship with the customers. There are hundreds of freelancing jobs available on the internet.You never know, you might be the future professional freelance writer, photographer or marketer. So, you should surely give them a try!

Your Year in Review 21 Questions To Ask Yourself Before The New Year Hits - Kathy Caprino

Your Year in Review 21 Questions To Ask Yourself Before The New Year Hits As the year comes to a close, I’ve been receiving numbers of great emails from my writer friends and colleagues who have taken the time to provide a fascinating summary of their 10 most successful and popular posts. I’m enjoying reading these posts, but in honor of this coming year, I’d like to try something a bit different that I hope will be helpful. I’d like to suggest that we all do this one thing by New Year’s eve: instead of making empty resolutions that often bear no meaningful fruit, why not spend an hour quietly, with ourselves, and conduct our own honest, probing and insightful “year in review.” Lets look back with eyes wide open, so we can see whats happened clearly, and use those insights to fuel a happier, more fulfilling and fruitful life. What would be helpful to explore in your “Year in Review” exercise? Here’s the list of important questions I’m going to explore and answer about last year (and the upcoming one) as I embark on my critical review. I’m going to look as honestly and courageously as I can at what went very well in my life and work last year, what didn’t go well, what I’m proud of, what I deeply regret, and what I wish to bring forward in my life in a bigger way. Perhaps youd like to answer these questions as well: What’s been the best? 1. What are you most proud in terms of what you achieved, accomplished or brought into being this year â€" in life and work? 2. What did these achievements or actions in turn make possible â€" for you, your family, your organization, your financial situation, and your health and well-being, for others? 3. What makes you smile just to think about it today? What’s been the hardest? 4. What event or experience represented the “worst” of the year, and why exactly? 5. What action(s) did you take that you want to eradicate from your behavior forever? 6. What makes you feel ashamed and “less than,” or even toxic to others? 7. What brings tears of unhappiness and regret to your eyes when you think about it? What do you want to accentuate and amplify in your life next year? 8. What outcomes or achievements do you want to build on next year? 9. What parts of yourself do you wish to expand and strengthen? 10. What role models and supportive people will you find to help you, and how? Who has been most helpful? 11. Who are the top three helpers whom you’d like to knowledge? 12. Who has gone above and beyond in their efforts to assist you in a goal or important outcome? Who needs to be chucked from your life? 13. Who has been terribly unsupportive or nasty to you, and needs to be let go of if you’re going to move forward the way you long to? What are your top priorities? 14. What priorities did you honor well in 2014? 15. What priorities did you turn your back on? 16. What new priorities have emerged for you this year that you are committed to honoring? What are your exciting stretch goals? 17. What goals did you set for yourself in 2014 that you met? 18. What important goals did you fail to achieve, and why? 19. What new stretch goals can you set that will be juicy, compelling and fulfilling to reach? Knowing all this, what is your highest vision of your future self? 20. Who do you wish to connect with, and build stronger, more loving relationships with? 21. Finally, who do you want to become in 2015? To me, there’s nothing more discouraging than believing you’ll do something important in the coming year, then failing miserably and having no clue why. Make 2015 the year you get clearer on what’s happening in your life, and the reasons behind it (obviously, it’s not all random â€" we’re co-creating what’s happening). Take some concrete steps to bring about the changes you long for most in your life and work, and make these changes stick. Let this year be a year you look back on and say, “Finally! I’m becoming the person I’ve dreamed of being.” Here’s to an amazing 2015 to you. (For a bit of inspiration to make the changes you long for, watch my video Time to Shine, and take my 6-day Amazing Career Challenge.)

How to Write a Resume For Housekeeping - A Few Mistakes You Can Avoid While Writing a Resume

How to Write a Resume For Housekeeping - A Few Mistakes You Can Avoid While Writing a ResumeIn housekeeping job, if you write a resume that does not catch the attention of employers, it will certainly not bring in any amount of returns. An employer will first read your resume to determine your competence and then judge whether he would consider hiring you or not.Here are some simple mistakes, you can avoid while writing your resume. If you can avoid these mistakes, your resume writing for housekeeping will surely bring you good results.First of all, do not be careless in writing your resume. You have to write an article-length resume and if you do not have enough time for this, just reduce it to two pages. The last thing you want is to scare your future employer off.Your resume must always make an impression on your future employer. You must write a resume that contains impressive content and one that will intrigue them with your resume writing skills. This will definitely get you th e desired results.You can give a small sample of your work in your resume. This will help your future employer to read it. They can read through your work experience and see how well you carry out the duties and responsibilities that are mentioned in your resume. Your future employer will definitely appreciate it and will definitely call you up in a few days for an interview.Keep your resume short. If you are applying for a higher position, you should not write your resume too long. Remember, your employer only wants to interview someone who has a neat resume and also well written, well written resume. So, you should not go overboard with your resume writing for housekeeping.There are many things you can do to come up with a good resume for housekeeping. Just use the tips provided in this article to help you. Remember, you are in need of a job and your future employer has given you a chance for a job.