3 Reasons You Cant Make a Career Move

3 Reasons You Cant Make a Career MoveYoure not alone if you started 2014 with a entschlieung to find a different job, and youre still in the saatkorn position you were back in January. Even when we drive to work with dread, when we grimace at the sight of another project hitting ur e-mail inbox, when our spouse stops asking about our day because its a given that the answer will be a rantsomehow we stay put.What is that force that keeps us stuck? The bad nachrichten is that it stems from more than one source. The good news is that you can remedy each issue with some simple steps.schwierigkeit Paralysis of AnalysisWhen people come to me for career coaching, theyre exhausted. Theyve been on the gerbil wheel in their brain for so long, they dont know how to begin to identify whats next for them. Do they go back to school? Do they set up automatic alerts on Indeed? Do they apply for an internal promotion?The truth is, most people have flirted with those ideas, perhaps even made a phone ca ll or submitted a resume, but it usually stops there. The vernderliches that impact our careers (income, career progression, location, family timetheres not enough space to capture everything) are so numerous that people may hit on something they really want, but then they spiral into overwhelm.One of my favorite teachers during my coaching training said, Your mind is like a dangerous neighborhood. Dont go in there alone. Its so easy to get lost wading through this topic. Pull on one thread, and the entire tapestry can unravel.Solution Make a list of the 6 criteria your next job must haveand get specific. If its money, know exactly the amount you have to hit. If its location, list where you will live (within 10 miles of Charlotte, Virginias city limits). Six is the magic number to hit for this list. If youre over that number, you eliminate options. If youre under, youre not focused. Precision wins. Supportive boss isnt the same as Boss who sends me links to professional development opportunities.Bonus Tip Flag one of your 6 criteria as your Trump Card. Whats the one variable that will domino your days into ones that make you smile when you get out of bedor if its not present, will tip you into checking Facebook 391 times a day?Problem Your Research Isnt Research Its ImpressionsI cant work for that company they hire only contractors? Really? How do you know? Be wary of making blanket assumptions like this one and ask yourself about the reliability of your intel? How many data points do you have? Is that an impressionor is it based on a conversation with someone who works there now (not 10 years ago)?Most of my clients have firm ideas about companies and jobs they covet, but (especially if theyre looking to make an industry change or shift into a new line of service delivery) those ideas have no roots. Theyre based on hearsay, which usually isnt admissible in court because its like any rumor most likely exaggerated. Wouldnt you rather have the facts from a relia ble source before you eliminate a possibility?Solution Pick 4 target jobs. Dont make them your ultimate choice (see aboveif you wait for lightning to strike with your Perfect Job Idea, youll be like a dog chasing its tail. You can talk yourself out of anything. Were not looking for perfection here were looking for forward progress). Your goal is to talk to people who are doing those jobs right now. Youre not in competition with them or pushing them out of their jobs. Youre just collecting data. Represent yourself very transparently Im exploring whats next for me career-wise, and Id like to get advice from people like you who are in X job (or Y field).Problem You Wont Ask for HelpI cant call my former colleague itll sound like I want something from her. I dont want her to think I call only when I need something. I hear this concern quite often. People are afraid to bother anyone. They dont want to inconvenience people or take up their precious time. Thats actually a great instinct. I ts important to be mindful about the larger picture of peoples lives. At the same time, people are flattered and honored to help when they can. As long as you ask people questions that they can say yes to, theyll almost always take an opportunity to extend a hand. Plus, theyll feel good about helping out.When I was working with a client exploring the financial industry, we cold-called a financial advisor at a major investment firm. Do you have 10 minutes to answer 5 questions about your job and how you got to where you are now? I asked. Sure, he said. We had a list of questions prepared we zipped through them (learned tons), and thanked him for his time. You know the tone that someone gets in their voice when they are pleased with themselves? The warm fuzzy tone? That guy felt good about the time he had spent with us.Solution Always ask questions that get an easy yes from the other person. Dont ever ask people to circulate your resume, dont ask if there are jobs open at their compan y, and dont ask if they have names of others you can talk to. Theyll volunteer that information or make those offers if theyre comfortable and those openings exist. Instead, ask them for advice (who can resist dispensing hard-won wisdom?), follow your natural curiosity, and go into those meetings prepared.Dont wait for 2015 to set another resolution about your job. Get into action now. Take these ideas in bite-sized chunks and get moving Wouldnt it be great to start the New Year with something that fits you career-wise?Maggie GrahamA career change expert, Maggie Graham believes theres not just one answer to the classic question, What do you want to be when you grow up? All of us have many careers and passions in us, and the most important place to focus is on what the next best career move is. Maggie calls her clients Idealists because theyre done settling for monotony and other peoples agendas. Shes supported hundreds of clients in finding their focus and getting serious about engi neering their next career moves http//www.careerdesignandcoaching.com/. Sign up for her free course, 100 Days to Career Clarity, which sends one question to your inbox daily. It ends December 31, so jump in now

The Growing Depersonalization of the Workforce

The Growing Depersonalization of the Workforce The Growing Depersonalization of the WorkforceLately, amidst the chaos associated with summer internship application season, I have been thinking a lot about my college career thus far.I have floundered considerably in terms of major and professional pursuits. It took me almost three years to settle on my current major, and Im still unsure if its the right path for me. However, my indecisiveness has allowed me to take a step back and think about what I could have done differently and how I would have tailored my interests to my major and extracurricular activities.Something that has come up frequently are career prospects in relation to your college major. Very few people, when discussing post-graduation plans, ask about how much you enjoyed your classes or why, personally, you chose the path that you did.Most people are mora concerned with how your specific major was able to open doors for you and how many opportunities it provided you with. This speaks to the growing professionalization that is consuming college campuses. College is no longer about passion its about grades, resume fillers and jobs.I wish I knew of a way to bring the focus back around to learning. Students, and the workforce in general, would benefit immensely from learning to actually enjoy the material and the educational process leading up to a full-time position. Passion facilitates hard work, and hard work leads to success within companies, so shouldnt the main goal of educational institutions be to ignite that fire within each student in order to make them excited to put their knowledge to practical use?Employers do create diverse applications that attempt to touch on more subjective aspects of an applicant they ask what makes you more qualified than others, why you want the job, how you have shown leadership abilities, etc., but its tempting for them to cousine their decisions heavily on the more objective factors, such as experience, GPA and extracurricular involvement.I want to go into advertising or marketing because I want my employer to appreciate my individuality and creativity. I want to be distinguished based on my passions, my uniqueness and the ideas that I bring to the table, but I also recognize that the quantitative elements of an application are important as well.Advertising and marketing seem to value individuality more so than many other fields, which are much more black and white in terms of the screening process.This is facilitating the depersonalization of the American workforce.This is an issue that needs to be remedied soon. Careers are all about finding your niche, loving what you do and building your professional network and skillset. It seems that more people are drumherum aside their passions and pursuing careers that have no personal meaning to them. Employers are, in turn, placing emphasis on the quantitative and objective aspects of an application, and this process creates a long-term outl ook on the job market that is bleak and impersonal, to say the least.

The Unusual Puzzle Into Federal Job Resume

The Unusual Puzzle Into Federal Job Resume Do leid neglect to exhibit that you previously knowledgeable regarding the location for the precise company and tell your skill that will assist you and the enterprise to thrive. The absolute most prosperous resumes concentrate on specific position-related abilities, relevant regions of expertise, quantifiable accomplishments, and professional certifications. Well, Your experience should deal with every necessary qualification. Sure, you wish to highlight your related work experience and would like to be specific about your skills, but you wish to be concise too. Only if you prefer the interview. No matter at which youd love to take your work search or which employers youd love to impress, you will need to create a resume that readers can easily process and remember. People today dont show what they accomplished at their final job. Initially working with Cherie was a way to find a better job. You also ought to identify whether yo uve ever worked for the federal government and whether you meet the requirements for veterans preference. Federal jobs often need you to have experience in a particular kind of work for some period of time. The Federal hiring procedure is tedious, not not possible. It resumes require a detailed accounting of your work experience over the last 10 years. The Little-Known Secrets to Federal Job Resume If you dont meet the requirements, you just wont be considered. Applying for a federal job may appear a bit intimidating, as a result of lengthy collection of special requirements regarding your application. Comparable to a traditional resume, a federal resume is a vital tool in the initial portion of the job application procedure. Instead, tailor your federal resume to fulfill the prerequisites of the particular opening. If you dont supply the info needed for the hiring agency to learn your qualifications, you may not be considered for the job. When it has to do with finding w ork, you most likely already know you need to tailor to your resume to the job announcement. You might even are looking for a sample job announcement. All USAJOBS vacancy announcement ought to be read and interpreted ahead of application. What You Dont Know About Federal Job Resume With a government resume, you must include more personal info, as theyll be conducting extensive background reviews on whatever may be on record about you. Your top qualifications should appear in the very first half of the page with keywords selected straight from the work description. Click the next link for more info about what to put in your federal resume. Besides the common contact info, though, a federal resume requires more specific info, like your social security number and your country of citizenship.