Step 1 for Finding your Perfect Job

What's the first thing people do when they find themselves jobless? They dust off their resume and post it online, thinking that's the first step that must be taken immediately. This is very common and I disagree.

Even after being laid off or let go unexpectedly, there's a step that must occur before haphazardly entering the job market - taking time to assess your strengths, skills, and values, along with identifying your absolute must-haves for your next job. This exercise makes you crystal clear on what kind of work you are best suited for and what you are willing and able to accept - location, salary, size of company, benefits, and so on.

Finding the time, locating a quiet place, and simply sitting down with ourselves are challenging tasks to undertake in our busy lives. After working with many clients trying to figure out their next move and running into these challenges, I realized the need for an easy-to-use, accessible guide for this purpose. The Career Discovery Journal was born! This 30 page, spiral bound journal includes exercises, encouraging words, and prompts to get you thinking about what you're good at, what you like to do, and ultimately, where you belong. It's perfectly sized at 5.5 x8.5 to take with you everywhere and is reasonably priced at $17.95. Please visit www.dowhatyoulove.net for ordering information. This is the guide for planning your next career move!

Networking for your Career

The single best thing you can do for yourself during times of uncertainty, especially when job security is in question, is to plug into your network. If you think you don’t have one, yes, you really do. It starts with your family, friends and colleagues. After you touch base with each one of those people, you find out who they know that you should know and build from there. Many job seekers I’ve worked with discount this powerful tool, lose track of their past contacts, then find themselves at square one when they’re jobless and desperate for help. It’s important to keep your network active and stay in touch with those outside your day-to-day activities. You may find yourself in need of help one day and with an active network, you'll know just who to call. Statistics show that the jobs experienced professionals are seeking are overwhelmingly found through networking. Another value to getting yourself from behind the computer and out to meetings is that you’ll find the support you need for solving business problems, finding employees, developing relationships, and even identifying your next job.

Just a few more words on the virtual type of networking: If you have already or plan to join Linked In, Facebook or any of the numerous others, spend the time learning about the site and maximize its benefits. Decide what you want from it and then diligently update your profile and respond to people and make connections. And remember – if you should ever find yourself in the job market, recruiters and human resource folks are “googling” candidates. Make sure what they find online about you will actually help you get your next job!

Please post your comments about how networking has helped your career. Have a great week!

Recommended Reading: Heart of a Woman in Business

In light of this week being National Business Woman's Week, it's the perfect time to tell you about a new book from San Diego author and noted speaker, Sheryl Roush. The newest addition to her Heart Book Series – Heart of a Woman in Business – includes “Stories, Strategies and Skills for Success”. Over 80 contributors submitted their original poems, stories, tips and advice to women in business everywhere. I’m honored to be one of those contributors with a story entitled, “The Gifts in Each and Every Job” about finding friendship in a least-favorite job. Sized at just 6 x 7 and 288 pages, they make perfect gifts for every business woman (current, retired or aspiring) in your life. Get your copies today!

National Business Women's Week

I recently learned that this week, the 3rd week of October, is National Business Women’s Week, sponsored by the Business and Professional Women USA organization. This week of recognition was officially designated over 70 years ago by President Herbert Hoover to celebrate and honor the accomplishments of working women. The first observance back in 1928 was meant to “focus public attention upon a better business woman for a better business world”, as BPW/USA’s President at the time, Lena Madesin Phillips, said.

A national organization based in Washington D.C, the Business and Professional Women’s organization has over 2000 local chapters. For more information, visit their website at www.bpwusa.org. Be sure to take a look at their downloadable report entitled “101 Facts on the Status of Working Women" or contact me for a copy.

How can you make a difference this week in recognition of National Business Woman’s Week?
Mention it to your colleagues and plan an informal gathering where you share the year’s accomplishments. Look into mentoring young women as they develop their careers. Share information with your boss and human resources department and gain their support in making an announcement or posting a flyer. Gather your women friends and co-workers and head off to lunch to celebrate. Uncover and update your list of accomplishments for the year and pat yourself on the back. We’ve all come a long way!

The First Step toward a Successful Career Transition

Don’t let all this bad economic news sidetrack your plans. You should still entertain thoughts of that career transition you’ve been dreaming of and even begin taking steps to get you there. Now’s the perfect time to assess your strengths, values, traits, and knowledge and really figure out where you belong in the workplace. Statistics show that those who have the ability to frequently put their strengths into action are the happiest and most productive people in the workforce. Being satisfied at work makes for a more fulfilling personal life. Imagine feeling less stress, having more fun with family and co-workers, and seeing the possibilities of what your life can be!

The first step in a career transition is not reviving your resume and perusing the online job boards. It is taking time to determine what makes you most satisfied and engaged at work. With these things forefront in your mind, your resume, networking and job search will lead you to the right career path. Imagine feeling energized about going to work and excited about playing a part in a company’s success! It’s not only possible, it’s the right thing for you to do, and right now!

Here’s a tool I created to help you do this – the Career Discovery Journal. Each section provides questions and exercises to help you uncover the clues you need to find not just the next job, but the right next job and career direction for you. After working through its pages, noting your findings, the pieces will begin to fall into place so you can clearly see where you want to go. Then, work on your resume and view the job boards and begin networking with confidence because you will know what you want and where you’re headed!

The Journal is 30 pages, 5-1/2 x 8-1/2, and spiral bound – the perfect size and format for carrying with you and having handy for when inspiration strikes and ideas come to mind. Get yours today and begin creating the career of your dreams! For purchase information, please visit: http://www.lousbergunlimited.com/web/order.php

Next step: Developing a powerful Job Search strategy. Coming soon: the Job Search Journal!

Good News from the Workplace: Toyota's Tradition

Now, more than ever, we all could use exposure to more good news than the other kind. As I run across positive stories taking place in America's workplaces - employees doing good at work, companies doing the right thing, and small business owners thriving in today's tumultuous marketplace, I'll pass it on here. Sit back and read what good things are happening under the radar and be sure to post your own experiences of all the good that still happens in our world.

Good News:
At Toyota’s San Antonio, TX and Princeton, IN plants where they annually crank out 30-40,000 Tundra pickups and Sequoia SUVs, production was halted for 3 months due to a fall in sales. This could have meant real financial trouble for some of the 4500 employees and their families. But, in keeping with their tradition of “no layoffs during hard times”, they’ve found creative ways to keep these folks busy while earning their full paychecks and benefits. They will be attending non-stop classes and training specifically for improving their auto assembly skills. Then when production steps up again in November, Toyota will reap the reward of more skilled, and I would presume, a happier and more efficient workforce. How’s that for a retention program?

In addition, they have another piece to this solution: In the event they run through the retraining program with time left before November, employees will be sent out into the community to work with San Antonio and Princeton service agencies. They soon may be sprucing up public parks, scrubbing graffiti off of buildings, and even cleaning up the shoreline of a Texas lake. How’s that for social responsibility?

Doing the Right Thing
So what can each of us do to make the workplace more secure and enjoyable during these interesting times? We can make our own good things happen; in this case - helping our employees, co-workers, and clients to see the positive at work by pointing out accomplishments and reasons to celebrate. Perfect attendance, a new client, a substantial order, a new skill, or anything else that causes improvement and a feeling of achievement - all things worthy of a compliment. Catch someone doing good in your workplace or theirs and let them know you noticed. It’s just the right thing to do!

Please post your comments about the good you've seen in your workplace or elsewhere.

Managing Your Career: Make Things Happen!

“What are you waiting for?” “If not now, then when?”
Those are powerful questions to ask when I find myself in a slump and feel that no progress is being made. This frame of mind is usually my clue that I need to shake things up a bit and take some action to get that momentum rolling again. Now, planning and goal setting are keys to success of course, but it takes an awareness or feeling to know when it’s time to actually pick up that phone, send the collection letter, enroll in class, start that discussion group, or begin writing that proposal.

Jack Canfield says in his book, The Success Principles, he’s found that “the one thing that seems to separate winners from losers more than anything else is that winners take action. They simply get up and do what has to be done.” He says that you must identify what’s holding you back from acting and break through it.

Sometimes a slightly different perspective is all that’s needed to break through and get something checked off your list. A very effective way to do this is to talk it through with an objective friend or colleague. Lay it out, tell them what your obstacle is and ask what they would do in your situation. I recently did this with an idea I couldn’t seem to move – I couldn’t come up with a location for the jobseekers’ club I wanted to start, so I would just drop it each time it came back to mind. When I presented the idea to an objective party, in this case, my master mind group, the answer became very clear – talk to a contact at the Chamber of Commerce. Simple enough. I just couldn’t get there on my own.

Waiting for perfection, permission, reassurance, the right person, more time, less risk, or more education are all things that can hang us up when what really needs to happen is a simple action. One little step like talking it through with a trusted friend can be all it takes to move you forward into success.

So, what are you waiting for and if not now, then when?

Be sure to post a comment and let others know how you've busted through obstacles and made things happen!

Are You Doing What You Love at Work?

The primary purpose of my business, Lousberg Unlimited Career Coaching & Training, is to help people make the most of their work lives because we spend so much time there. I talk a lot about, and coach on, passion and honing in on the kinds of things you really love to do so that your work will be more fulfilling. Last week, when talking with a group of teenage girls about careers, one asked me “now be honest, do you really love your job?” Having spent considerable time creating from scratch what I now do for a living, a resounding “Absolutely” was my answer.

So, I am genuinely walking the talk and striving to help others find ways to do the same. Yes, I love my business and helping others strategically maneuver through the workplace, facilitation of programs with work groups and coaching with individuals. Life and work is a process, so I recently found another passion to add to the mix which provides an outlet for my formerly squelched creativity – developing and producing informational products. These workbooks and booklets are for those who want to work through their career transitions at their own pace, in their own space.

I am thrilled to announce my “Do What You Love…Love What You Do” line of products, which launches this week with the Career Discovery Journal, a 30 page spiral bound workbook for noting ideas and clues about possible next steps in your career. Filled with exercises, thought-provoking ideas and encouragement, along with plenty of room to write, it is the perfect size (8-1/2 x 5-1/2) to take with you everywhere, wherever inspiration may strike! Topics include Strengths, Values, Childhood dreams, Personal Purpose, and more, to get you thinking about the kind of job where you can truly shine. Please visit my website, http://www.lousbergunlimited.com/, for ordering information.

Order your Career Discovery Journal today and begin creating the career of your dreams! If I and countless others can do it, so can you.