“You’re younger than me so you wouldn’t understand.” Your friend is right but if he thinks being younger means you don’t have career worries, he’s got a short memory. The conversation between you continued. “I’m looking over my shoulder at all these people younger than me. How can I compete with that?” A short silence fell while both your minds raced. His question went unanswered. [Walking & Talking - see more at Saundra's Flickr Photostream here ] “I’ve been laid-off before but it's... Read Full Story
I was chatting with someone recently and they mentioned their personal career manifesto. It was made up of career-related beliefs and promises that this individual had made to himself. He recorded these key points by writing them down, with the full intention of living the beliefs and keeping the promises! [To the moon Alice!: see more at Saundra's Photostream here ] ✪ The more I thought about it, the more it interested me as a concept. It also appeared to fit quite well with the kind of... Read Full Story
Think about this question as you read his story: Is Alvin alone facing this challenge? Recently, Alvin became frustrated with his career because it felt to him like a series of false starts. To see if he could break out of this pattern, Alvin took the opportunity to look at his career as a whole. So what did he find out? Across all of his different work and jobs [and changes that ranged from the uniform he wore to the industry sectors he worked in] Alvin could find out what his experiences... Read Full Story
Why your judgement of others doesn't matter. Why your judgement of yourself does. In the exploration of career matters, are the above two sentences a breakthrough? Probably not. But for people everywhere - at any stages in their career - the two sentences above can describe a personal breakthrough moment that changes their future forever. [ Dolphin Emerging, "It's a bit out of focus but you can see him/her none the less. 3 of the swam right up next to the boat for several minutes but it was... Read Full Story
You may have joined in the fun over at JJL last week but if you didn't here are a few examples of real careers, expressed in one sentence. “I started out in recruitment, moved into people assessment & coaching; now I’m settled as a career coach, with the intention of remaining so until retirement!” “My career began in industrial packaging, and after a quarter century took a 90 degree turn in the direction I love, enabling me to help people put words together in ways that make their... Read Full Story
Esteem, more specifically self-esteem: What is it? What do most people mean when they say it? What happens when it is low, high or somewhere in-between? How does self-esteem affect our career choices and decision-making? How is self-esteem linked to this gratuitous image of spectacular scenery? Apart from the last question, this is an interesting topic to explore. Dictionary.com defines self-esteem as " a realistic respect for or favourable impression of oneself." Cambridge Dictionaries... Read Full Story
The ability to make intelligent career choices is open to us all. This may seem like an obvious statement but I am not convinced that everyone would agree with it. Some might argue that you can only make intelligent choices if you yourself are intelligent. Others might go on to say that because intelligence is shared out unequally, not everyone can make intelligent choices. Personally, I do not subscribe to either view because I am convinced that intelligent choice is open to us all (I also... Read Full Story
My good friend Saundra has been supplying images on work/life fusion for a little while now. Usually, I write a blog post then we choose an image together. This time around Saundra's image came before the post. I always found Saundra's work inspiring, I suppose today is proof! :) [Lone Surfer - see more at Saundra's Flickr Photostream here ] What do you see when you look at this picture? I looked at the surfer first. Is he plucking up the courage to jump in or is he looking on the sea... Read Full Story
Job search is about finding work. Career research aims a little higher. Research helps you understand the work you want and how to find it. Career research aims for a job and an environment where you can get the most from your strengths, where you are valued for what is important to you and motivated to achieve new career goals too. Does it sound like an impossible task when put like that? Like looking for a needle in a haystack as your Granny might say? [Derek saw it, but his next job was... Read Full Story
Sometimes you have a dream that doesn't define your career. I met someone a few years ago who used his redundancy payment to set up a windsurfing school. His new career went OK for a while but it didn't last. I asked him why he gave up his dream career and he answered, "I love windsurfing and I am good at it but teaching people to windsurf on a cold, rainy day is nothing like windsurfing for fun in the sunshine." A career dream for player, groundskeeper and architect all in one photo :) It... Read Full Story
