It’s important to establish concrete goals and objectives when engaging in the job search process.  If you are planning on leaving your current job, you may want to take some time to do a little reflection.  Doing a thorough assessment of your knowledge, skills, interests, and personal and professional values will provide you with a better idea of some of the jobs you might like to do.  Also, taking a look at your personality and how you relate to people may help you to instantly identify careers that may or may not be right for you.

Taking the time to research careers can be an invaluable experience.  If you decide that you want to jump right into another job immediately after leaving your last one, it will probably be even more difficult to leave and change jobs again. You may decide that you really would like to continue in a similar career or industry or you may realize that this is a time when you want to make a complete break and do what’s necessary to establish  a totally new career.

Making a career change can be scary.  I don’t know of anyone who finds it easy to change jobs.  The biggest problem I see people grappling with is their fear of the unknown.  Even though we may not be happy in our current job at least we know what to expect. For any kind of major life change, I recommend reading, “Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway” by Susan Jeffers.  This is an easy to read book that provides motivation and inspires confidence when we are in a situation where we need to face the unknown.

If you are finding yourself stuck and don’t know which direction to go, perhaps career counseling can help.  In career counseling we can assist individuals in completing a career assessment as well as providing resources for exploring career options.  Career counseling is a highly individualized process and depends on each individual’s personal goals and objectives.  Career counseling can provide just the right knowledge and support for individuals looking to make a career change.

The US Department of Labor’s December report was released today showing an employment increase of 103,000 (goal was 150,000) jobs and a decrease in the unemployment rate from 9.8% to 9.4%.  It is hoped that these numbers indicate that our economy is becoming more stabilized and future employment increases are expected in the months to come.  We have come a long way since two years ago when the economy lost 800,000 jobs to 2010 where over a million jobs have been added over the course of the year. In addition, business and consumer spending are growing and all indicators show that businesses are beginning to increase their production while families are showing more signs of increased spending of their disposable income.

For those Americans who are still unemployed, this is excellent news.  It’s also a good indicator that if you have become somewhat lenient in your job search pursuits, it’s time to take a more proactive approach by getting your resume out there and begin engaging in some active networking with professionals in the field.  I know many people have become discouraged over the course of the past few years since all we heard was bad reports from the media on how difficult it was to find a job.  I encourage you to develop some concrete career goals for the New Year and be ready to make this year the one where you will turn yourself around.

Wishing you all a Happy, Healthy, & Prosperous New Year!

I would like to wish everyone a very Happy, Healthy, & Prosperous New Year!

I’d also like to suggest that you put the past year behind you and begin to take action on whatever it is you would like to accomplish for 2011.

Sample Starter Goals for the New Year -

If you don’t know what you want to do, you might try getting some career counseling…

If you’ve been laid off and have not yet found a job, you might set some new goals for your job search…

If you haven’t received any callbacks from employers, you might try updating your resume…

AND you might just want to see what my colleagues from About.com have to say about:    

Ringing in Your Happiest,

 Most Successful New Year!

(click above)

Conducting a successful job search often requires that you do a thorough assessment of your personality, skills, interests and personal values. Being laid off from your job can lead to various opportunities and a chance to explore new and exciting career options.   

You may find that your old job was no longer meeting your individual goals and career expectations but you never considered leaving because it felt safe and provided a sense of security that you were afraid to give up.  Individuals needing assistance in finding a career that matches their own personal attributes, may want to take one or more career assessments to help them better understand themselves and the types of jobs that may be a better fit.

Before searching the classified ads and online job sites, job searchers may find it beneficial to take some time to explore career options.  Today there are many job search engines available to help people to explore careers. Career counseling can also be useful in assisting individuals in establishing goals and researching career options that may better meet their career expectations.

What are your New Year’s Resolutions for 2010? Have you jotted them down on paper so that you can continually review them? Have you created a number of objectives that will ultimately help you to achieve them? Have you committed them to memory so that they become such a part of you that the daily work required to achieve them has actually become a habit? Have you shared them with the world so that you feel accountable and that somebody may actually ask about them and want to know how you are doing?                           

When we discuss goals, we want to look at both – personal and professional. We are looking to achieve life balance that will ultimately help us lead a happier, healthier, & more prosperous life. We may decide that we want to improve our nutrition and lose weight or we may look into taking a class that will stimulate us and give us an opportunity to gain additional skills and knowledge in a particular field of interest. 

With a new year and a new decade, establishing goals can help motivate us into achieving a more quality life for both ourselves and our families. Even though we continually hear horror stories about unemployment and the increase of the number of Americans currently out of work, each of us has the power to embrace a new attitude and create strategies that will bring us closer to a more fulfilling and rewarding life.                     

If you are seeking a job, what objectives can you come up with to get you closer to the new job or career that you are seeking? Developing a stellar cover letter and resume, practicing your interviewing skills, learning new job search skills, and doing some career exploration to uncover career options are some of the things you can do to help  achieve your goals. Why not make a commitment to discipline yourself so that you can look back on 2010 with pride and a sense of satisfaction?

Although initiating company lay-offs are one of the first things a company does during a recession, alternatives to company lay-offs are usually a much better course of action and ultimately the best thing for both the company and its employees. For example, restructuring within a company is more beneficial to the overall long-term health of an organization rather than immediately focusing on making decreases in employee retention and compensation that is usually used as a quick cost saving measure.

Job-hunt.org offers a number of tips to prepare employees for a company lay-off. They also offer some important do’s and don’ts to be accomplished immediately when you are actually being laid off. One of the key things to do is to remain active and not let yourself slump into inaction due to depression, fear, and a growing sense of hopelessness.

Being laid off from a job can often be seen as a blessing in disguise. It can be an opportunity to check out career options, especially if you look back and realize that you were not happy in your previous job.  Discovering your personal interests, values, and personality traits can lead you to finding a more satisfying and rewarding career.

Doing a thorough self-assessment, reviewing career options, researching available careers, and deciding on a course of action can be very positive steps to take for those who have found themselves recently laid off or those who anticipate that a job loss may be imminent.

This week we are talking about the strategies for finding a  new career.  On Monday we discussed self-assessment and yesterday career exploration.  Today is about Strategy # 3 – decision making.

#3 Strategy – Decision Making

Decision-making can be one of the most difficult steps in the career planning process.  Finding out more about yourself by doing a thorough self-assessment and then engaging in some career exploration is definitely different than taking this information and coming up with a career decision. Since there are often some conflicts in this part of the process, it’s important to have an objective party to bounce your ideas off of.

Many people freeze at this stage of the process since there are often still many unknowns and very often there’s a fear of making the wrong decision.  The key to making a career decision is to take the first two steps into consideration and make a decision based on these results. Also, it’s important to realize that decisions can be changed so making a bad decision is better than making no decision at all.

Yesterday I discussed the first strategy for finding a new career – self assessment. Today’s focus and the #2 strategy is on career exploration.

#2 Strategy: Career Exploration

Career exploration is a fundamental step in the career planning process. This step can be the most time consuming of all four steps but can also be considered to be the most rewarding since we will be working on identifying new opportunities and career options that meet your personal career goals. In addition to researching career options, getting an insider’s perspective about different careers can be extremely helpful. Informational interviewing, job shadowing, and internships are all excellent ways to learn more about the jobs you are considering.

At Career Choice a good deal of time is spent on helping clients explore their career options. After completing the self-assessment phase in the career planning process, we will then branch out and learn more about the various careers available that match your individual interests, values, and personality.  This is a very exciting part of career planning. I usually recommend that we begin with brainstorming – the sky’s the limit – and then we will begin to work on identifying our dreams versus our current reality.

Tomorrow I will discuss the #3 strategy – decision making.

There’s a great deal of fear and pessimism going on in relation to people and their jobs today.  I know many people who have either lost their jobs due to company lay-offs or perhaps just live in fear of losing them; as well as those people who desperately wish to leave their jobs but are too afraid to quit in such an uncertain job market.  This week I’m going to be talking about “The Top Four Strategies for Finding a New Career.”

#1 Strategy: Self-Assessment

The first step in the career planning process is doing a complete self-assessment.  In order to get a job that meets your personal goals and expectations, you really need to know yourself well and understand what motivates you and makes you tick.  Learning about your interests, values, and personality will help you make a better career decision and find a job that more closely matches your unique individual qualities. It has long been understood that working in a job that closely meets your individual interests, values, and personality will ultimately make you a much happier and more successful person.

At Career Choice we work directly with you on completing reliable and valid assessments that are used by many career professionals in the field.  It’s important to use these types of assessments to get a true picture of who you are and discover what you need to make your life fulfilling and rewarding. Although a large number of career quizzes, tests, and assessments have popped up online over the course of the past several years, most career professionals do not recommend or endorse the majority of these online offerings and believe that many of them can be harmful or detrimental to individuals who are truly looking to better understand themselves.

Career Choice offers these assessments as part of a regular career counseling session or they can be administered via the internet after speaking with a career counselor.  Once the assessment is completed, a career counselor will interpret the results and go over them with you.  Have you ever wondered what career options are available that would make you happy and successful?   Do you wonder what people with similar interests are doing in their jobs?  By completing several career assessments, you will have a much better understanding of yourself and how to best use that knowledge to make a positive difference in your job and your life.

Tomorrow we will talk about Strategy #2 – Exploring Career Options.