Tag Archives: Career & Jobs

Take Control of Your Career – Discover the Unique You

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Set Yourself Apart; Discover and Celebrate the “Unique You”

To be truly successful and fulfilled in your career, and life in general, you must uncover your passion, your true talents – the “unique you”.

  • What is your passion?
  • What are your talents?
  • What are you true drivers and skills you excel at?
  • What work environment best suits you?
  • How does work fit into your life?

Once discovered, the “Unique You” will emerge in all areas of your life. Because we cannot be truly self-objective, finding the “Unique You” can be a challenge. To discover it, you need ongoing honest and unbiased feedback and guidance. You need variety of people, each with a different outlook.

Discovering the “Unique You” Sources of Guidance & Support

Friends, spouses and significant others can be tremendous motivators and sources of support, however, as supportive as they are, they can be reluctant to be all-out honest for fear of hurting your feelings. In most cases they are so close they can’t see the forest for the trees. Often their advice is taken as criticism. “Oh yeah, thanks a lot, how long have you been saving that one?”

Other Sources

There are an infinite number of personality and aptitude tests available to access and highlight our strengths and weaknesses; however, as human beings, for the most part, we tend to put more value in the strengths. We either ignore or minimize the weaknesses.

We can justify the latter as either a miscalculated score or representative of someone we know. Even as career coaches, we cannot self-coach because we cannot be truly self-objective. You need at least one person you see all the time, someone who’s a great listener and who allows you to make your decision. You’re not asking that

person to make the decision. You’re asking them to listen and to help you with your decision process.

Benefits of discovering the “Unique You”

“Find a job you love and you’ll never work another day in your life.”

Most people spend about 25 percent of their adult lives working. If you enjoy what you do, you’re lucky. But if you’re the proverbial square peg–and your job is a round hole, job stress hurts your productivity and can take a serious toll on your mind and body–and ultimately your health.

Better Jobs for the Rest of Your Life

People don’t stay in one job for long anymore. The odds are that you will change jobs. In the job market it is imperative that you put your best foot forward each step of the way. Once you’ve discovered your true drivers you will seek out employers and obtain jobs that will welcome and celebrate the “Unique You” Don’t you deserve to be fulfilled in your career?

Careers After 50: The Value of a Temp Job!

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Careers after 50: developing appropriate experience to qualify for a planned career.

You’ve researched and studied a variety of proposed new careers. After speaking to others working in the field you’ve narrowed your list down to one or two possible new careers. However, you’ve found both require specific experience that you need to acquire.

Other qualifications for a new career after 50, for example, can be learned through self-study, distance learning, formal education and working with mentors. However, now you have the dilemma of getting the necessary experience to qualify for new career.

Let’s suggest a way to put you in a position to successfully compete for job in the new changed career. You might want to consider working for a temp agency, to get some desired experience or to discover if the suggested career is right for you.

Ask around for referrals to the right temp agency. Some temp agencies are specialists only working with specific careers and industries.

Re-draft your resume to put your best foot forward depending on the career and job. For each career you might want to restrict only signing up with two or three temp agencies. As you progress and learn more about specific temp agencies you can adjust your focus so you are only working with the best agency relative to the planned career.

Make it a point to see the temp agency recruiter, have a face-to-face interview and learn all you can about their services. Don’t forget this is a job interview and you want to show the recruiter how you would present yourself to a prospective employer.

Find out in advance if you are required to show specific technical skills at the temp interview and spend some time brushing up on the required skills prior to the interview.

Do some research regarding prospective wages you might expect. You’ll probably be asked what wage range you would accept. Also, you should learn what possible benefits might be available.

Many times temp assignments can last six months or longer. Be sure to tell the temp agency the length of assignment you would accept.

If the temp job is in a career you wish to qualify for, you may leverage yourself into being offered a full- time position. Or you gain enough relevant experience to qualify for a full-time career with another employer.

Don’t expect that you’ll be immediately moved into a desired temp position. Continue to contact the temp agency, at least once a week, to let them know you’re available for placement.

So the value to you using a temp agency in qualifying for a new career after 50 is: (1) Gaining required work experience, (2) Possibly being offered a job in the desired new career, (3) Bringing in some income while you prepare to change careers, or (4) Finding out the new career is not for you so you can research additional opportunities.