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Find Meaningful Work During Economic Hard Times

March 10th, 2010

Nearly everyone is feeling the economic downturn. As many people are losing their jobs often they are being forced to change careers. For job changers, a growing trend during the recession is to look at going after your longstanding interests.

What a better time to see who you really are and find work that is meaningful. Switching to a new profession can be exhilarating and traumatic. Letting go of a former identity and stepping back to find a new direction is an opportunity to play to your strengths.

When you search for work that is aligned with your strengths and interests, you are looking for something meaningful– which will help increase your energy and passion. And passion can be very helpful during a job search and an interview. Hiring a candidate with genuine enthusiasm for the job often produces higher productivity, customer service and quality work.

How do you determine your strengths, interests and the right job fit?

It will take some time making lists. First, you need to think through what you are good at, list work you have done where you have had success and then list what you enjoy doing. Next, investigate new industries different from what you have done in the past. Doing research to explore industries and job options is enlightening and will open your eyes to new possibilities.

Last, create a match between your strengths, interests and a field that looks appealing. Once you have figured out what you like and a potential career path, you should work on locating contacts in that field and build a detailed career plan with actions, people to contact and dates to reach your each goal. Stay on target, use your support people and try to remain positive.

- Sunny K. Lurie, PhD.

Posted in Blog, Career advice, Career coaching, Homepage, Sunny K. Lurie, career change, career counseling | No Comments »

Coaches Help Move Careers

March 1st, 2010

We have fitness coaches and sports coaches, why not a “career” coach? So follow me here: If research repeatedly shows 50% of employees are unhappy at work and 70% of U.S. workers are not engaged in their work, then wouldn’t it make sense to talk to someone who specializes in helping people explore career options, identify their strengths and move into a satisfying career?

Logical, right? Career experts can get your career moving in new directions.

Consider using a career expert to help guide your career through one of these moves:
#1 Move within same organization with expanded responsibilities
#2 Move within same organization with different responsibilities
#3 Move within same industry in to a different organization
#4 Move using same skills in to a different industry

Practical career advice can help you plan out which move is best for you. The goal is to get into a meaningful career that you find satisfying– and career coaches can get you there.

- Sunny K. Lurie, PhD.

Posted in Blog, Career advice, Career coaching, Career options, career change, career counseling, career planning, choosing a career | No Comments »

Think Ahead One Year or More

February 11th, 2010

Those who get ahead often plan steps in advance. It takes years to be an over night success. Don’t let bad economic news hold you back from thinking forward. When hiring begins to grow you need to be ready. Do you know where you want to be in 1, 2 or 5 years? When someone asked Oprah what was next five years ago she said she wanted to have her own network; insiders knew she would have it. Each of us is no different when it comes to elevating our career — planning pays off.

At companies the same thing happens; employees are rewarded for planning ahead. Most employees, low-level managers to top vice presidents, are taken by surprise when promotion opportunities arise. The people who actually get the best jobs have been planning their strategy for one year or more. The same rules apply to changing career fields. Don’t wait until you are ready to quit. Launch your new career on the side. Remain employed and take active steps months before leaving. Upward mobility requires looking ahead to make things happen.

Posted in Blog, Career advice, Career coaching, Career options, career change, career planning, choosing a career, tweet this | 1 Comment »

Does Passion Matter at Work?

February 3rd, 2010

This question caught my attention in U.S. News, “Does passion really matter at work?” What do you think? Well, it’s probably no surprise that the answer is, yes, it absolutely matters! It is not just fluff. Here are 3 reasons why passion is one of the best investments you can make in your career:

It helps you feel more confident. For too many people, work is about getting up in the morning and trying to be someone they’re not. Not only does that drain their energy, it also keeps them off balance. Think of someone standing on one leg with the other leg up in the air and their arms waving, trying to keep their balance. They’re deathly afraid that someone is going to come up and bump into them, because they’re already in danger of falling over. Trying to be who you’re not in your career is a little like that. You have to put extra effort into doing what doesn’t come naturally. Maintaining the façade keeps you off balance.

It’s an energy source. When you’re on fire about what you do, it energizes you, and you can put that energy back into your work. Instead of the energy drain your work actually becomes an energy gain. So not only are you getting energy from what you’re doing, you also aren’t having to dig into your energy reserves just to get through the day. When you’re aligned with what energizes you, it’s like having both feet solidly planted on the floor. The energy differential is huge in helping you feel confident about your work.

It feeds your persistence. The odds are good that, whatever your career path you are going to run into roadblocks and bumps along the way. When you’re doing something in pursuit of what energizes and inspires you, those roadblocks and bumps are a lot easier to take. Don’t get me wrong. They never become enjoyable, but their size relative to your objective is smaller.

I have suffered bumps and bruises in pursuit of something I didn’t really care about (my past career) while I’m in pursuit of something I am over the moon about (my current career), I have to tell you, the difference is night and day. In the path I love, persistence, confidence and energy come naturally as a daily part of the job.

- U.S. News article by: Curt Rosengren, career author

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How to Show Passion in an Interview

January 22nd, 2010

How can you show passion during your interview? In our workshops we talk about how personal stories help “prove” your passion. It might sound ordinary if you were to say, “I was passionate about creating a team environment in my last organization.” But communicating a story about a time you put your sweat and tears and overcame a specific challenge is a more authentic and interesting way to describe your important impact. With a specific story, a hiring manager might feel more confident that you would repeat a similar experience in their organization. Everyone has a story. Never say: “I just did my job; I didn’t do anything special.”

Your work history is unique to you. Try to focus on how you did your job effectively and what you have done differently than your colleagues. The specifics of the story are more important than the general information. In interviews, most people think they should talk about their skills in general terms, but it is the specific examples and facts behind those stories that prove your success. Interviewers are more likely to remember snippets of your personal story. Your descriptive story helps to develop rapport and prove the things you have achieved in your past positions.

Posted in Blog, Career advice, Career coaching, Career options, Interviewing, Sunny K. Lurie, career counseling | No Comments »

3 Ways to Get Your Ideal Career

January 12th, 2010

Why can some people get to their ideal career and others can’t? In many cases the successful people have
incorporated the following practices into their career game plan.

1) Stay focused on organizations you admire and jobs you really want. If the company or its product are appealing, you will be more likely to push to get it. Keep your eye on your top 10 companies and favorite 5 jobs. Stay focused on what you really want. Work hard to learn about people who work in the organization or who have a job to which you aspire. Once you find the people you can set up a brief meeting, shadow the person or try to begin with a temp, volunteer or seasonal position at the company. Don’t get lost in the details of looking at “any” company or job. Stay on target working to get inside and meet people who are in your top organizations and jobs.

2) Find comfort in change. That promotion, new assignment or job change looks attractive but the change will take you out of your comfort zone. You will lose the safety and security of knowing your routine. You have to let go of the unconscious fear that you are not totally prepared to handle the new responsibilities or have the skills to succeed in the job. Conquer this by getting excited about your new identity and creating a vision of yourself as successful in the new job. Reflect on the success you’ve had in your previous work. Recognize that you have the ability to learn the skills to meet the new challenges. Those who are able to seek out change will increase their chances of advancement.

3) Associate with supportive, ‘up-beat’ people. Stay around people who will spur you on and applaud your progress. Positive friends and colleagues who offer encouragement can really help keep you buoyed up if you’re struggling to stay motivated during a job search or business start up. Reduce contact with negative people in your life who bring you down by droning on about the rough economy, lack of opportunities and how you don’t stand a chance of finding employment. Pessimists can truly be harmful if you want to move forward. Instead think about the realistic optimists you know and actively work toward spending time with them. Optimism is contagious!

- Sunny K. Lurie, PhD.

Posted in Blog, Career advice, Career coaching, Career options, Career resilience, Sunny K. Lurie, career counseling, choosing a career | No Comments »

If You Believe It, You Can Achieve It

December 14th, 2009

For the New Year, the writer Jen Grisanti reminds us to find our passion and pursue it– a subject near and dear to my heart.

Jen says, for every writing career that I have helped launch, the writer had a clear vision of his/her own success. In the New Year, what do you want to achieve the most? Do you have clarity in your goals? Can you let go of the past and pursue your goals with renewed passion?

Debbie Robins a career author writes, “to help achieve your goal consider writing a Living Vision…Start by having a clear picture in your head of the biggest, boldest, most fulfilling life that you can imagine living. Now, write about who you are and what you’re doing in glorious detail. Do not describe how you got there. You are there!”

I remember doing a similar exercise with a Career Strategist coach. The beauty of the exercise lies in the relief you feel after imagining that you have achieved your greatest goal. During the coach’s session, she had us write down three of our immediate goals. My goals were 1) Creating a successful seminar career 2) Writing a book proposal and 3) Successfully hosting my first Writers Retreat in Hawaii. Since I didn’t have a lot of contacts in Hawaii, I knew the retreat would likely be the most challenging of my goals. However, by doing the exercise, I was able to visualize myself achieving all three goals. After several months of hard work and daily revisualization, I completed all three of my goals. My biggest break with the Hawaii retreat came when the local newspaper agreed to do a story on my event. You can do anything you set your mind to doing if you have clarity of goal and visualize your success.

So, how do you create a clear vision? In The Answer, John and Murray write, “Creating a clear vision is the first step to your success.”

They created what they refer to as the Five Musts:

You must find something that stirs your soul.
You must make a study of it and investigate new developments in it.
You must recondition your mind to believe that you can have it and achieve it.
You must understand how to make money at it.
You must take daily action.

For the New Year, I encourage everyone to create a clear vision, pursue it with a renewed passion, no matter what losses have happened along the way, and make that vision a reality. You CAN do it. We each have the potential to create the destiny we choose. – Jen Grisanti

Posted in Blog, Career advice, Career coaching, Career options, career counseling, choosing a career | No Comments »

Quick Tip for an Interview

December 6th, 2009

For job interviewees: MAKE SURE THEY LIKE YOU. Make sure that by the time you leave the room, you’ve found a way to make the person like you. That’s it. Two arms, two legs and an MBA, being all fancy and important, are not going to get you there. Make that personal connection. Build instant intimacy.

This tip is brought to you by the master networker, Keith Ferrazzi.

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A Clever Interview Technique

November 20th, 2009

Other people’s clever ideas inspire me. In this case it was a guy looking for a tech job who wanted to be noticed above other talented pros looking at the same company. So what did he do? He wrote a song called, “Hire me Bazaarvoice!” and put the video on YouTube. Wouldn’t you know it – the video began circulating around the office at his target company. And voila, a few months later, Matt joined the team as an Implementation Engineer.

Now let’s back up and look at Matt’s process for getting the job. He says, “when I was thinking about applying for the job, I knew a lot of other really smart people who were also applying. I heard stories about the interview process being rigorous. I knew that in order to make it I had to do something to stand out from the crowd. I was messing around on the guitar one night, and half jokingly played a song about Bazaarvoice to my wife, and told her I was thinking of putting it on YouTube. Her response was surprisingly very positive and she encouraged me.”

“So I scoured the Bazaarvoice website and wrote lyrics about the products and specifically how I could be an asset to Bazaarvoice. The combination of the song, YouTube video, and my website, made all the difference in the world. When I created it I expected that the recruiter and hiring manager would get a laugh out of it, and that would be the extent of it. Little did I know that it would end up spreading around the entire company and going viral.”

Matt’s video was an attempt to show his passion about working for the company and the importance of word of mouth—and in his case spreading a message about why he would be a good fit for the job. His idea worked and it’s great inspiration to others. Companies in all industries appreciate creativity. So be bold, be innovative and most of all be passionate-it can really help you succeed.

Thank you to Heather Henry for her original interview with Matthew Price.

Tags: Interview
Posted in Blog, Career advice, Career coaching, Uncategorized | No Comments »

Consider Being an Adult Intern

October 17th, 2009

Ever think about how to try out a new career? Why do only students get to work in internships? I encourage professionals at any age to seek an internship. Such as a short term project with a moderate salary to help a business or organization achieve a goal they’ve been wanting to complete. Offer your assistance and you get to test drive a new field -it’s great, everyone wins. So why don’t we hear about these opportunities more often? Probably because professionals typically don’t ask for a chance to do it.

I suggest if you are looking for a new career, identify a few organizations where you’d like to work and propose to take on a project for 30-60 days for a moderate fee. You would need clear objectives and outcomes and do the best job possible. After you finish the project, promote your accomplishments in your resume to market yourself in the field. People with the enthusiasm and creativity take on a temporary internship to gain experience, would certainly be impressive and stand out from the crowd. So let’s go companies and professionals – look for ways to get adult internships going – it’s good for everyone! If you want help starting this conversation, please contact us. – Sunny Lurie, PhD.

Posted in Blog, Career advice, Career coaching, choosing a career | No Comments »