Before you read this, I have to warn you that it will make some sensitive people upset…
It’s no wonder, though. The news is blaring about the economy and how terrible things are for business. It’s got lots of entrepreneurs running scared.

And that’s not just for us internet marketers – it goes DOUBLE for Mom-and-Pop, Brick-and-Mortar stores like the ones in YOUR hometown.

What if I told you there’s a way you can take what you ALREADY KNOW about marketing online and TEAM UP with the BEST businesses in your area to make MORE money…

More money than EITHER of you could make alone…

And you actually do it by HELPING people, not SELLING them!  It’s true!

Listen, you may have heard about similar “Offline” money-making schemes before, but this is drastically different.

No need to become an uber-expert guru to land clients…

No need to hire a designer – a programmer – a secretary – a sales staff… Because…
Well, look – you might not believe me unless you saw it yourself. I watched it twice just to make sure.

Seriously. Go check it out,

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To anyone who knows how to search the Internet or can gain access to a job search network or library, finding help is easy for those who are facing career change. For those people who need assistance in their career change, there are persons and locations that can provide help with searching a new occupation.

Aid can come in various forms such as help in writing cover letters, creating a resume, and assisting a worker where to find his new career. The help given will depend on each worker’s needs.

For those who are probing whether they need career change help or not, it will be less troublesome if one knows where he should start from. The worker will need to consider just what he is capable of doing when the needed career change is due to some illness or due to the need of finding a less demanding place of work. At this stage, social workers and disability assessors could be of some help. Once interests and abilities have been acknowledged, the kind of career the person is suitable at can be targeted. For example, those people who are less mobile but are able to hold down a job

can consider IT-related jobs. Career change help involves showing the person what courses can help him build a foundation around this trade. The moment courses have been recognized, a class schedule worked out, and training

began, then the person may need help in looking for stations in the workplace.

Giving information about the kind of industry that would best suit the applicant is one of the things that career change help can provide. Searching for jobs that cater to the applicant’s interests aid in the smooth and trouble-free transition from one career to another. When the training ends, the ability to discern which jobs will fit the client and the capacity to recognize the skills needed for the job in relation to a particular client are matters where career change help can work its magic. Recognizing how certain skills can work from one occupation to another is necessary to providing valuable help to a potential worker.

When the decision to take on career change is caused by the employee’s yearning for a change in workplace and lifestyle, they may gain a lot from career change help in discerning just what it is they are searching for in life. When other factors aside from the worker are involved (for example, the spouse or family has to come along or needs to be left behind when moving, transporting and travelling) then the worker may need more specific aid when looking for the right career.

When you know what specific aspects needing help are, then this may contribute to the ease and success of obtaining the career that matches you perfectly. There is available career change help. To gain the most favourable outcome, the worker should support their helps’ search by providing as much relevant information as possible so they can fit their needs to specific job appointments.

Abhishek is a Career Counselor and he has got some great Career Planning Secrets up his sleeves! Download his FREE 71 Pages Ebook, “Career Planning Made Easy!” from his website http://www.Career-Guru.com/769/index.htm . Only limited Free Copies available.

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Asimo is a robot made by Honda and currently working for IBM Japan. ASIMO works as a receptionist for IBM. He greets guests and shows them around the building. Asimo’s gets paid $150,000 a year (Yearly lease for ASIMO) Compared to the salary of a human receptionist – $35,000. To perform these duties, ASIMO has to be specially programmed to know the layout of the buildings and the appropriate way to greet visitors and answer questions.

What about You!

I recently saw a documentary about a lady that could not smile because of a birth defect. It cost her $70,000 to surgically have a smile created for her. It’s close to the real thing but it’s still not the real thing. Knowing the value of a rolex watch, how much would you pay for a fake rolex. Now try smiling. Easy? That’s priceless but an artificial one would cost you $70,000.

Try squeezing your hand, pick up your pen, throw your pen a varied speeds, pick your ear, play with your hand, do what you wish. Asimo couldn’t even do a tenth of what you are doing, yet it is paid a salary of $150,000 dollars. Asimo is a fake version of you. No where near the real thing.

You are priceless and Asimo is worthless compared to what you can do.

Yet it gets paid more than most!

Why?

People will only see you as you see yourself! My father always told me; “If you sell yourself cheap during the day, don’t expect to increase the price at night, for you will not find a buyer” You are fearfully & wonderfully made, you probably have been nurtured and cared for by loving parents who in their own rights are priceless. You don’t have to be programmed to know the layout of a building, greet visitors and answer questions. You are not made by man but uniquely created and fashioned to invent, innovate, discover, adapt and rule.

Dr, Micheal Denton clearly states – the cosmos (universe) is specially designed whole with life and mankind as its fundamental goal and purpose. Cosmos – The universe regarded as an orderly, harmonious whole. In simple words, The world has been created specifically for you!

Trees have a purpose, gold has a purpose, water has a purpose, salt has a purpose, even micro-organisms have a purpose. What more of you? You are the most intelligent being of all creation – One that wills thoughts to action, one with feelings, emotions, a soul and a mind to invent, learn, discover, communicate, build and rule.

The more physicist, biologists and scientist learn about the universe the more they realise it has been created custom made for human existence. For you are made with love in mind – Psalmist

If the world has been built with you in mind, why settle for anything less. Asimo is a product of your your neighbours invention and how much is it worth?

The question I need to ask you is this:

How do you see yourself?

The most valuable things in life are not things but people. You and I.

Celebrate and value yourself daily and everyone else will treat you the same way.

www.careerinsights.tv

Know Your Uniqueness
Find out what is unique in you that makes you stand out and makes you the right choice for the job advertised.
The first thing you need to have is an outstanding resume, one that will guarantee you an interview. Every organization wants only the best employees, and you need to prove that you qualify.
Some basic preparation to determine your uniqueness is in order.
1. Recognize your strengths. You need to review what you have already done as well as your competence and aptitude level. Your past appraisal reports, verbal or written, will help you with this.
2. Identify your skills. The skills and experience you have acquired over the years will help you handle your new job. You have technical skills as well as software skills that you carry with you wherever you go. Stress these strengths. For example, your communication, management and interpersonal skills might be your forte.
3. Highlight your personality. You also have certain personal traits that make you unique. You have a record of meeting deadlines. You have initiative and a great attitude. Being positive will carry you a long way.
4. Follow up your list of strengths with examples to support them. This is most important if your interviewer is to believe that you are not claiming strengths you may not actually have. This will help you stand out.
Locating the Job of Your Choice
Geographical limitations should not stop you from applying for a job that you are suited for.
Read every advertisement carefully, noting what each company is looking for. Then make your notes in two columns, one with the heading “What the organization is looking for” and the other “What I have to offer.” This exercise will help you see the closest matches.
It will help you identify your skills and strengths and how you might apply them. Spell them out in as many words as the advertisement calls for. This will make your resume stronger. You should also use this information in an interview situation.
Facing Your Interviewers
Remember to research the organization before the interview. This will demonstrate your interest in the company and also help you frame questions to them.
Wearing the appropriate clothing is important for any interview, so it is best to find out ahead of time what that is. In general, attire for an interview is formal; but if your research tells you that the organization is informal, dressing more casually might be a better choice.
Women candidates are faced with more choices. A good policy is to wear nothing very dramatic and keep it conservative. It’s better to avoid fragrances the day of the interview.
Always remember: first impressions are often the last impressions, so make the best of that interview call. You may not get a second chance.

Copyright (c) 2009 Dorothy Tannahill Moran

The buzz right now is that everyone is holding on to their current jobs with a death grip due to the grim economy. The overarching belief is that there are no jobs out there and for the ones that do exist, there are too many people applying. Let’s say some of that is true. What is also true is that there are job openings. People move, get promoted or something continues to pull people out of their jobs every day. There are jobs. Maybe not as many and maybe the competition for the ones that come available are stiff BUT there are jobs that need to be filled. One thing is also true; you won’t get any of them if you don’t try.

If you have arrived at a point where you think it is time to make your next strategic career move, you should not let the state of the economy stop you. Don’t create barriers where there are none. The challenge will be greater than in previous years but if you’re prepared for those challenges, go for it.

Let’s look at what some of these challenges might be:

Job Posting Site’ You hear stories of 200 people applying for one job at a local nursery for a nursery stock tender. In this environment, you can count on stiff competition for any posted job. The key here is “posted job”. While it is one way to find out what openings exist, you and millions are looking at that same posting. Looking for a job this way is the lowest priority in a job search because it is the way millions of others are searching and applying. It is hard to land a new position this way due to the volume of other applicants and it is hard to stand out in a big crowd. It can be done and you should pursue it, you just need to calibrate your expectations appropriately.

Recruiters- You also need some insight into the life of a recruiter. They receive thousands of resumes each day. They will often use their computer software to sort out all kinds of criteria to help narrow down the huge pile that has come in. This is a buyer’s market also. They don’t need to talk to you, give informational interviews or much of anything they used to do a few years ago. Right now, they want to process the paper as quickly as possible, narrow it down to a few that look hot and screen them. With tight budgets, geographic consideration is also a big selection criterion. They may not want to fly applicants or relocate new hires, so be aware that geography is now playing a role in how an applicant is being screened.

The perfect match – Because the use of resume’ handling software has become so prevalent these days, there is such a thing as the perfect match. If a hiring manager has determined 9 key skills and experience, the software will prioritize the resume’s that have the highest number of matches. With a large volume, it is now possible to have resume’s selected that hit 100% of the criteria, thus leaving out perfectly good candidates who are “close”.

This is starting to sound like an increasingly impossible set of barriers. This environment is challenging for sure but not impossible if your plan takes these things into account. Let’s look at the key actions a person can take.

Make use of your contact and network – More than 80% of all job openings never make it to any kind of posting. Only the seriously hard to fill positions go out publicly for the most part. That means you must find those positions through the use of “who you know”. This has been and continues to be the number one way to find an ideal spot. It’s good because to some degree, it’s prescreened for you. Your network will be reluctant to send you into a snakepit workplace. They would have to face you later and simply don’t want to feel guilty. Also, they will refer when they feel confident with both sides, you and the other being a good fit. Don’t feel bad if some people you know simply don’t refer, they probably are the same ones that don’t fix up their friends with blind dates. Some people just don’t want to do it. BUT, some do!

Expand your network – if a career move is on the horizon, it’s time to cast the net a bit broader. Figure out some groups you can hook up with that will be rich in potential job contacts. Look in Meetup on the internet, tons of great groups. Also, look into social networking like LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook, easy and convenient.

Look in unique places- on an airplane, coffee shops or church.

Plan your resume’ – It is no longer possible to have just one all purpose resume’. Because of resume’ search software, you must create resume’s rich in key words. So if there is a few different related positions, create a different one for each position.

Set your expectations – Once you make a decision to move, it is a bit like stopping a freight train. You want to move right now. In this environment, you need to be a marathon runner. You need to pace yourself and set your expectations appropriately that this will take a while. You need to plan for a few dips and bumps which means you need to push through them and keep your eye on the goal.

Don’t let the economic environment stop you from pursuing your dream job. There are millions of jobs and people are hiring every day. Your job is to understand the hiring situation, put your plan together and start working on it, today.

“The Indispensable first step to getting what you want out of life is this: Decide What You want.” -Ben Stein

Let’s say you reach a fork in the road and have to decide which way to go on your career journey. This is naturally a difficult place to be in, but you have to make a decision.

Values clarification becomes indispensable when you are at a point where you must choose between two or more career options, but you’re uncertain which option is best for you.

At such times, you must ask yourself this question:

What are my most important career values?

The rub is that when you choose one option, you often leave behind some values connected with your alternate option. The trick is to be certain that in the end, you choose the option that is most closely identified with your top values.

For example, I recently spoke with a graphic artist employed by a small publishing company. The key to his career success has been his mentor relationship with the soon to retire company president. He knew that he did not want to work with the incoming president. He was paralyzed, however, to choose between his two remaining options; Either move to a new company where he feels positive about the executive leadership. Or, start up his own business.

What to do? Make sure you clarify your career values in order to make your decision with confidence.

First, under each option list your top 3 to 5 values or benefits to you, of each. In this case:

Option One

Option Two

Here’s the challenging part, now rank your top five values drawing from both lists.After several go rounds and some major soul searching, this individual ranked his top five values:

You can see that the majority of his values including his top two values, are drawn from list one. Although choosing which projects he takes on is important, when push came to shove he ranked it lower than the opportunity to work with a new mentor and not having to do marketing and sales.

After taking a step back and carefully considering his competing values, this individual chose option one.

When facing this kind of difficult choice, the above described coaching process insures that you make the best decision for YOU. One that will make your career soar and brings you joy and pride.

To learn more about how Seth can help you and to download his free Special Report: “10 Ways to Jump Start Your Career by Leveraging Your Strengths,” visit his website: http://www.CreativeVisionCoaching.com or email him: Seth@CreativeVisionCoaching.com

(c) Copyright – Seth Kaufman. All rights reserved worldwide.

You have recently made the decision to exit one career and enter a new one, which can be both exciting and a little bit scary. But while the choice to make the career switch was probably a grueling one, the prospect of explaining your lack of job experience to potential employers is probably downright terrifying.
Though you may be concerned about drawing attention to this missing portion of your career history, don’t spend too much time dwelling on it. The truth is, if you really desire to move into your new career, you can do it. You just have to believe in yourself and present this belief in your cover letters. Let’s look at how you can do it … Be Honest about Why You’re Changing Careers
When you begin explaining why you’re switching careers in your cover letter, it is best to be as honest as possible. You can do this by remembering that at some point you sat alone and contemplated your reasons for making this major life decision. So take this time to revisit those reasons. Are you switching because you weren’t fulfilled in your previous career? Or do you believe that you’ve always had talent in this field and now you want to pursue it?
Whatever your reasons may be, express them well. Doing so may help prospective employers better relate to your new-found passion. Even more, it may inspire them to take a chance with you, even if you have less experience in this specific career than other candidates. Discuss Your Relevant Experience
As mentioned previously, you may not have an extensive background in the career you are pursuing, but that’s okay. If you have relevant professional experience, you can simply dig that up to show the prospective employer your ability to perform.
For instance, you may have years of experience working as a PR manager. However, you would like to become a marketing manager because you’re interested in branding products, participating in trade shows, and getting the company name out to the public. As a PR manager, you may have experience talking to the media on behalf of your company, and developing strategies to help create the proper public image. So you can note these and other relevant PR experiences in your cover letter to show that your understanding of the company’s public image and products can easily be applied to a marketing career.Do You Believe in Yourself?
You should question how much you believe in yourself before writing your cover letter. Why? Because you are making a major change in your life that requires courage, and could possibly face a little rejection. If you hold fear in your heart, it can easily translate on paper. So before you write your cover letter, it is a good idea to develop and nurture your belief in your capabilities. This can boost your confidence and possibly help the potential employer take a greater interest in you.
Switching careers can definitely be an intimidating prospect to consider. But if you have confidence in your abilities, the skills to back it up, and a great cover letter to boot, you will be well on your way to successfully entering an exciting new career in the field you absolutely love.

When “career counselor” was a new word (and a “coach” blew the whistle at basketball practice), we all read the Parachute book. The standard career advice line went something like this:
“People are bored. They love to talk about what they do. So call them up and ask for information. Eventually someone will offer you a job.”
In my experience, that advice is as outdated as the typewriters we used back when the first Parachute edition appeared in the bookstores.
Today networking matters more than ever before. But you have to work your way into everyone’s outrageously busy schedule.
(1) Create a professional presence on the Internet, using Facebook, Myspace, and/or LinkedIn. Zoodango has become popular among corporate executives.
You can be outgoing and personal but share only what your next uptight business contact needs to know…unless you refuse to ever work with the uptight set, which is another article.
It’s no accident that my “personal” public persona showcases my dog, with occasional glimpses of the cats. I’ve seen too many innocent disclosures get distorted… anyone following the Amanda Knox case?
(2) Attend professional meetings and conferences.
In some fields, you’ll make awesome contacts. In others, you’ll just get information about what’s really happening, outside your own office.
And when you need to make calls, you may be able to say, “I’d like to use your name when I call your associate at MegaBig company…”
Or, “Do you know anyone who worked at SoNew Company? I’d like to get more info before applying…”
(3) Go back to school the grown-up executive way.
If appropriate, consider teaching courses at local universities and learning centers. Choose topics that enhance your most marketable strengths.
You won’t get rich from the stipends but you get exposure and credibility. You’ll often make some helpful contacts and gain new perspectives on the field.
Or consider the other side of the desk.
If you have funds and opportunity, a graduate degree can open doors – not just from the degree, but also from contacts you make. Programs offering face-to-face meetings on weekends or evenings tend to be most effective – and I have met people who got jobs through fellow students.
(4) Attend networking events designed for business owners (even if you love the corporate world and plan to stay forever).
You never know. Remember the Mary Poppins line: “I’ll stay till the wind changes.” I’ve met many savvy business people who encountered a tornado in their own offices.
When that happens, especially if you’re over 50, you may see income faster from self-employment than from sending out resumes. I wouldn’t stop job-hunting but hey, why not explore this path too?
Being around business owners will give you a boost: “If they can, I can.” And if you think like an entrepreneur, you may find corporate life a little easier to take (and more rewarding, too).
Just about everyone who attends those meetings has corporate contacts…and they’re very comfortable making referrals and introductions. That’s how they grow their own businesses.
(5) Talk to everybody.
One of my acquaintances found herself sitting next to some corporate executives at a basketball game. Turns out they were using tickets from a corporate sponsor…and that company often had openings in her field. That particular contact didn’t lead to a job, but she did gain some ideas that she used to make a quantum career leap.
University alumni groups tend to be especially friendly and open. It’s an easy place to say, “I’m looking for a job in X industry. Do you know…”
Bottom Line: We’re not calling strangers anymore to ask for “advice.” Everybody knows what you’re really after…and if they don’t, they’re too clueless to help. But we have newer, more user-friendly and more effective ways to build a network (before we *need* one).

Someone I’ll call “Gloria” told me this story:
“At a recent potluck dinner, my friend Brian brought a six-pack of his special cider. We had more beverages than we needed. At the end of the evening, Brian went into the refrigerator and grabbed his untouched cider. He took it home.
“Our hostess, Nancy, was furious. She wrote Brian a strong email, claiming he had insulted her”
My sympathies are with Brian. To me, a potluck means you bring a contribution to the party, not a gift for the hostess. And I avoid those events whenever possible.
So…what’s the relevance for careers?
Clients often call me when they’re puzzled by events in a new job (“Why would I be asked to edit this report when I’m a senior manager?”). Or maybe they’ve got a new employee and they’re tearing their hair out, wondering, “Why would anyone skip a meeting when we specifically said attendance was expected?” And more.
It’s all about fitting into a new environment — whether you’re new to a job, career or even service where you’re the customer.
(1) Don’t get mad — get inquisitive.
A prospective client asked if I could edit some content. I explained that I don’t do editing. I don’t tweak other people’s words, commas and paragraphs.
But I discovered she used the word “editing” to mean “writing copy starting with a written discussion of our target market.”
So “edit” might be a polite way of saying, “This report is worthless. Just start over.”
And some folks distinguish between “expected” and “required.”
(2) Study the lunchtime lingo.
Groups have norms about teasing, dressing up, initiating conversations, writing memos and lunch.
Some people see an invitation to lunch as the closest thing to a marriage proposal, especially if a male invites a female or vice versa. (I wish I were kidding.)
Some groups have norms about bringing lunch, eating out, and skipping lunch to work out.
I once heard about a department where bringing your lunch meant you had taken yourself off the fast track. I heard about another where nobody ate at all: the “in” crowd went running. A consulting firm took seriously the maxim of “Never eat lunch alone.” Associates were expected to sacrifice their waist lines by taking clients to lunch several times a week. I suspect doggie bags were a big no-no.
If these issues are important, you can usually find out before you get hired.
But if you really hate meetings, you might get a pass by feigning ignorance. When asked why you didn’t show, you say, “I though ‘expected’ meant ‘lightly suggested.’ So I skipped the meeting and took a client to lunch.”
Use at your own risk…once.
(3) Avoid the old-timer trap.
Every time I changed jobs, even in the same career field, even in universities with similar structures, I bumped up against new cultures.
What do you ask the admin staff to do? Where do you get coffee (and when)? And if you miss a meeting or turn down a lunch offer, are you branding yourself as a maverick?
Inevitably I made mistakes. And I watched other newcomers do the same.
The reasons were innocent. If you’ve asked a staff assistant to make copies or calls for the last 5 years, you’ll automatically do the same at your new job. You probably won’t even stop to wonder, “Should I do this?” unless you’ve been made aware that customs might vary in that particular area.
But old-timers (who can’t imagine any other way either) tend to assume the worst. When I became an old-timer (or at least a medium-timer), colleagues would ask rhetorically, “Who does he think he is?”
It took awhile, but over the years I learned to say, “He thinks he is a lost, confused newcomer. Let’s explain that we need to go have coffee and it’s a non-negotiable right now.”
Returning to the potluck example: I suspect Brian’s friends always took home the leftovers — their own and maybe everyone else’s. It never crossed his mind to leave his cider in someone else’s refrigerator.
That’s my own favorite part of a potluck. The folks who know how to cook never want leftovers. More for me.

We spend approximately 50% of our waking hours at work. Doesn’t it make sense to make the most of that time, otherwise what’s the point? OK, it pays the bills but shouldn’t it be about more than that. The happier you are at work, the happier you can be with other areas of your life.

If work’s getting you down or you’d like to try something different, here are a few things to consider.

1. So, are you happy at work? If not, why not? Is it the type of work you do, the people you work with or your boss? What can you do to change your situation? How could you make it more interesting, how could you improve the relationships with the people you work with? Could you do the same thing but for a different company. Could you delegate tasks to someone else in your team?

2. Do you love what you do? What is your passion and what motivates you? What values in your life are important to you – health, money, security, family, relationships etc. Follow these and you’ll be happier in your work and in life generally.

3. What are you good at? What skills and abilities do you have? Where could you make improvements? Training for the job that you do could improve your job satisfaction and your job prospects and could enable you to take on a new role.

4. Where do you want to go? Are you looking for promotion, salary increase or a job change? Sometimes we have to start at the bottom in order to get where we want to be. Have your goal in mind so you don’t lose sight of what you’re doing and more importantly why!

5. Get yourself a mentor. Find someone you respect, who’s where you want to be or done what you want to do. If you don’t know anyone at work, is there someone outside work you could discuss your plans with and who would be prepared to give you advice and support?

6. Keep your CV up-to-date. Be ready to take advantage of any opportunity that might present itself if you’re looking to change jobs. Alternatively, go out and find those opportunities – if you want to change, you need to make it happen. Opportunities will present themselves if you’re looking for them.

7. Take control of your own career. There are always things we can do to change and grow. If you’re looking for a new career then spend some time thinking about what you want from your work. What do you value, need, want? What does work mean to you? How important is it in your life? What are the things you’re good at, what sort of work do you like to do? How could you create your perfect job?

Sometimes living from day to day is fine but it helps if you have a plan in mind. Where do you want to be a year from now, three years from now? Set a goal “Next year, I want to be doing …” Then set some specific steps to get you there.