IT'S A NEW WORLD OF WORK

THE ECONOMY HAS CHANGED—AND YOU MUST, TOO !


Everything is different. Get used to the idea that you may definitely not be able to replicate your last job. The industry may be dead, too.

If you have come out of technology, resolve to stay right on the cutting edge of new technology. Take classes, go to professional meeting, network non-stop. Learn!

Whole new categories of jobs are being created. Find out what these are. You are going to have to work longer and harder to get a job than ever before.

Demand for workers is always surging somewhere. There are reports on the Internet every Monday morning about industry and job segments that are hiring. People are getting good jobs. Adapt your skills for companies who need them.

Don’t overlook your alumni association as a vehicle for networking. Colleges and universities have active alumni associations in the New York area, and all it takes is one good contact to change your life.

Those who still believe that all one must do to get a job is check the job boards and send in Resumes—will lose. Creative approaches to information and to decision makers is absolutely necessary. Your personal networking list, accumulated hopefully over the years, will open doors when least expected. Don’t ignore either personal or professional networks.

When the economy is shrinking, entrepreneurs are always on the lookout to fulfill unmet needs. Stay alert to these trends and open every opportunity to learn from these people. As their organizations grow, perhaps you can create a position—even part-time—to help out.

Stay open to contract and part-time work. Many of my Career Coaching clients now refer to themselves as permanent part-timers.

We now have a whole new category of jobs called “bridge” jobs—something to tide one over until other things open up. Funny thing is: some of these bridge jobs are becoming permanent for workers, and they end up enjoying what they are doing, and beginning to grow into a whole new career.

There is so much negativity in the headlines. Stop paying attention, and create your own, new reality. As the economy changes—and it is—you have to change with it.

Work with a Career Coach to make your Resume and Cover Letter the very best—a professional presentation that opens door. Become so skilled at Interviewing that you are set for life. Have such a good Pitch about your skills and background, that you are someone who gets a chance to present your ability to make a unique contribution to a company’s bottom line.

Stay focused and mindful of all the opportunities that are out there now.



Dr. Beth Ross is an Executive and Career Coach. Web site: www.bethross.com
Speaking engagements on: Managing Your Career in Harsh Times

FROM LAYOFF TO CAREER LAUNCH

FROM LAY-OFF TO NEW CAREER LAUNCH

UNIQUE WAYS OF WORKING IN THE NEW ECONOMY


Everything in the World of Work has changed. It is time to start on a new career path, or perhaps on several new paths.

We are now talking a lot about “bridge” jobs—jobs to hold life and limb together while waiting to go back into a former line of work or industry.

A funny thing is happening here. Some people are literally falling in love with their bridge jobs.

Just last week I talked to a cab driver on Park Avenue. He was smiling as he patted a full notebook on the seat beside him. I asked him how long he had been driving a cab, and he laughed and said: “This is my fourth week, and I love it.”

He confessed that he is using his friend’s medallion three days a week. “I love people, and I love not sitting at a desk. I’m still living on severance, but who knows what will be next. This is the best outlet for my writing that has ever come up. I’m actually learning while I work.”

Now who knows if this former Wall Streeter will become a professional cab driver, but he is pretty excited about his life right now.

I have another Career Coaching client whose background is in media. As we worked, and explored interests, she showed a distinct liking for service and communication. As we worked further, she began to tell me about friends who were in the Executive Assistant arena of work.

Ultimately, we have revamped and reformulated her Resume to stress these skills, and she began answering postings for these kinds of positions.

Right now, she started a new job. “I don’t even know if I ever wanted to think of myself as an Executive Assistant, but managing the life of a CEO is really exciting. I find it interesting and challenging, and of course am learning so much—about people and about this business.”

Her communication skills, her personal presentation, and her acute intelligence are paying off.

It is doubtful whether she would have come in to this new career path without the help of a Career Coach. An outstanding value of having a Coach is that there is direction in taking a new look at what can be labeled as a “bridge” job—but may possibly turn into a permanent career path.

More and more now out of work individuals are beginning to look at contract, project, and part-time work. In fact, there is a huge cadre of workers who now refer to themselves as “permanent part-timers”—and love it.

The World of Work is different, and workers and seekers of work need to stay aware of differences and move with these changes. Technology is breaking through new frontiers, and staying on the cutting edge of tomorrow is important. Life time learning, and the ability to grow and change, is essential.

You may well develop a career that you never thought of before. Make yourself creative and be a visionary. Think the unthinkable, and stay with a positive and upbeat mind-set.


Beth Ross is an Executive and Career Coach. Web site at: www.bethross.com
Speaking engagements and expert on Managing Your Career in Harsh Times