The More I Look For My Ideal Career, The More Confused I Get. What Can I Do

“The More I Look For My Ideal Career, The More Confused I Get. What Can I Do” Help from our Community “The More I Look For My Ideal Career, The More Confused I Get. What Can I Do?” * Jessica’s thrown herself into finding out everything she can about potential new careers. But the information overwhelm is making her feel more lost than ever. How do you make progress on your shift when nothing's getting any clearer? What's your career history and current job? I'm in sales and marketing. I conduct research and analyse data on potential prospecting targets. From there, I determine key contacts and reach out to them in order to gain their business. My educational background is in interpersonal and technical communications, such as writing instruction manuals and professional documentation. I was recently let go from my job, so now is definitely the time for me to make a change. How do you feel about your work? I enjoy the research and analysis. And I love the thrill of a big sale. However, I don't like the long hours and pressure involved. At my last job, I was working outrageous hours and barely even had time to wash my clothes or clean my house. I need something that makes me feel happier. What would you like to be doing instead? I'm interested in doing something to do with research. I get totally absorbed in research and love to learn about whatever subject I'm looking into; everything from animals to medical articles. I enjoy uncovering facts and leads, and jumping from one find to another interesting fact. I've also been considering something to do with gardening or homesteading. I enjoy hard work and watching things grow. It's great to see the results of my labour and I feel good about giving back to the earth. However, from the research I've done, I'm having a hard time finding the financial profitability in this field. There's also the fear that my crop might fail, or be damaged by pests or disease. And, sometimes, I do like going to an actual job and participating with others. If I were to pursue a career in gardening or homesteading, I feel like I might miss being in an office and learning new skills in a work environment. I want to find a career that incorporates both physical activity and work that requires me to apply my education. But I'm one of those people who are all over the board. I have a lot of things that I like and am interested in, and I love ever-changing work environments. I know that I could be happy with an array of careers as long as they were close to home, had decent benefits and great pay. What's the biggest obstacle in your way? More than anything, I feel lost and overwhelmed. I'm doing so much research, and nothing's getting any clearer. The more I search for my true talent, the more I become 'all over the place' and frustrated. There are so many careers and titles, it's hard to focus. My biggest fear about a career change is failure. I'm terrified that I won't be a success. I'm also afraid that I may not fit in with a new team. I'm lost and don't know which direction to head in. How on earth do I find something that I love to do, won't become bored with and makes decent money? Can you help Jessica? Have you been in a similar situation, or are you in the same boat right now? How do you think Jessica could move her shift forwards? Do you know anyone she could talk to? Share your thoughts in the comments below and click the thumbs-up button to show your support. Give Jessica a cheer of encouragement by hitting the thumbs-up button here:

Review Great Answers To Tough Questions by Michael Dodd

Review Great Answers To Tough Questions by Michael Dodd Using The Power of Storytelling To Never Fear Questions Again Give me a book or an article full of facts, and its likely Ill never finish it.  Imagine your favorite movie reduced to mere numbers and statistics.  Ill describe a memorable scene from Star Wars: The scene included 42 extras, 10 puppet masters, 9 mimes, and 90+ crew members, in addition to the 19 primary cast members. Boring. That was the scene that takes place in the cavernous abode of Jabba The Hutt.  Luke Skywalker has been unable to strike a bargain with Jabba, even with Lukes warning of the consequences.  Jabba opens a trap door to deliver Luke into the confines of the horrible rancor, who devours pretty much anything living that is within its reach.  Using his Jedi powers, Luke overcomes the rancor, frees his friends, and ultimately defeats Jabba. The Power of Storytelling If youre like most, even that short narrative of the story elicits emotion and draws you in.  Odds are, youll have a nagging desire to go watch the movie again.  Thats the power of story. As Ms Career Girl columnist Kelly Christiansen puts it, When you tell a story your audience gets to experience your endeavor for themselves. The more suspense or details you offer, the better chance your listeners have of being able to understand you If there is any one skill that can dramatically improve and empower your communication, its the skill of storytelling.  Effective storytelling enhances your ability to engage and enroll your audience. Author Michael Dodd has created what I would call a short course in storytelling.  Framed around the ability to have great answers to tough questions (coincidentally the title of the book), he takes you step by step from fumbling the conversation ball to throwing a 40 yard touchdown pass. This one is sure to be on my list of favorites for 2017, and I highly recommend it. Image credit:  Jabba

Money Saving Tips for Freelance Writers

Money Saving Tips for Freelance Writers It can be difficult to survive as a freelance writer. First you have to be good at what you do. You also have to keep deadlines, have regular clientele and have access to content mills. Essentially, you want to have several eggs in your basket and always keep your options open. Work comes and goes in this industry and dry periods several times throughout the year cause a financial damper on your parade. Use Removable Memory to Back up Completed Work Technology is not perfect and computers can crash without notice. Not all writing programs, including Word, save all of your content as you go. This hinders your progress when you don’t have time to rewrite the entire piece. Sometimes the computer crashes while you’re saving material or after it’s been saved, or so you thought anyways. Use removable memory to back up your work, and also back up the work on the computer so you don’t have to write it over. Purchase Software at Discounted Prices Only Writing programs and editing software can get very expensive. There are a few options when you can’t afford a full-price program. First, contact the software creator and ask about receiving the program free of charge in return for a positive review. This does work in some cases. If they do not agree to provide the item to you, they may offer a discount. Search with several software purchasing websites to see what their prices are. You are likely to find programs much cheaper, and within budget. Keep Immaculate Records It is best if you keep exact records of all of the money you take in and pay out. You should also keep a record of the fees associated with taking payments, as these are tax deductible. One missed entry can cause your finances to be in shambles. As a freelancer, this is not something you can afford. Pay Quarterly Self-Employment Taxes Self-employment taxes are a must as a freelance writer. If you work for overseas clients, they don’t send 1099 forms, you are responsible for reporting that income and paying taxes on it. Work with a financial advisor to learn how to save to pay these taxes and how to properly calculate them for your income level. Live Inside your Means Only live where you can afford to live. Just because you have a great month or two with more than normal income, this does not mean it is going to continue. Consider only renting locations that work within your lowest months’ income levels. Instead of renting an office space, create a work area at home to save that expense too. Keep Overhead Low Do most of the work yourself, outsource very little. When you pay people, you lose money. Also make sure that your appliances and equipment are all energy efficient. The cost of doing your work should me far more than what you are paying out to keep it going. Maintain a Savings Always keep at least two months of your total household expenses in savings. This helps to maintain your bills and keep food on the table during dry or slow times. Saving three months of your necessary bills is even better, just as an extra cushion. The life of a freelance writer can be stressful. This is because there are no typical work hours, you may end up working 7-days a week to make ends meet. It becomes exhausting and there comes a time when you just need a break. Make sure you have the necessary means in place to take that break. Save as much money as you can for household things, including groceries, while still maintaining a happy lifestyle.

Fear Careers Safe Jobs That Sound Dangerous

Fear Careers Safe Jobs That Sound Dangerous For most people, the idea of working in a boring job is very unappealing. Spending your days working the same repetitive tasks won’t give you any excitement in your career, and this will make life go by far too quickly. Instead, to avoid slipping into a rut, it’s natural to actively seek something that pushes you in new ways all the time. With fun there usually comes fear, though, and this is also something which most will want to avoid. To help you out with this, this post will be exploring some of the best jobs out there for people who are after a little bit of thrill in their work life. In the spirit of keeping things safe, it will also be focusing on options which won’t put you at risk, even if they may seem like they will from the outset. Heres just a few relatively safe jobs that sound dangerous. Piloting: Spending most of your work days 35,000 feet above the ground, surrounded by heavy machinery, and trapped in a large metal tube doesn’t sound very safe to most people. In fact, the fear of flying is one of the most common out there. With top pilot schools offering exceptional training to their new recruits, 2017 was the safest year for air travel since records began. Less than one in 7 million passengers die when they are flying, making this the safest form of transportation on Earth. As an airline pilot, you will get to travel the world, see new places, and have a skill which most people will only dream of. Of course, along with this, you can also expect to be paid nice and handsomely. A typical pilot will earn around $130,000 a year, making their salaries much higher than other people in similar fields. It doesn’t come easy, though. You will have to get at least 1500 hours flying time before your career really launches. Military: When it comes to dangerous places, warzones are probably about as risky as it gets, and a lot of people will dislike to idea of a job in this field. In reality, though, there are plenty of job opportunities in most militaries which don’t involve being in any danger. Working with local communities, as an engineer, and in loads of other capacities can be achieved with this sort of group. Of course, there are some jobs which aren’t quite so safe, but these will be easy to avoid with a chat with a recruiter. Learning with an army is one of the very best ways out there to pick up your skills. With people choosing to stay in these roles for many years, the people training you will do it to a very high standard, and this gives you the chance to brand out going into the future. As one of the key benefits, you will have the opportunity to travel the world and live in other countries without having to pay for the privilege. This sort of chance is rare to come by. Policing: Around the world, almost every city, town, and village you will find needs some sort of police force. Protecting people from the acts of criminals, these sorts of professionals have to go through a lot of training which is designed to keep them safe. Of course, it still sounds risky, though, and a lot of people will want to avoid it. The level of danger you face as a police officer directly correlates to the levels of violent crime in your chosen area, making it easy to find stats to give you a clear insight into the risks you’d face. Becoming a police officer is nice and easy, with most forces accepting people mostly based on their professional demeanor, clean criminal record, and fitness levels. In return for your service, you will be given a healthy salary which will grow over the years, enjoying the benefit of retiring earlier than most people. It’s worth keeping an eye on your local police website to find openings, as jobs like this are very popular. Up To The Challenge? Hopefully, this post will inspire you to start working harder on the time you put into your next career. Most people want to get as much as possible out of their work, whether this is in the form of money or excitement. To achieve this goal, though, you have to work very hard, and you may have to overcome a lot of challenges along the way.

Social Media Strategy - How I Make Blogging Work For Me - Career Pivot

Social Media Strategy - How I Make Blogging Work For Me - Career Pivot Social Media Strategy â€" How I Make Blogging Work For Me This is the second of a multi-part story of Jim Adcock‘s Social Media Strategy. â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€" My name is Jim Adcock. I make a living as a SharePoint Consultant, and I make a difference as Vice President on the Launch Pad Job Club Board of Directors. Last time, I talked about some of the success I have had using blogging as an important part of a multi-faceted approach to managing my career. Here are some of the ingredients I use to help make it happen. Time Blogging won’t make you an overnight success. Plan for it to take some time, even a year or two, to really pay off. It takes time for any brand to burrow into the public consciousness, and it will take time for you to penetrate to your target audience (someone who can hire you, or recommend that you be hired, at a company with an actual need to hire). For me, it took two years before my blog began to get a lot of notice in my field. Repetition, Repetition, Repetition Any advertiser will tell you that it takes many, many, many impressions for a consumer to hear a brand’s message. A small handful of posts won’t cut it; you have to commit to writing a significant quantity of posts. For me, it took 86 posts, nearly 60,000 words before it really started to make a difference. But don’t let the numbers intimidate you; it doesn’t have to happen all at once. Take it in 200-600 word bites, daily or weekly, make it part of your routine If A Tree Falls In The Woods, And No One Is Around To Hear, Does It Make A Sound? You have got to promote what you read so that your targets will come and read what you have written. I promote my posts in a number of different venues, including Twitter, relevant Yahoo Groups and LinkedIn Groups. Have a Blogging Strategy I am a firm believer in a focused blog, covering a small number of subjects that can be related in some way to your career. But I can’t say for absolute certain that this is the only way to have a successful career blog. Maybe another way would work too. But whatever approach you choose, think and plan what that approach will be, have a narrative, an explanation for why your blog is the way that it is, and how that approach relates to your career. Don’t just post to have made a post. Content Is King Finally, quality should be your first consideration. Remember how your mom always told you, “If you don’t have something nice to say, say nothing”? With blogging, you should think something similar: “If you don’t have something substantial to say, don’t publish the post.” But do keep the post as a draft, as you never know when you will discover that the insubstantial provides the seed for something more substantial. Listen to the most recent episode Like what you just read? Share it with your friends using the buttons above. Like What You Read? Get Career Pivot Insights Check out the Repurpose Your Career Podcast Do You Need Help With ...