When you think about Los Angeles, you probably think about the iconic Hollywood sign, the Walk of Fame, and the beach. You probably don’t think about it in terms of its thriving local economy and labor market. But you should! Los Angeles has the second largest economy in the United States. So what does this look like for the Los Angeles labor market? For starters, the LA unemployment rate is right on par with the national average at 4.7 percent as of December 2016. In addition, there are 91,415 open jobs in the area and a population growing faster than the national average. This means a high cost of living, similar to the rest of California. The cost of living in LA is most greatly affected by the housing prices. However, the median base salary reflects this by standing above the average salary in the United… Read More
Life
Ready for your ideal job? Do these 3 things.
There comes a moment when you hit the wall and realize you’re really ready to let go of the ‘good’ to go for the great! These 3 actions are the shortcut to make your dream a reality. 1) Find a comfortable place to sit down to write – coffee shop, kitchen table, wherever. It’s important to get this out of your mind and onto paper. Otherwise it stays in the ether of your mind; writing it down makes it more real. Make a list of all the accomplishments that have made you feel most satisfied and proud. Notice how you feel as you list these. Feeling energized and excited? Good! If you feel a little squirrely know that this is just your inner critic trying to get in your way of recognizing what’s inspired you, and gets you feeling good about yourself. In fact, this can be good news, because going… Read More
Are You Really Ready To Quit Your Job?
Ask yourself these 4 questions before you take the plunge Sometimes you just want to throw in the towel and move on. After the holidays, coming back to work can leave you feeling drained and wiped out at the end of the day. Your motivation is low, perhaps your mood is too. To compensate, you scan jobs on all of the internet, but nothing looks interesting because these jobs look like what you’re already doing. Or perhaps, they ALL look inviting because even if it’s similar, it’s not where you are now. Maybe you feel boxed in because you need the money you’re making and don’t feel like you can afford a cut or loss of benefits right now. Maybe you’re finally doing well and have accumulated some good vacation time and a bit of stature and really don’t want to lose it. So what do you do… Read More
Ready for that New Job? 5 Actions You Must Take
January is the big month for job changers. But did you know it can take 18-24 months to land a job? You can cut your job search short by starting with these 5 actions. 1) Write your ideal job description; include all of the criteria that are essential like commute time, environment, desired responsibilities and those new challenges you’re ready for, salary range, perks and benefits you’d like, even the organization’s mission if that’s important to you. Write about the immediate contribution you can make in this job. Get excited about this. Really see yourself here. Make it real. 2) List all the work you’ve done that you’re most proud of. Be detailed and write down the skills you’ve used to be successful at what you’ve done. Note what the results have been when you’ve contributed your efforts. 3) Think of everyone you know and write their names down. Read More
Creativity for the New Year!
I am an intellectually and creatively restless person. I love to be creative every day in my life. I Create. All. The. Time. If I’m not learning and trying something new, then I’m probably sleeping. You, and most of my clients, probably feel the same way. Go ahead and call me ADDHD; I’m happy with the label at this point. People like us are what’s fueling our economy. We are the people looking to change things up and we’ll do the necessary work to figure out how to do whatever needs to be done to make those changes. We do the creating, and innovation, the ‘scratching’ as Twyla Tharp calls it, to come up with something new, and energizing. Or do we….? If you’re like a lot of people I know (ok, including me) you, too, probably let yourself get lost and sidetracked by doing things that end… Read More
Do Your Emotions Matter?
Think about it. When you’re upset about something that happened before you got to work, how do you then perceive things or people at work? Do you think your emotions affect your decision making? Even if we don’t think they do, research shows, in fact, that they do. A study by the Yale Center on Emotional Intelligence showed that teachers who were in a bad mood were more likely to give students lower grades, than those who were in more positive moods. Ever had a to give a performance review on a bad day? Or received a review on a day when your boss was having a bad day or week? Hmmm. Emotions, research shows, actually spread like a virus…that goes for either negative and positive emotions (except that we are more wired to see the negative because we are predisposed for what’s known as negative bias… Read More
5 Steps You Can Take Today To Banish Mommy Burnout For Good
You know that feeling. It’s like the gears just don’t connect, there’s no traction, no energy to accelerate. If you’re a mom who’s burned out from taking care of everyone at home (and at work, playgroup, your extended family too), it’s predictable that your feelings of guilt, anxiety, resentment and outright anger are building to the point where you’re afraid you will blow like a rocket. That’s super scary because if that happened, you’re sure you’d ruin everything. So what can you do instead? It’s not your habit to share with others what’s really going on inside. Your habit is to go underground with your feelings. In fact, as your anxiety grows, you take fewer healthy steps to feel better. Instead of reaching out to a friend, you tell yourself you need to work harder, and, well, get over yourself. Read More
Cartography For People In Their 50s In The 21st Century
When I was in my 20s I was trying to figure out my next steps in life, often feeling bewildered and doubtful. How would I know the right moves for me? I had notions of my own criteria for what I wanted in my life and I saw that some of my ideas seemed different than those of my friends. Nonetheless, I found that I was measuring myself against others to chart my progress. It seemed like I was working hard at keeping up, or catching up, and then worked hard to surpass my friends in my own fashion. That’s a lot of evaluating progress. A lot of pressure. Over time, I did find my own path, my own rhythm, and I came to trust myself and my goals. I gained confidence in my strengths and life journey no matter how unique. Keeping score is something we… Read More
Guest Post: 5 Ways to Stay Mentally Healthy When Stressed
I was recently invited to share some of my best stress-busting tips in a guest post on the Motto Blog. You can read my tips here. Read More
5 Ways to Raise Career Savvy Kids
I was pregnant with my unborn son and already had ideas for what sort of work he would do as an adult. I figured that, with my interest in people and wanting the best for others combined with my then husband’s analytical brain and approach to the world, that our son could be an important weather scientist who could predict terrible storms and save hundreds of lives. Ok, so maybe this sounds a little nutty. But really, don’t we as parents think about our child’s future all the time. Who will they be? How will this little person’s life turn out? We spend hours researching schools and encouraging our children to do well in school. We are constantly doing things for our child’s future. But oddly enough parents often unknowingly overlook sharing some very important information that could greatly impact their child’s future – they don’t share the realities… Read More
