Britt Kurent Chef/Owner of Kurent Events www.KurentEvents.com Listen to how one former client followed her passion which has blossomed into her new thriving career path. Read More
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You Can Get It If You Really Want…
Daisy Swan – Career Coach Guest Contributor for My L.A. Lifestyle It’s true. Jimmy Cliff sang it, so it must be true. You really can get what you want. The trick is, as the song goes, “…you must try, try and try, try and try.” Sometimes, I think the tougher issue is that you must know what you want. We tend to want so much, and yet don’t seem to stop and really consider what it is that we really want. Perhaps it’s out of fear, not inspiration, that we want what we want. And if it’s just lusting for something – craving something – it can feel kind of empty, and fear-based, like a greediness instead of a fullness and inspiration. Feeling a sense of yearning can show us what we want. Taking time to reflect and listen when we are open and clear, can allow us to hear… Read More
Informational Interviewing – Again
When was the last time you did an informational interview? Contacting someone you may not already know to learn about what they do, and how their company works, can be an eye-opening opportunity. You can gain important information about the work you want to do, and learn about the culture of the place you hope to work at. Many of you have already done this kind of interview – from either side of the table – interviewer or interviewee. Some people, like me, love doing these interviews, and others, while they know it could be very valuable for them, are uncomfortable reaching out to talk with a stranger. While I really love doing these, I haven’t done one in a while so I decided to reach out and talk to a variety of people in hiring positions to learn more about what’s happening in hiring, and to be able to share this information with clients and other readers.
I had the opportunity to talk with someone who does a lot of hiring at an advertising agency with offices in Southern California. She graciously talked with me for about 20 minutes, the usual amount of time that we’ll be able to get from a busy professional who’s willing to help out. I was ready with my questions and she with answers. Below, read some of the most pressing questions my clients and I wonder about.
Entrepreneur Characteristics – The 5 “C’s” of Success
Mompreneur, dentist, franchisee, CEO, brick and mortar retailer, E-commerce Business Owner, Service Provider? How do you define yourself?
Merriam-Webster dictionary defines an entrepreneur as “one who organizes, manages, and assumes the risks of a business or enterprise.” That’s true, of course, but this definition doesn’t tell the whole story—namely the entrepreneur characteristics that define their success and, more importantly, the intrinsic drive it takes to achieve that success.
There are 5 entrepreneur characteristics that are common among anyone who strives to start and run his or her own business. These characteristics are found in entrepreneurs at any age, in any industry, and at any socioeconomic level.
Sick and Tired and Burnt Out.
Not very inspiring words. But doesn’t speaking the truth help sometimes? I’ve been talking to so many people who are feeling this way lately. Those of you who have been looking for work — I know it can be draining and truly it takes a lot of mental discipline to keep at it. And those who I talk to who are employed are feeling the anxiety of the ‘what if’…what if things change here and my job goes away? What if I don’t get all of this work done — which is so much more now because staff has gotten leaner. Lots of burn out brewing out there one way or another.
So what are we going to do? PRESS RESET.
What’s Next?
It’s easy to get down and depressed when it seems like so many things aren’t happening the way you want them to. I meet with men and women who are working hard to find the next right thing for them and they come in stooped and frustrated. But they do perk up and become inspired once we scratch the surface and find the quiet possibilities that lie, often, just below the surface.
A Lesson from The Suns
Steve Nash has been an inspiration to me since the first time I saw him play, live, at the Staples Center years ago. I recently read a great article about him in Sports Illustrated. What struck me was Stoudemire’s statement here about how success on the court manifests — through creative vision and seeing. “When you have creative minds, you get involved in different sports, in different cultures, and it allows you to open up on the basketball court and just be yourself. Steve’s a heck of a soccer player. He’s one of those skateboard guys. For the most part, you want to be yourself. Being yourself allows you to play better, to have more fun. It opens up your spirit.” Take a moment to assess how open you are to what’s going on around you. What energy are you leaving on the table? How engaged are you in a… Read More
Connecting, Man Style…
How many times in the past year have you found yourself thinking ‘This isn’t the way it was supposed to go’? This unemployment thing has taken us by surprise. Not only the layoffs and cutbacks but also the length of time it’s taking to find that next job. And to make matters worse, the salaries out there have, in many, many cases been cut as well. So, no, this isn’t the way it was supposed to go. Especially if you’ve done everything you were supposed to do. Education, played well with others, learned the ins and outs of your industry.
For men this has been a particularly tough time. I work with a lot of men and for them it’s particularly difficult to talk with others about what they are looking for in this next go round. Forget about talking about the disappointment and resentment that this downturn has created, we know that’s rough to do. Reaching out to that network isn’t easy. Jeffrey Zaslow, in a recent Wall Street Journal article, wrote about the way men do friendship. They don’t sit around commiserating with their buds about their unemployment, issues at home, etc…they’ll quietly deal with their problems over sharing their pain.
How to make career
Life is not easy as many people around here say… many difficulties come when it’s time to think about a future job. Most of all, many young people have this fear to be inadequate and they feel very unsure about a job interview. With this article we want to help you find your way to your own career. A few important tips will be given to suggest you the right attitude towards a first job interview. 1. Consider that making a career means much more than getting money to live. It means to choose your whole future life, so it’s important you feel really ready to make this decision. We do also know that young people are pressed and sometimes overpressed by their families to go and choice a career, this may lead to a wrong step in life. 2. keep an open minded attitude towards your chosen profession and… Read More
Keeping Up with the Changing World of Work
New opportunities continue to appear. How is your work changing? Let me know if you see trends in your work.
10 Careers That Didn’t Exist 10 Years Ago
BY RACHEL ZUPEK
Every so often, you meet someone with a job title that makes you go, “Huh?” Either it’s too technical to understand, too hard to describe or in some cases, people just may not have heard of it. But, why would someone not have heard about a job’s existence?
Simple: All the changes that have come about in the past 10 years, from environmental policy to emerging technologies to the recession, have contributed to the creation of careers that never could have existed before.
Dom Sagolla, co-creator of Twitter, for example, recently made the switch from working in research and development at Adobe to creating iPhone applications with his company, DollarApp. Sagolla is also authoring a book, “140 Characters,” which demonstrates the effect of hypertext on literature by redefining the concept of “the book” using Twitter and iPhone to start, he says. Could he have done this 10 years ago? Doubtful.
“I’ve noticed that the best-of-breed iPhone apps incorporate Twitter and social networks, and the best Twitter apps seem to be on iPhone,” Sagolla says. “That is no coincidence: The two came to prominence at roughly the same time. I’ve worked hard to position myself at intersection of those two industries, which form a vortex of attention and zeal that is unmatched.”
Here is a little information about 10 careers that didn’t exist a decade ago:
