Think You Have to go to SFO for Cool Work? Think Again.

L.A. County Has Most High Tech Jobs in Country By MELISSAH YANG Los Angeles has more high-tech jobs than any other metro region in the country, including its northern neighbors in Silicon Valley, according to a report released Monday. The county in 2013 employed more than 368,500 people in its high-tech sector, defined as businesses with a large proportion of technology-oriented jobs. The biggest high-tech segments for Los Angeles were in aerospace, wholesale production, engineering, consulting and computer software development. High tech made up 9 percent of all L.A. jobs, above employment numbers posted by manufacturing; accommodation and food services; and trade and logistics. “Los Angeles’ tech industry is now as critical to our economy as our manufacturing and entertainment sectors – and we are outperforming New York, Boston, and Santa Clara County, in the heart of Silicon Valley,” said Mayor Eric Garcetti in statement. “If we want… Read More

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.

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.

Read More

Job Search Success: How They Did It

I’ve been collecting stories from clients and others to share how people are landing jobs even during these difficult days. We’ll keep updating this as they come in. “I feel really alive” Just wanted to check in and let you know how I am doing. School is fantastic! I am only about 7 weeks into the program and I love it. We are learning a lot of medical assisting techniques and information, and then on to the radiology portion of the program. I can give all kinds of injections and even draw blood already. I am going to try to pass the phlebotomy test for my license, and then I can start working in the medical field right away. I have never even said this before, but I love my life. Everything is very chaotic with school every day and then working in the afternoons, and then studying at night,… Read More

Tell Us about Your New Job

Are you discouraged by the headlines about unemployment? I’m ready for some new ones. To that end I’m asking for your stories about how you found your new job or career — whether you worked with me or not. I know plenty of people who have created or found new positions and I want more people to hear the story that this does happen and how. Please ~ if you or someone you know has a story to share, please have them send it to me. We’ll post it. We need to give the other side of the story of unemployment to give others hope and inspiration. With heartfelt thanks, Daisy… Read More

Is it time for you to be fired? Laid off?

More than one of my clients needs to be fired. OK, maybe just laid off. That would be ideal. One of my clients has been wanting to make a change in his life for years actually, but he’s so loyal to his employer that he just can’t seem to leave. We haven’t been working together on this for years — he’s come back to me a few times almost ready. Now there are so many good reasons to leave; he’s ready for more challenge, ready to develop new colleagues, get a different perspective on the world, more money would be fine but not necessary. Sometimes it’s just time to grow and learn more about everything. Now we’re laughing because there’s the possibility that he’ll be let go. And the fire under him would be lit and the energy ignited for change. I’m reading Po Bronson’s book, What Should I Do… Read More

Your Stimulus Plan

Wow. This has been some ride lately. If you’re reading this you may be looking for ways to cope with having been laid off, downsized, right sized, wrong sized, fired, or worried about all of the above happening to you. You may also be thinking ahead and trying to come up with proactive ways to approach your next moves in your career — Your Stimulus Plan. I’m with our President — we will recover from this chaos and more and new opportunities will appear. What does that statement do to you when you read that? Take a moment to notice. Are you skeptical? Too anxious and impatient to take a breath? Or do you brighten just a tiny bit? Any of these reactions will inform you of how your beliefs are affecting your actions, and therefore your outcomes. My previous post was about not engaging in job search… Read More