How Do I Find A Career I Love When Im Only Qualified For The Career I Hate

“How Do I Find A Career I Love When Im Only Qualified For The Career I Hate” Help from our Community “How Do I Find A Career I Love When Im Only Qualified For The Career I Hate?” * Kate's been calling in sick and finding excuses to avoid the office for months. She knows she needs a major change, but her skills and experience don't seem to lead her to anything other than what she does now. How can she move into work she loves when she's only qualified for work she hates? What's your career history and current job? I've worked in education for a long time, in various roles and capacities. I'm currently Head of Geography for a large secondary school. How do you feel about your work? In a word, despairing. I've felt a creeping dissatisfaction with my work in education for years, and I've done my best to ignore it and just keep going. It's all I've ever done, and it's where all my skills and qualifications are, but it's not what I want to do. The sector has changed so much since I started teaching. It's not about the kids anymore; it's just about ticking boxes and hitting targets â€" and if I wanted to work in that kind of world, I'd have gone into sales. I feel so disillusioned by what I do, and it's having a negative impact on how I feel about everything at work: my colleagues, my subject... everything. It's got to the point where I'm wishing I'll get sick so I don't have to go to work. That's not the kind of person I am, or the kind of person I want to be. I'm a hard worker and I take responsibility very seriously. But I can't deal with this feeling for much longer. What would you like to be doing instead? This is the problem; I don't know what I can do instead! I want to do work that makes the kind of meaningful impact I went into teaching to make in the first place. I want to find something that honours the hard work I've put in thus far in my career, but is as far away from teaching and education as I can get. I've spoken to recruitment agencies about what else I could do, given my background, and they all just send me more education jobs. I feel totally trapped. What's the biggest obstacle you're facing? Given my background and experience, I need to figure out what I can shift to. What careers are still open to me as someone whose history is entirely focused on a field I don't like anymore? I'm willing to try new things and be brave, but I feel like my CV is anchoring me to the spot. I'm a teacher, through and through. My qualifications and experience are all education based. My knowledge of what's available careers-wise is all focused around the world of education. When I think about where to go next, all I can imagine is a different kind of education role, or moving to a university environment instead. How am I supposed to figure out what I want to do when all that's available to me is more of something I don't want anything to do with anymore? Can you help Kate? Have you been in a similar situation, or are you in the same boat right now? What can she do to narrow down her ideas? 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 Kate a cheer of encouragement by clicking the thumbs-up button here:

How to negotiate when you have nothing to leverage

How to negotiate when you have nothing to leverage You probably know by now that while I go by the name Penelope today, it didnt start out as my real name. It was a pen name. My editor at Time Warner gave it to me, and the first time I saw it was in a contract. It looked like a good place to start negotiating. But when asked about writing under a different name my editor said, When youre Dominick Dunne you can negotiate with Time Warner. And herein lays the problem with most negotiations. You are in a great position if you have something to leverage, like, another person willing to give you the same type of deal. This is called your BATNA (best alternative to negotiated agreement). But in most cases, one party has an especially terrible BATNA. In the case of me and Time Warner, if I said no to them, they would have ten million people who would love to write a column for them. If they said no to me, I would not have a column. Yet most advice about negotiating assumes you have a good BATNA. In an interview I did with William Ury, the author of my favorite negotiation book, Getting to Yes, he said that negotiation is all about knowing your BATNA and knowing the other partys BATNA and then helping both of you to get what you want. If you think about negotiating from this vantage point, then you can understand why job hopping is okay in todays market: the BATNA for young people is stronger than the BATNA for hiring managers. Hiring managers are scrambling to hire young people and the young people are quitting faster than human resources can replace them. Meanwhile, the alternatives for young people are increasing they can live at their parents house, they can start their own company, and they can travel. All great alternatives to getting a job at a company. That said, sooner or later each of us finds ourselves in a situation where we have a really lousy BATNA. I find myself in this position a lot, as a writer. For example, a very large syndicate asked me to write for them. It would have meant having my column run in 400 newspapers at a time when I had about ten newspapers. I sent the contract to my lawyer, thinking hed just take a quick look and say yes. But he told me that there was a clause that made me essentially unable to write for anyone else. Ever. We tried negotiating and they wouldnt budge. Of course they wouldnt. Millions of people want to write a syndicated column. So I had to say no. It was a very hard decision. In hindsight I am thankful for that lawyer, but for years after that, every time I found myself struggling, I worried that I did the wrong thing with the syndicate. When Yahoo offered me the chance to write for them, they gave me a difficult contract. I gave it to the lawyer and the lawyer was very frank: Its not a great contract, but its a great opportunity, and you should take it. So we talked about some things I could try asking for that would not be that hard for Yahoo to give on, just to be nice. I gave Yahoo a short list, they picked a few things, and I signed. So what have I learned from all this? If one person has a great BATNA and the other has a terrible one, its not really negotiations; its trying to get a little something extra. Its asking for a favor. If you approach negotiations from this perspective then you are much more likely to get a little bit of what you want. Figure out where your counterpart might be willing to give a little. Even if your BATNA clearly stinks, most people you negotiate with will be willing to give a little just to create some good will for the working relationship you are establishing. So you can read all the negotiation advice in the world, but if you have a terrible BATNA, what you really need is advice about how to ask for a favor. And, ironically, the advice for asking for a favor is the same advice for negotiating: Know what is most important and least important to both parties.

Workplace Communications - Generational Differences - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

Workplace Communications - Generational Differences - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career Workplace communications has changed dramatically in my lifetime. When I started working as a programmer in Chicago in the mid 1970s, I had a phone on my desk. If I wanted to talk to my boss, I would call him and his secretary would often answer his phone. If he was not there, she would take a message on a little piece of paper and put it on his desk. In the early 1980s, I used IBMs mainframe based e-mail system called PROFS. My phone was tied to a message center and, if I did not answer in 4 rings, the center would answer and take a message. A little light would flash on our phone to tell me to call the message center to get the message. In the mid 1980s, I got an answering machine with those little cassette tapes. That was later replace by voice mail. In the early 1990s, I had my first Internet based e-mail address. I received my first laptop and a modem to use to dial up to download e-mail. In the mid 1990s, I got a pager, a cell phone, and I learned to text. Later came smartphonesâ€"first a Crackberryerra Blackberry, and then an iPhone. Now, I am constantly connected. WOW, things have changed! Generational Differences I am a baby boomer (born 1946-1964) and I was born in the mid 1950s. I grew up talking face to face or on the phone. If you want to communicate with me, I would much rather have you talk to me than e-mail or text me. I am typical of my generation, I want a face to face dialog, but if that is not possible, lets talk on the phone. I want to hear your voice inflection, passion, and desire. Gen Xers (born 1965-1982) first started entering the workforce in the late 1980s. E-mail was the norm. If a Gen Xer needed to communicate to someone it was, typically, through e-mail. Have you or one of your colleagues sent an e-mail to the person in the next cube or office? Come onyou know you have! Gen Y or Millennials (born 1983-2000) entered the workplace when mobile communications devices were the normâ€"cellular and smart phones. Google was the preferred way of finding things. Texting and instant messaging were the most common ways to communicate. This generation created social media and is highly social. However, not in a manner that most baby boomers perceive! Workplace Communications in a Generationally Mixed Office When you have multiple generations working side by side not everyone has the same preferred communications mode. If I, a baby boomer, want to get the attention of a millennial who is on the other side of the building, I will likely text them. If I call them, they probably will not answer the phone AND they probably will not listen to my voicemail. Notice I say probably because, even within a generation, there are great variations. Similarly, if a millennial texts a baby boomer, the baby boomer may not read the text. However, if the baby boomer is a parent to a millennial, they may have learned to text. The point is that every individual has their preferred communications style. If you want to be heard and be understood, you need to adapt your communications to the listener. How do I know your preferred communications style? I need to ask! You can make certain assumptions about an individuals preferred workplace communications style based on their generation, but you still need to ask them. Workplace communications should be a give and take where everyone adapts to everyone. If you want to get ahead in your career, you need to be understood. To be understood, you need to understand the listeners workplace communications style. What is your preferred communications style? What is your bosss and teams preferred communications style? Has this mixture of workplace communications styles caused friction in your workplace? Marc Miller â€" Career Pivot Check out my book Repurpose Your Career â€" A Practical Guide for Baby Boomers Do not forget to follow me on Twitter or FaceBook

Results Masked as Advice

Results Masked as Advice Change Anything is subtitled “The New Science of Personal Success.” Written by Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, David Maxfield, Ron McMillan , and Al Switzler , the book bills itself as a strategic, step by step system for adoptingâ€"and sticking toâ€"better behaviors. The authors have tested behavior changing methods, and claim to be able to help anyone break bad habits â€" from addiction to overeating to being stuck in your career. One of the barriers to change, according to the authors, is the unhelpful advice people give you when they see you have a problem. We’ve all experienced this and the authors call it “Results masked as advice.” In other words, people are telling you what results that want you to achieve, instead of telling you what to do next. “Be a team player” or “Be more open to constructive criticism” sound like good advice, until you actually try to do it. You might have thought all along that you were a great team player; how in the world do you act on that general piece of advice? It’s hard to figure out because it’s an outcome, and not an action step. Real advice tells you what to do. Instead of simply telling you to be a team player, your supervisor might offer specific steps: Offer to help on projects instead of waiting to be asked Offer to share information you learned at a seminar with the team Offer to help with a team member’s duties while she’s on vacation Offer to cross train on the new system These steps are clear, well-defined, and actionable. They also give you a very clear idea on what your supervisor considers to be teamwork. You were always happy to help out when asked, and you thought that meant you were a great team player. From the suggestions above, you understand that your supervisor thinks that offering to help (instead of waiting to be asked) is what makes you a great team player. Suddenly, all the praise and great assignments Melissa gets make sense â€" she’s always offering to help when a new project gets started. That probably also explains why she’s appointed as interim manager when the boss is away, even though you’re equally good at what you do and have been here as long. Think about the last time you gave advice to your child at home. Did you make the same error? “If you want to go outside after dinner, I want to see your room all clean.” If you get pushback often on issues like this (“It IS clean!”) you may have the same problem as your supervisor. Try real advice instead. Hang up all your clothes Make the bed Put the toys in the toy chest Put away your homework and store the books in your book bag for tomorrow The next time someone gives you outcomes masked as advice, ask for specific action steps that will move you closer to the goal. Then, take them.

How to Use a Science Writing Resume Template

How to Use a Science Writing Resume TemplateThere are many templates available online but a good science writing resume template can make all the difference in the world. When it comes to writing a science resume, the writer should try to avoid too much hard work and just go with the flow when it comes to composition.Often, the resume is written because someone's own interest or expertise leads them to certain areas of study. For example, a person with an engineering degree may have a science component included but have the grade point average and GPA be related to a business degree. The science component will still be there but it will be different than the grades for the two degrees.Choosing the right science writing resume template should be based on the requirements of the individual job being applied for. If it is a post-graduate position, there may be specific requirements about what should be included on the resume. A solid science writing resume template will help to guide th e writer in a logical manner through the entire process. They will be able to organize the contents of the resume and understand what should be included and what should be left out based on the educational requirements of the job.If a resume is geared towards any type of professional position, it is imperative that it has a unique skill set for the position that is desired. This is particularly true if a scientist is looking for a job in a medical field or a biochemist is applying for a job in a pharmaceutical company. Even a biochemist with several years of experience in his area of expertise can still gain a leg up by including a portfolio in his resume. The portfolio is an overview of the individual's professional career and should also include evidence of recent accomplishments.A science writing resume template will assist the writer in producing a unique statement of his skills and achievements. This can be done simply by including the name of the organization that is seeking t he candidate on the application. It can also be made more interesting by incorporating current industry news and the latest trends within the industry. The good ones will incorporate words such as this, that and the other in their samples as well.Experienced individuals know that they should keep their experience relevant to the job they are applying for. If they are looking for a job in a medical lab, for example, they should indicate this on their resume. By including a portfolio or an overview of their professional experience will make them more desirable for the job.Another tip for writing a resume for those wishing to get back into the industry is to include an objective and a summary of career goals. These two components will help to define the career objectives of the individual. A science writing resume template can also give the writer guidelines on how to start a new career or move back into the industry. If there is a special certification required for the job or if a per son wants to try something different, a resume with this information will make the person feel as though they are already prepared.With these tips, any science writing resume template can be beneficial. Just remember to maintain consistency throughout the application and to keep everything focused on the details.

The Biggest Mistakes New Job Seekers Make

The Biggest Mistakes New Job Seekers Make I meet many job seekers who have never had to conduct a formal job search. After coaching over a thousand clients at every professional level and across practically every industry, I’ve found that most make the same rookie mistakes.If you’re looking for a new job, below are some tips for starting off your search on the right foot:1. If you have spent the last eight hours posting for jobs online, you have wasted seven hours and 50 minutes. It can be tempting to apply to jobs online. So many positions are listed, and so many appear to be a fit. But while you are hitting the send button, so are 500+ other people. Job postings represent the open market; the jobs everyone gets to see. Most people source their jobs through the hidden job market, the ones where opportunities are shared through close contacts and conversations. Shift your strategy and spend most of your time networking for job leads, and limit your time applying to jobs online.2. Just because you did it doesn’t mean it belongs on your resume. Many people’s resumes read like a laundry list of everything they’ve ever done. A resume should be targeted to the needs of an employer and prove where you can add value. The employee recognition award you received for a Y2K conversion back in 1999 probably isn’t going to cut it with an employer in 2016. Instead, tell stories of initiatives you are involved in today that are helping to move your company, industry or profession forward.3. Don’t tell me about the things you were expected to do; write about the things you did that no one ever dreamed possible. Most resumes describe tasks that hundreds of others perform in their jobs every day. What catches the hiring manager’s attention is the value you brought to that job task. For example, if you are an operations executive, don’t just write that you ran a call center. Instead, explain how you transformed its performance, implemented metrics to improve accountability and the customer experience, o r saved money or time.4. If no one returns your calls requesting a networking meeting, you are leaving the wrong message. Many people approach their contacts by saying something like, “If you know anyone who is hiring, please let me know.” It’s highly unlikely that your contact knows someone who is hiring for a position with your skill set right now. A better message would be to say, “I’m in a career transition and I would love to pick your brain to learn more about your company, the industry and trends in the profession. I wanted to reach out to you because I trust your opinion and value your advice.” By asking for information rather than a job, you are more likely to get a response and initiate a conversation. Many will be flattered that you asked and will reciprocate with whatever help they can offer.5. People who don’t think online networking is relevant to their job search will become irrelevant to the hiring managers who think it is. Many job seekers are still re luctant to create an online digital footprint. But it’s becoming more difficult to substantiate being an expert in your profession when there is no online proof of your thought leadership. LinkedIn will be the social media tool of choice for many professionals â€" but don’t just create a shell of a profile. Optimize your professional image with proof of your accomplishments via strong stories of success, keywords, the LinkedIn publishing platform, and even case studies and videos if appropriate.6. People think they should talk in general terms about career successes, but you build trust with interviewers by talking about specifics. The goal of the interview is to build trust and engagement. This is best done by showcasing stories about business problems you have solved that are relevant to the organization, not by focusing on the typical personality clichés. Telling the interviewer how you influenced the entire senior management team to fund a multimillion-dollar technology upg rade that in turn protected them from a cyber-security breach will be much more memorable than simply telling him you are a good communicator.7. When hiring managers ask you in an interview what your weakness is, they already know.  The goal is to figure out what they believe is the gap in your candidacy and address it head on. Perhaps you lack experience in a particular industry or don’t have the MBA they say is preferred. Show that while you don’t have a certain qualification, you have other skills that are more relevant and transferable. For example, an HR professional who doesn’t have hospital experience and is interviewing for a role in a hospital  can focus on the similarities within the HR function that transcend industries. The candidate who lacks an MBA can show how they’ve solved business problems that are frequently solved by candidates who have the degree.A job search is like a marathon. You can’t cut corners on the preparation and expect to cross the finish li ne in record time. Everyone who is in a job search wants the silver bullet. There isn’t one. Job searching, even under the best of circumstances, is a lot of work. Be prepared for a lot of rejection, but also for a lot of kindness and support along the way.This post was originally published at Forbes.com.

172 Ingrid Thompson Healthy Numbers - Jane Jackson Career

172 Ingrid Thompson Healthy Numbers - Jane Jackson Career This episode of Your Career Podcast is a special one as Im delighted to interview Ingrid Thompson, Founder of Healthy Numbers. We have known each other for a number of years, and I’ve always been impressed with how she has transitioned so successfully from a corporate career into entrepreneurship.ABOUT INGRID:Ingrid has made a number of career transitions from hospitality to manufacturing to airlines and insurance, before transitioning into business owner and entrepreneur. How did she do it so successfully? In this episode we have a fascinating chat about her journey and also her business, Healthy Numbers.Ingrid is a Business Mentor, Coach, Author, Podcaster, and Founder of Healthy Numbers and host of ‘So You Want to Start a Business’ podcast.She specialises in small business start-ups, helping them set solid foundations while ensuring they are under no false illusion about cost and commitment.Ingrid has a particular passion for working with health and wellbeing professionals. They are extremely good at what they do yet rarely have the opportunity for business acumen training and education.She is also the author of “So you want to Start a Business! The 7 Step Guide to create, start and grow your own Business.”In which she takes the complex and makes it simple and easy to understand.Listen to our conversation, and learn exactly what is involved and how to take that crucial first step, PLUS the common mistakes most people make when they are just starting out with their own business.Here are the top three things Ingrid recommends you must consider when starting a business:1. How hard it is, and how long it takes. 2. You are the Manager of Everything and sometimes this is pretty overwhelming.3. You must get the pricing (and the numbers) right and its not as simple as you think! Click here to start today!https://www.janejacksoncoach.com/3secretsWhere to find Ingrid:Website:   www.healthynumbers.com.auTwitterBook