Great Occupations

Our original plan was to do a talk show for one year. After almost 2 years, 50 shows, 40 guests, and 24,000 downloads of our show, we’ve come to an end of a fun and exciting era. We wrapped our final show on Saturday. It started as an idea which sounded like a lot of fun. A the free internet show platform - Blog Talk Radio - made it possible.

We started the show with our original partner, The Resume Slayer - Mr. Michael Kranes. In the beginning it was just the three of us, and it morphed into something so much bigger and better than we could have imagined. We had amazing guests, great topics, and timely advice. We learned along the way, and we had our share of technical hiccups.

It has been an amazing journey, but it takes a lot of time to find the guests and write the scripts. Work commitments for Angela and myself just make it tough to continue. Our shows will still be available online, and we encourage you to listen to those topics which interest you. We’ve had some amazing shows on job search, technology like LinkedIn, and other extrodianary topics like our last show on entrepreneurship with Mike O’Krent of LifeStoriesAlive.com.

Mike started his business to interview and preserve the memories of loved ones. Look at his site to see some heart touching demos. Starting his business, Mike tackled the biggest challenges of every new business owner. He followed the advice of Stephen Covey: ”Begin with the end in mind.” Mike’s biggest advice from his experience to begin

1. Write down the end game.
2. Know you can’t do it all.

Finding the right career or business to start is the best thing you will ever do for yourself. Listen to Mike’s story, and see what resonates with you:

Listen to internet radio with JobSearchBootCamp on Blog Talk Radio

 

 

 

We’ve had great shows, and we will continue to blog often. So keep coming back. Listen to our other shows….and

FIND THE WORK YOU LOVE!

 

Always....ALWAYS have a backup plan. Whether you are looking for a new career, a new job, or you have a pretty good job right now. ALWAYS have a short-list of companies you'd be proud to work with. There will come a day when you decide to leave your company (or the company decides to leave you). It will be far easier to get a new job if you've been making contact with your target company. Read the rest of this entry »

Staying upbeat and positive during your job search or a career change can be extremely challenging. Doubts can creep in at every turn. It all seems like a series of rejections and actions without results. Yesterday, my friend and fellow career expert, Regina Moser observed that her clients who have a positive attitude, a "it's going to happen no matter what" belief, seem to be doing much better in this employer's job market... Read the rest of this entry »

I’m convinced that finding the positive spin is THE key to having strong emotional resilience. Some might accuse me of having a pure “Pollyanna” outlook because of this. You know, like I always look for the “silver lining” and all that. Well, I do look for the silver lining, but I didn’t always. I’ve worked hard to get into the habit of finding the positive spin because there have been many times in my life where it’s worked to help me be happier. About 13 years ago, I took a job with a company that recruited me (I was very flattered, of course), but I didn’t know then what I know now, and I realized 30 or so days into... Read the rest of this entry »

How do you quit a job? Sure, you can creatively quit your job like the Jet Blue flight attendant or the guy who wrote “I Quit!” on his chest and paraded around the break room. But, you aren’t going to get a recommendation from them….will you? No.

Many people have taken survival jobs - a “lower job” to survive until the market picks back up - or have seen better opportunities come along with the market returning. It is still important to quit your job in a way that will give you the opportunity to use the job as a reference. The labor market is still very deep with good candidates. Being laid off is fairly easy to explain these days, but sending out a network-wide email slamming your boss is not as easy to explain — even if he/she had it coming.

How to quit your job It’s always best to have a job lined up before you quit. You also want to make perfectly sure the new position is exactly what you had hoped for. If you’ve done your research on the company, asked the right questions in the interviews, and really evaluated the pros-and-cons of the new position, then you should be in good shape. An informational interview with someone who works there or even asking if you could “shadow” someone in the office to really get a good feel of the work environment are also good ways to find out if the job is perfect for you.

Once you’ve determined the new job is perfect, then it is customary to give a 2 week notice. If you are in a tough to fill position, a longer notice is a generous gesture if you can afford to do so. Of course, if the company asks you to stay longer than your notice, you could offer to work in conjunction with your new job for a short time.

Say it in ink Always write a resignation letter, and deliver it to your manager. You may thank them for the time you had at the company or for the new skills you learned. But…If you don’t have anything good to say about the company, then make the resignation letter short and to the point. A sample resignation letter may state:

I am writing to notify you that I am resigning from my position as <position> with <company> to pursue other opportunities. My last day of employment will be <date>.

I am grateful for the opportunities I have been given during my time with <company>.

Thank you, <your name>

Short, simple, and to the point.

After the letter You are still employed with the company for two more weeks. Resist the urge to let things drop. After you are gone from the company you’ll be glad you finished strong. Always put yourself in the shoes of the business owner or manager. If they’ve been loyal to you, then it will be easy to not let them down. If they’ve abused their management style, you have the opportunity to turn the other cheek. It’s your choice which cheek it is.