Create the Life You Want During a Mid-Career Crisis

Create the Life You Want During a Mid-Career CrisisCreate the Life You Want During a Mid-Career CrisisAt a point in their working lives, many people experience a mid-career crisis, staying in jobs that they no longer find satisfying or rewarding. This typically occurs between 10 and 25 years in the same sector. Although it can be a stressful time, some methods of handling a career crisis can act as a catalyst to get you making moves toward a career you love, resulting in overall happiness and personal growth. Determine What Is Wrong or Missing You do not need to switch geschftliches miteinander sectors entirely if you can figure out what is wrong. Maybe the only thing you need is to switch positions. Certain career-crisis triggers are common ask yourself some hard questions so that you can identify the issues as either a temporary slump or the sign of a deeper problem Are you finding yourself dreading going to work every day? This is a common problem, but if it lasts longer than a few weeks, it can be a sign you need a change. It can also be a sign of job-related fatigue or depression and should be discussed with your general practitioner.Do you think you would be happier almost anywhere other than your current position? Consider the realities of a change, not just the dream, before deciding.In your position, are you given the creative freedom that allows you to feel pride in your work? Personal satisfaction is extremely important to the happiness you experience at work. Sometimes a little autonomy can help you find a better place within the same industry. Do you think you can take a different approach toward your work that might make you see it differently? Perhaps all you need is a change of perspective.Might you simply not be working in a job suited to your skillset? A dead giveaway is when others tell you that you seem unhappy. It could be the company, but more likely, it is the work itself. Find a New Direction With Thinking Exercises Personal thou ght time and daydreaming help you explore your options, but guided thinking exercises direct your thoughts in more concrete, helpful directions. It wont help to just read through all of the exercises. The thinking time and recording your thoughts help you achieve your result in making your dreams a reality. Write down your 10 favorite activities. These can be hobbies, past professions, or anything you enjoy doing. No fulfilling career is suitable unless you get to do some of your favorite activities at least weekly. Some people find they want to help others. Others want to play with toy cars. No matter what you write, there is a working position directly related to it.Write down the top five goalsyou want to accomplish in your career. Think money, impact, contribution, and more. Your selected career must enable you to achieve these goals. If it doesnt, youre in the wrong career and could use a change. List everything youd like to do in your lifetime. These lists can run several hund red items. Your chosen career should be one that you can attain with realistic effort, allowing you as much creativity and fulfillment as possible. Changing large parts of your life during a career crisis can be tough, but sometimes you need a little push to get you moving in the right direction.

How To Build Your Personal Brand

How To Build Your Personal BrandHow To Build Your Personal BrandCreating a great personal brand could be exactly what you need to get your foot in the door. What is a personal brand? Creating your own personal brand is a way to market yourself and your career. Think of how a company comes up with a logo, name, and slogan for their product. These are all part of their brand, techniques created to make you remember who they are. You want to do that for yourself to help further your career along.How are you different?When you get into your brand, you want to show off what makes you different from everyone else. Once you figure out what that is, you need to showcase it. This is what will help you get the job over the next candidate. If you arent quite sure what makes you different, there are a few things you can reflect on. Take a look at your strengths and passions. What type of work are you most willing and happy to do? If you were to leave your current job, what would the company mis s from you?Build your presence online.You are probably already online, with social media and the like. Its now time to utilize these tools to your advantage. You should secure a personal website that is setup to showcase your career achievements. Your resume should be included, as well as a brief introduction to yourself. There should be a link to your portfolio, if necessary for your industry. There should also be a link to other social media sites that you are on, including LinkedIn. You dont have to departure off elaborately. You can create a small, two or three page website in a matter of hours.Get your name out there.Start participating in online discussions that are relevant to your industry. An easy way to do this is through the groups on LinkedIn. Give out relevant and correct advice and experience. Talk about what you are currently doing in your career and how you are seeking to improve yourself. Go to networking events and do the same. To take it a step further, if you c an get a time slot speaking at a networking event, do it. If you are not good with public speaking, take the time to practice in front of friends and family. The more public speaking you do, the better you will become with time.Find connections.During your time you spend networking, you should be building up a list of connections that may be able to help you later down the road. You want to foster these connections as much as possible. Pick a couple of these connections that you believe will be the most beneficial, and spend some time building them up and becoming part of their innerhalb circle. Keep track of their writing and make comments on it, follow them on social media, and ask to do guests blog-posts for them. In time, they can help you take your brand to the next level.Create goals.There is no point creating your personal brand if you dont know what you want to get out of it. This should be your very first step in the process. Once you know what you want, then you can tailo r your brand to create an image that will get you there. Do you want to find a higher paying job? Do you want to switch career paths? Is there a dream company you want to work for? Once youve decided this, you need to set a timeline. How long are you giving yourself to reach this goal? You can decide on a few months, a year, or even a couple of years. Creating a plan of action will help you achieve the things you want to get done.Start a blog.As said before, you should set up your own personal website. That is where you can collect all of your information in one place. A blog is a different story. This is where you can get your voice out there and go into more detail when it comes to your brand. Talk about topics that are relevant to your career field and that you are knowledgeable about. Remember to do your research- this is writing that will represent you. You should also know who your audience is. Just like Toys R Us has an audience of children and adults with children, you shoul d have a clear idea of who you want to read your blog.

5 Tips for a More Successful Online Job Search

5 Tips for a More Successful Online Job Search5 Tips for a More Successful Online Job SearchBefore the rise of the Internet, the first distribution policy you would go to find out what jobs were available was your local nachrichtensendungpapers classified ads. Now, of course, you can see all manner of jobs, from any kind of employer, with a simple search on job boards like Monster or aggregation sites, such as Indeed and SimplyHired. And, with some quick clicking, you can apply to scores of jobs in an evening. Unfortunately, many people feel that this is the way you are supposed to conduct a job search to the exclusion of everything else. When you approach it this way, you are in for a long and frustrating experience with diminished chances for success. Recently, a person complained that hes been diligently applying to jobs on Indeed. He claimed to be selective and, over the last several months, sent out more than 80 applications. So, whats your response been to all this activity? he was asked. Nada. Zilch. Zero not a single interview, he reported with a marked sense of exasperation. People often dont realize how great the odds are stacked against job seekers for virtually every online advertisement. Recruiters and human resources screeners commonly see hundreds upon hundreds of resumes submitted in response to ads. Of those, only a scant few will result in a conversation. Yet, on the employer side, its not uncommon to find someone to hire by placing an advertisement. Put differently, you have only a small likelihood of success with any given response you make to an online job posting because each application is, statistically speaking, like flipping a coin. No matter how many jobs you apply to, youll still have the same odds one in however many scores or hundreds of applicants reply. At this point, you might throw up your hands in despair. Dont. There are things that you can do to increase your odds of being chosen for a position that fits you well. Her e are some strategies that are often most effective. 1. Take time to build your network, both in person and online. Attend networking events, participate in your professional organizations and introduce yourself to people. Practice the art of small talk. Understand that, with every new acquaintance you make, you enlarge your network. 2. Narrow your applications to a relatively few positions. Dont bother with a lot of Hail Marys for which you clearly arent well suited to meet the employers needs. Instead, look for positions where you can add value to employers. 3. Do your research before you reach out to the employer. Check out the company in the news or on LinkedIn. Figure out its challenges, and how you can add value with your skills and experience. Use this research as you make your case for being considered in your cover letter. 4. Figure out how you can network your way into the company before you apply. You can use LinkedIn to find people in the company you can proactively r each out to for informational interviews. Dont ask for help at the onset, but instead spend some time building a relationship and make yourself the first one to offer help before you ask for it. 5. Ask your contact if the company has an employee referral program. If so, would he be interested in forwarding your resume to the right person? Remember that, if youve already submitted your resume to the company, the employee wont get credit for your application, and that makes a big difference. Remember the old story of the tortoise and the hare. Slow but sure can win the race. The same is true with your job hunt. Go for fewer job applications, but do a thorough job of researching each and making a clear argument for how and why you can add value to the company. Its tedious work, but in the end, your chances of success will skyrocket. Happy hunting