quality lifestyle blog » Jobs

Just Laid-Off From Work? Why Not Go Back to School?

Charles — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 20:22:18 +0000

Depending on the composition and clarity of your personal goals, going back to school after you have been laid off may give you long term benefits later in your career and in life as a whole. Also, you may look forward to being rewarded more handsomely with better choices on which directions to take. Of course, pursuing your studies may not be among the most acceptable trail to follow on what we describe as “taking the path of least resistance.” It has its built-in difficulties to face, but those who pursue this path may encounter valuable lessons that are necessary in later stages in life.

It may also be best to go back to school for the newly laid off employee to have better time and chances to think more clearly about his / her options. However, we may have heard from experts that when one has just been recently laid off, the next best thing to do is not to make big decisions at all. As such, for the next 3 to 6 months, the laid off employee is advised to coast along life’s ebbs and tides just to be able to acquire again an internal sense of order. In the meantime, while coasting along, one option, in order to do something productive, is to study, an activity that may be best relearned again in a formal setting with classmates and teachers to help you around, especially when you have lost your gearings.

The labor market continues to evolve and change according to the dynamics of supply and demand forces. Given such, you need to be aware constantly of which jobs are in demand and highly paid by the market – the conditions behind these are normally beyond your control. You cannot depend only on the news (which is mostly stale by the time you read or heard of it) to feed you the most up-to-date information, critical on how you will work on your sources of livelihood. As you decide which information is critical and important to you, you can draw your own conclusions about the labor market where your job prospects depend.

In addition, unstable labor market conditions have become very difficult to predict, and have been affected strongly by international market conditions (i.e. what’s happening in businesses in China, India, Russia, the European Union, among other factors largely impacting local market conditions), such that it may just be the best idea for an employee who has been laid off to go back to school. This will open avenues to the going-back-to-school-formerly-employed person to learn lessons in a fresh, non-threatening environment that can better equip him / her to face changes out there.

One reliable data that has impact on your employ-ability chances refer to the number of fresh graduates joining the labor force each year. As you may have observed, more and more fresh graduates add up to the numbers of available labor force, such that employers have more choices in the pool of prospective applicants, new employees, or even only as trainees or interns. You may, thus, end up competing directly against them (even if you are more experienced). These days, employers, will try to squeeze more savings from direct labor costs, such that they may consider fresh graduates, even those with no experience. You, then, may continue weighing your options given this development.

Going back to school may actually mean facing troublesome changes for some, depending on one’s life situation. But some ideal situations exist and can be identified or modified according to your needs and resources. For example, if you have been unable to finish a degree just because you got yourself so loaded with work in the past years, then there is now a very good reason by way of having acquired some available time that suddenly is on your hands.

If you are getting waylaid or being ignored by prospective employers with whom you have sent out hundreds of applications, and have been not getting responses for some unclear reasons, then an option that may be open to you is to go back to school. Your course may have been considered not that valuable or useful. As such, you are being deemed under-qualified, or even, over-qualified by recruiters.

If you are seeing that the market has been bad in most sectors, and that this situation may probably continue for the next 2 to 4 years based on your studies and hunches, then you may consider going back to school. Let the economic and political forces that are usually not in your control spread more widely their strength and influence. Under such situation, an option for you then is to go back to school, and subsequently finish a degree.

If you have the extra cash, some savings, or if there is someone willing to help you, then consider going back to school. If you spend your money on your own needs, specifically education that is seen to have long term benefits, your investments will certainly pay off in time. You get something valuable in return and gain in the process, some type of certification that is formally recognized by the government. This can be shown to prospective employers when you go job hunting again. You gain entry to a new environment (you are actually working while studying, but may not be getting paid in the meantime), a new set of contacts to be added in your network (friends, classmates, acquaintances), and a fresh outlook in looking at your options as you venture into something different again at this time of your life.

How to Manage Your Time in the Most Effective Way

Charles — Mon, 27 Sep 2010 12:34:04 +0000

It is really important that you learn to manage your time appropriately for you to be able to do your job on time. Almost everyone has experienced to do a lot of jobs and tasks in just a short period of time. You need to know that time management is essential to be become successful in managing the things that you have to do. There are some things that you have to remember for you to be able to do the things that you have to do on time.

HAVE A PLANNER

A planner is something that you can use to write the tasks that you need to do for a certain period of time. It will make time management more efficient. It serves as a reminder of the things to accomplish for the day.

TAKE ONE STEP AT A TIME

One good tip that you need to learn is to take one step at a time. You need to divide the tasks that you have to accomplish into steps and do them one at a time. This will help you to effectively do them all in the right way. You need to realize that it will be much easier if you are focusing on one task at one time rather than doing them all at the same time.

PRIORITIZE THEM

It is very important that you know the most important tasks to be accomplished. This will help you to do the things that you have to do in a certain period of time. Try to make sure that you will do the things that you have to accomplish first.

FOCUS

One of the most important skill that you need to have is focus on the things that you do. Keep in mind that you can only effectively do the things that you have to do if you have your focus on it. Concentrate on the present task and try to make sure you have the focus on it.

Time management will never be easy especially if you are a busy person with a lot of things and tasks to accomplish in just a short period of time. You need to know that there are some tips that you have to remember for you to be able to do the tasks in the most effective way. Try to remember them all the time.

You Must Persist!

Charles — Sun, 26 Sep 2010 06:55:20 +0000

How many of you thought it was going to be easy? Do you remember the days when you were 14 or 15 years old? “I can’t wait until I am old enough to drive, get out of school, life will be awesome then!” Ha, what a joke! Sure, there is no way I would ever want to go back to being 15 years old again, however, my expectations of the world then, versus now, are extremely different.

Since becoming a “responsible adult,” that is being able to live on my own, pay my own bills, and support my own family, life has given me a reality check. It didn’t take long either, to realize how much different “The real world,” is versus what I was expecting, more like hoping, it was going to be. You don’t realize how fast time really goes until you get behind on a car payment, electric bill, or worse, your rent/mortgage. The harsh reality of working as hard as you can, sometimes holding multiple jobs, just to make ends meet. “Oh how easy life is going to be once I am out of school and living on my own…”

Now, let’s get to the good stuff. Generally I like to start all my posts off on a positive note, however, I simply couldn’t resist. With all that is happening in our world these days it is important to recognize and understand that life isn’t easy, and nobody better tell you that it is. In addition to just making a living, what about actually becoming successful? What is the journey like for those of us who want to achieve something great and fulfill our calling while we have our chance to do so? I mean, it isn’t fair that some people are Wealthy while others struggle just to make ends meet, right?

Over the years I have learned that just about everyone who is Wealthy, at one point in their life, they were also broke. They struggled to pay their bills, and worked multiple jobs just like many do today. However, they did something else also. There was a time when they made a decision to do something about it! It wasn’t easy, just as it isn’t going to be for you, but that didn’t matter. Life wasn’t going to get any better if they continued to do what they were already doing. That by definition, according to Einstein, is insanity. (Doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result)

How about you? Are you ready to overcome the obstacles that have been placed in your path? Is today the day you come to grips with reality and finally say, “I am not going to take it anymore?” What is keeping you from achieving your dreams? Are you afraid you’re going to fail?

Thomas Edison could fill up a two-story building with burned-out filaments for two years before he found the right combination of metals, what does they say about the human condition? It tells me that for 729 days I am going to be struggling with one problem or another until I finally find the solution on day 730. And that’s only if I am persistent and courageous enough to struggle until that day comes. Because, like it or not, pain and suffering, failing and falling, are parts of the human condition.

I know it’s hard but you gotta hang on! I have seen it in business, experienced it myself, for the past 7 years. People start to dream again, they finally decide it is time to stop the insanity and do something different. They take a leap of Faith, give it everything they got, and after their first few rejections, or failures, they give in. They start to tell themselves, “It’s too hard, I just can’t do it, I am not good enough,” and cheat themselves out of unleashing their potential. Persistence is painful!

Don’t believe for a moment that the quality of persistence is going to earn you the admiration and praise of all those above and below you. On the contrary, you will most likely be skewered out of earshot, and you will be the butt of jokes from those afraid to oppose you publicly. Expedience and compromise, especially upon issues touching virtue, honor, and integrity, are the norm and expected behavior for today. Persisting in your principles in a course of action, in a way of conducting your business, or in living out your life is discomforting to those who blow with the wind.

Persistence is best understood when you watch the person or business pay the price for staying the course while everyone else is making what is viewed as the “smart play,” or worse, “the safe play.” I’ve watched a lot of talented people fail because they lacked the quality of persistence.

Life only changes when you decide to change. Change isn’t easy, nor is always comfortable, however, it is a necessary part of life. Your dreams are worth pursuing! It doesn’t matter what other people think, it doesn’t matter what they tell you, it doesn’t matter if they support you. All that matters is you have a dream and you are willing to pay the price!

For those of you who haven’t stepped out, this is your call to action. What are you waiting for? For those of you who are already on your journey, persist! Keep going! As Winston Churchill said, “Never, Never, Never, Never Give Up!”

Edison’s axiom was that genius is 1 percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration. You don’t perspire the moment you start working-that comes after you’ve burned a lot of calories and midnight oil on a project.

Is it going to be hard? Yes! Is it going to get easier? Doubtful! Will it be worth it? You better believe it!

Dream Big!
Ron

Busting the Life Balance Barriers

Charles — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 08:59:04 +0000

Are you are caught in the work/life balance snare? Has the time thief robbed you of the life that you want to live? Join the crowd. Almost everyone is in the same boat. Everywhere I go I hear people talking about how much they have to do and how little time they have to do it. People are feeling bad that they can’t seem to get everything done and still have time for themselves and for their families. Many feel they can’t cut down at work for fear of losing their jobs. Others say they feel like a hen being pecked to death by her chickens. What are you saying?

I have just created a new ecourse and teleseminar series to help people get out of their unbalanced situations. I will outline it here for you and hopefully you will find that you can?apply some of the ideas and help yourself create a more balanced life. The first thing you have to do is to recognize that you got yourself into the unbalance and that you have to get yourself out of it. Remember that if you let life just take place you will never reach your goals. Success doesn’t happen by chance! Here are some things you can do to learn to manage the balance or integration of your life.

Manage your stress. Learn to deal with it and remove the stressful things in your life. You can do this most easily by looking at how you perceive things. Chances are that you are allowing yourself to think things are stressful when you could be responding to them in a different way that will not result in stress. Learn to manage your perceptions.Align your values, goals and beliefs. When you do so you will have a strong rudder to guide you in the decisions you make and the actions you take. You will be clear on what you want and what you are willing to do to attain your balanced or integrated life style.Harness your power and passion.

When you are doing what you are passionate about you find your power and you do things more effortlessly and effectively. You enjoy what you are doing immensely. Work does not feel like work. You are clearer and more focused on what you really want.Live intentionally. Be very clear on what you want and how you show up in the world. Manage your life, do not let it manage you. When you live intentionally you take control and make the decisions that will get you to your goals.Handle outside pressures by handling your inside self.

Learn to be more self-aware so you can know how and why you have the responses you have. Learn to manage yourself and you will be amazed at how well you begin to manage the pressures coming at you from every direction.Create action strategies to obtain the balanced, integrated life you envision. Just doing the thinking and the self-work will not create it. You have to make some hard decisions and take some tough steps to make it happen. Once you are there you need to work to maintain what you have achieved.I hope this has been helpful to you.If you have difficulty understanding or doing this it may be time to take a course or get yourself a great coach to help out.

Life is Too Short to Be Unhappy – Finding Happiness Every Day

Charles — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 13:50:10 +0000

Living life to the fullest is a great thing, but many people go overboard and just buy anything that they may want not thinking about all the future payments ahead of them.

Yes, life is too short to be unhappy and finding happiness everyday seems to be a problem for many people. Granted, that over ones life time we all have had some sort of problem and many of us with tragedy in our life that makes living life happy a very difficult thing to have.

There are very few people in the world that can honestly say they are very happy everyday of their lives. They too had or have something in their life that has upset their happiness. Most get through and over the hurdle and get right back to their happy life.

Then there are those that just can not seem to overcome their problem and continue on being unhappy for possibly the rest of their lives.

There must be a way that we as humans can figure out exactly what would make us happy everyday of our lives. Maybe we are unhappy do to the stress of being overwhelmed with bills or losing our jobs or a sickness in our family and so many other things to make us unhappy.

I have had all the above and more and I can tell you that yes, it is really hard to be happy with so many negative things going on in our lives. The world itself in my opinion is turning into a real mess if it hasn’t already. How can one think of happiness with everything going on in our world we live.

We can’t fix the world, but we can try real hard to make our lives a little happier and try to relieve some of the stress in our everyday life by making some changes in our life.

I have come up with my conclusion on these things by possibly down sizing my life and try to live it debt free. My reasoning for this change in my life is not only for myself, but for my families welfare as well.

I think by doing this everyone involved will be a little happier and maybe then we can live life the way it should be lived and not just work and work for nothing but material things. I think that happiness is much more important than any material thing in my opinion.

For the People Who Hate Their Job

Charles — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 05:47:10 +0000

If you were to stop a random person on the street and asked them about their job, the most common thing you would hear from them is “I hate my job”. To be honest this doesn’t surprise me, because most of the jobs that I’ve had I hated with all my strength. If you were to run a job satisfaction survey you will find that most people are not satisfied with their jobs.

It doesn’t surprise me when I hear people complain about their jobs, but the funny thing is most of them are planing to stay in their current job forever. So why are people terrified of leaving their current job even though they hate it. Why are people willing to put up with all their bosses “stuff” along with an empty career? Although there are countless reasons that I can give you to go look for a job that you like, I think there are a couple of very good reasons people don’t do so.

The first reason I can think of is people are afraid, many people are too scared to explore all the opportunities that he world has to offer, they are scared to quit their jobs because they think no one will hire them but they are wrong. One of the most common things people do when they are afraid is they freeze up and stay put. The second reason I can come up with is that people don’t think there is anything else out there for them.

Many people stay put in their current job because they are used to it, they hate it and yet they are comfortable so as long as their current job is putting a roof over their head. The third reason is people think they have security where they currently are, the large majority of people think they are secure in their current job because they have worked there for a long time, but the reality is that one doesn’t have sure security anywhere. If you hate your job there is no reason to stay there.

Your Inner Freak is the Key

Charles — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 17:22:10 +0000

People tell me I am interesting all the time.

Mind you, these are typically people who live “normal’ mainstream lives. They have regular jobs and watch a lot of TV and are busy trying to keep up with everyone else. There is lots of the same-old-same-old going on.

I always ask them “what makes me so interesting?”

I get a similar answer every time. People are interested in my lifestyle, that I am always doing something new, hanging out with people who are exciting and cutting edge. I go to fun and funky events that they wish they got invited too. They find that I hold a unique perspective.

The biggest thing that interests them is that I do what I want in my life. They express a desire for all of fun and excitement that I seem to experience that is unavailable to them.

You know what?

This same fun and excitement is available to everyone.

I am nothing special.

I just know the key to living a thrilling life.

I will let you in on the secret:

Get to know your Inner-Freak.

We all have one.

It’s that part of you that craves something different.

It wants to try all kinds funky of stuff and be a bit wild.

Your inner-freak knows what will make your life fun and exciting and it is committed to feeling good.

Because of this, it knows where your happiness and success can be found.

Your inner-freak brings your own unique perspective to the world and does not care what everyone else thinks you should be doing.

It’s what makes you different, unique and allows you to stand out from the crowd.

It is right there waiting for you to release it. All you have to do is be willing to take a chance and step outside of your usual Box.

Go ahead, invite your inner freak out to play!

How to Make a Lifestyle You Will Adore

Charles — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 15:49:03 +0000

Many of us travel through life with very little thought about what we are actually doing. Life is so busy with work, family and practical chores that whole weeks can pass in the blink of an eye. For many people life this year is like it was last year with the main aim simply being to survive until the weekend when maybe you can do something you enjoy.

However for a few people these days this sort of lifestyle simply isn’t good enough. It would appear that people are starting to get frustrated with the lack of free time they experience. People are fighting back against boring jobs that pay the bills but little else.

The fact is that everyone has some control over our lives and once you start to wake up to the areas you will ever have that you are not happy with you realize just how far off course you have become. All those plans you had when you were younger seem to have got ignored and instead you’re living a boring and unfulfilling life.

If this is the way you feel then this is the time to wake up and start making changes to your life. This is actually the time to stop accepting life the way it is and to start putting in some effort to create a life that you’ll love.

A good plan is to take some time to yourself where you won’t be interrupted and just consider all the elements in your life that you desire to improve. Hopefully you will have many parts of your life that you love but equally there will tend to be some changes you need to make.

The first step of being aware of any problems in your life is essential because it is only when you take this distance view and can see the problems that you’ll be able to then try to solve them.

There are lots of things you may like to consider such as your job. Do you enjoy your work? Does it pay you enough? Does it let you have enough time with your family? Is there a different job that you would rather be doing?

Another important consideration is your health. Are you healthy and in good shape or would you like to lose some weight or get fitter? Do you exercise as often as you desire?

Don’t forget about your life outside of work too such as your friends and hobbies. Do you lead a rewarding and enjoyable life outside of work or is most of your time taken up sitting in front of the TV or cleaning the house?

Once you have considered every element in your life you are in a position to put a plan into place which will let you highlight those areas that you are not happy with and start to find solutions for them.

There is Nothing Sadder Than the Death of a Person Who Has Never Lived!

Charles — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 15:26:10 +0000

“I’m the one who’s got to die when it’s time for me to die, so let me live my life the way I want to.” Jimi Hendrix

I never thought that I would be quoting Jimi Hendrix some day, but it turns out that during his lifetime, the famous rock and roller said some things that were quite profound. The quote above speaks to me of the human need to go along; to acquiesce; to succumb to the pressures of the groups, communities or families that we find ourselves being members of. Human beings are “pack animals.” We feel a need to live amongst others in order to fulfill our destinies. In order to get along in our “pack” we tend to do what the leader of the pack and the other members tell us to do whether or not we agree with it, whether or not it makes sense and whether or not it is totally contrary to our own way of thinking. We wear fashionable clothing that we find uncomfortable, we work at jobs we do not enjoy, we are polite when we would rather be outspoken, and we do whatever our Governments and bosses tell us to do regardless of how foolish or misguided those things might be.

Jimi Hendrix on the other hand, was not politically correct for his time and although he had a reputation for being kind and polite, his gentility was on his own terms. He chose not to buckle to society’s customs or its moral idiosyncrasies. He wrote and performed brilliant music that was not only ahead of its time, but was considered by many to be so objectionable that it could not be classified as music at all. Jimi Hendrix was the epitome of the word “individualistic.” He lived his life on his own terms and as short as it was, he lived it to the fullest, doing what he wanted to do every step of the way.

Jimi’s quote speaks to me of our collective right to live our lives as we want to. We should realize that on the day of our death, we will not be joined by most of the people we followed during our lives or by any of the people who guided our actions during life. Death is a solitary thing and our mentors, lovers, teachers, legislators, and family members will not be there to tell us how to live our deaths despite the fact that they constantly told us how to live our lives during our time above ground.

I always enjoy meeting people who are free spirits and who are not bound by conformity. I like mavericks, free thinkers and non-conformists. I laugh at people who say things that society does not want them to say. I love people who find humor in taboo subjects, and I enjoy spending time with people who dare to try things they have never tried before or that others think they have no business trying. Above all, I admire people who are authentic and true to themselves; the people who do what THEY want to do despite criticism from others.

What is success? Is it money? Is it possessions? Is it status and recognition?…or is it the happiness and the satisfaction that comes from doing the things that we truly want to do? Happiness is the only commodity that can truly make our lives worthwhile during our short time on earth. There is nothing sadder than the death of a person who has never lived!

Live your life to the fullest, folks. Live it the way YOU want to!

All the Best!

Wayne Kehl

Breaking Into a Career in the Media

Charles — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 06:32:10 +0000

Here’s a little personal story for you – take from it what you want, but know this – getting into a career in the media is NOT an easy task.

I graduated from university a couple of years ago with a 2.1 in English & Media – a decent enough grade and a healthy portfolio of work that I could send to a number of companies. Living in Birmingham, I immediately tried nearby businesses, but was generally ignored because I lacked a particular factor: experience.

So next it was on to work experience, which I was able to secure a fair amount of; however it was all unpaid and extremely tiring. I saw no end in sight from work experience and was just working through a string of unfulfilling opportunities that provided no benefit.

I tried a number of jobs, from video camera operator to general runner and supervisor for the day – even enjoying a day on the studio floor of a shopping channel. Surprisingly hectic compared to the calmness shown by the presenter.

Following this failure, I moved onto other areas around the West Midlands but typically there was practically nothing, save for a few jobs that I was completely unqualified for or the dreaded media sales advertisements.

As a logical next step I then tried London, which offered a surprisingly huge amount of opportunities for a young media graduate – obviously I had fears about the cost of living in London and the fact that I would have to move, but at least there was something available.

I re-wrote my C.V. and cover letter to stand out and show my creativity, receiving a number of compliments from companies on the quality, but the only ones who offered interviews were either too low-paid to live in London or too awkward. Eventually I caught a break and was offered a well-paid job in a small-ish digital company based in a huge Soho office space. I was ecstatic and thought the job would be ideal – but there was one problem – I couldn’t move there in time.

I was forced to gracefully reject the job; whether it was down to bad planning on my part or a simple lack of properties available in London, it was deeply disappointing. Thankfully, these things happen for a reason and I have now found myself doing my dream job back in Birmingham!

Whilst the media industry obviously isn’t impossible to break into, just take care and prepare yourself for a great deal of hassle and potential problems. It’s a splintery ladder to the top, but I think it’s definitely worth it.