If you’re not yet on LinkedIn, you need to be. Whatever the reason is for not being on LinkedIn, there is a 99% chance there is a better reason for using it!

When you google your name, what comes up? Can you imagine googling a company and not finding anything on it?

If you’d like a hiring manager to see others’ untampered recommendation of your services, LinkedIn is a tool you must use!

What are reasons people use for not being on LinkedIn?

• I don’t want to be contacted. The day is most likely coming when you will want to be googled and contacted by a hiring manager interested in offering you a position.

• I don’t want to ask others for recommendations of my services. Actually, what I have found for my clients and myself is that most people are glad to recommend our services if they see we have given them value.

Imagine being googled and people being impressed with you because of what others have said about you on your LinkedIn profile. People have actually been contacted and eventually hired because of LinkedIn!

• I’m too busy. The time to build your network is when you are busy since that is a time when you have the most opportunity to find people to recommend your service!

I offer a session on how to set up LinkedIn. If you’re interested, contact me at Terri@SummitViewCareerCoaching.com. Or, if you would like to see other career coaching services, go to Summit View Career Coaching. I’d be glad to meet with you for a complimentary, confidential 20-minute coaching session.

Enjoy Monday morning as much as Friday afternoon!

Career coach Randy Block shared an interesting tip in NETSHARE’s call this week. Randy believes every job seeker should create a Master Résumé. This document is not for distribution to anyone but it is an organizational tool and source for when you do need to create a résumé. Randy receives the credit for a lot of the bulleted items below.

What could be included in your Master Résumé?

• Core strengths & how you’re using them (how to write success stories)
• Name of company
• Position
• Promotions (if to management, how many are direct reports)
• Awards
• Certificates
• Conventions
• Seminars
• Volunteer roles

Include dates. One of the comments I receive from my clients is that they wish they had kept up their résumé. I really like Randy’s idea of keeping up a Master Résumé.

Packages are offered on résumé & cover letter expertise, career exploration, job search strategy, effective communication, strengths identification, career branding, networking, interview preparation and jump-starting a new position.

To schedule a 20-minute complimentary, confidential session, contact me at Terri@SummitViewCareerCoaching.com. No pressure given to sign up for coaching. For information on my services, go to Summit View Career Coaching.

Enjoy Monday morning as much as Friday afternoon!

Decreasing numbers of medical students are choosing to be family physicians each year. In fact Kurt Mosley writes in Recruiting Trends, “An alarming number of family practice training positions (16 percent) went unfilled last year.” Over half of the students who graduated in family practice and started their practice in the United States were from foreign medical schools.

Why are medical students not choosing to be family physicians?

• 57% of doctors aged 50-65 yrs old were polled and said they’d recommend not becoming a family physician. In fact 44% said they’d not choose medicine if they started over again. So, older doctors are not encouraging younger doctors to pick up the mantle.
• Takes 11 years of schooling and students typically start out with $120,000 of debt.
• Physicians have decreasing power. Insurance companies and federal agencies tell them what tests and they can and cannot order, what medicines they can and cannot prescribe.
• Today’s physicians are frustrated with spending countless hours in paperwork, justifying why they should be paid rather than use their training to save lives, enhance and bring life into this world.
• Family physicians are not the esteemed position they once were.

Are you exploring becoming a family physician? Or, are you a mid-lifer exploring your options? I can coach you with effective research tools so that the career you choose fits your core strengths, interests, and values well.

I invite you to a 20-minute complimentary, confidential coaching session. No pressure to sign up. Contact me at Terri@SummitViewCareerCoaching.com to schedule a session. To see more of my services, go to Summit View Career Coaching.

Enjoy Monday morning as much as Friday afternoon!

Many of you are artistic and dream of a career as an artist. You envision loving your work and it being in such high demand that you live a comfortable life style.

Artists create art to communicate ideas, thoughts, or feelings. The definition of an artist is wide-ranging. Employment for artists is expected to grow in the next decade.

Demand will most likely grow for the following artists according to the Bureau of Labor & Statistics:

• Illustrators who work on a computer will increase as Web sites use more detailed images and backgrounds in their designs.

• Cartoonists, in particular, who opt to post their work on political Web sites and online publications.

• Medical illustrators (currently a small number) will also be in greater demand as medical research continues to grow.

• Multimedia artists and animators as consumers continue to demand more realistic video games, movie and television special effects, and 3D animated movies.

• Web site development and for computer graphics adaptation from the growing number of mobile technologies.

• Animators who are finding work in alternative areas such as scientific research or design services.

Below are different types of artists according to the Bureau of Labor & Statistics:

• Graphic designers—or graphic artists—plan, analyze, and create visual solutions to communications problems. They find the most effective way to get messages across in print, electronic, and film media.

• Craft artists make a wide variety of objects, mostly by hand, that are sold either in their own studios, in retail outlets, or at arts-and-crafts shows. Many craft artists also use fine-art techniques—for example, painting, sketching, and printing—to add finishing touches to their art.

• Fine artists typically display their work in museums, commercial art galleries, corporate collections, and private homes.

• Medical and scientific illustrators combine drawing skills with knowledge of biology or other sciences. Medical illustrators work digitally or traditionally to create images of human anatomy and surgical procedures as well as 3-dimensional models and animations. Most cartoonists have comic, critical, or dramatic talents in addition to drawing skills.

• Sketch artists create likenesses of subjects with pencil, charcoal, or pastels. Sketches are used by law enforcement agencies to assist in identifying suspects, by the news media to depict courtroom scenes, and by individual patrons for their own enjoyment.

• Sculptors design three-dimensional artworks, either by molding and joining materials such as clay, glass, wire, plastic, fabric, or metal or by cutting and carving forms from a block of plaster, wood, or stone. Some sculptors combine various materials to create mixed-media installations. Some incorporate light, sound, and motion into their works.

• Printmakers create printed images from designs cut or etched into wood, stone, or metal. After creating the design, the artist inks the surface of the woodblock, stone, or plate and uses a printing press to roll the image onto paper or fabric. Some make prints by pressing the inked surface onto paper by hand or by graphically encoding and processing data, using a computer. The digitized images are then printed on paper with the use of a computer printer.

• Painting restorers preserve and restore damaged and faded paintings. They apply solvents and cleaning agents to clean the surfaces of the paintings, they reconstruct or retouch damaged areas, and they apply preservatives to protect the paintings. Restoration is highly detailed work and usually is reserved for experts in the field.

• Multi-media artists and animators work primarily in motion picture and video industries, advertising, and computer systems design services. They draw by hand and use computers to create the series of pictures that form the animated images or special effects seen in movies, television programs, and computer games.

Despite the competition, studios, galleries, and individual clients are always on the lookout for artists who display outstanding talent, creativity, and style. Among craft and fine artists, talented individuals who have developed a mastery of artistic techniques and skills will have the best job prospects.

The Bureau of Labor & Statistics gives tther workers who apply artistic skills: architects, except landscape and naval; archivists, curators, and museum technicians; commercial and industrial designers; fashion designers; floral designers; graphic designers; interior designers; jewelers and precious stone and metal workers; landscape architects; photographers; and woodworkers. Some workers who use computers extensively, including computer software engineers and desktop publishers, may require art skills.

As a results-oriented career coach, I work with professionals so that they enjoy Monday morning as much as Friday afternoon!To schedule a complimentary, confidential 20-minute coaching session, email me at Terri@SummitViewCareerCoaching.com. No pressure to sign up! To read about my services, go to Summit View Career Coaching.

Are you part of the Boomerang Generation? This generation was born somewhere between 1977 to 1989. Makes sense they’re called the Boomerang Generation because many went off to college, received their degree and are now back living with Mom and Dad while working hard at their profession.

The primary justification for this cycle is economic. Where the young person and parents agree to this arrangement, it provides tremendous financial relief to the young person while it may also provide income to the parents.

Interestingly, Wikopedia states that the arrangement tends to force family members to communicate and negotiate in ways they did not when the children were pre-adults. In the best case, this can lead to healthy adult relationships between parents and children.

Wikopedia also states other positives to having the Boomerang Generation move back home:

Moving back home can benefit parents when they reach old age. In societies where it is common for children to live with their parents into adulthood, such as Asian and Hispanic cultures, children more frequently take care of aging parents, rather than devolving the responsibility on a third party, such as a nursing home.^{[citation needed]} Whether the Boomerang Generation will follow suit remains to be seen, as the older Baby Boom generation ages.

To look at this issue from a different perspective, Michael Rosenfeld, a social demographer at Stanford University says almost 41% of singles ages 20-29 in 2005 were living apart from their parents, compared with 11% in 1950 and about 19% in 1880.

“The boomerang idea,” as quoted by Michael Rosenfled on USA Today, “flatters our parental sense that our adult children need us more than they think. They think they’re going to be independent, but we know they’ll come back to the front doorstep and need us again.”

What are your thoughts on the Boomerang Generation? I’d like to hear them! Write me at Terri@SummitViewCareerCoaching.com

Enjoy Monday morning as much as Friday afternoon! 

Jason Alba of JibberJobber warned all of hose who read his blog the importance of backing up their LinkedIn profile and database. It took me 2 minutes at the most to follow Jason’s instructions. Read in Jason’s blog about Susan Ireland’s true story of how her LinkedIn information was apparently deleted on mistake.

As my clients know, I am a huge proponent of using LinkedIn for social networking! It is an incredibly valuable tool for the career transitioner and career manager. So, I encourage all of you to take a couple minutes right now to go to Jason’s blog and follow the instructions he gives!

I would enjoy hearing your questions, thoughts or suggestions for further blogs! You can reach me at Terri@SummitViewCareerCoaching.com.

I am passionate about you enjoying Monday morning as much as Friday afternoon.

Often a college degree is needed in order to be hired into specific fields. On the other hand, there are several well-paying careers that don’t need a college degree. Successful experience means so much more to employers in several industries than a college degree.

How does a person gain experience without a degree? The short answer is that whenever possible, go through the open door of opportunity to gain experience whether it is volunteering or a part-time position!

The employer wants, of course, to see how you handled challenges and brought value to the company you’ve worked for. When an employer is deciding between a candidate who has the skills, experience and knowledge how to handle situations well (without the college degree) vs. a person who has the degree without the degree and skills, the experienced candidate typically is offered the job.

Greg IP of the Wall Street Journal wrote, “In short, a college degree is often necessary, but not sufficient, to get a paycheck that beats inflation.”

Ms. Dewing, after working for Sprint Corporation 15 years with a degree in computer science, was laid off. After finding another IT job 6 years later, she said she has a newfound appreciation for how insecure any job can be and how little a college degree by itself stands for. “There is enough competition for entry-level positions that employers are going to ask, ‘What else have you done in your life besides go to college?’” she says. “And in information technology, a portfolio of hands-on experience with programming is a really good thing to have.”

To me, the key is to work at whatever it is you really enjoy doing! Try to say ‘yes’ to gaining experience in areas you think you might enjoy! And, before paying for college (whether young 20’s or mid-life), figure out a direction that fits you well first!

As a Career Coach, my niche and passion is helping people discover career direction where they’ll enjoy Monday morning as much as Friday afternoon, their strengths, interests, and how to find a job in the hidden job market!

Contact me at Terri@SummitViewCareerCoaching.com for a complimentary 20-minute coaching session with no obligation to sign-up! To check out more of my services, go to www.SummitViewCareerCoaching.com.

Enjoy Monday morning as much as Friday afternoon!

Your best job is one that seems like play. It will be hard to believe you are getting paid for doing what you do!

We are all created uniquely. What is very enjoyable to you can be very boring to the next person. So, why don’t we all do what is very enjoyable? If we’re doing what is very enjoyable to us we’d naturally excel and love going to work each morning. Most likely we’d not be sick often and come home with energy.

Your best job is one that uses the following building blocks: your core strengths, core values, life purpose, personality type and that is an industry that you are very interested in.

When I coach, I have these building blocks on a form that you research and fill in. After much realistic research, my clients share with me which industry fits best with their unique building blocks. My clients have had much success in finding a position and industry that fits them well.

If you would like to have a 15-minute complimentary coaching session, please email me at Terri@SummitViewCareerCoaching.com to schedule a time for a phone conversation. For more information, go to Summit View Career Coaching.

There are virtually no rules for writing cover letters, other than a few basics. Because of the freedom to go pretty much whatever direction you’d like to go, you can focus in on whatever you want to.

Below are some common questions.

• If salary history or requirements are requested, should I include it in my cover letter? If you don’t, certain companies won’t look at the material. On the other hand, repeated surveys show that nearly 100 percent of readers admit they’ll look at your resume and call you even if you don’t include what has been requested. The bottom-line question is Why give the company ammunition to screen you out?

• Should I send my resume to the Human Resources Department? If requested to do so, yes. The least effective department typically to send your resume to is HR. Generally HR doesn’t make the hiring decisions. So, it would be so much better to send your resume to the President, CEO, COO, CFO, Vice President of Sales, Director of Customer Service, Accounting Manager - whoever is in charge of the department you would like to be hired in.

• Do my communications need a consistent look? I recommend your resume, cover letter, and other job search communications to ‘look’ the same. Pick a standard presentation for your documents and stick with it. The result will be a more professional, elegant, and high-quality presentation.

Questions and answers were taken from Cover Letter Magic by Susan Whitcomb and my own experience as a Career Coach.

If you would like help with your cover letter and resume, please email me, Terri@SummitViewCareerCoach, to schedule a short phone meeting.

As a results-oriented career coach, I work with professionals so that they enjoy Monday morning as much as Friday afternoon!

Every one of my clients so far has shared some fear when moving towards a goal. Fears block us from going forward. The opposite of fear is faith, hope, confidence… All of us have the potential to move from fear to a confident and positive perspective.

Read the following quotes from Dan Miller (48 Days):

Fear is the highest fence. – Dudley Nichols

The one permanent emotion of the inferior man is fear - fear of the unknown, the complex, the inexplicable. What he wants above everything else is safety. — Henry Louise Menken

In politics, what begins in fear usually ends in folly. – Coleridge

You block your dream when you allow your fear to grow bigger than your faith. – Mary Manin Morrissey

Fear is faith that it won’t work out. – Sister Mary Tricky

If a man harbors any sort of fear, it percolates through all his thinking, damages his personality and makes him a landlord to a ghost. – Lloyd Douglas

Whether you think you can or think you can’t, you’re right. – Henry Ford

You can’t discover new oceans unless you have the courage to leave the shore. – Anonymous

He who loses wealth loses much; he who loses a friend loses more; but he that loses courage loses all. – Cervantes

Don’t fear failure so much that you refuse to try new things. The saddest summary of a life contains three descriptions: could have, might have, and should have. – Louis E. Boone

Where fear is present, wisdom cannot be. – Lactantius

The worst sorrows in life are not in its losses and misfortune, but its fears. – A. C. Benson

I’d enjoy reading your thoughts after you’ve read these quotes. You can contact me at Terri@SummitViewCareerCoaching.com.

I’m passionate about you enjoying Monday morning as much as Friday morning! Contact me for a 20-minute complimentary coaching session. To read more about my services, go to Summit View Career Coaching.