I was really interested in reading the fresh perspective of networking from Susan D. Strayer, a HR Executive on Kladoblog.com. Susan shared how with closer friends, we call them typically to ‘catch up’ on what is happening in their lives, not to ‘get something’ from them. Typically the result is close friendships.

Similarly, networking relationships can stay in tact and grow closer as we call to ‘catch up’ on how they’re doing and not to ask anything from them. I am challenged from Susan to once a week call someone I don’t know that well to go out for lunch or coffee just to develop a relationship and see how I can help them out in simple ways. Periodically I’d like to see myself calling in order to catch up on what is going on in their life, again being ready to help out if I can. Vice versa, when the time comes I need something, maybe my phone call will be welcomed rather than dreaded.

I am a big believer in networking (building relationships) being all about giving. Susan’s perspective gave me impetus to start thinking how my networking could broaden in a more practical. My next step of action is to share this simple plan with my accountability partner and calendar it.

I am passionate about you enjoying Monday morning as much as Friday afternoon! If you’d like to schedule a 20-minute complimentary, confidential coaching session, email me at Terri@SummitViewCareerCoaching.com.

After 50 years old, typically companies say a person is overqualified, out of touch with modern equipment or too expensive. What makes an older person impressive to hiring managers?

According to US World News & Report and AARP, older workers (50+) are recommended to do the following: (I would say all ages would do well using these recommendations!)

1. Share short, powerful stories of how you used your skills and strengths to help organizations’ bottom line. You most likely have a lifetime of rich stories you can share.
2. Emphasize how well you can relate to people, including people older than yourself. The articles encourages emphasizing easy communication with older people. On the other hand, I am thinking that with all of your experience, you may be able share a variety of stories communicating and understanding a wide range of people in all age categories.
3. Communicate your adaptability.
4. Don’t stereotype any ages or group of people. Be open to look in a fresh way at each person.
5. Pass your knowledge on in ways people want to listen. “We’re basically looking for [someone who has] the ability to share ideas, good interpersonal skills, and good communications skills,” says Walter Caldwell, manager of staffing resources at the Aerospace Corp. in El Segundo, California.

I’d love to hear what tips you’d like to add to this list. Please email me at Terri@SummitViewCareerCoaching.com.

Enjoy Monday morning as much as Friday afternoon!

Do you feel like giving up on your career exploration and hunt? Richard Bolles kept score with one man’s job hunt. Let’s call him Joe Smith. Joe did the following:

• Researched 107 places that seemed interesting to him
• Spent hours researching ‘thoroughly and well’ so that he was able to continue his search in an ‘extremely professional manner’
  
• Sent a total of 297 letters
  
• Made 126 phone calls to organizations in the city he wanted to transfer
• When he finally was able to go to these places in person, he narrowed down the original 107 places down to just 45 and visited all 45 places

The result was receiving 35 job offers! Richard Bolles writes, “When he had finished his survey, he went back to the one job he most wanted–and accepted it.”
Where are you in your job search? What is your story? I’d love to hear from you at Terri@SummitViewCareerCoaching.com.

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.

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.