Nourish Your Career

Nourish Your Career - Join our table

What if you could visit with a trusted friend, who happens to be a career expert, and ask them for advice that will help you thrive in your career and life? I wrote Nourish Your Career to bring that advice to you, along with top career tips and delicious recipes from 17 of my favorite career colleagues and friends! Join us for a visit around my (virtual) table for tips on job searching effectively, creating a career that fits your life and goals, thoughtfully managing your career, and finding ways to nourish your career, and your life.

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Recipes to help you thrive in your work and life

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Nourish Your Career - Expert Interviews | Tammy Ditzel

 

 

 

Tammy Ditzel Interview 

 

 

 

 Tammy Ditzel is a coach and trainer, and CEO of Inesse Consulting, LLC . She graciously joined me to share some of her best tips and approach to creating a thriving business that fits who you are and your life. Whether you have (or are thinking of starting) a small business or are a professional focused on managing your career and life, Tammy's valuable tips will help you thrive professionally and personally.

On the self-care side, I love her tip to schedule something *you* enjoy at least once a quarter. That's completely doable and its positive effects will show up in all parts of our lives for weeks to come! Listen to our conversation here: 

Tammy Ditzel Interview 

 

For additional work and life tips from me and 17 other pros (plus our recipes, including my "Lavender Cookies"), order your own copy of Nourish Your Career. Also available from Amazon.

Shahrzad is a holistic career counselor, trainer, speaker, and author of Nourish Your Career. If you'd like to work with her to nourish your career and life, contact her at shahrzad[at]careerconsultmd.com or visit www.careerconsultmd.com

Wishing You a Happy New Year

I hope winter's holidays have been a time of happiness, health, and meaningful connection for you and yours.

As we look back on these moments, say goodbye to 2014 and prepare for the new year, what do your reflections offer? What are the moments you have been touched by, grown from, celebrated, or found challenging? Take a moment to look back on these, whether they are related to your career, family, relationships with friends, or other parts of your life. Who are those who have created the meaningful moments, enriched your life, and made you feel understood, valued, and cared for? I hope your heart will smile remembering them and their kindness again. Take a few minutes each week for the next 2-3 weeks to remember and thank the many whose actions and presence have made a difference in your year and life. Let them know how they have done so.   

I'd love it if you'd share some of these moments, memories, and lessons with us as well! Please add yours in the comments below. Often, these refelctions connect with our goals and dreams in some way. How do yours align with the dreams and projects you'll be working on in the coming months? Share and update the Nourish Your Career community and let us know how we can support your journey throughout the year.

Thank you for being a part of this community! Wishing you all a Happy New Year and a nourishing career and life!

 

Nourish Your Career - Expert Interviews | Stevie Puckett

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stevie Puckett Audio 2014

Stevie Puckett, Founder of SparksPress.com kindly joined me recently to talk about using intuition in your career. Listen as she shares her definition of intuition and some tips for low-risk ways to begin practicing using intuition as part of our daily life and work (e.g., in a brainstorming session, being aware of noticing "the right time," and more)! 

Stevie Puckett 

I'd be curious to know your own experiences with "a sudden knowing," calling someone at just the right time, or practicing some of the exercises Stevie recommends. Please let us know in the comments!

 

Shahrzad is a holistic career counselor, trainer, speaker, and author of Nourish Your Career. If you'd like to work with her to nourish your career and life, contact her at shahrzad[at]careerconsultmd.com or visit www.careerconsultmd.com

Girls, Education, and Peace

 

Today is Heather Plett's birthday. You might remember her as one of the wonderful contributors to Nourish Your Career. She has invited her community to help her celebrate by supporting a school in Uganda, founded by Nestar Lakot Okella.

If you read Heather's post about this decision, you'll see the recent kidnapping of hundreds of Nigerian students prompted her to look for a way to respond to such horror. She chose to help educate girls. You can read the story of why she selected Uganda, Nestar, and the school Nestar founded there, too. It's compelling and, I think, will inspire you, give you hope for a better world, and allow you to see a different tomorrow, where girls (and boys) everywhere can nurture their love of learning, their strenghts, gifts, and passions. They will grow up to be members of a community, to make a positive difference, understand their ability to create change and address the needs of others, and pass the legacy of learning, laughter, community, and peace to others.

I invite you to take a moment to read Heather's birthday post to learn more about Nestar and the Uganda Kitgum Education Foundation, contribute in whatever way you feel moved to do, and of course, to wish Heather a very happy birthday!

Warmly,

Shahrzad

JibberJobber - More than a Career Management Tool

You've heard it before: we prefer to do business with those we know, like, and trust. It makes sense, and I was reminded of it again recently when I recommended JibberJobber (JibberJobber.com), as I often do, to participants in a career search workshop. It's even listed as a resource in my book Nourish Your Career.

JibberJobber, for those of you who may not know, is a career management tool created by Jason Alba. It's a robust program you can use to track, organize, and manage your job search, career, business, and even life. (Actually, I now refer to it as a life management tool.) You'll find tons of articles and videos on the site, showing how to get the most out of this powerful tool, so I'll just say a bit about why I like it and recommend it. 

If you use the site well (and consistently) you will be able to create a user-friendly and usable database of those in your network -- from close friends and colleagues to a hiring manager or recruiter with whom you've only spoken once -- and add notes, contact info, and even action items (e.g.,"Call Steve on 5/1 to follow up") so important details don't fall through the cracks. You can easily track which jobs you've applied to, what the next steps are, and create entries for companies on your interest list so you can research and connect with them. (Why limit yourself to posted jobs?)

I love the flexibility of this system.  The ability to tag, store, and sort/organize your data in multiple ways means you can fine-tune it to fit you and your style. And, most importantly, it offers the ability to access the information when and how you need it! Those of you who are used to working with CRMs will find JibberJobber is a flexible, user-centered CRM -- and much more.

There are so many ways you can use this tool that I could write a series of posts just on JibberJobber (and may). For now, because I still talk to folks who have not heard about it, I just wanted to spread the word so you can use it to better manage your career, job search, business, and life. Jason shared on a recent webinar that he even tracks his car's service, related expenses, and maintenance schedule via JibberJobber (brilliant! and the reason I now refer to it as a life management tool).

Most of the features are included with the Regular (free) account. There are a few (e.g., the ability to add more than 500 contacts or use Email2Log) which are part of the Premium (paid) account. You can start with the free account and upgrade to Premium (just $60 a year) if you find that makes sense for you. What's great is that even if you upgrade and then decide you no longer need the Premium features, you won't lose the information and records you've stored in your account. To me, this one is huge! Most other services delete your Premium records and files if you downgrade from their higher level accounts. 

Now, back to the Trust statement I mentioned in the beginning. With all the data you can store in this online system (names, contact info, notes, journal entries, and more), I would normally encourage folks to think very carefully before they decide what and how much information to add to such a tool. I have known Jason for a few years and because I fully trust him, I can confidently recommend JibberJobber as a valuable resource my clients, colleagues, and others can use to effectively manage their career, business, and life, without worrying about the valuable information they choose to store and track there.  

Almost every time I log on (or get on a call or webinar to hear about making the most of JibberJobber) I find a new way to make it work for me and allow me to better serve my clients and others in my circle. As someone who loves sharing resources, I couldn't help letting you know about it, too. Have fun exploring it! 

As it happens, I'm writing this post as JibberJobber turns 8. On behalf of all of us who have benefitted from this great resource, a very happy 8th Birthday (May 2014)! Jason, thank you for creating JJ, for your generosity, and for being an advocate of those in job search, the careers community, and all who cross paths with you.

 

Shahrzad is a holistic career counselor, trainer, speaker, and author of Nourish Your Career. If you'd like to work with her to nourish your career and life, contact her at shahrzad[at]careerconsultmd.com or visit www.careerconsultmd.com

 

Mother's Day Gift

I love giving gifts! So, in honor of Mother's Day, I am giving away a copy of Nourish Your Career. If you'd like the opportunity to receive it, just write a brief note in the comments section, sharing one (or a few) of the many things that make your mom so wonderful. You can also include a memory, a lesson you'll always remember, her example, a favorite saying, or what you learned about work, building a career and a life, and what it means to be a great person. (You pick!)

The winner will be selected by me, at random, from all responses posted by 12:01 on May 12. Looking forward to reading what you'll share and celebrating Moms! 

 

Thankful for your career?

Hearing Maya Angelou talk about an Attitude of Gratitude on NPR a few years ago, just a few days before Thanksgiving in the U.S., inspired me to write about this important concept (value, really) and how it can relate to so many aspects of our lives, including our careers. 

Chances are you've heard someone refer to having an Attitude of Gratitude before.  So, what is it and what does it have to do with you?  Everyone probably defines it a bit differently.  I think of it as recognizing and being grateful for all the good things in your life, as well as the ability to appreciate how where you've been and what you've experienced add value to and prepare you for the next steps in your journey.  You may naturally be able to adopt this attitude, or can welcome it by actively practicing it.  Look back on today.  What are you grateful for? Maybe it is the beautiful sunrise that greeted you and helped you start the day with a smile, or the knowledge that your ability to truly listen brought comfort to a friend.

Now think of your current or most recent job, and the one before that (keep going).  How has each enriched your working life or prepared you for your next opportunity?  Find at least one thing in each job that you are thankful about.  Think of the skills you've learned or honed, professional relationships you've developed, or specific accomplishments you have achieved while in these jobs.  If you are struggling with this exercise and can't think of anything, it’s okay.  Go ahead and try it with the one that is not going to make the “dream job” list (for whatever reason — your boss, responsibilities, or work environment).  Come up with one job-related thing you can feel grateful for.  Perhaps you found a trusted mentor while working in this job, developed a new skill that you can now build upon, gained enough experience to be competitive for the jobs you want, or learned what organizational culture does not fit you well (and therefore, what might).  Take it one step further and really look at the part each of these may play in helping you reach your dreams.  Without them would you be as well prepared as you are? 

So even if we are not delighted with our current work situation, it is possible to learn to seek and acknowledge the opportunities that have resulted from it.  Then we can set about moving forward and working hard to refine and achieve our goals, with a grateful heart and mind for all the good we've experienced along the way.  Let's try it!  Let me know how it goes. 

Happy Thanksgiving and may you find a thousand reasons to feel deep gratitude.

Shahrzad is a holistic career counselor, trainer, speaker, and author of Nourish Your Career. If you'd like to work with her to nourish your career and life, contact her at shahrzad[at]careerconsultmd.com or visit www.careerconsultmd.com

 

Note: This post was originally published on my Career Consulting Services blog. Since I now primarily use the Nourish Your Career site and community to post/share, I'm reposting it here.

 

Nourish Your Career - Expert Interviews | Barry Davis

 

 

    Barry Davis

 

Barry Davis is a career coach, speaker, and founder of Gift of Self Career Services, LLC. One of his gifts is helping others discover how to use their gifts and passions to thrive in the world of work.  

He recently joined me to talk about bringing your passion to work (in any economy) and creating work that is a reflection of who you are. Listen in as Barry shares his insights, tips, and his three rules for making career decisions even when it feels difficult. 

Here's a fun quote from our conversation: "A certain amount of every job builds character." (Barry, referring to how each job, even a great one for us, has parts that don't call on our gifts and strengths. And that's okay.)

  Barry Davis 

For additional career tips from me and 17 other pros (plus our recipes, including my "Lavender Cookies"), order your own copy of Nourish Your Career. Also available from Amazon.

Shahrzad is a holistic career counselor, trainer, speaker, and author of Nourish Your Career. If you'd like to work with her to nourish your career and life, contact her at shahrzad[at]careerconsultmd.com or visit www.careerconsultmd.com

If Careers Were Costumes

Halloween has many thinking carefully about what costume to wear (and what "to be").  Dressing up can certainly be fun and lets us be someone else for a little while.  Why not use the same opportunity to explore what a different career would be like? 

Imagine you can try out a job as simply as trying on a costume.  Think about what you would like to be (remember dreaming about it when you were growing up?) and spend some time imagining you are in your dream job.  Create a clear picture that includes details such as how this work makes you feel, what you're doing (specific activities), where you're working (the physical environment -is it a grand office, a cozy tea shop, a forest?) and who or what else is in your work environment. 

Let yourself fully visualize and engage in this experience.  Try not to automatically start telling yourself about all the "yes, buts" right now.  You know the ones, when we start to think about the reasons why we can't or shouldn't pursue our dream job (or any change from what we do currently ).  Later you will have plenty of time to choose to revise the dream to reflect your current goals, resources, and specific circumstances.  Right now I want you to give yourself the freedom to dream and to learn from your dream. 

Your dream, for example, may be to become a physician.  First allow yourself to picture this possibility and explore it.  You can then come back to it and see how it fits with your life, family, goals, etc.  You may either find you're willing and able to spend the time required for training to be a doctor, or that the years of intensive training would not fit well with your current family and caregiving responsibilities. 

Even if you decide your dream career is not the option you want to (or can) pursue right now, this exercise can be valuable to you.  Think about why being a doctor is the dream?  Let's say you realize it is helping people and being able to see the results of your work that matter.  Now you can use that knowledge to look for other fields you'd enjoy that share these core values without requiring years of training.

I hope you will give yourself the gift of dreaming and begin to explore how that dream may be realized in a way that enriches your life.  If you have a comment or question, please share it here.

Shahrzad is a holistic career counselor, trainer, speaker, and author of Nourish Your Career. If you'd like to work with her to nourish your career and life, contact her at shahrzad[at]careerconsultmd.com or visit www.careerconsultmd.com

 

Note: This post was originally published on my Career Consulting Services blog. Since I now primarily use the Nourish Your Career site and community to post/share, I'm reposting it here.

Don’t Click “Endorse” on LinkedIn …at least not yet

There has been a lot of talk about LinkedIn Skill Endorsements, their value, and whether and how to use them. For one little feature, there is so much we can cover about it. In this post I’ll just focus on a few tips for using it well when endorsing others.

For those of you who’ve told me you don’t use LinkedIn very much (yet), an endorsement is when one of your connections indicates you have a skill or area of expertise, by selecting an “endorse” button or icon on LinkedIn.

You may be prompted to endorse someone’s areas of expertise in two ways:

 1) When you visit your connection’s profile (and sometimes when you log on to LinkedIn), you will likely get an LI prompt -- at the top of the page -- to endorse a list of their skills or expertise.

*Note that if you click Endorse in the above example, you will automatically endorse all the skills listed...whether you want to or not! (Unless you click the x by the skills you wish to remove first, before selecting Endorse.) Also, this list is generated by LinkedIn and often contains keywords/skills that aren't even chosen by -- and may not be applicable to -- the person.

Or,

2) When a connection endorses you for a skill, you may be asked (by LinkedIn) if you want to reciprocate by endorsing their skill(s). 

Either way, please, please, please do not endorse your connection directly from the LinkedIn prompt (as my friend and colleague, Paula Brand, and I say:"Stay away from the blue box!").

A good practice is to go to your connection's profile, scroll down to the Skills & Expertise section and see which ones they have chosen to include there (see the screenshot below). Next, look for ones you know enough about to be able to endorse. Remember, you are vouching for the skill you endorse (i.e., putting your reputation on the line). Only select skills and expertise you know they have. If you have no idea whether your connection has expertise in public relations, don't choose that as the one to endorse!

Your contacts have put time and thought into carefully selecting the right skills and keywords for their profiles. Endorsing a random list generated by LinkedIn (or suggesting your own) rather than the ones they've chosen ignores their efforts and can potentially weaken the profile.

Also, let's say LinkedIn prompts you to endorse a skill (e.g., "New Business Development") for your contact, Sue. She already has that skill listed on her profile, but with different wording ("Business Development"). If you endorse the skill suggested by LinkedIn rather than first checking her list, and Sue displays your endorsement, she will have two keywords that mean essentially the same thing. Now if 15 people want to endorse her for this skill, she could end up with 12 endorsements for one and three for the other version of it, rather than having all 15 show in one place. A viewer quickly scanning Sue's profile may then only see the listing that has few endorsements...

The lesson? Stay away from the blue box (and endorse from the profile)!

 

One more tip: You don't have to wait to be prompted to endorse someone's skills and expertise. Why not make it a point to visit your connections' profiles and look for skills that you can actually vouch for, then endorse one or two of the ones you know to be their strengths?

Shahrzad is a holistic career counselor, trainer, speaker, and author of Nourish Your Career. If you'd like to work with her to nourish your career and life, contact her at shahrzad[at]careerconsultmd.com or visit www.careerconsultmd.com