Take those contract jobs!

If you ever get an offer to do a contract job and you are unemployed, my advice is to take the job even if it pays you less than what you were making in your last job.

A contract job will:

• open doors to new opportunities that may lead into permanent positions
• increase your job history
• show potential employers that  you have made an effort in your job search
• maintain your skills in the workplace
• increase your opportunity to networking circles

Many times, people fall into a concept of idealism and don't realize that rejecting those jobs is rejecting opportunities.

March Forward!

March forward is the attitude we should be having at the moment. Things are slowly picking up and companies are hiring....slowly. So what can you do if you don't have a lead or an interview?
It's time to brush up on your resume, relook at the projects you did at your last job where you exceled at. The number 1 mistake that people do is they forget to mention the Powerpoint presentation that gave the "ooohs" from the audience they were presenting to. Or the fundraising event that gave your company a good name. The reason why is that when folks get layed off, they tend to be reactive and be in panic mode and forget that looking for a new job is a full time job. This means you have to redo you resume over and over again just like any project you have to do at work. My advice is take the time to reflect and do a bit of soul searching. I know that sounds new age but the reality is that you are the only one that knows what you have done and are capable of doing.

What happens if you have a void in your resume due to job searching? The number 1 answer that comes to mind is you've been looking all that time. Why not think about the volunteer work you did in the mean time? Or the personal projects you've always wanted to work on and you finally did? It is imperative to describe the time and the action, task, and the mission you were trying to accomplish during this time. You will be surprise what you've accomplished when you put in down on paper. You may think or worry that it won't look professional but there are ways. For example, you were helping your daughter sell girl scout cookie. How would you mention that on a resume? This is how:

Volunteer Work:

Fundraiser Leader: Girl Scout Association of New England (GSANE)(or wherever)- Developed and implemented fundraising strategies to increase funds for GSANE. Strategically sent massive promotional detailing to corporation and small businesses. Increase sales from 5% to 15% in the course of a monthly timeframe....Blah Blah Blah. Get the point? Ok, now its you turn to try this out.

Have fun do this...you'll be suprise what you come up with, resourcefully speaking.

Love yourself by being passionate...

It's Valentine's month and its a reminder to think about your loved ones. However, the most important person you should be thinking about is yourself. Love yourself by being passionate about something you want to do or learn.

As the economy slowly recovers, it is a great time investing in yourself. Yes, this means go back to school and learn something new. As you can see, unemployment rates are still high (currently 9.2 in MA), and jobs need to be created. While new businesses are being invested, and new technology is being discovered ( like in green technology), take the time to figure out what might get you hired and balance it in what you want to do. Without passion, you don't have drive, without drive, you don't have direction.

Even though this process isn't instantaneous, you need to start somewhere and soon. Do it even if it fails. With failure, you gain knowledge or lessons learned. Most importantly, this leads to experience. And if you have experience, you can add it on your resume and it can only make you look more marketable in the workplace. Its all cyclical and all positive, resourcefully speaking.

A New Wave to the New Year.

And so it's the new year and I'm sure you made your new year's resolutions. Typically, the #1 resolution to the new year is "Lose Weight". But if you think about it, hasn't that been everyone's resolution too, every year? So why make that a resolution when you can do it any time of year? Granted, it is a good one but how about a twist on it? Losing weight really makes you think about your body and essentially your health but since we haven't exactly got off the recession blues, we really need to lose weight from our mind set.

Don't get me wrong, its is important to be in good health but we tend to neglect our major muscle, our brain! With lay offs and the current economy, our concerns and stress levels really adds a lot of weight and I believe that in the year, we need to think about alleviating some of it.

Being layed off myself, I found a lot of comfort in these depressing times. Almost every person I met during the holidays mentioned being layed off or business is slow. I'm even surprised that the malls didn't close down! But they didn't which showed me that people have some reservation to buy, buy, buy. Why? Because things aren't that hopeless. And there are other forms of income. Like unemployment...still taxable and income. Also, it gave me new insight to investing in stocks which I'm gaining some serious gain...tech stocks and medical devices...never goes wrong. I figured if I got laid off from a tech company due to an acquistion, the stock will go up if the mother company is doing well. Sure enough, I was right! You see, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Also, since I know that companies are going through adjustment with reduction, it will be a while till they look for new hires. So I started an online business for added income and I'm already making some small cash. Small but still cash.

Besides, monetary investments, folks should invest in knowledge and act upon inspiring thoughts. If you aren't working, what have you got to lose at this point? This is a great time to take a course or certification to learn something new...anything new. You never know where it can lead you. I mean... seriously, all of us are fascinated with reality TV because we find it amusing or perhaps inspiring. We often can relate to the characters. Take celebrities like Donny and Marie Osmond...without "Dancing with the Stars", I don't think they would have made a serious come back. Look at them now. Marie lost all that weight and a spoke person to some form of Jenny Craig and Donny won the trophy and both of them are headliners in Vegas now! These two were folks were popular way back then...I remember the 70's...I was four. To top it off, they are brother and sister! I could never sing with my brother!

I believe there are always opportunites even if you're not looking. Having such a productive time during my unemployed life, I watched an episode on Ellen. There was this prodigy who played the piano and composed music. This 9 year old has her own website and selling her music and probably making millions. The other day, I watched the view who had millionaire tweens...yes tweens! What's wrong with this? Nothing! It bugs me that I hear folks from my generation and older who complain and focuses on the negative and say they are thinking about doing something. Y'know just do it even if it fails. You can always learn from your mistakes. So I decided to get my children's book published. A story I wrote 10 years ago. It took me 10 years to finally decide to get it published.

I think it's fair to say that losing negativity and stress will alleviate a lot of weight off of your mind. To gain knowledge and to act on opportunity is a great new year's resolution, resourcefully speaking.