Career coaching and resume services for professionals searching for new jobs; Blog offers resources for career search, resume reviews and editing, the career search process and job interviews. Services available by phone or skype for worldwide locations. Strategic career services will help you identify your dream career and create a plan to find it. .
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The LifeWork Project is a 21 day e-course to help you find your path forward.
It’s the LifeWork Project - Pandemic Edition.
I’ve offered the LifeWork Project as an e-course for several years and clients have loved the simplicity of the daily assignments and the deep understanding and vision that comes from the work. The LifeWork Project has helped artists get their groove back. It has helped bored employees find real work that is satisfying and meaningful. A recent retiree used the LWP to refine her vision for retirement and now uses her skills in environmental advocacy. Even those on the corporate hamster wheel have found a path to fresh grass.
So what is the LifeWork Project? Good question - because - It’s actually a bunch of questions.
I considered calling the LWP the Life Questions Project. The LWP is basically a series of questions for you to answer about your life - questions that will:
help you asses your current situation
take a realistic look at your finances
clarify what you really value and how you want to live your life
explore your personality
take a look at the lessons you have learned from your past
make positive decisions about your next step
create a plan for living into a future that really works for you.
I call it “do-it-yourself life and career coaching”.
The LifeWork Project helps you find the answers within yourself - the keys to your next step forward.
The LWP uses the tools I have developed over years of mental health counseling and life and career coaching - tools that include journaling exercises and creative visioning experiments, along with practical worksheets and inventories.
You will receive a daily email with a short LifeWork Discovery reading and the question of the day to ponder, write about, and reflect on. Each weekend, you will try a creative LifeWork activity - something fun but helpful - and modified to fit the restrictions we are all following to stay safe and healthy.
You will start by assessing what shape your life is in right here right now - in the middle of a global pandemic and coming recession. Scary, I know, but once you look it in the eyes, you know what you’re dealing with and you can move on.
The LWP Pandemic Edition is a little more philosophical - a little more spiritual. The lockdown and resulting anxiety about life and money and jobs has us all re-thinking our lives a bit. The LWP gives you a chance to write down what you’re thinking, spend some time reflecting on what it all means, and then make good positive decisions and create a plan for your next step.
And the big bonus: For the first time, I’m creating a private group where you will have the option to share your responses, ask questions and interact with others on the same journey. I will be moderating the group - so I’ll be available virtually to answer questions about the process - and about any job search or decision making problems you encounter.
So what are you waiting for?
The LifeWork Project begins June 1, 2020 and I’ve deeply discounted the price until May 31, 2020 - trying to do my part to help us all get through this together. Normally, $89.95, the LWP Pandemic Edition is on sale for $39.
If you’ve lost your job and even that is too much, just email me at anita@bluesagecareers.com. I have a few scholarships I can offer for half the sale price.
You can read more about the LWP: Pandemic Edition here. And please just email me at anita@bluesagecareers.com if you have any questions. I’ll be glad to answer them.
Give it a try - it could be the best thing you’ve done since March.
Rescheduled for February 24,2020
Updated: May 2020: The new start date for the LifeWork Project is June 1, 2020. Check out the Pandemic edition of this popular e-course.
The LifeWork Project™ scheduled to begin in February has a new start date. Due to a computer glitch, some signups for the original start date were missed (to make a long story short.) So I’m moving the start date back a couple of weeks to sort things out and offer others a chance to be a part of the course.
What is the LifeWork Project™?
I created the LifeWork Project as a way of making career coaching more affordable. After years of doing career coaching, I’ve developed a structured set of tools - questionnaires, worksheets, journal exercises and more - to help you answer the big “What’s Next?” question in your life. All those tools are available in the LifeWork Project for a fraction of the cost of individual career coaching.
It’s a great way to get “unstuck” and to create change in your life and career.
The 3 week course consists of a daily email with a LIfeWork question of the day to ponder along with other exercises to help you along the path. You’ll be guided along a structured path toward better career and life decisions.
I hope you’ll join us for a great course!
Read more about the LIfeWork Project™ here.
Anita Flowers is a Board Certified career and life coach and resume specialist at Blue Sage Career Strategies. A little different than most life coaches, Anita’s background in clinical psychology and years of experience as a counselor gives her a rich understanding of human development and family dynamics. Her work history includes 13 years working with an international business company and 14 years doing individual and family counseling as well as career counseling. This blend of counseling and business experience gives Anita a unique perspective on the world of work and life. Anita works with people literally all over the world to help them discover a life and career they love. Contact Anita here to get started on your new career and life!
It’s only the third week of January and you’re feeling like you’ve already been hit by the bus that is the year 2020. You’re in the same job with the same annoying co-workers, massive work overload and no way forward. You have goals and dreams for yourself and your career but they keep getting lost in the endless everyday to-do list.
Are you ready to make a change? Finally and for real. It’s time to try the LifeWork™ Project.
Let me tell you how I developed the LIfeWork™ Project. When I work with clients individually, I have a very structured approach to looking at their career and their life choices. Over the years, I’ve developed a series of worksheets, questionnaires and practical exercises to help clients get unstuck, to find a way out of the day-to-day loop and to move forward. The LifeWork™ Project offers you all those tools in a 3 week e-course. The LifeWork™ Project makes career coaching affordable for everyone.
Is it time to make a change? Time to hit the refresh button on your career or to begin the process of finding a career you love? Maybe you’re bored out of your mind in your current job and you’re looking for a new challenge that better fits your life and dreams. Maybe you’ve been out of the job market for a while - in school, at home caring for others or just can’t seem to figure out what’s next for you. Maybe you just need a change.
Here are the details:
The e-course will include weekday emails delivered straight to your inbox with a LifeWork discovery reading and a question or assignment of the day to ponder. Each week you will be guided through a series of exercises, journal writing prompts, and other activities to assist you in examining your personality, identifying your strengths and transferable skills, clarifying your values and creating a career design plan with action steps for moving forward.
You will look at your personality traits and spend time looking back and learning lessons from your past plus taking time to complete a frank and honest assessment of your current situation. Finally you will design a plan for moving forward toward the career you’ve always wanted.
I’m not going to kid you - it’s an intensive course. But it can help you find the answers you are looking for.
The next e-course begins February 24, 2020. (UPDATED)
The LIfeWork Project™ includes:
Daily emails (Mon-Fri) with a LifeWork Discovery reading and a question of the day
Weekly exercises, writing prompts and other LifeWork Discovery activities plus a weekend LifeWork Challenge.
The LifeWork Values Matrix
The LifeWork Career Design Plan
Options for individual coaching throughout the process with Blue Sage Career Coach, Anita Flowers, MA are available at a discounted rate for LifeWork Project™ participants.
Registration is now live for the February course. Space in each class is limited. Take advantage of this low pricing on The LifeWork Project™ and sign up here today.
The LifeWork™ Project is on sale until the end of February 20, 2020. Don’t miss it!
Career Coaching with Anita Flowers, MA,BCC
Anita Flowers is a Board Certified career and life coach and resume specialist at Blue Sage Career Strategies. A little different than most life coaches, Anita’s background in clinical psychology and years of experience as a counselor gives her a rich understanding of human development and family dynamics. Her work history includes 13 years working with an international business company and 14 years doing individual and family counseling as well as career counseling. This blend of counseling and business experience gives Anita a unique perspective on the world of work and life. Anita works with people literally all over the world to help them discover a life and career they love. Contact Anita here to get started on your new career and life!
Photo by Bench Accounting on Unsplash
You did the work. You got a fabulous degree, great recommendations, worked your network and you got the job. The job that you thought was your dream job. It had all the things you wanted – or at least the most important things. But the reality is far from what you imagined. Maybe you’re working crazy long hours. Maybe your new boss is the micromanager from hell. Maybe the non-profit job where you thought you could make a difference in the world turns out to be mostly paperwork and promises. You fill in the blanks.
You thought it was going to be a great job. But it’s not.
I recently worked with a client who could tell you this story. He had worked hard to land just the right position in a tough to crack field. We worked together to update his resume, find the right contacts, and even prep a few interview answers. He got the job. It was great!
… and then it wasn’t. His ‘dream’ job turned out to be a nightmare. From the outside, it looked fabulous. But like many Instagram shots, what was just outside the frame was a total mess. His boss was the ultimate micromanager with an alcohol problem. Co-workers rarely stayed long enough in the job to develop any sense of teamwork. And the whole system was stuck. Any suggestions of change were quickly torpedoed by the upper management. So, he called me back after just a year on the job with the questions:
“Now what?”
“How do I fix this?”
“ How long do I tough it out?”
Those are the questions. What do you do? How long do you stay before hopping over to Indeed and shooting resumes everywhere? What are the best strategies?
Conventional wisdom says its best to stay at least 12-18 months in a job. At that point, you’ve survived the learning curve that comes with on-boarding and learning new procedures. You know your work team and probably passed your first evaluation. You have gotten through the ups and downs of a calendar year. Most likely, you now understand the culture and mission of the organization – for good or bad. You have developed relationships with co-workers, or not, which is a big red flag. You have a year of experience with your boss. Is he or she always a tyrant? Or just when stress and deadlines prevail? There’s value in reaching the year mark.
However, no benchmark works for everyone. Sometimes, an early reboot of the job search is warranted – even with just three to six months on the job. Only you can decide if it’s time to update your resume and begin the job search again.
Here are some strategies for coping when your dream job turns out to be a dud.
First, it’s important to dig deep into why you’re unhappy. Take some time to write down those things that you just can’t stand about your new job. Get really specific. Is it one person who seems to drag you down? Is the paper overload temporary or is it part of the company norm? Are you feeling isolated because you moved to a new city? Are you in a cubicle with no window? Take some time to think about why you were drawn to this job. What about it made you think it was your dream job? What are your great disappointments now?
Write it all down and sleep on it. The next day, take a look at your list. Is it still valid? Or do you immediately begin adding new items?
Second, consider the possibilities for change within your new job. Many times, new hires get the dregs of the job. As you gain the trust and confidence of your new employer, will your duties shift? Are there opportunities for promotion or even a lateral move to a slightly different position? As you become more familiar with the job, will you develop strategies for working faster or more efficiently? Is there a supervisor or someone in HR you can talk with to develop a strategy to change those parts of the job that are dragging you down?
Your manager doesn’t support you. You’ve asked for additional opportunities or challenges to no avail. Maybe you met with your boss to talk about possible changes in your position or consulted HR about a lateral move and hit a dead end. You feel unsupported by your boss or the management team.
The old adage is really true. People leave bosses, not companies. Bad managers can make us more miserable than any other aspect of our jobs – including other co-workers or the actual work itself. A Gallup study of more than 7,000 U.S. adults found that 50% of people have left a job to get away from their manager at some point in their career.
There’s no path for advancement with the organization. You’re working your fingers to the bone, staying late to get things done and there’s no recognition for the good job. Maybe there’s someone in the position above you who’s never going to leave the company. Maybe it’s the boss’s nephew or son or daughter. Maybe it’s the employee who’s been there for years and everyone loves. It doesn’t matter. The reality is that you can’t move up because no one else is moving on.
The company is struggling. Maybe it’s not you but that the company is in real trouble. This causes stress in upper management which then pours down upon the heads of the worker bees. Watch out for signs such as budget cuts, contracting out work, failing to give regular raises, limited funds for upgrades in software and equiqment or continuing education, etc. If so, that’s a clue to update your resume. Now.
Your dream job is affecting your physical health. You may be suffering stress related symptoms such as digestive issues, back, neck or other muscle pain, TMJ, insomnia, headaches, fatigue, etc. The list is long. Check in with your doctor. If possible, take some days off to address your physical health and make a plan to deal with the job issue long term.
Your job is affecting your mental health. You find yourself really dreading Monday – more than just the normal Monday blues. Sundays feel like a bottomless pit of dread. Evenings after work are filled with numbing out with Netflix or an entire bottle of wine. You’re not communicating with – or you’re yelling at – your spouse and the kids. You find yourself thinking of ways to avoid going to work – sick days or invented crises.
Or you’re thinking about suicide. Yes, I said it. It happens. It’s time to find a counselor or doctor, talk it out, get some meds if needed, and make a change. No job is worth your mental health.
If you realize that your dream job is truly a dud, or even worse, a toxic waste dump, it’s time to move on. Recognize that disappointment and grief will be part of the process of moving on. You had such high hopes for this job. So let yourself feel all the feels – sadness, anger, disappointment, and all the others. – and then pick yourself up and make a plan.
Remember that sometimes an unexpected failure can turn out to be a positive. Failures can jolt you into new ways of things. Take the time to stop and think deeply about how the situation turned out. What changes can you make? What have you learned from this experience?
Think creatively about your future. Where can you go from here? What new skills have you learned in this job? What contacts have you made in your job that you can reach out to possibilities? Maybe this “dream job” was just a stepping stone to something even better.
How to create an ASCII or plain text resume and when you need to use one. Have you ever been asked to submit an ASCII or plain text resume for an onine job application? It’s a resume that’s been stripped of most formatting in order to be scanned by an applicant tracking system. An ASCII or plain text resume is an electronic resume in plain text that any type of computer or software can read. Forget those lovely Pinterest worthy resume layouts. An ASCII resume is just plain ugly. But it gets your job history, skills and experience past the bots and gets the job done.
ASCII (pronounced "askee") is an acronym for American Standard Code for Information Interchange. ASCII text is used for entering (or pasting) your resume information into online submission forms and for pasting your resume into the body of an e-mail.
Due to the sheer volume of applications that are submitted to online job applications, most companies use a computer system called ATS - applicant tracking system, to scan resumes looking for keywords that match the job description. Converting your resume to ASCII before pasting it into an online job application form ensures it will display properly and be read correctly by the system. Fancy formatting, graphics, columns, unusual fonts and bullets may not be read correctly by the ATS - or even read at all. Your resume may be rejected before even reaching the hiring manager.
Read More8 Warning Signs that it’s Time to Look for a New Job. Do you dread each and every Monday morning? Are you being passed over for promotions or find it hard to see a good future with your current company? Is your workplace toxic? It may be time to consider a job change.
Read MoreAlmost every college and university uses the Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) in their career guidance office. A quick google search will turn up a list of career possibilities for each of the 16 personality types. Scores of books have been written about the type indicator and the Jungian theory it is based upon. It has been loved, and scorned, for 70 years since it’s creation by the American mother-daughter team, Katherine Briggs and Isabel Briggs Myers.
So is it worth it? How can the MBTI help you find a career and a life you love?
Read More
It’s a question I’m asked by every career coaching client I work with. What job sites should I use to find a job? There’s a long list out there - Monster, Simply Hired, LinkedIn, Indeed, Glassdoor, ZipRecruiter, Career Builder and many, many more. Which is the best? Job searching takes a lot of time. Which job site is worth spending that valuable time on?
Based on my experience with job-hunting clients, along with a great in-depth analysis from reviews.com, here are my top picks for job sites that might actually land you an interview. These are in no particular order - but I think they are the best of the bunch.
GlassDoor. GlassDoor has the most new postings each day, according to reviews.com. In a 2 week test, GlassDoor had 30% more new posts than the competition. GlassDoor allows you to search by job title, key responsibilities, company and location. It also provides anonymous company reviews on the corporate culture and salary information. It’s a great site if you want to research the company that you might be working for. It’s also a place to check out career fields if you’re not quite sure what your next move will be.
Indeed wins for the best coverage. Lots of jobs that are posted in niche job boards and other places will show up here. Employers can post on Indeed for free - so that increases the odds that jobs will be posted here. It’s a Google-like search engine for jobs and pulls in information from job boards, company listings and news sites.
Linked In - Recruiting and hiring managers stalk Linked In. I have been contacted by recruiters with job possibilities for myself - and I’m not looking for a job! On Linked In, you can search for jobs and then see people in your network who have connections to that company. That's pure gold for networking! Posting a profile is free and you can find friends and others to connect to. Online networking works if you take it to the next level.
You need to check out niche job boards. These boards exist for every industry. Check out your national association or google 'your industry + job board'. For example, if you’re looking for a job in nursing, google “nursing job board” and you will find nurse.com or nursingjobs.com. For retail, you might look at workinretail.com or AllRetailJobs.com.
And finally….
This leads me to the last step. Again from Reviews.com: Steve Dalton is a program director for Daytime Career Services at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business, and the author of The 2-Hour Job Search. Here’s his quote about job search sites. “It’s the black hole everybody thinks it is. For every one person hired through an online job application program, 12 are hired by an internal referral, according to a 2012 hiring study at the New York Fed.”
Yep. This fits with my experience as a career coach. What gets you hired is “who you know” - also known as networking. An internal referral means a person that the company trusts gave your name and resume to HR. Internal referrals can be a friend, or a friend of a friend or a friend of a friend of a friend on LInkedIn. Use the tools above to research job opportunities and find out what companies are hiring. And then check your network.. and then your extended network on Linked In to find anyone you know connected to that industry. Contact them. Take them to lunch. It really is what works.
Check out the websites. Create a network. Join your local association of whatever. Create a profile on Linked In and work it. Call your uncle and your friends and that person you met at the restaurant. Call me if you think you don’t have a network. I’ll help you find one. And call me if you want help sorting out the online job search sites. We'll work it out.
6 seconds. That’s the average amount of time a hiring manager takes to scan your resume and sort it into either the possibility pile or the trash bin.
6 seconds.
Hiring managers receive a average of 75 resumes for each position. For some jobs, the number is 100-200 or more resumes for each position. You’ve got 6 seconds to make sure your resume makes the first cut and doesn’t end up in the trash.
You’ve decided it’s time to find a new job. Whether you’re a new college graduate or just ready for a change, it’s tempting to slap a resume together and start hitting apply on every job position you see on Indeed. But there are a few essential steps you need to take before hitting that SUBMIT button. Completing these basic steps will make your job search go more smoothly and will greatly improve your chances of landing the job you’ve always wanted
Strategic career coach specializing in career coaching and resume building for professionals searching for new careers and jobs. Services available by phone or skype for locations worldwide. Career strategies and services include coaching, job interview practice and job search advice, resume reviews and editing, and resources for work and life issues. Life coaching also available.
OVERLOOKING THE CAPE OF GOOD HOPE IN SOUTH AFRICA
I'm glad you're here. I'm Anita. You'll find tips about everything career related - how to find a job you love, career search strategies, resume help, conversations about work, life and family, and much more. You can find out more about me here.
If you're interested in working with me, contact anita@bluesagecareers.com.
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