July 2015

 

Hello!
Welcome to Driving Your Career Starts NOW/The Newsletter, showing you how you can direct and manage your career.

Be in charge of your career. Don't wait for someone else to do it for you. Your career is the treasury that funds your life, there's no parking allowed: drive it now!

         - Joanne Meehl, aka The Job Search Queen -
    Now celebrating 
12+ years 
guiding job searches! 

Change happens when you get uncomfortable 

Do you remember how you learned to drive? How klutzy you felt at first, sitting behind the wheel of the car, feeling so small and suddenly not very confident? 

But think of a time just weeks later when you were way more comfortable and finally felt free. Then fast-forward to how you drive today and how you do it all without much thought. You're now well-practiced and confident, despite that initial awkwardness.

It's the same with making change in your life and your job. Or your job search. Getting uncomfortable means you're learning and trying new things that one day soon you'll do with little effort. 

Directly related to this: Henrik Edberg of The Positivity Blog has written a super article, 20 Small Ways You Can Break Out of Your Comfort Zone and Create Positive Change which details many easy steps you can take which will generate great rewards. Edberg believes you do not need to do dramatic things to create change in your life.

Some examples:   

  • Mix up your music; listen to something different.
  • Throw out or donate stuff you haven't used in a year.
  • Try making a new dish for dinner.
  • Do a day of kindness: give up sarcasm and instead just be nice to everyone, including yourself.
  • Another, one of my favorites: Hide a note for a loved one, which will make their day.  

Each will challenge you to go beyond your comfort zone.  

Read the rest here. Then challenge yourself to make change.   

You had a vacation planned -- but now you're in job search. Uh oh.

You planned your vacation a year ago and it's coming up but now you're in job search. Hey, it's summer, why not postpone your search until September? You know, "back to school" time.

September is when everyone

else has decided to start their search. So over the summer, keep up the connecting, the zeroing in on opportunities.


 But with the economy the best it's been in 7+ years, what's the hurry?


Here's why you need to keep at it, before and after your vacation: Those in search, especially if they are management level and haven't looked for a job in 10 or more years, often tell coaches like me that they are surprised and even shocked at how long searches for good jobs do take. 

So plan your time summer off well: achieve various job search goals before you go. Enjoy yourself completely while you're away. And have a plan ready for when you've returned, to plunge back in so that you don't delay.

Bon voyage!

 

It's the July Special!
Now that it's July, we're hoping you are enjoying the gatherings of family and friends, the garden, the sun and (safe) leftover fireworks! 
Here's Joanne's July gift:  
Download your LinkedIn
 Profile 11-Point Checklist (scroll all the way down for it). We've never made this one free before! It covers 11 points in your LinkedIn profile and what content to put in each area.
This guide is free only to newsletter recipients like you for a limited time. (You'll just have to give us your email address.)



All images in this newsletter courtesy of Shutterstock.com

 


Things may come to those who wait, but only the things left by those who hustle. 

 

       - Abraham Lincoln

 

YouTube
See Joanne's videos -- all short and content-rich
 
Connect

Next Face2Face Mpls  meeting is August 6th! Topic: "Be a Fearless Interviewee"

Career Tip from Joanne: 
Don't let your hard-won connections forget you! Create a "circle back" system -- whether it's your use of email or contact management tool like JibberJobber -- to stay in touch with your network. 

The Blog:
People say
they pick up tips when they read the blog (and newsletter). I give a ton of info in each blog so take a look at the latest AND the archives.

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The Job Search Queen and The Resume Queen are trademarks held by Joanne Meehl