Is it time to leave? If all day long you're saying to yourself, This job is driving me crazy and making me sick, it may be time to quit and find a better job . . . Map out a strategic plan for leaving your job at a time that best serves you. Consider how much time you need to scale back expenses, pay off debts and update your resume. Pick a specific date, say six to twelve months from today, that's convenient to you financially and career-wise - a date when you can leave this job with a good recommendation.
- Neil Fiore, executive coach.
Do you have a fan club? Have you considered the value of forming your own job-search support group? If your search will extend beyond a few weeks, the benefits may surprise you. A weekly support group of a few handpicked professionals offers you a free source of valued opinions, a wealth of pooled knowledge, an audience for brainstorming and networking, as well as moral support and some built-in accountability . . . it's a great way to give yourself an edge.
- Craig Harrison, motivational speaker and corporate trainer.
Have the job-search blues? To say that the US job-search system (if you can call it a system) is confusing and frustrating is an understatement. It can often make you feel devalued and discarded by society for weeks, months and sometimes years. Your anger is justified and understandable. But you must take steps to quiet those counterproductive emotions. The best advice any bummed-out jobseeker will receive is this: Decide what you want to do . . . exactly. You must select a functional level within a specific industry. Further, you must determine how your skills will transfer into this new job category.
- Helen Scully, career counselor.
What's your story? It is always revealing to notice which stories about our life we choose to tell . . . All these stories can be boiled down to two basic categories: passive or active. Active stories portray ourselves as basically in charge of our own life, and responsible - in whole or part - for how our life is turning out. On the other hand, passive stories portray ourselves as having been the victim of other people's actions, or some tragic event or outside force over which we had no control, so now we are not at all responsible for how our life has turned out. Which of these two basic categories we use to explain our life is of great consequence, because [it] determines whether our life is ever going to change.
What traits do successful jobseekers have? There are people who are good at jobseeking come rain or come shine . . . Why are they so good? . . . I have come up with three answers: Some are just naturally good . . . (they) are willing to change strategies, depending on the economy . . . (they) always have alternatives . . . When one thing doesn't work, they just switch over to the alternative.
- Richard Bolles, author of What Color Is Your Parachute?
Are you in transition? Feel restless? Thinking about quitting? Reexamining your needs? Reevaluating career/life goals? Lack a sense of purpose? Experienced a traumatic event such as a divorce or job loss within the past few years? Are you within a few years on either side of 30, 40, etc.? If you answered yes to three or more of these questions, you may be in a transition. If you honestly reassess who you are and where you want to go during the next decade, you'll find new meaning in your work and life.
- Carole Kanchier, author of Dare to Change Your Job - and Your Life.
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