What is Your Spirit Sleep Animal

What is Your Spirit Sleep Animal You know those times at work where you can barely keep your eyes open, but feel everyone else is cracking on? Or when youre just getting going at a party, but your mate is ready to call it a night? Well, the key to these mysteries may lie in learning what your ‘sleep animal’ is; according to Sleep Doctor, Dr. Michael Breus, once you know yours, you can better understand your health, wellbeing, and productivity. In his book ‘The Power of When’, Dr. Breus categorizes individuals into four chronotypes (internal body clock cycles) which include the bear, dolphin, wolf, and lion. He has formulated a diagnostic quiz to determine which sleep animal you are. Your chronotype will tell you what time of day is best for your creativity and when you should ideally eat, sleep and exercise to get the best result. It claims to show you how to work with your body and reach your potential. The demands of work appear to be increasing for everyone. At the same time, the daily patterns of workâ€"the how and especially the when and whereâ€"are growing more diverse. So, based on Dr. Breus’ quiz, The French Bedroom Company have put together a flowchart to help you determine your sleep animal and start the journey to better optimizing your life, check it out below! You’re a Dolphin! You’re part of just 10% of the population who class themselves as ‘Dolphins’. The dolphin chronotype is usually associated with those who suffer from insomnia or who have a low sleep drive. They’re highly intelligent perfectionists who may often be stressed and anxious. At work, they’re fiercely independent and excel at problem-solving. Dolphins should hit the hay later than most, practicing yoga or meditation for relaxation to avoid that awful feeling of lying in bed without being able to drift off to sleep. Dr Breus says that dolphins should get their heads down at around 11.30pm. You’re a Bear! Bears are the most common chronotypes; about 50% of the population identifies as ‘Bears’. “Bears like to get their seven to eight hours, but they’ll hit snooze a few times in the morning,” Dr. Breus explains, taking on their trickiest tasks between 10 am and 12 pm. They should also take a nap in the afternoon, although this might not be acceptable if you’re working a 9-5 shift! According to Dr. Breus, a bear is an outgoing, “team-player.” Their people skills are on-point, so they make great managers. You’re a Lion! You’ve joined around 15%-20% of the population as a ‘lion’. Lions are early risers and are full of energy in the morning, raring to take on the day, but they run out of steam when early evening rolls around. Those in the lion category should wake early (around 5.30am); “they’re optimistic goal-setters and get-it-done people,” says Dr. Breus. He adds that they’re also leaders with analytical minds. They often take on leadership positions, but they don’t take risks. You’re a Wolf! Not a morning person, but thrive in the evening? You, along with 15%-20% of the population, could well be a wolf. Wolves usually get up between 7 and 7.30am, after staying up late the night before, using two alarms to break the surface of sleep. People describe wolves as fearless, Dr. Breus explains. They view the world through an intuitive lens and they’re totally fine with being awake when most people are deep in their dreams. Risky situations are where they feel most at home, so they’ll often act on impulse. You’ll find them working in creative fields like the arts. Regardless of what your sleep animal is, you still need a good nights sleep! About the author: Joseph Kiely is a Digital Marketing Executive at Return.

Theater Resume Examples - The Best Way to Improve Your Chances

Theater Resume Examples - The Best Way to Improve Your ChancesIf you have applied for a position in the theater field and were not contacted for an interview, then your odds of being called back for an interview are pretty low. It is a bad sign when the theater resume examples you used don't catch the attention of the human resources department at the theater company that has invited you for an interview. There are several things you can do to improve your chances of being called back for an interview.The first thing you should remember is that the theater has a very specific training and experience requirement for any one who wants to become a part of the theatrical profession. Those that have previously been working as an employee of the theater are usually most likely to be invited for interviews by the company. It would be foolish to apply for the job without a solid record of theatrical experience. In fact, most theater companies will only call you back if you have worked with t he company in some capacity before.As an example, let's say you have recently joined the company and applied with all of the theater resume examples you could find. In your online application, you mention that you worked at a local community theater before, but you didn't mention how many years. It is common for theater companies to check on the work history of anyone they hire to ensure that they will work well within the company and have a work ethic that will make them a good fit.As you may already know, it is important to keep your job security from your previous employers in mind when applying for the job of your dreams. Most of the time, theater companies have a particular number of openings for each position. Usually, those jobs go fast and there is very little room for error when selecting the new talent. You are better off to begin looking for the next position in January than in October.Another way to improve your chances of being invited back for an interview is to look a t the theater resume examples that are readily available. Since it is common knowledge that theater companies use theater resume examples for hiring purposes, many writers have written tons of them for them to use in their recruitment efforts. While it is true that some resume examples are written with the intention of helping other theater people write their own resumes, a lot of these examples are also helpful for career changers because they can learn a lot about writing a good resume and how to relate it to the specific requirements of the company they are seeking employment with.It is highly recommended that you download a few of these examples and examine them in detail to see if they can help you in preparing for the interview and making yourself stand out among the hundreds of others who are vying for the same position as you. One of the reasons why so many people fail at interviews is because they think too much about what they should be saying when they meet the interviewe r. The simple truth is that when interviewing with theater personnel, you should be as relaxed as possible and focus on how you should present yourself to the company.A case scenario for you would be if you were interviewing for a vacant role as an assistant director. While a lot of your experiences and educational qualifications should be included in your theatre resume examples, you might want to highlight some of your first foray into the theatre world. It is not necessary that you have worked with the company before. You might mention that you worked as a stagehand during college and that you did your first small part in a show while still in college.Remember that theater resume examples are a great tool in improving your chances of being called back for an interview, but you need to use them in a smart manner. One of the best ways to avoid doing yourself a disservice is to download a few theater resume examples, take notes and compile your potential resume to showcase your arti stic skills as a professional.

On the Job by Anita Bruzzese 3 Ways to Quit Being So Rude With Technology

On the Job by Anita Bruzzese 3 Ways to Quit Being So Rude With Technology In the good old days, you put in your time at work then went home. The boss didnt bug you after hours unless it was an emergency, and co-workers didnt bother you at home because they didnt want to think about work, either. But these days, its not unusual to have an e-mail arrive from the boss at 2 a.m., or have co-workers call you at night, on weekends and even on vacation. You no longer sit and simply enjoy time off you are tethered to your job through all sorts of electronic gadgets. And, even if the boss or your colleagues arent trying to contact you, in all honesty, youre probably trying to contact them. Is it that our work has become so critical that we cant take even one night off? That our vacations are nothing but telecommuting in disguise? That were so critical to the success of our employer that we must stay connected 24/7?For as long as there has been work, there have been workaholics. So, working a lot is nothing new. What has changed is that ju st as technology has helped us do our jobs better, it has also helped us do our jobs worse. So, if we're awake at 3 a.m. and can't sleep, instead of getting a glass of warm milk and watching the clouds drift over the moon from our kitchen window -- we'll get on the computer and work.Instead of giving ourselves down time, we work. While studies have shown multitasking to not only impact our creativity and make us less productive -- now we're determined to make others just as miserable. So we bombard others with e-mails and texts that demand a reaction.Maybe it's time to take a deep breath and think before reaching for that computer key or text button. Some ideas: Be stingy with the attachments. Is firing off a quick e-mail with an attachment that will take three hours for the other person to read really fair? What does that say about how you respect the other person's time if you inundate them with material just to avoid a face-to-face interaction that might solve the problem more q uickly and efficiently? Set guidelines. Get together with colleagues and agree that you're going to be more cognizant of when to use technology and when not to. Get colleagues -- and bosses -- to decide no more Blackberries, pagers or cell phones will be allowed in meetings. Mass e-mails will only be sent in dire circumstances. Anyone who violates the policy more than once has to buy everyone coffee the next morning.Be sender sensitive. Before sending an electronic or voice message, consider where, when and how the person will be receiving it. Do you really need to send a message on the weekend? Is it really fair to send urgent work to someone coming off a week-long business trip? Can your message wait until the person finishes up a big project? Be aware of the stresses everyone faces on the job, and how your actions contribute to that.What are some other ways we can use -- or not use -- technology better?Social Bookmarking

Secrets of successful yoga studios, and tactics to examine ideas that suck

Secrets of successful yoga studios, and tactics to examine ideas that suck The title of this post should really be 5 Steps to Have a Career that Makes the World a Better Place. But the first thing about making the world a better place is that if you really want to do that, youll have to make some compromises. Like, I have to write blog  post titles  that will rank high in Google searches instead of writing the titles I feel most like writing. Ive been on a yoga rampagegoing to yoga every day for two weeks. I have gone to classes in Madison, WI, Chicago and LA. And Ive noticed that people who open yoga studios are probably going to fail. Heres what they need to know: 1. Bringing peace is not a differentiator. Of course every yoga studio brings peace, harmony, and blah blah blah. That doesnt make the studio special enough to compete with the 10,000 other yoga studios around them. 2. Personality is a differentiator. To a non-pro, most classes are similar, but either hard or easy. This means the differentiator is how the teacher talks during the poses. Are you calm and soothing? Are you funny and irreverent? If you just tell people the list of poses youll do, you arent special at all. Yoga classes are like blogs: the information is a commodity and the personality is the differentiator. 3. The real money is in workshops. Of course teaching 100 people over a weekend is more profitable than 50 over the course of a week. So do workshops. But you have to have your own studio to get invited to workshops. So the studio is marketing for the workshops and the workshop is marketing of your brand so you get big enough and dont need to teach studio hours. 4. Yoga teachers are selling product not practice. You cant sell yoga to peoplethe customers already know they should do it. You need to sell them something else, something only you have: the community you create with the studio, a special type of practice, or maybe exorbitantly priced clothes  in the waiting area (which is almost like selling blue jeans to miners during the gold rush). 5. If you want to do yoga, take a class, dont run a class. Yoga teachers are more about talking and marketing. They are not actually getting paid to do yoga. People do not get paid to do yoga. They do yoga for free, to get peace and harmony. Okay. So you think the yoga stuff doesnt apply to you, but it does. Running a business is about marketing and sales. If you want to change the world in a direct way, you should work for someone. When you have a steady paycheck, you can focus on helping people instead of drumming up business. If you work for someone then they can worry about sales and marketing and you can worry about direct action. Direct action is a word people use in the nonprofit world, mostly to convey frustration with the fact that they sign up to help people but they are so far removed from the people they help, writing proposals, grants, research, and so oneverything but helping directly. People who want to do good should do good. People who want to earn money have to find a good fit for them to earn money. If you need to earn a lot of money, you will need to do something that most people cant do (write high-level code) or dont want to do (give up their personal life to run a big company). Most of us would benefit from a more broad view of helping people. For example, working at a company that sells widgets and being an amazing manager  actually improves the lives of employees and their families. Also, people who want to take care of people and cant stand doing work that doesnt relate to that should probably be parents. There are very few jobs that are truly just taking care of people. And most of them pay very poorly, if at all. So you may as well do it for your own family, where the pay is not so important. Its ridiculous that we dont think of taking care of a family as a career path. Thats a good path for some people. Just like earning a shit-load of money is a good career path for other people. In fact, those two types of  people should marry each other. Actually, this brings us to the real key to opening a successful yoga studio: marry one of those middle-aged divorced guys who hang out in the back of the room, struggling in downward dog, who have more money than God. You know who Im talking about. Alec Baldwin is the Hollywood poster boy for rich-guy-marries-yoga-teacher, but hes just the tip of the cliched iceberg. Keep your yoga studio running long enough to marry one of those guys and then theyll fund it. You think Im cynical. But Im not. I just know a good idea when I see one. Heres one: Kid Rock was trying to figure out how to compete with free downloads and he wanted to release an album with a cover that had a picture of someone snorting cocaine off the cover of a CD and the title would be You Cant Do This On An MP3. Great marketing. Id buy the CD even though I dont have a record player. Another idea: A guy was a bartender and people kept asking him if they could charge their iPhones behind the counter so they dont get stolen. So he invented a charging station that works like a locker. You lock up your iPhone while it charges, but you can leave it there. How can you not love that idea? A yoga teacher wants personal growth and peace and serenity and the yoga teacher wants to bring that to other people. But thats not a great idea. Thats just being a nice person. Alex Stoddard is an eighteen year old who takes photos of himself in remarkable but oddly relatable positions. (The photos on this post dont do justice to Stoddards portfolio. Go to My Modern Metropolis to see more.) His ability to balance remarkable and relatable in the context of serenity and loneliness actually meets the same goals that the yoga teacher has, but he does it in a way that is fresh and new and (in a moment of grand social justice) he can make money doing it, by selling the prints. Thats a good idea. My point is that we know what a good idea looks like. It moves us in some way. We nod because we get it and we feel connected. A yoga studio that helps you have peace of mind is not one of those things. Do what you love, fine, okay. I think its terrible advice, but it only works if you also do what other people value. Better advice is focus on what you can do that is special. And recognize when your ideas are stupid. A stupid idea is one that does not create value for people around you. Its charming, actually. Its the belief that we are here to help each other with our ideas. So dont be delusional about your idea. A yoga studio is generally a wish that your own passion is a gift to other people. But ironically, most yoga teachers who start studios are not paying attention to other people at all. And most entrepreneurs who are raking in money are paying very careful attention to what helps other people. Its very hard to evaluate our own ideas. Its so hard to see when youre a cliche. Its hard to see when youre special. So look for someone to respond immediately with a look of a light bulb going off in their head. Otherwise you risk being a non-differentiated yoga teacher, or worse, a middle-aged man chasing her.

Writing Federal Government Executive Resume Using EcQs

Writing Federal Government Executive Resume Using EcQsWriting Federal Government Executive Resume is a process that will start with the introduction of the candidate. Then it proceeds to the resume section which is the place where the candidate will introduce his or her background. The resume that you send to Federal Government agencies will start from the introduction of the candidate.Resumes should always be based on facts, there are several factors that will go into the making of a resume. In this article, we will go through the points that you need to keep in mind while writing Federal Government Executive Resume.One of the most important things to do before writing a resume is to read about the candidate. Do not just sit down and write it without having some idea of the candidate. Read some of the resumes of the candidates and read some of the letters of recommendation that have been written by the companies that they worked for. It is very important to understand the kind of pe rsonality that you are going to be dealing with and that the person has a potential to grow.A candidate's profile should not only be based on his or her educational background, but also on the work experience that he or she has done in the past. Many candidates tend to forget the work experience section and just concentrate on the education section. This should not be the case as it is a key part of your resume.You should know how to use ECQs to write a strong resume. If you are not familiar with the acronym, the acronym is the acronym of EcRisk-Edge Requirement Checklist and it is defined by the WorkForce Assessment Program (WAP). The acronym should not be considered an abbreviation. You can use it because it is the best tool for you to use in writing a strong resume.This acronym was used by consultants who work with federal agencies to determine if the candidate's use of appropriate formats and text formatting goes in sync with the federal standards. There are some points that a c andidate should consider while writing a resume. There should be references to relevant experience and current positions. If the person has any work experience that has been lost or cut off, they should add it.The next key point is that you should give your experiences of leadership in all categories. There are several professionals that do not consider this as an important aspect of the resume. When writing a resume, it is important to include leadership experiences, technical and non-technical leadership experience, work experience and education.The EcQs assess each of these components and choose the strongest and most appropriate part of the resume. In addition, you should avoid using subheadings. You should be able to create your own heading. The only exception is for you to include the author's name.

Top 10 Most Popular Career Pivot Posts for 2017 - Career Pivot

Top 10 Most Popular Career Pivot Posts for 2017 - Career Pivot Top 10 Career Pivot Posts I wanted to share with you the top 10 Career Pivot posts that were published in 2017. I have published a similar post the last several years. I changed my posting strategy in the middle of 2017 to create new posts every Monday and update a previous post from 3-4 years earlier on Wednesday. I usually expand the old posts by adding 50-75% new material. This will be the first of two posts that details what Career Pivot readers found interesting in 2017. This post focuses on the most popular articles published in 2016. Next month’s post will list what readers found most often via Google. That will be aninteresting list! Let’s get started. #1 â€" Dealing with that Directionless Feeling [Updated] At various times in our careers, we may feel directionless. This is particularly true when our skills are rendered obsolete or industries have died. In my case, it was when I made a career pivot to being a high school math teacher, teaching Algebra I and II, in an inner-city school in 2004. I pursued this after anear fatal bicycle accidentcreated amoment of clarityfor me. I taught for 2 years and was highly successful. The reality was I could not be a successful school teacher AND stay healthy. The experience drained me of my strength and sparked multiple bouts of depression. I left teaching after the fall semester of my 2nd year drained but, more importantly, directionless. Click here to read the entire post. #2 â€" Free Version of LinkedIn is Dead. May It Rest in Peace. I am declaring that the free version of LinkedIn is dead, may it rest in peace. I contributed the following quote to the Career Sherpa’s post31 EXPERTS SHARE PREDICTIONS FORJOB SEARCH IN 2017: The assimilation of LinkedIn into Microsoft will mean an acceleration of new features along with higher fees. I have somewhat of a unique perspective on the acquisition of LinkedIn by Microsoft as I have been through 2 high-profile tech acquisitions in the last 15+ years: Agere Inc. was acquired by Lucent Technologies for $415M in 2000 LifeSize Communications was acquired by Logitech for $405M in 2009 The chipset that Agere Inc. produced is now profitable and alive as part of Intel. LifeSize Communications was later spun out of Logitech and is still alive but… barely. Click here to read the entire post. #3 â€" What are Your Natural Talents and How to Find Them? [Updated] A quandaryI find many people have is identifying their natural talents. They can tell you all about the skills that have acquired. We are paid to exercise our skills, which may or may not be built on top of our natural talents. If you are not sure of the difference between talents and skills read my postTalents versus Skills â€" Do you know the difference? I have been taking myself through a few exercises. I have found it quite interesting and thought-provoking. Click here to read the entire post. #4 â€" Strategic Networking Playbook â€" Who, How and When! Often when I talk about strategic networking, people will immediately think of networking events. Their palms will get sweaty as they would rather get a root canal surgery than walk into a room full of strangers. I now say strategic relationships becausethere is no relationship building at a networking event! Relationships are created after the event when you sit down and meet one on one. You get to know one another and find common ground. What strategic relationships should you have? This is the “who” of strategic networking. Click here to read the entire post. #5 â€"10 Career Experts Share Their 2017 Baby Boomer Predictions It is January of 2017 and it is time to look to some experts for their predictions and prognostications for the coming year. The impetus for this post came from the Hannah Morgan’s post31 Experts Share Predictions forJob Search in 2017where I threw in my 2 cents.However, a lot of these predictions target the general job market or even the biggest segment Gen Y. What about Baby Boomers? I decided to ask 10 Career experts to provide their baby boomer predictions for 2017. Click here to read the entire post. #6 â€"What is Your Current Salary? How to Answer! [Updated] I’m sure you have been asked early in the interview process,“What is your current salary?” If it was up to me, I would have everyone respond indignantlyâ€"None of your %^%#( business! However, that does not work in our current work environment. So, how should you answer the question,“What is your current salary?” I have a client who, just the other day, was asked this by a recruiter. It was the beginning of a series of interviews or, as I call it, she was going torun the gauntlet. My client very politely said it was early in the process and that she would discuss salary later. It was all about total compensation, benefits, yadda, yadda, yadda. Pretty standard response. The recruiter persisted in wanting to know. She finally said, “We need to know whether we can afford you. What is your current salary?” My client broke down and told her, but added twenty thousand. It turns out that this was in her range. I told my client I would have turned it around. Oh, you want to know whether you can afford me?What have you budgeted for this position and I can tell you whether you are within my range? Make them give you a number! Click here to read the entire post. #7 â€" 8 Ways Older Job Seekers Invite Age Unconscious Bias on Social Media [Guest Post] Job seekers after 55 have a hard (but not impossible) task of finding work. Many find themselves searching for much lower paying jobs, creating a business, or both. Employers and recruiters look for ways to exclude candidates such as baby boomers. One way is to check to see if he or she has a social media profile, and next what does someone’s timeline say about them. Older and younger job seekers are not as conscientious about personal brand awareness as they should. Although we see many people talk about transparency, there are limits. There are absolutes needing privacy like medical information or personal affiliations. There are other things people share offer more unneeded scrutiny: Click here to read the entire post. #8 â€" Do Your Skills Match Your Interests in Your Career [Updated] We develop a lot of skills throughout our career. Most of us learn these skills because they are in demand by our employer or industry. Our interests are aligned with our talents. If you are not sure of the difference between your talents versus your skills please read the postTalents versus Skills â€" Do you know the difference? What happens when your skills are not aligned with your interests? We get bored, burned out or left behind. Click here to read the entire post. #9 â€" 10 No-Fail Ways to Get Your Resume by Resume Screeners [Guest Post] Copyright: rawpixel / 123RF Stock Photo Ten years ago, you would’ve written your resume solely with the hiring manager in mind. Today, your audience is still the hiring manager, but also resume screeners. Resume screeners, also called “applicant tracking systems”, search, filter and parse each resume to determine which candidates are the best fit for the position. This all happens before the hiring manager even sees them. What does ATS mean for you? Your audience should shift slightly away from the hiring manager in favor of ATS. Check out these 10 no-fail ways to get your resume by ATS. Click here to read the entire post. #10 â€" A Near Fatal Bicycle Accident Was Actually a Mammoth Gift My near fatal bicycle accident on July 11th of 2002 changed my life for the better. You read that correctly, that fatal day was actually a mammoth gift in disguise. All I remember was cresting the hill before descending into the blind curve. There are glimpses of memory in the emergency room with my wife, Lotus. After that, it was waking up in the hospital, a brace on my neck with a morphine drip in my arm. The car had been going 30 miles per hour. I was doing 20+. I evidently totaled the ‘96 Toyota Corolla with my body. At those speeds, the survival rate is about 10 percent. Click here to read the entire post. Conclusions I want you to notice that about half of the posts were updated from earlier years. There were also a couple of guest posts that were very popular. Look for more of each in the coming year. Next month look for a post of the mostgoogled posts in 2016. This is alwaysinterestingbecause it tells us what you are looking for. You may have noticed thatwe’ve organized the site into 8 portals to help you find the content that best suits your needs. These are: Career Change or as I like to say Career Pivot Career Issues in the 2nd Half of Life Social Media Job Search in the 2nd Half of Life Networking Career Success Working in a Multigenerational WorkPlace Entrepreneurship You’ll find these highlighted under the heading ‘I need help to…’ on our front page, the sidebars on this site and the bottom of each post. Look for a start here page shortly. What was your favorite post of 2017? Leave a comment below. Marc Miller Like what you just read? Share it with your friends using the buttons above. Like What You Read? Get Career Pivot Insights! Check out the Repurpose Your Career Podcast Do You Need Help With ...

Leaving Your Job What Smart Jobseekers Need to Know - Part 2 in 5 Part Series - Sterling Career Concepts

Leaving Your Job What Smart Jobseekers Need to Know - Part 2 in 5 Part Series Leaving Your Job? What Smart Jobseekers Need to Know Part 2 in 5 Part Series One of the most often questions asked by clients is “How do I conduct a job search while I’m still working?” There’s a delicate balance that needs to be achieved in order to maintain your current job duties and job search at the same time. Emails, creating career documents, updating social media profiles, networking, phone calls and interviews can take up as much time as a full time job. It can seem impossible to do both well at the same time! Since research shows it’s easier to find a job when you have a job, there are special considerations you must take into account when conducting a job search while you’re still employed. Conducting a Job Search While Still Employed In correspondence with prospective employers or recruiters, mention that you are conducting a “confidential” job search, such as “I am contacting you in confidence about this position.” However, keep in mind that prospective employers are under no obligation to respect your wishes. Also be careful when replying to blind advertisements (ones that do not provide a name for the prospective employer). More than one jobseeker has accidentally submitted a résumé to his or her current employer this way. In one instance I know of, when a recruiter found out that the VP of Sales was looking for a position and wanted to leave a company, he went straight to the CEO and tried to get the job order to replace the VP of Sales before the existing VP of Sales had even secured another position or gave notice! A few cautionary don’ts: Don’t conduct your job search on the company’s time â€" or dime. Reserve your job seeking activities to before work, on your lunch hour, or after work. If necessary, take personal leave (not sick time) to go on interviews. (You can simply say you have an appointment.) Don’t use your company computer (including accessing your personal email account) for your job search. Don’t take employment-related phone calls during your work time; allow these messages to go to your voice mail, and return the calls during breaks or before or after work. Don’t list your business phone number or email address on your job search documents or leave it in any messages. Words of advice on three potentially sensitive areas: interview attire, professional references, and LinkedIn: Plan appropriately for wardrobe changes. If you work in a “casual” workplace, wearing “interview attire” to work can be a red flag that something is up. You may want to change into your more formal clothes before an interview (don’t change at work!) â€" or schedule job interviews on a day when you’re not working. Be ready with job references from outside of your current employer. Even if you’ve told the prospective employer that your current employer doesn’t know that you’re looking, you may still want to mention that you do not want the company to contact your current employer for a reference until they are ready to extend a job offer, so as not to jeopardize your current position. In this situation, you may need to provide several references outside of your company who can speak to your credentials and expertise. Put your LinkedIn profile up sooner rather than later. Developing a comprehensive LinkedIn profile â€" and building up your network of contacts â€" is something to do right away. If you create one before you start your job search, you can honestly say that you’re doing it to create a network of contacts to assist you in being more effective in your current position. Having a newly-minted LinkedIn profile (especially one that mentions you’re open to “new opportunities”) can tip off your supervisor (or co-workers) that you’re looking for a new position. Routinely updating an existing profile, however, is not as suspicious. *** Up next, the third post in this series will cover how and when to tell your supervisor you are leaving, with tips on how to write a straight-forward, professional resignation letter.

Financial Stress and Your Health - Hallie Crawford

Financial Stress and Your Health According to a survey released by the American Psychological Association in February, 2015, Americans experience extreme stress about money: • 72% of Americans reported feeling some stress about money sometime within the past month. • 22% experiences extreme stress about money during the past month. • 31% of adults with partners reported money is a major source of conflict in their relationship. “Regardless of the economic climate, money and finances have remained the top stressor since our survey began in 2007. Furthermore, this year’s survey shows that stress related to financial issues could have a significant impact on Americans’ health and well-being,” APA CEO and Executive Vice President Norman B. Anderson, PhD, said. Lack of a job or a job that barely meets income requirements can contribute to stress which greatly affects your health. According to the article: “The report also uncovered good news about stress management. Americans who say they have someone they can ask for emotional support, such as family and friends, report lower stress levels and better related outcomes than those without emotional support. Unfortunately, some Americans say that they do not have anyone to rely on for emotional support. According to the survey, 43 percent of those who say they have no emotional support report that their overall stress has increased in the past year, compared with 26 percent of those who say they have emotional support.” If you are one of those facing financial stress due to no job or a low-paying job, don’t wait until your health is in danger before asking for help. A career coach can provide the support and information you need to lower your stress. Optionally, join a job search network, visit your local Department of Labor office, or visit your library and read resources online to help you. You never have to suffer alone. We hope this is helpful to you! Terry L. Wynne, Ed.S., LPC, BCC, Career Coach at HallieCrawford.com. Schedule a free consult with HallieCrawford.com today