HFCN - Helping Friends Career Network ~ Jobs, Careers, Success, Transformation: June 2007

29 June 2007

Cool Career Resources

Ever notice how productive you can be about 2 hours before you leave for vacation? Tons of things to do, but the first things always get done first, those things that allow you to get out the door and on to leisure! :D

Today I am sharing my 'Top What's Cool Career Resources' from the Blogosphere!

JibberJobberBlog Jason Alba's rich collection of career tools, resources, and documented professional 'learnings'. Imagine being able to take the worst news of your professional life and allowing it to produce your next possibilities? I admire Jason's approach, mucho!
LinkedIn Tools for Jobseekers 4 simple steps. Update your Profile. Get Recommendations. Add Connections. Get and use the LinkedIn Job Insider for the inside track to jobs! Build connections consistently and persistently, so they are there, and the relationship is natural to create a foundation for your success!
Get a Makeover! Ask for help on your Social Networking Profile, Freshen your References, and Check out a Professional Resume Writer.. Check out some of these Before and After Resume Makeover Results.
Thoughts Become Things! Our thoughts about our career path can be counter-productive. When we find ourselves worrying about the outcomes, dwelling on what we perceive as past failures, it is not uncommon for these bad feelings to perpetuate themselves in the form of blocked opportunities or repeated mistakes. Challenge negative assumptions, then create an action oriented approach to assessing and developing a plan of action. For more help on this, watch 'The Secret' or join our discussion group LinkedIn2TheSecret.
Daily Career Connection Is a great blog with hints for profeessional development This includes practical wisdom for career success and links to other rich life tip resources.

19 June 2007

Flexibility and Opportunity in NOLA.

Doing what you do best, living and acting out of love for family and community will preserve and create a treasure that endures our time on this earth. Epic natural disaster couldnot diminish the hopes, the dreams and the culture of those in the Gulf Coast. For so long as there is a dedication to that important history, there is also opportunity. Recent economic analysts are reporting the healthiest jobs and employment market since the August 2005 hurricane Katrina disaster.

With career flexibility employees can contribute to a really noble cause of rebuilding after Hurricane Katrina. Rebuilding after a natural disaster requires a host of energetic talents for work, far beyond that of construction.

Where there is 'building' or 'rebuilding', there also must be services, health care, food, cultural service, and of course, IT, creating an emergence of opportunities in many industries that were suffering prior to Hurricane Katrina, and creating a high demand for people, with a dedicated experience, expertise and work ethic to bringing their talents to the tasks of recovery.

We can not begin to minimize the impact, nor diminish the losses, particularly, to the manufacturing sector, or the impacts of the sheer community and personal losses. A key element of economic recovery and rebuilding requires a return to optimism in helping our neighbors to rebuild, recover, and reconnect to their lives, their community, and their family.

"Cooking up a Spicy Cultural Gumbo" - A prestigious 2006 Gourmand Award Winning Cookbook emerged out of the labor of love provided by Amy Cyrex Sins, dedicated time and recovery to creating the Ruby Slippers Cookbook after having lost the personal and treasured collection of handwritten recipes passed on from family and friends. Today that memorable document preserves history, and extends the motivation to inspire others to remember, rebuild, and benefit the recovery of America's Wetlands.

"Sisters in Spirit" of rebuilding- Chardon OH Catholic Sisters, came to aid in the rebuilding of Hurricane Katrina, hundreds of miles cross country. Sister Claire's congregation lost over a dozen sisters and most of the community aid facilities, nursing, independent living homes, day care and girls academy facilities.

What moved them to action was taking very personally their belief in hopes in action. Sister Petelin said. “The one part showed the crying out and the pitiful people who were not being helped and yelling please come rescue us. All I could think is our country let them down, but all I could think is I’m our country too.”
“Instead of putting back what we had,” Sister Claire said, “this is an opportunity to look forward to something new.”

Donations to the Sisters of the Holy Family can be sent to Sister Claire of Assisi, 6901 Chef Menpeur Highway, New Orleans, La. 70126. In the subject line write, “For the rebuilding of St. Mary’s Academy.”

17 June 2007

Tips to Being Your Best Professional self.

What can we do to embrace our best professional selves? Success or stagnancy has a present market price that we pay--consciously or unconsciously.

Transformation is the key to taking you from where you are, to where you dream to be.

10 techniques to recognize our best professional selves:

Release guilt over past performance, hurts, and pains.
Anger over unfairness can result in indulgency in more of the same.
Pessimism let to simmer, will start to infiltrate your belief system.
Fear can cause us downright counterproductive behavior
Believing gloomy uselessness is the best that you can expect.
Challenge yourself to do a little each day to transform negative behavior.
Recognize counter productive activities, and identify action steps to manage it.
What would perfect execution consist of? Take some time to envision your dream work.
"Feeling" or"Being" stuck have the same source, and consistent action removes it.
Consciously spend more time appreciating positive to cultivate momentum.

Tips to help being our personal best!

Performance grows to the extent that we are willing to grow and change.
Freedom stems from knowing where we are, and where we aspire to do, recognizing we own the steps to get there.
Identify your self talk and brainstorm resources to embrace a different approach.
Optimism is the art of focus on strengths and opportunity, despite our weaknesses.
Put first things, first--- progress on the highest payoff tasks that are most important being done, creates momentum.
Break the larger impossible dream tasks into bite size pieces-- we are never given a dream without the equal capacity to make it come true!

08 June 2007

How They Won Friends.. And Influenced Career Advancement

Those that think that the key to your career success is submitting your resume to a job board and waiting for the next interview might be missing that momentum opportunity created by consistent, persistent action. Sarah Needleman wrote a compelling article for the WSJ Career Journal on 'Why It's Time To Broaden Your Job Search Beyond the Big Boards.'.

Isn't it amazing and refreshing when the universe aligns, and you seem to effortlessly glide into what is next for your career? Some people make that look so easy. Career Advancement is a very personal endeavor, but some creative ingenuity has been shown to open a few doors, by simply suggesting that you are a competitive advantage over the hundred and ten other resumes out there.

Here are some fun and entertaining stories of others who achieved offers that from the surface might have looked like they lived a charmed life.. But there was a certain amount of strategy, fun, and hard work behind it.

Why ProvoLabs hired Carolynn Duncan Lessons learned from Carolynn's Success:

Blogging is a great way to keep your skills sharp, and might offer surprising competitive value!
The clearer YOUR picture of success, the easier it is for others to see it too!