Career E-News: June 2010 

Monthly Newsletter for Executives, Managers, and Professionals in Career Transition / Written and Published by Joellyn Wittenstein Schwerdlin, The Career Success Coach

In this issue:
Improving Economy Leads Some Workers to Find Better Jobs
Conquer Negative Self-Talk Which Sabotages Job Search and Career Success
One-on-One Coaching with Joellyn: Career Action Planning Session
About "The Career Success Coach"
Quote of the Month: On "Possibilities"
Client Landings 
Applause - Clapping
Congratulations   
 to my clients on their new jobs: 
 
Brent Scholar, a not-for-profit consultant, is now the Acting Business Program Director / Instructor at Brookline University and an Online Instructor at Argosy University, both located in the Phoenix, Arizona metro area. 

Flora Brahmbhatt, a registered pharmacist,  nursing home consultant, and public speaker in the San Jose, California area, has been accepted into the Speakers Program at Glaxo Smith Kline. 

Karen Stack, a sales professional in Highland, Indiana, has accepted an Inside Sales position with an Illinois-based property and casualty insurance company.   
 
Mary Ellen Lepore
, 
who landed a Senior Business Analyst Position at UMass Medical School (Shrewsbury, MA), earlier this month, shortly after receiving her Certificate in Database Design & Development from Quinsingamond Community College, Worcester, MA.  
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Greetings!                              Joellyn Headshot 2009 
 
Happy Summer!  Hope you're enjoying the weather in your part of the country.  I'm remembering last summer here in Central Mass where we had so much rain that summer didn't even begin until the middle of August. Fortunately, the weather this summer is more balanced, so we have enough rain for the farming community and plenty of sunshine to enjoy outdoor activities.   
 

There's more good news about the economy and labor market. An Associated Press article "Quitting Time" declares that "more people quit their jobs in the past three months than were laid off - a sharp reversal after 15 straight months in which layoffs exceeded departures." What this means is employed workers feel confident enough about the economic recovery, to quit their jobs and find better ones.

  
Regardless of the economy, you need to have a positive mindset to persevere in your job search and career change. But it's not enough to just "think positive" or simply imagine things the way you'd like them to be, when you feel that the odds are stacked against you. In my article: Conquer Negative Self-Talk Which Sabotages Job Search and Career Success, I'll show you how to do exactly that, using a method of inquiry from the book: Loving What Is: Four questions that can change your life written by Byron Katie. This article is an encapsulation of a live presentation I gave earlier this month, in Westboro, Mass.     
 

Is your job search stuck and is your career stalled? Is it time to take a risk, a giant step, to move forward and end the pain once and for all? You may be surprised; the problem might not be what you think. A Career Action Planning (CAP) Session  gets to the root of any career or job search issue and gives a plan to solve it. Scroll down for more information.

 
In support of your career success,
 
;-) Joellyn 
 
P.S. A great big "Welcome" to my new subscribers!
QUITQuitting Time: Improving Economy Leads Some Workers to Find Better Jobs (Associated Press)
Jobs April 2010One sign of better economic times is when more people start finding jobs. Another is when they feel confident enough to quit them.

More people quit their jobs in the past three months than were laid off - a sharp reversal after 15 straight months in which layoffs exceeded voluntary departures. The trend suggests the job market is finally thawing.

Some of the quitters are leaving for new jobs. Others have no firm offers. But their newfound confidence about landing work is itself evidence of more hiring and a strengthening economy.

"There is a century's worth of evidence that bears out this view that quits rise and layoffs fall as the job market improves," said Steven Davis, an economist at the University of Chicago. 
 
Read the entire article from the Associated Press/Worcester Telegram & Gazette:    
ConquerConquer Negative Self-Talk Which Sabotages Job Search and Career Success 
Byron Katie 
Job search is a healthy balance of "activity" and "attitude". Activities are creating résumés and cover letters, applying for jobs, networking, and interviewing. The "attitude" part is how well you handle poor responses to résumés you send out, why another candidate was chosen over you, or why you don't hear back from hiring managers when they said they would call.
 
If you have a positive attitude, you can quickly rebound from these setbacks. But negative attitudes and beliefs will project onto others and keep you from moving forward. You might be thinking "I'm too old - who will hire me?" even though your interviewer doesn't have any issues about your age. This negative and stressful mindset will actually prevent you from convincing the interviewer why you're perfect for the job. 
 
Some say that reciting "affirmations," present tense statements which you would like to be true in the future, will help you feel better. Ex: "I'm earning $200K annually." Yet, if you know this statement is false, your mind will argue with "what is" causing you to suffer over stressful/negative thoughts and feelings.  
 
Byron Katie, author of Loving What Is: Four Questions That Can Change Your Life, says "Suffering is optional." She offers a method of inquiry called "The Work" -- four questions and a turnaround - to challenge stressful thoughts and feelings and diminish their power over you. Here are the basics:
  
First, isolate a stressful/negative thought: Ex."There are no jobs out there." Then, challenge this thought by asking yourself four questions:      
 From having questioned the thought, you probably feel better and are seeing other possibilities. Now you're ready for the turnaround where you'll restate your original thought to be its linguistic opposite:    
  • Negative thought: "There are no jobs out there."
  • Turnaround: "There are jobs out there."
  • Ask yourself if the turnaround is as true, or even truer, than the original thought. You might say "maybe jobs aren't as plentiful as they once were, but there are jobs."
  • Next, write three examples of how this turnaround is true. You may recall people you know who landed or have read about recent hires in your newspaper's business section.  
  • Last, write down actions you'll take, consistent with this turnaround. These might be making networking calls or attending another job fair. 
To begin tackling your negative thoughts and beliefs with the four questions and a turnaround, download a "One Belief At A Time Worksheet" here:  
 
Learn more about these concepts at Byron Katie's website or
purchase her book from Amazon.com
 
 
© 2010 Joellyn Wittenstein Schwerdlin, The Career Success Coach.  All Rights Reserved.  
CAPSessionOne-on-One Career Coaching with Joellyn: Change in Direction
Career Action Planning (CAP) Session 
 
 Is your job search stuck and is your career stalled? Is it time to take a risk -- a giant step -- to move forward and end the pain once and for all? You may be surprised; the problem might not be what you think. A Career Action Plan (CAP) Session  gets to the root of any career or job search issue and gives a plan to solve it. Visit my website to learn more.. 
About The Career Success Coach 
 
Joellyn Wittenstein Schwerdlin is a Certified Career Management Coach,
who works with executives, managers, and professionals who are ready to make a change in their employment situation -- but they don't know what that change looks like -- or what their next step should be. She helps clients establish a satisfying career path - not "just another job". Her proven, step-by-step career coaching program starts with a Career Action Planning (CAP) Session
, to help clients determine exactly where they are getting stuck, stalled, or confused in the process of making their desired job and career transition. She serves a national client base (not just people in Central Massachuetts) and can work with anyone in the US with a phone and computer access for web conferencing.
 
Following the CAP Sessionclients can opt to sign up for private coaching with Joellyn, using her 8-module Career Coaching Program. This program, combined with personal mentoring from Joellyn, has helped countless clients find their most ideal career path which offers them optimal levels of compensation, satisfaction and opportunities for advancement,  whether it's a different position within their current employer, a new position inside another company -- or starting /revamping their own business or consulting practice.  
 
 
Joellyn will be happy to discuss your situation on a fr*ee call, prior to scheduling a CAP Session.  Contact her at 508-459-2854, joellyn@career-success-coach.com or visit http://www.career-success-coach.com to learn more.
Quote of the Month: On "Possibilities"
New Q
 
"You have powers you never dreamed of. You can do things you never thought you could do. There are no limitations in what you can do except the limitations of your own mind." 
 
--- Darwin P. Kingsley
 (President of New York Life from 1906 to 1930, who increased this company's assets from $500 million to $2 billion and doubled the value of policies in force.)

© 2010 The Career Success Coach

 All rights reserved.