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We spend a large portion of our lives at work often seeing our coworkers more than our own families. I’m sure you’ve heard that saying before and for many people it’s true. In fact, It’s been estimated that you will spend about 90,000 hours of your life working, or roughly 1/3 of your life. That’s assuming that you work 40 hours a week from age 20 to 65 with 2 weeks of vacation a year. So you can imagine, working long hours—as we’re known to do here in the U.S— coupled with long commutes often an hour or more each way, and feelings of unfulfillment, underappreciation, etc. is a recipe for career burnout. And worse than that, depression. And career burnout = life burnout. If you hate your job, you’ll hate your life.

When we experience chronic stress from our jobs, it bleeds into ...

One of the most common challenges that my clients encounter is the disappointment of not getting a job that they really wanted. You get that dreaded rejection email, usually an automated one these days, and you're devastated. You've pinned your hopes on that one job and it doesn't work out. For some people, especially those who are unemployed, this is a major source of disappointment. It’s crushing.

Here’s what I coach clients to do in situations like this. Decide ahead of time how you are going to respond when the disappointment happens. Part of any job search is not getting chosen for some of the jobs. It’s going to happen. Nobody, not even me, gets hired for 100% of the jobs they apply to. So if you know that something is going to happen, you can get control of the ...

 

If I had to take all of the mistakes that I see job seekers make and boil it down to one critical item, it would be this: Relying 100% on the resume. The resume alone is not enough to get you a job in most cases, and this is THE SINGLE BIGGEST MISTAKE THAT JOB SEEKERS MAKE. Yes, you need to have a great resume and the hiring manager will eventually read it, or at least most of it. However, doing nothing but firing off resumes online rarely gets anyone a job.

The path of least effort= the path of least results.

This also is where a resume writer or career coach can add tremendous value and save you a significant amount of time. My staff knows how to write a quality resume quickly. This saves ...

Let’s face it—much of the job search is set up in the employer’s favor. Employers have access to reliable salary data through compensation surveys, and they often have hundreds of applicants to choose from for just one posting. Unless you possess some very rare and specialized skills, it’s typically up to the job seeker to get the employer’s attention, and not the other way around. Improving your resume and your strategy with a coach is an excellent way to expedite your results.

Some people claim that it's cheating to have someone else write your resume. The notion that hiring a resume writer or career coach is cheating is completely absurd. Is it cheating for an athlete to use an athletic coach? Or for a vocalist to use a vocal coach? Job searching and resume writing are skills ...

I’m sure I don’t have to tell you that looking for work can be an incredibly frustrating experience. We’ve all been there. Sending out dozens of applications only to hear nothing in return is a hard pill for anyone to swallow.

In my time as a career coach, I’ve determined that one of the primary causes of frustration for many people is their lack of knowledge of the hiring process. This lack of knowledge is not their fault though! Unless you’ve been a hiring manager or recruiter, how would you know what really goes on in the hiring process? You wouldn’t. Job seekers are at a disadvantage this way, in that their perspective is limited to one side of the equation.

This is where a career coach can be incredibly valuable. Partnering ...

Millenials today get criticized quite a bit for being “job hoppers.” Employer loyalty has eroded, they say, and no one stays anywhere for more than three years or so. It could also be argued that employers no longer have the loyalty to employees that they used to have, either. Take the elimination of retirement pensions as a prime example of that.

An alternate perspective is that changing jobs every couple of years can actually be advantageous. Here’s what we know about people who change jobs more often:

They earn more money. When employees stay with one employer, they can expect a 2%-3% increase each year in most cases. When employees accept new offers from outside their company, they average a salary increase between 10% and 20% (Forbes, 2014).

They have more current skills. After about three years at ...

Changing career paths or industries is a common reason why people turn to a career coach. There’s a lot of moving parts to the equation. How do I explain the change on my resume? Will they pay me the same salary I had? Will I enjoy it, or regret it? Can I afford to take a risk in my career right now? These are all questions that I help job seekers answer.

Personally, I’ve made two significant career changes myself. Three years ago, after a layoff, I made a clean break for a career in human resources and recruiting after six years in retail management, sales and corporate training. Then, just two years later, I transitioned again into what was my ultimate destiny all along, coaching others into personal and career transformation.

Here’s some quick tips for ...

According to a study from Deloitte University Press, up to 87 percent of America’s workforce is not able to contribute to their full potential because they don’t have a passion for their work. (Read more at: http://dupress.com/articles/worker-passion-employee-behavior/) That’s a lot of people who don’t like their jobs. I’ve been one of those people. Odds are, so have you.

Why is this? I believe that many of us really aren’t clear on what will make us happy in our careers. When is the last time you sat down wrote out what your priorities and values were when it comes to work? How important is a short commute? How is important is a Monday through Friday schedule? How important is doing something that matters?

It doesn’t matter what the answers are to these questions, ...

I recently attended a fantastic seminar by local author, David Hazard. It turned  out to be quite popular and as the starting time approached, enough people were there that we brought in more chairs to accommodate everyone. As people began to fill the room, I looked around and one thing was very clear: I was, by far, the youngest person there.  In fact, I may have been the only person under 50.

Everyone went around the room and shared their stories of why they were there and for nearly everyone, it was the same: They were retirees who now had the time to actually pursue something that they had wanted to do: writing. After decades in the traditional workforce, they could now focus on themselves and things that they were truly passionate about. While that certainly is the most common path that people take, it does beg ...

The more clients I meet with, the more I am running into this question: What if I don’t know what I want to do for a living? This can be a big challenge for many people who don’t feel drawn to one, well-defined career path, such as a doctor or a teacher.

First, let’s get one thing clear. It is absolutely okay to be 25 years old, or 35 years old, or even 45 years old and not know what you want to do. It’s important to first recognize that people are complex creatures with more than one talent or gift. Throw away the notion that you have to pick one career path and be happy with it. As soon as you can do that, you’ve taken an enormous amount of pressure off of yourself. You cannot make a good decision with that kind ...