How to Use Career Training to Your Advantage

Are you interested in changing careers or changing jobs? If you are, your first impulse may involve automatically quitting your current job and going right out and applying for new jobs. Of course, the decision is yours, but you should refrain from taking this approach, as there are no guarantees. Instead, it would be best if you took the time to find the perfect jobs to apply to and use career training to your advantage.

As you likely already know, career training comes in several different formats. In all honesty, career training typically caters to other careers. For instance, if you are looking for a job in healthcare, you may be required to attend medical school even to receive certification for nursing. On the other hand, if you are interested in working as a secretary, your career training may involve courses that teach typing or office management skills. Although career training comes in several different formats, it can dramatically improve your chances of successfully changing careers or jobs.

As previously stated, career training courses come in several different formats. With that in mind, career training, no matter what classes or courses you take, is designed to help educate you on one particular career field, such as nursing, accounting, or office management. Although career training courses vary greatly, you often walk away with much skill and knowledge. Depending on your career courses or classes, you can walk away with a degree or certificate of completion. You can give all prospective employers access these documents to verify your training, knowledge, and skills.

One of the many reasons career training can assist you when you are looking to change careers or even just jobs is because it can help you stand apart from your competition. Although career training is still popular today, not as many job seekers take advantage of it. Meaning that you can use career training to your advantage. For instance, if you are interested in applying for a job as a secretary, you can take a few office management classes, typing classes, or computer software classes before applying for new jobs. By taking this approach, your job training is new and fresh. This not only gives you an advantage over those who do not have career training behind them, but it also gives you an advantage over those who received training a year or more ago.

As ideal as it is to hear that career training can assist you, when looking to change jobs or careers, you may be curious about how you get that training, especially if you are still currently employed. Career training is offered through several different centres, commonly called career centres or vocational training centres. You may also receive career training at your local community college. What is nice about many of these establishments is that they offer affordable and flexible training classes and courses. Most career training classes are likely taught at night or on the weekend. This enables you to receive career training while still holding down your current job.

As outlined above, enrolling in career training courses for various career fields is relatively easy. There are also several benefits to doing so. Of course, deciding whether or not you want to use career training to your advantage is your decision. Still, if you are serious about changing jobs or changing careers, it is something that you should seriously consider. In all honesty, what do you have to lose by at least examining all of your options first?

10 Tips to Resign Your Job with Professionalism and Pride

Congratulations! You just got an offer for a wonderful new job. There's just one catch. You have to say good-by to your current employer.

Maybe you loved your job and you face an emotional farewell. Or you maybe you hated every minute and you’ve been counting the days till you could walk out the door one last time.

Clients often admit they’re nervous about making the departure announcement. They’re afraid the boss will be angry. They feel guilty about the work they’re leaving behind. Maybe someone else has to take up the slack for awhile.

But clients also wonder how to resign gracefully yet still protect their own longer-term career interests. They suspect their departure style will influence their careers for a long time,

They’re right.

Here are some guidelines to move to your next position with grace and style.

1. Give the correct amount of notice required by your company’s written policy.

Every so often my clients feel sorry for their former colleagues. So they stick around an extra week (or even an extra month). Inevitably, they begin to feel like a fifth wheel. Nearly everyone says, “Next time I’m leaving right away!”

2. After you leave, do not accept any job-related calls from your company unless you have a written consulting contract.

Your boss required two weeks notice – but belatedly realized she needs four weeks for a smooth transition to your successor.

Your boss made a business decision to require two weeks notice. When she miscalculates, she needs to accept the cost, just as she’d accept the cost of late payments to a supplier.

If your company needs additional help, offer to work as a paid consultant with a contract. But get everything in writing and make sure your new job becomes your Number One priority.

3. Study your current and future company policies regarding disclosures and no-compete agreements.

Some companies are extremely proprietary about their process and their people. Once you resign, you may have to leave the workplace immediately. Or your new company may ask you not to work for your former employer, even on a part-time basis.

4. Resign to your boss in person, if at all possible.

Phone is second best. And tell the boss before you tell anyone else – even your best friend or golfing buddy.

5. Expect your boss to be professional.

Clients often fear the boss’s reaction. However, bosses rarely are caught by surprise. Good bosses are happy to see their employees move ahead. Thank her for the opportunity to learn, which has led to your newest and most wonderful career move.

6. Thank your boss and your coworkers, even if you hate them all and can’t wait to leave.

You may regard them more fondly through a haze of memories than a glare of office lighting. You may encounter them at conventions and networking groups. And most likely you will benefit from strong references and goodwill.

7. Decline a counteroffer.

Recruiters consistently tell me, “Sixty percent of those who accept a counteroffer are gone in six months.” If you decide to stay, get a written job contract.

Exception: A few companies and industries actually demand proof of an outside offer before offering you any kind of internal raise or reward. College professors often work in this environment.

8. Treat the exit interview as a business formality, not a therapy session.

When a Human Resource professional asks why you are leaving, be upbeat and positive: “For a better opportunity.” Talk about how much you loved the company and your job. You never know where your comments will turn up, mangled, and misinterpreted.

9. Resist entreaties to share the details of your future position with anyone.

Occasionally a colleague will try to assess your salary or other information “so we can stay competitive in recruiting.” Helping your company recruit is not part of your job and anyway, do you really believe this?

Details of your future employment should remain confidential, even from your close friends in the company.

10. Focus on your new opportunity – not your past experience.

Once you’re gone, you’re history. The very same folks who loved meeting you for lunch will barely remember your name a week later.

And, if you haven’t changed jobs for a while you may be in for a shock. Your first day in a new position can be a real eye-opener!

7 Ways to Stay Motivated

You know what it’s like. You set yourself a goal, something you want to achieve. You are excited and ready to take on the world, and then a few months later you can’t even be bothered to spend 10 minutes working towards achieving it. Well welcome to being human! It is so easy to go from excitement to complete apathy but there are things you can do to ensure you stay motivated toward your goal and the following are seven great ones!

1. Is Your Reason WHY Large Enough?

When I wanted to lose weight setting a goal to look great in clothes was not big enough, what didn’t help was the fact that I loved who I was and what I looked like, but my health had begun to show signs of being affected by my excess weight and this is the WHY I used to ensure I stayed on track. I started with 6 weeks of no dairy, no wheat, and red meat only once a week. Do you think I needed a big way to stay committed to such a regime??!! I knew that health is my true wealth. Having been unwell for 6 months and hardly able to walk had taught me that without my health my goals were useless. So maintaining a healthy body that would allow me to enjoy the fulfillment of my goals was the big WHY that kept me on track.

Stop and think about your reason WHY? What reason is big enough to keep you motivated at times when you want to give up and/or give in?

2. Create a visual and emotional image of what you want

Writing your goals down is an essential tool but not always enough to keep focused. Writing your goals down and having a visual image of you completing that goal adds fuel to the motivational fire. Writing goals down, having a visual image of your completed goal AND connecting this image with your emotions is the power of 3 that will ensure your motivation remains high. At any point during the day, or at any time when you are feeling in need of encouragement, you can simply stop, close your eyes, see your goal and evoke all the emotions achieving that goal holds for you. Nothing is more powerful!

3. Questions to ask before, during and after!

It is important to know not only why you are doing something but also WHAT. What achieving this goal will provide for yourself and your family. It is easy to believe that what you want is to make a million, but for many it is the lifestyle and the time freedom that this money has the potential to provide that will be the real motivation.

Spend time asking yourself questions that will help you identify what achieving your goal will provide. Questions such as:

•What will it bring me?

•What will it do for me, my family, and/or friends?

•What kind of lifestyle will I be able to have?

•What sacrifices will I need to make?

•What will be the impact on my current routine?

•What will be the impact on my family?

•What outcome do I want to achieve?

•What contributions will I be able to make

Motivation and staying motivated is easy when you know what the achievement of your goal will provide for you and we only really lose motivation when we lose sight of our goal or end result.

4. Creating a visual representation of what you want

Keep the motivational fires burning by creating a collage with the family of what your end result will look like, or paint a picture, write a poem, sing a song, or whatever creative endeavor excites you enough to complete it.

Whatever you create keep it in a place where you can see it constantly, I remember listening to someone talk about sticking a poster of making their first 100,000 on their ceiling so that as they woke up it was the first thing they saw each morning, and the last image in their mind before falling asleep.

Leave yourself reminders on your fridge door, on your bathroom mirror, and in your car. The more places you are able to leave yourself little notes and reminders about what you want to achieve the better. Doing this will help your unconscious mind bring you the results you desire, whilst also supporting you in staying focused and motivated towards achieving your goals.

5. Get Support from people around you

Support from family and friends is important but also consider what other support is available to you. Books, mentoring, work colleagues, life coaching, forums – these are all things that can support you as you work towards achieving your goal. Also, think about WHO can support you in staying motivated, can you buddy up with someone, do you have a boss or lecturer who will be happy to help you keep accountable?

One thing I recommend is that you tell as many people as you know about what you want to achieve, this has the effect of keeping you motivated to complete your goal because you have told so many people. However, a word of caution is needed here because it is easy for people to trample your dreams and fail to support you. You must first pick and choose carefully those people you know will want to support you, but also you must gain enough inner personal strength to be able to continue no matter what negative comments may come your way.

6.Develop Inner Personal Strength

Ultimately, the person who will determine whether you stay motivated and achieve your goal will be you. Your thoughts will determine your behavior which determines your results. Developing a strong inner personal strength about your ability to achieve and your ability to motivate yourself when you are in an unproductive state of mind is essential. Being able to see setbacks and failures as opportunities for continued growth and upset and emotional turmoil as opportunities to discover what you want and need, will determine how you view life. One of the best ways to inner personal strength is to read and listen to audio that inspire and motivate you. Continued learning is an essential part of being able to stay motivated.

7. Support from Continued Learning

If you are going to need to learn new skills to ensure you complete your goal then it is a good idea to identify what learning you will need to undertake as early as possible. If you have planned out how you will achieve your outcome then you will already be aware of any areas where you need to strengthen your skills or outsource to others who will be able to fulfill what you need.

There is nothing worse than getting halfway towards the completion of a goal and being stopped because you are not able to complete something because of a lack of knowledge and/or skills. This is a surefire way of dampening your excitement and your motivation.

Make a list of what you can and can’t do and who might be able to help you. Knowing this in advance can help you avoid getting frustrated because things aren’t getting done. If you are serious about developing your personal and professional life then I recommend getting yourself a Mentor or Life Coach, to ensure you stay on track.

You should also look at continued learning as it relates to your own personal development, continuing with your own personal development will ensure you are able to work through setbacks quickly and stay motivated.

Staying motivated when you are looking to achieve your goals is essential for ultimate success. I have provided you with seven practical ways to achieve continued motivation and I recommend you use them all. Some of them such as creating a collage will be activities you perform occasionally, but others, such as continuing your personal development will be a continuous learning process. There is not one single thing that will determine your success in staying motivated but a combination of many, finding the combination that is right for you will change from goal to goal and will be an ongoing (fun-filled) exploration.

Preparing for a Job Interview

It is completely natural to feel nervous before a job interview, but you can minimize pre-interview jitters with some preparation. Hopefully, you have completed initial research on the company you applied for before being called in for an interview, but you are going to need to do more. You will never know exactly what is going to be asked of you (unless you have an inside source), but you can be ready for the questions by knowing your stuff.

Look up the company website and study the history, the about us page, and the products and services that are offered. Even if you are pretty sure you are not going to be quizzed on how the company came to be, it will give you insight into how the company operates and its philosophy. These factors should influence how you answer your questions. If it is obvious they place a high value on team players, you should brainstorm situations when you have displayed this trait.

If you are applying for a sales position, you can be prepared for any role-playing questions because you have taken the time to learn about the company’s products and services. It will be impressive to your interviewer that you have taken the time to research the information. It shows a commitment to details and a true interest in the company.

Another way to prepare for an interview is to complete a practice run with a friend or family member. Have them ask you questions and answer them as if you were already in the interview, don’t break character during the role play either. There are many questions that are asked in a typical interview (what are your strengths and weaknesses) don’t let them come as a surprise to you – practice so you can answer with confidence.

How to Write a Winning Cover Letter: Tips to Get Noticed by Employers

Your cover letter is your first chance to impress potential employers and stand out from the competition. It's essential to get it right if you want to be invited for an interview. In this article, we'll provide you with some tips on how to write a cover letter that will increase your chances of being noticed by employers.

Address the Right Person

One of the most important things to keep in mind when writing a cover letter is to address it to the right person. Do your research and find out who the recruiter or hiring manager is, and address the letter to them specifically. Using generic lines like "To whom it may concern" or "Dear Sir/Madam" is not acceptable.

Customize Your Letter

A generic cover letter will not make you stand out from other applicants. Customize your letter to the position you are applying for and include the job title. Explain why you are interested in this particular job and how it aligns with your professional goals. This will show the employer that you have put some thought into your application and that you are serious about the opportunity.

Sell Yourself

Your cover letter should sell yourself as the best possible candidate for the job. Answer two critical questions: why you want this particular job and what you can do for the company. This will demonstrate your enthusiasm for the position and how you can benefit the organization. Avoid generic statements that indicate you are interested in any open position with the company.

Check for Errors

Errors and misspellings can leave a poor impression on the employer. Ensure that your cover letter is free from mistakes and that you have thoroughly checked it for errors. You may also want to ask a friend or colleague to proofread it for you.

Close Professionally

End your cover letter by indicating when you intend to follow up on your application. This shows that you are interested in the position and demonstrates professional etiquette. Remember to follow up when and how you indicated in the letter.

In conclusion, a well-written cover letter can make all the difference when it comes to getting noticed by employers. Make sure to address it to the right person, customize it, sell yourself, check for errors, and close professionally. By following these tips, you'll increase your chances of being invited for an interview and ultimately, getting the job you want.