Coming back soon!

My 'blogging-break' days are over!

Career4change is coming back soon with a re-visited perspective and from a different location. 

Pay Forward!

The Holiday Season is a time for celebration and hope but for the 15.1 million unemployed in the US is a time of deep growing and reflection. Among them, there are 1.3 million discouraged workers. These are the ones that believe no jobs are available for them. Going beyond geographic bounderies there are more than 50 million jobless folks around the world.

What are YOU going to do about that during the Holidays? How are you going to help someone getting out of the statistics?

Most of the clients I talked to throughout 2010 shared a common concern: the unavailability of some of the high level contacts they had working at key jobs in big companies.


I have also heard the other side of the story which is the impossibility to refer a colleague with a poor resume to anyone or how the hectic business schedule makes helping others on this situation a not very feasible task on the daily to-do-list.

I have an answer for that. Choose to pay forward.

1. Extend your expertise to a contact. We all know people who are job transitioning on the current economy. Choose to believe in the potential of at least one of them to switch his/her situation. When we support someone to get closer to a goal is because we actually believe that person has what it takes to make it happen with some help.

2. Construct positively to add value to the person’s resources. Some of these folks feel beaten down after having applied to many jobs and contacted lots of their acquaintances with no feedback or response. This does not mean you won’t tell them what needs to be changed but also remind them that they have some strong and valuable talents/capabilities they are failing to articulate effectively into the current job market needs.

3. Be a mentor. Do not just leave it to a meeting to expect that a person will successfully launch but commit your time to follow up with him/her periodically to check on progress and offer advice and resources.

4. Provide a public positive referral. Recruiters are using social media intensively to source key candidates to their positions. Those who happen to have profiles with +5 referrals by strong advocates (e.g. LinkedIn) will have a better chance to land those jobs than their competitors. Also, refer the individual to at least 3 potential key contacts or employers.

5. Refer to appropriate resources. It may be that the person has financial constraints (e.g. pending home foreclosure), legal or emotional issues due to the length of the unemployment that go beyond your expertise or comfort. Feel free to offer community resources available on the area to facilitate a solution to the individual’s problem. Do not just leave it to the person to do it on her own but offer a list of potential resources that could be used to ease the situation.

Dare to be good! It is the Holidays after all. It is not about feeling sorry for them but to act upon the belief those people are qualified and deserve a change in their situation. They’ve got what it takes and as they’ve done it before they’ll repeat their successes if you intervene to help.

Be inspired by our own success story. I am sure you have been helped along the way by mentors, friends, relatives, neighbors and even strangers that surprised you with a great opportunity.

Move on and enjoy the joy what the kindness and generosity to others provide to your soul. After all, what most of these 15.1 million people want for Christmas is a job!

Happy Holidays!

Your Career Coach,
Mariela Tinoco-Aramburu
25 positive referrals available at www.linkedin.com/in/marielatinoco

P.S. If you still need additional inspiration to act, go and click on any of these links below:
A Real life story: http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/8806478/
Good deeds for the unemployed: http://tinyurl.com/jobless-yoga
http://preview.tinyurl.com/jobless-surprise
Ideas to help: http://hubpages.com/hub/No-Christmas-This-Year

Bullied at work? How are you coping with the ‘mean kids’ in your office?

According to the 2010 WBI U.S. Workplace Bullying Survey 35% of the U.S. workforce (an est. 53.5 million Americans) report being bullied at work; an additional 15% witness it. Half of all Americans have directly experienced it. Simultaneously, 50% report neither experiencing nor witnessing bullying." Even worse, the Institute reported that 54.6% of employers did nothing after receiving complaints from victims of bullying, and 28.2% of bullies were actually promoted or otherwise rewarded in the face of such complaints. Even though, the data may not be totally accurate, bullying seems to have growth as a "silent epidemic".

Bullying is present behind all forms of harassment, discrimination, prejudice, abuse, persecution, conflict and violence. When the bullying has a focus (e.g. race or gender) it is expressed as racial prejudice or harassment, or sexual discrimination and harassment, and so on. When the bullying lacks a focus (or the bully is aware of the Federal and State laws), it comes out as pure bullying; this is an opportunity to understand the behaviors which underlie almost all reprehensible behavior.

There is a bias to think that the bullied at work are uneducated or unskilled workers that do not know how to interact effectively at the work environment.

The truth is far from the above. According to a WBI 2003 online survey the five top reasons individuals are targeted for bullying, in rank order, were: (1) refusal to be subservient (being independent), (2) being more technically skilled than the bully, (3) being liked by co-workers/customers (being the go-to expert), (4) being ethical and honest, and (5) not being sufficiently political.

But what can you do about it?

1. Break your silence. Tell co-workers, friends, and family. Ask for help. Put your health first. There is a lot of data that shows how harmful to your health is the continuous exposure to stress from bullying.

2. Expose the bully You've got to go as high up as you can. Talk to HR and your manager. Try to keep proofs that bullying is actually happening. Facts talk by themselves. Look for outside legal counseling, if needed, to understand your rights if the work environment does not offer you a way-out. The Workplace Bullying Institute estimates that only 20% of bullying is legally actionable, but that estimate may be low. Laws prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sex, race or other protected status may prohibit bullying, and state common laws frequently prohibit bullying behavior like harassment, infliction of emotional distress and interference in business relationships. It can be expensive to defend a lawsuit based on bullying, and the damages awarded to injured employees can be significant.

3. Keep your Brand intact. Your professionalism will be the one you’ll take with you, either you stay or leave. Record your performance goals, achievements, success stories and proofs you are the one doing what is right.

4. Be informed on what bullying means, so then you can do something about it.
Bullyonline.org offers a great chart to distinguish between harassment and bullying. Even though, the Country and State regulations’ differences, this table offers you a glimpse on what may be actually happening to you or someone you know at work.
Harassment has a strong physical component, e.g. contact and touch in all its forms, intrusion into personal space and possessions, damage to possessions including a person's work, etc.

Workplace bullying is almost exclusively psychological (e.g. criticism), may become physical later, especially with male bullies, but almost never with female bullies.

Harassment tends to focus on the individual because of what they are (e.g. female, latino, disabled, etc).
Workplace bullying: Anyone will do, especially if they are competent, popular and vulnerable

Harassment may consist of a single incident or a few incidents or many incidents.
Bullying is rarely a single incident and tends to be an accumulation of many small incidents, each of which, when taken in isolation and out of context, seems trivial.

Often the harassment is for peer approval, bravado, macho image etc while Workplace bullying tends to be secret behind closed doors with no witnesses.

5. Share best practice. Research on what other organizations have done to prevent and stop bullying. Feel free to offer proactive data on potential savings (e.g. absenteeism rate) achieved when the right measures are placed.

Bullying is far from over when we end our school years. It is a phenomenon happening to many everywhere. There is no sense to turn your head to the other side when it is very likely you’ll be subject to this situation at one point or another throughout your career.

Be smart, proactive and ready to face it if happening to you!
Recommended Sources:
http://www.workplacebullying.org/research/WBI-NatlSurvey2010.html
http://www.bullyonline.org/
Best Success,

Your coach,
Mariela
www.linkedin.com/in/marielatinoco
+20 positive public referrals at your service.

Your own job search sabotage! Is it a conspiracy theory or are you the one to be blamed?

I have seen him in LinkedIn and I have got notes from him. I am sure you have met him, too. His words and tone tell you how good he could be for any job you may consider him for but he fails to articulate how he’d actually add value to you or your corporation.


He places notes on affinity group discussions offering his services to anyone willing to ‘give him a chance’.

He calls all his contacts and friends asking them for a job in any range fitting into his very generic field of expertise.

He talks non stop about how recruiters do not reply his notes or how the job market is tough these days.

He comes into a room and you feel the urge to run away to the opposite direction before he comes with the inevitable job question that he just asked you a few days ago.

Some people may feel inclined to help but very few know how to do so not knowing exactly what he could be good at!

What can you do not to be forgotten/avoided by those who have the power to open your next job opportunity but a talented professional who would be a great addition to a business?

1. Define and Sell your Brand and not just a resume. You are a whole package that goes beyond a sheet of paper; therefore, having the ability to articulate the best you have to offer to the job market in a professional way will open doors to you. Once your contacts know what you’ve done successfully they will believe in your potential and refer you more likely to a potential employer.

2. Do not burn your bridges. Unfortunately, many job seekers miss the point that networking needs to be a 2-way street to be effective. It is "getting acquainted beyond the business card" what will build the real connection to your network and empower success to all who share it. Pay forward! Be Thankful and courteous!

3. Use social media to share best practice and knowledge. You want for others to see your unique talents and the best you have to offer. Get public referrals and ensure you have a strong profile that includes your top career highlights. Be a top talent to look out and not one more profile whose status says: ‘Looking for a job’.

3. Be on time and keep your word. Do not run late for meetings even if they are held over coffee. Everyone wants an employee who is dependable and a good representative of the company. Someone who's tardy to a meeting is neither.

4. Dressing for the wrong motives (or wrong job!). Appearances matter in the job market and you should dress for what's appropriate in your field. Find out what the dress code is before you show up to a networking event or interview. You're better off erring on the side of too professional than too casual.

5. Broadcasting to your network you are all up for the right career opportunity. It is correct to assess that you have a minimum salary expectation but it is wiser to be discreet on that topic with your contacts. Talking about money too soon may close potential opportunities coming on your direction.

6. Be Open to learning and advice. When making contact to share best practice, please remember to ensure your appreciation of the information you are given and ask a lot of questions in an assertive way.

7. Keep it Positive. One of the key traits I observe when interviewing a candidate is his ‘locus of control’. I want to be able to know the perfect candidate has what it takes to cope with the job/business fluctuations to motivate himself to deliver. Negative energy scares allies and potential employers away.

8. Get out and do some face-to-face networking. Face-to-face contact and telephone conversations are essential to connect. Do not rely only on your computer to network!

9. Keep a strategic job search plan. It is not just applying through a series of never ending job posts what will land you that job but how you are articulating your job transitioning process what will make you successful in achieving your vision.

10. Rely on the power of a strong network of family and friends. They may not be able to provide you with useful job leads or referrals … but they can give you something even more valuable: friendship, unconditional love and support.
“ Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” - Winston Churchill

Best Success!

Your coach,
Mariela
www.linkedin.com/in/marielatinoco
+20 positive public referrals at your service

Job scams…what actually happens to professionals like you!

Leo is a highly specialized engineer with +15 years of experience in the Oil and Gas Industry who e-mailed me a few weeks ago to check on a job offer he had got from a well known company in the UK. He was excited after having exchanged some e-mails with a recruiter from that company and thrilled there was a job offer for him to be relocated to the United Kingdom. The ‘catch’ and what created discomfort on him was a payment in advance to be made to this company in order for them to process the immigration paperwork on his behalf. He e-mailed me the notes and websites provided and everything seemed ‘legitimate’ until I noticed the employer’s originating e-mail address which ended on ’@yahoo.com’. That was the obvious sign that this was a job scam.


When I performed a quick research on Internet it was obvious this company was one of the many job scams that are taking advantage of the recession to take money from those highly educated professionals that would be willing to relocate to a different country in order to make a living.

From Jan. 1, 2010 to August 31, 2010 the US Better Business Bureau (www.bbb.org) received 2,431 complaints from consumers on work-at-home scams

Leo’s case is not unique. Job scams are on the rise. Be careful not to trust too easily a potential job offer when:

1. It is too good to be true. High salary potential and excellent benefits for little work and no experience necessary should be enough to make you suspicious.

2. The  corporation’s use of ‘generic’ email addresses, like Gmail, Yahoo or Hotmail, rather than a specific business email address.

3. The employer offers the convenience of working from home and getting rich by doing it. While millions of entrepreneurs will earn their income from enterprises run from home offices nationwide millions of others will fall victim to work-at-home scams that are spread through classified ads, direct mailings, and the Internet and e-mail.

4. The hiring company asks for money upfront. On Leo’s case it meant some 'needed' money to fix immigration paperwork in the UK. Even the internet links shared by the employer can be potentially ‘hacked’ in order for you to provide personal financial information and/or make a payment.

5. The employer wants your credit report from the beginning. Though, it is true that employers may require this information to candidates that have been interviewed and who are most likely on the final stages of the selection process, it is unusual to get an e-mail from the potential employer that in order to be considered for the job, the applicant has to check his or her credit report through a recommended website. Beware of releasing confidential social security or financial information.

There is also a recent and fantastic article related to the Top 10 Job Scams That Target the Unemployed - See full article from DailyFinance: http://srph.it/9DBZB6 - that I invite you to visit to get more information.

Remember that it is your job search process which means YOU are responsible for doing your own research. Use the public library, newspapers, the Internet, and your state employment office to find info on your potential employer and ensure you get the job that’s right for you.


Best Success,
Your Career Coach,
Mariela Tinoco-Aramburu
+20 public positive referrals available at www.linkedin.com/in/marielatinoco

Your Career World Cup: Where have all your goals gone?

What can the world soccer cup teach you about your Brand and what employers want? I bet you do not want to be one more job market player nobody remembers!

I am a big soccer world cup fan which means I follow the games played by my favorite teams. I laugh, scream and talk about the moves with anyone willing to share the excitement of it. I also think about how great the game turns to be when there is a dynamic goal striker and a strong goal keeper.

For a winning team you must have both players in it, but what does it mean to your career vision fulfillment?  You MUST be able to switch between those two roles in order to achieve it.

The Goal striker is a human machine ready to follow on the agreed strategy to kick that ball straight to where it is supposed to go. It plays with the elements the game brings and keeps the adrenaline moving full of excitement for the crowd to CONNECT and FEEL that ball as if it were theirs! She is proactive, aggressive, strategic, dynamic and a true heart for the vision when moving along all obstacles in a ‘dance’ that brings passion to a game that can’t exist without her participation. She plays with others in order to conquer; she uses her counterparts’ failures and strengths as opportunities for her next move to get closer to her destination. She moves forward while working alongside her team and competition.

A Goal keeper is the one that keeps the ‘net’ free of balls. He’s got a vision that goes across the whole soccer field anticipating every move with enough premeditation to stop any ball. He is patient, self-controlled, mindful, defensive and sits ‘alongside’ observing/analyzing all the moves before stopping right on time any threat from the competition. He puts together the game’s puzzle while watching and deciding how to keep his vision intact.

You are a goal striker when you consciously follow the path you choose would be the most beneficial to get you closer to your career vision. You deal with the competition while obtaining what their attributes are, what your allies can do for you, what you also do genuinely and generously for them, what you understand must be learned and applied in order to get successfully to your goal. You are immersed in the field using the power of your network with everything it brings, its faults allow you to grow into a stronger player and your passion for the game connects you to your contacts/allies in a way that makes impossible for them not to believe in your unique Brand.

You are a goal keeper when you sit aside to carefully observe the trends your job niche brings. You analyze the competition, the moves your desirable target employers make. You are preparing with anticipation the required moves not just to prevent potential cracks in your Brand but to proactively assess the required attributes you need to bring to the game in order to successfully stop the risk of looking like one of the zillion copy-cats of the market. You know what the market wants and you are so ready to bring it to them. You are nothing more and nothing else that the BEST possible YOU!

You must be both a GOAL STRIKER and a GOAL KEEPER in order to be successful in being that memorable player everyone wants on their field.

You are the best of your past articulated in such a powerful present Brand connected to what the market needs in such a proactive way that your network is empowered by your moves and connected to your vision allowing your chances for success to be significantly increased.

You are THE PLAYER everyone wants to have in their winning teams, a visionary, a leader of your own Brand, a distinctive professional that is unafraid to watch and play the game at its best to meet his vision.

So, there you go and strike that goal. Hire that coach to help you identify the traits that will make YOU the exceptional player, because as Bil McCartney wisely said “All coaching is, is taking a player where he can't take himself”.

Best Success,
Your Career Coach,
Mariela Tinoco-Aramburu
career4change@yahoo.com
www.linkedin.com/in/marielatinoco

Brand's Integrity Vs. What you did not mean to…but you still did

Branding is everything even if you do not know what it is, but what you know is when someone or something generates a noise in your system that does not sound quite right.


I can tell when a politician is talking without saying anything concrete on what people really need to know (I am sure you know what I am talking about) or when I get that e-mail telling me how someone I do not know in a very distant country wants to give me many millions out of nowhere for a very silly reason. It is not real; it is either a fake or a lie. People and Businesses do that all the time, don’t they?

I am sure Tony Hayward - BP CEO -did not mean to disappoint us with what he’s said to the media during the last few weeks but it seems he seemed to do so to many out there. I also believe that the Motrin manufacturers did not mean to sell an unsafe medicine for our kids, but they still did and a recall was generated. Or Toyota did not mean to hurt its Brand by contradicting messages about the issues/problems with the Toyota cars but they did!

I trust that you did not mean to mislead that potential hiring manager on your level of expertise in that particular software, but maybe you still did so! Or that you did not mean to sell that defective product to a client, but you did! Or that you did not mean to work on a contract that collided closely with your business ally's territory but you did, anyway!

Things happen! Bad thing happen to everyone. What can you do to mitigate being the originator of that noise or the ‘victim’ of it?

Decision Making is an art to master in a lifetime. A wrong turn and you are ‘history' until you manage to make a come back - if you can! One of the key evidences of your own Integrity is an open and transparent decision making process.

What distinguishes most of us is that we do not have the PR professional to define the communication strategy for our Brand or that Sales Department to handle sales. We are the CEOs of our Brand and as such we must confront the consequences of our actions whatever intended or unintended they are.

Acknowledgement is a first step on that direction. It is easy to say that others attack your Brand and because of it, your Brand gets hurt but it is wiser to say that the cracks in your Brand allow others to get in to see its weaknesses. Sit down and confront what is there in your own Brand that generates so much noise. There is a saying in my home country that states that if the river is noisy is because it brings stones meaning that if your audience is saying the ‘wrong’ things about your brand it may be you are the one to be blamed as the originator of that sound. Understand your vision and create your own Brand’s ‘white noise’ generating positive visibility and impact in those that cross paths with you.

Accountability in your decisions and their consequences. Unintended impact is always a risk, specially, when decisions are either not-well thought of, a result/product relies in a chain of providers/services or decisions are driven by emotions or quick delivery. When blaming starts getting into the picture your Brand's credibility gets highly impacted. If you are your own Brand’s CEO there is nobody else but YOU that others look at when your reputation is ‘at-risk’. When Mattel did a series of recalls with some of its toys I believe parents trusted mistakes were committed unintentionally and measures were taken for those not to be repeated, but when a famous furniture franchise business denied recalling a particularly popular bunk-bed after some kids were injured, then their Brand's integrity got damaged along the way. The same goes when your job is terminated and you blame your former manager for letting you go first or you reflect someone else’s Brand in your resume falling short on selling your own unique attributes to a potential hiring manager. You do not want to be any can of soda on that ‘job-supermarket’ aisle but the Brand that everyone wants to get in their business. Clear examples on how you can hurt your own Brand are available when you Google the key words ‘fired over Facebook’at  http://tinyurl.com/24365b5.

Learning Mode On. We can all remember some very ‘popular’ class lawsuits filed against major manufacturers. We also notice news’ headlines when bashing out famous household names/personalities for potential wrong-doing. We have access to the news everyday. What about if you got the control wheel on your Brand and you could incorporate some of the big lessons available out there? It may be you are worried about equal employment opportunity, you are discriminating or feel discriminated against, or you are writing those passionate e-mails without further thought unaware that anything you do or say reflects your Brand everyday 24 hours a day! Learning is a key element in anyone’s Brand for it to survive and get into a growing mode. Go and research your own unique attributes. Clean your act, if needed. Learn from your past to build a better future.

There you go, live up to the words your Personal Brand means...Say it, do it, own it…mean it!

"Regardless of age, regardless of position, regardless of the business we happen to be in, all of us need to understand the importance of branding. We are CEOs of our own companies: Me Inc. To be in business today, our most important job is to be head marketer for the brand called You."
Tom Peters in Fast Company, 1997

Best Success,
Mariela Tinoco-Aramburu
Your Career Coach
'Because YOU can change what happens next'
+20 referrals available at www.linkedin.com/in/marielatinoco

Be strategic in your career path time investment and turn off that TV now!

Are you using Internet/Data strategically in your job transitioning and market research? How deep is your understanding in what’s available and the changes you need to make in your life/career to get you closer to your vision? According to Nicholas Carr* on his book ‘The Shallow’ a constant Internet use ‘impedes the sort of comprehension and retention “deep reading” engenders’. Therefore, you develop a sort of photographic memory that stops any meaningful reflection on how the information you access impacts your path or not. Even worse, if we consider a Nielsen Wire report*, ‘the typical American consumes almost 35 hrs of TV, 2 hrs of time shifted TV, 4 hrs of internet, 22 minutes of online video and 4 minutes of mobile’.


Are you hooked in an unproductive monthly routine? Are you paralyzed and victimized by your own choices? Is it Friday already and you have achieved not even 50% of what you've planned for the week?

What about stretching out of your comfort (or TV) box and do what you know you can’t postpone any longer?

There is a big number of networking events in each town. We are more aware than ever that the biggest piece of that job success pie relies on networking. Creating and building relationships with others is key. Not just business but personal relationships. The Networking impact is much higher than the use of job boards or anything else you can think of. If you decided to switch your time wisely and spend 40 hours of your week choosing actions leading to a change in your life towards the future vision you are looking to fulfill, then you could consider creating your own agenda. An example on what a more productive monthly agenda could look like is:

- A weekly networking meeting = 8 hours a month
- Playing/exercising with others 2 times a week = 8 hours a month
- Using online networking strategically - e.g. LinkedIn - for your job search= 12 hours a month
- Watching out for job market trends while applying actively on job boards = 8 hours a month
- Having a nice date with your significant other once a month= 4 hours
- Having time to choose the life you want to have = PRICELESS!

This would still give you more time to do what’s better for you rather than just following the distraction trends most choose to follow when overwhelmed by changes/potential changes in their lives/careers.

Using technology wisely is not about having 5-6 Internet windows open at the same time in your computer screen and knowing it all but actually connecting yourself to the content in a strategic mode that allows you to make best use of the information gathered to incorporate it effectively to your action plan.

Can you commit yourself to stop the someday syndrome and begin a journey that YOU know is the one that will drive you to your VISION fulfillment.

Can you start running your own statistics and choosing wisely how you invest your time everyday?
‘Television has proved that people will look at anything rather than each other.’ ~Ann Landers
Best Success!

Mariela Tinoco-Aramburu
Your Strategic Professional Branding and Career Coach
'Because YOU can change what happens next'
 + 20 Positive Referrals are available at www.linkedin.com/in/marielatinoco
* Nielsen Report: http://tinyurl.com/32tezj3
* Nicholas Carr's Blog: http://www.roughtype.com/

A Miracle Maker on the way

Make some room for this amazing miracle maker. This individual can make anything happen when committed to it. That person can be YOU!


These last weeks have been incredibly busy and full of successful stories. People that have worked hard – and smart – to achieve a vision. People who have not given up and have made lemonade out of the lemons thrown at them.

I’d like to share a couple of these stories that clearly probe that 'YOU can change what happens next’.

One of the stories is about a marvelous high potential corporate employee who was severed after having demonstrated his performance at his best all around the world. He felt betrayed but not defeated when he made contact with me the first time a year or so ago. He had a clear vision and went for it. He built a stronger network and became a familiar face in the affinity professional group he chose to be active part of. He got a job offer very soon at a mid size company and kept doing what he knew how to do at his best. A couple of months ago I was contacted again by him to run a Branding Interviewing session. He was being pursued by a major corporation. Not long after he started the screening process with this company he was also approached by a second major organization. What can be better than having a job and two potential job offers at great multinational corporations? He had the luxury of choosing what he believed was the top employer of the two and the one that offered him the opportunity of continuing his career progression.

My second story is not about a client but a role model for all. I connected a few weeks ago with someone in LinkedIn I though had quite a distinctive Brand. As I do sometimes, I asked him to meet and then, we had lunch. He is a +30 years experience professional that has changed his career 3 times. He is not quite ready to retire but to face a new adventure, a challenge that allows him to feel the thrill again of re-inventing himself while being at his best. A dedicated community volunteer with a big network and an incredible track record of achievements.

There are some elements these fellows have in common:
- A clear VISION. Knowing where you want to go makes a definitive statement on the direction or re-direction you take on your career. It is about that ultimate place you’d like to see yourself in the future. There is a popular expression: ‘All roads lead to Rome’. If you know you want to get there, then what are you waiting for?
- A strong Network and a distinctive Brand. These folks have created and extended a network that relies on the quality and distinctive elements of their Brands. They are trusted resources for those who know them.
- Community advocates. Both of them have volunteered successfully in organizations and generated visibility in not just their technical abilities but their willingness to take that extra step to support a cause when is needed.
- Sense of FUN. One of them is quite an athlete and the other is an explorer. Both enjoy life, have a strong family/friends support system and look forward to what may comes next knowing they have the power to grab that wheel and control the result.
- Work/Life Balance. They have personal goals. Not everything is 100% job related when you talk to them. They actually have a fulfilling life that determines their Brands and not a Brand that depends on a particular job to be successful. It may be one of the reasons they can so easily move from job to job when needed.
These are ‘Miracle Makers’. They do not wait for the opportunity to knock on their doors but move their actions aligned to their values in the direction their future vision to be is placed.

A Brand with a heart is more authentic than anything else you may see on paper. They walk the talk, their actions fulfill their words and they create/make/grow their own world.

But remember, their successes did not happen overnight because ‘even miracles take a little bit of time’.

Best Success!

Your Coach,
Mariela Tinoco-Aramburu
‘Because You Can Change What Happens Next’
www.linkedin.com/in/marielatinoco
http://www.career4change.com/
Visit me at my Career4Change Facebook Page: http://tinyurl.com/2fg627g

Have you been tagged into a job or occupation you hate and ready to take control on a Career4Change?

Wilbert Rideau reinvented himself as a winning award editor for a high security prison when sentenced to death and later on to life term in prison. What can be a most radical re-definition on what you decide you want to do for the rest of your life but this? He was the editor of an award winning prison newspaper and he lived beyond the horror of the stories he covered to be released and write an autobiography. What a paradox to find the job of your dreams when you are incarcerated. (NPR's story: http://tinyurl.com/29ncgq8)
I’d like to ask you the following question: how many times have you been cornered by your own circumstances to react by changing jobs or leaving behind a very unfulfilling career? How many is ‘too many’ jobs in a lifetime?

A BLS news release published in June 2008 examined that the average number of jobs that younger baby boomers held from age 18 to age 42 was 10.8. (www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/nlsoy.pdf). However, this study does not tell anything beyond this sample which does not include those that immigrated to the US after the survey began in 1979.

Let’s assume this applies to all and we can expect an average of 10.8 jobs in our lifetimes. Do you know how to find your next job while you still have one? Have you mastered your Professional Brand’s marketing strategy and tapped into the best resources to sell it?

Now, what about changing careers? The Department of Labor does not offer statistical data on this matter. What we know for sure is that most working people will make numerous career changes during their lifetime of employment. However, Studies show that people are making 3 to 5 major career changes - not just job changes - in their lifetime. And the newest predictions are that people will make at least 5 to 7 major career changes in the near future, if not more.

But how do you do this in the current environment?

1. What’s your motivation? Is it a matter of changing jobs, finding your dream job or just getting any job? Whatever it is please make up your mind and be very CLEAR on it. It is not unusual to find people at networking events that tell you upfront they’d be willing to do any job which is not something that will make them attractive for a potential hiring manager right now. Even if you were desperate enough to get anything, you’ll have to be smarter than that to play by your Brand and sell it at your best for that ‘whatever’ job you’d be looking to get.

2. What are your transferable skills? You may title your resume with a very specific job title missing the relevant competencies related on the content of it. Read the related market job descriptions and analyze what competencies you have applied consistently throughout your career that can be effectively transferred.

3. What’s your strategy? Have you consciously studied your market and its trends? Are you an Oil and Gas Onshore professional trying to find a job dominated by Oil and Gas Offshore openings? Have you identified key sources of information to tap into the market to move you ahead of the competition? Are you making the calls, making best use of your existent network while extending it successfully by a very well defined distinctive Professional Brand? What conferences are you volunteering for? What professional networks have you identified and are consistently participating at? Are those Networks the most indicated to lead you closer to your career vision? Why? What else is out there? Have you talked to those successful in achieving your goal?

4. Rehearse, role-play and get the job. How does the job you are looking for look like at a given day? Are you aware of its challenges, requirements and priorities? How close are you to be able to demonstrate yourself at a similar job? Can you volunteer your time in a non-profit organization that allows you a ‘break’ to probe what you can do in it? Do you manage the technical terms? Are you working towards that certification or software that will make the difference between you and someone else?

5. Networking and Unique positioning statement. Most people are unaware of how important is to be able to effectively articulate a good entrance that sells your Brand at a networking event. Even worse, many candidates fail to answer the very basic, yet challenging question: WHY YOU? Or why should I hire YOU? What’s your take on it? Are you ready to handle your unique positioning statement in less than a minute? What about 30 seconds?

If you are effectively considering either for personal reasons or job market trends to change your occupation, you will have to be open and flexible about your negotiation terms and conditions – contract type, relocation and salary. Be positive but set realistic goals with setbacks and difficult challenges. Make sure you look at the bigger picture and consider all your options including a potential lateral move or starting your own business or consulting practice as alternatives.
Remember, “Often people attempt to live their lives backwards: they try to have more things, or more money, in order to do more of what they want so that they will be happier. The way it actually works is the reverse. You must first be who you really are, then, do what you need to do, in order to have what you want.” Margaret Young

Your Coach,

Mariela Tinoco-Aramburu
‘Because You Can Change What Happens Next’
www.linkedin.com/in/marielatinoco
http://www.career4change.com/
Visit me at my Career4Change Facebook Page: http://tinyurl.com/2fg627g