Sital Ruparelia

1. The person who made you redundant.  It may not seem like it now, but in the long run, they may have done you a huge favour. (You just don’t get to find out why until much later… )

2. The recruiter who offered you genuine help and advise, even though they couldn’t provide solid opportunities for you

3. Ellen Degenerous for offering the wisest (and funniest) career advice of 2009 Click here to read the rest…

Whilst some individuals find the notion of being positive to be a little ‘fluffy‘ – intellectually, most people understand that your state of mind and how you feel has a direct impact on your actions and the results you achieve in your career – and indeed elsewhere in your life.

Here are 13 tips which may help:

1. Keep your mind focused on solutions instead of problems. In every market there are opportunities – but you’ve got to stop focusing on all the noise about how bad things are in order to see the solutions and potential opportunities.

2. Don’t stress about stuff you can’t control. The economy, lay-offs and a shortage of opportunities are out of your control – so quit worrying about them. Focus 100% of your mental energy and time on those things which you can control or influence. It’s far more productive.

Click here to read the rest…

I think there’s far too much talk and pressure about “how to find a job” and “how to reinvent yourself,” don’t you..?

Instead, how about embracing the recession and taking some time off to relax, have fun and veg out?

Just think, you could watch day-time telly (Oprah, Loose Women or the sports channel), go play some golf, visit the gym and sit in the sauna (but tell everyone you’ve been working out), play online poker, have fun on Facebook, hang out in coffee shops and “do lunch” with friends.

You could stay up late to watch trashy “made for TV” films whilst eating a tub of Haagen Dazs and corn chips. Maybe buy some completely useless items from the late night shopping channels and wake up the next day when…..well, whenever you like.

With such a lifestyle, why would you want to spend time looking for a job?

Oh yes, I forgot – it’s not socially acceptable is it? You’ve got to at least “look” as if you’re trying to find work.

So why not bluff your friends and family into thinking you are working really hard at the job searching but sabotage it?!

Here are 5 great ways NOT to get a job (but which make it look like you’re trying):

1. Live in the past

Click here to read the rest…

They say we often teach the things we need to learn the most. I’m not sure who ‘they’ are but I think they’re right.

I’ve just got off the phone from delivering a teleseminar about how to find a job. Whilst, on the whole, it went well – my self critical mind went into over drive straight after I finished.  

Immediately after the call, I started focussing on all the things that didn’t go well (we had some technical problems with the phone line at the start of the call, I over ran by 10 minutes at the end, I spoke too fast towards the end as I was trying cram in all the content and forgot to mention some stuff I’d planned to cover) – all of which began to make me feel a little ‘flat’ and, in that split second, decide that I didn’t want to deliver any further teleclasses I have planned.

I realised it was completely irrational and hit the pause button quickly so that I could walk my talk and follow the same 5 steps I ask my clients to follow after an interview: 

Click here to read the rest…

In the UK, talking and complaining about the weather is a national pastime.

Whilst I dislike the wet and unpredictable weather in London (and frequently dream about owning a beach house in the sun!), I rarely talk about the bad weather and certainly don’t complain about it.

Why?

Because it’s a complete waste of time and mental energy.  I can’t control it, I can’t change it and so why worry about it…?

Instead it’s much better to focus on two things: The things I can influence and the things I can control.

a) Influence – If it rains, I can influence whether I get wet or not by choosing what to wear or choosing to carry an umbrella. I may still get wet, but I may have some level influence over it.

b) Control – I can’t control whether it rains or not, but I can totally control my reaction if it does. I can control how I think and speak about the weather. If I get soaked in a storm, I can control my reaction and so dictate my mood – which of course impacts everything else I do. Click here to read the rest…

‘WHEN I feel better about myself, THEN I‘ll call xyz about that opportunity’

‘WHEN I feel more confident about what I want to do next, THEN I’ll get out and start doing more networking’

‘WHEN I have some momentum with my job search, THEN I’ll start socialising more and meeting ex-colleagues and friends again’

‘WHEN I’m more comfortable about what I want to do with the rest of my life, THEN I’ll start searching and talking to people’

‘WHEN I feel good about myself, THEN I’ll start pushing myself outside my comfort zone’

Do any of these sound familiar…?

Click here to read the rest…

If you’re job searching at the moment, let me ask you a question – how many jobs do you want?

Just the ONE right?

If you’re looking for just one job, it doesn’t matter how deep the recession is, how many job cuts are announced each day, how much doom and gloom there is in the environment – if you’re only looking for one job – one job will be out there. (Really, it will).

That’s the same attitude I had during the recession of the early 1990’s when I graduated with no relevant experience and a fairly average academic record. I kept telling myself “I only want one job – there’s one job out there with my name on it, I just need to go out and find it”

And I did. I joined a top 10 listed firm which most of my peers thought was beyond our reach.  Many of them sat back with a “there’s no jobs out there – what’s the point” attitude which meant they stopped trying.

It took me several months of hard work, plenty of set backs, being flexible (it wan’t exactly my ideal job), and being persistent (I had sooo many rejections)– but all this was based on a mindset that I was just as good as anyone else and “I only want one job.”

That’s the same attitude you need to take in the current market.

Click here to read the rest…

As we wrap up 2008, I thought I’d share some of the best posts of the year below. I got the idea from Penelope Trunk, who recently shared her best 18 posts of the year on the excellent blog, Brazen Careerist.

As this is the last post of the year, can I also quickly say ‘thank you’ for reading and commenting on the blog. I understand that everyone is busy and so appreciate you taking the time to read. I hope you’ve found the articles of benefit during a turbulent 2008 and hope to bring you more valuable advice and information in 2009.

So wherever you are in the world, I wish you an enjoyable and relaxing time over the remaining days of the holiday season and look forward to ‘seeing’ you in January.

15 Best Posts of 2008

Focus On Reinvention, Not Recession

10 Ways YOU Stop Yourself Getting The Right Job

How To Thrive During Uncertain Times

9 Career Lessons From Richard Branson

13 Ways To Stay Positive In An Economic Downturn

How To Recession Proof Your Career By Developing Your Network

5 Tips For Managing Your Career In A Crazy Market

Why Thinking Like A Consultant Protects You In A Downturn

5 Steps To More Money AND More Satisfaction

The 7½ Tips For Being Remarkable

The Secret To Success In A Downturn: Choosing Your Reaction

5 Tips For Job Searching In A Crazy Market

How To Make Your CV / Resume Stand Out In A Downturn

Lehman Employees: Here’s What To Do Next

Career Changers: 6 Steps To Becoming Unstuck

If you like the post, I’d really appreciate it if you helped spread the word by sharing it on Delicious, StumbleUpon or Digg!

“I thought, I can either feel guilty about surviving, or I can do something positive that will help other people.”
Megan Blunt (Cancer Survivor)

This is 15 year old Megan Blunt from the UK. Megan is a cancer surviver who chose to use her experiences to produce an A to Z guide for children on how to deal with cancer. She turned a bad situation into an opportunity to do some good. She turned lemons into lemonade.

She couldn’t change the fact that she had cancer – that was her situation, her condition. But she chose to attach a very different meaning to her illness – a meaning that involved using her experience of cancer to help thousands of other young cancer sufferers better handle the stresses and pains of the illness.

Megan is one of the inspirational individuals that has been recognised by the “Pride of Britain Awards” in recent years. Pride of Britain celebrates the achievements of the remarkable unsung heroes who make our world a better place. It’s the biggest national event of its kind in the UK.
 
Megan’s story perfectly illustrates how it’s not what happens to you, but about the meaning you give to what happens to you that dictates your level of success.

Click here to read the rest…

To coincide with National Stress Awareness Day in the UK tomorrow, Wednesday 5th November, I’m pleased to have a guest article below from an international expert on executive stress – Carole Spiers

After twenty years as a stress consultant to blue-chip companies, I could fill about half the internet with my reflections about the present credit-crunch and the countless workplace stressor-elements we can expect to see afflicting everyone right up to boardroom level, in the coming weeks and months.

Instead, let me pinpoint just five less-known stress-symptoms which I believe we shall see bulking-up over the coming months, for all of which there are formal training initiatives for HR staff as part of the stress-management agenda.

Click here to read the rest…