A Goal Without A Plan Is Just A Wish

For Those Who Whine

Do you realize that you’re spending more energy complaining about your situation than you are at actually getting out of your situation? When I say "take action" to change your situation, I don't mean the action of complaining. Complaining is action, but it's also wasted energy...Similar to eating "empty calories" when the goal is to stay healthy.

Why are you looking towards others to lend a helping hand? Their hands are already full with their own life and their own problems. At the end of the day, you only have yourself to rely on. Don’t expect others to use their time and energy to help you when you’re too busy complaining that you’re not even willing to help yourself.

Nobody like a whiner. You won’t get far if whining is your only area of expertise. With a few moments of introspection, you may realize that you put yourself in your situation or that in the least, you contributed to it. If this is the case, then you also have the power to get yourself out of your bad situation. Realistically, you may not be able to completely free yourself, but you may be able to dig yourself out enough that someone else is actually able to help you the rest of the way.You must take the first step.

You’ve got what it takes. Focus your energy and spend your time very wisely. Time is sacred; you can never get it back. Good luck!

Make this world a more accepting place that benefits from the diversity of every human being

Even though it's been a while since Don't Ask Don't Tell was overturned. There’s still much to celebrate.

Here's a nice quote that's relevant to it all: "When I was in the military they gave me a medal for killing two men and a discharge for loving one." ~ Epitaph of Leonard P. Matlovich, 1988

People should be able to have the career that they want, regardless of their sexual orientance that doesn't hurt others. We’ve made so much progress, but there’s still much more to be done.

Be sure to make your voice heard, through speaking up for others, emailing you political representatives, signing petitions, voting, or simply by sharing your view with others. The only people who can change the world we live in is ourselves.

Let’s make this world a more accepting place that benefits from the diversity of every human being.

 

Will the degree in question help you get your dream job or will it just help you procrastinate?

On my Facebook page on March 23rd, I posted this:

Will the degree in question help you get your dream job or will it just help you procrastinate so you don't have to look for a job? Keep it real with yourself. Its your time and money; its your life.

I loved the response I received! I agree and  wanted to share it with you. What's your perspective on this?

"I say this all the time...So tell me what is the real reason as to why people go to college. People can always want more money and have a million dreams... But those dreams and money after graduation is not guaranteed in the end its always up to each individual...I have no doubt that a degree MAY help you be more competitive in the job market, but I feel as though anyone can read the same textbooks as we do in school and be just as successful.... I swear the saying was KNOWLEDGE is POWER not SCHOOL is POWER....

Two students graduating from the same college within the same degree can both leave at totally different levels and the GPA may not even appropriately show the knowledge of each student.... My point is that schools nor does a GPA give you the power to make you successful in the world; its the ability to utilize the knowledge that you've learned and obtained and be able to use it into the real world whether its from a college or a shack that you live in and learned your studies." - Corey L.

What do you think? Do you agree or disagree?

Happy Valentines Day!

Happy Valentines day! Virtual white chocolate Oreo cookies for each and every one of you!

I hope you had a great day! Remember love is about loving others, but its also about loving and respecting yourself. Honoring yourself, your passion and taking risks out of love - for the sake of your dreams and those things you hold dear. Would you give up on someone you love? Don't give up on yourself.

In short, love yourself. If you don't love yourself, how can you genuinely love someone else? If you don't show love to yourself by taking action on what you hold dear, it can result in dissatisfaction with your life. You deserve better than that. Your unhappiness and grouchyness will rub off on others. Do you know people like this? They're not fun to be around! But you're not one of those people: You Loooooove yourself!

Enjoy your Valentines Day!

Respecting Diversity: Prayer in School

Ever heard of the "snowball effect"?

Why must we allow prayer in school when people can pray at home? If we allow institutionalized prayer in school, should it not include all Faiths?

If what we call "praying" they call "casting a spell"? What’s the real difference? Does it matter and should it be respected?

Consider these two quotes:

• “I feel my heart break to see a nation ripped apart by its own greatest strength--it's diversity."   - Melissa Etheridge
• "Civilizations should be measured by the degree of diversity attained and the degree of unity retained." – W.H. Auden

How far must we go to respect diversity and promote inclusion for all? Is it possible to go "too far"? What do you think?

 

Continually And Without Fail...Revise Your Resume

Every time you take a new class, accomplish something cool at work, or win an award – update your resume. If you don’t update it as you go along, you’ll either forget what you think you remembered or you may not be as accurate as it could and should be.

You never know when that Dream Job of yours will sneak up on you. Be prepared! A great job could come your way and you may not have a week to update your resume. You could have a day or even a few hours. Don’t let great job opportunities pass you by because your resume wasn’t in good enough shape to submit. Keeping track of your accomplishments, classes you’ve taken, dates, and awards will serve you well. Be proactive about keeping your resume fresh and relevant. This also means removing old lingo and obsolete keywords. Finally, target your resume to specific jobs.

Good luck!

Interviews: Don't forget to listen and do your research

Only talk 80% of the time in interviews. In other words, if you’re talking for 48 minutes out of an hour interview, you’re on the right track. This includes being prepared with questions to ask the interviewer. Do yourself a favor and don’t ask questions that you should already know. There are such things as “dumb” questions at an interview.

A dumb question is one that the employer feels its obvious you should know. Here are are a few examples of "dumb" questions:

 

1. What's the mission/purpose of your organization?
2. What are the responsibilities or duties of the job?
3. Why is your organization important?
4. What job and I interviewing for?

All of those questions are dumb! When preparing for an interview, you should always review the job annoucement or description. At a minimum, you will also want to review the organizations website. If you really want to impress them, review their social media sites and find out as much as you can about the actual office or department within the organization you're interviewing with. You can take brief notes or create bullet points with a few tidbits you've found. Bring them to the interview so you can refer to them as needed. It's normal for a interviewee to take notes or review their notes during an interview, so don't worry.

Doing your research can help you come up with intelligent questions to ask that will reflect well on you. Listening will also increase your ability to ask relevant and meaningful questions in the heat of the moment. This gives them a chance to experience your interpersonal and communication skills in action. Soft skills are in high demand with employers for many reasons, one being that soft skills are harder to learn than technical skills. Show them what you've  got!

Best of luck as you move forward!

Hate Waiting to Hear Back From That Federal Job?

Do you hate waiting to hear back from that federal job you applied to? If you’re like many job seekers who’ve applied to the federal government, then you know what it’s like to wait. Wait. And wait some more. It seems like months can go by before our “usajobs.gov” status changes; IF it changes.

Some federal agencies do a better job than others by actually keeping your usajobs.gov application status current. Some agencies will actually be reviewing your application when usajobs reflects that. Other agencies will have already made a selection or cancelled the vacancy and you are none the wiser. For some, usajobs.gov will continue to say, “Reviewing applications” or “forwarded to the selecting official” long after a vacancy has been canceled or filled.

So, how do you know the status of your federal application if you can’t rely on the usajobs.gov status? You don’t. You will have to get in touch with the HR Specialist point of contact (POC) listed on the vacancy announcement. Some vacancy announcements don’t even have a POC; there’s a generic number or email; but these are in the minority. I have found that contacting these generic numbers or emails will actually lead to a response (and sometimes quicker than a formal HR POC), so don’t despair. It just means that the particular agency uses a “help desk ticket” type of arrangement that serves the same purpose.

In any case, when you apply to federal jobs, you shouldn’t be waiting. Keep applying to any and all jobs you’re interested in that based on the announcements – you are qualified for. Applying to federal jobs is not a “one at a time” game. To win you have to have as many eggs in the basket as possible. Good eggs, not bad eggs. Applying to jobs you’re not even remotely qualified for is a complete waste of your time. And don’t apply only for the grade level you want. Apply to grades below and above if the option is there. There are so many people out there willing to take less pay just to get a federal job. You have to be willing to do this too. If you don’t, you may just end up without a job at all.  Don’t overestimate your professional value in the context of this down economy. Don’t underestimate desperate others willing to outbid you as the best candidate (less money, highest qualified).

Sunday Gratitude and Meaningfulness

I always considered Sunday to be a day of rest, gratitude, contemplation and thankfulness. Despite not having a perfect last couple of days, it was beautiful and meaningful. If you maintain an expectation of perfection, you will consistently set yourself up for failure. If you maintain an attitude of gratitude for all the good and for the "bad" in which you were able to learn from, you will always set yourself up for greatness and wisdom.

Give yourself the gift of contemplation; think about who you are and what you want to do with your life; your career. Its a gift because we spend SOoooo much time worrying about other things!  Think about your own direction' "pay yourself first" as David Bach would say. But I mean it in a career management type of way. It's OK to worry about your partners career and job issues. It's natural to worry about and try to direct your kids about their career and job issues too. The thing is, get yourself straight first. Don't leave yourself out. Maybe if you were more on target with your own career management, your children and partner would have a better example to follow. Keep this in mind.

Be thankful and aim for meaningful things, not the most expensive or even the most cheap. Meaningful things and meaningful experience, to me - is a path worth taking.

Thank you for walking with me. Happy Sunday!

Stop Blaming and Keep Your Head Up

 Searching for a job can be emotionally draining & frustrating. When you are interviewed, don't look how you feel. If you go there looking all drained and defeated, no one in their right mind is going to hire you.

Times are hard and it may seem like the world is ending. The world will end eventually, but I doubt it will be today. Or tomorrow. But it's up to you. If you've given up and let everything that's happening knock you down so hard that you don't get up, then your own world has ended, so to speak. Don't go there. Make the best of this situation. Find that small kernel of positiveness. There must be something that can be learned from all of this. Some benefit yet unseen. Find it. Find your hope. Find you confidence.

Stop blaming yourself, your age, your lack of education, and your clothes. It just may not be about you. It may actually be about this economy. Don't take it so personally that when an opportunity comes by, you can't even recognize it because you haven't seen it in a while and don't believe in it anymore.

If you believe you have reached the end of your rope, then that is your truth. If you believe that the best is yet to come; that you can and will get through this - you will. Please everyone, keep your head up.