Will it ever stop raining? We’re certainly wondering in London and we’ve also had more snow that usual. But the weather has been a lot worse elsewhere. You are probably well aware of the way in which weather and your life can interact to cause what you consider good or bad results, but have you thought about the influence weather could have on your career?

Probably not, unless you work outdoors or spend a lot of time waiting for buses. But if you stop to think about it, you’ll see that the present bad weather could have a positive impact on your career.

Being forced to stay indoors doesn’t mean you have to veg in front of the TV or spend the entire weekend on Facebook. You could use the time to reassess your career and perhaps even think about studying for something new.

You might just want to get another qualification which will make your present job more interesting or put you in line for promotion. Or you might want to learn something completely different and make a significant career change.

So use the rainy days to dream about what you want to do and take action to make it happen.

If you want to find and develop a satisfying career, you need to create a solid strategy and an important part of that is your personal SWOT analysis.

What exactly is a SWOT Analysis? It’s just an (honest) evaluation of your own strengths, your weaknesses, the opportunities which present themselves and finally the threats which might just get in the way of your success.

Once you are clear about your career goal, you can start your personal SWOT analysis by getting hold of applications for jobs which interest you. Take out the job descriptions and the person specifications and use them as a starting point to help you work out your strengths and weaknesses which elte to this particular career area. You can do this with the details of just one job, but using several will give you a broader view of the industry or the career.

Strengths

List all of the strengths which you have and which relate directly or indirectly to the requirements for each job. This will cover skills, talents, experience and qualifications and don’t forget to include soft skills such as communication skills and teamwork, as well as personal qualities like patience, tenacity and attention to detail.

You should also write down at least one example of a situation in which you used each of your strengths. This will be invaluable when it comes to writing applications.

Weaknesses

Now go through your job packs and list your weaknesses, that is, the areas where you lack experience or your skills are poorly developed. You don’t need to write down examples this time – you are probably all too painfully aware of them anyway. And you certainly don’t want to draw attention to them. You will come back to this list later, when you start to move from analysis to action.

Opportunities

You can look at this in two ways: opportunities for yourself to develop and progress in your career and also opportunities for you to add value to the employer.

For yourself, does this job offer what you want from a career? Will it provide training, opportunities for progression, the chance to travel or whatever else is on your wish list?

Employers are much more interested in what’s in it for them and so being aware of the opportunities you will give them for development and improvement of their products and services is important and will be very closely linked to your strengths.

Threats

These are difficulties and obstacles which could prevent you from getting the job in the first place or hamper your progress when you do get it. For example, problems in the economy as a whole or this specific sector could lead to cutbacks or a reduction in training budgets.

You can also look at your competitors – other people who are likely to be applying for the same jobs. Are they better qualified than you or do they have more relevant work experience?

As part of your career change strategy, your personal swot analysis will help you take action to improve your prospects of getting the job you want.

Before you create a SWOT analysis, you need to have clear career goals. If you are having difficulty setting good career goals, read our tips and articles to help you choose more effective goals.

Improve your career change strategy with our job interview tips: http://jobseekerssuccesskit.com/

I think most people will agree, it certainly isn’t my idea of fun and so my plan is to make it easier for you, by creating software where you just have to fill in the blanks.

It’s interesting – when I graduated back in the depths of one of the past recessions, everyone said “If you are good at languages, why not learn a computer language?” Well, I don’t think anyone actually said it to me, but I know that I read it all over the place.

Personally, I can’t see the connection and I was certainly never drawn toward computer programming and I doubt if I’d have the patience for it. So, this means that when it comes to creating software, I have to rely on a programmer and so there have been delays. But I am sure it will be worth it in the end – it will be very cool.

In the meantime I’ll just stick to speaking Chinese with a Belfast accent, a very useful life skill.

I promised I’d update you on some new developments today and there are two main areas I want to talk about. One is a slight change in direction and the other is an update on products.

The change in direction isn’t really a change – I’m just putting more emphasis on it now, because of the state of the economy. My main focus is career change and for me, that has always been about job satisfaction. But it has always been clear to me that unless you have a very strong vocation, you are unlikely to get all that you want from a job in one place, that is in one job or career.

And if you are like me, allergic to jobs, it’s even more difficult – you have to try and incorporate all of those things you want into your home business or businesses.

This idea isn’t new – Charles Handy called it a portfolio career, but I’ve noticed that my articles with that term in the title don’t attract many readers. I think it’s probably because it’s an unfamiliar term and sounds as if it has something to do with art or stocks and shares.

So I’m looking for a new term – I’m considering multi-stream career, which certainly sounds sexier and will probably be more easily understood, because most people are familiar with the term multiple streams of income.

Anyway, it makes sense to have more than one stream of income thes days. And that could mean setting up a part-time business venture while you still have a full-time job. It could also mean having a part-time business, with more than one income strean and two part-time jobs, for example a working mornings in an office, teaching an evening class in a local college a couple of nights a week.

I’m incorporating this idea into my current products, by providing you with all the information you need to set up a part-time income stream as a Résumé or CV Writer. After all , if you take the trouble to learn how to write your own Résumé , if you live in the US or CV if you are in the UK, why not make a bit of extra cash with your knowledge?

There are 2 versions: one if you just want to create a great CV or Résumé: http://www.ukjobapplicationforms.com

And one for the entire jobsearch process, including the Résumé package

http://www.jobseekerssuccesskit.com

.

(Both packages include the information you need to write Résumés for others)

More about a new product update tomorrow (anyone who buys now will get an automatic update – free. The same applies to existing customers)

Over the next few days we’ll take a look at a few steps you can take to keep your job, while everyone around you is losing theirs.

Okay, the first way to keep your job is to increase your productivity. It’s easy to become frozen into a state of inaction in a crisis situation, but that isn’t the best way to deal with the current economy. While you could think there is no point in working hard, after all, you’ll probably lose your job anyway – so why bother, it’s much better to have a positive approach.

If you show some initiative and make a point of doing your best, it won’t go unnoticed.

If the boss does have to let some people go, he’ll be reluctant to get rid of his best workers – so become one of them.

And in the worst case scenario, whre the company does go bankrupt and no jobs are saved, you’ll at least get a great reference and that will go a long way to getting you hired again.

The free software is now ready for you to download. You can use it to keep a track of all your
job applications to make sure you get them in on time and that your contacts are following up effectively. you can access it at:

Track Your Job Applications

There is a screenshot on that page, to give you a quick look at what it can do and there is a pdf in the zip file which takes you through the use of the software, step by step.

Enjoy using it!

Waller

Have you made any New Year’s Resolutions? Even if you haven’t, you are probably like most people, who at least think about improving their lives in the coming year. Often with a career change or at least a better job.

But with the world in the grip of a huge economic downturn, it’s hard to believe that this is going to be achievable.

However, there is a lot you can do if you want to ensure that your life gets better and not worse during the recession.

One very positive step you can take is to enhance your skills. Traditionally, a lot of people go back to college to ride out a recession, with a view to coming out more qualified at the end and in a stronger position to get a new job when the economic climate is more favourable.

But not everyone can afford to go back to studying full-time. Don’t let this put you off – there are hundreds of opportunities out there which are affordable and in some cases free, depending on your circumstances.

Take a look at your profession or the industry in which you are currently working, or your past jobs if you are out of work. What are the most important skills at the moment? That is, the skills which employers are looking for and will pay for. If you want to get hired or stay hired during the recession, it is an excellent idea is to become highly skilled in the most in-demand areas.

So take a look at what is going on around you, in your own industry or other industries where your skills would be valued. Then get really good at what you do, become an expert in your own area and hone your transferable skills to ope up new opportunities.

I’ve been quiet for a while – but working steadily in the background in preparation for 2009. Now that it has arrived, I hope you all have a very happy and prosperous new year. I will soon have a gift for you – it’s ready but I just need to test it. So come back soon if you’d like some free software to help you organize your search for a new job.

Once the celebrations are over, it will be a tough year for many, as the recession claims many more jobs. For many of us, this is a time to reassess where we are going and perhaps make changes.

Are you worried about the effect the recession might have on your life? I’ve written a report full of ideas to help you recession proof your career. I understand how you might be feeling, as I lost my part time job in the summer. So I’m keeping the price really low. You can check it out here:

How to Recession Proof Your Career Let me know if you have any questions and all good wishes for 2009.

Waller

Are you worried about the coming recession and how you will manage to survive it? I’ve created a couple of videos giving you some tips, which will help you work out the best ways to keep yourself employed and earning money, despite the economic downturn. You can watch the first video on this page and then click the link directly below the video to go to the second part. Hope you enjoy it!

Part 2 – The Four Steps You Can Take Right Now To Recession Proof Your Career

Are you thinking of changing career? There are plenty of good reasons to do it now, here are three of them:

Reason One

Your company is cutting back, redundancies are being made and you suspect that your job may be one of them. With the current economic downturn, many employers, simply have no choice. So chances are, many of you are really worried about your current job and your future job prospects. If you think you could be laid off, it’s time to start thinking about a career change now. so, brush up your interview skills and get your CV or résumé updated right away.

Take a long hard look at the industry you work in. Is it going to be badly hit by the recession? Do you think you can expect long term job security? Of course, no job is ever totally safe, but if yours is likely to be cut, it’s probably going to be hard to find similar work elsewhere.
And recessions do recur every ten years or so. So the coming recession won’t be the last! This is why it is wise to at least consider moving to a career, or a similar career but based in a different industry, that is, one which is less likely to go under in a tough economic climate.

Reason Two

You don’t have enough – or the right – skills to survive a recession. Even if you are an expert in your own field, it may be that your expertise is not in high demand Of course, certain specialists will always be needed, whatever is going on in the economy, but if you aren’t in the right niche or sector, you may need to think about developing some new skills.

Think about the type of skill which will always be in demand. This doesn’t need to be highly technical, although technology is not going away. You could work on soft skills, like communication skills and perhaps find a way of combining them with something like computing to give you more flexibility in the job market.

Reason Three

You hate your job. If you are stuck in a rut, in a job you dislike intensely, don’t think you have to stay there just because the economy is in trouble.It’s easy to think you won’t find anything new and just sit tight, but if you are unhappy, you really should think about making a move. You don’t need to leave your job before finding something new. And you might decide to start a part time training course for a new career. This will give your present job more meaning – it is supporting you as you move towards your new career.

Many people decide to make a career change at forty or some other significant time in their lives. If this applies to you, don’t let the economy hold you back.

If you need help changing career, find out what you really want to do. Or discover how to write a CV and cover letter. If you need help actually finding a job and want to gain interview skills, take a look at Ace that Interview.