A New Career?

With the Global Recession hitting so many people hard and vast numbers of people now finding themselves out of work is it time to take a new, positive approach to the situation and explore the possibilities?

Finding yourself out of work can be a devestating blow, especially when jobs are so hard (if not impossible) to find at the moment. 

Maybe one of the main things to bear in mind is that it's not your fault. You didnt create the recession and, if you look around you, there are countless people in the same - or very similar boat!

While this may prove of some comfort, it won't help you pay the bills and the fact that so many other people are seeking to find new work means the competition is that much stronger.

So what can you do?

Well the first thing is not to beat yourself up about the situation. Be realistic about how things are but it won't help your situation to sit in and do nothing. Ok a couple of weeks of self pity is allowed!

Look at it this way - a mugging takes place on a train and half the people onboard will never ever get on one again. They will spend their entire lives scared to go anywhere near public transport or places - totally understandable - but why should they let this one awful event ruin their entire lives? They are ultimatley in control of their reaction to this event.

The other 50% of the people on the train - get on the next one! Ok the event in itself was awful and of course people react differently to different events - but - YOU can get 'on that next train'.

It's happened, you need a new job. The point is its not what happens or what has happend that's important long term - it's your reaction to those events! 

So let's start with a confidence checklist and then explore the possibilities:-

1) How much do you really need financially to keep your head above water and manage to pay those bills and keep everybody happy? Write down exactly how much you need to earn (allowing for some treats). Writing it down will give you a clearer picture of what you're looking for.

2) What are your skills? Don't be put off by and only write down what you have done in the past. You will have hobbies, interests and things you like doing. Think about what your friends of family know about you - which interests or hobbies would they say you have and are good at? Write them down and make a list of your skills - all of them - start with things you have done for workin the past and then add hobbies and interests. Despite what seems to be our natural inclination to believe - there is absolutely NOTHING wrong with actually earning lots of money from a job which is really our fun hobby - and yes - you can do it!

3) Don't rule anything out. If you look for opportunities they will appear. Imagine yourself doing the job you want to do. Picture it in your mind's eye. Imagine the environment in which you will work, how your working day will be and imagine every single aspect of your work -from the shade of the stapler on your desk to the type of car you will drive. Write it down and add it to the other two lists.

Now you have a formula - you know exactly how much you need to earn, you know your skills and you can already picture where you want to get to in great detail.

If you want it enough it will come to you - you really can do it. The country is full of people just like you who wrote down a detailed vision of what they would like and then just went for it step by step.

With an open mind and a new approach to your current situation you can change things and you will.

To decide career changes is hard, we all get a little scared when change happens - but you are going to turn that around because, to the smart person (like you) change means only one thing - Opportunity!