1. What exasperates you? A sign of a super power is when you get frustrated or exasperated when something that comes easily to you doesn’t to others.  Although she didn’t visibly show it, I felt my friend was exasperated when I told her I had no idea where to start when it came to organizing and hated doing it.  Organizing is what she does for fun and can’t understand how something “fun” could be overwhelming.

2.  What compliments do you dismiss? How many times have you received a compliment for something and then you think “that was nothing”?  This could be a sign of a superpower.  Often we do not realize our own strengths because we do not value something that seems effortless to us.  If we are receiving a compliment, it does have value to another person who is noticing it.

3.  What do you think about when you have nothing to think about? When you are alone and have time by yourself, what things do you mull over?  Pay attention to these things because if it matters to you that much, you might be good at it.

Why Should You Care? Discovering your super powers is important because you are much more likely to be fulfilled if you are using them in your work.  A Gallup report, released in October 2018, revealed that people who use their strengths every day are three times more likely to report having an excellent quality of life and six times more likely to be engaged at work. 

In the book, Now Discover Your Strengths, authors Marcus Buckingham and Donald Clifton write “The real tragedy of life is not that each of us doesn’t have enough strengths, it’s that we fail to use the ones that we have.” 

Stacy Harshman, founder of Your Fulfilling Life, brings her experience as a recruiter for a Fortune 500 corporation to her work as a career coach. In addition to helping people discover their passions, she also provides clients with insight into the mind of a recruiter, unlocking the secrets of what employers look for in potential employees. Stacy offers individual coaching in person and by phone to those seeking positive change in their professional lives. Take a quick quiz to learn what is holding you back from being in a fulfilling career. You will receive a customized report of your results. https://assess.coach/yourfulfillinglife

The post 3 Questions To Discover Your Super Powers appeared first on Your Fulfilling Life.

As of 2017, the most recent year on which data is available, U.S. nonprofits employed the third largest workforce of any U.S. segment according to a 2020 report by the Center for Civil Society Studies at Johns Hopkins University. Although there are many similarities between nonprofit and for-profit companies, here are some aspects you should consider.

Areas of Employment- The Center for Civil Society Studies categorize nonprofit work into five areas.  1. Education, which includes private elementary, secondary, and higher education organizations.  2. Social assistance which includes child day care, and individual and family services. 3. Health services which include private hospitals, nursing homes, and ambulatory health care. 4. Religious, civic, and professional organizations.  5. Arts and recreation in which symphonies and museums have considerable higher share.

Nonprofit employment is growing- The Center for Civil Society Studies also found that nonprofits had significant growth over the period 2007 to 2017, increasing its workforce by a total of 18.6%. By contrast, for-profit employment grew at a much slower rate of 6.2%. Even during the recession and recovery period of 2007-2012, nonprofits increased employment by 8.5% while for-profit businesses reduced their economy-wide employment by -4.1%.

What type of jobs are available? Nonprofits require some of the same type of positions as for-profit companies.  Accountants, I.T professionals, and Human Resource personnel are some examples.  Some unique positions in charities include fund raisers, volunteer coordinators, and grant writers. 

Is the pay competitive? The most surprising aspect of the Civil Society Studies report was that nonprofits wages, on average, are actually higher than for-profit firms in the same fields.  For example, nonprofit individual and family services and home health care organizations pay over 70% more than their for-profit counterparts; however, in fields in which nonprofits and for-profits are both heavily involved, nonprofit average weekly wages tend to be higher than those offered by for-profit firms in the same fields.   

Where do I find openings for nonprofits? Charities may use the same job boards as for profit companies but there are some specialized ones just for nonprofit openings.  Some examples include www.idealist.org, www.philanthropy.com, www.thenonprofitnetworking.org, and www.nonprofitjobmarket.org.

When deciding if a career in nonprofit work is for you, think about what causes resonate with you.  Nonprofits are looking for not only good employees, but also people who are passionate about the work they do.

What is holding you back from your fulfilling career? Take the quiz to find out!  https://assess.coach/yourfulfillinglife

The post Is A Career In Nonprofit For You? appeared first on Your Fulfilling Life.

Here are some ways reading can help you advance your career.

Expands your vocabulary-Reading gives you more exposure to new words which helps with your communication skills.  Being more articulate can go a long way in helping you in your career, plus when you are well-spoken, your confidence increases.

Improves your writing skills- When you read, you are able to observe the writing styles of other authors which helps you to improve your own.  Being able to express yourself more clearly in writing is a sought-out skill in many professions.

Gain perspectives– Reading about different types of people, cultures, and lifestyles helps you to understand others better.  We also are exposed to the feelings of people, which in turn, helps in communicating with colleagues and customers. 

Intelligence– Reading is one of the quickest ways to gain acquire new information.  Because of the knowledge that you gain, you are more apt to be more creative and innovative in your work.

Reading plan- My personal plan of reading is to read for fun in the evenings before I go to bed.  I love to read fictional novels of life in other cultures and time periods.  During the day, I like to either read or listen to business books which I can apply to my professional life of career coaching.  How about you?  What reading plan do you have? 

What is holding you back from being in a fulfilling career? Take the quiz to find out!  https://assess.coach/yourfulfillinglife

The post Advance Your Career Through Reading appeared first on Your Fulfilling Life.

Two types of interview questions- Laura Huang, the author of Edge:Turning Adversity Into Advantage, says there are two types of questions in an interview: promotional questions which are designed to assess opportunity, and prevention questions which are designed to measure risk.  

Promotional questions– An example of a promotional question is: ‘What does success look like to you?’.   These are the preferred type of questions because you can talk about your skills, talents, and strengths that promote you as a preferred employee.  I like to think of these questions as being on offense. You have the “ball” and are running to make a goal of presenting yourself as the preferred candidate.

Prevention questions– An example of a prevention question is: ‘What do you think your biggest barrier is to success?’. For a prevention question, you switch to defense.  Instead of promoting yourself and your qualifications, you have to defend why you would be a good employee. The prevention questions are likely to be biased questions you need to watch for carefully.

Uncovering reasons for biased questions- An interviewer’s job is to assess a job candidate’s fit for an organization. He or she may to come into the interview with pre-conceived notions of what the candidate will be like as an employee.  For example, if the applicant has an accent, the interviewer may test out the stereotype that the person is not a good communicator. The interviewer may ask a prevention type question such as ‘Tell me a time when your communication skills caused you to fail’.  Through this interview question, the employer is assessing the candidate’s communication skills and the potential risk they might pose to an organization’s success.

Understand what bias you may be facing- To handle bias in interviews, know what perceptions and stereotypes interviewers may have about you.  If you don’t know immediately, ask friends and colleagues.  Although this process may be unpleasant, it is better to be prepared before the interview than to be caught off-guard during the interview.  

Prepare stories of successes.  Think about all of your successes.  Pay special attention to the examples where you overcame possible negative perceptions.  Write your success examples down and practice telling stories about them.  In your story, tell about the challenge you had, the action you took to resolve the problem, and the final result.  Often people get so caught up in the story, they forget to give the final outcome, and that is the most important element in the story. 

Guide and redirect- When asked a prevention question, guide and redirect your answer to tell about a success story.  Going back to our example question of ‘Tell me a time when your communication skills caused you to fail’, an answer might be “I am glad that you asked that.  Early on in my career, I struggled with people not understanding my accent but then I learned how to make it work for me rather than against me.  For example, I was giving a presentation to my colleagues and they couldn’t understand my pronunciation of “enthusiastic” when it came out more as “oosiatic”.  I made a joke about it and everyone laughed.  It became a word for the team and now everyone is “oosiatic” about things that we are excited about.  We are even known as Team Oosiatic throughout the company and I have to say the whole situation brought the team closer together.”  In this example, the person acknowledged the accent, but redirected the answer to show how it used be used in a positive way to bring people together.  The answer flipped the perception of bias about the accent and instead, caused the interviewer to see the person’s communication skills in a positive light.

Face bias head-on It would be awesome to live in a world without negative bias, but until that time comes, prepare to confront it. “Remember, it takes courage, vulnerability, and humility to admit what you don’t know and experiment with new behaviors.”- Mikaelea Kiner

The post Overcoming Bias In An Interview appeared first on Your Fulfilling Life.

Thinking Partner- I first went into the coaching relationship with the thought that my coach would tell me what I should do next, but I soon found out that there was an even better solution.  Victoria, my coach, became my thinking partner.  She enabled me to examine what I really desired, and what would be fulfilling for me in my career.  Through this process, I formulated my own solution of what I would do for my next career step.  I may have come into coaching thinking I wanted someone to tell me what to do, but I left with the satisfaction knowing that my decision came as a result of accessing my own wisdom.

Accountability And Encouragement- I had tried working on the problem myself and I had become discouraged and stuck. My coach provided a framework for me to work through and accountability to do the work that was assigned.  She also gave encouragement along the way to keep going which was invaluable.  

Someone To Walk The Journey With Me- Career transition is a difficult process. I had a lot of fear, loss of confidence, and embarrassment that I didn’t have a solid plan of what to do.  Victoria, as my coach, was my partner to walk out the journey with me.  She didn’t judge me.  She was there to lead an ear and provided a safe place for all of my insecurities.

During this time of my life my dad passed away.  This added another layer of feelings that I didn’t expect to bring into the coaching relationship.  Even though Victoria never met my dad, she attended his funeral.  I am forever grateful for that act of kindness and support.

My Decision- My life was transformed thought my time with Victoria as my coach.  I loved the process so much I decided to pursue coaching myself.  I had a background in recruiting, so I decided to specialize in career coaching.  I knew that I wanted to help others the way that Victoria helped me.  I also felt coaching would be deeply fulfilling for me.  I can say now that it was one of the best decisions in my life.  This quote by Emma-Louise Elsey sums it up well.  “Coaching helps you to take responsibility for your life, let go of what others think and become your true self. It’s about you creating the life that you want – and deserve.”

The post How A Career Coach Helped Me appeared first on Your Fulfilling Life.

How can you consider a lay-off to be a good thing?   Believe it or not, there is good that can come out this seemingly scary situation.   First of all, it causes, rather forces, a person to stop and think.  Too often, we live life on auto pilot, doing the same things over and over again without taking the time to pause and just think about our life.  We don’t look to see where we are headed and don’t pause to ponder about our future.  We get stuck in a rut and the sad part is, sometimes we don’t even realize that we are stuck. 

When I was laid off a job, I was scared at first but then I realized that this was the very thing I needed to get me back on track to reach my career goals.  I had been content doing a job that was comfortable for me but was no longer a challenge.  Being laid off was the wake-up call that I needed.  I took action by applying for positions that would be a challenge for me and in line with the future that I had planned.  To make a long story short, I ended up in a position that gave me the experience I needed to move forward in my career.

Amber Lee is another example of having something good result from a lay-off.  She was working as an accountant at a large corporation and was suddenly laid off without warning.   Amber had dreamed of owning her own business. Losing her corporate job was the impetus for her to realize her dream.  She began pouring all of her energy into her new business and at the end of a year, she was able to work full time out of her home.  She said that she looked back, the layoff was really a blessing in disguise as it gave her the push that she had been afraid to take.

Perhaps the best thing that can come from laid off is landing a better job that you had previously.  This was the situation for Judy Anderson.  When interviewed, Judy said that she had been laid off and was scared at first.  She is now working out of her home remotely for a nonprofit company making more money than she made at her previous job.

Are you guaranteed to receive a better paying job after a lay-off?  The answer is no; however, if the experience causes you to reflect on your situation, make new goals, or gets you  back on track for the goals you already had, it is a blessing in disguise.

The post Can A Lay-Off Be A Blessing In Disguise? appeared first on Your Fulfilling Life.

Don’t panic– First and foremost, don’t panic.  Even though there is a lot of suffering right now, we will get through this.  The Spanish flu pandemic in 1918 infected 500 million people, roughly 25% of the world’s population at the time.  We all are living proof that the world didn’t end with that crisis, and it won’t end with the current one.  I am not downplaying the seriousness of the current state, but just know that this health crisis won’t last forever.  Continue in your job search efforts by online networking, and applying for jobs.

Be Flexible- Employers are still hiring but it is taking more time to get through the process.  Interviews are being delayed, rescheduled, and even postponed.   You just need to be patient with the process, and at the same time diligent in your efforts to continue to follow up after every conversation that you have.  Employers need to know that you are still interested in continuing the process even though it is likely to take much more time than usual.

Familiarize yourself with video interviewing- The use of video for interviewing is sky-rocketing now.  Take time now to familiarize yourself with how to conduct a video interview if you haven’t already completed one.  (see https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/interviewing/video-interview-guide) If you haven’t yet, you are likely to do a video interview in the future.  This will be our new normal.  

Add to your skills- Take advantage of the extra time that you have now by learning new skills.  Ever hear of MOOC?  It stands for Massive Open Online Course.  According to Wikipedia, a MOOCis an online course aimed at unlimited participation and open access via the web. In addition to traditional course materials such as filmed lectures, readings, and problem sets, many MOOCs provide interactive user forums to support community interactions among students, professors, and teaching assistants.  Most MOOC classes have specific start and end dates, but there are a few which are self-paced.  The courses run anywhere from 4-12 weeks in length.  Some courses are completely free while others charge a fairly low fee.  Although some offer college credit, most courses offer certificates of completion only.  Some popular MOOCs are Coursera (coursera.org) EdX (edx.org) Udacity (udacity.com)

Volunteer- During a crisis, help is always needed, even if it is getting groceries for an elderly neighbor. Volunteering changes your focus from yourself to helping others.  Instead of worrying about your situation, your mind is actively engaged in benefiting a cause.  Volunteering may also put you in contact with people that you might never have the opportunity to interact with normally, another opportunity for networking.  In addition, volunteering, while not paid, is still experience and may be listed as such on your resume. 

As this time presents a lot of challenges, I like to remember a quote by Christine Mason Miller: “At any given moment you have the power to say: This is not how the story is going to end.”  We may not have the power to change the effects of the coronavirus, but we can be brave and take positive action now.

The post What To Do With Your Job Search During Corona virus appeared first on Your Fulfilling Life.

What are the advantages of a portfolio career?   On advantage is that you can try out different careers at the same time.  If you don’t know if you enjoy a particular job, having a portfolio career allows you “test drive” a little at a time.  Another advantage is that a portfolio career also allows for more variety and creativity in your life.  A common complaint from people is that they get bored in their jobs but if you are doing more than one job, you are much less likely to get tired of the same old thing.  Yet another plus is that by working more than one job, you don’t have all of your eggs in the same basket.  If you get laid off from one job, you still have at least one other to fall back on.  

What are the disadvantages of a portfolio career?  One disadvantage that you will have to consider is benefits.  Many organizations do not offer benefits if you are part time.  You may have to purchase insurance for yourself which is likely to be more expensive than being on an employer’s plan.  Another disadvantage is the time that it takes to do more than one job.  Are you comfortable working odd hours or when everyone else is off enjoying their weekend?  Yet another minus is managing your time and energy to be able to juggle and accomplish many tasks at the same time.

A portfolio career may be a great option for your career; but, it requires much planning.  If you are thinking about the possibilities for your life’s work, I am happy to help you through the process.

The post Could A Portfolio Career Be For You? appeared first on Your Fulfilling Life.

Not all healthcare jobs require degrees-  Below are healthcare positions that may require education such as certification, but do not require a degree.  

Physical Therapy Assistant and aide- Work under the direction and supervision of a physical therapist Median wage- $23.12 hourly, $48,090 annual

Medical Records and Health Information Technician- Processes, maintains, compiles, and reports patient information for health requirements and standards.  Median salary- $19.40 hourly, $40,350 annual

Dental Assistant- Provide patient care, take X-rays, do recording keeping and schedule appointment. Median wage- $18.54 hourly, $38,660 annual

Medical Secretary- Duties may include scheduling appointments, billing patients, and compiling and recording medical charts, reports, and correspondence.  Median salary- $17.19 hourly, $32,760 annual

Phlebotomist- Draws blood for tests, transfusions, donations, or research.  Median salary- $16.58 hourly, $34,480 annual

Medical assistant- Performs duties assisting a physician such as taking and recording vital signs and medical histories, preparing patients for examination, drawing blood, and administering medications. Median salary- $16.16 hourly, $33.610 annual

Pharmacy Technician- Prepares medications under the direction of a pharmacist.  Median salary- $15.72 hourly, $32,790 annual

Nursing assistant- Provides basic patient care such as feeding, bathing, dressing, grooming, or moving patients, or changing linens. Median salary- $13.72 hourly, $28,530 annual

Home health and hospice aide- Provides routine individualized healthcare such as changing bandages and dressing wounds, at the patient’s home or in a care facility.  Median wage- $11.57 hourly, $24,060 annual

A job in healthcare can be rewarding.  As the ancient Roman philosopher Cicero said, “In nothing do men more nearly approach the gods than in giving health to men.

The post Bright Outlook Jobs That Don’t Require Degrees appeared first on Your Fulfilling Life.

Posting your offer letter can have consequences- The News Journal in Wilmington, Delaware offered a job to a young reporter who had just graduated from a journalism program.  He shared his excitement on his Tumblr blog using the company’s logo and quoting from the offer letter.  The post took the form of an unauthorized press release. The Journal rescinded the offer saying that the reporter had illegally used the company logo and was not to quote from the offer letter.

Yes, a job offer is good news that you may want to share but be very careful how you share it on social media.  Do not post the actual letter or quote from it.  Also, do not include the company logo in your post.  Above all, never give out confidential information about your new company.

Venting about customers/patients can get you fired– In my home state of Idaho, a nurse was fired for a compliant he posted on Facebook.  Joseph Talbot, a licensed practical nurse, posted “Ever have one of those days where you’d like to slap the ever loving bat snot out a patient who is just being a jerk because they can?  Nurses shouldn’t have to take abuse from you just because you are sick.  In fact, it makes me less motivated to make sure your call light gets answered every time when I know that the minute I step into the room I’ll be greeted by a deluge of insults.”

Desert View Care Center, Talbot’s employer, had a social media policy stating that employees were to avoid slanderous, vulgar, obscene, intimidating, threatening, or other bullying behavior electronically towards any facility stakeholders.  Because Talbot violated the policy, the Care Center fired him.  Talbot filed a lawsuit when he was denied unemployment benefits.  The Idaho Supreme Court upheld the Care Center’s decision and Talbot was deemed ineligible for unemployment. 

Don’t assume your social media posts are private– Janis Roberts was a paramedic with CareFlite, a helicopter ambulance service.  Roberts posted that she “wanted to slap” a patient who needed restraints during a transport.  Her employer got wind of the post and asked her to take it down.  Roberts responded by telling her company “Yeah whatever, a patient needs an attitude adjustment.”  CareFlite then fired Roberts for her post and also for her insubordinate and unprofessional behavior.  Roberts subsequently filed a lawsuit asserting CareFlite violated her privacy regarding her personal Facebook posts.  The Texas Court of Appeals dismissed the lawsuit for lack of legal support. 

Be smart in your use of social media.  Remember that posts can be discovered by your organization, so think how your employer would react before your post a comment.  A little caution will go a long way in advancing your career.

The post Social Media Posts That Can Get You Fired appeared first on Your Fulfilling Life.