Satisfying Career - Happier Life

Down Economy Sprouts Entrepreneurial Bloom

noreply@blogger.com (Shweta Khare) — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 18:39:00 +0000

"Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of other's opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.”

-- Steve Jobs

The quote above is one strong inspiration to quit your job and to follow your dreams - to be on the adventurous entrepreneurial path. The slowdown in the worldwide economy is resulting in a job drought but even in the dry scenario there are blossoms of entrepreneurial spirit all around the world. For some of these budding entrepreneurs, it is a "lets-try-and-see" approach for many it was an urge suppressed somewhere beneath which had earlier been unable to surface because our day to day routine and the full-time job fills up the time and the creative bubble never found time enough to shape into an idea or action. But since there are not many jobs around and those in the layoff have that extra time at hand; it presents an exciting opportunity to live with your own thinking and time to bring your own creation to life!

Then long-term and short-term goals of these budding entrepreneurs might be different. For some it is a wonderful learning experience, but they are not so sure whether it could be a long-term commitment mainly because they are not seeing the revenue stream as yet. And for some it has been more profitable than their full-time job.

Patrick May puts it all together on the Mercury News columns:

Their motives are all over the map. Some are looking for a little income during their job search. As David Noel scanned the job market's bleak horizon earlier this year, he recalled this week, "I felt I had a better chance of creating my own job than of finding one." So the San Mateo software-product manager started rechargeablebatteryservices.com to address — and profit from — the prodigious use of double- and triple-A batteries by government and industry.

Others are simply bored to death with online résumés and figure they've got nothing to lose by starting a small-time enterprise fueled by a big-time passion. After she lost her job with an East Bay nonprofit, Shannon Bowen went into her swing-dance default mode, launching a dance business.

"Unemployment is custom-made for starting a new venture," says Chris Gill, president of the Silicon Valley Association of Startup Entrepreneurs. "You've got the time, and if you've got the passion, you can start a business. And while only 50 percent of them survive five years, if you're lucky the money can start to add up."

Not only in the Silicon Valley or the US, the new sprouts are all over the world. 60% of Canadian entrepreneurs believe the current global recession is creating new opportunities for small business.

Daily Commercial News reports:

Canada’s entrepreneurs are looking ahead to the next year with expectations for improvement. One in four entrepreneurs surveyed reported having sold fewer products or services in the past 12 months, but one in three now expect to sell more products or services in the coming year. Thirty-nine percent of entrepreneurs surveyed expect to create a new product, service or technology.
“These findings prove that the entrepreneurial spirit is still alive and well in Canada, no matter the economic climate,” said Dr. Roberts.

You may or may not be successful in what you have begun now, but the journey itself is well worth it and more so the job market may be down and under but the entrepreneur in you looks positively to the blooms ahead. Ultimately, what is satisfying on walking the entrepreneurial path is not the end result but the exciting journey itself. It is that special journey which teaches you how to create, how to innovate, how to manage, how to inspire and then how to make money on your own. To do all this every day - is exciting; each day to look forward to something new and exciting – that is what the entrepreneurial spirit is all about.'

Related Posts:

I became a Billionaire when I took the Road less Traveled
The Mom Entrepreneur at the Start-up Phase – Accelerate with Guidance and Learning
As an Entrepreneur, I am like a Mom – Always Busy, Never Done
Silicon Valley’s “Restless Mind Syndrome”

Your Brain at Work

noreply@blogger.com (Shweta Khare) — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 18:22:00 +0000

What are your biggest challenges at work?
Time management, prioritizing, multitasking, staying cool under pressure, succeeding… and the list goes on. We all want a lot from ourselves and wouldn’t it be nice to know how exactly to achieve what we want.
Here is a review of the book “YOUR BRAIN AT WORK – Strategies for Overcoming Distraction, Regaining Focus, and Working Smarter All Day long” that attempts to explain how our brains work at work and teaches readers how to organize, prioritize, and perform better in the workplace – despite a daily load of overwhelming challenges (and of course the title says it all too!). Right at the introduction page one, the author, David Rock, tells you how this book can help you:
"This book will help you work smarter, be more focused and productive, stay cool under pressure, reduce the length of meetings, and even tackle the hardest challenge of all: influencing other people.”
That is what we all are looking for. So you get it right there that you have picked up the right book to read today! And that was one of my reasons to read this book – the title captured my attention –“Your Brain at Work”; I truly believe that anything is possible if we train our brains that way and if this book helps me understand how I react and how I should react in certain circumstances than this is a must-read book for sure. To be successful one needs to go through a lot of thinking (read brain work) – to get organized, to plan, to execute, to manage, to dream success, to deal with failures and many other things that come along. It is the brain at work that manages it all and how well it manages depends on how well we have trained our brains.
The book is structured in a form of play, the characters are introduced upfront and through the acts I got to know them more and soon became a participant in the analysis of their situations and their reactions to them. It is through vivid examples that we learn much better; and this book has successfully accomplished what it initially took upon.
One of the main problems we all face – time management – has been presented well and some thoughtful suggestions we breeze through the lives of the characters brings in new ideas to avoid being overwhelmed. David rightly summarizes; “As the world digitizes, globalizes, unplugs, and reorganizes, having too much to do has become our biggest compliant.”

Who is this book for?
I would say everyone who wants to understand how to improve performance at workplace or in day-today life. Won't you?

Some of the tips from this book that you can use right away:

Schedule the most attention-rich tasks when you have a fresh and alert mind.

Group information into chunks whenever you have too much information.

To stay in a positive state of mind, find ways to keep coming out ahead of your expectations over and again, even in small ways.

Playing against yourself to improve your understanding of your own brain can be a powerful way of increasing your performance.

Practice using solution-focused questions that focus people’s attention directly on the specific circuits you want to bring to life.

For more tips and to know your brain more, get this book at: Amazon.com

See here to know more:

(Please Note: I have not been paid to write this review, it is a sincere opinion and my wish to present the readers of this blog to get to know good books that bring value to day to day work life and overall improve our strengths)

Clean Tech gets Millions in Funding – The Jobs for the next decade could be here

noreply@blogger.com (Shweta Khare) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 18:45:00 +0000

The new agency (Arpa-e) received initial funding of $400 million through the federal stimulus act. In all, 37 grants were handed out to small business, research groups and large corporations in the first round of funding for a total of $151 million.

Awards included $2.2 million to University of Minnesota researchers working on organisms that use sunlight to convert carbon dioxide into sugars, and another organism to create gasoline and diesel from the sugars
$9 million to du Pont to produce an advanced biofuel from seaweed

And in the SF Bay Area:

Envia Systems, based in Hayward, received $4 million for its work to develop higher-density lithium-ion batteries for hybrid and electric cars, as well as electronic gadgets.
NanOasis in Richmond was awarded more than $2 million to develop a process that could dramatically reduce the cost and energy needed for desalination to supply fresh water for farmers and cities.
PAX Streamline in San Rafael received $3 million for low-cost wind turbine technology.
Porifera, of Hayward, given more than $1 million, is researching a membrane that can capture carbon dioxide.
Stanford University garnered nearly $5 million to create systems that enable people to easily monitor home and office energy use in order to conserve energy.
(Source of the above information: San José Mercury News)

From such news you can find out exactly which companies will be hiring in the next year or so and if your expertise falls in related fields it is time to spruce up your resume and relevant skill set to get in the clean-tech sector. Also if you are looking forward to reinvent your career and want to re-train in the clean energy area, you now know where to find out what the companies are looking for as far as experience or education is concerned.

Where are the jobs?

noreply@blogger.com (Shweta Khare) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 18:42:00 +0000

The newspapers and the TV news takes us on a roller coaster ride almost every week – the stock market is up, recession is abating, we’ll see fewer job cuts and the next week there is a turnaround – the job cuts this month had been higher than ever before, there are signs of economy getting back on track but there are no new jobs being created. Stock market ups and downs must not be a direct tally to how employment problems are in this country at present.
Even the big bankruptcies are not behind us (see the latest CIT bankruptcy filing report); just as the economic pundits are making a claim everywhere that the worst is behind us.

BUT- Where are the jobs?
The statistics are disturbing; Mort Zuckerman, the writer is editor in chief of US News & World Report and chairman and co-founder of Boston Properties says in a interesting article on Financial Times; "A quarter of teenagers, about 1.6m youths, are without work. The unemployment rate for young Americans has exploded to 52 per cent, a post-war high. But even the 45-to-54 age group has seen job losses, with employment down by more than 1.2m. These are people who should be in the prime of their wage-earning years. It will take these older workers longer to find jobs; some will have to settle for considerably less pay."

Read this article to get an eye-opening insight on how underestimated (as reported) the unemployed numbers are in the US.

Unless we have more jobs created and the unemployed getting back to work, there is no chance of seeing a complete or even substantial improvement in economy. So where are the jobs are who should be creating them?
We hear from our government often that action is being taken to create more investments and more jobs in such and such areas, but nothing concrete is showing up for the general public, most of those unemployed have been without a stable income for more than 6 months. The problem needs to be addressed on a large scale and also the government needs to set up separate committees and websites making these announcements more transparent to the public.
But it is not the sole responsibility of the government to create jobs, the larger companies of this country are making enormous profits and there must be a channel of social responsibility for these multinational giants to take the lead and work towards creating more employment in different areas and consider acquisitions to acquire more wealth a second priority. The responsibility also lies in the hands of the small business owners of this country to create low-level jobs but of course the support must come from the government of the country.

Related Posts:

How is the Job Outlook for 2009?

Best Jobs to have during Recession

How to Generate Income and stay Positive when you have no Job – Part 2
How to Find a Job when there are none around

Difficult Coworker

noreply@blogger.com (Shweta Khare) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 18:33:00 +0000

Your workplace might have the best workers and the team dynamics is one to envy; but still all humans are different and quite often we come across coworkers who make our workplace less than enjoyable by their pesky presence. In fact, I can most definitely say that most of us have come across at least one or more of such a not-so-pleasant workplace situation – dealing with difficult people at the workplace.
Such individuals must be dealt with depending on the situation you face and in no way should continue to be the reason for your miserable life at work. Here are some tips on how to deal with them:

This person might have an intention to excite or provoke you to a confrontation, beware! Losing your cool can only cost you your reputation and of course peace of mind. Whatever happens, try to take it in calmly and prefer to respond back at a later time if you feel anger surging. Responding back, or retaliating in any way must be avoided unless of course if it is to protect yourself physically.

Listen first. Often we tend to pass a judgment fast on what is being said even before it is finished. Listening enables better understanding and also helps you present points objectively when your turn comes.

Emotions must be excluded at work at all times. Anger, retaliation and even crying are not taken well at the workplace. You are there to work and throw your emotions around. Even though you might encounter personal attacks or accusations, don’t take it personally.

Ignore and don’t entertain. At times this method works out the best; but not always. When the trouble makers feel that you have no effect on their daily rambling and back-biting; they might just move on. But if this habit goes unreported then there is some other co-worker who will suffer because of your non-reporting.

However, when push comes to shove; or you feel you are unable to focus on your work because of negative interruptions or mental abuse; it is time to talk to the supervisor. Ask for suggestions on how to deal with the situation. Rather than just ranting out your disconcertion, first plan out on how you would want to present this case to your boss. Also it would be good to have some written or your recorded version of some incidents which help in reducing time going back and forth. It is best to ask someone, and you will get better advice.

Keep a record of each incident on how this coworker has affected your work or productivity. It might help you in strengthening a case later on if situation gets to accusations and more trouble from this coworker.

Never write an email when you are upset. Written words stay somewhere forever and you would not want any skeletons in your cupboard just because of a hasty action after an unpleasant incident at work. Take time to respond, analyze accusations for at least an hour and this time will help you stabilize your thoughts. Articulation and explanation improves when the mind is at peace.

Have you come across difficult people at work? How have you dealt with them?

I don’t get recognized for what I do

noreply@blogger.com (Shweta Khare) — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 17:54:00 +0000

“For many years I have put in long hours, including many weekends. I have put my energy and soul into my job and the organization. I have brought profits to the team; but I have never been recognized for it.”
AJ said and was almost ready to quit working for those who didn’t care what he had done for them; but of course is ready to change with some advice.

You could give a quick advice saying “hey, it is the self-marketing era; go toot your own horn.” But it does not work for everyone, some people are not good at it and some too shy or uncomfortable to do so.

Before you barge out of the job or barge in your supervisors’ office, it is a good idea to first evaluate and assess the situation (alright, you have been doing it all along; how about doing it in a different way now?)

First Self Assessment
Is it you?
What type of a person are you, timid, introvert or outgoing and a self-marketer. Chances are you are well described or close to the first two descriptions in the sentence above. (Note: there could be other reasons so if you think it is not you then skip to the next point). During this self assessment, take time to answer the following questions:

Are you on your manager’s radar?

Have you well documented are your accomplishments and tasks?

Did you get a good performance review?

Did you recently talk to your manager about your career goals?

Do you look confident – appearance and conduct wise?

If the answers are “yes” to all or most of them, then move on to the next point else TRY to get convert your “nays” to yes on all of the above (How? Follow the links to read the relevant articles)

It is them
There are some tough managers and especially if you somehow have fallen in the bad books of yours, it is quite imperative that you are not being listed in the “deserving/to-be-recognized” employees.
Also note this very interesting observation from Bob Nelson (on Workplace911):
911: Who is the worst at recognizing employees?
BN: The research tells us the older someone is, the more likely they are not to believe recognizing employees is important. They grew up in a different era and thus often hold different values about work, such as the belief that "people should be glad they have a job" or "we thank people every two weeks: it's called a paycheck." Yet 77 percent of today's employees say that recognition is very or extremely important to them.

Step 2: Ask your Colleagues
It may be the company culture that recognitions are present but not so evident. Ask your co-workers if they are generally awarded pay raises or bonuses or other incentives post-performance reviews or in other ways in their divisions. You can get a better idea on different managerial practices and thereafter plan appropriate action items. Your action items could be meeting your own expectations towards gaining recognition or initiating meetings with your boss to inform why your expectations for recognition are not being met.

In the end it is your responsibility on how you want to be treated by others, there are many self-help articles on this blog and others as well where you can find ways to steer closer to recognition at work.

How recognized do you feel at work and what do you think helps in getting recognition?

Related Posts:
3 Essential Tips on How to get Recognition at Work
Document your Accomplishments
The Power of Appreciation - How to Praise your Employees
Showing Appreciation at Work
The Traits of a Good Employer
Some Easy Ways to Better Relations with your Co-workers

As an Entrepreneur, I am like a Mom – Always Busy, Never Done

noreply@blogger.com (Shweta Khare) — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 17:53:00 +0000

The beauty and attraction of getting to run ones own business is that it is yours and you can take it where you want it on your own time. You might have the cool notion of working on your time and knowing when to get off; but in reality there is always so much to be done that you always have the feeling of never having done enough!
It is hard to draw boundaries between work and personal time especially when a lot is going around especially in the initial and mid stages of a growing venture. For an entrepreneur it is not easy to strike that “balance” which we all talk about because most of the time, the mind is full of ideas on what to do next. If you were a 9 to 5 employee and your work is task assigned of course it is easy to shut off and get on the next day, but an entrepreneur is a super multi takers – a self-marketer, financial planner and expert, management guru and a looked-upon leader. Expectations rise and so does work.

But believe me it is not as bad and stressful as it might sound above; everyday is exciting and you are on an adventure trail trying out new ideas and leaning all along. It is simply amazing to create something and see it grow (very similar for a mother seeing her little ones grow and thrive). Thus of course, there are birth and growth pangs but the joy of the journey and arriving ‘there’ is worth all of it!

Sure enough as an entrepreneur I have always felt that my business is my baby and so I am always busy and never done and that is exciting!

If you are an entrepreneur, how are you enjoying or dealing with your journey?

Riches among the Ruins – Adventures in the Dark Corners of the Global Economy

noreply@blogger.com (Shweta Khare) — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 17:49:00 +0000

A Book Review

In the present world where riches are being lost, this is one book which catches the attention of that genre of readers who are into investments in these troubled economic times because they know that the opportunity is almost everywhere locally and globally. And even for those who wish to enjoy a good adventurous read on amazing business deals across the world; Riches among the Ruins will not disappoint you.

Almost in the ‘James Bond style’, the book grabs your attention with its opening sentence, “On a single day in 1998, I lost $15 million in the ruins of the Russian economy.” Now that’s something; why would you not want to read further? And the adventure does not end there, in many countries across the world in exotic settings and sometimes depressing settings, the author Robert P. Smith takes on a financial adventure, which the reader will find a lesson in trading and investment. Especially in the integrated economic world, the book offers “a unique perspective on how the process of the global economic integration has played out in the remote niches of the global economy”.

Robert P. Smith has been called the “Indiana Jones” of international finance by Forbes magazine, Robert P. Smith is one of the world's most fearless financial adventurers. Over the past three decades, he has made, lost, and made back tens of millions of dollars by investing in emerging markets and downtrodden economies. Despite his unassuming presence, Smith has undertaken daunting risks, both physical and financial, and experienced adventures Hollywood couldn't begin to invent. As Smith explains, he took the first intrepid steps in the business of “buying promises” — buying various forms of government debt in the world's battered economies from pessimists and selling them to optimists.

There is a lot to be learnt from this book for economist and with today’s fluid conditions in the financial sector we better learn fast. International debts are rising and what to talk about our national debts trade deficits; the billions and trillions do not even make sense in actual counting now. I would highly recommend this book to those who are interested in understanding how the international markets are intertwined and how we can learn from the author’s experience in different countries on how to learn from the spending and debt management to make our future more secure.

You can find this book at Amazon at: Riches Among the Ruins: Adventures in the Dark Corners of the Global Economy

Searching for Local Jobs? Here is one Website you must know about

noreply@blogger.com (Shweta Khare) — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 04:21:00 +0000

OLX is the next generation of free online classifieds and with usage in over 90 countries in 39 languages, we wonder why we didn’t know about it earlier.
And if this is a website that you must know about if you are searching for jobs or ready to post some locally (and of course, job ads are just a part of this huge free classifieds site), here are some answers from Fabrice Grinda (co-founder of OLX) which throw more light on the usage and potential of this website.

About Fabrice Grinda: In March of 2006, Fabrice co-founded OLX, Inc. with business partner Alec Oxenford, in the hopes of building the largest free local classified site in the world. As co-founder and co-CEO, Fabrice drives the company’s business development, oversees an organization of over 80 employees and negotiates acquisitions with global partners.

Q.
I was quite impressed to see the OLX website and good to know that anyone can post free classifieds and job ads. How is it doing in the US mainly on the local ad postings?

We launched in the US three years ago without fanfare. The US is relatively small for OLX, but growing. We get about 5 million unique visits per month and have over 1 million ads online. We have been most successful in real estate and jobs – the two categories where Craigslist charges in certain cities (while we are free).

Q.
What is interesting to see in the job ads section is you have classified various industries and sectors, but how are you ensuring that spam job ads are not showing up which is important for the user trust?

We eliminate spam in various ways:
We rely on our community to help us identify spam and scams (there is a “Flag this ad as scam” button on all listings).
We have a dedicated team of 20 people who check the ads after they go live.
We use keyword and duplicate content filters to prevent spamming.

All in all we remove 60% of the ads posted on the site.

Q.
Also can a user add or request more job categories on OLX jobs search section? If so, how?

When “Other” becomes a big category we look at the type of ads there to determine what new categories we should create. We also receive suggestions from users through the “Contact OLX” form accessible in our footer.

Q.
How would you compare yourself to Craigslist if someone to post local ads online?

Craigslist is a fantastic site that works well, but we felt we could bring the concept of free online classifieds to the next level. We added a number of features which we believe help make OLX a “Craigslist 2.0”:

Pictures in the listings and search results pages
Fantastic mobile version – http://m.olx.com
The ability to search nationally and from a certain distance from your zip code
The ability to display your listings on your social networking profile
Great ajax WYSIWYG editor to easily create rich listings
Better search options – especially in cars and real estate

We are also committed to being free forever. We don’t intend to charge for posting in any category – ever. Granted charging helps limit spam, but we feel you also lose many legitimate postings. We prefer to control spam differently.

All that said, we won’t deny the obvious: you will get more replies on Craigslist. However, given the better user experience, users should use OLX as well. It costs nothing :)

Q.
What are some of the new features that we should look forward to that would make your website more user friendly and unique in future?

By the end of the year, we should have a few cool new features including:

An iPhone app
Google Maps integration in the real estate section

I posted an ad today and was quite impressed by the fast online posting. Wonder why I never heard about OLX before. Keep up the good work and I am sure my blog readers will benefit from the various job postings on your website.

It’s definitely a problem we are trying to address. We are becoming reasonably big, but no one knows us yet!

Check out OLX on YouTube.

Who is the Happiest Working Mother?

noreply@blogger.com (Shweta Khare) — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 21:55:00 +0000

How would you define yourself as a working mother (if you are one)?
Happiest, happy, just getting along, overworked and tired, miserable or “don’t know” (the one who has no time to gauge your emotions in the ever rush of getting tasks done)?

Reading Lucy’s answers on FT.com columns had me thinking on who and what makes you appear in the happiest working mothers list?

Lucy says:

It struck me recently that the happiest are the women who do little or no paid work and concentrate on their children. But then I realised they are the least ambitious and so are likely to be happiest anyway. The next happiest are the ones with successful full-time jobs, who let their husbands and nannies take charge at home.The least happy are the ones who are both doggedly committed to work and who want to be proper mothers too. Trying to do both usually means the mother will be in tears before bedtime, even if the children are not.

There are some very interesting comments to this article.. do read. (a glimpse here of the many comments on this post)

Hmm,… my thoughts on the article – it is a very relevant topic always and for every generation and the thoughts expressed are right in many ways.
In my experience with working with full time and part-time working mothers I have found that the happiest indeed are the ones with full time jobs and a earning a decent salaries but have made their lives easier by either hiring a nanny or delegating different household tasks like cooking, cleaning, laundry and picking up kids from school to paid services. Of course all these tasks require you to shelve out a good amount of money, but if you can buy happiness with money won’t you do that?

If I am given a choice to save this money monthly and be miserable daily since I would be overworked and tired as opposed to sparing and saving extra cash to pay for these services I would choose the latter.
What would you do?

I am a great proponent of part-time working mothers too. I feel to keep ambitions and aspirations alive a woman can feel complete and guilt-free (well, almost) if she works part-time and can spend some quality time with kids also. This arrangement helps the woman to feel financially independent and also continue with the very important aspect in life, raising “feeling-loved” and “spent-quality-time-with” kids. Although this may not work out for everyone but if the society and the employers support (of course government policies will make al the difference too) such a support for the working mother, the world would be a much happier place.

“Happiest working mother” is a debatable topic because even what you perceive as the happiest have their problems.. life is hard woman but make the most of it …

After I had this post online, I happened to read a similar article on The Huffington Post and just have to mention some stats they have there:

The above picture has been taken from the same post, the label says:
Average happiness index value for the period 1972-2006 Source: Based on responses to question 157 of the General Social Surveys
Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/marcus-buckingham/whats-happening-to-womens_b_289511.html

`"Hey," you might say. "Life's tough. Deal with it." And of course, you'd be right. Life is not designed with anyone's happiness in mind, and it has the disconcerting habit of not rewarding the good as much as we'd expect, of punishing the wicked less vigorously than we'd like, and even, on occasion, of getting the two completely mixed up.

Even so, only the most wasted of cynics would deny that something's got to give. Not only is this "tough life" significantly tougher on women than it is on men, but the advances of the last 40 years were supposed to have changed things for the better. And not just for womankind, but for each individual woman. The hard-won rights, opportunities, and advantages were supposed to have netted women more than just another burdensome role to play--"you at work." They were supposed to have fostered in each woman feelings of fulfillment and happiness, and even, for the special few, the sustained thrill of living of an authentic life.

This hasn't happened. Over the last 40 years or so, life is not trending toward more fulfillment for women; life is, in most ways we can measure, becoming more draining instead. To use Thomas Jefferson's words, though women now have the liberty to choose whichever life they'd like, many are struggling in their pursuit of a happy life.

Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/marcus-buckingham/whats-happening-to-womens_b_289511.html

Sure enough - What's going on?

Although the above article cites that the unhappiness is not because of women working more hours but I would most certainly say that what has happened in the last 40 years or so has seen more women in the workforce and the happiness levels have gone down, no matter how hard we are trying to "un"complicate our lives. To work two shifts certainly drains out the woman and how can you expect a "happy return"? Of course there are exceptions everywhere but in general women must try their best to ease off on multitasking and begin delegating more.

What are your thoughts on this topic? Please comment.

Mentoring for Women
Flexible Work Schedule for Women

Top 5 Reasons why you want to Work Part-Time
7 Tips to help you Work effectively from Home
Healthy Neighborhood Connection Helps a Working Mother

When you do what you’d rather not do

noreply@blogger.com (Shweta Khare) — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 21:35:00 +0000

In the last one year I have received quite a few advice seeking emails on this very issue “I do what I do because that is what is around, but I do not like it” the reason may varied on why these people are stuck in a job they would rather not do; but the number of such people is on the increase since recession hit us last year.

I have replied to many such emails and thought it would be good to list a few suggestions on the blog too, hopefully we will get more suggestions from the readers.

You have perhaps taken the first step by asking yourself “what else can I do", this itself will help you towards a better living if you plan and act practically.

First step:
KNOW
Know what you want - a better job, better pay, better timings - what are your priorities? List them now. It is a very important step; you cannot act and get what you want unless you know what want and do not want. Hint: you may think on these lines:

What are the reasons that make me unhappy at work: is it the workload, people, type or work, stress, less recognition, less pay, or just bored of the same routine and looking for variety?

Also list what are the things that would make me happy at work – any work. Don’t just get stuck on one point; list at least 3 to 4.

Delve deeper to find out why do not like what you do today; is it just the circumstances, the environment and others responsible for your dissatisfaction or is it you and your personal reasons?

Second Step:
HOW
How will you achieve what you want? What kind of a job would make me happier than I am now? What jobs match up to my expertise or education? Research and prepare list. Need some hint on how to go about this step? See below:

What types of jobs are the job boards advertising today? Are there any that match my skills or those that excite me?

There are many job search advice articles and forums online, consider researching well on what are the most effective methods on looking for advertised and unadvertised jobs. (for example here is one with a few relevant links: http://www.rileyguide.com/execute.html )

Third Step:
PLAN AND PREPARE
Make a plan - if this job is what I would love to do what do I need to do or what skills do I need to acquire. Prepare a list on your short-term and long-term goals. Think on these lines:

How can I prepare myself better with new training or certifications in an area where I want to see myself in the coming months?

How can I prepare an action plan to network effectively in the industries that interest me?

Can recruiters or career experts help me in finding the job of my dreams? How can I connect to them?

And of course there are many other steps which will eventually lead to where you would be more satisfied and happy in the work you do but the above that I have listed are the first important steps to get you moving. Always remember that knowing itself is not power, power and success comes through practically implementing your knowledge.

Also keep in mind that always set up realistic and time set goals; you could end up more disheartened than you are now if you disregard the present hiring realities.
It might take some time if you need to polish your skills but if you continue doing what you are doing now you will get what you are getting now - the point is DO SOMETHING TODAY TO CHANGE YOUR PRESENT and the future will take care of itself.

What would you do to get unstuck?

Related Posts:

Feeling Stuck – Are you in a Job you would rather not be in?
Online Job Boards can Help during Recession
10 Reasons why you are not in your Dream Job
5 Career Questions that you must ask yourself this New Year
What is most Satisfying about your Job?

The Upsides and Downsides of a Contracting Job

noreply@blogger.com (Shweta Khare) — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 19:42:00 +0000

Contracting may be for you if you relate to these points:

You want the choice to be selective of those you work with and work according to your preference.

You love variety in your life, one job for life or even say 10 years working for the same employer is an idea you do not endorse.

You are your own boss; the independence to manage your time is the major lure for working on contract as popped to being a permanent employee.
You are a fast learner and know how to implement your ideas independently. The learning curve is also very high when working independently; you learn marketing sales and finance management all at the same time

The above are most certainly the upsides of a contracting job, however the downsides sometimes outweigh the upsides of a contracting job:

No or limited benefits, contract positions are generally not covered under 401(k) plans and other benefits that are available to a permanent employee.

No guaranteed income you maybe in a good paying contract for months together but be prepared to be “on the bench” for a long time too – especially when the going gets tough for the employers, the first headcount crush comes to the contracting positions.

Your leaves are unpaid and you may not even take leave during a contract depending on the project deadlines or contracting agreement.

You would end up paying your own Social Security and income taxes and for those ever-expensive health coverage, so keep in mind all these points when setting your hourly rates as a contractor.

Estimating your asking Rates
One question that most new contract employees have tough time deciding – What should be my hourly rate, especially in the tough economy, will the employer pay what I ask for?
One of the most tested way to decide on this is first to look up or check with other professional contractors in your field and assess accordingly on your asking rate.
And of course, statistics always are the best way to come to a final close figure. As you have read the downsides above – you are the sole person responsible for the many payments on health care, social security and other business expenses (plus off course the time off when not working) Salary.com has an relevant article on this topic, they say:

If you work as an independent contractor without going through an agency, you have some leeway in establishing your professional fees, but you should charge close to market. To calculate this rate, start with the prevailing full-time salary for that job. Then divide by 2080, the number of work hours in a year (2080 = 52 X 40). This is the hourly rate for your job if benefits are being paid for by the employer.

But as a contractor, you need to pay for your own benefits, as well as additional Social Security contributions, so the number needs to be higher. Salary.com uses an adjustment factor of 30 percent to convert an hourly wage for a salaried employee to an hourly wage for a contract employee. Multiply your unadjusted hourly rate by (1 + 0.3) to get your adjusted hourly rate. For example, if your unadjusted hourly rate comes out to $20 per hour, your contract rate should be $20 * (1.3) = $26.

An example shows how this works for a senior-level web designer in Kansas City. A Web designer III working in Kansas City makes $66,244. The unadjusted hourly rate for this position is $66,244/2,080, or $31.85. Adjusted by 30 percent, the contract rate comes to $41.40.
Contracting may or may not be the right option for you; though the downsides may loom large over the positives it is up to you in the end to make a contracting position most beneficial and profitable. And during an economic downturn when most of the permanent positions are being axed left and right a contract position could be an alternative.

Career Options for Baby Boomers or Post-Retirement

How to be a Good Employee – 5 Lessons from the Golden Rules of Buddhism

noreply@blogger.com (Shweta Khare) — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 19:07:00 +0000

Procrastination is [moral] defilement, continued procrastination is defilement. By non procrastination [punctuality] and knowledge, root out your darts [of sin].
(Utthana Sutta, v. 4)

Get the work done now, meet deadlines and keep your boss posted on the updates. Do not procrastinate.

He who walks in the company of fools, suffers a long way; company with fools, as with an enemy, is always painful; company with the wise is pleasure, like meeting with kinsfolk. (Dhammapada, v. 207)
Therefore one ought to follow the wise, the intelligent, the learned, the much-enduring, the dutiful; one ought to follow a good and wise man as the moon follows the path of the stars. (Dhammapada, v. 208)

Keep good company at work; collaborate with those more knowledgeable than you are and impart knowledge to new hires. Make your day at the workplace more meaningful and fulfilling.

From whomsoever a man learns the Law; he should worship him, even as the gods worship Indra. The learned man, being thus honoured, his mind pleased with [his disciple], makes the Law more manifest.
(Nava Sutta, v. 1)

If you have a mentor - thank him/her, if you don’t seek one. Respect your job and thank those who impart you the knowledge to do better.There exists no spot on the earth, or in the sky, or in the sea, neither is there any in the mountain-clefts, where an [evil deed does not bring trouble to the doer].
(Udanavarga, ix, v. 5)

Don’t lose your work ethics and always work towards the better good and development of your team and company. Plan and act towards the greater benefit for your team and company; make your daily contribution - howsoever small, when put together it results somewhere in big revenues for your company.

The fault of others is easily perceived, but that of oneself is difficult to perceive; the faults of others one lays open as much as possible, but one's own fault one hides, as a cheat hides the bad die from the gambler.
If a man looks after the faults of others, and is always inclined to detract, his own weakness will grow.
(Dhammapada, vv. 252, 253)

Your boss or your co-workers may not always be right and there could be office politics that you detest; the best way to focus on your work and personal development is to steer clear of it all. Do not accuse colleagues or bosses; do your job and if the going gets tough work towards finding a solution not retaliation.

Source of the Buddhism teachings: The Golden Rules of Buddhism Compiled by H.S. Olcott

Layoffs are Detrimental to Marital Health

noreply@blogger.com (Shweta Khare) — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 19:08:00 +0000

The struggling economy is hurting many Americans' mental health: Anxiety, depression, sleep problems and money-rooted marital conflicts are growing, experts around the USA say. (Source: ABC News)

Is the recession straining marriages? Is more time spent together at home post layoffs resulting in more divorces?

This article focuses on the two aspects – have the divorces and strained relations in marriage increased or have they gone down since the economic downturn which has affected millions of lives in the United States itself.

Keren Blankfeld of forbes writes:

"Recession has always been a factor raising divorce rates," explains University of Chicago Business School economist Gary Becker. In fact, based on studies Nobel prize winner Becker conducted back in 1977 and published in the Journal of Political Economy, couples that experience any sudden significant and unexpected change in income--positive or negative--are at risk of divorce.

Elizabeth Bernstein in an interesting article in the WSJ writes:

We’ve all heard the jokes: “Retirement means half as much money—and twice as much spouse.” “For better or worse—but not for lunch.” Generations of retirees have chuckled knowingly at them.
But now, thanks to the recession and the millions of layoffs it has produced, many young couples far from retirement age are discovering there’s more than a little truth in the humor. When one spouse (or both) stops working, the impact on the relationship can be profound.

So is there a solution to the bickering and naggings if that is what has come to since the more-than-required interaction between spouses? Of the few out there, it is very important to be as positive and supportive to each other and also be open on the financial issues you face post layoff. And here is another simple and good suggestion:
(Source WSJ article):

Although it isn’t always easy, experts recommend that couples do everything they can to keep the lines of communication open. “Deliberately practice being supportive and validating,” says Diana Kirschner, a New York psychologist and author. “It’s also called ‘being nice.’”

But as always there are two sides to a coin and this story is no exception, there have been some news reports in the last few months citing less divorces being filed since the recession picked up.

Jennifer Levitz of WSJ writes:

It's still unclear how the recession is affecting divorce rates overall, because of lags in government data. But courts in some major population centers say fewer people have been filing for divorce since the downturn began in late 2007. In New York County 9,349 couples filed for divorce in the first four months of 2009, off 14% from 10,848 in the same period in prerecessionary 2007, according to records from New York State Unified Court System.
In Los Angeles County, divorce filings in the first four months of this year dropped 3%, to 9,048, from the same period last year and are down 9% from the comparable span in 2007, according to records from the Los Angeles Superior Court.

MCClatchy-Tribune information services, says:

Unhappy couples are staying together. They can't afford the attorney fees. Child support is impossible to pay. Paying to support two homes is unreasonable in a time when they can barely afford one home together. So they decide to stay together.
Does this mean a "happily ever after?" Usually, no. It means that unhappy people are forced to stay together. The environment in the household erodes even further. They fight even more. If they have children, the kids are subjected to it for even longer.

For better or for worse some are indeed sticking together but the long-term impact would be immensely negative to the family if spouses do not show empathy and support towards each other.

This too will pass, all that matters is how did you fare when the going was rough?

Related Posts:

When the World Shrank

noreply@blogger.com (Shweta Khare) — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 19:05:00 +0000

What happens when you do not access emails for a month or more, when you don’t find time to blog for more than 50 days, there is no twitter on what you are doing now and no voicemail to respond back too – nothing happens (trust me!) but it just means you had a super long electronically deficient vacation.

Yes alright, if you have noticed inactivity on the Careerbright blog, the person I am talking about is me. Without the electronic devices and internet the world indeed shrank. It shrunk to the closest in my life, kids and family members, just watching the kids giggle playing in the water and trying to “invent” something was fun; emails and the world news did not matter at all.
Though it is fun to be in an “offline” mode for sometime, getting back online is fun too. We all need change and perhaps that is what brings in the best in us.

Hello Blog and welcome the “other world” where we connect with people unknown but as humans share similar thoughts and vibes. Of course it is good to be back and looking forward to be back again for a complete time again sometime with family – where distractions and world news does not bother or affect the mind, just giggles and tickles to refresh all around….

Will the lost Jobs come back

noreply@blogger.com (Shweta Khare) — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 09:19:00 +0000

Economic recovery at present and in near future is a debatable topic and many are not certain on what that means for the lost jobs. Will the jobs come back when the recession abates?
I had stalled on this topic for sometime, the layoffs had abated in April and there was much expectation of a turnaround.. but then employers cut 467,000 jobs in June, far more than expected and the jobless rate in the US is at a high high of 9.5 percent.
It makes us worry more on this question, will the lost jobs come back? Should we wait with our current skills and experience to continue in the same field as before or is it time to look at different alternatives? Be it moving to the new clean tech energy sectors or starting a business or learning new skills which prepare us for a new work and work culture in near future; it is the time to explore different answers and not be afraid to ask such questions.

What would you do to prepare for something new or unknown in the future?

Post Layoff Thoughts and Advice on Getting Back in the Workforce

noreply@blogger.com (Shweta Khare) — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 21:32:00 +0000

I have been reading a lot of articles almost every day on how people are coping with layoffs and the advice online and in the newspapers on how to make a comeback or how to just cope with what you are going through. There is a lot of great advice and thought would compile it all here, of course acknowledging the resource after each of these… hope it helps you or just pass it around to those who might need it.

With the unemployment rate for women in the United States at 5.4 percent, according to the U.S. Department of Labor, women are trying to navigate an economic storm. It has created stress, worry and frustration. But interestingly, many independent women aren't seeking the security blanket of a move back home or even back to college. Rather, they are sticking it out, keeping positive and looking forward to that next job.
Jenny Soucek was laid off in March, three weeks before her 25th birthday, from her job as a production assistant at a local marketing firm…. she believes that it's easier being laid off at a younger age.
Soucek is taking her layoff as an opportunity to pursue a career in health care. She is going back to school for her second bachelor's degree, this time in health care administration.
"I thought, this is a great time to do things I've always wanted to do. ... This is a time for self-betterment," she said.

From Women navigating the storm of unemployment

Sometimes losing your job can be a stepping stone to a better opportunity - it's just a matter of how you look at it.

"I believe everything in life is a choice. You can sit down and cry about what happens to you, or move on.
"Looking back, the layoff was the best thing that could have happened to me, even though I did not see it at the time.
"Believe it or not, it can actually be a good thing to lose your job. It lets you re-evaluate your life. I never reached my full potential in my last job because nobody saw it," she said. "I make it my mission now to help people see their full potential."

From Free career and counselling help offered to laid-off manufacturing workers

"I just got to take my time and not be so anxious," she said.
Through WorkSource, Martinez learned how to make up a resume and cover letter, dress for a job interview and assess what skills she has to offer.

From How to navigate the job hunt

Howell knows he has shouldered more responsibility than a typical high school student, especially in Elkhart's hard-hit economy. But he said he uses the lessons he learned on the football field to put the downturn in perspective.
"Bring it on," he said. "It might seem down and everything, but if you're a hard worker, it'll be OK. I'm ready for any obstacle."
She's not alone in her hopefulness, despite the grim economy. Students in the Class of 2009 are more worried about the future, but they're also surprisingly optimistic, said Steve Schneider, president of the Wisconsin School Counselor Association and an active counselor at Sheboygan South High School in Sheboygan, Wis.
In that economically troubled city, where the manufacturing industry is also seeing big layoffs, high school seniors remain as enthusiastic about their own futures as any 18-year-olds ever are, Schneider said.
They've gotten the message that education will be key to their futures, even if that education might have to come in the form of less-expensive options such as enrolling first at two-year colleges and then transferring, Schneider said.

From The economy has forced graduates and their families to rethink plans

Where to look for jobs or a new career?
"We know that unemployment is persistent, and it's lasting longer than we've seen in a number of decades," Labor Secretary Hilda Solis said in an interview. She said that the administration is directing more resources to job-training programs to try to prepare those out of work for jobs in sectors that are growing.
"We need to put people in new careers, so people who were putting windshields in automobiles can get jobs making solar panels at the same plant," Solis said.

From Job loss numbers painful, hopeful

"I wanted to focus on something with more meaning," Bender said. "And while the pay might not be the same, the benefits are much better."
Michael Orenstein, a spokesman for the US Office of Personnel Management, said job openings are only expected to grow as baby boomers in the workforce retire and federal stimulus dollars create new positions.
The number of positions advertised on http://www.usajobs.gov/, a clearinghouse of federal job openings, has jumped 57 percent over the past two years to more than 47,000.

"The government has thousands and thousands of opportunities for qualified men and women," Orenstein said. "We're looking for new talent and energy and people who desire to be in public service versus kneeling at the altar of the bottom line."
For many, however, working for the government is a career change that comes out of economic necessity.

From Now hiring, your Uncle Sam

Is YouTube your new "Hire-Me" Launch Pad

noreply@blogger.com (Shweta Khare) — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 17:45:00 +0000

Zee Avi originally posted a video of her first song on YouTube because one of her friends had missed her first performance in Kuala Lumpur, so she created a video on YouTube for him to watch. He convinced Avi to leave the video up, and soon she received positive feedback, which inspired her to put more videos on YouTube. After she was featured YouTube, she attracted the attention of Brushfire Records, with which she would join. Her song "No Christmas For Me" is featured on Brushfire Records's 2008 Christmas album This Warm December: A Brushfire Holiday.[4] Her single "Bitter Heart" was first to become available on the US iTunes store, and her full self-titled debut album was released on May 19, 2009.

The above info is from WikiPedia - oh yes she is on Wiki!

And if you do not have the talent as Zee but you can do something creative and eye catching then how about asking for a job the simple way (except for the paper wastage, this video did catch a lot of attention - not sure whether Mark got the job or not; do let me know if you get to know) ->

Polish up your next production on YouTube and who knows you might land a great job or a contract that you have only dreamed about as yet.
Good luck!

Beware - Bogus Job and Career Websites may be an Identity Theft Trap

noreply@blogger.com (Shweta Khare) — Thu, 28 May 2009 03:55:00 +0000

With the U.S. unemployment rate approaching double digits, it is not surprising that many Americans are prepared to do whatever it takes to gain employment. In fact, data security experts at Kroll Fraud Solutions have seen some consumers resort to a “desperate times call for desperate measures” approach, loosening their data security practices by divulging personal information to recruiters, businesses, and job search sites alike in the hopes of increasing their chances of securing a job.
The bad news is that identity thieves are well aware of this increased vulnerability among job seekers and use it to their advantage. The good news is that understanding the risks before you begin your job search can not only help you avoid identity theft, it can make your job search more productive, too. According to the Federal Trade Commission’s 2006 Identity Theft Survey Report, 10% of all respondents who said they were victims of identity theft spent 55 hours or more resolving the problem. That’s time that could be better spent on your job search!
Below, Jeremy Miller, director of operations at Kroll Fraud Solutions, outlines some of the key factors job seekers should keep in mind to protect their personal information during the job search process. At Kroll, Miller oversees a highly skilled team of veteran Licensed Investigators who support identity theft victims by restoring their identities to pre-theft status.

1. Remember: your resume is a hot commodity.
Resumes are an essential tool for someone looking for a job. After all, they say a lot about you and your professional background – information which is very important to potential employers. Still, there are some items that should never be disclosed, particularly if you intend to post your resume on career Web sites like Monster and USAJobs. Social Security Number (SSN), driver’s license number, and date of birth should never appear on a resume. The same goes for job applications: you might consider writing “prefer to provide this information during the interview” in the fields where these pieces of personal information are requested.

2. Proceed cautiously with career Web sites.
Not all job posting Web sites are created equal. Make sure you review the privacy policy and user terms and agreements before you post your resume on a career Web site. You may also want to do some online research to ensure that the site you are working with is credible When in doubt check with online resources such The World Privacy Forum’s Consumer's Guide to Online Job Sites. That said, it’s important to remember that no matter how credible the site or how well it safeguards the data it keeps, no one can guarantee what happens to your resume after it has been downloaded by a recruiter or potential employer. For that reason, you may want to inquire if the site allows you to mask your name and contact information, thus giving you the ability to choose who can and cannot contact you.

3. Know how to spot bogus job ads.
Job-related identity theft scams are becoming increasingly sophisticated. Despite the best screening efforts used by career sites, scammers always find a way in. You might be looking at a fake job ad if it:
o Offers considerable pay with few to no duties
o Promises payment of wages in cash
o Contains no physical address or contact person
o Requires you to open a new bank account or accept company checks to “test” a wire transfer service
Most employment sites offer information on known scams, and should be notified immediately if you suspect that a posted job isn’t legitimate. You can also conduct an internet search on the company or check with the Better Business Bureau to determine if the potential employer has a bad reputation.

4. Keep a record of your job search activity.
Maintaining good records will not only help you track the progress of your search, but it will also provide a “paper trail” in the event you become a victim of identity theft. Record where and when you distribute your resume, maintain lists of contact information for businesses and recruiters/representatives you come in contact with, and keep track of any additional information (e.g., applications, etc.) you provide to prospective employers.

5. Carry good data security practices with you offline.
Keeping personal information off a resume is only the first step—other vulnerable situations include phone interviews, job fairs, and e-mail and phone conversations with recruiters. Scammers know that as long as someone thinks an offer is genuine, they are more likely to provide sensitive information. Make sure that you know who you’re talking to and never divulge any personal information if you have doubts about their credibility. It is important to remember that virtually all legitimate businesses or recruiters will not ask for your SSN or other information until after you have begun a formal interview process.

6. Think before your post!
Social networking sites (e.g., LinkedIn and Facebook) and are a great way of communicating your talent and expertise with a larger community of individuals. But sometimes staying connected comes at a cost. What many do not realize is that the more information you reveal online, the greater your chances of having that information accessed by the wrong person. Carefully consider what information you include on your profile page. For example, is it really necessary to share your date of birth and address with potential employers? When in doubt, remember this: if you wouldn’t give this information to a stranger on the street – you probably don’t want to put it online for the world to see.

About Kroll
Kroll’s Fraud Solutions is the world’s leading risk consulting company, providing a range of investigative, intelligence, financial, security and technology services to help clients reduce risks, solve problems and capitalize on opportunities. Its clients include Fortune 500 companies, non-profit organizations and government entities dealing with healthcare, financial services, insurance, consumer service and any activity involving the collection and use of personal information, Visit www.krollfraudsolutions.com to learn more.

Make Money Fast Online, Internet Marketing and Surveys – Scam or Genuine

Internet Ad Scams

Google Yourself often to see if Employers might find your Cyber-skeletons

5 Ways to find out if Entrepreneurship is for you

noreply@blogger.com (Shweta Khare) — Wed, 20 May 2009 20:00:00 +0000

If the answer to these is yes, then entrepreneurship can be for you:

You are brimming with numerous innovative (or at least a couple) ideas and you can visualize how to translate your dreams into practical ideas and above all you are passionate and persistent to work towards making your dreams see the daylight.
You can take control of managing your time and do not need anyone else to monitor your tasks and goals. You are self-directed and motivated when working solo.
You understand and are hands on the basic financial management – preferably mid-level if not expert. You understand what cash-flow and marketing plans mean to the survival of a business.
You may be an introvert or an extrovert but will not shy away from self-promotion and learning cutting edge marketing and sales pitch.
Are not easily discouraged by failures and know how to bounce back from set-backs.

If you scored a yes on all 5, then go ahead and plan more on how to be an entrepreneur.

What do you want to be when you grow up?

Mentoring for Women

Top 5 Reasons why you want to Work Part-Time

7 Tips to help you Work effectively from Home

What do you want to be when you grow up?

noreply@blogger.com (Shweta Khare) — Wed, 20 May 2009 18:48:00 +0000

Where do you see yourself in your present job say 6 years from now? If not where you are at present, what would you rather do –
Join another company in similar field but with different responsibilities – either to earn more than you do at present or for power position opportunity?
Or
Just do what inspires you and was a cherished dream somewhere back down the lane when making a dough pile was not the incentive to work?

What did you want to be when you were young and what do you want to be when you grow up?

Layoffs are forcing many of us in entrepreneurship and personal ventures for which we never had time before. A recent AARP study provides new evidence that suggests career changes work out well for the overwhelming majority of older workers because of reduced stress and flexible work schedules.

According to an article titled “Older workers embrace career change, less stress” in USAToday:

Mal Krinn made the switch when he had the chance to turn a hobby into a second profession.
Not many people would willingly leave the security of an established doctor's practice for a job in a kitchen.
Krinn did that at age 62, going to work for his son, a chef and restaurateur. Seven years later, he has no regrets about having given up doctor's dough to create and knead bread dough, which he does at Jonathan's chic restaurant Inox in Tysons Corner, Va.

"One day I was in the office and the next day I was a full-time breadmaker," he said.
Krinn had enjoyed cooking and baking bread for his family for decades. If his son hadn't gone into business, he figures he'd still be doing that, along with practicing ophthalmology.
But like the study subjects, a change for a new occupation presented itself and he embraced it. Now his transition may serve to inspire older workers who are looking for a new career with different challenges.

"If you pursue things that interest you when you're younger, who knows where it can lead to?" he said. "You find out that you could actually go into what you got a kick out of all those years."

David Perry of BalanceQuest describes himself as someone who at midlife has decided to get out of the corporate life style and use his accumulated knowledge, wisdom and friendships to build a better life for themselves. It’s time to nourish your Body, Mind and Spirit.

And of course there are many others who are quitting the rat-race to breathe in what they believe in even if the money they make is much lesser than their previous jobs.

Often we have to give some to get some and it is also the other way round, to get more we give away of something precious as well – to earn more money we have to (usually) spend more time at work and that results in less time for personal interests pursuits and less family time. When you are ready to give up on the larger dough you make; there is a higher probability that you might get time to enjoy more – the time you have with your loved ones and also perhaps just watching time pass by instead of always in a rush to catch the handful of time you get every day that seems to always slip between the fingers like a handful of sand.

Now what do you want to be when you grow up?

Entrepreneurship for Women Re-entering Workforce

Recreate and Diversify in a Recession
In the Quest of a Satisfying Life and Career
Career Rediscovery for a Grandma – Back to College in her 40s

Silicon Valley’s “Restless Mind Syndrome”

Alternatives to a Permanent Full Time Job

My Stress My Addiction

Layoff Back off! You can’t get me Down

noreply@blogger.com (Shweta Khare) — Wed, 20 May 2009 18:39:00 +0000

Tips for thriving during a layoff:

- Get your emotions together – focus on the positives
- Schedule your time
- Prioritize tasks
- Take time to de-stress – workout, walk, laugh
- Organize your workspace and job search plan
- Attend relevant and motivational seminars, network – meet people
- Acquire new skills, gain knowledge
- Seek help from experts
- Seek answer to this question – How will I emerge better from this experience?

During a layoff it is tough to act tough but that is what you have to do. A very inspirational reading here that I would like to share with you today from Sri Sri Ravishankar (a spiritual and humanitarian leader, he is the founder of the international Art of Living Foundation):

Be With the Storms
by Sri Sri Ravishankar

How to free yourself from the grip of storms? This is the only basic problem in this universe. The first thing is to become aware of it and stop regretting it. Like waves come and go storms in your life too will subside. No one storm can be there for ever. One storm comes and subsides, another comes and subsides and it goes on. As the storm subsides, you experience that inner cool, soft, delicate aspect of yourself. In that space of calm, all the anxiety, fear, feverishness lose their grip on you and you become yourself again. Love dawns.

When you stop resisting the storms of life and start accepting them with open arms, they will subside on their own. That is the purpose of all spiritual practices, or sadhana, and meditation. When you realize that somebody really cares for you, you feel at rest and all fears and insecurities drop off.

You keep running away from small things -- your feelings, sensations, desires -- and this leads to more feverishness. Realize that like the ocean cannot be there without the waves, storms are inevitable in your life. Every storm touches you somewhere and makes you grow stronger. A storm pulls you out of your likes and dislikes and purifies you. So accept all that comes with both arms open. [...] Even when the storms come, you are still the same ocean, as deep as ever.

This realization is the culmination of knowledge. When this knowledge dawns, you rise above events; you grow out of them. Everybody in the world goes through crises, insecurities, confusions. It's like drowning in the ocean of life. But the person with the life jacket can survive even the worst turmoil. So keep your life jacket of knowledge handy.

[...] Do not be in a hurry to get rid of the storms, be with them. Looking for perfection creates imperfection inside you. If you are peaceful, everything around you becomes peaceful. You are the center of this universe. Wherever you go, you carry your own mind, and wherever you go, you will create your own storms. It may appear to be calm and quiet for sometime but the storm will surface sooner or later. Unless you realize this, nothing will hold. There is no other permanent solution. Don't resist the storms, instead see them as an amazing play of your personality.

Related Posts:
5 Essential Tips on Thriving after a Layoff
How to be Optimistic during the Job Search Process
What to do after a Layoff
Accepting and Dealing with a Layoff
Best Jobs to have during Recession
Post Layoff 5 Step Successful Comeback Plan

The Jobs of the Future – Got Robots?

noreply@blogger.com (Shweta Khare) — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 18:41:00 +0000

I wish I knew what the jobs of tomorrow would be like, want to go on a prediction trail with me?
Here is how I start on thinking about what the jobs of the future would be like- how about thinking robotics?

How about a robot that helps you do the dishes and take them out and help with some small chores at house? Yes sir sure, please hand me one now! I am so ready to save that even one hour work around the house (that I would rather not do) and most importantly the mental peace that accompanies such a possession - I don’t have to worry about the vacuum and dishes anymore and it will be on my time as and when I program my house robot. Hey, and the good news is- they are already ready to put such a helper on sale:

According to the Telegraph

A new household robot created in Japan is capable of rinsing the dishes in the sink before neatly lining them up in the dishwasher and pressing the start button for the washing cycle.
The multi-jointed robot arm, created by scientists the University of Tokyo with the electronics company Panasonic, is one of a series of prototype devices designed to perform household chores.
As home to one of the world's fastest ageing populations, Japan is experiencing a boom in robotic developments, with the market currently estimated at £5.3 billion (Y712.3billion) and poised to boom to £71.7bn (Y9.63 trillion) by 2030, according to the Japan Robot Association.
A growing number of companies are investing heavily in the future of household robotics, many of which are designed to assist daily life for the elderly as well as the infirm.

Since this robot would be in sale in less than 5 years from now, there you go something to think about, if people are ready to buy this robot what other products could be linked to such a technology, start thinking about it now and you have a well in demand product or service 5 years from now.

And more happenings in the robotic world - according to technewsworld: iRobot is one company that helped to make robots part of our everyday lives. There's the Roomba, which is an automatic vacuum cleaner, and the Scooba, an automatic floor washing system. Then there's the pool-cleaning Verro and the gutter-cleaning Looj.

Honda has also been working on a humanoid robot project called "Asimo." Still in the development phase, Asimo can carry trays, push carts, climb stairs, and do a number of other tasks. In the future, it might be used to care for the elderly, provide service at social functions, and do simple housework. It is also being developed to work in conjunction with other appliances.

The future is now; it will be what you plan of it today.
But if you want to be successful there we better start doing something now. Look up where the investments are being made and what products and services make the world a better place.
Recessions come and go don’t brood over it, think future think positive and get creative.

What is your prediction of a product or service much in demand in future?

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Thinking Green Business? Now is the Time

noreply@blogger.com (Shweta Khare) — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 05:34:00 +0000

If you have the entrepreneurial inclination and insight, now is the best time to invest or seek investment in a green or clean-tech business. There are many other small businesses that are getting the blessings from the VCs and yes despite the word recession looming large in every economy there is lots of money to be invested in the companies of the future.
Recently SolarCycle was the Social Venture Award winner with a low cost solution to solar cooking that can help many in Africa, well maybe everywhere in the world.

CNNMoney reports:

SolarCycle's solution: Urban trash. The company's co-founders have created a solar cooker and a water pasteurizer out of the aluminized interior of chip bags. Both products work by concentrating solar energy into cooking pots or water troughs. The products are low-cost: The solar cooker, which has a life expectancy of five years, can be manufactured for $3 and sold in Africa for $5.
Timeline: SolarCycle will take several dozen prototypes to Tanzania this summer, aiming to serve 80 people through a pilot project. They plan to open their first factory there later this year.

Another example from the same source is Green Oil:

Concept: Rural India is poised for explosive economic growth, but much of the country lacks access to electricity and affordable fuel.
Two students at a top business school in India have developed a plan to decentralize energy sources. Green Oil plans to establish local "bio-fuel centres" to grow plants, collect seeds and extract oil. The oil byproducts would be sold to local residents, helping the remote villages access electricity and become more energy independent.

The bottom line is if you can do something green, clean and low cost funding might not be far behind. It is time to reset your thinking caps and if you have a viable idea hidden somewhere in the back of your brain time to shake it out and get a good marketing plan around it. The rest of the decade could very well be focused towards a greener career and business solution, the time to reinvent and to recreate is now. Do good and good will come to you; find simple practical solutions to save the earth and the earthlings and there is every reason that your business will flourish.

Some resources:
Amazon.com carries these relevant books; it is always worth a good research and reading before you step into any new or greener grounds:

Green Business: A Five-part Model for Creating an Environmentally Responsible Company by Amy K., Ph.D. Townsend

Green to Gold: How Smart Companies Use Environmental Strategy to Innovate, Create Value, and Build Competitive Advantage by Daniel Esty

Harvard Business Review on Green Business Strategy (Harvard Business Review Paperback Series) by Hbsp

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The World Rides the Recession Wave

noreply@blogger.com (Shweta Khare) — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 23:43:00 +0000

The news of recession and job losses is all over the world and there would be very few countries not affected by one of the worst unemployment rates ever seen by the Generation Xers and the Millennials. The global economy is intertwined and a large shake-up at one end of the globe transfers the impact throughout the world.
Here is a compilation of news from around the world on what is happening from Asia to Europe and the Americas as the world rides the recession and severe job cuts wave.

United States

US indeed triggered the world economic downturn but being the largest economy as it is this was very much predicted and expected.

According to an article in Yahoo News:

The U.S. Labour Department said earlier this month (April 2009) that companies cut a net total of 663,000 jobs in March, sending the unemployment rate up to 8.5 per cent, the highest in 25 years.
The Federal Reserve expects the unemployment rate will probably "rise more steeply into early next year before flattening out at a high level over the rest of the year," according to minutes from the central bank's March meeting released this month. Many private economists expect the rate to hit 10 per cent by year's end.

Finding a new job is increasingly difficult for those who have been laid off. Typically, hiring doesn't pick up until well after an economic recovery is under way.

Canada (Source: Stockhouse )

OTTAWA - Jobs are disappearing in Canada at a rate not seen since the deep recession of the early 1980s, new figures show.
Statistics Canada reported Thursday that Canada lost another 61,300 jobs in March 2009, taking the unemployment rate up three-tenths of a point to eight per cent for the first time in seven years.
Since the peak in October, employment has fallen each month for a total of 357,000 jobs lost, representing 2.1 per cent of the workforce. That's a pace of contraction greater than at any time during the 1991 recession and equaling that of the more severe 1982 slump.
Russia

Sky News reports:

Just eight months ago when oil prices were at a record high, it seemed to many Russians the good times would last forever.
But the economy - once one of the fastest growing in the world - is now hurtling into recession.
The problems the country faces are enormous, partly because it failed to diversify in the boom times.
Its dependence on receipts from the export of oil and gas has given rise to a hugely unbalanced economy.

According to Javno:

Some 1.8 million Russians lost their jobs in the first three months of 2009, taking the jobless rate to an 8 year-high, data showed on Monday in a sign that it may be too soon to talk about the bottoming of the crisis.
Officials had been saying that the worst of the crisis may be over for Russia, taking heart from higher global oil prices, a stabilisation of the rouble and a recovery in domestic stocks.
But with retail sales, real wages and capital investment all falling sharper than expected in March, the data suggests that Russia's first economic contraction in a decade is still very much in full swing. "We see this data as an indication that ... the decline is starting to spread to consumer demand and it will continue to pressure the economy over the next several quarters at least," said Vladimir Osakovsky, analyst at Unicredit.India

There are numerous multinational companies in India and the layoffs in the large organizations affect all such countries. The layoffs are worldwide and every nation feels the reverberations of a large shakeup anywhere in the world.

(Source: The National )

A US-style wave of layoffs has not hit India, but the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry estimates that Indian businesses could lay off nearly 25 per cent of their workforce this year across such areas as information technology, real estate, construction, aviation and financial services. Close to 40 million middle-class workers are employed by these sectors.
Unlike in the West, there is no system of social security, or unemployment insurance, in India, and most workers who are laid off are on their own.

China (Source: CNN.com )

Job losses triggered by the global financial crisis have driven some 20 million Chinese workers from cities back to their rural homelands, according to China's state-run Xinhua news agency.
Migrant workers arrive at Beijing's West Railway Station on Monday, despite growing unemployment.
Quoting a senior official and a survey by the Ministry of Agriculture, Xinhua said about 15.3 percent of the 130 million workers who migrated to metropolitan areas in years past have returned to the countryside.

China Daily reports on the path of recovery for China:

Bob Hawke, former prime minister of Australia, forecast China's GDP growth between 7 percent to 8 percent. In the meantime, he believed a reversal had come.
"The four-trillion-yuan stimulus (package) is now beginning to work, and China's economy ... has reached the bottom and started to come up now," Hawke told Xinhua at the forum.
Increasing stress of sluggish exports, dampened employment and shrinking corporate profits have pulled down the Chinese economy to a growth of 6.8 percent in the fourth quarter last year.

Japan

Huffington Post reports :

The (Japanese) government is now considering earmarking public money for companies that take up work-sharing to curb surging joblessness as the world's second-largest economy slides into what authorities are calling Japan's worst recession since World War II.
Companies big and small are expecting losses or drastically dwindling profits. Thousands of job cuts have been announced in recent weeks.
Many Japanese companies are adopting "work-sharing" to ride out the global slump.

Europe

According to a report in May 2009, the European Union admitted that its previous forecasts were way off the mark. It now predicts "A deep and widespread recession" across the continent and says unemployment among nations using the euro currency will rise to a postwar record of 11.5 percent in 2010. The new forecasts expect the economies of the 27-nation EU and the 16-nation euro zone to shrink by 4 percent this year - more than double the January estimate.
The European Commission said more than 26 million people in the EU will be out of work next year as a contracting economy sheds an extra 8.5 million jobs.

According to The Guardian

Mainland Europe is bracing itself for thousands more job cuts as Philips warned of further restructuring to staunch mounting losses and the German arm of Woolworths filed for bankruptcy.

In Switzerland the country's biggest bank, UBS, is reportedly planning to axe up to 10,000 more jobs as early as next week (April 2009) as it struggles to regain profitability – and credibility.

United Kingdom

(Source: SKY News )

In February 45,657, 7.3% of the city's potential workforce, claimed JSA - compared to 12,383 the same time last year.
The number of unemployed people also rose significantly in Leeds, Glasgow, Sheffield, Hull, Manchester, Bradford, Kirklees, Liverpool and Bristol.

Germany

The New York Times reports of large unemployment surges in Germany.

Because of the nature of the world economic crisis, rising unemployment in Germany is largely bypassing the poor areas of the east and striking at the heart of the country’s wealthy industrial areas in the western and southern regions.
The German automaker Daimler, which has placed some 70,000 workers on short-hour status, said recently that it could no longer rule out job cuts.

Spain

Spain had some interesting headlines in relation to layoffs and recession "Pain in Spain" and "The Fiesta is over in recession-stricken Spain"
MSN MoneyCentral reports :

Almeria Province, a bone-dry patch of coastal southeast Spain, was once the setting for spaghetti westerns such as "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly." Later it became a place to make fortunes building sun-drenched vacation homes and golf courses. High-tech greenhouses sprang up, offering Europe a year-round source of fruit and vegetables.

Now, two years after the real estate bubble burst, the province is one of the gushing wounds in Spain's recession-plagued economy.

Almeria's unemployment rate of 25 percent is one of Spain's highest, and makes the nationwide figure of 13.9 percent — already the highest in the European Union — seem mild.As the global meltdown worsens, it offers a glimpse of where Spain may be heading. The government says unemployment nationally will reach 16 percent this year, and some forecasters say it may approach 20 percent.

The African Continent

The Herald of Zimbabwe reports:

Africa is facing difficult times. The effects of the global economic recession and climate change have already begun to reverse the progress the continent has made over the last decade.
Many countries are experiencing reduced trade and economic activity, withdrawal of investors and an acute scarcity of credit. Projects are being postponed or cancelled altogether. Financial inflows are dropping, including levels of international assistance and remittances.
The result is that the ability of African countries to support basic services, tackle their developmental challenges and achieve the Millennium Development Goals is being heavily impaired. The human, social and political consequences could be enormous.
Africa now needs urgent support to maintain economic activity and protect the vulnerable from the crisis. But while trillions of dollars are being found, at short notice, for stimulus plans and bail outs in the richer countries, the least developed countries find themselves lacking access to credit and faced with lending policies and practices that minimise their chances of receiving loans.
The evidence is that Africa is hit twice. Not only are poorer countries going to be most affected by the global crisis, but the very way in which the developed world has responded to the crisis continues to worsen their situation by encouraging capital to flee to perceived safety. Lacking the means to argue their case at the top tables in the global economic and financial architecture, Africa's countries are left to face the very real danger of malignant decoupling, derailment and abandonment.Australia

Much better placed than other countries, it was made official in April 2009, that the Australian economy is in recession.
According to BBC report:

The economy shrank by 0.5% in the last three months of 2008.
This decline - revealed last month - was the first time the economy had seen a quarterly contraction in eight years.
If data shows the economy shrank between January and March, then Australia will be in recession according to the usual definition of two consecutive quarters of falling output.
The Australian economy is now likely to be in recession, the head of the country's central bank has admitted.

Despite the warning, he insisted that Australia was well placed to weather the global recession, thanks to its close proximity and trading ties to "dynamic" Asian markets, specifically China.
"Australia's genuine long-term economic prospects remain good," he said.
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