10 Ways To Make Your Career Change Fun (And Why You HAVE To Do So)

10 Ways To Make Your Career Change Fun (And Why You HAVE To Do So) Expert Advice > How to develop the mindset you need to shift 10 Ways To Make Your Career Change Fun (And Why You HAVE To Do So) * Weall like a bit of fun. But is it possible to have fun with your career change? Selina Barker explains why fun isn't just possible, it'svitalif you want to find and start doing work you love. To find your way into a career you really love, you need to make your career change itself as much fun as possible. This is something I’ve always naturally done with my clients â€" helped them turn their career confusion into a challenge, an adventure, a big project â€" something that makes it fun for them, because fun is howIlike to do things. But after eightyears of guiding well over 1,000 people through their career changesandhavinginterviewed hundreds of successful career-changers and experts, what I've discovered is that making your career change fun isn’t just a nice-to-have. It isonlywhen you approach your career change with fun, curiosity and playfulness that you succeed in ending up in a new career that you really love. Why? Because when you turn a problem into the kind of project, challenge or adventure that toyoufeels fun, then you are suddenly doing thingsyourway, you relax, you think more clearly, more freely, more expansively. You naturally follow your heart when you are focused on having fun. You tune back into you. When you try something and it doesn't work out you bounce back. There is no place for pride, pessimism or negativity when you're approaching things with fun and simply playing.And whenyou approach it in that light, fun way, you naturally follow the paths that feel right to you. You follow your heart, you go towards the things that make you come alive and not the things you think youshoulddo.Step by step, you find your way onto a career path that really makes you happy, because you’ve followed the path of most fun. So howdoyou go about your career change the fun way? Well, here are the top 10 ways I help my clients turn their career confusion into a project that they can’t wait to get going on: 1. Turn it into an exciting project that you want to tell people about Imagine catching up with friends or family and they ask you how work is going â€" they know you're miserable in it. Now imagine your answer is'*sigh* horrible. I hate it. I just don't know what to do'OR 'well over the next 3 months I'm interviewing one person a week who has a job that I think I'd love to have or who simply seems to love what they're doing.I'm recording the interviews as podcasts that I'm putting up online to help others in a similar position to me'. Now who sounds like the interesting one up to cool stuff! 2. Do fun courses that you've always longed to do It's amazing the number of people I've coached who, once they gave themselves permission to choose the path of most fun and least resistance, tried something that they'd always wanted to do just for fun, never thinking it could be anything other than a hobby only to have it lead to their future career. So whether it's massage therapy you've always fancied a go at or a furniture-making course, DO it. What's the worst that could happen? You discover you don't like it? Good, then you can strike it off your list of possibilities. But if you don't try it out, you'll always live life wondering and that's a terrible waste of life. 3. Explore, explore, explore You will never figure out what you want to do by thinking about it. No matter how much time and effort you put into the thinking. Get out there, talk to people, try things out, gather information. Follow any and all threads that spark your curiosity. If there is a scene going on that you'd love to be part of, get in amongst it and check out how people there earn their living. Ask questions, join in, sit and observe, take photos, shoot films â€" capture all the information and inspiration you can. Exploring is one of the key cornerstones of any successful career change. So find the way you most enjoy exploring and get out there! 4. Experiment This is where you become the scientist. This is where you try out ideas, put things to the test. Think you'd like to be a photographer? Have a go at photographing everything from buildings, to kids, to dancers, to weddings, to people at parties. That's how you'll discover your style, what you enjoy most and what you have a knack for. Later on you can experiment with prices you charge for your services. Your career will forever be one big experiment as it grows, adapts and changes. 5. Just have fun! Fun is such a powerful force and yet is so underrated. It's as if we equate fun with childishness, just not something that ‘grown ups’ do, something frivolous and therefore low in value. It's one of the biggest blocks that I help people remove and it is one HUGE mistake. The energy of fun â€" YOUR kind of fun â€" connects you with who you really are. You can't force fun;it's true and real when you experience it and most importantly, FUN BRINGS YOU ALIVE. And when you're feeling alive you think and solve your problems from a healthy and expansive place, you are confident when you're having fun. So go and have fun and see how it shifts your mindset and brings about fresh new ideas you hadn't thought of before. 6. Approach it like a child would Children have no fear or pride attached to not knowing things. They are on a constant mission to find things out, to explore and discover. They are forever asking questions. Curiosity is one of their founding values and strengths. That was you once upon a time. Unashamedly curious and determined to find things out, just by asking people, trying it out for yourself, observing. So become like a child again. In curiosity there is a wonderful freedom. You don't need toknowthe answer, you are simply on a mission to find the answer and find that answer in the most fun way possible ie. NOT by Googling for it. So make like a child, stop thinking youshouldhave the answer and go get curious. 7. Bring all your dreams out of hiding One of the biggest mistakes people make is that they bury their dreams.'Stop being a dreamer'we get told. As if dreams are the stuff of fantasy and childhood and have no place in the land of 'grownups'. WRONG! Dreams are where everything begins. Suppress your dreams and you have blocked the very source from where a fulfilling career and life will grow from. So get out a big sheet of paper and start writing down those dreams. ALL of them. Leave nothing out. 8. Bring each dream alive in a small way Once you have those dreams out in the open, start bringing them to life. In small ways. Unwrap each dream and find the core experience that lies at the heart of it. Then look at how you can experience that today, this week, this year and go and make it happen. 9. Document your journey in a way that you love As you explore, experiment, talk to people, try things out, seek out information and inspiration from books, people, talks and courses, capture all that you are learning, feeling and observing and gather it in a way that you most enjoy. For some people that will be a notebook dedicated to this big project, for others it will be a spreadsheet, for me it was a blog. You might process your thoughts best through writing, drawing or scrap booking. Whatever you do, document your journey so that as you go you build up a picture of what it is that really makes you come alive, fascinates and inspires you. THAT is the direction to head in. 10. Surround yourself by people who are having fun with their careers The people you surround yourself with shape your opinions, your beliefs and, therefore, your life. So if you are surrounded by people who hate what they do and aren’t doing anything about it then you’re not in the best company. You need to spend your time surrounded as much as possible by people who really enjoy what they do, that have fun with their careers, feel like it is theirs to own and that play around with it. People who know what it is to take your dreams seriously, bring them to life and see how they grow. It will be a lot easier to do the same for yourself if you’re surrounded by these kinds of people and not the naysayers. Not to mention it’ll be a lot more fun! So grab a few of these tips and set yourself up with a small project to start with: 2 to 4 weeks. And whatever it is you get yourself doing, just make sure that it has you doing things in the ways thatyouenjoy. Whether it’s finding out information or trying out an idea, don’t do it any other way than the fun way. Thatisthe way of success and will lead you to happiness in your career. Which of these tips could you use to bring more fun into your career change? Let us know in the comments below.

How to Write a Federal Resume

How to Write a Federal ResumeYou should always spend a fair amount of time while writing your federal resume to ensure that you have the details needed to be considered for the job in question. This is because your federal resume writing might be considered as the deciding factor to get you the job you want.Remember that HR Gov had made it a point to help the common man to attain success. So you should also make an effort of finishing a federal resume without any of the hiccups that your work history or skills might face in the employer's eyes. This is because it will show how smart you are and how skilled you are with the writing.Well, here are some tips that you can use while writing your federal resume: Before writing your federal resume, consider all the facts that are necessary to prepare your resume. These things should include your past work experience, if any, your pay scale, the education that you have completed and some other related information. It is essential to mention all your educational qualifications that are not related to your present career. Also, look at your current pay scale and tell if you have made any improvement or not in the salary.When writing your federal resume, always be careful about the spelling. The mistake of using of an incorrect spelling for a specific word or phrase can greatly affect your credibility. Hence it is essential to always write the exact spelling.When you are about to start writing your federal resume, always try to make it professional and polished. There are certain points that you must keep in mind while you are writing your resume. These points will guide you in the entire process of writing your federal resume.One of the important parts of your federal resume is the contact information which should include your full name, mailing address, email address and telephone number. You can also put a brief description of yourself. This is for people who do not have enough space on their work station.A federal res ume must also contain all the necessary skills, certificates, degrees and other relevant information that prove your work experience. You can also mention your achievements or the other related information in the background that you have worked in. Your employer will be able to get all this information from your resume writing skills.Never ever leave any unnecessary information or words out of your federal resume. All the necessary things should be there in the resume. Remember, your resume should also serve as a bridge between your current employer and the future employer.

Save Time and Money When Interviewing Candidates - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

Save Time and Money When Interviewing Candidates - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career Do you want to save time and money on interviewing? If your answer is yes, then read the rest of the article to find out how. Time has changed and technology has changed but companies are struggling to keep up with technology and still prefer to do things such as interviewing candidates the old way. Most companies have at least two rounds of interviews before hiring the right candidate. Generally the first round is a phone interview and the rest of the rounds are on-site interviews. In my opinion, a phone interview is very inefficient since you cannot see the candidate. You cannot be sure if the candidate has a paper in front of him/her and reading the answers to your questions from that paper or if the candidate is looking at search engines to find out the best answers to popular interview questions. Therefore, for the first round, I recommend video interviewing. Previously video interviewing was expensive and complicated. You used to need to have special equipment and software. However, thanks to Skype, Microsoft Lync, Google Hangout and others, video interviewing is now cheap, simple and easy. By video interviewing your candidates, you can both save money on your office phone and save time since you are seeing the actual candidate and you know he/she is not reading the answers from a paper. You can save more money with video interviewing on candidates who live in a different city or country given that you don’t need to fly them out to your office to meet them. You can video interview with a few candidates first and then, fly out the one which you are potentially going to hire. Other advantages of video interviewing are you can record the interview and watch it with others in the office or if necessary, you can review it later. You can also compare candidates’ answers during the interview with each other.  Moreover, video interviewing provides a more personal feel compared to phone interviewing since you can relate the candidate’s name and voice to a face. Therefore, when you revisit the candidate’s resume, you can remember him/her much easier. Furthermore, you can better identify the exceptional candidates in video interviews since it is visual and you are not only hearing a voice. For all of these, I suggest employers switch to video interviewing instead of phone interviewing.

9 Questions to Ask Candidates About Career Change

9 Questions to Ask Candidates About Career Change It’s both the worst and the best time of year to be thinking about changing careers. The new year is only just behind us, so a change is likely to seem appealing, yet winter means we’re getting less sunlight and less likely to have a positive attitude towards work. However, your candidates probably have very valid reasons to be considering a change. If your candidate is considering  one of these points it doesnt mean  they will completely up-sticks, but if they are answering yes to at least three of the following indicators, you might want to speak to them about why they are consider changing jobs and what you can do to help them  pursue a more positive working life. Some of these problems can be solved without moving jobs;  they may just need a good chat with you to help them decide. Here are the 9 questions you should be asking your candidates who may seem a little unhappy in their current job or if they have asked you to find them something else. 1. Are you checking job alerts every day? If your candidate is  searching for a job at their favourite brand  then alarm bells should start to ring. It’s not a surprise really, as many of us like to check job vacancies every morning. It can just be an ego-boost, but it can also show them the types of opportunities outside of their current role, suggesting they might want or need a change. 2. Are you bored? How long are your candidates spending on the internet  a day? A survey of British workers suggests that 33% do not find their jobs fulfilling and 37% think their job is ‘meaningless’, so theyre not  alone. There is, however a difference between the general boredom that comes with working 8 hours+ a day, and actual “I can’t do this anymore” boredom. If it’s the latter, a career change for them might be a good idea. 3. Do you have any work friends? This can be a huge dampener on anyone’s day-to-day attitude. As most people spend a lot of their life at work, not having a friend they can rely on, can leave them feeling unappreciated and lonely. True, not everyone has the same social needs, but it definitely helps. Despite what you might think, the power of social relationships is more valuable to humans than a high salary. According to The Atlantic, “if you have a friend that you see on most days, it’s like earning $100,000 more each year” and a report compiled by Gallup suggests that those workers with a ‘best friend’ at work were seven times more engaged than those who didn’t. But don’t fret; you can suggest these  6 easy steps to making friends at work. 4. Are you being overworked? How often are your candidates left feeling too overwhelmed to function? A 2016 report suggests that 19% of UK workers feel overworked, and one third feel miserable in their jobs. If their work life balance is being hindered by work related stress, the ‘life’ aspect often gets absorbed by working overtime, and looking after themselves  goes out of the window. If your candidate is desperate to claw back their free time they may need to address this problem with a manager first. If nothing comes of it, it’s ultimatum time: “either things change or I leave” and you might be able to help them make that change. 5. Do you dread going in every morning? It can be difficult to get out of bed a lot of the time, no matter how much someone enjoys their job. But when it’s every day, it’s probably not a good sign. 6. Has something changed? a) In their life? Has something recently changed in your candidates life leaving them questioning their position in their company? Has an adjustment in their lifestyle opened their eyes to new ways of finding happiness, and this job doesn’t quite fit with that? Perhaps they’ve found something new that they’re passionate about and that they’d like to pursue, leaving little room for ‘wasting’ their energy on a job that doesn’t align with their values. b) In the company culture? Has the company been bought out and therefore undergone a change in its practices? Has staff morale changed since a new external manager joined? Perhaps their trust has been shaken by a foreign investment that conflicts with their ethics. If this, among other issues, is getting your candidate down, then a change for them could be worth considering. 7. Are you using the right skills? Does your candidate feel invisible or under-appreciated? Have they been sidelined and given tasks beneath them? The aforementioned 2016 report shows that 1 in 8 people believe that their job happiness would improve with an increase in thank-yous. Firstly, you need to tell your candidate that they need to speak up â€" talk to HR if they don’t feel comfortable telling a line manager. If nothing changes, then they will ask you to help them look for a new job. 8. Is the commute getting you down? When your candidates free time is eaten away drastically by a long and/or stressful commute, feeling motivated and engaged at work can be a real struggle. An  ONS report shows that, holding all else constant, commuters are unhappier in both their jobs and life in general, as well as having higher anxiety levels. Your candidate shouldn’t necessarily expect that a new job with an easier commute will fix everything â€" there could be aspects from their previous job they end up missing. But, if this is a factor on top of other points, then a change could be feasible for them. 9. If you were headhunted today, would you accept? Obviously, this depends on the type of job, but if your candidate is being head-hunted, it’s generally because they appear to be a good fit for the position in the first place. If it’s just that quitting their current job is a hassle and involves leaving their comfort zone, then a career change could definitely be on the cards. If that is all that’s stopping them then this could be their wake up call.

Basic Steps to Creating a Medical Billing Resume

Basic Steps to Creating a Medical Billing ResumeA medical billing resume is the first thing you should write when applying for any medical job. And with the many types of jobs that exist in the health care industry, it is important to realize that your resume will need to fit the specific needs of each type of position.It is important to remember that when someone reads your resume that your billing experience must be related to a billing position. You cannot leave out everything about the billing job that you may have had and then expect to get a call for an interview. Asking all of the questions you want to answer is the best way to do this.The very first section of your medical billing resume should highlight what the job requires of you. Being aware of what the company or organization requires of its employees is the best way to figure out what type of position you would like to apply for. Then start listing your expertise or abilities relating to the job description.You will wan t to make sure you list your main responsibilities, and then list the additional duties that you have performed in the past. This will help to provide the reader with a clear picture of your professional goals and abilities. If the reader can easily identify what skills or capabilities you possess, they are much more likely to think you are well suited for the job. They will also be able to tell right away if you are not a good fit for the job.The second section of your resume should list your major job responsibilities, and then a brief summary of each of your individual roles. You will want to carefully detail your responsibilities with each role. This will allow the reader to clearly see how many duties you are responsible for. Doing so will provide the information they need to know if they are hiring a new professional to replace an existing one.Finally, describe your customer service skills and communication skills as these are usually listed first on the list of responsibiliti es. This allows the reader to quickly see your customer service abilities and your ability to communicate effectively in a non-threatening manner.Writing your resume is very easy once you get the basics down. The key is to stay organized and make sure the information you write is organized and factual. Just be sure to keep it as short as possible to fit the page.A medical billing resume should only take a few minutes to create. By making sure your resume includes all of the relevant information, it will be easier for the reader to quickly identify you as a medical professional. Take some time to write it, and then submit it to medical organizations in order to improve your chances of being called for an interview.

Weekend videos - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog

Weekend videos - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog Mark Hurst emailed me some apetizers for the upcoming EureGEL conference. Seth Godin talks about broken things at GEL06. Jimmy Wales explains Wikipedia at GEL05 I cant wait to go GEL looks excellent! Oneopenwindow is a pretty cool project which aims to collect lots of videos of people telling cool stories and sharing their knowledge. My absolute favorite video on the site so far is Brad Blanton explaining how to achieve enlightenement in three minutes. Guaranteed. Though the site is in danish, this video is in english and you can find the link at the bottom of the front page. Its hilarious check it out! You can also find 12 short videos of me telling stories about happy companies (in danish). And over on youtube theres a video of me doing a 6-minute peach-kucha presentation on happiness at work at Reboot8 (in english). Thanks for visiting my blog. If you're new here, you should check out this list of my 10 most popular articles. And if you want more great tips and ideas you should check out our newsletter about happiness at work. It's great and it's free :-)Share this:LinkedInFacebookTwitterRedditPinterest Related

Want More Than the Average 2.9% Salary Increase in 2018 Heres How

Want More Than the Average 2.9% Salary Increase in 2018 Heres How According to the 2017/2018 Mercer US Compensation Planning Survey, the average salary increase budget is expected to be 2.9% in 2018, remaining flat from 2017. So how can you  be perceived as  a top performer in 2018? Here are some tips.Document your accomplishments regularly throughout the year Keep track of all the projects you manage. Upon completion of each assignment, write a note to yourself detailing your contribution and how your efforts helped the company make money, save money, save time, grow the business, or retain customers. Quantify your accomplishments with dollars, percentages, and other appropriate metrics. Actively seek out opportunities to improve efficiencies and profits regardless of the task at hand. By showing and quantifying your specific value add, you build a better business case to support the requested salary increase.Become hard to replace Create opportunities to diversify your experience by offering to learn how to perform tasks that support your main ro le and make you more efficient at what you do. An alternative strategy is to become a subject matter expert in one specific aspect of the job so you are seen as the go-to-guy for a particular type of information. No want wants to lose the go-to-guy because then they have to do it themselves.Take on tasks that no one else wants to do This does not mean taking on grunt work. It might just mean mastering a new technology that no one else feels comfortable with or taking on an assignment that is outside of the traditional scope of the job. Employees who demonstrate this level of flexibility tend to get more flexibility from their bosses on other issues, including compensation.Accept high profile assignments close to review time Since it is easier for people to remember what has happened most recently, why not take on an important assignment to coincide with an upcoming review? The project is bound to become a focal point of the performance review discussion and the boss can quickly reme mber and document the achievements relevant to the project.Your success negotiating a salary increase or promotion hinges on your ability to discuss the increase in terms of what is fair and reasonable. By including some of these ideas into your career management strategy, you can keep the conversation focused on measurable achievements and build a compelling business case for the requested pay raise.