Five Tips for Securing Your Dream Job

In a tough economy, where good jobs are scarce, it stands to reason that employers become a bit more selective in the hiring process.  Below are five tips that will help you stand out and secure the job you want:

1. Clarify What You Want

2. Sell Yourself

3. What Are You Good At?

4. The Resume:  Get Noticed

5. Be Bold

Clarify What You Want

What do you like to do?  Asking yourself this simple question is perhaps the most crucial step when searching for employment.

Each day millions of people worldwide set out for jobs they hate, trading misery for a paycheck.  Work is nothing more than that part of their lives that much be suffered to make the rest of their lives possible.  As a result, these workers seldom reach their potential, which is unfair both to themselves and their employers. Conversely, people content in their jobs, are much more productive and thus more likely to create value for the company or organization.

The first step when planning your career should be defining the type of work you find rewarding and satisfying. Work is where you will spend the bulk of your waking hours, so choosing a job you enjoy will naturally make your life more fulfilling. This passion will be evident to employers as well, who are searching for candidates that bring the most overall value.  One employee, who will perform tasks willingly and enthusiastically, is often better than many who will not.

So before you begin your employment search, have a clear written description of what you really want to do.  It will show.

Sell Yourself

What makes you so special?  During tough times, when jobs are scarce, it’s important to spend some time preparing an answer to that question.  Naturally, employers want to hire the top candidate for the job, and what you’ve accomplished in the past is all they really have to rely upon.  Take some time and write the story you want employers to see.

Create a short autobiography which lists your accomplishments.  Include goals you’ve set and reached, praise from past employers and awards you’ve received.  Make it effortless for prospective employers to uncover who you are and determine what you can offer. Remember, if you neglect to write your own story, employers will be obligated to construct their own.

What Are You Good At?

Remember, in step one, you answered the question, “What do you like to do?”  This next question, “What are you good at?” is equally significant when deciding upon a career path. Why?  Consider this:

Regardless of my zeal for working on cars, I recognize that a certain amount of skill is essential in executing these tasks.  Regrettably, these are skills I do not and, in all probability, never will possess.  This impasse between what people enjoy and what they do well is one that many will encounter, and it can cause them a great deal of unnecessary anguish.  But instead of allowing this conflict to serve as a justification for surrender, use it instead as a valuable learning tool.  Remember, this is just one skill you don’t possess among the many that you do.

Be candid with yourself and select a career involving the skills and abilities you already have.  Build upon and perfect those skills, and strive to become the very best at what you do well.

The Resume:  Get Noticed

In certain scenarios, your resume may be the only tool you have to ensure getting noticed by potential employers.  When prized positions become open, especially during a recession, the demand for them is exceedingly high.  Often employers will receive hundreds of resumes for a sole position, and from them they will select only a few.  So how do you ensure your resume will get noticed?  These three small tips may help:

1. Create a resume that looks professional.  Present what you want employers to see on a single page which is clear and easy to understand.  Check it thoroughly for spelling and punctuation and make certain that all your information is current.
2. Present information that is relevant to the position for which you are applying.  Shape your resume to highlight the education and experience employers are looking for and eliminate the unnecessary filler.
3. Follow up.  There’s a fine line between professional courtesy and harassment.  Walk it.  Contact potential employers once to confirm that your resume was received, and thank them for their consideration. This small step may help get your resume to the top of the pile.

Be Bold

When jobs are scarce, the ability to stand out in a crowd becomes enormously important.  Try and invent a creative, yet appropriate strategy, designed to set you apart from the masses.  Here are three examples of what others have tried:

· One woman sent one of her baby shoes to the hiring manager along with her resume with a note that said “let me get my foot in the door.”  She got the interview and the job.

· Show up to the interview with a strong piece of work you’ve created which illuminates your abilities.  When the interview is completed, ask the employer if you can leave this behind for their review.

· On the cover letter you will send with your resume, instead of using the phrase, I look forward to hearing from you, as many do, be a bit more definitive.  Try this instead; I will call you on Thursday, November 23, to answer any questions you may have.

Apply these simple tips to your job search as soon as you can.  It’s simple, yet it may make all the difference. The amount of time you spend in preparation could pay huge dividends down the road.

International Day of Peace Instructions

Until such a time when everyday can be a day of peace, let us celebrate that which we have, even if it is but one day out of 365. However, just because it is one day doesn’t mean that you have to only practice peace for 24 hours.

Today,  September 21, is the International Day of Peace. It is a time for us to join hands, link minds and align with the spirit of all who are simultaneously sending prayers, meditations and positive intentions for world peace.

As you can see, there are many ways in which one can participate. In the event that you are still unsure how exactly you can help with this amazing initiative, please find the following instructions as per given by the Global Coherence Initiative (GCI):

Start With Your Imagination

You can help simply by envisioning the peaceful world that you want to live in. Creation starts with thought, desire and imagination….the same as desiring a new house, job, etc. Thoughts, desires and imagination create an energetic blueprint for what we want; then taking action steps towards our goal helps to create the building blocks for intentions to manifest.

Care Focus Peace Technique

For a month, in honor of Peace Day, let’s take five minutes a day (or what ever is convenient for you) to envision the world as you would want it to be. Here are some ideas to get your brainstorming started:

A world that respects individual human rights and authentic communication, has balanced, conscious leadership and compassionate governing systems worldwide, values the preservation of resources, has love and respect for animals and environmental balance. A world that provides food, pure water, shelter and world peace for all.

You have the creative freedom to create your own additions as you see the needs and desires of the world. Think about what problem in the world do you want to address, or what solution were you born to help solve. Remember, the most important part of this technique is to connect with vision with your emotions. When you enrich your vision with genuine feelings from your heart’s desire it breathes life into your intentions.

Close with a moment of gratitude and the request that whatever manifests only be the highest best for the whole.

Our common link with each other is that we all care. By honoring our differences, we multiply the strength of connection and effectiveness in our care for the planet and each other. This is what the planetary shift is about – differences coming together in the heart to co-create a greater wholeness.

Revised Note – Please Read

Guiding Principles for GCI Care Focus

As the Global Shift is playing out, there are a growing number of situations that unfold continuously around the world that could benefit from focused care. This makes it difficult to choose a GCI focus that would suit everyone at any given time. With GCI members from many different countries and cultures, it’s understandable that this would influence personal feelings of what would be most appropriate for a GCI care focus.

At times when a global issue is more important to you than the GCI care focus selected, we suggest this: Spend a little time on the GCI care focus, then spend most of your time sending love and compassion to whatever situation you feel is most important. Some of you may choose to hold a vision of the planet in a state of perfection, which can help manifest how we would want it to be. The most important thing is for us all to love, accept, and respect without judgment each others expressions of care.

The techniques suggested by the GCI team won’t always feel appropriate for everyone because of our many cultural backgrounds and personal belief systems. This is very understandable. When this is an issue, we invite you to use your own heart’s choice of technique, prayer, meditation, affirmation, visualization, etc., when sending love and compassion to the planet and its inhabitants. It’s our genuine coherent love and care that make a difference, much more so than method or technique.

Thank you for your participation.

For more information please visit: http://www.glcoherence.org