Monthly Archives: April 2017

Are you in a miserable job? Your escapade plan is here

Are you in a miserable job? Your escapade plan is here

Take-a-break

Do you feel like being stuck in a golden cage or just a cage? Many of us are working only to earn the livelihood, in their high-paying jobs, such employees are stuck in the golden-cage while others dissatisfied with their salary are stuck in the cage. You knowingly or unknowingly might be trapped in the cage, working for the salary day and looking forward to holidays.

We insist you to read Jim’s story here…

Jim a qualified post-graduate with over five years of experience was working in a financial firm as Relationship Manager. High incentives, commissions, luxurious official trips and parties were part of his routine.

Boss’ not-so-favourite Jim woke-up with same thought every morning “How many days to weekend/ holiday?” Commute to the office, listening to favourite music made him feel better. Jim managed his responsibilities well but was day-dreaming most of the time. He felt lost, disconnected and dissatisfied; his strengths remained unutilized. Audacious Jim went upto his Manager to discuss the issues and in a bid to bring a solution, however, it was an unsuccessful attempt.

Jim’s brief story that made us recall our start-to-end of the day and made us realized who is in the cage and who is working passionately. If you relate yourself to Jim, read on to find out what Jim did next –

Step 1 – Source of unhappiness

Jim tried to determine what was making him unhappy, his boss, work-place/ environment or his career path overall. If it was the three first options, switching company is the solution and thus, get-set-go for updating your Resume, uploading and applying to the best opportunities. Start with LinkedIn, make contacts, and create a network and so on.

However, Jim’s fuss was his career path. In that case, usual job search will do-no-good to him.

Step 2 – Savings = Live-Saver

Jim’s apathy was mounting, so was his quest to get rid the incumbent job as well as career. However, being used to a pricey lifestyle, Jim decided to trim his expenses by more than 50%. He decided to move to a cheaper apartment, less or no shopping and due focus on “What’s Next?”

Alike Jim, if you are thinking of switching your career path, first take a look at your bank balance and liabilities/ responsibilities. It is said that, when you leave existing work profile without a new job in hand, keep minimum four-month salary in your savings account.

This important tip will help you survive during “no-job-search” period.

Step 3 – What’s Next?

Having realized his source of unhappiness, Jim started taking time-off in evenings or weekends to determine his “what’s next?” This wasn’t an easy task; after all, he was making a tricky and risky decision. Jim, therefore, decided to make this quest more comprehensive and scientific. He began with writing down his passion, researching on that or even newer career options in the similar arena, and took few personality tests. Jim found his passion in travelling; his next task was to ensure sufficient/ satisfactory salary. Switching career from A to B, without any experience, makes you a fresher. Jim knew he will have to start from zero with minimal or no salary.

Step 4 – Build-up your courage

Do you have the courage to escape that golden-cage? Even Jim had great difficulty in calling it “quit” As the usual process, Jim’s boss and the Human Resource Manager tried to examine the situation and offered him the so-called “carrot” i.e., higher package/ incentives and so on. Anyone like Jim will be baffled, whether to follow passion or continue with the same firm with more-than-even lucrative package

A question popped in confused Jim’s mind “What if I die tomorrow?” On my death bed, do I have any memories, happiness, the satisfaction of living a love/fun-filled life?

The answer was negative.

Thus, Jim turned-down the offers and decided to walk away.

Step 5 – new Life new Goals

Jim, after serving his notice period, was a free-man with dreams of travelling the world, exploring the life on the other side of the planet. He started with small goals in his bigger picture. The first goal was to find a job that will fulfill his passion whilst earning him some amount.

Five years from that day, Jim is now successfully leading his own travelling and tourism company. He has traveled many places, yet his to-do and visit list is lengthy.

If you feel Jim, take the hint, dream big but set small goals, follow the steps and remember –

“Love what you do and do what you love. Don’t listen to anyone else who tells you not to do it. You do what you want, what you love. Imagination should be the centre of your life.” Ray Bradbury

Author:

Renuka Dabhade

Rescue yourself from never-ending Job Search

Rescue yourself from never-ending Job Search

Job Search

Irrespective of the level of your career progression, the job hunt has never been an easy task; it renders us into deep frustration and irritation. Let’s agree on this, we all have faced several problems whilst searching our desired profile with location and salary. Many times, we may have compromised on either of the crucial factors to get the remaining in place. Have you ever wondered what keeps you away from that “perfect” employment opportunity? What if the answer is “YOU”?

True that, you may not believe this; for better understanding, we will demystify the common scenarios, problems and their solutions –

Alike any other fresh graduate Abby has cleared her undergraduate program and is on her toes for a desired work profile. Her day starts with checking e-mails and job portals, sending the applications and cover letters, and finally ends with exhausting interview rounds. In this scenario, the answer could be “this is every freshers’ struggle”.

On the other hand, we have Jenny who has worked for five years in an organization and is now on her never-ending job search path. Despite her experience, the job search is a tedious process for Jenny.

 

Having read about Abby and Jenny, we all have one thing in our mind “been there, done that”.  Let’s now understand every possible obstacle in the path and its bypass route –

Lesson 1 – Focus on your forte’s best profile

The tech-savvy job-seeker has ample of options to hunt job from and/ or grow into. You may use various online portals or professional social media – LinkedIn, newspapers, employer websites, job boards, and industry or networking events. These are the basic or the foremost options that job-seeker uses and the list can extend to dozens of similar platforms. In this cumbersome journey, we keep shifting our focus instead of concentrating on the best. As a result, the job search becomes a never-ending task.

Another issue that some of the job-seeker faces is the lack of direction for their desired profile. In their incumbent profile, they may handle a bit of every domain and thus, end-up applying for different profiles.

Lesson 2 – Brand yourself 

Remember you are a product in the job-market and have to put-in every single effort to pitch yourself. Thus, you must have or create a story line; craft your niche and highlight your uniqueness. Instead of job listing like any other candidate, showcase your journey from academic to professional stint, emphasize your achievements and above all where are you heading now.

Lesson 3 – What’s your USP

Since you have to pitch yourself in the job-market, you need to have a Unique Selling Power (USP). Here, you may write about how your innovative idea saved cost, how your initiative made a positive difference, how your strategy saved the time of your fellow colleagues and so on. If you are fresher, you can write about your college projects, your inventions, active participation or leadership in events and so on.

Lesson 4 – Know your Hirer

The traditional recruitment process is tedious, many a times candidates resume is rejected or turndown before it reaches the actual Hiring Manager. At times, even after applying through various processes, the candidates are unclear on the status of their recruitment. Therefore, it is essential to know who your Hiring Manager is and, if possible, approach directly to them for getting better results. LinkedIn has eased this task to a greater extent.

Lesson 5 – Structure your Resume 

A significant factor in job-search is having a precise, concise and yet a detailed resume, to catch the attention of the Hiring Manager. If the resume if too long or too short, with the lack of accomplishments (story/ USP), it may go into “hold” or “reject” folder. Thus, to create an impression, brand yourself or hire a professional agency like “Resume Builder” to take-care of this task for you.

Author:

Renuka Dabhade