Category Archives: Career Coaching

Balancing Home and Work in the New Normal

Our latest newsletter explores the new difficulties that can be caused by working from home. Might work overwhelm home life, or will being distracted get in the way of productivity?

It’s possible to square the circle – some of us have been doing it for years!

Read the newsletter here Careers NewsletterV11N4

Added Harborne Presence

As part of shuffling addresses, our mail now goes to

162 High Street

Harborne

Birmingham B17 9PN

This gives us a physical base to see career coaching clients in Harborne at the Anam Caim Wellness Centre. We will of course continue to see clients in the City Centre as well as remotely.

Please note the change of address. Other contact details are unchanged.

Stop Lying About the Role

Successful job seekers often find that the job description they have been given is misleading. This article in the Harvard Business Review makes the point that this is detrimental because a disgruntled employee is unlikely to perform well. Additionally, it quickly becomes known on social media that this is an employer to avoid.

I would also say that the converse is true. A candidate who lies on their CV will not thrive, and quickly gain a reputation as someone not to recruit.

The article is here

Advice for Older Job Seekers

I came across this recently, aimed at those over 50 who are looking for a job. Briefly the advice is – think strategically about your career, do your research, and hustle like a millennial. The article is US oriented, so  some of the websites may be of limited use (though still worth exploring).

Just don’t do a Yosser Hughes (from Boys from the Black Stuff) https://youtu.be/R0bHvu3y0WA – it rarely works.

Questions That Make a Big Difference

Every day we make choices that influence our pace and quality of life. All too often we are completely unconscious of the choices we are making and how they affect our life. Generally we are operating from habit, instinct or need.  On one hand, this can be less stressful, as we do not have to think through every one. On the other, it is all too easy to carry on activities which are no longer needed, interfering with the rest of our lives. Bad habits also interfere with our work, which in turn affects our out of work lives. We need to review our decisions from time to time, and be conscious and deliberate about making them.  If we do not, the negative consequences can leave us stressed, overwhelmed, or out of control. That in turn can lead to ill health and family problems

As you start a new month, become more aware of the many choices you have already made and decide how many are still right.

An Unbalanced Life Comes At a Price

Living life out of balance – at a frantic pace — comes with a price. Not only for those people experiencing the imbalance, but also for their friends, families and loved ones, and the companies they work for. And the schools, charities and other organisations missing out on volunteers.

Did you know that companies lose hundreds of pounds per person every year due to work place stress?  Did you know that 80% of people feel stress on the job and that stress is the number 1 health problem? Did you know that prolonged stress leads to both physical and mental symptoms? And global studies indicate that 70% of workers do not feel they have good work-life balance.

Frantic, chaotic, hectic lifestyles not only come at the cost of the joy we find in life, but also create a feeling of loss of control, while negatively impacting everyone and everything around us. And it makes us perform less well at work, making us more frantic still!

Make 2019 different and choose to move towards balance, so instead of paying the ‘price’, you can reap the ‘reward’.