From Sports Coaching to Property Development

From Sports Coaching to Property Development Success Story > From: Job To: Solopreneur From Sports Coaching to Property Development “I'm happy to work hard for a goal, but I realised that the hours I was putting in weren't worth it if that goal was ultimately unachievable.” * From Sports Coaching to Property Development Disillusioned by office politics, Eira Parry decided to quit her job without knowing what she would do next. Now she's crafted a career where she has more flexible hours and earns more than she did before. Here's how she did it. What work were you doing previously? I was a High Performance Sports Coach. What are you doing now? Property Development. Why did you change? My previous role was very fulfilling, but I worked six or seven days a week with very long hours, and I'd been doing it for over a decade. When was the moment you decided to make the change? Someone vastly less qualified than me was given my 'dream' job for political reasons. There was no interview process, so I wasn't even able to apply. I'm happy to work hard for a goal, but I realised that the hours I was putting in weren't worth it if that goal was ultimately unachievable. Are you happy with the change? Very happy. My life has become my own and my hours have become flexible. Sometimes I work really long hours doing hard, physical work, and sometimes I work for just a few hours a week. I've been involved in property for a year now and I'm earning far more than I was before. I work fewer hours overall and feel much more fulfilled. What do you miss and what don't you miss? I miss the contact with the athletes and the sense of changing their lives. But I don't miss the early starts, the weekend work, the endless weekends away from home and working outside all winter. I also don't miss the politics of the organisation, which were very wearing. How did you go about making the shift? I was very lucky that my personal circumstances had recently changed, meaning I was able to change direction. I also had the support of my partner, which really helped. I took quite a big risk as I resigned before knowing what I was going to do. I dabbled in a few things before I made up my mind, but once I was sure about my new project it seemed like the right thing to do and I just went for it. How did you handle your finances to make your change possible? Badly! But I learned quickly. My budgeting on the renovation project was excellent, and I surprised myself. It was my personal budgeting that was the problem! My biggest learning curve was that because I no longer had a full-time job, and was working for myself, my opportunities for credit dried up a bit. I didn't really calculate how long it would take between putting my first property on the market and actually getting the money in the bank. It was all a bit tight, but I got there in the end. What was the most difficult thing about changing? Feeling that my previous job had defined me, and not feeling defined by my new role. In my job, I felt that I was successful and good at what I did. When I started property development, I didn't know if it was going to work. Once I'd completed my first property and realised that I'd done it successfully (way beyond my expectations, in fact), I then had the same sense of being good at something. What help did you get? I came up with an idea of what I thought I should do. Then I had a consultation with a great career coach who gave me the confidence to go ahead. What have you learnt in the process? I learnt a vast amount about project managing a build, the property market, and how to go about making a profit. I made sure that I paid below market price for the property I bought and then stuck to a very tight budget throughout the process. Every pound you save on the initial price and the work you do is profit at the end; every bit of work that you do yourself rather than paying someone else is all money in the bank. It sounds very simple, but the reality is quite hard work. I made over 30% profit on my first project, in under a year. In this economic climate, that's a pretty good return on your money. What would you advise others to do in the same situation? If your job situation is unsustainable, there is always a way out. You may have to think laterally and be very honest with yourself, but that can only be a good thing. What resources would you recommend to others? A good careers advisor is invaluable. What lessons could you take from Eira's story to use in your own career change? Let us know in the comments below.

Beware of big opportunities that derail you

Beware of big opportunities that derail you As the labor market slowly recovers from its paycheck-killing slump, its natural to hope for your next big break. But remember that when opportunity knocks you should open up cautiously. Beware of career opportunities that look like quick fixes because often they are really career derailments. Figure out now what you want for your career so when opportunities pop up, you can judge them in the context of long-term goals you believe in. Managing a career is a difficult process full of risks, disappointments, and feelings of hopelessness. People who stay on track are people who trust themselves to know what will make them happy and trust themselves to meet their goals. Here are some examples of opportunities that derailed careers: The family business derailment Danny loved computers. He was an IT consultant for ten years and then he got a pink slip. He had never had to look for a job in a bad economy, so after he sent twenty resumes and heard back from no one, frustration and fear set in; Maybe he would never get a a job. His dad, on the other hand, wanted to retire and sell his construction business. Danny saw a golden opportunity to avoid a prolonged job hunt, and he took over the family business. But Manny never wanted to run a construction company. He says he often finds himself fixing the companys computer network instead of building the companys client network. In hindsight, Danny says he could have suffered through a difficult job hunt and to remain in the IT. But at this point, he doesnt know if he has the heart to dump his dads business. The grad school derailment As a college senior, my dad knew he wanted to be a history teacher, but he took the LSAT because his father wanted him to be a lawyer. My dad got a near-perfect score. So while he was applying to Harvards graduate program in history, he filled out the application for law school, too. Harvard accepted him, but only for law. And my dad thought to himself, Who passes up Harvard law? So he went there, and he won a position at a top-tier law firm. But he never liked law and, frankly, he was never very good at it. The gold rush derailment Harry was an economic development wiz. He turned run-down cities into hipster destinations, and he had his eye on Los Angeles for his next big job. But then he saw people making millions of dollars on the Internet, and he wanted to make millions, too. So he dumped his government-pay-scale field for a dotcom. He hated his Internet company: Manic pace, pretentious twenty-somethings, and waffling management. He suffered though months and months with the hope of making millions, but the company went bankrupt. And then the economy tanked and most cities had some form of a hiring freeze. So the man who was a rising star in a field he loved became unemployed after spending a year doing something that made him miserable. Each of these people knew what he wanted, but at a crucial point, diverged from the path he set out for himself. An opportunity is only as good as its long-term effects on your life. Career focus will help you tell the difference between a good opportunity and a bad opportunity. Career risks are good, but only in the context of career plans. So make a plan and then trust yourself to set goals and meet them. That way, when opportunity knocks, you wont budge for a quick fix or a big sellout youll focus on the path that is right for you.

25 Daily Affirmations That Will Motivate and Inspire You

25 Daily Affirmations That Will Motivate and Inspire You Grateful for your paycheck, but know you dont want to work there much longer? Over my years of working with students, I have seen many women close to getting their careers unstuck, BUT they have one thing holding them back, their mindset.   25 Daily Affirmations That Will Motivate and Inspire You Today, I want to share with you some positive affirmations you should repeat to yourself daily to help you make your career transition or start a business.   You must start thinking positively if you want to get out of a negative work situation. Changing my mindset was the biggest secret behind my career and business success. I have always been a huge fan of affirmations. I actually do these every morning for five minutes and have notecards I keep by my bed to read. I am way more confident and calm throughout the day when I do this along with meditating. These affirmations are written to help you build confidence that you will find the right career  for you. I recommend doing these every morning and creating a morning routine that gets your mind in the spot to take on the day. My morning routine (usually) involves a little exercise, reading, meditation, visualization and these affirmations. [RELATED: 10 Mantras to Shift Your Mindset] Instructions: Sit relaxed in your chair. Take a deep breath. Believe these affirmations as you say them to yourself. Affirmations For Job Searchers -Right now, the job I am looking for is looking for me. -I am a great employee. Any employer is lucky to have me. -I am an asset to any organization, and I prove it in every interview. -Every time I interview  for a job, I exude confidence and energy. -Amazing opportunities are appearing in my life out of nowhere. -I am ready for my interviews. I am confident in my interviews. I am successful in my interviews. -I am creating the career of my dreams. -Career change is an opportunity to have the career I want. This time I choose a great career for me. -No more excuses! I deserve a job that fulfills me, and I am ready to find it. -I committed to my happiness in this job search, and my determination pays off. -Every time I say no to the wrong job, I get closer to the perfect job. -I see myself in my ideal job. Affirmations For Entrepreneurs -A successful businesswoman lives within me, and today that woman is running my business. -I am confident and calm. -Doors of opportunity and abundance open to me  today. -New opportunities come easily to me. -There are no limits to what I can achieve. -Today I am optimistic. I think positively and surround myself with positive energy. -I feel strong, excited, and powerful. -I regularly add income to my business. -Today I will  move my business forward. -Amazing opportunities are constantly coming my way. -I attract positive customers and team members to my business. -There are no limits to what I can and will achieve today. -I can and I will do this! There is nothing stopping me. Make sure you continue to stay positive about launching your dream career or business. YOU CAN DO IT! Which one of the above affirmations are you going to repeat over and over again?

Beware the Tell me about your boss Question! - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

Beware the Tell me about your boss Question! - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career Imagine for a moment that an exceptional job candidate is about thirty minutes into an important job interview. The candidate, whom we’ll call Joe, and the hiring manager seemed to have hit it off almost from the start. Joe has nailed every job-related question the hiring manager has thus far asked him. Because the hiring manager has such a pleasant personality and relaxed, friendly manner, she has put Joe completely at ease. He is absolutely certain at this point that he is a virtual “shoo-in” for the job. Then, seemingly out of the blue, the hiring manager asks him,  â€œSo, tell me about your boss.” Suddenly, an alarmâ€"albeit, a  small  alarmâ€"goes off in Joe’s head. He hesitates answering her question for a moment because he is unsure  how  to answer it, or at least how to  truthfully  answer it. This could be a “trap,” he thinks. “How can I say  anything  positive about the jerk I now work for?” he asks himself. After all, his current boss is the primary reason he is looking for a new job! The hiring manager, sensing Joe’s hesitation, quickly, and apparently with a great deal of empathy and genuine concern and understanding, adds, “Oh, you can be honest with me, Joe. Let’s face it, we’ve all had some pretty bad bosses in our time, including me. Just tell me the truth. I assure you I’ll understand.” Whew! Joes thinks to himself, once again relaxing, for a moment there I was fearful that I might “blow it!” “Well, all right,” Joe finally says, and then immediately begins to detail, chapter and verse,  everything  he feels is bad about his current boss. He brow-beats his employees. He consistently takes all the credit for work really done by those under his supervision. He is rude, boorish and abrupt, and on and on. Joe literally leaves no stone unturned when it comes to berating his current boss and describing just how truly awful he is. (This is what I refer to in  â€œHeadhunter” Hiring Secrets  as“spewing venom!” something to be avoided at  all  costs during a job interview!) Finally, he adds, almost gratuitously, that the  principal reason he is now looking for a new job is  because  of his current boss! Sound the buzzer! Blow the whistle! Ring the bell! Joe is “out of the game!” Joe did, in fact, and in every sense of the term, just “blow it!” He  instantly  and  irretrievably  branded himself as a  whiner  and a  complainer,  someone who probably can be expected to cause nothing but trouble and discontent,  in the now extremely unlikely event that the hiring manager were to select him as her candidate of choice. He literally is “out of the game” at this point. Unfair? You bet it is. Wasn’t the hiring manager just “game playing?” Again, you bet. But there is even more bad news: Today, hiring managers and the companies they represent  don’t  play “fair.” And, as I repeatedly point out in  â€œHeadhunter” Hiring Secrets: The Rules of the Hiring Game Have Changed . . . Forever!, hiring  is  indeed a “game,” a very  serious  game, to be sure, and one with all  new  rules! Either accept these facts, then learn these new rules, as well as how to  effectively play by them, or you  will  be  quickly  eliminated as a viable candidate in today’s job marketâ€"just as Joe was. Joe, of course, should have gone with his first instinct. The hiring manger (aka his “new best friend”) did indeed set a “trap” for himâ€"one of a number of “traps” today’s hiring managers are sometimes wont to set for the unwary, unsuspecting job candidate!â€"and guess what? Joe rushed headlong right into that trap! As a result, Joe’s candidacy ended right then and there. He was  excluded  from any further consideration! (Again, as I repeatedly point out in  â€œHeadhunter” Hiring Secrets, the hiring “game” is first and  foremost one of  exclusion,  not inclusion, as many job hunters erroneously assume! That is, hiring managers today, who are already overwhelmed with candidates, want to  eliminate  as many candidates as possible, as efficiently as possible, so that they can more quickly get to their final “pool” of desirable candidates and ultimately select the candidate of choice.) So, how should Joe have answered the hiring manager’s question? As is most often the case when it comes to answering job interview questions, there is of course no one, all-encompassing, works-every-single-time answer. Here, however, is just one of several ways our recruiting firm coaches our candidates to respond to the boss  question: “Mr./Ms. Hiring Manager, I’ve always been able to get along professionally with all my bosses, including my current boss. Every work situation requires that you get along with a wide variety of people, of course, from your boss to your co-workers to people who report to you. Sometimes, you have to share ideas and sometimes you simply have to agree to disagree. The most important thing is, when you leave the conversation, you need to be ‘on task’ and ensure that what you’re doing is indeed meeting the company goals and objectives.” But, you might be thinking, this is disingenuous, this isn’t “truthful!” You are absolutely correct, at least insofar as “Joe’s” situation is concerned. Keep in mind, however, that a  job interview is  not  the time or the place to “unburden yourself” or to “hang out the dirty laundry.” If you do so, you (like Joe) will  immediately  be branded as essentially a  malcontent, a  complainer,  and you will therefore be  eliminated  from further consideration! Also, remember this: the hiring manager a.) doesn’t even  know  your current boss; and/or b.) could not care less about how good (or bad) of a boss he or she is! So why even introduce the topic?! What the hiring manager  is  interested in learning from your answer to the “boss” question is what your attitude toward potential bosses at  his/her  company is likely to beâ€"if you are their candidate of choice. That’s it! Consider it  very  likely that you, too, will be asked the “boss” question at your next job interview. (The “boss” question is just one of the many “Gotcha!” questions we cover in  â€œHeadhunter” Hiring Secrets.) Remember, your answer to this question will brand you either as a  malcontent,  a  complainer, someone a hiring manager very likely will “pass” on; OR, as a candidate who clearly prizes and exhibits a high degree of professionalism, as a candidate who can be expected to put the success of the company ahead of any  personal  feelings or latent animosity. Author: Skip Freeman is the author of “Headhunter” Hiring Secrets: The Rules of the Hiring Game Have Changed . . . Forever! and is the President and Chief Executive Officer of The HTW Group (Hire to Win), an Atlanta, GA, Metropolitan Area Executive Search Firm. Specializing in the placement of sales, engineering, manufacturing and RD professionals, he has developed powerful techniques that help companies hire the best and help the best get hired.

How to Make a Sign Online Free

How to Make a Sign Online FreeHow to make a sign online free is not as complicated as it sounds. You just need to find a number of sign makers online and sign with them to create a great marketing campaign. Here are some tips to help you create your own campaign.First, you need to decide what message you want to promote. Make sure that your message is relevant to the purpose of your marketing campaign. If your business has a good track record, you might want to use the same words to bring in a number of new customers.The second thing to do is to choose the Internet company that will create your sign for you. Choose an online service that offers free sign making services. Some companies offer various kinds of services such as printing, banners, t-shirts, or website hosting. There are some websites that offer all the service of a sign maker. These are the best ones to use.Once you have chosen the service provider, the next step is to look for templates. Make sure that your template is unique and stands out from the rest. You should pick one that matches the brand of your business. Also, it should be appropriate for the type of product you are promoting. It should have a color scheme that will make it stand out and popular among customers.Next, you have to determine the message you want to promote. Use a layout that attracts customers to scan it or read it. You can include graphics that will give more information about your business. Include the logo and the address so that customers can get more information about your business.The next step is to offer your customer a free sample. This way, they will know what to expect and you will get feedback on how well your sign was made. It will also motivate customers to give their opinion and rate the quality of your sign. You should also give them a chance to leave a comment and feedback.Another quality indicator of your sign is to measure the response. Measure the response of each customer, per day. Analyze how long it takes for customers to go through the sign before finally making a purchase. You can also measure your overall response by the number of leads you have received from your sign.How to make a sign online free is really very simple. Just follow these few steps and you can benefit from a truly effective sign for your business. You can even become a sign maker yourself.

10 Links to Make Your Job Search Wi-Fi Ready - CareerAlley

10 Links to Make Your Job Search Wi-Fi Ready - CareerAlley We may receive compensation when you click on links to products from our partners. Flashback to 30 years or so and the world was a very different place.The Internet as we know it today did not exist and there was no such thing as a smartphone.Wi-Ficertainly did not exist and many of us rememberthe early Internet days with dial-ups. Jobsearch has gone through a similar change. The days of pounding the pavement are gone and replaced with pounding the keyboard. No matter what your age, if you are looking for ajob, the Internet is your main portal into the many tools thatyou must use today. Job Search Boards: SimplyHired.com This site is different from most of the others as it searches across companies and other job boards. There were over 500,000Finance jobs and 600,000 Operations Jobs when I checked the site. Filters are on the left hand side of the page as well as keyword refinement options. Top of the page has links for local jobs, salary trends and employment trends. Save your searches here too. Indeed.com Hard to believe, general search on this site returned more than 1,000,000 jobs (sounds like a lot to me). Similar to some of the other job search sites, you can refine your search by putting a location in at the top, or use one of the many refinements on the left hand side of the page. Top of the page has links for forums, salaries and trends. Networks: Five Strategies for Leveraging Your Online Social Networks Beyond your usual use of social networks, this article (from QuintCareers.com) outlines a few strategies for leveraging your social networks. Most are common sense, but you may not think about them until you read them in the article. The first strategy, Be Selective, is great advice in terms of who you might use for recommendations, but Im not sure I agree if you are looking for people who can provide leads. There is additional advice on the right hand sidebar regarding Twitter which is worth a read as well. Dont forget to visit their Art of Career Networking section as well. How to Leverage Social Networking to Get Your Next Job This article, posted ontheladders.com provides some tips and comments and links. Keep in mind, the article is not only talking about leveraging social networks, but your entire online presence. This is somewhat akin to my advice getting as many people as possible to know you are in the job market (my Job Search Marketing Toolkit). Smartphone Apps: LinkedIn Goes Mobile This article, by Alison Doyle of About.com covers the LinkedIn mobile version. This is a mobile web based version of LinkedIn, which means that it is smartphone web friendly. The article gives a better explanation then Ive just given and also provides additional related links. Mobile Web Job Search Following through on the topic raised in the prior link, Ive listed popular job search sites that have mobile, iOS, Android and Facebook apps for job search: Apps for Job Searching Job Search Facebook Apps Snagajob iOS, Android Careerbuilder Job Search Android Top 25 Must-Have iPhone Apps for Your Job Search Good luck in your search. Joey Trebif

How I Started Getting Unsolicited Job Offers - CareerEnlightenment.com

3. Maximize your social networking profiles and learn how to use your social networks to their highest potential. There are numerous resources available on the subject. Start educating yourself with these:Ultimate LinkedIn Guide for 2012 GradsTop 25 Twitter Tips for Your Professional DevelopmentUse Twitter as a Job Board25 Twitter Chats for Valuable Career Advice4. Provide value online! Don’t just post random stuff, actually interact with people in your social networks. To avoid wasting time stalking people online, set a reasonable timeframe you can commit to (mine is 10 minutes, two times a day).5. Don’t be shy, reach out to people. One of the most effective things I do on LinkedIn is reach out to a people who have viewed my profile. Here is an example of what I say:Dear So So,I wanted to reach out to you as I see you looked at my LinkedIn profile. Was there anything specific of interest for you or how may I help you moving forward?Best regards, -MeThis five step plan of attack has resulted in unsolicited job offers for me. If you are getting frustrated with your job search, try my plan of action yourself. I am sure it will result in unsolicited job offers for you as well!