Just a quick re-post of a great article about the difference between passion and curiosity as it relates to your career satisfaction. Stay curious, my friends!
Just a quick re-post of a great article about the difference between passion and curiosity as it relates to your career satisfaction. Stay curious, my friends!
What is it about the white space on a resume that calls to me? Is it the fact the using white space appropriately makes for a more visually appealing document? Is it because one-inch margins are standard? Nah. I love white space on a resume because white space is where all the good stuff happens. It’s where the nitty-gritty answers are and where change can begin.
The image above is a picture of what the white space looks like in a few of the books from my personal library. (One of the many reasons that I remain passionately opposed to e-readers is because of my addiction to white space. And, yes, I know you can highlight and make notes with them but it’s not the same to me.) You can see that the words on these pages elicited a response that was strong enough for me to capture in the margins. I obviously didn’t want to forget what those words made me feel. I use smiley faces, or stars, or “OMG!”. (Pages with a scribbled upright middle finger were strategically withheld from this shot.) I write notes and ideas and names of events or people of whom I’m reminded. The white space holds my reaction to what the words on the page say. The same is true for your resume.
Take a minute to pull up your resume. Go ahead. I’ll wait.
Read the expertly-crafted words and strategic phrases. Look how professionally the last 10 years of your work history is chronicled. No doubt there are bulleted lists beginning with action buzzwords like created, implemented, pioneered, executed, presented, etc. There is no argument that Hiring Managers need to see those accomplishments, but if the manager is serious about hiring the right person for the job, they will want to know what that candidate feels in their gut when they do these things…do they feel strong when they create a system? Do they feel totally zapped of energy when they have to do a presentation at the board meeting? As a job seeker, if the words on your resume list jobs, skills and experiences that are light years away from how you feel when you’re actually doing those tasks, you are probably not very content in your role.
Career Wellness is about learning to read between the lines on your resume. You have to learn how to read the white spaces because everything interesting and everything important is found there. The reasons why you’re unhappy, the reasons why you’re tired and bored and the answers for how to align your career with your overall well-being are just waiting to be excavated.
Ever wonder what your resume would look like if you searched the white spaces? Contact me for one-on-one exploration of your white space. Or, for more information about a group White-Space ResumeTM Workshop, email me at Barbara@careerwellnesspartners.com.
But what if there are no lights. And, what if there is no camera? What if all you have is that little voice inside that keeps whispering “Action”? That voice is telling you, over and over again, in different ways, how to become the Director of your own life. Will you trust that voice to direct your first step? It’ll do a better job than Spielberg or Scorsese ever could because, after all, this is your life. That little whisper (which often becomes a shout if you ignore it) is nobody else’s but yours. If you feel that you’ve been acting in someone else’s movie until now, it’s time for action.
Whether you’ve been sitting in the same cubicle for 15 years, or you’re re-entering the workforce after some time away, or you’re trying to find work that aligns with your core values, making a decision to change can be unnerving.
You think about what that little voice is telling you. And you think. And think. Until you find that you’ve thought yourself into a state of paralysis; making it almost impossible to take action. That’s really just fear. Honoring the voice doesn’t mean you have to do a 180° right there on the spot. It means that introspection will only take you so far. Action, often the smallest step, is what you need to honor the internal whisper and start your shift to Career Wellness.
I must share a few lines from “You Don’t Need to Know How to Do It. You Just Need to Start;” an article by Ishita Gupta, Publisher of fear.less Magazine. It’s a great compilation of the things we think we need before we take any action. Believing we need these things causes paralysis:
“You don’t have to have the best team, the right website, or be an expert. You have everything you need right now; you just need the courage to act.
You don’t have to wait for investors or your boss to notice your smarts. You recognize it first.
You don’t have to feel guilty for spending time on what makes you happy. You do have to worry if you never listen to the voice inside you.”
Read the full article here. I bet you’ll recognize a few of these paralyzing “must-have” thoughts.
Self-reflection is definitely part of your career development, but it can be the very thing that keeps you feeling like you are an actor in someone else’s movie. As Herminia Ibarra states in her book Working Identity, “Sometimes all we know at the start is that we want to be somewhere else.”
We rarely know where we are going to end up; but taking one tiny step can change the course of your story and help direct your career in a way that aligns with that little voice. Can you hear it? (Because it’s screaming now.) “Annnnd ACTION!”
Intended as a resource to help align your career health with your total well-being, articles you find here will be about how to incorporate mindfulness into your work situation and awareness into your search for your “work worth doing.”
Happy to be back for the second year at Lehigh Carbon Technical Institute to talk about resumes and interviewing skills.
[vc_row gap=”30″][vc_column width=”1/4″][vc_single_image image=”1554″][/vc_column][vc_column width=”3/4″ delay=”0ms” css=”.vc_custom_1549049589308{padding-right: 10px !important;padding-left: 10px !important;}”][vc_column_text]You are more than your limited perception of you, and your capacity is greater than you realize. This is why I became a coach. Although I couldn’t articulate it in that way 5 years ago, I knew that personal growth was where I belonged, and it made sense to use my understanding of the hiring process and my interest in career development as a focus.
Five years later, I am more deeply in love with the coaching process and the impact it can have when done well. I know, because I’ve been in the seat of the coachee. The transformation I have experienced due to my continued training with some of the best coaches out there fuels a perpetual fire to help reveal people to themselves…their beauty, strength, wisdom, and worth.
My wish is that you find a way to fuel whatever fires YOU up so you can begin to #LiveYourGenuine in 2019! Happy Holidays![/vc_column_text][themeone_spacer height=”15px”][gravityform id=”2″ title=”false” description=”false” ajax=”false”][themeone_spacer height=”15px”][/vc_column][/vc_row]