Showing posts with label writing careers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label writing careers. Show all posts

Friday, March 9, 2012

How to Find a Job...when there are no Jobs

In August of 1984, I was called into my boss’s office at The Fisher Scientific Company and abruptly informed that due to an economic cutback, I would be losing my job. Later that day, still in shock over what had just occurred, I sat on a cold metal folding chair at my local unemployment office patiently waiting my turn amongst dozens of other seemingly distant minded souls. The thought that I had just lost my first job out of college was tough enough, but I owned a small house I had somehow managed to buy and wondered how I would be able to continue to pay the mortgage. My head jerked sharply upward as my name was finally called for an interview. I vividly recall the meeting that followed with an older gentleman, a career counselor employed by the state. After I endured a battery of questions, the old man said, “Son, push on, no matter how disgusting!” I would never forget those simple, but sage words and knew that the older man understood what my feelings were at this difficult time in my life and probably had been there himself at some point in his career.
I have learned throughout my entire career that life is often very unpredictable and can directly affect one’s career path. At times it may seem difficult if not impossible to move beyond your present situation. It is important to remember that you are in control of your own destiny and can choose to adapt and learn from those experiences. You will always have options and the power to change your career plans when necessary to move forward with your life. Throughout your entire career you will encounter more challenges and inevitably more changes and disgusting things will occur, some you will have control over and some you will not. As your career progresses, many great things will also happen that will help to shape and affect your life and career in a positive manner.
The most that you can do throughout your career is to try and do your very best. You must never give up on yourself, but rather be persistent and take control of your life by properly planning and taking action towards achieving your chosen career goals. Remember what the wise gentleman said, “Push on, no matter how disgusting!”

How To Find A Job: When There Are No Jobs, 2012 Edition: A Necessary Job Search Book & Career Planning Guide For Surviving And Prospering In Today's Hyper Competitive Job Market


Paul Rega is president of a retained executive search firm and a professional recruiter with over twenty-seven years of job hunting and career planning experience. His provocative new book, "How To Find A Job: When There Are No Jobs" strikes a nerve with millions of displaced workers and goes well beyond the principles of job hunting. Paul introduces a revolutionary concept in career management and personal development called "Intuitive Personal Assessment." He takes his readers on a powerful journey as he tells a gripping story about his own career and the challenges faced as an executive recruiter, often fraught with personal tragedy. This is a must read for anyone who is looking for a new job or wants to change careers in the worst economy since the Great Depression.

The author shares his vast knowledge of career planning and the inner workings of the job search process, citing hundreds of proven and effective job search techniques. He explains how to market your background to a targeted audience, interviewing skills and techniques, network building strategies, how to utilize personal and business contacts, effective use of social media, including LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter, insider tips on working with headhunters, salary and benefits negotiation, how to write a resume, cover and follow-up letters, how to start and succeed in your own business and much more.

In a message to his readers, Paul believes that despite the many challenges faced by those suffering as a result of the weak job market, change in one's life can be positive. He explains that, "Change throughout your life is inevitable, and as your life changes so often does your career." His book is an effective guide that will provide you with the necessary tools, skills and inside knowledge from a professional recruiter to help you navigate through difficult economic times and find a new job or change careers.
Paul J.Rega 
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Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Opposites Attract

We've all heard the expression "Opposites Attract", and I guess it's true. Take my wife and me. We could not be more polar opposites. In fact, the areas of similarity are miniscule, and yet we just celebrated our twelfth anniversary!
I am a man who likes order; she is comfortable with a desk that looks like a dumpster. I prefer to read the Sports section first on Sunday; she goes straight for the comics. She grew up as The Beatles ruled; my childhood fell during disco and then hard rock. Therein, I believe, lies the source of our differences.
My wife is 16 years my senior. She was born during the 50's, me at the very end of the 60's; she's still angry that she wasn't old enough to go to Woodstock. I attended a couple of rock concerts, I think.....not sure.....hard to remember. (Just kidding.) She wanted so badly to be a flower child and haunt the Haight; I was perfectly satisfied to attend college in a major party town - Columbus, Ohio.
My wife is definitely a Vietnam-era woman; her brother served there, and when her parents ran a Greyhound Bus station, she saw tear-filled goodbyes between soldiers going off to war and their families. My early years were spent in blissful ignorance of war, except for the stories my father's friends told me.
I'm a numbers man. Math came easy to me; I majored in Finance in college. My wife is a words person (she believes numbers are a foreign language and she should have gotten credit in that area when she was forced to take geometry in high school). She has written poetry and short stories (her preferred forms of writing), and has been published online and in print. Though my career is in finance, I have also become a writer, with two self-published novels available. Words are not my friends; I feel I conquer them every time I write a novel. I am grateful for spell-check; spelling is not something I do well.
Our writing styles are very different. I schedule time to write; she writes when the Muse strikes. This means she has a purse full of notes scribbled on restaurant napkins, the backs of receipts, and pages torn out of her address book (later she can't remember why the R's are gone...). I sit down in my recliner, turn on my laptop, and write for one hour. I take a break. I edit my books the same way. I have a certain number of pages I commit to in one day, and I'm not satisfied until I can cross that off my "to-do" list.
In spite of our differences, my wife and I get along great. We don't always agree on things: sports, politics, religion, or where we should go on vacation, but we always agree on one thing: neither of us can imagine spending the rest of our lives with anyone else!

We're very different, but it works.