Clay Parsons, MA, MLA
Editor, Career Counselor and Coach
Alternative Futures
 January 15, 2006
Welcome again from Career Bites, a career management newsletter published by the Alternative Futures Press in Berkeley, California. We hope you enjoyed the last issue with the article entitled What to do When Nothing Works, How to Get Your Job Search Back on Track. This issue of Career Bites offers lots of additional information and commentary plus a timely article entitled Creating a Healthy Career.
Please print and post copies of this newsletter and pass on copies to your colleagues, friends and relatives.
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On The Front Line
KNOW YOUR PENSION
To Make Sure it Doesn't Disappear!
If you are like me, and many people I know, and are getting a little nervous about the health of your pension given recent events go to the KNOW YOUR PENSION web site for a check up. " Make sure the money that is owed to you will be there when you retire. Don't leave it to chance."
I think that this web site is a great resource. It includes articles and timely information on how you can check up on your pension, your rights, how to rate your pension, and look for signs of abuse. It also offers help on retirement planning and summaries on pension related activities in many of the major industries.
Check it out »
JOB SEARCH
Write a Winning Cover Letter
Market Watch, NY
A cover letter is a potential employer’s first introduction to you. Make sure you make a great first impression. Make sure you do the following.
- Send it to a specific person. To whom it may concern doesn’t work.
- Use your connections. Remember to network.
- Stay relevant and be brief. More is not better!
- Keep your goal in mind. What do you want and why? State it clearly.
- End with a call for action. Ask them to call or email you.
- Proofread your letter carefully. No mistakes of spelling or grammar.
Please remember that a cover letter will usually be reviewed in HR before they take you seriously and invite you in for an interview.
Reflect what they say they want in your cover letter and remember to also tweak your resume.
Please also remember that networking is the most effective way to be hired for any job. Good cover letters and impressive resumes help but knowing someone can make all the difference.
The Recipe for Success
Get Happy and You Will Get Ahead in Life
The Guardian, UK
University of California, Irvine, CA
Happiness, rather than working hard, is the key to success, according to research published today. Cheerful people are more likely to try new things and challenge themselves, which reinforces positive emotion and leads to success in work, good relationships and strong health, say psychologists.
The findings suggest that happiness is not a "feel good" luxury, but is essential to people's well being. What is more, happiness can also extend across an entire nation, with people in "happy" nations being more likely to have pro-democratic attitudes and a keenness to help others.
The link between happiness and success was investigated by a team of researchers from the University of California at Riverside.
Sexual Harassment Training Required!
Press Democrat, Santa Rosa, CA
Under state legislation signed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2004, employers must provide supervisors with two hours of sexual harassment training every two years, and new supervisors with training on hiring. The first round must be completed by Jan. 1, 2006. Even with prior laws to prevent sexual harassment, during the 2003-04 fiscal year California employees filed 6,905 sexual harassment and related claims - almost a quarter of all claims filed with the State Department of Fair Employment and Housing.
Entrepreneurial ‘Boot Camp’
North Bay Business Journal, Santa Rosa, CA
Entrepreneurial Boot Camps are helping small business owners get the training they need to succeed. "Small businesses generate half of the State of California’s GDP," said Mr. Sullivan, CEO of the International Center for Entrepreneurial Excellence. "It is essential that they thrive. A lot start from passion but don't have the right
knowledge and tools. We want to make sure they start off on the right foot."
In Northern California this popular training program will be at Sonoma State University in Santa Rosa, California in January.
The program's focus will be on getting the participants to develop
their business ideas and then craft a detailed business plan, using software donated by the CEO of One Page Business Plan. Their work will then undergo an evaluation by a panel of business experts.
"After the first boot camp, we received calls from people who were passionate about what they got from it and who called it a life-changing experience."
There are plans to repeat the program at San Francisco State University in San Francisco, CA in June 2006.
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Inspiration
When the way comes to an end, then change, having changed, you pass through.
~ I Ching
We have to understand that the world can only be grasped by action, not by contemplation. The hand is more important than the eye … the hand is the cutting edge of the mind.
~ Jacob Bronowski
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New Career MileStones
Examples of what Clay’s clients at Alternative Futures’ are doing.
Tanya G. has been retained by the mayor’s office of the City of Salt Lake City, Utah to prepare a study to find ways that American cities can help to lessen the impacts of global warming! The study will be presented at the next US Conference of Mayors. Tanya has a graduate degree from Duke University and a background in environmental planning and management.
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Article
Creating a Healthy Career!
By Clay Parsons
What is a ‘healthy‘ career? One that keeps us vital and energized?
The following are some important principles that I have come to recognize in my work. Assess the health of your career see if any of them apply to you.
Work that has PERSONAL MEANING
Most of us just go through the motions at work. We could care less if the company sells more widgets, or provides more services to its clients. We want to get ahead so we play the game.
Now, imagine that you are doing something you really believe in, something that is an expression of your personal values; of the way you want to live your life. Think about how different you would feel.
Click
here to read the article (pdf)
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Until next time,
Clay Parsons, MA, MLA
Alternative FUTURES Press
2034 Blake Street
Suite 6
Berkeley, CA 94704
Tel: (510) 287-5664
Fax: (510) 548-9921
www.alternativefutures.com
Don't ask yourself what the world needs; ask
yourself what makes you come alive. And
then go out and do that. Because what the
world needs more than anything is people
who have come alive. ~ H. Whitman
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