Sometimes the key to remaining gainfully employed is by choosing a job that can easily weather the ups and downs of the economy. (Easier said than done, I know.)

I caught this list of “Five Careers That Sail Through a Bad Economy” and one thing that really caught my attention was the inclusion of education information. Even if you didn’t start out in one of these careers, it is possible to get the schooling you need in a fairly short time in order to make a move.

However, in my opinion you should never switch careers just because you think there is more demand for it. You have to enjoy what you do. Don’t you agree?

Post from: Blisstree

Careers That Remain Strong in a Bad Economy

Many of you responded with fears for your own job, your children’s future, and questions about the economy. Several of you were self-employed, and concerned about what the new year will bring. Kathy S. said:

“I have a bookkeeping business that I run from home. I have 5 clients two of which are construction. My business has declined by 40% because the construction clients are not working.”

Kathy’s comment was a good example of how interconnected we all are. When we hear of an industry that is doing poorly, it begins to affect other companies and industries down the line. Even if our business is doing well at the moment, you never know how that can change due to troubles in other areas.

Cara reiterated this thought by saying:

“I am a communications consultant who works from home and while I currently have solid employment, I’m worried about where to find my next project.”

Certain areas tend to decline first in a poor economy. As our reader Teresa G. put it:

“I have concerns about being kicked off my team at work. People are just not spending money on luxury items which is what we sell. I don’t blame them with the cost of food and gas being so high.”

Quite a few comments we received were not about finding work, but about finding quality work. It can easy to find a job – but will it pay enough? Offer enough opportunities? Our reader Dave said:

“I lost my full time job almost two months ago and immediately set out to find part time work. It didn’t take too long to find something, but the pay is so low I would actually make more money if I had stayed on unemployment. But I’d rather be working, even though I am losing out on money. I hope the economy picks up soon, and perhaps I will be able to return to my old job.”

Sito brought up the issue of “underemployment“:

“I was laid off and took several “underemployed” positions to help work through. This actually hurts, since potential employers see it as a lack of ambition when, in fact, it was the opposite. I didn’t want to collect unemployment and do nothing.”

Several of you said you had been laid off, and worried about things getting worse. Still others wondered how secure their jobs will be in the next few months. Many of you showed concerns for your kids. Our kids need our guidance and with a changing economy like this it can be hard to give them direction. Anne said:

“I worry about my children, who are young and finishing their high school education. What direction should they go in? Where will jobs be?”

Quite a few folks commented that with any down cycle, an up cycle is around the corner. An optimistic yet pragmatic approach is always a great strategy. Many of you talked about faith and in knowing that whatever happens, you will stay strong and deal with it. Isaak’s comment echoed many others:

“I recently relocated to Adelaide, Australia from Singapore. And it has been a little tough looking for work as the job market is a little soft at the moment. I’ve spoken to some recruitment agencies and even they say the market is weak at the moment. But I’m sure things will look up in the new year.”

I hope you’re right, Isaak. Thanks to everyone who commented. I wish you all great opportunities in 2009!

Post from: Blisstree

Readers Share Fears and Hopes for Economy

We talk a lot about telecommuting jobs here, but how do you GET them? If you’ve ever applied for telecommute jobs, you know that the competition is TOUGH. It’s tougher than non-telecommuting jobs. Why? Because a lot more people will apply to a telecommuting than they will an office job.

To get a telecommuting job, you have to make yourself stand out. If you were to interview for an office job, you’d put on your best suit or outfit and prepare a portfolio. But for a telecommuting job, the way you put your best self forward is with an awesome resume that stands out. There are some awesome tips here on making your resume stand out.

Here are a few other things to keep in mind:

Answer the specific requirements outlined in the job posting

Telecommuting jobs may have different requirements. Employers are looking for specific things with a telecommuting position, and if you don’t answer their exact requirements your resume could get thrown out.

Make sure your resume is error-free

This is always one of those basic things, but it’s ESPECIALLY important if you’re applying for a telecommuting gig. Sometimes when you’re sending out a lot of resumes, you might get so busy that you don’t spell check or read over what you wrote.

It would be bad enough to have errors on your resume while you are in a face-to-face interview. But at least with that situation the interviewer can overlook it if they meet you and like you. When you send your resume in for a telecommuting job, you don’t have that luxury.

Highlight your knowledge of online social networking and technology

Telecommuting jobs often rely on communication via email, phone, instant message, and in some cases, social networking sites like Facebook or Twitter. Showcase your mastery of various communication methods to let your future employer know that you will be available any time at the touch of a button.

Mention any past experiences with telecommuting

If you successfully worked from home with a home business, a two-day a week arrangement with an employer, or once in a blue moon when your kids were sick, mention your experience. You don’t have to get into the details (”My daughter had ear aches for the first year of her life so I worked from home often”) but you should mention that you have had experience with working remotely. As we’ve talked about recently, you need to have a plan before you work at home. If you have successfully pulled this off before (whether in a full time, part time, or occasional arrangement) let your future employer know this. It might set you apart from your competitors.

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Applying for Telecommuting Jobs

Stop Self-Sabotage has several quizzes, tips, and advice on how to stop behaviors that hold you back from getting you want. And haven’t we all been in a situation where we wondered, “Why does this keep happening to me?” Someone once told me that if you continually wonder about why the same problem seems to pop up in your relationships or career, then the common element in all those things is you. And you’ve got to figure out what you’re doing to help perpetuate the problem.

This is a book that people at any age will appreciate. I especially would have liked to read it in my early 20s. It would have helped me a clue a lot sooner! LOL

Want to know the best part? I’ve got TWO copies of Stop Self-Sabotage to give away to two lucky readers of Career and Kids. If you want to win, leave a comment on this post by Sunday, February 1st. I’ll choose two winners at random and announce them both the next day.

Image from Amazon.

Post from: Blisstree

Stop Self Sabotage

I loved this article about “10 Things Never to Ask on a Job Interview,” and the this point really caught my attention. Never ask: “What does your company do?”

At first I thought, that’s a GREAT question to ask! But as the article pointed out with today’s technologies, if you don’t look up whether the company is on the web or on Twitter, then you haven’t properly prepared for the interview.

Now here’s the flip side of that. I remember interviewing for a job a while back. I looked up the company on the web but they had a HORRIBLE website. Since I was interviewing for a marketing position, this really worried me. I didn’t want to work for a place who thought their entire web presence should be one or two pages that get updated once every six months.

I brought this up in the interview (with the marketing manager) who said the web looked fine to her and “people don’t really look at it much anyway.” This was only a couple years ago, so folks should have been drawn to their website. The fact that they were so clueless about a vital part of their marketing presence told me a lot. Not only were they behind the times, but they didn’t want to grow as a company (and marketing effort) should. I didn’t take the job when it was offered to me.

This brings up the point that in an interview you should be checking out the company to see if it is a good fit as much as they are checking out you.

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What Does This Company Do?

Thanks to everyone who left responses for the contest. I’ll be sharing some of those with all of you very soon.

Post from: Blisstree

Winner of Bulletproof Your Job

Recently I commented on an article about a stay at home dad. I appreciate his take on things, especially because his tales of trying to talk on the phone while the baby cried mercilessly were classic and exactly the types of things that work at home moms go through.

Afterward, I received quite a few emails and comments about the post. I got the impression we had a lot of stay at home dads that wanted to share their stories. I think we can all learn from each other in these new changing work times. Whether someone works in an office, stays home, works at home, is a mom or a dad or caregiver, there is a commonality that bonds us all together in this “career and kids” balance dance!

Here are a couple of the comments we rec’d from that post:

Mary Kennedy said:

“Cherie, this is a fascinating topic!! I’m a psychologist and I’ve worked with many “stay at home Dads” in my practice. Here’s what I’ve discovered. One of the biggest hurdles they face is going from a high-powered “business” environment to an unstructured “home” environment. When it’s just you and the kids at home all day, you have to set the pace. It’s hard for “stay at home Dads” to find the rhythm of their day. When you’re in the business world, the office defines it for you. So what’s the solution? Three quick bits of advice that I’ve found helpful with my clients 1) prioritize. Do the most difficult thing first. Get it out of the way when you’re fresh. 2) break up an overwhelming task, into small, manageable steps and 3) build in a small reward for yourself at the end of each day. Everyone needs to unwind, even it’s just for 15 minutes. Don’t think of it as loafing, think of it as re-charging your batteries so you can work more efficiently the next day! Hope this helps.”

I love this advice for dads and think it can easily be applied to moms who work at home as well. Mary makes a great point here in that when you’re working you’re defined by the act of going to the office. So when you’re at home, you can’t just “wing it.” You still need a plan.

Sonya said:

“Been there done that but unfortunately I was a single mom so no one really cared – it was just my duty. I bow down to the true male heroes out there.”

This is an excellent point, we can talk a lot of how hard it is to juggle career and family, but when you’re a single parent it is a million times more difficult. Just lacking the support of someone else that’s there (like a spouse) is emotionally trying. Not only that, but as Sonya said people just expect you to handle things, and people don’t seem to appreciate how difficult it is.

To that end, Sana illustrates how her and her husband worked out a schedule with comprises:

“Well, I have worked from home (although only two days a week) for about first complete year of my son. I was aware that it was not going to work if I was alone with the baby at home and have day-to-day work from office like conference calls etc. So my husband and I planned to work from home 2 same days a week and we were able to balance it out very nicely. One of us was always (well almost always) there watching the baby and working so that other one could take the calls. In fact we kind of made an arrangement so one of us would focus on work only in a separate room for couple of hours and the other one would watch baby and work and reverse the responsibilities the next couple of hours. we made the rotations and it worked nicely for us. I don’t think it is possible to get a regular work hours and focus if you are doing it all alone.”

Gully represents perhaps the best case scenario, where an employer is willing to give some concessions just to keep you on staff:

“Like all stories, there are many stories within this story that could be told, but I’ll start almost 6 years ago when we adopted 4 month old twins. My permanent residence was 900 miles from my job as a business systems analyst (which I held for two years at the time), and I would generally get home once a month or so. Shortly after the adoption, it was decided that we couldn’t continue in that fashion. That summer, while my older daughter was home from school, my wife got a job so we wouldn’t be without income. One morning that fall I walked into my boss’s office to tell my story and give notice. I never got chance to give notice. She simply said, “I don’t care where you work from. Go home.”

So I did. My wife kept her job, and I set up to work from home while at the same time taking care of the twins. A headset for the phone made it possible to comfortably diaper and telecon at the same time, and any work that required unbroken concentration was left until late at night when everyone else was asleep. That also left me awake to attend to anyone who might wake up during the night.

In the 5 years that I have worked from home, I have been back to the “office” once. I have worked hard to make it seem like I am always available and have never refused a call or ignored an email from work. My wife continues to work, and I continue as primary caregiver, since as a remote worker I don’t feel quite as secure as if I were on-site. However, if they decide to let me go tomorrow, it has gotten us over what could have been a very tough period.

When all is said and done, I do have to say that I am extremely grateful to this company (a manufacturing company no less, not a technology or web company) to have allowed me the opportunity to do this. The twins are now in kindergarten, and will start first grade in the fall, which will make things much easier during the day. Once they are in school full time, the prospect of a job outside the home becomes a possibility, but I would only do so if I were let go from my current position.”

I thank everyone for sharing these with us, and encourage others to tell their story as well!

Post from: Blisstree

Balancing Career and Kids: Do You Have a Tale to Tell?

Many people today are looking for telecommuting jobs. I know more people that telecommute in one capacity or another now than ever before. But can you make good money doing it?

In some cases, yes. I took a salary hit when I started telecommuting but then I also went into writing full-time which doesn’t pay as much as my other career in marketing. (At least not until you get really well established.)

It isn’t just writers that can telecommute, however. Here are a list of “seven surprising stay-home salaries.” Perhaps the best part of this list is the very end, which gives three tips about the realities of telecommuting. While many people telecommute to avoid the high cost of daycare, working at home isn’t a substitute for it. Nearly everyone I know who has kids and works at home tries to carve out time to work – which often means staying up late or getting up before anyone else in the house.

The good news of all this is that there are many options for working today. If you keep searching, you will find something that will work for your personal situation.

Post from: Blisstree

High Paying Telecommuting Jobs

Think the rich and famous have it easy when it comes to balancing their lives? Well… YES…. but there are a few who seem to have their feet on the ground at least! One of those is Brad Pitt. He’s got a bajillion kids right now (actually, only six) but he’s already thinking of the future and even retirement from acting.

He said, “I like the balance of it all right now, but probably at some point in the next few decades, I’ll be gone from the world of acting.”

Pitt says he wants to have his kids grow up and then will decide what to do after that. I thought this was an excellent example of someone who “has it all” and yet also knows that “it all” won’t last forever. He seems to be enjoying the moment (with his kids and career) and also thinking about what will happen next when the kids grow up and he’s not the hunky young actor he used to be.

It’s not so different from the rest of us. (Besides the money and fame, of course!) There are two things from his example that we can take away. One is that he’s grateful and living in the moment. He’s happy for what he has, but also is content that it all won’t last forever.

The second thing is that he’s looking forward. Many of us get attached to where we are right now so much that when a great opportunity comes along, we don’t even see it. We actually have to stop and realize it’s a great opportunity.

It isn’t that you can’t be content where you are. It’s just that things evolve and change. Family life and career changes, whether you like it or not. Even if you’re happy in your career, there are probably some things you don’t like but have accepted over the years (because you need to pay the bills – and rightly so!) But you don’t have to just stay planted where you are because the negatives aren’t as bad as they could be. What if there was a situation that didn’t have those negatives? Wouldn’t you at least want to consider it?

Things change even when YOU stay the same. Employers switch up things on you, coworkers leave, bosses change… even if you’re “content” you can be sure there will be things to shake you up a bit. Should you run all over looking for something new all the time? NO WAY! But you should you keep your eyes open to the all the great things the universe can send your way.

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Brad Pitt on Life Balance