Easter Colors New Beginnings

I am ready for a big-time change.  I am am restless.  I am looking forward to Easter.  This morning, as I sat at my desk, I couldn't help but notice the beautiful Easter decorations  (courtesy of a co-worker).  I am gazing at the sparkling, pink egg that adorns my computer screen, tied with a pink, bow.

As a child, Easter was everything to me.  I loved looking for my Easter basket, which was always carefully hidden away in a forbidden corner of the house.  I couldn't wait to get into the candy; especially the yellow, marshmallow "peeps", and the chocolate eggs.

But my childhood is long gone, and I enter the last lap of my life with cautious optimism.  When I hear the word retire, I shiver.  Retire? and do what?  Retirement to me would be starting a small business and doing what I want, because I am financially independent.  I don't see that happening.

Someone once told me:  Everyone has to:

• Have something to do
• Have something to look forward to
• Have someone to love

Well one out of three is a start.  Seriously, I don't want my epitaph to read "Here lies a woman who  never lived up to her potential."  I have always said that.  I am not prepared to leave this world without making an impact in some way.

Up to this point - I would consider my life very average, with mild success thrown in from time to time.

That is not enough.  I want more out of life.  So, with the advent of Easter, while I won't have the traditional Easter basket, I look symbolically to new beginnings.  A fresh start. 

I gaze at the colors of the egg in anticipation.  Now I have something to look forward to!

Two out of three is even better.

Have You Thought of Becoming a College Professor?

It has happened to more than a few professionals.  You reach a time when you look back at your career, and say "what's this all about?"  You ask yourself if you have fulfilled your dreams.  Maybe you have been out in the cold too long, and haven't found a job that makes your heart sing- and you're not ready to settle.

Why not entertain teaching college? Dream Jobs: Harvard Professor.

Many colleges today do not require you to have taken Education as major in college, but will look at your professional track record to see what you have done for the business.  When I was in my thirties, and I was tending my children at home, I was offered a Marketing and Advertising teaching position at an art college.  I thoroughly enjoyed it.   It was fresh- the students breathed new life into me- and I felt inspired every day after class.

Since I have been kicking around ideas - about creative alternatives to finding work- in a challenged market, this is an obvious suggestion.  Teaching will amaze you.

 It amazed me when I gave my students their final project:  I grouped them into teams of five, and had them create a marketing plan for a company.  Since they were art students', the graphics were a given, and I was delighted in what they presented for their final project.

I learned so much.  It was elating to see the enthusiasm in the faces of students.'

More importantly, I  created a spark  for future careers'. These students' had created their first formal project for their portfolios.  It was exciting to see them evolve during the semester.

What do you do really well?  How long have you been working in the business?  Maybe it is time to take a look at sharing that knowledge .

It is a pro-active way of reinventing yourself.  I know you, too, will be delightfully surprised when you find out how much you know.

Another Surprise from Suleman

Oy Vey- Nadya Suleman is at it again....this time in the buff.  I have to hand it to her, she can find her way out of the tightest spots.  So, the story is she needed $10,000 to rent her new home. Ocotomom Nadya Suleman Topless and Nearly Nude.

What's a girl to do?  This girl said she wouldn't date until her children have all reached 18- has found yet another way to generate the income she needs to keep afloat.  The mother of 14 says she is proud of the way she looks, and  she knows she is beautiful and "doesn't need a man to tell her so."

Nadya, who doesn't own a scale, says she "never looked this good."  I'll say.  I don't know too many people that look "this good". According to Nadya, she never diets and eats what she wants (does she even have TIME to eat?)

I have a different take on Suleman.  I think she is brilliant, far smarter than most of us want to believe.  She has her gimmick,  and is doing very well marketing herself.  Say what you will, she is a survivor.  Just when we think Nadya is going away, she rebounds bigger and better.

Pardon the pun.

I watched her on a segment on Dr. Drew recently.  She was obviously wound up, her speech was so rapid he had to hold her hand to calm her down.  Apparently, she had studied psychiatry, and was bantering around different psychiatric conditions with Drew.

Having created her own 'scout troupe', she was able to get sponsors to provide nannies for her children, get her a home, as well as negotiate a television series.  She quickly got rid of all the nannies, and took on the task herself.

Additionally, she made the rounds on the talk show circuit. Not bad for a stay at home mother, who has garnered national attention when she found out she was going to give birth to 10 children, (with four already at home).

Prior to this, she was taking on clients' as a private trainer. Apparently, being a private trainer couldn't earn her $10,000 in enough time to find herself a new residence.  

She is quirky, and we love that.  You can't help but want to watch her and see what she's up to.  She has that surprise element like Madonna.

She knows exactly what she is doing, and will have no trouble reinventing herself in the future.

It certainly helps that she is drop-dead gorgeous and sexy.

Contract Position: Job to Take in Tight Market

Ever beat yourself up?  I do it all the time.  Not thin enough, pretty enough, young enough, not working in your dream industry - or not working at all ?

I found this article very uplifting, and want to share it with those of you pounding the payment, looking for your dream job: Resume Gaps: How to Minimize the Negative Impact.

For once, I was surprised.  Seems I am doing a couple of things right.  According to the article, Human Resource Directors are more forgiving with gaps in employment.  But here is what they want to see you do in the meantime:

• Take a temporary or contract position -- 79 percent

• Take a class -- 61 percent

• Volunteer -- 60 percent

• Start your own business -- 28 percent

• Start a professional blog -- 11 percent

I am doing two of these things.  I am proud of myself!  You see, it is too easy to "get on myself" for not nabbing my dream job.  I took a temporary (contract) position over two years ago.  Frankly, I never thought it would last two years.  I find myself feeling I am both very lucky and unlucky at the same time.  I am very lucky to be able to have something to do, and to pay my bills.  Unlucky that I am not working in my area of expertise.  I know that the longer I am away from my career, I am loosing that much more ground professionally.   

To compensate, I try to keep up with changes through on-line articles and professional groups.  These are no substitute for being employed in my career, but again, the key is making the effort to stay connected.  This is what your future employer wants to see:

1)  You are doing something to stay busy while you search for the job you want

2)  Trying to stay professionally connected so you stay in the radar professionally

At this point of my life, it looks as though  I may have to move ahead with my own business.    I have come up with an idea worth cultivating.  It is not novel, but it will allow me to do what I love to do (write) and generate income.

In the meantime, I can blog away until my heart is content.

And you know what I like about my blog the best?  I don't have a boss telling me they don't like the content or my writing style.  Because when you write, just like exercising daily, you grow stronger and get better.

What are you doing right?  What has frustrated or inspired you while you sit out the tight job market?