High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: 9 Things You Need to Know Before You Job Search

This is our weekly roundup of some of the best career-related articles, interviews, blogs, etc., we've read during the week. We share them so you have some great resources to prepare you for the coming week. Enjoy!

• 9 Things You Absolutely Need to Know Before You Job Search: "HR professionals say to bring a portfolio of your work. Yet only 19 percent of job seekers used this approach to stand out in their search."
• 7 Actions That Make You a Leader: "Whether you’re talking to the janitor or junior partner, there’s a person behind every job title, and that person represents a family. You have the chance to influence a family by the way you interact with every team member."
• Should You Hire a Life Coach: "As a coach, I’ve learned first hand that the only way out of pain is through it. A talented professional coach will know how to guide you through your pain and memories in a way that helps you heal and let go."
• How to De-Clutter Your Career: "Wasting time is much worse than wasting money, since time cannot be recovered while you can always earn back money. The time available to us is priceless: no amount of money can buy us back one day of our life."
• 7 Conferences That Will Level Up Your A-Game: "Based on the question, “How do we live a remarkable life in a conventional world?” this event aims to build a foundation on which attendees can pursue their dreams and positively impact their communities."

6 Simple Ways to Be More Innovative in Your Job and Career

Your career development and success depends on being innovative in your work, finding news ways to do things, and seeing obstacles, challenges, and opportunities before others see them.

Sometimes we're tempted to think that innovation requires some mystical process or is an innate skills possessed by the few. However, we all have the ability to think creatively and innovatively and we can implement some simple strategies to aid in the process.

Here are six ways to become more innovative:

1. Take a walk. Studies have shown that we get some of our best ideas when walking. In addition, walking, particularly in nature, provides a boost to our feelings of well-being, lowering stress, and making us more open to new ideas.

2. Learn a language. Spending some time on a new language challenges your brain to think in ways that are unfamiliar to you and opens you up to some new experiences and knowledge.

3. Meditate. You don't have to become a monk or some kind of guru to experience the many benefits of meditation, however, taking just a few minutes to calming breathe each day can make you more aware of new ideas and ways of doing something.

4. Meet with friends. Don't isolate yourself. Be sure to have fun and spend time with your friends and colleagues, especially a diverse group that holds different views. You'll be challenged to think differently.

5. Create something new. Anything, it doesn't really matter. Write a short story, compose a song, or paint a still life. The act of creating something new will inspire you to see things in new ways.

6. Read a book. Of course, reading is a great way to explore new worlds, meet new people (past and present) and learn about new subjects and fields, therefore, encouraging innovation and new ideas.

Daily Leap Career Video of the Week: 3 Ways to Master Your Time

Each week we present our Daily Leap Career Video of the Week. The video we share presents news or advice related to career and life development, searching for a job, the economy and employment, and other career-related topics.

In the video below Entrepreneur Network partner, Daniel Ally identifies 3 time-optimizing tips:

High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: 6 Essential Habits for Getting the Career You Want

This is our weekly roundup of some of the best career-related articles, interviews, blogs, etc., we've read during the week. We share them so you have some great resources to prepare you for the coming week. Enjoy!

• 6 Essential Habits for Getting the Career You Want: "When you are externally focused on the impact you want to have, the game changes. You become intent on results more than personal applause."
• Getting the Most Out of LinkedIn During Your Job Search: "A strategic approach to building your network will help you get much more out of this professional social media site during your job search, potentially opening the doors to your next opportunity and beyond."
• 5 Ways to Experience Flow and Get Crazy Productive: "We thrive on a healthy challenge—something that stimulates us without being so difficult that it produces anxiety or so simple that it induces boredom."
• 4 Simple Steps to Getting Twice as Much Done in Half the Time: "Therefore, the first and most important step in getting more accomplished is to focus on the few tasks that move the needle."
• The Paradox of Workplace Productivity: "It’s time to start shifting to an organizational mindset and set of tools that can provide full visibility into what work is actually getting done in aggregate, and where it does (or doesn’t) create value."

5 Things to Consider Before You Take a New Job

Each person has some specific criteria they consider when looking for a new job, and sometimes we feel like we can't afford to be picky so we take the first thing that comes along. Bills are mounting or we've been turned down for other opportunities.

However, when possible, consider the following five things before taking a new job:

1. Advancement: Do you have opportunities to advance in this new position or will you quickly feel stuck? You might not want to take a job that will soon have you needing to look elsewhere.

2. Training. Does the new job provide opportunities for additional training or education? The world of work is changing rapidly and you'll want to be in a position that affords you the opportunities to keep up with the latest trends, technologies, and ideas.

3. Commute. Are you taking a job that will require you to drive for an hour or two, or can you take public transit to get there? You might reconsider taking a job that will require you to spend long hours in your car, not to mention spending large sums in gas.

4. Culture and values. What is the company culture like, and what does the company truly value? Are they committed to their employees and provide them with the tools and the culture to do the job well?

5. Leadership. Does the company have effective and approachable leadership? And does that leadership value input from its employees?

These are some of the questions you might want answered to your satisfaction before taking that next job.

Daily Leap Career Video of the Week: Productivity 101--6 Easy Tricks That Will Make You More Productive

Each week we present our Daily Leap Career Video of the Week. The video we share presents news or advice related to career and life development, searching for a job, the economy and employment, and other career-related topics.

The video below from Forbes highlights 6 ways to increase your productivity, including tackling the most dreaded tasks first. See the other five tricks in the video below:

High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: 6 Happiness Tips to Boost Your Health and Performance

This is our weekly roundup of some of the best career-related articles, interviews, blogs, etc., we've read during the week. We share them so you have some great resources to prepare you for the coming week. Enjoy!

• 6 Happiness Tips to Boost Your Health and Performance: "A key habit we developed in daily meetings was to have each team member say what someone else had done to help them that day. Expressing gratitude helped to bring the team together and make everyone happier and healthier."
• 17 Simple Habits That Make You Look More Professional: "Taking risks, and going against the grain is part of growing. Being willing to challenge yourself shows others that you are serious about growth."
• 17 Ways to Get Along, Especially When Negotiating: "Look to their positive intent, especially when they appear to have none, and you are more likely to eventually bring out their more positive side."
• How to Stand Up For Yourself: "Learning to assert yourself starts by understanding that you are not trying to control what other people do, but rather you’re controlling your own actions."
• 5 Smart Things to Do When You're Unemployed: "Volunteering for a charity or local community organization can be a great way to keep your skills up to date or help you learn new ones, expose you to new fields and give you something to put on your resume for this time period."

3 Attitude Adjustments to Improve Your Career

There are times for each of us when we're feeling stressed or bored at work or in our career and we find it difficult to stay positive and motivated to do a good job.

It is at these times when we might simply benefit from a slight tweak or attitude adjustment to set us back on the right career path.

Here then are three attitude adjustments to make to improve our career and help us better enjoy our job:

1. Gratitude. There is plenty of research to suggest that your well-being goes up when you express gratitude. Why not take some time today to be grateful that you have a job, that you enjoy your co-workers, or that you have a good boss? 

2. Serve. Instead of thinking about you and what you need to get done, turn your attention to your customers and your colleagues. Having an attitude of service to others will enable you to focus on solutions and actions, and will likely have the added benefit of increasing your motivation at work.

3. Humility. Come to work with new eyes. No, I don't mean new glasses, but try taking a look at your work from a new perspective. A perspective of humility. Realize that you don't know everything and that you might just learn something new, even from that know-it-all in the cubicle next door.

Sometimes, instead of changing jobs or getting a promotion, a simple attitude adjustment is all we need to enjoy our work more.  

Daily Leap Career Video of the Week: 5 Daily Habits That Will Make You Successful

Each week we present our Daily Leap Career Video of the Week. The video we share presents news or advice related to career and life development, searching for a job, the economy and employment, and other career-related topics.

In the video below from Entrepreneur, Daniel Ally shares 5 crucial habits to incorporate into your life daily in order to be successful.

High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: Leaving a Stable Job to Create Your Dream Career

This is our weekly roundup of some of the best career-related articles, interviews, blogs, etc., we've read during the week. We share them so you have some great resources to prepare you for the coming week. Enjoy!

• Leaving a Stable Job to Create Your Dream Career: "Paying attention to what engages and excites you, what lights you up, and what stimulates your intellect points you toward the tasks and situations that enable you to be your best self."
• 4 Reasons Why the Most Successful People are Great Collaborators: "It doesn't matter what we do, where we do it, or how well we can create a product or offer a service. In order to succeed, we need to effectively create partnerships with many others around us."
• The Simple Truth to Accomplishing Significantly More, Faster: "Most tasks in life are significantly easier than we'd like to believe. In fact, nearly every goal you have is really just made up a series of small decisions followed by short actions."
• 10 Tips for Raising Your Public Speaking Game: "I believe that it’s the duty of every public speaker to find something right with the world, your view of it, or at least some hero along the way who has exemplified the positive attributes you’re standing behind."
• 5 Tips to Improve Nonverbal Communication in Meetings: "Effective nonverbal communication goes further than that first handshake. Here are five ways to improve nonverbal communication, especially during meetings or presentations."

Considering a Career Change? Here are 8 Steps to Take

Career changes and transitions can be scary and feel overwhelming, especially if they are forced upon us through a layoff. It's much easier to begin to make that transition for ourselves, and on our own schedule and terms.

If you are contemplating a career change there are steps you can take to ease the transition and help you feel ready to take the plunge.

Here are eight steps to making a career transition:

1. Meet with a career counselor. The first step you might consider is to meet with a career counselor and discuss your training, skills, experience, and interests. The counselor can help you explore the career options that would be most suitable and help you develop a plan to get there.

2. Take a skills or interest assessment. Identifying your skills and interests will help clarify your direction and this can be done with a career counselor or on your own.

3. Job shadow. Once you've identified a job or career area of interest consider spending a few hours job shadowing someone currently working in that field. This will help you get a clearer sense of the job and whether it matches your interests and skills.

4. Research education or certification requirements. Some jobs or careers require you to attain a specific level of education or to have state certification. Find out if you need to supplement your education.
 
5. Take a class. You might need additional education for certification requirements (see above) or you just might need to update your skills or learn a new technology. If so, consider signing up for a class at your local community college.

6. Online training. There are many opportunities to take free classes online and you might find something to increase your skills as you consider your new career.

7. Seek guidance from a mentor. Talk to someone you trust and get their advice and counsel about your career and possible plans for a change.

8. Network. Work to expand your network of contacts, especially in fields related to those you're considering for your career change.

Daily Leap Career Video of the Week: This Is What People Really Think Of Your Resumé

Each week we present our Daily Leap Career Video of the Week. The video we share presents news or advice related to career and life development, searching for a job, the economy and employment, and other career-related topics.

The video below from Fast Company takes a humorous look at resumes and what employers (and job seekers) really think of them.

High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: 5 Questions to Ask Yourself Before Making a Career Change

This is our weekly roundup of some of the best career-related articles, interviews, blogs, etc., we've read during the week. We share them so you have some great resources to prepare you for the coming week. Enjoy!

• 5 Questions to Ask Yourself Before Making a Career Change: "Sometimes the only way to be viewed in a different light is to walk into a new room. If your challenge is that you are ready for a promotion, but your company does not take you seriously for a more senior role, you may need to change the scene."
• Does Your Organization Focus on Employee Experience?: "If we want to attract and retain top talent in our organizations, we must create an experience that makes employees WANT to show up to work."
• 10 Daily Habits Holding You Back From Success: "You think that you can do a better job, so you just do it yourself. Or, you constantly correct or micromanage your team, which drains their motivation and distracts you from doing what you do best."
• How to Change Your Poor Personal Reputation at Work: "Changing the perception that others have of you is hard work, but, with persistence, it’s do-able."
• You Need to Practice Being Your Future Self: "You need to spend time on the future even when there are more important things to do in the present and even when there is no immediately apparent return to your efforts."