Nancy Collamer, Author at Job-Hunt

Moving From Volunteering to a Career in Nonprofit

Nancy Collamer — Tue, 11 May 2021 17:14:49 +0000

What better way to spend your time than getting paid for work you would do for free?

For many people in search of a more meaningful and lifestyle friendly career, that means trading in the corporate life in favor of employment with a foundation, charity, or other nonprofit organization.

5 Tips for Optimizing the Transition to a Non-Profit Career

One of the best ways to transition into the nonprofit arena is through volunteer assignments.

As a volunteer, you’ll enjoy the chance to learn more about the inner workings of the nonprofit world, develop needed skills and make connections with people who can help you network your way into paid employment.

Of course, not every volunteer assignment will lead to a salaried job. But by being strategic about your volunteerism, you can maximize your odds of turning your volunteer hours into a paid position.

Here are five tips for optimizing your volunteer time as you transition into the nonprofit world:

Avoid volunteering simply because you are asked

We’ve all fallen into the trap of taking on volunteer jobs simply because we were asked and felt obligated to help (school bake sales anyone?).

But if you’re serious about going to work for a nonprofitg roup, you are going to have to clear your calendar of the “just because” volunteer hours and replace them with meaningful volunteer jobs that are more closely aligned with your career targets.

Limit your volunteer efforts to jobs that will help you gain contacts, skills or knowledge that are closely aligned with your nonprofit goals.
Do your homework

Not all non-profits are created equal. Ideally, you want to find organizations that have the financial resources to support paid staff members.

But at a minimum, seek out non-profits that are well-managed and provide volunteers with meaningful opportunities to strengthen their skills and enhance their nonprofit resumes.
Volunteer in high-impact areas

Be a problem-solver. Offer your services in ways that can make a real difference to the organization. Fund raising, development, and volunteer recruitment are three key areas where non-profits almost always need assistance.
Seek out organizations with “power players”

Networking is the single best way to find a paying position in the nonprofit world (just like it is in the corporate world).

Focus on volunteer opportunities with organizations that are run by people “in the know” who can help you build your network of influential contacts within the nonprofit world.
Broadcast your intentions

Once you’ve proven your worth, don’t be shy about letting the staff and board of directors know that you are interested in finding paid work.

You never know when they might be willing to hire you for a temporary project or a more permanent position.

Finally, take advantage of some of the many excellent resources listed here on Job-Hunt to help you make the leap into the nonprofit world.

More About Volunteering

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About the author…

Nancy Collamer, M.S., is a semi-retirement coach, speaker, and author of Second-Act Careers: 50+ Ways to Profit From Your Passions During Semi-Retirement. You can now download her free workbook called 25 Ways to Help You Identify Your Ideal Second Act on her website at MyLifestyleCareer.com (and you’ll also receive her free bi-monthly newsletter).
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Lifestyle-Friendly Careers

Nancy Collamer — Tue, 11 May 2021 17:14:49 +0000

Working from home is a lifestyle-friendly career. As the name implies, these careers are about generating income in a meaningful way that is compatible with your personal lifestyle goals.

Prime candidates for a lifestyle-friendly career include parents who want to work from home while raising children, baby boomers who still need to work but want to run their own show, and people who hate to waste hours every week commuting to and from their jobs.

Really, professionals of all ages determined to escape the restraints of the conventional workplace in exchange for greater control over their personal life and career trajectory choose lifestyle-friendly careers.

“Out-of-the-Box” Solutions

Not surprisingly, the majority of work from home is developed outside the confines of corporate America. But that doesn’t mean that working from home is all fluff and no substance.

Most people who work from home apply their professional skills, passions, and knowledge towards “serious” pursuits including entrepreneurial ventures, not-for-profit, consulting, writing, or teaching, just to name a few — all of which will be covered in this Job-Hunt Guide.

Growing Alternatives

Thanks to advances in technology, the prevalence of home office equipment and opportunities generated by a 24/7 global economy, opportunities for working at home are increasing daily.

Consider the array of career options for writers. In the “old days” a person with strong writing skills could earn an income in a staff position with a company, as a teacher, or if really lucky, get a contract to publish a book.

Today that same writer could leverage the power of the new technology to write a blog, sell a line of informational products online, or self-publish their own novels, all the while working from their home.

Of course, you don’t need to rely on advanced technology to pursue lifestyle-friendly work. Here are three examples clients of mine who have created lifestyle careers the “old-fashioned” way.

1. Mom looking for a better work-life balance:
  
  Jill is a mom who wanted more time with her daughter than the demands of her corporate career allowed.
  
  A music major in college, she decided to apply her love of music and her interest in working with children into three income streams:
  - Overseeing a music program for preschool students
  - Tteaching piano part-time at an elementary school
  - Offering private piano lessons to a handful of students in her neighborhood.
  Today, she enjoys fulfilling work, a healthy income, and more time to spend with her daughter.
2. From wage slave to thriving entrepreneur:
  
  Cara, a married woman in her thirties, had grown bored with her corporate career and believed that she could enjoy a much more fulfilling life as an entrepreneur.
  
  After completing an assessment, we determined that Cara was most interested in combining her love of teaching and talent for public speaking (perfected while involved with Toastmasters) into a business as a speaking coach.
  
  Following two years of planning, Cara quit her job and now generates income by delivering public speaking workshops to corporations, coaching private clients, and writing about public speaking on the web.
  
  She works hard, but is relishing the thrill of being her own boss and the freedom of having more time for personal pursuits including extended vacations to India and other exotic locales.
3. From executive to activist:

For some people, a lifestyle career is less about working fewer hours and more about doing work that matters.

As Sarah, an advertising executive who went on to write grants for her local school district, told me during our first session, “I just don’t care anymore whether I help to sell another box of cereal. Education is what I really care about.”

Yes, she now earns less money that she did working 60+ hours a week. But she gets up every morning with a smile on her face and is home when her children need help with homework.

Sounds wonderful, but is it practical?

Clearly, not everyone is at a point in their lives when they can afford to quit their jobs and strike out on their own. The allure of a full benefits package and the peace of mind afforded by a steady paycheck can be hard to resist. But even if you can’t work from home today, it is never too early to begin to explore your options and plan ahead for the future. You can start with these side hustles.

To Learn More About Work From Home:

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How to Find Your Best Work-From-Home Job

Nancy Collamer — Tue, 11 May 2021 17:14:49 +0000

I am asked a wide variety of job related questions, but none is more popular than,

“How do I find an employer to hire me to work from home?”

Although the Coronavirus pandemic has certainly made working from home more acceptable to both employers and employees, there is no easy answer to that question.

When you are considering working from home, analyze your home and the opportunities you are considering to be sure you have a good fit.

5 Keys to Work-From-Home Success

But, let me share with you five key points to keep in mind when embarking on the home-based job hunt:

1. Target work that can be easily handled at home.

In general, jobs that can be completed independently, using basic home-based office equipment (personal computer and a telephone) tend to be best suited for telecommuting.

Examples of these jobs include:

Accounting tasks (e.g., bookkeeping, loan processing, and mortgage processing)
Clerical duties (e.g., data entry, transcription, or word processing)
Computer programming
Desktop publishing
Customer service
Internet related tasks (e.g., research, web design, writing copy, etc.)
Market research/ telemarketing
Recruiting
Sales
Writing, proofreading and copyediting

For more information, read Top Work From Home / Remote Jobs.

2. Be realistic about finding quality work-at-home positions.

As much as I would like to tell you otherwise, the vast majority of professional level work-from-home jobs are assigned to in-house employees who have proven their capabilities over time (and even those tend to be a mix of in-house and home-based assignments).

While there are some legitimate work-from-home jobs open to new hires, notably customer service and sales agents, most advertised openings are for relatively lower-level opportunities. This seems to be changing as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic as more “remote” management jobs are becoming available.

Certain industries tend to employ more telecommuters than others. Companies that have a large need for telephone-based customer service jobs (think online retail, finance, insurance, and software firms) can be good bets for home-based employment.

Other examples of telecommuting-friendly settings include banks that hire home-based mortgage brokers, home inspection companies that hire licensed inspectors, and executive recruiting firms that hire home-based research assistants.

There are also a handful of companies that recruit customer care agents who work out of their homes as contract employees.

For more information, read and How to Work Effectively From Home.

3. Phase into a home-based job.

Because companies tend to give home-based work to employees they know and trust, consider working for a telecommuting friendly company initially as an in-house employee, with the possibility of gaining a full-time telecommuting spot down the road.

This is a question you can carefully ask as part of the interview process. Ask if any current employees work “remotely” or “from home.” If the answer is yes, ask if the job you are interviewing for qualifies and how the process works for this employer.

***4. Persist (with caution) in your hunt for work-from-home jobs on the web.***

As with any job search, it pays to be persistent when looking for jobs online. Plug in keywords such as “telecommute” or “remote work” into the search filters to narrow your search results.

Focus your efforts on job boards that you trust, but Google the employers to be sure they are legitimate. Don’t forget to look at the openings posted directly on individual company sites.

Always be cautious when responding to posted openings. Remember the adage “If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.”

Avoid any jobs that require you to purchase lists, equipment for the job, or “inside information,” and do not accept any opportunities to be a package reshipper.

Read How to Avoid 5 Major Types of Online Job Scams and 50 Google Searches to Avoid Layoffs and Bad Employers for more information.

5. If all else fails, go entrepreneurial.

If you find yourself frustrated by the lack of quality work-at-home postings, think about ways to sell your skills and services directly to companies as an independent consultant.

For example, you could market your administrative services as a virtual assistant to companies who want to outsource their data-entry work or you could offer medical transcription services to local physicians.

While choosing to go the entrepreneurial route might take more time and money initially, you will likely enjoy greater profits, flexibility, and control over the long haul.

For more information about starting your own business, read Guide to Freelance, Gig, and Contracting Jobs.

The Bottom Line

With the Coronavirus pandemic, working from home has become much more common, even required for many jobs. Working from home is a good option for many people, but caution is needed. Stay alert to avoid scams. As time passes, opportunities will probably increase.

Are you looking for a remote, work-from-home, or flexible job? Visit our partner site FlexJobs to find verified jobs in many different categories, including online data entry jobs, remote medical billing jobs, work-from-home healthcare jobs and more.

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Finding Work-From-Home Employers

Nancy Collamer — Tue, 11 May 2021 17:14:49 +0000

Are you searching for a more lifestyle-friendly employer so you can work “remotely” (a.k.a. working from home)?

If so, you likely have discovered that finding an employer that values work-life balance is no simple task.

Even among companies that have won awards for their work-life policies, the actual use of those policies tends to vary from department to department and manager to manager.

Although the Coronavirus pandemic has made working from home much more common, the right employer can make the experience much more pleasant.

But, the wrong employer can have the opposite result.

Determining if the Employer Is a Good One, or Not

How can you determine if a company is a good place to work from home?

You need to do your homework and prepare to ask smart questions during the interview, but you will want to ask them in a way that doesn’t set off alarm bells with the interviewer.

One of the best ways to determine if you will be able to work from home is to find employers who already have employees working from home. Start with the people in your network.

Ask friends and family if they know people with work-from-home or remote jobs, and check LinkedIn to see if any current or former employees are in your network. If you have employees in your network, contact them to learn more about the job and the employer.

Then, put the Internet to use for you. Search Google for “work for home” or “remote work” (using the quotation marks), and note the employers who have those jobs currently open and postings on Google. Read 50 Google Searches to Avoid Layoffs and Bad Employers for examples of other searches you can do on Google to learn more about an employer.

When you have a list of employers compiled, research them to determine if they are genuine (vs. scam) and good places to work. Be cautious about pursuing job postings for employers you don’t know and haven’t validated.

Interview Questions to Ask the Employer

To help you do learn if the employer has employees who successfully work from home, here are four questions that should give you a better feel for the corporate culture and priorities, without being too obvious about your concerns in the process:

1. In what ways is a career with your company better than one with your competitors?

This question allows the interviewer to focus on whatever she wishes. If the company does indeed offer a great work environment, she will likely tout that in her answer, and if not, she will choose to highlight other things.

Listen for an answer that includes references to work-life balance or a friendly corporate culture.

Be wary if the employer references on-the-job “perks” such as catered lunches or on-site dry cleaners that tend to be used by companies where long working hours are the norm.

2. What do you enjoy most about working here?

Here again, this is a safe open-ended question that can lead to some interesting responses and insights. It’s a smart way to ask about the corporate culture without seeming overly eager to hear about options for flexibility.

Interpret it as a good sign if the employer responds to this question with lots of energy and enthusiasm.

3. What characteristics do the achievers in this company seem to share?

Is this the type of place that places a big premium on face time? Do they only promote people who put in long hours or do they value results, creativity, and teamwork as being equally important?

Try to determine if people who work flexible hours have been promoted as often as those who log long hours at work.

4. What qualities are you looking for in the candidate who fills this position?

Is more emphasis placed on accomplishments than on” face time”? Is the employer willing to allow you the freedom to determine how to get a job done even if that means you occasionally work from home or leave work early?

Be wary of employers that respond to this question by emphasizing the need for someone who is “committed to the job” or ” willing to do whatever is needed” or other descriptors that reveal a bias towards employees willing to put work above their personal lives.

Other clues…

Finally, don’t forget to pay attention to other indicators of the company culture. Do people seem relaxed and comfortable in phone or video interviews? Do they seem to be people you would enjoy working with?

If the interview is video, see if you can observe what is happening behind the interviewers. Does this workplace, if it is where you would be working, looks like a good environment for you to work?

When/if you go for an interview at the employer’s location, pay attention to the environment. Are people smiling? Is the office comfortable and attractive? Do people have personal photos or memorabilia on display? Those little visual clues can reveal meaningful information about the company’s values and work environment.

The Bottom Line

Being careful of the scammers of the world who love to advertise “work from home” jobs and want to hire you immediately without interviewing you, especially if they pay extremely well for very simple jobs. Read 9 Characteristics of a Job Scam for signs that a job and/or employer are not real.

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Work From Home: The Caregiving Option

Nancy Collamer — Tue, 11 May 2021 17:14:49 +0000

Looking for a way to earn an income from home?

If so, you’re in luck! This article focuses on the business of helping people take care of others.

Caregiving Is a Great Opportunity

In a world filled with two-career couples, an aging population, and the pressures of a 24/7 global economy, people are eager to find pleasant and dependable helpers for their loved ones and pets.

For many people, hiring a caretaker isn’t just a “nice-to-have” but a “must-have” service that they will happily pay for.

If you’re a person who enjoys helping others, then a caregiving business might be a good fit for you.

Starting a caregiving business is smart for several reasons:

Low Start-up Expenses:

It takes relatively little money and time to start a small business walking dogs, running errands, or babysitting.

Many people launch these businesses on a limited scale and then slowly add clients via word-of-mouth referrals.
Built-in Repeat Business:

Your clientele will have an ongoing and regular need for caregiving services (children need to be watched every day, the elderly need rides to appointments several times a week, etc.).

Typically, once people find a reliable caregiving service, they are reluctant to shop-around for a new provider. As a result, once you have several faithful customers, you can reduce your marketing efforts and maximize your billable working hours.
Scaleable:

Caregiving businesses can be as small or large as you desire.

If you only want to work a few hours, you can start your business with just a few clients and then grow your business over time as your lifestyle needs permit. If you want to turn your business into something more substantial, you can invest in employees and infrastructure after you’ve secured a loyal following.

Options to Consider

Let’s take a look at the wide variety of caregiving services you might consider operating:

Child Care

Many communities simply don’t have enough child-care resources available to meet the demands of working parents, and as a result, there is a shortage of high-quality family based child-care services.

If you just want to take in one child, you can do so easily. But if you want to start on a larger scale, be sure to investigate your local zoning, licensing, and insurance requirements before opening your business (most states require a license if you intend to care for more than three children, but be sure to check to see your state’s requirements before you expand).

If you don’t want to open a daycare business, you can sell your services as an after school driver (taking children to and from activities), homework helper or doula who helps take care of households right after a baby is born.
Elder Care

Many elderly living on their own need someone to help out with the tasks of daily living; housekeeping, shopping, errands, and cooking. They also hire people to help out with special projects such as relocating, medical claims assistance, and bill paying. When marketing your services, it is helpful to target independent/assisted living centers and retirement communities where there are a large number of prospective clients.

Keep in mind that the elderly themselves might be less likely to hire you than their children, so be sure to include the “children” in your marketing efforts.
Pet Care

People love their pets like children and are willing to pay top-dollar for their care. You can partake in this growing market opportunity by walking dogs, pet sitting, and/or offering pet grooming services.

More Information

The U.S. Small Business Administration offers this booklet for free: How to Start a Quality Child Care Business
Score: 8 ideas to Start a Business Helping Seniors
Job-Hunt: 6 Ways to Turn a Love of Pets into Income

Bottom Line

These options provide you flexibility and an opportunity to generate income from your home. Of course, before starting any business, be sure to investigate zoning, licensing, and insurance issues relevant to your service. The penalties for violating these regulations can be severe and are often easily avoided by operating in compliance with “the rules and regulations” in your area.

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10 Keys to a Rewarding Second Act Career

Nancy Collamer — Tue, 11 May 2021 17:14:43 +0000

You have retired, and you are supposed to be relaxing and enjoying life — your “golden years.”

But, perhaps the time has arrived for your Second Act Career — what you might like to do when you have retired but still want, or need, to work.

What are some of the key things you should think about when creating your Second Act Career?

This is a great question and one that I talked about frequently during interviews about my book, Second-Act Careers: 50+ Ways to Profit From Your Passions During Semi-Retirement.

Finding Your Second Act Career(s)

In doing the research for the book, I discovered a number of behaviors that consistently resulted in successful career reinventions.

1. Do not get hung up on trying to find your “one and only” passion.

Few people have one driving passion, and the focus on building a second-act career around that “one true love” can create needless anxiety and frustration. Do not let the quest for the one and only mystical passion derail you before you even get started.

Instead, focus on causes you find compelling, people you find interesting and activities you enjoy and find meaningful — and then start exploring second-act options that line up with those varied interests and skills.

2. Be true to who you are.

Honoring who you are and what makes you unique is the first step in aligning yourself with work that allows you to shine and radiate your brilliance to the world. Doing this is not always easy, especially when you have worked hard for years to establish yourself in your professional life.

But knowing and claiming what you really want, as opposed to what society claims you should want, is a critical link to success in the reinvention process. When you are willing to let go of the glossy trappings of your career in favor of more personally-significant paths, amazing transformations happen.

3. Worry less about finding a job and more about filling a need.

By some estimates nearly half of the U.S. job market will consist of freelance and temporary workers by the end of 2020, espeically with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. While this freelance trend is arguably problematic for many people — especially younger workers — it is an opportunity for boomers who like project work and no longer want to deal with the demands of full-time employment.

So now is the time to stop thinking along the lines of “I need to find a traditional job” and more in terms of generating income through freelance assignments, project work, part-time jobs and entrepreneurial opportunities.

4. Brainstorm ideas with colleagues.

There is no better, or easier, way to get ideas about second-act careers than to talk with your industry colleagues. They know you, and they know the industry. And assuming the two of you are close in age, they may be actively thinking about the very same issues themselves.

This is a case where two heads are indeed better than one; together you can brainstorm ideas, discuss training programs, and investigate ways to create new income streams around needed products or services.

5. Adopt an opportunity-seeker mind-set.

Never before in history have we enjoyed easier access to more information. Every day you have the opportunity to learn about thousands, even millions, of new options for semi-retirement from newspapers, television, and the Internet. You can make it a point to consciously pay attention to this information, or you can choose to ignore it.

Many of the people profiled in Second Act Careers found their second-act opportunities simply by keeping their “opportunity antenna” on alert and paying closer attention to what they were reading, hearing and experiencing on a daily basis.

6. Start sooner rather than later.

Far too many people wait until the eleventh hour to start their career-planning process. Do not be one of them. This is a process that can take months, and sometimes years, to fully evolve and no matter how well you plan, there are always unexpected twists and turns, stops and starts, and moments of doubt along the reinvention journey.

Give yourself the time to succeed – the sooner you begin to explore, the better off you will be.

7. Expect resistance.

Realize that your friends and family will likely be impacted by your career decisions: personal time, finances, and interests can all be affected when people change careers. As a result, friends and family might not be as supportive of your “great news” as you might hope. Try to understand.

Exercise patience, stay calm, keep communicating, and give everyone time to adjust. Over time the tension will ease as everyone adapts to new routines, roles and circumstances.

8. Invest in your success.

Put aside a small amount of money each year to spend on classes, workshops and other opportunities to learn about new career directions.

It does not need to be much, but once you earmark those funds, you will be more likely to invest in your ongoing education (and if you hesitate to spend the money on yourself, just think about what you spent on your kids’ piano and ice-skating lessons over the years!).

Adult education is a big business these days, and there are more opportunities than ever for midlife career changers to indulge in lifelong learning.

9. Recognize that forced change can be a gift.

Many of the people profiled in my book had to create their second acts in response to the economic collapse of 2008. That does not mean it was easy or comfortable, but a willingness to reframe adversity into a potential advantage allowed them to explore options that they might not have previously considered.

As Winston Churchill once wisely noted, “The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.”

10. Practice patience.

Finally, do remember that career reinvention is often an unpredictable journey that evolves and builds upon a series of smaller actions: You will engage in a conversation – that leads to an introduction to an interesting person – which inspires you to enroll in a class – that results in a new opportunity.

As one of the people profiled in my book, Terri Lloyd said, “It is not like a firecracker that goes off and suddenly you are catapulted. It is many, many small steps, lots of failures and the accumulation of the learning along the way. All roads lead to someplace.” So be patient and stay the course – over time, success will follow.

The Bottom Line:

Enjoy your Second Act Career! It may be the most rewarding in many ways, and no rule limits you to only one. They may evolve as your interests and needs change, or change quickly as you face other challenges in your life.

More About Successful Career Change:

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Uncover Your Passion to Discover Your Career

Nancy Collamer — Tue, 11 May 2021 17:14:42 +0000

When I help people figure out how to turn their passions into profits without a 9-5 job, one of the first questions I’ll ask them is, “What are you passionate about?”

It seems like it should be an easy enough question to answer, but a surprising number of people struggle to respond.

I think one of the reasons why people have difficulty articulating their passions is because they are so busy with work and other obligations.

Being so busy makes it easier to ignore their passions than to acknowledge and honor them.

But whether we realize it or not, all of us have unique interests, fascinations and passions that make each of us unique. Reclaiming those passions and integrating them into our work is a vital step in the creation of a more fulfilling lifestyle career.

5 Questions to Help You Uncover Your Passion

If you feel like you are out of touch with your inner passions, here are five questions that can help you reconnect with what makes you come alive:

1. What are you the “go-to” person for?

Think about the subjects, issues and topics that people turn to you for in order to gain your advice, input and expert opinion. Are you the go-to person for all things related to computers? Cooking tips? How to lose ten pounds successfully? Sports? The best way to throw an elegant dinner party? Ponder what those questions reflect about your expertise, interests and abilities.

2. What can’t you stop yourself from doing?

We all have certain things that we love to do and we may even do them without giving it much thought.

I have a friend who is always rearranging the furniture, even when everyone else agrees the room already looks beautiful. Not surprisingly, she also loves to read home decorating magazines and watch decorating shows on television. What about you? What things do you find yourself doing with little energy? Do you always look for bargains? Do you like to organize piles of paper or compulisively make lists? Do you visually critique other people’s gardens when you walk in the neighborhood?

Think about what these “effortless” activities say about your innate interests, quirky tendencies and natural inclinations.

3. What language(s) do you like to speak?

No, I don’t mean “language” as in English, Spanish or French, but rather, language as in the topics that you like to talk about all day. Do you prefer politics to party planning, dogs over design, or sports more than science? If someone were to tape your conversations and analyze your speech patterns, which words, phrases or topics would dominate?

Chances are that you have many interests, but if you take the time to consciously evaluate your conversations, there are probably a few topics that you gravitate towards on a regular basis.

4. How do you like to spend your time on weekends?

Weekends represent “me” time: the two days of the week when you get to do what you want (okay, more or less). Think about what your choice of leisure activities reveal about your interests. Do you love strolling around crafts fairs? Playing lacrosse with your kids? Painting? Reading the Sunday paper cover-to-cover? Taking long walks in nature?

How you choose to spend your free time often reflect important information about the activities that bring the most joy to your life.

5. What did you love doing as a child?

In my work with clients, I always ask them about their childhood interests and hobbies. Think back to your early years. Did you love riding horses? Were you into snakes or bugs? Did you like playing hairdresser or actress or doctor? Did you create a lemonade stand or enjoy selling Girl Scout cookies?

The activities we most enjoyed as children provide clues to our innate talents; more so than the way we spend our time as “responsible” adults who strive to satisfy societal expectations, often at the risk of ignoring our inner desires.

The Bottom Line

Take a few minutes to jot down your answers to these questions and then think about what your answers say about your interests, fascinations and passions. Your responses might provide you with valuable information that can be applied towards a meaningful career reinvention.

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The Secret Ingredient to Finding Work You Love

Nancy Collamer — Tue, 11 May 2021 17:14:40 +0000

The other day I had a conversation with a prospective client who was mulling over his career options after having been laid-off from his job as a marketing executive.

When I asked him what type of work he might like to pursue next, his response was, “You know, I’m really not sure.”

Then after pausing for a moment he added, “But I do know one thing. I’d rather do something boring with people I love, than an interesting job around people I can’t stand.”

I admired his candor. And I respected his innate understanding of one of the most important, but often overlooked, keys to finding work you love. When you love the people you work with – whether they are clients, colleagues, bosses or vendors – you will likely enjoy your job.

Conversely, if your co-workers are boring, irritating or abrasive, then you will be equally likely to quickly grow tired with your career. Of course other work-related factors like salary, job-duties and industry focus impact your happiness. But the people part of our work matters far more than most of us realize.

So how do you find work that allows you to spend time with people you like?

1. Clarify what you like.

I realize this sounds painfully obvious, but you’d be amazed by the number of people who have only a vague sense of the type of people they most appreciate at work.

What types of personalities do you most enjoy on the job? Make a list that summarizes your “dream team” characteristics and keep that list top of mind as you network, interview and explore new options.

Keep in mind that the traits you most admire in your friends (spontaneity, candor, a raucous sense of humor, etc.) might be quite different from the characteristics you would enjoy most in a co-worker.

2. Target industries with like-minded personalities.

Different industries tend to attract different personality types. Advertising favors creatives, healthcare attracts nurturers and colleges appeal to intellectuals.

If you’re not sure what types of industries are the best fit for your personality type, consider taking the Myers-Briggs Type Inventory (MBTI) or one of the other career assessment instruments that help you better understand the link between your personality and career options.

3. Date before you marry.

Find ways to test out your compatibility with potential clients, co-workers or colleagues, before committing yourself to a career change: attend a conference; sign up for a workshop; take a class; interact with people on Twitter, LinkedIn or Facebook or volunteer your services in a new industry.

Taking the time to meet new people will help to widen your network of potential employers and expand your options for self-employment.

Remember, these are the people you are going to spend a considerable amount of time with in the future. If you plan to work for twenty more years, you’ll potentially be clocking over 40,000 hours with your colleagues.

Bottom Line

A little bit of upfront planning can help you identify the types of personalities that can help transform a ho-hum job into a far more enjoyable, meaningful and fulfilling work experience.

About the author…

The post The Secret Ingredient to Finding Work You Love appeared first on Job-Hunt.

Making Money with Your Blog: 3 Direct Online Revenue Sources

Nancy Collamer — Tue, 11 May 2021 17:14:40 +0000

Wouldn’t it be great to make your living as a blogger?

In terms of a lifestyle-friendly career, blogging is about as good as it gets; you can write about the topics of your choosing while working from any place you desire.

It takes almost no money to start a blog, and, thanks to social media, you can build your audience on a shoestring budget. It’s no wonder that tens of thousands of new blogs go online every day.

For tips on how to start your own blog, here’s help from ProBlogger.net (an excellent resource on the topic of blogging), How to Set Up Your Blog the Right Way the First Time. Not into do-it-yourself? Get help from a tech friend, or hire a professional (with good references).

Of course, like most ventures, it takes time and persistence before you can transform a blog from a hobby into a money-making venture; and while some bloggers do make a full-time living from their blogs, many more use their blogs as a means to generate supplemental income.

There are two ways to generate revenues from your site; either through direct means (e.g., advertising), or indirectly through opportunities that result from the popularity of your blog.

This month, we are going to focus on the direct monetization channels, and next month we will look at six indirect methods.

The three most popular forms of direct monetization are advertising, sponsorships and affiliate commissions:

1. Advertising:

Advertising is the most popular monetization method that bloggers use. There are many different types of advertising methods, including contextual links, pop-up ads and banner advertising.

Since it takes time for blogs to build-up enough traffic to qualify for private advertising deals, the majority of bloggers secure their advertising through advertising systems such as Google AdSense, and DoubleClick.

Sites with significant traffic, particularly those with high-value visitors, can secure their own private advertising deals, which tend to be far more lucrative than ads sourced through an advertising network.

2. Sponsorships:

High traffic blogs can score sponsorships deals from businesses that want to attract the attention of a unique niche audience. For example, a pet food company might sponsor a customized discount deal on cat treats for a cat site or a cruise line might offer a free cruise on a site targeted to newlyweds.

The nature and terms of the sponsorship will vary from deal to deal and site to site.

3. Affiliate Advertising:

Affiliate programs are where you earn a commission for referring one of your site’s visitors to the affiliate’s site, and your visitor then either purchases a product or completes a form (that could lead to a sale down the road).

Under the right circumstances, affiliate commissions can add-up to significant income, particularly when there is a strong match between the products you recommend and your reader’s unique needs. Of course, you will need to be extremely careful to only refer the best products and services – the last thing you’d want to do is damage the trust of your readers in exchange for a small referral fee.

Bottom Line

Remember, whichever method you choose, this is not a get rich quick scheme. Advertising revenues will increase over time as you build your audience. Be patient, post consistently, and be responsive to your reader’s needs. Most importantly, know that advertising is only one of the ways to generate revenue from your blog. So if that model doesn’t appeal to you, be sure to check back next month when we take a look at six more ways to make money from your blog.

More Information About Making Money From Your Blog

6 Indirect Online Revenue Sources

About the author…

The post Making Money with Your Blog: 3 Direct Online Revenue Sources appeared first on Job-Hunt.

3 Keys to Successful Career Reinvention

Nancy Collamer — Tue, 11 May 2021 17:14:40 +0000

One of the things I enjoyed most about writing my book, Second-Act Careers: 50+ Ways to Profit From Your Passions During Semi-Retirement, was the opportunity it provided me to interview dozens of people who have recreated their careers in all sorts of lifestyle-friendly ways.

Conducting those interviews was humbling, fascinating, and surprisingly revealing. Of course, as a veteran career coach I work around interesting people in transition all the time. But there was something about hearing forty reinvention stories in rapid succession that taught me more about career reinvention than I ever expected.

What did I learn? In the book I discuss my findings in detail, but for now, let me share three of those reinvention lessons here:

1.) It pays to be true to who you are.

Don’t try to live someone else’s definition of success. Honoring who you are and what makes you unique is the first step in aligning yourself with work that allows you to shine and radiate your brilliance to the world.

All too many of us fall into the trap of allowing society to define success for us and that can be a costly mistake. Knowing and claiming what you really want, as opposed to what society claims you should want, is a critical link to success in the reinvention process.

It’s not easy to “come clean” with yourself, but when you’re willing to let go of the glossy trappings of your career in favor of more personally significant paths, amazing transformations can and do happen.

2.) Prepare for serendipity.

I realize that is an oxymoron; you can’t plan where, when, or how serendipity will happen. But rest assured that somewhere along the way, serendipity will grace your path.

I know this might sound a bit “hippy-dippy” to some of you, but I know of no better way to explain the surprising number of times people in my book shared stories of strange coincidences, random conversations, and chance meetings that ended up playing a pivotal role in their reinventions. Did those random events magically change their destiny? Of course not. Good intentions and wishful thinking alone get you nowhere without action.

But if you consistently take actions to move towards your goal, good things are certain to happen.

So, the next time someone extends an invitation, accept it; the next time you hesitate to try something new, rethink your decision; and the next time you’re sitting next to someone on an airplane, start a conversation. Lady luck is certain to make an appearance along the way.

3.) Attitude trumps ability.

The people I interviewed for my book came from diverse backgrounds, but they all seemed to share a common can-do spirit. I wasn’t surprised, because I see the power of a positive attitude at work with my clients all the time.

The ones who believe they will be successful, are successful; and the ones who believe they will fail, do fail.

I loved when one of the women featured in my book, Gracie Cavnar, the founder of the nonprofit organization, Recipe for Success, said, “We ourselves tend to be our biggest ‘boxer-inners,'” she said. “Anyone can do lots of things, but it is their own monkey mind that gets in the way. It is astounding to me how often that happens and it doesn’t seem to have an age barrier.”

I couldn’t agree more. When you believe in yourself, you find the power to try new things, take risks, and better weather the inevitable disappointments and bumps along the road.

So take steps to stay positive. The smallest changes to your daily routine can add up to big changes: surrounding yourself with supporters (and avoiding “Debby Downers”), exercising regularly, cultivating an attitude of gratitude, and limiting your exposure to negativity can all significantly enhance your outlook – and your outcomes.

About the author…

The post 3 Keys to Successful Career Reinvention appeared first on Job-Hunt.

Nancy Collamer, Author at Job-Hunt

Moving From Volunteering to a Career in Nonprofit

5 Tips for Optimizing the Transition to a Non-Profit Career

Avoid volunteering simply because you are asked

Do your homework

Volunteer in high-impact areas

Seek out organizations with “power players”

Broadcast your intentions

More About Volunteering

To Learn More About Work From Home:

More About Turning a Passion into Income:

Lifestyle-Friendly Careers

“Out-of-the-Box” Solutions

Growing Alternatives

Mom looking for a better work-life balance:

From wage slave to thriving entrepreneur:

From executive to activist:

Sounds wonderful, but is it practical?

To Learn More About Work From Home:

More About Turning a Passion into Income:

More About Flexible Job Options:

How to Find Your Best Work-From-Home Job

5 Keys to Work-From-Home Success

1. Target work that can be easily handled at home.

2. Be realistic about finding quality work-at-home positions.

3. Phase into a home-based job.

4. Persist (with caution) in your hunt for work-from-home jobs on the web.

5. If all else fails, go entrepreneurial.

The Bottom Line

To Learn More About Work From Home:

More About Turning a Passion into Income:

Finding Work-From-Home Employers

Determining if the Employer Is a Good One, or Not

Interview Questions to Ask the Employer

1. In what ways is a career with your company better than one with your competitors?

2. What do you enjoy most about working here?

3. What characteristics do the achievers in this company seem to share?

4. What qualities are you looking for in the candidate who fills this position?

Other clues…

The Bottom Line

To Learn More About Work From Home:

More About Turning a Passion into Income:

Work From Home: The Caregiving Option

Caregiving Is a Great Opportunity

Low Start-up Expenses:

Built-in Repeat Business:

Scaleable:

Options to Consider

Child Care

Elder Care

Pet Care

More Information

Bottom Line

To Learn More About Work From Home:

More About Turning a Passion into Income:

10 Keys to a Rewarding Second Act Career

Finding Your Second Act Career(s)

1. Do not get hung up on trying to find your “one and only” passion.

2. Be true to who you are.

3. Worry less about finding a job and more about filling a need.

4. Brainstorm ideas with colleagues.

5. Adopt an opportunity-seeker mind-set.

6. Start sooner rather than later.

7. Expect resistance.

8. Invest in your success.

9. Recognize that forced change can be a gift.

10. Practice patience.

The Bottom Line:

More About Successful Career Change:

Uncover Your Passion to Discover Your Career

5 Questions to Help You Uncover Your Passion

1. What are you the “go-to” person for?

2. What can’t you stop yourself from doing?

3. What language(s) do you like to speak?

4. How do you like to spend your time on weekends?

5. What did you love doing as a child?

The Bottom Line

More About Turning a Passion into Income:

To Learn More About Work From Home:

The Secret Ingredient to Finding Work You Love

***4. Persist (with caution) in your hunt for work-from-home jobs on the web.***