The Current State of the Salary History Question

The Current State of the Salary History Question Sponsored by MightyRecruiter For years, job interviews have led up to the coy guessing game known as the salary negotiation. Applicants try not low-ball, while employers dread paying more for talent than they need to. One way around all this high-stakes guessing has been to become increasingly inquisitive about salary history, with some employers going as far as asking candidates to provide W2s to back up reported income. It’s nerve-wracking and intrusive, and soon it may be illegal. In fact, in five states it already is. A growing number of states and municipalities are enacting laws that prohibit government agencies as well as employers from asking about salary history during the hiring process. Gaining Momentum California, Delaware, Massachusetts, Oregon and Puerto Rico prohibit employers from asking about certain types of compensation. New Jersey and New York prohibit state agencies from asking about past salary. In addition, a salary history ban passed by lawmakers in Illinois is expected to go into effect once legislators override the governor’s veto. San Francisco, New York City, Albany County, and Philadelphia have also attempted to impose a ban on salary history questions. In New Orleans and Pittsburgh, city agencies cannot ask about past compensation. Even some corporations, including Amazon and Bank of America, have banned the salary question. Despite some resistance, including Michigan’s move to ban municipalities from passing laws prohibiting salary inquiries, more states are expected to pass similar legislation soon.   Narrowing the Gap Salary history laws are intended to narrow the pay gap between men and women, currently hovering at about 80 cents on the dollar. Employer bias likely plays a role in the gender wage gap, but candidate behavior adds to the gap as well. Proponents hope that limits on salary history will address both problems. Traditionally, women have been less aggressive than men when it comes to negotiating starting salaries. In addition, some employers routinely offer female candidates less, knowing they are less likely to counter offer. This means that many women are carrying the baggage of their lower entry-level salary ranges from job to job, never catching up with their male peers. A similar pattern is at play when it comes to race and ethnicity, which helps to explain why black and Latina women faring even worse than their white counterparts, earning 60 cents and 55 cents to the dollar earned by men. Questioning the question ban Not all experts see the laws as a quick fix. None of the laws would prohibit employers from offering female candidates less than men based on the assumption that they will accept it. Even when no past salary history is disclosed and candidates are simply asked to name the desired salary, research shows that women typically name a lower figure. In addition, research has shown that women who do not disclose past salary voluntarily are routinely offered slightly less than women who do disclose. In contrast, men who refuse to disclose past salaries are offered slightly more money. Getting around the question Instead of asking about past or current salary, some recruiters and hiring managers are asking candidates about their salary expectations. The problem with this approach is that women tend to name lower opening figures than men when asked about salary expectations. For recruiters and hiring managers, staying on top of internal and industry salary and compensation trends is the best way to make sure your salary offers are sufficient and on target for the market, as well as equitable. For job applicants, no matter your gender or what laws govern past salary disclosure in your area, always counter your first salary offer with a number that you are ready to back up with evidence that addresses why you are worth more, along with knowledge of industry norms. Staying in compliance If you live in a state or municipality where salary history questions are banned or are likely to be forbidden soon, review all recruitment forms and processes, such as online applications and job ad templates, and remove all mentions of past salary. Instead, set a pay range for each job and consider sharing it with applicants early on, or even include it in the job description portion of the job ad. Make sure you inform all managers and personnel who are involved in the hiring process about the policy to avoid asking questions about past salary and make clear to them what the stakes are if prohibited questions are asked during interviews. If you are a recruiter in a jurisdiction where a ban applies, make sure your clients understand the law. If you are an employer working with an outside recruiter, make a point of mentioning the ban on seeking past salary information from candidates. According to Delaware’s law, for example, an employer could be fined thousands of dollars per offense if an outside recruiter requests salary history on the employer’s behalf. Embracing change It may take some extra planning and discipline to set and stick to stated salary ranges for all job functions, but in the long run, it may lead to stronger hires. After all, it makes more sense to pay someone according to their skills and potential value to the company rather than rewarding them based on the negotiation weaknesses of their last employer. About the author: MightyRecruiter  is an intuitive, comprehensive, and transformative recruiting solution.  Source passive candidates, track and manage applicants, access an expansive resume database, take advantage of Mighty’s free job postings, and hire the most relevant candidates for your jobs, all at no cost.

Personal Branding Interview Alan Collins - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

Personal Branding Interview Alan Collins - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career Today, I spoke to Alan Collins, who is author of Unwritten HR Rules: 21 Secrets for Attaining Awesome Career Success in Human Resources and a former Vice President of Human Resources at Pepsi.   In this interview, Alan talks about employee referral programs, how HR has changed over the past decade and some trends to watch for, job seeker and HR tools and more. Do you think companies have empowered employees to do the recruiting for them enough? Dan, yes and no. Most of the best companies have put lucrative employee referral programs in place. Though these programs, employees are empowered to refer job candidates. And they can earn referral bonuses that can range from $00 to up to $8000 if their referrals are hired and stay with the company. This is great news for employees that have large networks. They literally can create an additional income stream for themselves by just referring candidates from their network to be hired at their companies. Its a win-win for these companies too because its a proven fact that employee referrals are the best source for qualified new hires. On the other side of the coin, companies have made it extremely difficult for employees find time to do this because while theyve downsized their workforces they’ve not downsized the work. As a result, everyones overworked these days. When youve done massive headcount reductions and youre now left with 20 survivors doing the work that 50 people used to do, these folks are overworked, frustrated, angry and looking for jobs themselves. And frankly, theyre not that excited about helping to recruit people for the company if theyre also in the job market themselves. How have you seen HR change over the past decade? What were the major milestones and what do you think will happen in the future? The biggest change for HR over the past decade has been moving from pushing paperwork forward to helping to push the business forward. In the old days, HR spent its time on processing new hires, doing reference checking, and pestering managers to get their performance reviews in on time very paperwork intensive. Today, the most successful HR professionals are business leaders who specialize in improving business results by maximizing the companys talent. They work to ensure that their company is competitive by developing ways to retain the best employees and helping these employees improve their productivity and commitment to the organization. Thats a big change. The paperwork is still there but technology has eliminated it a lot of italong with the old-school HR paper pushers. The future is bright for HR. Obviously Im biased, but Ive never met a CEO or business leader who is not interested in improving the performance of the business through the talent in his or her company. And thats what HR does and will continue to do in the future. So, I dont see HR going away any time soon. However, the work of HR will continue to change in the future. For example, as more baby boomers defer retirements because of the recession, the HR leader will need to help address generational issues at work. Well see more innovations in benefits like elder care, pet care, concierge services, paid time off and flextime. With companies competing for top talent, HR folks will need to come up with these and other newer benefits to meet the diverse generational needs of the millennials, Gen Xs, Gen Ys and others they want to attract and keep. Technology innovations will continue to be big too. Enterprise-wide platforms like SAP and PeopleSoft that standardizes HR work will continue to evolve. So will the use of social networks like LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook in recruiting and the use of virtual teams of employees who communicate through video-conferencing, e-mail, and text messaging. Online technologies that allow more work to be done without much face-to-face interaction will also grow by leaps and bounds in the future. And, HR will need to stay on the leading edge of all of this. I believe well also see, as a result of the financial banking crisis, HR stepping up and playing a stronger internal role in the regulation of issues such as fairness in the workplace, executive pay, 401k’s, and ethics. Or at least, I hope so. No one wants their company to be the next AIG. Finally, I also expect to see more HR executives appointed as CEOs of large organizations. HR leaders have already moved into top positions in sales and operations positions in many companies. So, its a natural evolution to expect that they will fill more roles at the very top. And when that happens, itll be a great sign that the HR profession has finally arrived. What tools do you recommend for someone in HR? For HR professionals looking to advance their HR career, there are two tools that I believe are absolute musts. The first is LinkedIn. Its the greatest career management tool ever invented for anyone and especially those in HR. There are 500,000 HR folks on LinkedIn and its a great tool for branding yourself and getting yourself findable by other HR professionals, employers and recruiters that can help your advance your career. The second tool I recommend is my new book: Unwritten HR Rules. In today’s economy, advancing your HR career is all about performing, knowing your business cold, building the right relationships and marketing yourself just like your company promotes their products. And in my book, I not only dive deeply into all these areas, but provide numerous solutions as well. Its tough to find unbiased career advice. In a tough economy, your boss and even some headhunters can be biased as it relates to what’s best for your career. All of this creates a huge dilemma for the career-minded HR professional that wonders who they can really turn to. My book provides needed guidance and fills this void in HR. It lays out twenty-one different strategies for taking one’s HR career to the next level. What tools do you recommend for a job seeker? The number one tool I recommend for any job seeker is their personal network. Most recruiters will tell you that networking will deliver more job interviews to you than any other method. More than answering ads. More than hitting the online job boards. And more than putting your resume down Monsters black hole and hoping that youll get some hits. The tough thing about networking is depending on your personality, its either a lot of fun or a lot of work. For me, Im not a natural networker, so its work for me.   So, if youre like me, you have to discipline yourself to do it. But if youre in the job market, you must do it. Good networking takes effort, sincerity and time. Start taking people to lunch. Start attending cocktails, dinners, and networking events. Set goals for yourself. For example: “I want to have a good conversation and exchange business cards with at least 3 people during this event.” Theres an old saying that you should dig the well before youre thirsty. Well, this applies to networking. LinkedIn is also a great tool for helping you do this too. Can you go over your personal brand story with PepsiCo? How did you get started and climb the ranks? I started as an HR trainee at a steel company and then went to Quaker Oats. Ive moved through 16 different HR jobs over my 25 year HR career. When Quaker merged with PepsiCo in 2001, I became an HR executive in the PepsiCo organization. As VP of Human Resources, I was responsible for HR initiatives in the Quaker Oats, Gatorade and Tropicana businesses. I provided HR leadership for one of the largest single change initiative in the history of the PepsiCo organization. And, I led an HR team of 60 HR managers and directors, where we supported 7000 employees and $8 billion in sales spread across 21 different locations in North America. It was a terrific experience. Ive climbed the ladder by building relationships and trying to leave a legacy in every assignment Ive had along the way. A few years ago after the death of my son, I re-purposed my life and career. My personal brand and lifes work today is all about giving back, making a difference and serving the HR global community. I contribute to causes that I care deeply about and focus on using my strengths to strengthen others. Last October, I left my HR executive career in corporate America to pursue all this on a full time basis. Today, Im a published author, run a scholarship program and have other initiatives in the works that will help make a difference in the HR profession. HR has given me a fulfilling and extremely rewarding career and I’m working to pay it forward to other HR professionals…and I’m having a blast! - Alan Collins is author of Unwritten HR Rules: 21 Secrets for Attaining Awesome Career Success in Human Resources. He was formerly Vice President of Human Resources at Pepsi where he led HR initiatives for their Quaker Oats, Gatorade and Tropicana businesses. Today, he is President of SuccessInHR.com, a company providing HR professionals and executives around the globe with insights and tools for enhancing their careers. With 25 years of corporate, field and executive experience in HR, he has written over 0 articles and white papers on human resources topics.

9 Things Wrong With Online Business Right Now and How to Rise Above (Part 2) - Classy Career Girl

9 Things Wrong With Online Business Right Now and How to Rise Above (Part 2) Yesterday, I covered what is going wrong in the online business world. Today, I am covering how you can rise above and do it right. These are ways that you can market yourself and advertise your business so that you arent like everyone else.  Ways that you can build a business and a brand for a lifetime, not just a really popular thing right now. Not only that, but this is actually a way that you can build a business you love, not just a business that will make you lots of money. One of my biggest motivations is helping women find careers they love and start businesses they love. You would be amazed at how many women have businesses they hate. They have designed them to make money instead of designing them based off what they love. They now have no time and have to make sacrifices in their lives to keep their business  going. Its easy to rise above, stand out and create a business you love. The 5 step steps are below. But heres the thing. You cant just read them. You have to promise me that you will take action. You actually have to do them. How to Rise Above the Online Noise 1. Dont Rely On Others To Start Your Business For You Instead of relying on other people to grow your list for you (such as the tele-summit in a box strategy I told you about yesterday), YOU actually do the work of getting to know your audience, figuring out your niche and you ideal markets frustrations. Dont get 23 people together and expect them to build a business for you and help you discover how to serve your audience. Growing a list that doesnt know you at all is not starting a business. Your action: Create a survey and share it anywhere and everywhere. Talk to your ideal client and ask them questions about what they need and want.  Study all of their answers. Write them down. Create a cheat sheet of all of their answers that you reference anytime  you do anything in your business. 2. Be 100% You. As much as I love to give away the step-by-step in my business launch course, Corporate Rescue Plan,  and give you the exact how to build a list and other little tasks on this blog,  each part of my course and the articles I write on this website  are designed to bring out your most unique self. You need to be different. You need to stand out. You cant do it exactly like me. I cant do it exactly like you.  I give you a plan. Follow it. Tweak it. Change it. Make it yours. But, whatever you do, be 100% you. Your action: Journal every single day.  Meditate. Be quiet. Get off Facebook and social media and write down  what you truly value in your life. Write down in your journal what you would tell your ideal client if it was the last thing you could ever say.  What do you REALLY want to tell them that you might be scared to tell them? What do you really want to do with your life, but are scared of what other people will think and have lots of fear inside about it?  Discover yourself first and what you enjoy doing the most. 3. Unfollow, Unsubscribe and Lead. Inspire your tribe. Do something cool and different to rise above the rest of the same old. What content do you love sharing even if you dont think there is a market for it? Go through your emails you have deleted over the last week and unsubscribe instead. This is where you trust yourself to guide you instead. You trust your own unique self who can take you so much farther than modeling anyone else already out there. There is something inside of you that is meant to impact and change the world and if you are studying all these other people, you will never be able to get it out and make that difference you are meant to. Stop following and start leading.  No matter what stage of business you are in, you have to lead the way. You action:  Use Unroll.me  to save time removing yourself from daily emails you signed up for but now dont really need. Remove yourself from email newsletters that at one time you wanted to model what they were doing. Remove yourself from every email and social media profile that is getting in your way. Remove the ones where you think, Wow! She is doing that. I wish I could be like her. How does she have the time? Oh, she teaches it like that, I dont. Maybe I am not as good as I think I am. You do not need to be reading that stuff! Then, start hiding people and pages on Facebook that are not influencing you positively. 4. Dont Share What. Share how. I have to give Mirasee credit for sharing this marketing trend that I couldnt agree more with. While we’ve seen this trend rising with the popularity of Udemy and other online education platforms, 2016 will be the first year where we see some serious momentum with education rising in importance and information falling off. This is key. Dont just share information.  Educate. Dont share what to do. Share how to do it. I am a huge fan of learning. I am always buying books and courses. I try in all of my own programs and even in these blog articles to teach the how step-by-step. But, others dont and it drives me crazy when I invest in something and its just a bunch of information and no practical step-by-step guidance. Teaching is big, but not everyone online is a teacher. Taking a course to hear someone go off the cuff nicely, presented in a membership site is not a helpful course. I have invested heavily in learning HOW to teach and put courses together. If you are going to educate anyone online, I highly recommend taking Udemy.coms free course on how to create a course. Whether you end up publishing your course on Udemy or not, this course made a big difference before I launched my 2.0 version of Love Your Career Formula. If I am buying a course. I want guides. I want checklists. I want downloadable audios and videos. Thats how I create my courses and I expect the same from other people. Stop worrying about the next step in your funnel and what you want to lead people to and you can only give so much information that isnt already in your next upsell course. Just share great content! Teach them exactly how you startedfor free! Your action: What do you know? What can you share? What have you done or learned that you can break down step-by-step and teach someone? If you like to talk a lot and have a tendency to ramble, create an outline and some simple steps that you can give away as a guide with your training. Then, practice going through it and always get feedback to make it better. I have improved my courses every few months over the last four years and continue to do so each time I get a survey back. 5. Build a Community (and Be Active In It Too!) People want to get to know you better. They want the personal touch. They want to feel understood and they want to trust you in order to buy from you. No longer can you just create a product or website without creating a community around it, too. This was so much easier than when I started and had to figure out how to put a forum on my website (impossible). Now you have a free Facebook that you can start today to start getting to know them better. In our Classy Career Girl Network Facebook community, I can ask them questions, get to know them better, share really great content, take surveys and answer questions. It helps me create relevant content by knowing what they need and the questions that keep coming up and it inspires me to give more when I see them getting results with what I teach. Your action: Create a community. Invite people who are already following your blog or that you just know personally into a free Facebook group and start getting to know them. Remember, dont just create a group and then not keep it up. Check in daily and share something helpful. Whatever you do, dont delegate this step! Please share what you think in the comments below! How do you rise above the noise?

How to Make the Home More Festive

How to Make the Home More Festive Ho ho ho! Wait! Do we have a female Santa? Whichever the case, it does not matter. I only had to remind you that it is Christmas time once again! Let’s agree; this is the best time of the year for everyone. In that case, I am here to help you make this special time appear really special. Don’t you find it strange that a house looks the same in February and in December? It is strange, no doubt. Following this, and it is better if you are a woman, here are some tips on how to make the home more festive this Christmas. Festive entry lights Nothing announces the festivities better than colored lights! Get energy-efficient retro-style color bulbs and wrap them around your mailbox, your entry gate, around your outer door frames or line the windows. Do not limit yourself to this idea; just find whatever works for you and light up that home! Garden themes Your garden is one the best ways to announce a festive home. You can find multiple ideas on how to spice up your garden for this celebration time. For example, you can place rustic aluminum containers on the stairs, door and porch. Then, you can chip in some bright accent herbs such as berries and red amaryllis at the front door’s entrance. Consider using some lights to highlight this beauty at night. Holiday tableware You might have, or you can buy, some festive-themed tableware like cups and dishes. Recommended themes include brightly-colored and flowery wares or those adorned with Christmas-like decorations. For instance, if you find cups with a snowman image, they work fine. Second, arrange them on the table in creative ways. You can incorporate candles and/or colored lights on the table to add to the effect. Holiday wreaths Hang swags or wreaths on all your doors. Of course, you need to start from that outer door. If you have enough wreaths, hand them on both sides of the doors. The windows, too, are always willing to help. You can have varieties of wreaths such as raffia, pinecone, berries, grapevine, pine candy, birds or bow-themed ones. Just get creative! To cut down on your annual expenditure, buy artificial wreaths and reuse them a few times. Play some music If you want to be sure that music has a huge effect on festivities, try https://escortjourney.com/ and playing “Jingle Bells” in April. You will feel weird, and, if there is anyone around you, they will just turn and stare! Now, do the same for Christmas. It will uplift your spirits and people will probably sing along. That said, when you get into the house, fill the house with those festive tunes! Have plenty of delicacies around Food is the climax of these fun times. You should expect a lot of guests, and, even if not so, you need to make your family happy. Bake some lovely gingerbread cookies. Keep a bowl of fresh fruit varieties in the common spaces. Keep a basket of candies complete with some scissors to help with opening the candy. Make the best food that you can at this time. The aroma of the delicacies cooking is enough to transform your home into a festive carnival! It feels great, already! Now, have yourself a merry festive season, won’t you?

Freedom, Free Will, and Choosing Your Career - CareerMetis.com

Freedom, Free Will, and Choosing Your Career We live in a society that expects from you to know from an early age what you’ll do for the rest of your life.For that reason, more and more people may end up in careers for which they have no passion or love.evalHere you have five steps on how to build a strong foundation for your career:1. Love yourselfUnfortunately, self-love is conditioned; fortunately, it’s conditioned by knowing yourselfPassion comes from:mastery,achievement,and discovery.So love thyself, know thyself, and choose your path. Choose a career that fits you, and stop trying you to fit Most things you choose in life take away a bit of your freedom. Yet, that beat you pay, it’s compensated with success and personal pride as a human being:You feel useful;You count;You matter;You are important;You make a difference in the world;You are not your family and yourself.So, as the second step in building a strong foundation for your career: Be willing to sacrifice a tiny bit of freedom.Freedom means very little when al l you could do with it is to laze on the couch. Place you’re Free will sounds as if you decide what to do based on impulse and desire.Free arbitrary sounds like you decide, only after an in-depth analysis, weighing your options carefully, using your logic, knowledge, and emotions.Use your improved understanding of the free will, determine the course of your life and what career to choose.4. Discover your genetic programmingWe don’t like to hear this, but we are genetically programmed with talents and affinities in specific fields, and we are Pay attention, sometimes, you might feel useless in some fields not because you don’t have the talent for them, but because someone told you that you could never master those skills.For example, did your music teacher yet, if you must work with a team, you adapt quickly because you’re the person most knowledgeable…but still might not like it. As a minus, the observer is kind of dull and adores peace and quiet; noise, of any kind, can throw the observer out of focus for hours.If you are a doer, most likely prefer to work with a team; enjoy the hustle and bustle of a big city; you might love being always on the run. As a minus, you have too much speed to see, really see the scenery of life.If you are a learner, most likely you’re somewhere between the observer and the doer. You adapt quickly but get bored fast as well. You like to be challenged, discover something new every day, and keep yourself informed.Choose a career that takes advantage of your preference, and you’ll be, not only satisfied with your work but, pretty soon, passionate about it.Now that you discovered these easy to follow five steps to choose a career start moving; amazing things are waiting for you!

What To Do When A Disaster Strikes The Office - Pathfinder

What To Do When A Disaster Strikes The Office - Pathfinder What To Do When A Disaster Strikes The Office Watching all of the coverage of Hurricane Sandy and the devastation that the storm has wrought as the images continue to come in as everyone begins to dig out begs a question. Beyond personal safety, property repairs, replacement purchases, and insurance forms, what happens to people whose employers suffered a catastrophe at the office â€" the workplace is destroyed, heavily damaged, or otherwise inoperable? What do you do if your office is destroyed/damaged by a catastrophe or large-scale disaster? Each situation is completely different, and lot of how your company rebounds from a disaster truly rests on the company leaders’ previous business continuity plans. Here are some suggestions to develop a personal action plan to deal with a sudden loss of an employer or job due to a natural or man-made catastrophe: 1. Talk to the bosses. Either try to make contact with them, or wait for them to reach you, depending on the scale of the disaster… sometimes phone contact simply isn’t possible, so you may have to resort to other methods including email and even in-person visits to the office location, which is only advisable when conditions are safe enough to permit it. The company leaders’ biggest concerns are to resume normal operations as quickly as possible, and they need the help of employees to make it happen. However, if the physical damage is so great that the office is simply not in existence anymore, the leaders need to make specific decisions about how to proceed. Many companies have invested in business interruption insurance which can help cover expenses for rebuilding/repair including employee compensation. So take your cue from the boss and find out what their plan is to proceed. 2. Assess the damage. The more you can do to provide a snapshot of how your particular area of work is affected, the better clarity your boss will have of how what can be restored quickly and what needs investment of company resources for replacement or repair. This can include processes, deadlines, equipment, files, and overall operations. Whenever possible, forward a report to your supervisor so they can take your area into consideration during the recovery process. 3. Offer to help. A company calling for “All hands on deck” can help provide more manpower on the ground to restore normal business operations. It could mean clean-up, extra hours of work, and tasks that eclipse your normal scope of work, but being part of the restoration team also earn you some bonus points while giving you a first-hand birds-eye view of how quickly the company can get back up and running. 4. Offer to work virtually. So many companies have files on cloud servers that it is fairly easy for a large number of employees to work off-site. If this is possible, employers appreciate it when staff immediately jump in to resume normal operations despite being offsite this literally can be how the companys heartbeat is kept going. If you can work virtually, it’s also a good idea to keep good documentation of your hours and where you are spending time in case employers need this information. 5. Don’t be afraid to ask about the company status. The confluence of dealing with a disaster, trying to assess operations, and developing a roadmap for business continuity can mean a lot of immediate and urgent things are competing for your boss’ attention, but you should make sure that you find out where your job stands within a few days of a disaster. Knowing if the business is closed for good, temporarily shuttered, or operating on limited basis is important for your own planning. If company officials aren’t forthright shortly after conducting an operational triage, then you need to be direct with them so you have a better understanding of what you need to do for your own financial survival. 6. Set up your own emergency career survival plan. Financial planners are constantly preaching about having a savings buffer of at least 6 months’ salary in the bank. This can provide important “breathing” spaces while your boss assesses what is next for the company… but at a certain point, you need to know when to move on if there is no hope for continued employment based on the reality of the situation. But before you leave the business, make sure that you completely understand your eligibility for any insurance, workers’ comp, or state benefits for displaced workers. It is a scary time when all of a sudden, your employment jeopardy as a result of unforeseen circumstances like fires, hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, or floods. The best thing you can do is be as prepared as possible, be willing to step up, but also keep an eye on what your “line in the sand” is to know when it is time to move on. Have you ever suffered an office disaster? What steps did you take to overcome it? Love to hear your ideas/get your feedback.

Dont throw the baby out with the bathwater! - Hallie Crawford

Dont throw the baby out with the bathwater! I was thrilled to be featured in this article on CNN last week, Trading a six-figure salary to become a teacher. Jon Fitchs story is inspirational, but as we all know, it’s not applicable to everyone. Not everyone can afford to make a dramatic career change like he did, but that doesnt have to stop you from finding your dream job. Two important points to keep in mind: 1) Remember doing what he did and having enough savings to live off of is only one of MANY ways to realize your dream career. Read further in the article and youll see that I made my dream a reality by having a bridge job a job that paid my bills while I was working towards becoming a career coach. 2) Jons career change is dramatic. Hes taking a much lower paying job, in a different industry, in a time when the economy is tough. What I find, fortunately, is that most career changes don’t have to be this dramatic. What happens to us is we become so frustrated by our current jobs, and sometimes we are so unhappy, that it feels like we need to throw the baby out with the bathwater. This is not the case. With my clients, 7 times out of 10, they dont make a change into a career that is completely different from their current career. I was talking to a group coaching client, Jenny, about it this week. She desperately wants to make a change, but its primarily because of her boss and the culture of her company, not because of her industry. Jennys right career fit were thinking, is actually something shes done in the past, and similar to what shes doing now but in a much smaller organization. Its a slight course correction, not a dramatic change. Your transition may seem bigger than it actually is, just because youre so frustrated. Take a step back, a deep breath, and re-assess how dramatic your change really needs to be to make you happy! Atlanta Career Coach P.S. For more career help, be sure to contact us for a complimentary consultation to see what products or services are right for you!