Career Blogs

Good Friday everyone! Just wanted to share one of my latest articles at the SF Examiner Children's Toy Examiner. I am a part time working mom and write for the Examiner for enjoyment. I hope you like my articles, if you do please sign up to be a fan and you will get them in email about once a week.

http://www.examiner.com/x-36042-Santa-Rosa-Childrens-Toys-Examiner~y2010m2d18-A-book-of-sharing-bound-for-happiness

Want Back in the Game?

Check out today's article in Pink Magazine.

Ever taken (or thought about taking) a while off work – to care for family or sail around the world? 30 percent of PINK readers have. But more than 90 percent of women who do so plan to work again. And since the recession started, women who’ve opted out have poured back into the workforce.

Shannon Ingram was a vice president for the world’s second-largest business travel company when she quit to care for elderly parents. Five years later, they needed financial support, so she started job hunting … mid-recession. “Everyone said it would be hard, especially because I was in my 50s.” But six weeks into her search, she was director of marketing for Silverado Senior Living.  

How? During her time-out, she stayed current on business news and technology. “I was one of the first people in my age group on Facebook.” She wrote a book, The Heart Way – A Journey from Corporate to Care. And she volunteered. “I sat on a nonprofit board and substituted in my church office to get back into work-mode.” Plus, new contacts at both helped her land the job! Read more.

I wanted to let you know about an exciting and innovative new program that Sherry Prescott-Willis is teaching at Outside the Cube starting January 29! It's called Marketing Bootcamp: The 90-Day Marketing Challenge. For this program, I promise you we won't be doing physical exercises to get you in shape! Instead, we'll be getting your marketing message and your plan in shape and on track for 2010.

There will be (3) separate sessions to this bootcamp starting on January 29th, and each session will be (2) hours each. These will be small, collaborative sessions where you will learn from other business owners and entrepreneurs as you develop and execute your own 90-day marketing plan.

Challenge a friend to join you and save $150 by signing up together. http://bootcampmarketsv.eventbrite.com/event/475138151 . For more information, go to:www.otcsf.com/events/bootcampmarketsv.

Here's what you will learn and take away from this 90-Day Marketing Challenge:

- Develop and execute upon a 90-day marketing action plan that works for you and your business

- Discover your strengths, re-position your marketing message to customers Identify key growth strategies customized for your business in 2010

- Learn the most cost-effective ways to market to your customers TODAY Brainstorm with other entrepreneurs to gain support and collaborate

- Incorporate innovative ways to drive revenue and new customers into your plans for 2010

I look forward to seeing you join us for the 90-Day Marketing Challenge at Outside the Cube! Childcare available for those who need it. 

For more information on Outside the Cube, go to: http://www.otcsf.com/ . For more information on Market This!: An Effective 90-Day Marketing Tool, go to: www.marketthisbook.com.

One of my favorite work/life writers featured us today in her blog.  This is a wonderful series to jump start your work/life in 2010.

Welcome to Day 5 of the “Work+Life Fit in 5 Days” Series!  It’s time to create a work+life fit plan that best meets your needs and the realities of your job, as they stand today.

Remember, this series not only helps you find your own work+life fit.  It’s equally as important if we want to create more flexible organizations.  That requires a partnership between employer and employee.  Yes, employers need to do their part to create the space where mutually-beneficial flexibility can be discussed and thrive (we need to do more in this area, but we’ve come a long way).  However, we must know how meet our employers halfway, even if they aren’t all joining us at the table… yet (see Fear roadblocks post).

How do you take the vision of what you want and then work through a process that matches that goal with the realities of our work and life? Today, Day 5, introduces you to highlights of that process.

After Days 1-4, You’re Ready and Aware

Before we get started, let’s look back at how the previous four days make it possible for you to create and implement a plan with the greatest likelihood of thriving.   Typically, individuals jump right to the “create a plan,” step.  But first you must have achieved a level of readiness and awareness which we covered in Days 1-4:

Day 1:  What is Work+Life Fit? (Why Does it Matter?) / Seeing the Possibilities

Day 2:  Challenging Work+Life Fit Roadblocks—Success: Money, Prestige, Advancement and Caregiving

Day 3:  Challenging Work+Life Fit Roadblocks—Fear

Day 4:  What Do You Want?  Creating Your Work+Life Fit Vision / Your Internal Guidance

You’re ready, you’re aware, and you have a glimmering idea of what you want, here are the highlights for creating a solid, well-thought out plan.  Like yesterday, we’re covering a lot of territory in the space of a blog post.  Therefore, I am sharing a number of excerpts from the book that will take you to the next level if interested.   Good stuff!

“How to” Roadmap: Making Your Vision a Reality

Excerpt from Work+Life: Finding the Fit That’s Right for You

“You’ve created your work+life vision—a vision full of imagination and possibility, and free of limitation. Now it’s time to change direction and make that vision a reality. This is where the dreaming ends and the steps to actualize your vision begin.

Your vision must be compatible with the current realities of your work and personal life if your final work+life fit is going to succeed.
This involves a “compare for compatibility” process whereby you compare your vision to each specific aspect of your work and personal life in order to identify and potential mismatches. The goal is to rectify and incompatibility before implementing your work+life fit, thus reducing the chance of being derailed later.

Resolving an incompatibility involves changing the reality of it at all possible, or if that’s not an option, adjusting your original vision. Depending on how far apart your vision and your realities are, all of the comparing and adjusting can transform your vision into a very different final work+life fit plan at the end of the roadmap. This may seem a bit disconcerting. You may wonder why you should exert the effort to create that vision in the first place if it’s only going to change. There are two very good reasons…” (Click here for more or to download or print PDF).

Six Most Common Changes Your Vision Will Involve

Making your work+life vision a reality will most likely involve changes in one or more of the following:

• Why you are working
• What type of work you do
• Whom you work for/with
• How you work
• When you work
• Where you work

CHANGE “WHY” YOU WORK

Excerpt from Work+Life Finding the Fit That’s Right for You

“Believe it or not, finding a better work+life fit can be as simple as reframing why you’re working. For some, the source of conflict is “Why am I doing this type of work or this particular job?” The good news is that you don’t necessarily need to leave your current situation to discover an enhanced sense of purpose. Jim’s Story…” (Click here for more or to download or print PDF).

I’ve written about job crafting and encore careers as two examples of changing the “why” or purpose behind the work you are doing.   It’s makes a difference.

CHANGE “WHAT” YOU DO

Excerpt from Work+Life Finding the Fit That’s Right for You

“ Perhaps your vision for a better work+life fit includes a different job or career altogether. This was my experience when I resolved my work/life conflict by transitioning from banking to work+life strategy consulting. It is also the experience of many of my clients. You can devote the same amount of time and energy to a job that you enjoy and a job you don’t. One will make you feel great, while the other will result in work/life conflict.”  (Click here for more or to download or print PDF).

Yup, sometimes you just don’t like what you are doing, and you need to do a different type of work altogether.  Here are some great online resources/books to help you change careers (please share any others you’ve found helpful):

• Maggie Mistal
• Keppie Careers
• Encore Careers
• CareerDiva
• Alexandra Levit, New Year, New Career
• iRelaunch and YourOnRamp (For people transitioning back into the workforce)

Read more

Girlfriends it is now 2010.  What is on your list to accomplish this year?  

Last year I heard so many women talk about getting back to work.  I would hear in round tables, my kids are in school and I really need to do something.  I am done volunteering in the classroom.  Now it is time for me.  But a lot of you out there never put action behind your words.  This is a new year with new opportunities.

So you know what ladies, no more sitting on the sidelines.  It is your turn..  Jump in.  Fortunately 2010 is finally behind us.  We are seeing corporations slowly start hiring.  Those companies that are hesitant to add head count are offering consulting gigs.  Good news for us, as part time work gives us a way to ease back into working rather than jumping back in full time.  Are you thinking in your head, but how is my family going to handle this?  Just remember everything doable and this is the year for you.  They can manage, but you need to set the expectations.  Are you wondering how to do it?  See my TOP SIX CREATIVE WAYS TO START YOURonRAMP!

1) Try a program or take a class. (Many schools offer programs to help women get back into the workforce, such as Harvard Business School's New Path Program, Stanford's Business School and Rice.)
2) Spend a lot of time on YOUR marketing tools (ie. resume, elevator pitch, interviewing techniques).  There are a lot of companies out their that can help you get started like getinterviews.com for resume writing and interview mastery for help refine your interviewing skills.
3) Contact your old employer for consulting projects, job opportunities or for plain old networking.  Don't underestimate the value of old contacts!  They are the ones that know you best.
4) Start a business.  Tired of someone else's schedule.  Want to set your own hours.  Have a great idea.  Then be your own boss!  Astia, a nonprofit that helps women start businesses, is a great resource to use if you have a business plan and want to take your business to the next level.
5) Join a start up ( which may include project work or working for equity or commission).  Nothing like jumping in with two feet.  In a start up you will wear many different hats which will help you refine all of your potentially dusty skills.
6) Take a volunteer job at a company to try something new (non profits are great for this and there is a class on the website to help with the sector switch).

7) Read YOUR Career OnRamp to help set a plan of attack on how to re-enter the workforce in a capacity that is right for you!

Best of luck.  This is a year to make a difference!

Millie

Ramping up in 2010? Here's my interview with Bay Area Parent.  Enjoy!

Bay Area Parent

Mom’s Minute

Ramping Back a Career

When Tiburon mom Catherine Clifford was ready to return to work, she was frustrated by the dearth of family-friendly options and resources available. She found she wasn’t alone. Other moms were worried that the time they took off to raise families made them obsolete in the workplace.

Concerned about the brain drain to society, Clifford and friend Millie Froeb saw an unfulfilled niche and together launched youronramp.com in 2007. The Web site serves as a resource for women in career transition, and offers social networking, career resources and job opportunities.

With the dawn of the new year (and the condition of today’s economy), many moms are reevaluating their career options. Clifford discusses some of the challenges and opportunities for Bay Area moms and explains why it always pays to keep a foothold in the workplace.

What are on the minds of moms these days in regards to their careers?

Post-financial meltdown, I see families being much more conservative in their options. Women are thinking twice about taking time off for the kids and are looking for ways to stay engaged (and employable).

Instead of fully leaving the workforce to care for family, what other options should moms consider ? Read more.

Great article by Ellen Galinsky, President, Families and Work Institute

American women are sleep-deprived, and paying a heavy price for it. So on these pages, Arianna Huffington and Cindi Leive just launched a sleep challenge: get a full night's sleep every night for a month. We applaud Arianna and Cindi's call to action - but we have a suggestion: How about launching a sleep challenge to your team at work -- including your boss? Sound impossible -- why would our bosses want us to sleep more? Maybe they would if they knew that our company's bottom line could be the better for it.

Poor sleep is hurting U.S. businesses. Since 2002, Families and Work Institute's National Study of the Changing Workforce (NSCW) has asked employees directly about how often in the last month they have experienced sleep problems that affect their job performance. The latest data from a nationally representative sample that includes thousands of American employees find that 27 percent have experienced sleep problems that affect their job performance in the last month "at least sometimes," and nine percnt report having sleep problems "often" or "fairly often."

The 2008 NSCW also probes the nature of employees' sleep problems. We find that two-thirds (66 percent) of US employees report having had trouble falling asleep at some point in the last month. Nearly one-third (31 percent) of employees report awakening too soon and having trouble going back to sleep "very often" or "fairly often," with another 27 percent reporting "sometimes" having trouble. This means almost 60 percent of employees surveyed wake up too soon! In fact, only about read more.

Dear Friends of Miss Representation,

Happy Holidays!

Thank you all so much your initial support of Miss Representation! It was wonderful to see you at so many of our events this past year, and we really appreciate your enthusiasm for the film and your generous contributions thus far! This has been a busy and exciting time and we wanted to share a few important updates with you.

Early this fall while working hard to finish the film, we hired a phenomenal new editor, Jessica Congdon, and brought on an experienced consulting producer, Julie Costanzo. With these new additions to our team (and the continuing support of writer/producer Jacoba Atlas) we are confident we will be ready to submit Miss Representation to the Tribeca Film Festival in February of 2010. We have also launched our new site, www.missrepresentation.org, and are very excited to have this web presence up and running. Somewhere along the way Jennifer gave birth to Gavin's and her first daughter, Montana Tessa Siebel Newsom, and our production team has learned first hand the importance of supportive work practices for new moms as we run across the country filming, fundraising, and attending meetings and events with a newborn in our company. Luckily she is a very good flyer!

As you have heard us discuss many times, Miss Representation is much more than a film - it is a critical component to an innovative social outreach campaign connecting six national non-profit partners working to empower girls and women across the country. We are proud to partner with the following organizations: CareerPeeks (www.careerpeeks.org), a service organization which expands career options for young women by connecting them to active leaders in today’s business world; Girls Inc. (www.girlsinc.org), a national youth organization dedicated to inspiring all girls to be strong, smart, and bold through innovative educational programs; The International Museum of Women (www.imow.org), a groundbreaking online social change museum; Step Up Women’s Network (www.suwn.org), a membership organization dedicated to strengthening community resources for women and girls through teen empowerment programs for underserved girls, professional mentorship, and social networking opportunities; The White House Project (www.thewhitehouseproject.org), an advocacy group which aims to advance young women’s leadership in all communities and sectors; and The Women’s Media Center (www.womensmediacenter.com), a watchdog organization which strives to make women visible and powerful in the media. These outstanding non-profit organizations are the film’s equity stakeholders and beneficiaries; we will donate all revenue* from the film to these partners in exchange for agreed upon benchmarks to be achieved by each partner organization. 

Together we are developing campaigns, events, education and mentorship opportunities, and online collaborations that reflect each organization’s mission as well as the goals and objectives of Miss Representation. Examples of our joint endeavors include: an advertising campaign featuring healthy women and positive messages about women/girls that reaches at least five national publications and gains critical media attention; collaboration on content for a Girls' Summit in San Francisco in May of 2010; boycott campaigns that keep women informed about films, television shows, news programs, and magazines that should be avoided due to sexist content; sponsored screenings of Miss Representation benefiting relevant charities; workshops on media literacy, leadership, self-esteem, mentorship, & healthy body image; intensives offering political training to women running for public office; and age-appropriate educational curricula for middle school, high school, and university students.

While concurrently meeting with these partner organizations, we are also finishing filming the 5-7 minute vignettes that will be integrated throughout the film, anchoring our narrative. We are just returning from filming in New York, and have also had successful shoots in Washington, DC, and the Bay Area in recent weeks.

As we need to turn our collective energies more and more toward the creative process of finishing this film, fundraising for this project is in its most critical stage yet! In this special season of generosity and hope, your support is more important to us now than ever before. We know that this has been a difficult economic year for everyone but also believe that the Miss Representation team has a unique opportunity and therefore a responsibility to promote gender equity and further support the empowerment of young girls and women. As a new mom, Jennifer feels the urgency and importance of this project more viscerally than ever before. We encourage you to match your previous donations to this film, and/or to give as generously as you can. Your support—and your continued introductions to friends who can provide support—will make an enormous difference! It's as simple as clicking here to donate by credit card, or sending a check made out to The San Francisco Film Society (memo line: Miss Representation, 1126) to:

Girls' Club Entertainment
912 Cole Street #198
San Francisco CA 94117

While our primary audience is girls and women, this film is for us all! Boys and men need to hear these stories and feel inspired to take action as much as we do if real change is to occur. Be sure to tell your husbands that this film is for them, too, as well as their daughters, granddaughters, sisters, nieces, and daughters-in-law.

Wishing you all the best in this holiday season!

The Miss Representation Team

I highly recommend this service. They provide - original Essay Writing: | Custom Essay | Custom Research Papers

Custom Term Papers | Buy Research Paper

Nice writing tips: Freelance Writing

Hi All,

Stanford just published an article on the Motherhood Penalty -- “At some level, there is still a perceived incompatibility between family and the workplace, which disadvantages mothers,” said Stanford researcher Shelley Correll, PhD, an associate professor of sociology. “My research finds that mothers are judged by a harsher standard, which leads to a ‘motherhood penalty’ in getting hired and being offered a good salary.”

In particular, check out the comments. It's eye opening.

Check out this and other interesting articles about women, work, gender at http://gendernews.stanford.edu

Love to hear your thoughts.

Best,
Catherine

I'm quite sure that many of you watches the AMA's Awards day. You've been surfing the  gowns and tuxedos of celebrities that are present. Who are hot and who's not? But so many incidents where unexpected. And one of the AMA's hottest issue is J.Lo's fall in AMA's stage performance.

Don't start worrying; J. Lo’s fall wasn’t a bad one. She was uninjured, but when J. Lo falls at the AMAs, it's kind of a big a deal.

Luckily, the same part of her body that helped her become uber-famous has not only made her millions, it protects her when J Lo falls on stage. So she's fine. Anyway, she has a hefty insurance policy on that piece of real estate of hers, so if she did need medical attention she wouldn’t need quick personal loans or anything.

Well, J.Lo you really are in my ramp for today!

Dear Marin County MomsRising Member,

Did you know that for the first time in our nation's history, women are half of all U.S. workers, and mothers are the primary or co-breadwinners for almost 2/3 of American families?  These facts (and more!) have just been released in a report co-authored by Maria Shriver and the Center for American Progress. [1]  

Join MomsRising this Friday, November 13th at 10:30 am in San Rafael for a discussion of the report and to hear Joan Blades, co-founder of MomsRising.org and MoveOn.org, speak at a Congressional hearing sponsored by Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey.

Date:  Friday, November 13, 2009
Time:  10:30 am - noon
Location:  Marin County Civic Center, 3501 Civic Center Drive
Room: Board of Supervisors Chambers (Rm 330)
San Rafael, CA  94903

This event will be a great opportunity to learn more about how our society, businesses and individuals can better support the American worker and family. 

Hope to see you there!

Ashley

[1] For information from The Shriver Report, visit: http://awomansnation.com/preface.php.

I thought I should let you all know of a great San Francisco Bay Area event.

If you (or someone you know) is looking for a job, or you simply want to manage your career better, sign up for the Career ReBoot Camp (www.careerrebootcamp.com). It may be the best investment you will ever make in your career.

And your future.

More than 30 top career experts from around the United States will share their knowledge at this one-of-a-kind event being held October 26-27 in San Rafael, CA.

The Career ReBoot Camp includes everything you need to know to make your career transition a sucess.
Social media networking with Linkedin, Facebook and other popular sites.
Resume 2.0 design.
Interviews that land jobs.
Networking---the source for 85% of all jobs.
Staying motivated, positive and focused.
Managing your life successfully while unemployed.
Finding the "hidden" jobs.
How to cut your job search time by 500%.
Creating your own job by starting a business.
Going from temp work to full-time.
Webifying your job search.
Creating a Career Buiness Plan.
And much more.
Participants also receive:
A headshot photo taken by a professional photographer.
A video of themself in a mock interview.
The world of work has changed dramatically in the past three years. Be ready for it.

Sign up for the Career Reboot Camp (www.CareerRebootCamp.com) today. Or consider sponsoring someone who may need help. And please forward this message to your contacts. It could change their life.

According to industry analysts, one of the top ten recession-proof careers in today’s grueling job market is the Medical Insurance Billing Specialist. As you probably already know, careers in the health industry are both rewarding and well paying. A medical billing career can put you in the center of the medical industry, in a very valuable position, and may even allow you to work from home.

The need for medical billing specialists is at an all time high. As baby boomers reach their golden years and insurance companies constantly update processing regulations, there is a great deal more work available to process this information then there are people that are trained to do the job.

Billing and coding is essential to both the medical team and the patient. Medical billing can be an incredibly exciting and challenging career. Billers must make sure that doctors are compensated correctly, handle insurance requirements and help patients be treated fairly.

The personal benefits of a medical billing career are numerous. Medical billing jobs offer flexibility, excellent pay, and, after gaining some experience, the ability to work from home. Many physicians even outsource their billing work to help them save money by not having to supply benefits to in house employee.

Medical Billing is an ideal career choice for a home based business. As a home-based business, medical billing requires very little startup or overhead. Once you have the necessary experience, which should include a diverse understanding of anatomy and medical terminology, insurance policies and procedures, you can get a business started with only a personal computer and the billing software.

Medical Billing & Coding Course Certificates can be achieved in a matter of months.  Not too many career paths get your prepared so quickly to begin work in as little as four months.

info@aceltraining.com