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Love Your Job - Helping you to love your job or to find a job you do love.
 

 

December 2007

Denise Taylor, Career Coach

Welcome to the December newsletter. May I begin by sharing some great news. I've won a national career award for my Gold Career Programme. The competition is sponsored by The Independent Newspaper and I was delighted to win first prize in the working with adults category. I've got a great piece of crystal on a bookcase, a certificate on the wall and recognition for all the work I've been doing with clients. I'm delighted that so many of my previous clients were happy to write testimonials which, I think, really enhanced my application.

I've also been working incredibly hard. I’ve got a lot of projects on the go, I’m manage to juggling them ok but will be glad to get them completed. 

Very soon you will be able to visit my new web site. I don't have the technical capability to do what I want it to do and it will take too long to learn (I'm not a web designer but a career guide).  I'm using an expert and making better use of my time, but I still have to rewrite text, think about structure, choose graphics, and liaise with designers. I don’t think I had realised just how much time this would take.  

What have I learnt from being so busy?  Perhaps to think about if I really do need to do everything right away. I didn’t need to have new business stationery and business cards created at the same time, and this could have waited. However I did decide not to help my husband with his business idea – I’ve told him he’s my priority when I’ve finished my urgent and essential pile.  

All the other tasks I have are piled up in order of priority so I can focus on the most essential tasks first. It would be so easy to get distracted by the nice to do, but that isn’t finishing off new web pages.  I'll let you know when its up.

In the meantime plenty for you to read this month

In this issue:

Take care, and talk soon

Denise Taylor's signature x

Winner of National Career Award, 2007 for The Gold Career Programme                     

 ICG National Career Awards

"Highly developed programme - over 4 years to meet a need for cost effective holistic guidance for adults. Judges Panelnational career awards 2007

I am so pleased to have won a National Career Award for The Gold Career Programme, it is great to get recognition for my in-depth career coaching programme. If you would like to know more, please get in touch. indedpendent

Here's the link to read the details on the Institute of Career Guidance Web site.  

You can also watch the video I sent to my wonderful clients who sent in letters of support here. I do come across as a bit excited! You do need to press the play button.

Enjoying Christmas

Christmas, what does this conjure up for you - carols around the tree and time for friends and loved ones. Or broken toys, arguments and having to work too hard to do what you think you should do. Being pressurised to produce the perfect Christmas and having a house full of argumentative and unappreciative relatives.

What sort of Christmas do you want to have? Do you really want to do non stop entertaining or do you prefer more peace and quiet? What about your family, what do they want to have?

Why not take some time now to decide on the right Christmas for you and your family where you all get what you want. If you want some peaceful time make sure you can get this, whether it be to go out for a walk, read on your bed, or banish the rest of the family to another room for a couple of hours so you can listen to the music you want? If you are going to do a lot of entertaining, how can others help? Could your visitors bring the starter or pudding?

You don't have to be perfect! When I decided to treat Christmas dinner, like a Sunday lunch, the pressure was off.

So do some thinking now and enjoy Christmas.

Active Listening

We need to do a lot of listening over Christmas, all those older relatives! So here's one of my previous articles as I think it can be a useful reminder.

We are taught how to read and write, but not how to listen.  We can enhance our relationships with others through effective listening.  Here are 20 things you can do to enhance your listening skills.

  • Leave your own concerns to one side.  You can’t focus on somebody else if you are also thinking about your problems, to do list or concerns. This leads onto

  • Allow yourself sufficient time. If you have to dash off to a meeting, you will want to go at a quicker pace to suit you, not the person who you are listening to.

  • Talk less than you listen. We have two ears and one mouth, so have your communication in the same proportion.

  • Use eye contact. It is hard for someone to continue to talk with someone who is not looking at them.

  • Show some nonverbal behaviour. Make use of nods of the heads and uhhuhs etc. All of these encourage the other person to say more. But don’t just use them ad hoc when you are not really listening. It devalues them.

Read more >> 

Amazing People Career Services

Along with my new web site I've been having new brochures created. To read more on my services you can download new leaflets on

What Denise did last month

  • Undertook 29 client sessions on career discovery, career management and job search
  • Wrote 30 entries on my blog
  • Worked on the dress rehearsal for the Civil Service Fast Stream 2008 campaign
  • Did a days assessing for UKTI
  • Attended my second Action Learning Set meeting
  • Went to the Institute of Career Guidance Annual Conference
  • Went to a Women in Business conference
  • Survived the queue to get visas for India
  • Worked with 5 students at Gloucestershire University to help them with study skills
  • Went to a number of gigs, my favourites being Kaiser Chiefs and the Klaxons

In the Blog

Don't wait for the newsletter, you can read my blog. Get expert guidance and comments on how to get the best from your career.   Too many articles to list, so here are a few highlights, and you can visit the blog to explore further.

November Highlights - but lots more on the blog

  1. Career coaching - could a one off session help?
  2. Career Motivators - Independence
  3. Career choice - measuring personal style using the Strong Interest Inventory
  4. Changing careers - jobs do change
  5. Busy lives
  6. Career development - making presentations
  7. Notes from the career coach - how not to interview
  8. Unhappy at work? Ways to be positive
  9. Career coaching - applying for a job online
  10. Getting straight - tidy office, tidy mind
  11. How to increase your chance of success at interview
  12. Time Management - who knows where the time goes
  13. Interview Nightmares and how to deal
  14. New Job - Before you start …

Read the blog at: http://www.amazingpeople.co.uk/blog/

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Quote of the month

"I've missed over 9,000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games.
26 times I've been trusted to take the game-winning shot...and missed.
I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed."

Michael Jordan, Professional Basketball Player

I love this quote, and recently came across it again. You have to be willing to take chances, and not always be successful. The important thing is to learn from them.

     

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Get in touch. For a confidential chat about how we could work together email or call me on 01684 772 888

Amazing People - Tewkesbury, GL20 8HL - Career Counselling and Guidance - Assessments - Job Search Support - Assessment and Development specialist: denise@amazingpeople.co.uk

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