From Corporate Life to Portfolio Career (Plus Post-Shift Update)

From Corporate Life to Portfolio Career (Plus Post-Shift Update) Success Story > From: Job To: Portfolio career From Corporate Life to Portfolio Career (Plus Post-Shift Update) “I felt I was letting my employer down by not going back.” * Newly Updated From Corporate Life to Portfolio Career (Plus Post-Shift Update) Vicki Weinberg had had a tough year; when the time came to return to work, she simply wasn't ready. So, she decided to create the flexible work setup she needed. Here's her story, and how it's still evolving, 18 months on. What work were you doing previously? I spent most of my career working in corporate communications and change management roles. Prior to going on maternity leave, I was managing global change programmes for a large corporation. What are you doing now? I run a baby and children's yoga business, sell bamboo baby products, and provide practical support and consultancy to others who want to get started selling their own products on marketplaces such as Amazon. How did you feel about your work before you decided to make a change? I really enjoyed it. I was busy and generally felt fulfilled. I worked hard, was paid well and enjoyed the lifestyle of working in Central London. Why did you change? I went on maternity leave around five years ago, just before my first child was due. I had postnatal depression following the birth and a pretty rough year, if I'm honest. The thought of returning to work was the catalyst for something to change. When was the moment you decided to make the change? When I realised my maternity leave was coming to an end and I would be going back to London, leaving my baby in childcare for three long days each week. I knew that mentally I just wasn't ready. Are you happy with the change? Very! I love that I can work at home, around my children. I still love the fact that I drop them off, pick them up, have time with my youngest (she goes to nursery for two days a week) and can still manage my businesses around that. What do you miss and what don't you miss? I miss the buzz of being in London and working in a team. At the moment, it's usually just me and the cat at home on my dedicated 'working days'. I don't miss commuting, standing on a busy train, panicking if there are any delays, orcorporate politics! How did you go about making the shift? And how specifically did you choose your new career? The idea of working for myself had always appealed to me. I did a lot of research and franchising stood out as an option: the business model was there, and you get full training with the support of a head office team and other franchisees. It seemed to me, at the time, the lowest-risk way of working for myself (though, of course, you're not truly your own boss, as you do have to follow guidelines, etc., set by the franchisor and pay a franchise fee). I initially bought my yoga business (the franchise) as an alternative toreturning to my career after maternity leave. I knew I wanted to work, but I didn't want to commute and be away from my son for long days. It was great; I only taught classes during the day, so I could drop him off and pick him up myself. I now have teachers working for me, so don't teach any classes myself. Instead, I manage the sales, admin, accounting and marketing. This change happened when I fell pregnant with my second child. Once I'd done the yoga business for a while, I got the entrepreneurial bug; I decided to take a leap and set something up from scratch. I did lots of research beforehand though, started slowly and built up. A few months after my second child was born, I started my bamboo baby products business. As it's an online business, I worked around her and didn't need any childcare until my eldest started school last September. What didn't go well? What 'wrong turns' did you take? I didn't fully appreciate that when you work for yourself you ultimately have to do everything â€" even the stuff you don't enjoy or are bad at. I also made the mistake of chasing after everything, rather than being strategic and setting business goals. How did you handle your finances to make your change possible? I don't spend much! That sounds flippant, but I do think about money much more than I ever did (and like to), and I think really carefully about any business or personal expenditure. What was the most difficult thing about changing? I feltI was letting my employer down by not going back, after going through the motions of discussing my return to work. Ultimately though, I know it was the right thing and I don't regret it. What do you wish you'd done differently? Nothing. It hasn't always been easy, but I'm proud of what I've done and where I've got to now. What help did you get? I got a lot of support from my franchisor and fellow franchisees. What resources would you recommend to others? For setting up your own business, the Pat Flynn book, Will it Fly. I would also recommend finding networking groups that you can join. What have you learnt in the process? A lot about how to take care of myself! I've learnt to be less self-critical, how to manage my time better, and how to remain mindful and switch off when needed. I'm not an expert at any of these, but I'm getting there! What would you advise others to do in the same situation? Do your research before jumping in, but, ultimately, follow your heart and do something you enjoy. I was lucky enough to be in a situation where it was perhaps slightly easier to make a shift (having been away from work on maternity leave for a year). Maybe for others the answer isn't to take a big jump, but instead to try out something alongside their current career (e.g. taking a course, starting a side business), before deciding if it's right for them. We caught up with Vicki recently to see how her shift was working out, 18 months on. Here's what she's been up to, and the biggest lessons she's learned. What's changed for you in your career since we first published your story? I've stopped my baby yoga business, as I didn't feel I had the time to split myself between three businesses anymore. My passion is for helping other people to create and sell their own products; I didn't want to continue with a business that wasn't helping progress that goal. I've also created an online course to help others validate, spec and create their own products ready to sell. How do you feel about your work now? I love it! I'm really excited about the people I get to help. I genuinely get excited about seeing other people go through the same journey that I have. It's an amazing feeling to see people buy and use something you created. I love that I can help others do that. What challenges have you come up against since making your shift, and how exactly have you dealt with them? I think the main thing has been figuring out exactly what I want to do. I have two small children, so limited time, yet so many ideas and directions to go in. I decided earlier this year that I was spreading myself too thin â€" hence deciding that leaving my yoga business was the best thing to do (for that business, which is now managed by someone else, as well as for myself!) How is the financial side of things panning out, and is this what you'd expected? It took longer than I'd expected to make the kind of money I was aiming for. As I now have a service-based business and a products-based business they're both different â€" one has much lower costs and the other needs much more investment (into new stock, for example). However, having both is great (for me). I can put more focus into my consulting work when I need to and, equally, when I want to take time off to be with my family, my products continue to sell. What have you learned, since making your shift? That things do, and will, continue to evolve. In the past few years I've been through three businesses, and they're all still changing. I started out helping others on a freelance basis, as I had a blog I'd started to document my journey (as a little side thing) and I've now built a whole business and a course around it. Is there anything else you'd like to share? I think being open to not knowing all the answers, to trying things out and changing things as you go, can be really helpful. I often think that if I hadn't have made a few educated guesses and taken some risks, I probably would still be right where I started â€" unhappy and not sure what to do with myself! This story was sourced by All By Mama, the marketplace for creative parents. Visit www.allbymama.com to learn more. To find out more about Vicki's business, visit www.vickiweinberg.com. What lessons could you take from Vicki's story to use in your own career change? Let us know in the comments below.

Do you need to plan your career or can you just let it happen University of Manchester Careers Blog

Do you need to plan your career or can you just let it happen University of Manchester Careers Blog Some people plan everything Im sure you know someone who lives their life by lists and makes a revision time table and sticks to it. We all behave in different ways,   so if you are the type of person who lets life unfold why would you suddenly change your behaviour because you are planning the next stage in your life? Do you really need to have a plan for your life post University? Economists, geographers psychologists will know about models to explain behaviour, there are careers models too that explain how people make choices. Many of these career models talk about planning (a lot) and the steps you go through.Yes and then there is the real world! I wont deny that not having a plan (AKA any ideas)  can sometimes make things more  confusing and  it could take a little longer to get your post University life off the ground. BUT it doesnt stop it happening and it can be a great way to  try different things  and work out what you want along the way. Advice for non planners You may or may not have some ideas what you want to do with your life after university, but you dont yet have a clear strategy for getting what you want. Tips Be open minded be prepared to try something out even if you cant see yourself doing it for ever. Take a chance! Be ready to take advantage of opportunities when they come along. Keep your CV up to date. Think about what you want out of life, what has meaning to you? Money, travel, making a difference, etc. Reflect on the experiences you have already had and think about what makes you excited, happy, challenged. Challenges Because you dont have a fixed  plan it can be easy to let opportunities pass you by because you dont recognise them as something for you. Seize them! If  you live in the moment, looking to the future can seem daunting or just not for you.  Dont let it stop you talking to people or exploring options that COULD   be part of your life in the future. You dont need to decide immediately! Dont reject options that sound like they need a bit of planning, it may not be your preferred  way to work  but if the end justifies the means, just do it!  Advice  for planners You may have some ideas of specific careers you are interested in or have  a goal in sight, dont let it blind you to other opportunities though. Tips Know yourself understand what you want in the future so that you can plan a route to get there. Explore different jobs and careers research the entry routes so that you know what skills or qualifications are needed. Plan to get experience that will help you gain relevant skills or gain insight into a career area. Schedule time to do applications for jobs or courses. Challenges Dont narrow your choices too much, have a plan B. Be prepared to take advantage of opportunities that may not be on your masterplan. Be prepared for the unexpected, sometimes companies dont give you much notice for interviews. Factor this in! Things dont always go the way  we want them to, dont give up, be flexible and resilient and try again.  In conclusion Dont get freaked out by friends who have their life mapped out, thats just the way they work. You can do things a different way and we are here to support you however you choose to plan (or not plan) your next steps. All Careers advice I don't know what to do Undergraduate Undergraduate-highlighted career planning careers employability Getting started job hunting job market jobs Options

10 Ways to Naturally Deal with your ADHD

10 Ways to Naturally Deal with your ADHD 1. Acknowledge your weakness. This may sound overly simple, but the truth is you must face your weaknesses in order to overcome them and deal with them in your every day life. Get over the fact that you are a little different and that you may not be cut out for sitting still or focusing for long periods of time, or paying attention to minute details. This also may mean that certain career paths arent suited for you. Dont force yourself into a job or role that you wont thrive in, it will only stress you out more. 2. Diet and Exercise. After reading several articles about this, Ive found several different answers. It seems that there is no hard evidence of what food affects ADHD, but the general consensus is to watch your caffeine, refined sugar, and food additives and add Omega-3 Fatty Acids to your diet. I also read an article that said dairy had a large affect on her son. The best advice here is to consider trying different things in your diet and seeing how they affect YOU. We are all built differently, so what affects one person may not affect the next. Just keep in mind that it will take a while before you start to see the benefits of changing your diet. 3. Anticipate Forgetting and Plan Ahead. Are you the type of person who can never leave home without going back because you forgot something? Do you drop the ball at work because you totally forgot about a meeting or a client request? The best thing you can do is anticipate on forgetting and plan for it. Assume you will forget so that you can do things before you forget about them. Beat your mind at its own game! 4. Use Outlook pop ups at work and set reminders on your phone. Im not just talking about a simple task list here, Im saying totally lien on technology to help you get through your day. Set reminders for even little things such as take home coffee cup get leftovers out of the fridge or eat lunch. Youd be surprised how forgetting little things causes constant stress and inconveniences for those who struggle with ADHD. For those who do not struggle with it, this sounds ridiculous- but trust me it is so easy to forget the very basics when you are constantly distracted and hyper. 5. Never leave home without a calendar and a pen. If you have ADHD, then you need to start writing every thing down because your particular brain is probably not designed to remember all the details. Carry a small calendar, notebook or day planner with you in your purse and write things down. It is likely that you will have a fleeting thought of something important you need to do and will forget about it 5 minutes later unless you write it down. 6. Always leave your keys in the same place. Dont waste time every single day on being late because you lost your keys again. Get in the habit of putting them in the same exact place every day so that you are on auto-pilot each morning before you leave. 7. When working on a group project, consider sharing your tendency to become distracted with your team so that you can take on a role that is best suited for your ADHD. Again, theres no use fighting yourself and your weaknesses at work or in school. Those with ADHD are often the most creative, funny, and exciting people to be around. They can add a lot of value to a group, but only if they are being put in the correct role. Sharing your struggle may not be for you, but it may allow you to feel a bit less guilty, more honest and show your group that you are willing to work hard but may have to do it in your own way. 8. Dont beat yourself up. Although there may be a societal stigma about being ADHD, it is not something worth getting down about. Change your expectations of yourself so that you can focus on your strengths and remain satisfied with your accomplishments. This may mean accepting that you might have to work harder, study longer, or have a slightly lower GPA, but dont let these small hurdles define you. 9. Embrace your creativity. Creativity may be one of your biggest strengths. The worlds greatest businesses, products and services all started with someone creative. Dont be afraid to voice your ideas and surround yourself with others who are more detail oriented to help you carry them out. 10. Develop a Routine. I imagine those with ADHD have lower credit scores than those who dont. Why? Because it is too easy to forget to pay bills on time, or to start paying them and get distracted and never finish. Or perhaps some struggle with the impulsive nature that often comes with ADHD. If this sounds like you, I suggest putting your bills on auto-debit so that you dont even have to remember to pay things on time. If you struggle with impulsive spending, develop a routine so that you can only access a certain amount and when its gone youre done.

Can you blog your way to a job

Can you blog your way to a job The Careers Blog is a mere three weeks old â€" with a following that is steady, rather than stratospheric â€" so commenting on the career benefits of blogging may seem a little premature. Fortunately you don’t have to take my word for it. I spend a lot of time online at the moment, so it was inevitable that I’d  stumble upon  (in the old fashioned sense) a post merging together my main preoccupations â€" careers and blogging. Step forward, ‘7 Ways Blogging Can Improve Your Employability. It’s no secret that having an active, online presence is a virtual pre-requisite for entry to some careers (PR, journalism), but it seems blogging can open doors in other, unexpected ways. Krishnan Nair was struggling get a foothold in the legal sector, despite numerous applications, and decided to channel his frustration by blogging. Fast forward a year and Krishnan has turned a pastime into a career: How blogging helped get my career started Blogging is not an instant ‘quick fix’ to your job search woes, but done well it can generate interesting career opportunities and get you noticed. Just make sure you observe a few cardinal rules: Choose your topic carefully. According to NM Incite over  181 million blogs were tracked in 2011  so there’s no room for a bland and boring blog. If you make your content interesting, engaging â€" and even entertaining â€" readers will find you. Think of your blog as a professional platform. It’s fine to let your personal and professional worlds collide occasionally, after all your followers will expect to see a glimpse of the ‘real you’. But don’t post anything that detracts from your purpose. Not many bloggers can transform the trivial into the meaningful â€" it’s probably best not to try. Post regularly. If you start a blog commit to it. This doesn’t necessarily mean daily posts, but you do need to post regular updates. Consistency is essential if you want to develop and maintain a readership. Communicate in a clear and compelling way. Use the blog to showcase your writing style and skills. Own it! Don’t hide behind anonymity. Link to your blog from Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn (you should be visible here too) and mention it on your CV. But only if youve followed points 1-4 Employers regularly scour social media sites looking for reasons to screen out potential employees. A well-written, well-researched and heavily networked blog can attract their attention for all the right reasons. There are myriad benefits to blogging, which the well connected folk at  Give a Grad a Go  have summarised as: Enhancing your personal online brand and Google-ability Demonstrating skills such as writing, design, photography, and analytical thinking Showing your ability to take initiative and commit to a project Connecting you to a whole network of other bloggers Blogging isnt for everyone â€" if writing is a chore, and you dread commitment, its possibly not the medium for you. There may be other job search strategies you can use to accomplish your goals. However, if youre reading this feeling excited and motivated, then maybe youve found the ideal platform to show your skills and shape your future. Whats stopping you? Get blogging!

The Importance of Using a Joke in Your Resume

The Importance of Using a Joke in Your ResumeWhen writing a resume, your resume should be able to stand on its own, without the use of a joke. Because a joke can be inappropriate for the professional world and it is usually frowned upon. But you will have a lot of competition for any job you may be trying to get. One way to stand out and create an opportunity for more interviews is by writing a joke resume.Writing a joke is a way to make yourself stand out, so you can catch the attention of a hiring manager. You can do this by telling the joke to them in an interview or having them read it in a written format. It will get you a little bit further than just filling in blanks or adding your resume data with the jokes.One thing to keep in mind is that if you try and write a joke to fit your qualifications, then it will seem forced. So think about what you would say and what you would expect to hear before you start writing a joke. Make sure you will be able to hear the joke over the oth ers and make the transitions smoothly. This will help you avoid sounding forced.Another thing to consider is your best work in making the most of your funny qualities. For example, if you love animals and have a passion for all things animals, then you might want to write a joke about how you rescue the most adorable of creatures, and how they are a great addition to the family. This might help make your joke a bit funnier and help you get that 'wow' factor, which makes the other person take notice.Another thing to consider is your level of writing experience. If you are a new writer, then the joke you choose will not be as important as if you are an experienced writer. You will also want to decide whether or not the joke fits with your personality.Some people who write professionally are also good at writing jokes. This is a skill that can be developed. But remember that it takes time and practice to be a successful joke writer.It is also important to know that there are many comed y TV shows where the writers do not write jokes at all. They only write for the sake of telling a joke. For this reason, it can help to know that a professional will write a joke that can stand on its own.Do not get caught up in writing a joke and think that it is some kind of talent that you don't have. The important thing is to write a joke that is effective and gets the message across. If you can do this, you can save yourself a lot of time and effort by knowing that the joke has already been written and polished, so it gets the job done.

Computer troubles. And computer bliss. - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog

Computer troubles. And computer bliss. - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog My laptop died last week. OK, OK, if you want to know the truth: I killed it. I swear I didnt mean to. This wasnt premeditated murder it was more like involuntary manslaughter. Anyway: Perfect opportunity to buy a new laptop. I scanned the market and found big ones, small ones, cheap ones and expensive ones. But I ended up going with the gorgeous one. Just look at it: I spent some hours yesterday installing Ubuntu Linux on it, restoring my data from a backup and installing all the other applications that I use. Thanks to the Automatix script, that went incredibly easy. You install Automatix, start it, select which of the 45 options you want installed, and it goes to work. An hour later, everything was installed and worked. That is quite simply amazing! Thanks for visiting my blog. If you're new here, you should check out this list of my 10 most popular articles. And if you want more great tips and ideas you should check out our newsletter about happiness at work. It's great and it's free :-)Share this:LinkedInFacebookTwitterRedditPinterest Related

Our latest Academy was a BLAST - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog

Our latest Academy was a BLAST - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog Our latest Happiness at Work Academy ?was a HUGE hit. 24 participants came to Copenhagen from 15 countries to learn all about happiness at work including some from as far away as Australia, Hong Kong, Colombia, USA and Canada. We had 4 amazing days with high energy, great conversations and a ton of networking. The group consisted of both internal HR people and leaders looking to make their own workplaces happier as well as external consultants who focus on happiness at work. Its a real treat for us to be able to go much more in depth with the topic than we usually have time for in our speeches and workshops especially with a group thats already passionate about the topic and practicing it in real life. The next two Academies will take place on: October 17-20 2017 in Copenhagen Denmark February 13-16 in New York City USA Read all about them and sign up here. Here are some of my favorite pics from this Academy: SONY DSC SONY DSC $ SONY DSC SONY DSC SONY DSC Thanks for visiting my blog. If you're new here, you should check out this list of my 10 most popular articles. And if you want more great tips and ideas you should check out our newsletter about happiness at work. It's great and it's free :-)Share this:LinkedInFacebookTwitterRedditPinterest Related