At this point, some of you may be saying, 'well, she shouldn't be so picky' or 'she has to go where the jobs are'. 

I take an opposite approach.  You 'Work to Live, Not Live to Work'.   You should not have to give up the things most important to you (ie;family, friends, etc…).    My attitude really doesn't matter though as the real issue is …SHE NEEDS A JOB.   So she and I spoke the other day on how to figure out what you want to do with your life.

So How do you figure out what you want to do?   Here are several methods:

1.  Create 3 columns on a piece of paper:   

        a.What you Love Doing (if you could do this everyday you'd be in heaven) – boating, coaching, writing, working with kids, sewing,  making beer, etc…

       b. What you Are Really Good at Doing – great organizer, writing, parenting, speed skating, making quiche, etc..

       c.  What skills have you learned from your work or education – chemistry, training, recruiting, managing, computer programming, etc…

    After you've made these 3 lists start matching them up what could be a great new business for you.  For example using the lists above this person may really love making beer.  If they could do this every day they would.  This person may have learned to be a great organizer and at work is always the person who trains people and is a great manager.     If they could wake up every morning and do a combination of these skills what types of jobs come to mind?    

Invite friends over and start brainstorming over some of that homemade beer you made.

2.  Use a Fishbone Diagram to Find Out What you can do

    What's a fishbone diagram?  Very simply, The technique can help to structure the process of identifying possible causes of a problem .  I like to use it to figure out what are the things I like to do,  do real well and am trained to do (similar to above) and brainstorm off a chart.  Here's how it works:

• On a broad sheet of paper, draw a long arrow horizontally across the middle of the page pointing to the right, and label the arrowhead with the title of the issue to be explained. This is the ‘backbone’ of the ‘fish’.
• Draw spurs coming off the ‘backbone’ at about 45 degrees, one for every item you like to do, are trained to or are good at.   Highlight any causes that appear more than once – they may be significant.
• So if you have a line that says Training.  From that line you draw lines attached to it that are jobs that use that skill..
• Eventually there are lots of job ideas that come off the main skill.
• Circle anything that seems to be reappearing and use these ideas to come up with new job opportunities

There's an old story about a South African Farmer who wanted to be rich so he sold his farm and travelled all over Africa to find his riches.  He died destitute and poor never finding what he was seeking.  A farmer who bought his property was fishing in the stream on the farm he had purchased and found a beautiful rock. He put the rock on the mantle in his living room.  A couple years later a visitor saw the rock and asked where he found it.  The farmer said in his stream and that his property is littered with these beautiful rocks.  The man examined it and took it to a University who told the man that this rock may be the largest uncarved diamond ever known.  The Farmer found out his land was littered with the largest diamond find ever.  

The first farmer did not try to investigate what he already possessed and went searching.  The moral is if you spend the time to think through what you enjoy doing, are trained to do and have the skills to do you might just go in a direction that you will be extremely passionate about and be incredibly successful at.

I was speaking with someone today that told me that it was the day before Thanksgiving several years ago that he was wrapping up to head home to beat the crowd.  For some reason he decided to make a final call to the CEO of a company that he could never reach.   Not expecting anything more than leaving a message he was shocked when the CEO herself, not even the admin assistant answered the phone.  The discussion led to the biggest account of his career.

Here are the reasons why instead of  taking it easy this week before Thanksgiving you can actually make more progress than ever before.

1.  Generally there is no business travel over the holidays for decision makers – Due to this fact and the fact there are people there that take the week off, executives and decision makers are not travelling and they aren’t packed with meetings.  You can find them at their desk.

2.  Most budgets have been completed -  The majority of companies have deadlines to have their budgets completed before the holidays.  With this in mind, Decision Makers are now planning where they will find that new talent after January 1.  Job Seekers know that before January 1 is the time to make their intentions known and not fight the crowd of resumes after the New Year begins

3.  People are Friendlier – It’s a short week.  The majority of employees are busy talking about family, football, food, travel plans, etc…   Though stressful, it is an enjoyable time in the office where people smile and are happy to help you.  It’s the Holidays and people are in a giving  mood.  Let them give you information that will help you in your job search.

4.  People want to Help -  I mentioned this in the paragraph above, but it’s worth mentioning twice.   Ask for Help.  Explain your Situation.  Find out who you can speak to.   This is the time of year when you ask “Please Help”, they generally will.   Don’t beg, be professional, but asking for assistance can get you much further this time of year.

5.  The people in the companies are setting thier own personal goals -  Now is a good time to engage people on their new years resolutions.  Talk positively, engage them in conversation, find out their interests by talking about the new year.   You will find out things about people now that you never did before.

6.  That Evening Drink , Lunch Appointment or other is much easier  to do – Executives have a little more time on their hands and don’t mind getting out of the office as much during the holiday season.  Use this time to make appointments, meet for coffee, etc.. and network like you never have before.

So set those holiday plans to work your market, make more phone calls, set appointments and create goodwill with the companies you want to work for; and … HAVE A HAPPY HOLIDAY YOURSELF!!!!