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Actual for You - How to Make Big Career Decisions a Little Easier
While there are a lot of areas in a restaurant business which needed scrutinizing, there are areas of primary concern that an owner or manager should always look after. The good service, food and affordability are just one of the few restaurant concerns.Nobody really knows what are going to be the major changes that await restaurant owners and restaurant businesses but the trends with food are certain to grow and improve and even evolve in the next coming years.Today, there are about 4 out of 10 restaurant diners each day. That means; more and more people find it easier, comfortable and fast to dine at restaurants at least once a day. Because of this increasing interest and changing diner traits, restaurants should also adjust and make sure that they serve only the freshest, safest and healthy food for their frequent customers.Self-medication and disease-free food is the top requirement in following restaurant and food trend. It’s not all about the taste of the food or the look of it that matter to customers but also, the healthy
When considering your potential change, ask yourself these questions:
1. Who do you love to be around, and why?
2. How does your spending time with these kinds of people enrich your life?
3. Who do you support, and who supports you, in your career?
Career Decision Criteria CONNECTIONS ~ RELATIVE IMPORTANCE *Opportunities to stay current and connected with others in my field ~ Must Have *Finding a mentor in my workplace ~ Like to Have *Working with peers who have similar skills ~ Like to Have
Putting it all together: After you've found clarity regarding your most important career decision criteria in the above five categories (Core Needs, Compelling Interests and Motivations, Context, Competencies, and Connections), you can build a decision table to reference as you evaluate your current job and research new jobs. To create your table, you may want to use MS Excel, or simply write all your criteria down on one sheet of paper. Your criteria will be listed along the left hand column, with the Relative Importance directly beside your criteria. Then, create a column for every job you want to evaluate against these criteria. Start with your current job. If you find that your current job truly does meet all of your needs, yet only one or two desired qualities are missing, you ma
I've spent the past fortnight constructing a shed in my back garden. Not just a flat-pack - a slightly mad build-it-from-scratch-from-bits-of-wood version. I can hear you asking already what that has to do with business. Quite simply, in the process of building the shed, I realized how similar it was to building a business. Wait, and I'll explain more.Metaphorically speaking, building a shed is very similar to building a business. There are many ingredients that you need, and missing any one of them out will mean the results will range from achieving nothing to the disastrous. But one ingredient stands head and shoulders above the rest.It's a simple four letter word...... P-L-A-N.With the benefit of a clear plan that's focused on reaching your goal, and the right amount of experience and knowledge, you'll know exactly what tools and materials you'll need. With the right amount of focus, along with persistence and sheer hard work, you simply follow the plan - and you're far more likely to achieve the end result you are look
When making career decisions, you'll benefit by breaking the decision down into smaller parts, to help you identify the criteria most important for you. Once you identify your needs, interests, values, and ideals for your work, you will have what you need to evaluate the suitability of your current and potential future jobs.
Getting Started What are the Core Needs you have in order to become fulfilled at work?
Theorists have found that we are born with our Core Needs, and they stay with us throughout our lives. Individuals, either consciously or unconsciously, tend to look for ways to have these needs met. When met, people feel energized and enlivened. When missing, people tend to feel more drained of energy and dissatisfied. Therefore, the extent you can align your Core Needs to your work will enable you to realize greater joy and satisfaction.
Questions you may ask to clarify your own Core Needs include:
1. What do you consider essential in order to be fulfilled at work?
2. What are your most cherished values?
3. In what ways do you prefer to interact with others?
4. How do you like to get your work done?
The outcomes of such questions result in your ability to identify your core needs, values, and preferred approach to your work. Take your responses, and start a list of each need you have, and how important each need is. An example is offered below.
Career Decision Criteria CORE NEEDS ~ RELATIVE IMPORTANCE *Make a significant impact ~ Must Have *Skillful performance ~ Must Have *Variety ~ Must Have *Contextual Thinking ~ Must Have *Ability to take the time necessary to get the best result ~ Must Have
What are your Compelling Interests and Motivations? The second set of questions to ask yourself will help you identify your Compelling Interests and Motivations. Researchers suggest that our interests and motivations tend to stabilize by our mid-twenties, meaning you may experience a bit more change in this area than in your Core Needs. As your career progresses, you're likely to find this area stabilize.
Identify your Compelling Interests and Motivations by exploring these questions: 1. What kinds of occupations have you always found most interesting? 2. What subjects are most interesting to you? 3. What work activities have you enjoyed the most, and why? 4. What do you find particularly motivating? 5. What do you never grow tired of talking about?
Once you uncover your Compelling Interests and Motivations, you will be able to identify your most compelling occupational themes, interests, and motivating factors that will provide another set of inputs towards your decision.
Career Decision Criteria COMPELLING INTERESTS/MOTIVATIONS ~ RELATIVE IMPORTANCE *Helping others in original, imaginative ways ~ Must Have *Independence ~ Must Have *Writing ~ Must Have
When you're aware of your Core Needs, Compelling Interests, and Motivations, you'll have a much greater ability to weigh various career decisions against this set of criteria that is true to your ideal career qualities.
Of course, the complexity of a career decision doesn't stop there. There are at least three, and possibly numerous additional criteria categories you have for your career. The three aspects we'll cover next are the places where you may find the most change throughout your work life.
What is your preferred work Context? Context has to do with who you serve in your work, who you work with, where you work, and how you work.
To clarify your preferred work place, customers, and coworkers, ask yourself questions such as:
1. Who do you want to serve in your work?
2. What qualities do you value in your coworkers, managers, and workplace?
3. Where do you want to work?
4. When do you want to do your work?
5. How do you define your ideal work day?
Career Decision Criteria PREFERRED CONTEXT ~ RELATIVE IMPORTANCE *Working from a Home Office ~ Like to Have *Having a regular and stable schedule ~ Like to Have *Having a combination of work as part of a team, and independent work ~ Like to Have *Working with people who value quality and relationships ~ Must Have
What Competencies do you want to be able to use at work? This next area, Competencies, also contains elements that will serve you and remain constant throughout your work life, while others will come and go as your work environments change. This is where you want to do some work describing the knowledge, skills, and abilities you've developed that you want to keep, and what new competencies you want to add.
These types of questions will help you identify your preferred competencies: 1. What knowledge, skills, and abilities have you developed that you enjoy using? 2. What projects or work experiences do you think of as your career highlights? 3. What new competencies interest you?
Career Decision Criteria COMPETENCIES ~ RELATIVE IMPORTANCE *Listening and identifying unmet needs of others ~ Like to Have *Communicating effectively through writing ~ Must Have *Designing customized programs for customers ~ Like to Have
What Connections are most important to you? The Connections you have throughout your Career will be diverse. Some of your connections will stay with you over many years, and others will come and go as your circumstances change.
When considering your potential change, ask yourself these questions:
1. Who do you love to be around, and why?
2. How does your spending time with these kinds of people enrich your life?
3. Who do you support, and who supports you, in your career?
Career Decision Criteria CONNECTIONS ~ RELATIVE IMPORTANCE *Opportunities to stay current and connected with others in my field ~ Must Have *Finding a mentor in my workplace ~ Like to Have *Working with peers who have similar skills ~ Like to Have
Putting it all together: After you've found clarity regarding your most important career decision criteria in the above five categories (Core Needs, Compelling Interests and Motivations, Context, Competencies, and Connections), you can build a decision table to reference as you evaluate your current job and research new jobs. To create your table, you may want to use MS Excel, or simply write all your criteria down on one sheet of paper. Your criteria will be listed along the left hand column, with the Relative Importance directly beside your criteria. Then, create a column for every job you want to evaluate against these criteria. Start with your current job. If you find that your current job truly does meet all of your needs, yet only one or two desired qualities are missing, you may
Extra income is something that we all need and want but are we willing to work a second job or earn extra income in other ways? Most people like the idea but after working a full time job would find it hard to work evenings as well.More often than not extra income is something that comes in the form of a windfall and is used to pay off outstanding debts or to buy those extra additions to your home you have been longing to buy.With the cost of living increasing everyday you may however find that you have no choice other than to find some form of extra income to keep a roof over your head or to simply get by each day with out spiraling into debt.If you are looking for extra income the best place to start is the internet which will provide you with ideas and tips on how to earn extra income. There are many successful ways to do this including network marketing, affiliate marketing, advertising, writing and many other ways.Of course this will depend on what your skills are and the time you have free to dedicate to the extra w
3. In what ways do you prefer to interact with others?
4. How do you like to get your work done?
The outcomes of such questions result in your ability to identify your core needs, values, and preferred approach to your work. Take your responses, and start a list of each need you have, and how important each need is. An example is offered below.
Career Decision Criteria CORE NEEDS ~ RELATIVE IMPORTANCE *Make a significant impact ~ Must Have *Skillful performance ~ Must Have *Variety ~ Must Have *Contextual Thinking ~ Must Have *Ability to take the time necessary to get the best result ~ Must Have
What are your Compelling Interests and Motivations? The second set of questions to ask yourself will help you identify your Compelling Interests and Motivations. Researchers suggest that our interests and motivations tend to stabilize by our mid-twenties, meaning you may experience a bit more change in this area than in your Core Needs. As your career progresses, you're likely to find this area stabilize.
Identify your Compelling Interests and Motivations by exploring these questions: 1. What kinds of occupations have you always found most interesting? 2. What subjects are most interesting to you? 3. What work activities have you enjoyed the most, and why? 4. What do you find particularly motivating? 5. What do you never grow tired of talking about?
Once you uncover your Compelling Interests and Motivations, you will be able to identify your most compelling occupational themes, interests, and motivating factors that will provide another set of inputs towards your decision.
Career Decision Criteria COMPELLING INTERESTS/MOTIVATIONS ~ RELATIVE IMPORTANCE *Helping others in original, imaginative ways ~ Must Have *Independence ~ Must Have *Writing ~ Must Have
When you're aware of your Core Needs, Compelling Interests, and Motivations, you'll have a much greater ability to weigh various career decisions against this set of criteria that is true to your ideal career qualities.
Of course, the complexity of a career decision doesn't stop there. There are at least three, and possibly numerous additional criteria categories you have for your career. The three aspects we'll cover next are the places where you may find the most change throughout your work life.
What is your preferred work Context? Context has to do with who you serve in your work, who you work with, where you work, and how you work.
To clarify your preferred work place, customers, and coworkers, ask yourself questions such as:
1. Who do you want to serve in your work?
2. What qualities do you value in your coworkers, managers, and workplace?
3. Where do you want to work?
4. When do you want to do your work?
5. How do you define your ideal work day?
Career Decision Criteria PREFERRED CONTEXT ~ RELATIVE IMPORTANCE *Working from a Home Office ~ Like to Have *Having a regular and stable schedule ~ Like to Have *Having a combination of work as part of a team, and independent work ~ Like to Have *Working with people who value quality and relationships ~ Must Have
What Competencies do you want to be able to use at work? This next area, Competencies, also contains elements that will serve you and remain constant throughout your work life, while others will come and go as your work environments change. This is where you want to do some work describing the knowledge, skills, and abilities you've developed that you want to keep, and what new competencies you want to add.
These types of questions will help you identify your preferred competencies: 1. What knowledge, skills, and abilities have you developed that you enjoy using? 2. What projects or work experiences do you think of as your career highlights? 3. What new competencies interest you?
Career Decision Criteria COMPETENCIES ~ RELATIVE IMPORTANCE *Listening and identifying unmet needs of others ~ Like to Have *Communicating effectively through writing ~ Must Have *Designing customized programs for customers ~ Like to Have
What Connections are most important to you? The Connections you have throughout your Career will be diverse. Some of your connections will stay with you over many years, and others will come and go as your circumstances change.
When considering your potential change, ask yourself these questions:
1. Who do you love to be around, and why?
2. How does your spending time with these kinds of people enrich your life?
3. Who do you support, and who supports you, in your career?
Career Decision Criteria CONNECTIONS ~ RELATIVE IMPORTANCE *Opportunities to stay current and connected with others in my field ~ Must Have *Finding a mentor in my workplace ~ Like to Have *Working with peers who have similar skills ~ Like to Have
Putting it all together: After you've found clarity regarding your most important career decision criteria in the above five categories (Core Needs, Compelling Interests and Motivations, Context, Competencies, and Connections), you can build a decision table to reference as you evaluate your current job and research new jobs. To create your table, you may want to use MS Excel, or simply write all your criteria down on one sheet of paper. Your criteria will be listed along the left hand column, with the Relative Importance directly beside your criteria. Then, create a column for every job you want to evaluate against these criteria. Start with your current job. If you find that your current job truly does meet all of your needs, yet only one or two desired qualities are missing, you ma
You've been in your job for a few years. You get a decent paycheck and your benefits are helpful. But you wonder if something's missing. You try to tell yourself you should be happy you have such a good job, but some days you have to face how unhappy you are at work.Are you settling? Are you making do in a job that really isn't a very good fit for you?Read this list of ten clues to determine how many of these statements reflect how you feel about your work.1) You get depressed every time you think of going back to work after a weekend, a long weekend, or a vacation.The closer Monday morning gets, the more a sense of dread comes over you. You feel a pit in your stomach that you can't ignore. You wish there was something, anything, you could do to avoid going to work.2) You spend more time recovering from work than having fun.After you leave work each day it takes you several hours to feel like yourself again. You feel so tired all you can think about is sinking into your couch and zoning out in front of your t
Once you uncover your Compelling Interests and Motivations, you will be able to identify your most compelling occupational themes, interests, and motivating factors that will provide another set of inputs towards your decision.
Career Decision Criteria COMPELLING INTERESTS/MOTIVATIONS ~ RELATIVE IMPORTANCE *Helping others in original, imaginative ways ~ Must Have *Independence ~ Must Have *Writing ~ Must Have
When you're aware of your Core Needs, Compelling Interests, and Motivations, you'll have a much greater ability to weigh various career decisions against this set of criteria that is true to your ideal career qualities.
Of course, the complexity of a career decision doesn't stop there. There are at least three, and possibly numerous additional criteria categories you have for your career. The three aspects we'll cover next are the places where you may find the most change throughout your work life.
What is your preferred work Context? Context has to do with who you serve in your work, who you work with, where you work, and how you work.
To clarify your preferred work place, customers, and coworkers, ask yourself questions such as:
1. Who do you want to serve in your work?
2. What qualities do you value in your coworkers, managers, and workplace?
3. Where do you want to work?
4. When do you want to do your work?
5. How do you define your ideal work day?
Career Decision Criteria PREFERRED CONTEXT ~ RELATIVE IMPORTANCE *Working from a Home Office ~ Like to Have *Having a regular and stable schedule ~ Like to Have *Having a combination of work as part of a team, and independent work ~ Like to Have *Working with people who value quality and relationships ~ Must Have
What Competencies do you want to be able to use at work? This next area, Competencies, also contains elements that will serve you and remain constant throughout your work life, while others will come and go as your work environments change. This is where you want to do some work describing the knowledge, skills, and abilities you've developed that you want to keep, and what new competencies you want to add.
These types of questions will help you identify your preferred competencies: 1. What knowledge, skills, and abilities have you developed that you enjoy using? 2. What projects or work experiences do you think of as your career highlights? 3. What new competencies interest you?
Career Decision Criteria COMPETENCIES ~ RELATIVE IMPORTANCE *Listening and identifying unmet needs of others ~ Like to Have *Communicating effectively through writing ~ Must Have *Designing customized programs for customers ~ Like to Have
What Connections are most important to you? The Connections you have throughout your Career will be diverse. Some of your connections will stay with you over many years, and others will come and go as your circumstances change.
When considering your potential change, ask yourself these questions:
1. Who do you love to be around, and why?
2. How does your spending time with these kinds of people enrich your life?
3. Who do you support, and who supports you, in your career?
Career Decision Criteria CONNECTIONS ~ RELATIVE IMPORTANCE *Opportunities to stay current and connected with others in my field ~ Must Have *Finding a mentor in my workplace ~ Like to Have *Working with peers who have similar skills ~ Like to Have
Putting it all together: After you've found clarity regarding your most important career decision criteria in the above five categories (Core Needs, Compelling Interests and Motivations, Context, Competencies, and Connections), you can build a decision table to reference as you evaluate your current job and research new jobs. To create your table, you may want to use MS Excel, or simply write all your criteria down on one sheet of paper. Your criteria will be listed along the left hand column, with the Relative Importance directly beside your criteria. Then, create a column for every job you want to evaluate against these criteria. Start with your current job. If you find that your current job truly does meet all of your needs, yet only one or two desired qualities are missing, you ma
Choosing the wrong accountant can be an easy mistake to make, well yes, an easy mistake but one that's easily avoided as well. The wrong accountant could be detrimental to your business and very often too many business owners spend too little time to find the right accountant, just because they don't have the time! This is why we would like to offer our Top 10 Tips to Find A New Accountant:Invest time in finding the right accountant. It's a long-term relationship!Tell them what you are planning to do and check whether they offer the services you will need to build your business.First meetings arranged through Focus are FREE so check in advance to make sure first meetings are FREE of charge.Does the practice have experience of your sector and type of business?Look for a practice which is similar in size to yours; they will be more understanding about the issues and problems you will face.Ask to speak to existing clients' (testimonials & references are important).Tell the accountant what you are planni
Career Decision Criteria PREFERRED CONTEXT ~ RELATIVE IMPORTANCE *Working from a Home Office ~ Like to Have *Having a regular and stable schedule ~ Like to Have *Having a combination of work as part of a team, and independent work ~ Like to Have *Working with people who value quality and relationships ~ Must Have
What Competencies do you want to be able to use at work? This next area, Competencies, also contains elements that will serve you and remain constant throughout your work life, while others will come and go as your work environments change. This is where you want to do some work describing the knowledge, skills, and abilities you've developed that you want to keep, and what new competencies you want to add.
These types of questions will help you identify your preferred competencies: 1. What knowledge, skills, and abilities have you developed that you enjoy using? 2. What projects or work experiences do you think of as your career highlights? 3. What new competencies interest you?
Career Decision Criteria COMPETENCIES ~ RELATIVE IMPORTANCE *Listening and identifying unmet needs of others ~ Like to Have *Communicating effectively through writing ~ Must Have *Designing customized programs for customers ~ Like to Have
What Connections are most important to you? The Connections you have throughout your Career will be diverse. Some of your connections will stay with you over many years, and others will come and go as your circumstances change.
When considering your potential change, ask yourself these questions:
1. Who do you love to be around, and why?
2. How does your spending time with these kinds of people enrich your life?
3. Who do you support, and who supports you, in your career?
Career Decision Criteria CONNECTIONS ~ RELATIVE IMPORTANCE *Opportunities to stay current and connected with others in my field ~ Must Have *Finding a mentor in my workplace ~ Like to Have *Working with peers who have similar skills ~ Like to Have
Putting it all together: After you've found clarity regarding your most important career decision criteria in the above five categories (Core Needs, Compelling Interests and Motivations, Context, Competencies, and Connections), you can build a decision table to reference as you evaluate your current job and research new jobs. To create your table, you may want to use MS Excel, or simply write all your criteria down on one sheet of paper. Your criteria will be listed along the left hand column, with the Relative Importance directly beside your criteria. Then, create a column for every job you want to evaluate against these criteria. Start with your current job. If you find that your current job truly does meet all of your needs, yet only one or two desired qualities are missing, you ma
A business card can be an extremely useful tool for marketing your business and yourself. Your business card should be professional in appearance and have several different methods to contact you. These should include telephone number, fax number, email address and mailing address. Additional contact information is a plus.One of the biggest mistakes you can make with your business cards is not handing enough of them out. Business cards are an inexpensive way of leaving a piece of yourself with a potential client.Handing you card to the right people is also very important. Get your business cards into the hands of decision makers. The people who can make the all-important buying decision are ideal candidates.Most importantly, don’t leave them sitting in the box! Take them with you and use them whenever a situation invites itself. This can be at business functions or any other type of activity where the subject of your business comes up.Be ready and don’t miss your opportunity. If you make a good impression on a per
When considering your potential change, ask yourself these questions:
1. Who do you love to be around, and why?
2. How does your spending time with these kinds of people enrich your life?
3. Who do you support, and who supports you, in your career?
Career Decision Criteria CONNECTIONS ~ RELATIVE IMPORTANCE *Opportunities to stay current and connected with others in my field ~ Must Have *Finding a mentor in my workplace ~ Like to Have *Working with peers who have similar skills ~ Like to Have
Putting it all together: After you've found clarity regarding your most important career decision criteria in the above five categories (Core Needs, Compelling Interests and Motivations, Context, Competencies, and Connections), you can build a decision table to reference as you evaluate your current job and research new jobs. To create your table, you may want to use MS Excel, or simply write all your criteria down on one sheet of paper. Your criteria will be listed along the left hand column, with the Relative Importance directly beside your criteria. Then, create a column for every job you want to evaluate against these criteria. Start with your current job. If you find that your current job truly does meet all of your needs, yet only one or two desired qualities are missing, you may want to start by exploring what possibilities there are for bringing what's missing to your workplace.
If you find yourself struggling to generate meaningful answers to the kinds of questions asked throughout this article on your own, you may want to consider working with a professional career services provider, so they can help you gain the level of clarity you need to make a sound career decision. Good career service providers offer a full range of career assessments, tools, and resources to help you make decisions and navigate through the career transition process.
The career landscape presents thousands of job choices that can be overwhelming in their diversity. This approach of breaking a big career change decision into smaller parts helps you quickly identify your values, interests, natural talents, and working style preferences, all of which will help you narrow the vast array of choices you're faced with when selecting or changing your career. Once you find clarity regarding your core needs and interests for a career, then the work of active experimentation, networking, informational interviews, and job shadowing can take place within a few targeted areas. As you align your work and workplace to your personal preferences, natural talents, and interests, you'll find that you experience much less strain and greater satisfaction in your work.
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