Personal Coach Advice on the Value of Volunteering

You must have heard about the importance of volunteering in terms of helping job seekers develop real job skills. You can then add these new skills of yours to your resume, which can then demonstrate to potential employers how passionate you are about your chosen career. Another good reason you should consider becoming a volunteer is to make connections with the professionals in your industry. Volunteering is such an excellent way of improving your network.

As a first time job seeker, you are not yet an expert in searching for a job. Thus, you can expect to learn a lot from your volunteering experience. 

Preparing a Cover Letter

Just like applying for a real job, you will need to write a cover letter to apply for a volunteering position. In your cover letter, you should clearly state what kind of workplace you’re looking for and what characteristics of yours will make you a good fit for the position. There is a big chance also that you will be asked to provide samples of your work, or proof of whatever previous experience you may have.

The Process of Finding Volunteer Work

The internet is an excellent source of information about the many volunteering opportunities in your area. You may also contact organizations directly to inquire about the positions they have for volunteers. As you try to find such opportunities, you will learn that timing is very important. You will eventually know when the perfect season is for doing volunteering, and when it isn’t. All these things will help prepare you for the challenges of looking for a real job in the future.

The Interview

Applicants to volunteer work still need to undergo an interview to make sure they are fit for the position. Thus, you will have to prepare to be interviewed if you want to be considered for the volunteer work.

The questions will mainly focus on your intention for applying for volunteer work. If you have experience doing the same in the past, you will be asked to elaborate on it. If not, you will be asked to explain why you’ve decided to spend time being a volunteer.

Conduct in the Workplace

As a volunteer, you still have to act in a professional manner. This is also a great opportunity for you to get noticed, which may eventually lead to you getting considered for a full time position. Be sure to dress appropriately, come to work on time, and build good professional relationships with the people you’re working with.

Any personal coach would recommend volunteering to gain work experience, and also because the things you have to do to get a volunteering position are the same things you will have to do as you search for a paid job. And so, joining a volunteer program will help you develop job search skills, which you will need in the near future.

Why Hiring a Business Consultant Is a Huge Step towards Business Success

Whether you’re launching a new business, or planning to expand your current one, it’s a smart step to take to align yourself with a trusted business consultant. Entrepreneurs are inspired, daring and passionate about their business. But this kind of spirit can also be the Achilles heel of any entrepreneur.

As an entrepreneur, one of the biggest mistakes you can do to your career is to seek professional business advice only when you’re in trouble already. To be successful in your business venture, it is important that you surround yourself with talented people. You also have to have a realistic vision, and the ability to communicate your vision to others.

Why Hire a Consultant?

Successful business people acknowledge the fact that they need the expertise of a consultant to help them plan for the future and create a plan of action that will lead them to the fulfillment of their plans. Business consultants also help entrepreneurs stay on track when business is doing good, and figure things out when things go bad.

Hiring a business advisor is proactive. For your business to succeed, you need to be good and efficient at planning, implementing, executing, measuring and adjusting. But it won’t be easy to do all these things on your own, so you need someone to guide you.

A business consultant is someone who is not emotionally engaged in your business. He or she is impartial, making them a great asset to your business. But this person should not just be somebody who claims to be an expert advisor. It’s important that you choose a consultant who I experienced, competent, and reliable.

There are no specific rules as to when an entrepreneur has to start working with a consultant. In general, a professional business advisor is a necessity during these situations:

1. When you’re sure that the performance of your people and the business itself could be better, but are not quite sure what steps need to be taken to achieve such improvements.

2. When you feel that you don’t have the skills and enough knowledge that will enable you to solve identified problems and concerns.

3. When you have the skills and knowledge, but not the personnel to deal with specific problems and concerns.

4. When all your efforts have not yielded the results you are expecting.

5. When there is a need for an independent opinion to provide options or to confirm a decision you have made.

Working with a business consultant is not in any way a sign of weakness or inexperience on your part. In fact, it’s a clear indication of your wisdom as an entrepreneur. What matters the most is that you get the help that you need to turn all your business plans into reality.

Interview and Career Coaching: Tips for Overcoming Nervousness

Walking into a job interview is just too scary for many of us. And why not? How you perform during the interview will determine whether or not you will have the job you’re applying for. And although there are only you and the interviewer inside the room, it’s hard to stay calm because you know you’re in the spotlight.

A job interview is where you will make a presentation about yourself. Your goal is to sell yourself and convince the interviewer that you’re the best person for the job. Thus, it’s important that you not let your apprehension get in the way.

Here’s how you can battle your nervousness:

1. Breathe!

Breathing is an essential step in keeping your nerves steady. It seems like a simple thing to do, but interestingly, many people forget to breathe well when they are nervous.

By doing deep breaths, you’re allowing the oxygen to move into your brain, which makes it easier for you to find answers even to the toughest question you’re given.

2. Be Well Prepared

You have time before the actual interview, so you can’t make any excuses about not having the chance to rehearse or practice what you’re going to say in an interview. If you want to be confident on that big day, you must be well-versed in everything that’s written in the job description, and also how your skills and experience make you qualified to handle the job.

3. Practice Speaking

Pay attention also to the quality and tone of your speaking voice. During interviews, you must keep your rhythm relaxed and even. Also, you should have the right tone and volume of voice. Avoid being monotone and super excited as well.

4. Stick to Your Message

As you start talking about yourself, or perhaps answering the interviewer’s questions, keep your message accurate and clear. Avoid mentioning irrelevant details or information as this will affect the quality of your message. When the interviewer gives you a question, take a couple of seconds to think about how you could best answer the question. Start with a small detail and elaborate on it if needed.

5. Believe You’re Talking to a Human Being

One thing that can make you really nervous during an interview is intimidation. At times, we are intimidated by the fact that we’re talking with someone with high stature. But if you come to think of it, a hiring manager or even the actual CEO of a company is just a human being. He or she could feel like you. Thus, you’ve got to learn to recognize their gestures or facial expressions, which could indicate whether they’re enjoying talking to you or not.

If it’s your first time to look for a job and you’re just not ready for a formal job interview, taking on a career coaching program is a great way to prepare yourself for this huge opportunity to land your dream job.

Career Planning Strategies Every College Student Should Utilize

Generally speaking, students go to college so they could get a degree which will qualify them for the job that they want to have. Sadly, however, getting good grades in school can in no way guarantee that you will impress all employers. Thus, it is vital even for those who are still in college to do some career planning, so they can be ready for whatever challenges they may face.

If you want to be better equipped to promote yourself to potential employers, these are the strategies to follow:

1. Check out your school’s career center.

You don’t have to wait until you’re a few days before graduating to pay a visit to your school’s career center. It is common for colleges to provide students with assistance when it comes to finding internship programs, exploring graduate school, and even getting ready for a job search. If you want to gain relevant experience to add to your resume, you shouldn’t ignore the assistance that your school can offer.

2. Do a self-assessment.

The first thing employers would want to know is why you are the perfect candidate for the job they’re offering. This is the same question you need to answer about yourself. Make an effort to learn how your values, personality, preferences and skills actually affect your career decisions. There are lots of career assessment tools online or from your college career services that you may use for this purpose.

3. Know more about the careers that are relevant to your degree.

You chose your degree for a reason, and that is to get the skills and expertise required for a specific career or job. As graduation day nears, you’ve got to start thinking about the workplace. Are you ready to belong to a specific workplace?  What working conditions can you and can’t you handle? These are some of the questions you need to answer to make sure you’ll go to an organization where you will thrive and grow.

4. Be active in acquiring skills and experience.

While it is important that you graduate with good grades, it matters more to prospective employers that you somehow have experience related to your field. Look for internship programs and participate in them. Joining volunteer programs is also a good method to gain work-based learning experiences. Finally, having a mentor is a great option if you want to learn from those who have the experience and expertise in the field you’re interested in.

Career planning is not just for those who are in the workplace already. In fact, making a career plan is a very crucial step every college student has to take to ensure that they will have the job that is personally and professionally fulfilling.

Life Coaching: Important Factors for Boosting Your Self Confidence

Confidence is a state of mind…it’s not something we can study and learn. If you want to improve your confidence levels, it will take a lot of practice, positive thinking, training and exposure to a lot of people. In order for other people to be impressed with the way you handle yourself, you’ve got to practice acceptance of your body as well as belief in your own skills and ability.

Here are the different ways to boost your self-confidence:

Planning and Being Prepared

Having to face a completely new or a difficult situation often makes people feel less confident about themselves. Thus, planning an preparing yourself for the unknown is an important factor that will help boost your confidence.

If you’re scheduled for a job interview, for instance, it’s given that you should prepare for it. In fact, it is advised that job seekers do enough research about the potential questions to be thrown during the interview. Practicing with someone will also help familiarize you with the situation.

Learning and Training

If you know you’ve got the knowledge and skills in a particular field, you won’t feel insecure when asked what you can do. You will also be able to perform your tasks well if you know that you’re merely putting to practice everything that you’ve learned in the past.

As a job seeker, it is a must that you acquire the necessary skills that qualify you for the job you want. If you think there are things you still don’t know how to do, then spend your time learning and developing them.

Positive Thinking

Basically, positive thinking is about focusing on your successes in the past and your strengths. You’ve done some mistakes in the past, just like everyone else, of course. What’s important is that you learn from those mistakes.

Becoming a positive thinker is easier said than done. You can start by not thinking of the things you are unhappy with in your life. All negative thoughts are damaging to your confidence, and this can prevent you from achieving your goals.

Experience Gained

Once you have completed a certain task or have accomplished a goal, you will have the confidence that you can be successful at doing those things again in the future. This is the huge advantage of having work and even life experiences.

Having a Mentor

It is a common perception that the people who need life coaching are those who haven’t figured out yet what they’re going to d with their lives. This isn’t true, though. Working with a coach or a mentor can help you a lot not only with planning your career, but also with how to develop and boost your confidence in yourself.

Life Coaching – Fun Exercises to Improve Your Mental Health

For many of us, staying fit is about being physically strong and healthy. This is a wrong notion, though, as it requires a person to have sound mental health to be called fit. Our brain needs as much exercise as is needed by our body. Thus, it is very important that we maintain coordinated brain exercise programs and physical activities so that we may avoid stress, depression, and a number of other health issues.

If you find yourself stressed out most of the time, especially when you get home from work, doing some mind stimulating games will help you feel more at peace and relax. Here are some exercises that will keep your brain healthy:

Card/Board Games

Board and card games are strategy games, which are considered as very effective brain stimulators. This is because such games encourage the brain to think in logical patterns. Even while you’re at work, you can use your coffee or lunch breaks to play some cognitive games online, such as chess or scrabble perhaps.

Relaxation Activities

There are several ways you can combat stress even while you’re at work. Studies have shown that taking power naps is an excellent way to relax and get your energy back. Taking a 15 to 20 minute nap in the afternoon is important if you want to stay stress-free and energetic. You may also do some breathing exercises, visualization or meditation.

Puzzle Solving

Our brain never stops growing throughout our lives, thus, stimulating activities are necessary to avoid certain conditions like age-related memory loss. Some of the most common activities with this function are Sudoko, crossword puzzles and other puzzles that demand focus and mental function.

Cardio Exercises

Numerous studies have already proven that mental fitness levels are easily increased with the help of cardiovascular training or exercises. Engaging in cardio workouts prevents your brain cells from deteriorating because of age, which also means improved mental health.

How Important Is It to Care for Your Mental Health?

Who wants to end up not having a memory of their past? Do you want to not be able to recognize your friends and loved ones when you’re old already? These are the things that could be taken away from you if you don’t take good care of your brain and mental health.

Another reason you would want to have sound mental health is to keep away from stress from all your responsibilities at work and at home. Going to the gym on a regular basis, or performing yoga are two of the most popular ways being recommended by lifecoaching professionals to those who want to stay physically and mentally fit. While it may sound boring and difficult to keep this kind of lifestyle, you have to remember that how healthy you will be in the future depends on how you treat your body today.

Ways You May Develop Your Public Speaking Skills Even without a Personal Coach

Speaking in front of a crowd is just too scary for many of us, but if you hold a high position in a company or organization, this is something you may have to do every once in a while. It is generally believed that good and confident speakers are born with such skills, but this does not at all there is no way you can develop the necessary skills to be called a good speaker.

Here are some strategies that can help you hone your public speaking skills, which you can actually use not just in your job, but other things as well:

1. Choose a free recording app and download it on your smart phone. Turn on the recording and say something at your normal pace. Say it again, but now at a slower pace, and another round at a much slower pace. Then listen to the recording and judge for yourself which among them is the most clear. It would be better also if you could ask someone to listen to it.

2. Take deep breaths before you start. Take slow, steady and deep breaths through your nose before you start delivering a speech. Doing this kind of breathing can have a very calming effect and will help you ease any discomfort or nervousness that you’re feeling.

3. Use your everyday interactions as a practice for your speech. It’s a good habit to avoid saying “um” even when you’re just talking with your friends. Although such speech quirks don’t seem to affect your speech too much, getting rid of them will greatly improve the quality of your voice and clarity of your speech. In short, make it a habit to speak in a clear manner.

4. Pretend that you are speaking to a 5 year old. When speaking to a little child, it becomes natural to speak slowly and clearly. So when you’re doing your speech, just imagine that your audience is composed of young kids who will have trouble understanding you unless you become more aware of their capacity.

5. Practice with someone and ask for feedback. It would be hard for you to correct your speaking mistakes and bad habits if you don’t know what they are exactly. Thus, it’s important that you be made aware of the things you need to change. You can only know this if there is someone to give you feedbacks.

If your fear of public speaking is too much to handle, then perhaps you could use a professional who will train you on this. It is not uncommon for managers to hire a personal coach who teaches them the basics of public speaking. This is a great investment on your part because it is an ability that you can use in so many situations regardless of the industry you are in.

Personal Coach – Types of People You Will Have to Deal with at Work

Every single day we all encounter ‘types’. There are different types of mobile phones, cars, mushrooms, and even people. While you certainly have a choice when it comes to the type of smart phone or car you’re going to buy, there’s no way you can choose what types of people you’ll work with. If you are all set for your first day on your very first job, you may as well, learn the different types of colleagues you’re likely to encounter.

The Attention Grabber – these are the people who are willing to do everything jus to catch attention. One day you’ll see them wearing neon colors, and another day you will see them with really high and noisy heels. These people could be a distraction, so all you’ve got to do is ignore them.

The Slacker – this is a person who chooses to be busy with many things except for work. Although these people are generally harmless, you just have to be careful not be like them. Also, having a slacker in your team could be a curse, as he or she could be the reason you will have to work late for a project.

The Flatterer – you will eventually meet someone who won’t get tired of praising your hairstyle or your attire. We all love to be appreciated and flattered, but sometimes you’ve got to ask yourself why this person always has something good to say to you.

The Overly Competitive – in any workplace, competition is important as it encourages people to work harder and perform better. But there’s a slight difference between being competitive and being a bully. If you encounter a person who would be willing to hit you below the belt, make sure you don’t get involved in his game. Be competitive, but just don’t overdo it.

The Hot-Tempered – this person is usually the loudest in the room, especially during meetings. He finds it hard to accept when people go against his ideas. You can deal with this type of person by separating the attitude from the person. Don’t think this person love arguments. Instead, be more understanding, but never get intimidated.

The Gossip Girl – this doesn’t have to be a woman, because men tend to love gossips too! This type of people never runs out of stories about the lives of other people in the workplace. You have to be very careful with this kind of people as they are capable of wasting your precious time.

How happy you can be in your job greatly depends on the kind of relationship you have with your colleagues. While you have to make an extra effort to reach out and be friendly with others, you have to be wary of how they may influence you and affect your work. If you’re finding it hard to get along well with your office mates, having a personal coach will be beneficial to you.