by Una Hearne. So many clients, so many times I've heard 'I don't have time to figure out my Vision, I need a job NOW!!' People in terrible jobs, desperate to move on, people not working and panicking about getting any job. I totally understand this thinking - been there myself. A few times. The problem with this thinking is it leads to slow progress and is very often unsuccessful. It seems counter intuitive, but putting the time and effort into identifying clearly what you actually want is a much faster and more successful way to get into ...
by Una Hearne. Well... NO! Sorry, but we have to stop this nonsense. Superwoman and Superman are cartoons not role models. The fact is, it is not possible for one person, certainly in the developed world, to avail of all the opportunities, to do and have everything potentially available to them. We have such a range of choice and opportunity now, we can study anything, set up our personal lives any way we want, have multiple careers, indulge in a huge variety of leisure interests, volunteer in any number of roles... It's fantastic and not ...
by Una Hearne. With the disappearance of most permanent, or at any rate, life long jobs, many more people are having to come to terms with job hunting on a regular basis. I've been coaching people for 8 years, job hunters and entrepreneurs amongst others. The similarities between the process of getting a job and running a business are interesting. What do you think? You have to know yourself and your product/service/offering inside out. People buy you as much as what you are offering. They want to know how you can make their life better. ...
by Una Hearne. Ok, so if you want to start your own small business but you think the whole financial side is beyond you... listen up! For the vast majority of you reading this - it is not beyond you. Most small business owners are not natural accountants and don't like the figures. However, it is essential you understand the figures in your business. You can delegate the work if you can afford it, but you still must understand what is going on with the numbers - ignorance can be bliss but can also lose ...
by Una Hearne. Are you looking for work and finding the search frustrating? Are you searching for your purpose or passion? Volunteering could be a good way to use some of your time as part of your search strategy. Here are a few reasons it might work for you: You can get relevant experience in an area you are interested in. If you are particularly interested in a few specific organisations and you can get a volunteer position (or internship) you could get a really good feel for the organisations - culture, work, people and find out if ...
by Una Hearne. When you set out to do something new in life - to find and start a new job, set up a business, move to a new place, find new friends - you will be meeting new people and trying to connect. You will experience rejection along the way. Quite naturally, this is a difficult thing for us to handle. The two most basic drivers for human beings are - two sides of the same coin - 1) Desire for acceptance and 2) Fear rejection. It is easy to understand why it is ...
by Una Hearne. 'Selling yourself' is a phrase I dislike. I used it because it will accurately indicate to most of you what the subject matter of this blog is. I want to talk about how we communicate who we are, what we have to offer and what we want. This is something we have to do in most areas of our lives, for example in job hunting, running a business, raising our profile, socialising and relationships. I dislike the phrase 'selling yourself' because of course you are not. You may be selling your time, the ...
by Una Hearne Going to an event with the intention of meeting and talking to new people. It's like a lot of other experiences - new job, new city, new school, new business, - situations where we need to meet new people and make connections. For some people this is extreme fun and for others a big scary nightmare. Most of us land somewhere in between. One of the reasons it is scary is because there are two fundamental drivers for human beings 1) The fear of rejection 2) The need for acceptance. So if you are in ...
by Una Hearne. Boss vs staff. Employee vs employer. Why is it so hard for people to work together in harmony? We depend upon each other and yet we often end up treating each other as enemies. This is such an age old question and so much horseshit has been written and said about it that I hesitate to add to it. Hesitate yes, but of course still going to go right ahead and add my tuppence worth! Here's an example of being the boss setting up a business. You set up a company. You want to earn ...
by Una Hearne. Flagrant use of attention grabbing title. Apologies. Of course there is no easy way. I am good at asking people for advice and help. So when I started my business I found successful clever people and asked their advice. Let me tell you what I have learned about setting up a business: There are a few standard things everyone tells you - and they are right: Do a business plan; Understand the money and keep the accounts straight; pay your taxes correctly; Make sure you know what you need to about the law ...
by Una Hearne. Interning should be a part of the structure of the world of work. It goes without saying that it should be ethical, worthwhile for everyone involved and fair. It is a risk for a company to take on a permanent employee because if it doesn't work out it costs the company a lot of money. A certain amount of risk is inevitable in any business but too much risk, especially in the high cost area of people, can push a company out of business. And that's not generally good for ...
by Una Hearne. We say 'contracting' and 'permanent job' meaning different things. But a permanent job these days is something we see lasting maybe 3 - 7 years. Most people don't set out looking for a job for life. So aren't permanent jobs and contracts becoming very similar? The only obvious difference is maybe benefits, holiday and sick pay, pension etc. And this is why contractors/consultants are supposed to charge higher daily rates, as they have to provide for all of these for themselves. All things considered it seems a smart approach to work ...
by Una Hearne. You are your life manager. It is your responsibility to look after yourself in life and work. You can offer the best of you to the world if you look after yourself properly and make the most of your time. Don't worry you won't get it perfect, you are human. One of the most useful skills you can develop for yourself is the art of delegation. It is essential in order to use your time and energy effectively. You delegate by default all the time. Surprised? Think about it, most of us ...
by Una Hearne. When choosing what to study, or helping our kids to choose, we often ask the wrong question: ‘What should I/you study to guarantee a secure well paid job?’ Please stop asking this. The answer to this genuinely is, nobody knows for sure. It may have been a valid question in the past in the sense that it might have led you into a secure job. However it has also always been true that if you ended up working in something you hated, or grew to hate, you either quit or ...
by Una Hearne I hear this so often! I said it myself many years ago. Now I know better. Now I know it is not either /or. Following your dreams and paying your bills are not mutually exclusive. How it works for you and what the right balance (or even compromise if necessary), is not something you can know until you are engaged in figuring it out, in making the decisions and choices, in doing what is necessary to make it happen. It is not uncommon for clients' of mine and course participants (and ...
by Una Hearne. Is this a cultural thing or a human thing? I am most familiar with Irish and English people and there is an attitude bred into a lot of us that talking about ourselves in positive terms is a bad thing. It is considered far more virtuous to be modest and to underplay our achievements. In most public situations this is fine, it is true that we find a boastful or self absorbed person tedious or even obnoxious. On the other hand if we don't ...
by Una Hearne. It feels great when we work with people we respect and/or like, in a job we enjoy. No job is perfect of course, but generally we know whether we are happy or not overall. If you have ever been stuck in a job where you are constantly exposed to negativity (constant complaining, put downs, bullying, politics, manipulation etc) you will know how stressful it can be. Long term stress, even relatively low grade, as we know, is very destructive for us. Mentally, physically, emotionally, spiritually. The people you work with can ...
by Una Hearne. Really? I don't think anyone actually hates networking. Controversial! I think the fact that most people say they hate it comes from a misunderstanding about what networking is. Most of us agree that networking is a key part of most aspects of work, from getting a job or starting a business, to gaining promotion or new clients. But what do we really mean by networking? The truth is networking events have their place, it is a way to meet new people in an appropriate environment but they are not where most networking happens. ...
by Una Hearne. You know the excuses we allow ourselves to believe so that we can avoid having to do something? I call them red herrings. Sometimes it's ok to use them, but if they are stopping you creating the life you want well, that's not what you want is it? The red herrings I see over and over again are: I don't have the money I don't have the time I don't know the right people I don't have the right qualifications/ experience I don't know how to do that They sound so reasonable, don't they? When people ...
by Una Hearne. Job hunting is a drain on all of your resources, financial, physical, mental and emotional and is only rewarding at the very end of the process. Added to which, you worry throughout that it will end in failure, which saps even more energy. Some people give up. This pretty much guarantees no job. Not a great strategy, however understandable. Some keep going until they find a job they like and can settle into for a few months or years. This is a good strategy, this works. Others take the first job they're ...
by Una Hearne. You send out CVs, you apply for jobs, you do interviews and... months later, still nothing. What happens? You feel rejected and lose confidence. This lowers the quality and impact of your applications and interviews, which means you have less chance of getting a job and so it spirals on. The key thing in a job hunt is to maintain your confidence so you consistently perform at your best. Easy to say I know. It means not allowing the process of job hunting to get you down or let negative ...
by Una Hearne. The most common, and potentially most ineffective, way to go about job hunting is to send your CV into recruitment agencies. The idea is to match suitable candidates to a particular role. I'm just going to say it - it's not working for most people. In my opinion it would be equally effective to pick names out of a hat. Recently I have noticed: For a very small number of people, who's CVs have all of the relevant key words and who fit technical job descriptions precisely, recruitment agencies can still ...
