Taking Stock: Part 3- Interests

Choosing a Career That Interests Me! The question I often get from people is how I can find a career that is somehow related to an activity that I enjoy participating in or something that I am interested in pursuing. My answer to this question is always the same in that finding a “best fit” between your interests and what you do as a career always starts with the answer to one question; what is it about these activities that make you interested? This task sounds pretty simple right!?  After all, who knows us better than we know ourselves? In…

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Taking Stock: Values and Career Decision Making

PART 2: VALUES By: Brian Lambier What are values? According to the website Vocabulary .com the word values is a noun and is explained in the following manner;  “beliefs of a person or social group in which they have an emotional investment (either for or against something)”  The website continues by saying; “It’s no surprise that the word values comes from a word that means “to be worth something”: People often view their values as so precious that they’d be willing to fight for them. Sometimes they do fight for them……..  Our values act as our internal compass that provide…

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Career Change: Taking Stock of Yourself!

Part 1: Skills  By Brian Lambier Welcome to our five part blog series “Career Change Taking Stock of Yourself!” which will focus on five key areas for you to consider to better understand prioir to starting your career s change process. We will explore skills, values, interests, personality, motivation and in addition we will offer posting that will explore a variety of different factors to consider when changing careers including; work culture,compenastaion and benefits, location and several others.  We all have skills that we have developed through different parts of life but sometimes what seems obvious is not too…

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The Boomer Revolution

CBC Doc Zone Presentation-The Boomer Revolution.   Take a look at this trailer for a program The Boomer Revolution that was aired on CBC Doc Zone February 28th. Looks at the boomer generation from a perspective of their influence politically, economically and socially . The following is an exerpt is from the promotional material sent out prior to its airing “In the 60’s, baby boomers changed the world. In their 60s, they just may do it again.Once known as the generation that questioned authority, raised its consciousness, and dropped out of the mainstream, the baby boom generation now…

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Retirement Reflection!

Questions to Consider about Retirement? Retirement as a stage in your life could last as long as thirty years versus traditional retirement 30 years ago when people often passed away more sooner than later after their retirement date. Thoughtfulness, reflection and planning about what you want your retirement to look like has become an essential step in creating the lifestyle that meets both your personal and financial needs.  One way to do so is  to  start reflecting by considering what you presently take from work. The following is a list of questions that I spoke with Dave and Linda Rutherford…

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Pre-Retirement Transition Workshops for Employees

  Pre-Retirement Transition Workshops for Employees Career Vitality Services offers customized one and two-day pre-retirement transition workshops for organizations out of recognition that the issues employees face upon retirement are much more complex than finances alone. Retirement transition can be a time of uncertainty and mixed emotions and Employers who provide added value supports to employees such as Retirement Planning Workshops demonstrate their interest in the future of their mature workers and  employees view this kind of training opportunity as a valuable benefit of employment. Career Vitality Services workshops are facilitated by Certified Retirement Coaches and are designed for both…

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Career Branding?

  Career Change and Personal Branding! Personal branding as it relates to careers occurs when an individual making a career transition creates an impression about how they are different than the next person. The main purpose of personal branding is to get the attention of the employer and to motivate them to choose you for the position they are looking to fill. Success in personal branding always starts with understanding what you are passionate about, the qualities that make you unique as an individual, what value you bring  to an employment situation, and, the personal and  career goals you want to achieve. The key is to work from…

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What is Retirement?

Purpose and Meaning in Retirement! The two terms I spend a great deal of time discussing in my practice at Career Vitality Services are purpose and meaning. I find this curious because as a child and young man I never really gave much thought to both the definition and connection of these two terms but now as a fifty four- year old and a Career and Retirement Coach they seem to have an ever increasing importance to both me and the people I serve. Now this is not a new realization for me as…

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Successful Career Change!

  Take a look at this article from Helen Burnett-Nichols on planning asuccessful career change.   Planning a career change? By Helen Burnett-Nichols, BrighterLife.ca July 24, 2012   Topics: Working life Comments (0) While some people are fortunate enough to find their true calling on their first try, for others, finding the job that best matches their strengths, skills and interests may call for a career change – or several as they search for it. Vancouver resident Fannie Smith made a successful change, with the help of careful planning. After working in…

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