Are you a workaholic?

In Five Signals that You May Be a Workaholic, an article by Dana Mattioli for Career Journal.com,, she outlines several criteria to help determine if you are, indeed, a workaholic, or if you are just doing your job.  The criteria: 

1. You are preoccupied with work.  You are always dwelling on your job and can’t “turn it off” in social situations.
2. You don’t like to delegate.  This is a control issue.  You’re afraid that letting someone else take responsibility would indicate that other people can actually get the job done.
3. You neglect other parts of your life.  Family and social relationships suffer because you are so immersed with work.
4. You try to combine work into other parts of your life.  For example, you hire friends or relatives to work for you or use vacations as opportunities to pursue work activities.
5. You sneak work! (Like one might sneak chocolate to avoid sharing it with one’s children…Not that I would know anything about that personally.)

The New York Times weighs in as well.  Their column, When Hard Work Becomes Overwork,by Phyllis Korkki, touches on the similarities between workaholics and alcoholics.  She describes stress and mental and physical damage (to workaholics and their employees).  Workaholics aren’t even necessarily more productive than other workers.  In fact, they may  inadvertantly be creating the problems they thought they were solving “to provide the endless thrill of more work.”

So,  here you are, giving your lifeblood to your career, sacrificing everything – relationships, hobbies, free time – and your organization may actually think that you are the problem!  Sad, but true.

It may be time to reevaluate.  Look at yourself and your work objectively.  If you are a workaholic, it may be time to step back and make some changes  You may need some professional help to overcome a work addiction..  Is a new career in order?  Maybe.  Evaluating your options and reviewing your resume can’t hurt.  A transfer or new assignment may be in order.  If this sounds like you, the new year is a perfect time to think about making a change. 

keppiecareers.com…We advise, encourage, enlighten!

To thine own self be true…

It’s more than just a line from Shakespeare!  Wouldn’t it be nice if everyone who worked had the luxury of spending their work hours doing something that they enjoyed and was true to their values and skills?   If you are considering a new career, have you done any thinking about how that career intersects with who you are (or want to be)?

Focusing your your values is one way to help direct your search.  Check out the University of Minnesota’s Values Inventory to get you thinking about your values and what you really want in terms of work.

Another strategy is to focus on skills.  So many job seekers can’t really identify what they have to offer in the way of skills.  This is a real problem when it comes to the self-marketing, self-selling and interviewing aspects of the job search.  I’ve said it before:  If you don’t know what you have to offer, who does? 

There are many ways to approach figuring out your skills.  There is a basic one that I advise my clients to consider:  look at a skills list.  Highlight all of the skills you’ve EVER used or could remotely be related to you.  Then, go back and check off the skills that really resonate and feel like “you.”  This is a basic, not time consuming and free way to get you thinking about  your skills.

Another suggestion is to use an on-line skills profiler tool.  This instrument  allows you to identify and match skills used in a variety of different jobs with specific occupations.  You can search by skills or start with occupations.  This tool may give you some new ways of thinking about how you can use your transferable skills.

Personality and occupational tests are tools to help focus your plans.  John Holland’s Occupational Test functions on the belief that people who have similar interests may prefer the same types of work environments.  It aims to categorize your interests, abilities and personality into themes that may then be grouped to target careers.  This is one of many personality driven assessments available that may help focus your goals.

Don’t just sit and watch the calendar fly by this year!  Take the time to consider what you really want in a career and then take the steps to get there! 

keppiecareers.com…We advise, encourage, enlighten!

Best Careers and Unemployment

It’s not great news for the US economy…Numbers show that unemployment is at a 2-year high.  In December, the economy only added 18,000 jobs instead of the 70,000 predicted.  These are the worst numbers reported since August 2003.

If you are in the construction, manufacturing and retail sectors, these are not good times for your industry.   Health care and professional services did much better, gaining jobs.

As you think about “A New Career for a New Year,” consider reviewing US News & World Report’s “Best Careers for 2008.”  Some of their selections may surprise you.  Consider if angling toward a career predicted to have a rosier future might be right for you.   (Keeping in mind that not all predictions actually come true!)   What are your transferable skills?  Could you use them to market yourself into a whole new career? 

This is a great time for some self-searching and research.  Maybe it is time for a whole new direction!

keppiecareers.com…We advise, encourage, enlighten!

What are you offering?

It may be tough to think about yourself as a commodity – something to sell, like you might sell a car or a television.  Let’s face it, though, it is a tough job market, and if you can create a pitch for yourself, you will have a leg up on the competition.

A simple task for today – ask yourself:  Why hire me?

A more difficult task – ANSWER!

If you don’t know, who does?

Stay tuned for more on marketing yourself into a new career….

 keppiecareers.com…We advise, encourage, enlighten!