I am from a family of huge coffee drinkers. My parents always had a pot of it going. I loved the smell, but hated the taste of it (they drank it black). When I was 19, my boyfriend at the time drank it and, wanting to impress him of course, I started as well. My love affair with coffee continued long after college and long after the boyfriend. What a wonderful courtship it has been. I’ve always been happy to drive out of the way to hit a new coffee shop or try out a ‘flavor of the week’. When a Starbucks moved into my sleepy little farming town, WHOA!. You would have thought they put a mega mall in town the way everyone was talking about it.
Besides the wonderful smell and strongly bitter taste, it DOES have some good health benefits. Did you know that some health experts say that people who drink coffee on a regular basis are 80% less likely to develop Parkinson’s Disease? WebMD also goes on to say that it “lowers your risk of diabetes, cavities and colon cancer. It can uplift you and treat headaches. There’s also some evidence that coffee may help manage asthma and even control attacks when medication is unavailable. Overall, the research shows that coffee is far more healthful than it is harmful,” says Tomas DePaulis, PhD, research scientist at Vanderbilt University’s Institute for Coffee Studies.
So there’s that.
The reason why I named this blog, “Career and Coffee” is because it seems my career has revolved around coffee. I can always rely on my faithful cup of joe to get me though the next resume, next article, next blog post, and so on. Every job interview I’ve been on, there was a stop to pick up a coffee beforehand. Every workshop I’ve done was with coffee in hand (or somewhere in the room).
Career and Coffee seem to go hand in hand in my life. So, here’s to you coffee!
Rachel Zupek at CareerBuilder.com said there are a few characteristics similar in each role.
Firstborns are more ambitious, rule-followers and confident, while secondborns (or middle) are the easy-going, diplomatic peacemakers. Firstborns are determined to succeed and tend to follow through with higher education. Middleborns tend to lean toward ‘negotiation’ or ‘helping’ professions like nursing, law enforcement and machine operation.
Youngest are charming and creative and are often found in administrative, journalism, sales or athletics.
As the youngest of three daughters, I wasn’t given much responsibility until I was probably nearing my teens, and by then both sisters were in college. As I got older however, I longed to be the ‘dependable’ one. I strove to work hard and prove my worth by working full time through high school and college. I’ve been working hard ever since, juggling marriage, kids, family, a farm, and my career.
So, does our birth order really have anything to do with our success in life? Are we doomed, as middle children, to make a low income every year (as stated)? Or perpetually goofy and non-serious as the youngest? Will firstborn forever fear ‘losing rank’?
I think our success has everything to do with our own thoughts and how we feel about ourselves. I don’t know if my being the youngest made me strive to be successful, or if that was always just my own inner desire. One thing I know for sure is that if we put any sort of ‘label’ on ourselves, it will hold us back from what we really want to do.
How to Fight the Unemployment Blues
It starts quietly.
You hear rumblings about it from colleagues; it's all anyone can talk about. Company morale is low and people are getting panicky. Suddenly, they let go of 25 people in your department with more layoffs expected. 2 months later, you get your pink slip. You don't have any prospects in sight, everyone you know is laid off, and your resume has been severely neglected.
What do you do now?
For starters, you need to release some emotion and frustration, so plan on going out with your friends and/or family the weekend after you are let go and HAVE FUN. Forget about the job for a day or two and just try to relax. You can't expect a response from anyone if you apply for a job on a weekend, so there is no sense in worrying.
Next, start contacting old friends, colleagues and relatives to let them know you are on the market. Start social networking-- join LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Plaxo and/or all the other social networking sites available, set up your profile and let people know you are job searching.
Go to business lunches, job fairs, trade shows and join any associations in your field. Keep your entire job search organized by using jibberjobber.com (one of my favorite sites for job search management--oh how I wish I had jibberjobber back when I was job searching... I was using folders, little pieces of paper that I would lose, notepads, ugggh). JibberJobber takes care of that for you. Get your resume, cover letter and references in order so you aren't in a panic if you see a job you really, really want.
Doing these things will make you feel productive and will keep the blues at bay. The busier you are, the better you will feel. I notice that clients of mine who are sitting around waiting for the right job have the hardest time. But it's not only keeping busy with job search, but with other things as well. When was the last time you read a book? Painted? Played golf? Planted a garden? "Interim Time" as I call it (time in between jobs), is a great time to start a hobby you've always wanted to do. I read a great article by Brazen Careerist's, Penelope Trunk who put it perfectly, "5 Things to do when you are unemployed. Hint: it's not job hunting". I loved this because it makes sense. Penelope talks about starting a blog, or launching a company, or doing something you've always wanted to do.
Before I got the job at the career center, I had 6 months of job search. Yuck. But I took it as an opportunity to do something I had always wanted to do: cross stitch. There is something about a beautiful work of cross stitch that always moved me. It looked so tedious, but at the same time, challenging. So, I went to the cross stitch store, bought a pattern, thread and canvas, and began my work of art. Talk about time consuming! It became my treat to myself, my reward, after sending out my resume, going on interviews, or making connections that day. It was tedious, hard on the eyes and tiresome, but I loved every minute of it. It also distracted me, which kept me from obsessing on the fact that I didn't have a job.
Make small goals, keep yourself busy and then being unemployed won't be so depressing. Besides, you'll be working before you know it and then you'll wish you were out doing some of the things you could be doing now!
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