10 Ways to Relieve Stress

This time of year can be stressful for resume writers -- all of those New Year's Resolutions to fulfill. Here are some stress-relieving tips from the University of Minnesota's Center for Spirituality & Healing:

• Be completely present for whatever you are doing. This is called "mindfulness" and it involves focusing on the task at hand.
• Include something you consider beautiful in your life on a daily basis, for example, fresh flowers.
• As often as possible, participate in activities you enjoy.
• Keep your pace relaxed.
• Take a break after meals to relax.
• Go outside once a day and enjoy the simple things in life.
• Take notice of the tension in your body during the day. Breathe deeply and gently stretch any area that feels tense.
• When you catch your mind racing and worrying, breathe deeply and gently shift your focus to something in the moment.
• Wear comfortable, loose clothing.
• Don't hold your feelings in day after day. Find a safe place where you can express and embrace them.
  

Recruiting 2008 Conference and Expo

Kennedy Information is holding its "Recruiting 2008 Conference and Expo" from May 13-16, 2008 in Las Vegas. The conference theme is "Real World Recruiting for Today's Workforce."

Featured speakers include Gerry Crispin, "Chief Navigator" for CareerXRoads, and Peter Weddle, CEO & Publisher of Weddle's.

Keys to Success in the Careers Industry

I'm working on a mentoring group for new resume writers (those with fewer than 18 months in business -- if you're interested in joining, contact me). One of the common refrains is how difficult it is to get started -- or, once started, to make a decent income.

I've identified a couple of keys for success. In my opinion, these are:

** Your business skills. There is a fairly significant ramp-up period before you'll begin to generate steady income, so your ability to control expenses while increasing your profile (i.e., advertising investment) is critical. Cash flow will be the key in the first six months.

** Your marketing and sales abilities. Simply put: If you're not comfortable selling yourself, this is not the business for you. At least initially, you ARE your business. You are asking strangers to tell you everything about themselves. You're asking them (in many cases) to disclose their income. If you can't build credibility with prospects, you won't have customers. If you can't build relationships with prospective referral sources, you'll struggle ... because frankly, early on you'll get most of your clients from personal relationships or referrals, not from your website or any advertising you do.

** Persistence. Every business owner on here will tell you that they ran into roadblocks as they worked to launch their careers industry business. It could be technical things -- computer or software issues, an equipment malfunction -- or cash flow problems (investing in your startup with no promise of immediate revenues) or even overcoming your own hesitations about running your own business (that one usually comes with the filing of your first tax return -- or paying your first estimated tax payment -- if you've never been self-employed before).

Reaching Recruiters

Another source for reaching recruiters is "The Best Directory of Recruiters" offered by The Original Resume company. Version 6.0 offers contact information for up to 250 elite recruiters for just $99 (Word, Excel, or Access database format).