This is a career aptitude test based on the Holland Codes. It’s good, it’s quick, and it’s free. The results are useful and interesting. If you want help processing the results of your assessment give Dr. Edward Colozzi a call, or Shahrzad Arasteh, or Dr. Tristana Harvey –all wonderful career counselors that I can recommend.

The same website although built for Californians specifically also has some excellent career research resources for everyone. I love the way the information on each job title is presented. It’s easy to read, short and sweet, and particularly relevant. Here is a sample page for Adult Literacy, Remedial Education, and GED Teachers and Instructors.

I thoroughly enjoyed and highly recommend Change Anything: The New Science of Personal Success” by Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, David Maxfield, Ron McMillan, and Al Switzler. In this book, the authors outline a system to meet goals in any area of life –from how to loose weight, how to better your finances, how to stop addictions, how to change relationships. They even talk about how to further your career. The strategies and tactics they outline are derived from research at the Change Anything Labs in Utah. They also have a membership website to provide resources and tools for you to use as scientist and subject in the process of customizing a unique approach to changing your habits in a way that gives you the results you want.

By reading this book, you will learn why willpower in and of itself is not enough to mount a successful change effort in most cases. The authors explain that if you are relying on willpower alone, you are blind and outnumbered! Most importantly, they provide lots of ideas and options for you to become aware of your own crucial moments and corresponding vital behaviors. You’ll also learn about the six sources of influence and how to leverage them toward your cause. It’s particularly enticing that their research shows that successful changers often experience improvements in another area of concern for themselves as they go through the process of meeting goals in their main area of focus.

Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of “Change Anything: The New Science of Personal Success” by Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, David Maxfield, Ron McMillan, and Al Switzler. I received no other compensation for this review.

I don’t have an iPhone myself but this looks like a neat tool to me. The Audio Job Interview app allows job candidates to create an actual audio interview they can record from their mobile device and send via a unique URL to employers. This could really add another dimension to resumes that include URL for recordings!

Here are links for more information:
A Video Demo on the product in use on Facebook. A brief sample interview.

Here is a promo video and demo to check out:

Audio Job Interview Pro iPhone App from Bradford Peterson on Vimeo.

FOR ANDROID

Also, for Android phones, I ran across this handy list: 20 Best Android Apps for Your Job Search.

Here is an interview I did with Dr. Susan Bernstein to learn more about her online coaching program called “Reinvent Your ROLE: Career Transformation Program” which will be starting soon. I’m so impressed with her approach, knowledge, and insight that I decided to help promote the new program.

The 10 week course begins on Monday, February 7 but will be available beyond that timeframe minus the live component piece. As of today there are already over 60 people signed up and this is lining up to be one fantastic group! Also, you can receive special bonuses of you sign up by January 31st. Dr. Bernstein talks more about the program and the special bonuses in this video.

“Click Here: Reinvent Your ROLE: Career Transformation Program” (affiliate link)

A new book is out today! Alexia Vernon has written, “Awaken Your CAREERpreneur: A Holistic Road Map to Climb From Your Calling to Your Career.” I will be reviewing it soon, but today she shared some of her top tips about building your own all-star team to support you in your career. Click to listen in!

Follow Alexia on Twitter — @GenWeCoach. You can find her book on Amazon and Barnes and Noble too!

***Video Transcript***
Stress Relief Quotes

“Is everything as urgent as your stress would imply?” –Carrie Latet

“What different lives we should lead if we take things by the minute!”
–Gilbert-Ann Taylor

“In times of great stress or adversity, it’s always best to keep busy, to plow your anger and your energy into something positive.” –Lee Iacocca

“Hope is as cheap as despair.” –Proverb

“In times of stress, be bold and valiant.” –Horace

“They who live in worry invite death to hurry.” –Anonymous

“Men for the sake of getting a living forget to live.” –Margaret Fuller

“Tension is who you think you should be. Relaxation is who you are.” –Chinese Proverb

***End Transcript***

I received a complimentary copy of “Advance Your Image” by Lori Bumgarner for review and wanted to share it with you because it is a good find and a timely topic. I received no other compensation for this review.

It is clear in this ebook that Lori is divinely inspired and on a mission to propel people forward with poise and self-confidence and to bring the beauty within each person out in the best possible light.

As a career adviser to college students turned image consultant to musicians, Lori has an excellent take on the big picture for how personal image plays into career development planning. She points out the nuances of why and how to strategically manage your image for the desired result of connecting with the audience be it a potential employer or your network of supporters. She champions work you can do to improve your image as a fast-track to improved self-confidence which then leads to making better first impressions and being received better by others…a win-win!

Lori also weaves together your in-person appearance with your job search marketing materials and online presence in a practical and easy to understand way. She also outlined a helpful rule that I had never heard of before called the Rule of 12 within her powerful strategies for making a good first impression.

Learn more about Lori on her website, paNASHstyle.com and find the ebook here or for your Kindle on Amazon.com.

Volunteering provides many benefits to the volunteer in addition to the organization and individuals receiving the help. And it doesn’t have to take a lot of time. Just an hour a week or a Saturday every three months can do wonders for example. Here are some benefits to the volunteer.

• You improve your problem solving skills.
• You can increase your personal network.
• You help strengthen your community and set an example.
• You can use volunteer time to increase your skill level.
• Volunteering can help you heal and/or stay healthy.
• You get really good at noticing the bright side of things.
• You gain a sense of achievement that increases your own self-confidence.

I requested and received a free advance copy of the book Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose. I always enjoy learning how successful people get to where they are. In this book I got to read about the journey of a successful person AND a company that was recently voted 15th on the 2010 Fortune’s “Best Companies to Work For” list. That person is Tony Hsieh and that company is Zappos.com.

The first part of the book is about Tony’s youth and his important  personal career development insights are highlighted along the way. He was interested in being an entrepreneur at a very young age. The first story he mentions of beginning his own business was just after his 9th birthday…and involved a worm farm!

What I found most awesome though is that he seemed to naturally check-in with himself through his school and early career and hold his own opinion of what he wanted to do as the most important one. He was able to balance that outlook with getting others to cooperate with him and he was able to build a supportive personal network.

Especially as he spoke of his college years and beyond, he focused on people he was meeting and how they got know each other’s talents. It seems Tony always kept people in mind as he continued on his journey and would get back in touch with them and bring them on board with his projects at the first opportunity.

This is basically how Zappos.com came to be. But the main reason it came to be is because Tony became aware of the importance of passion in the pursuit of happiness. He felt when he was not getting the juice he wanted from life and he stayed alert for solutions to appear…usually through his connectedness to others that he had gathered around himself.

This story of ideas, personal connections, honesty, and success of his company is compelling. The mission he is now on to spread happiness is beautiful.

You can also find the book on Amazon.com and follow the book promo tour and activities on Twitter.

Here are a few links you may find to be useful tools to complement your career decision making. These are online tools but remember the best method to actually finding a job combines accessing your personal network and using online tools.

To access your personal network simply go to your family, friends, and acquaintances with a question such as this, “Who do you know at The Widget Company?” or “Who do you know in sales and marketing?” or “Who do you know who might be looking for part-time administrative help?” Customize the question to the type of position you are looking for and be sure to follow up with any leads they give after first asking, “Is it okay if I mention your name?” If they say no, you can still follow up with the new lead by reporting that you have heard their name dropped often in your personal networking so you wanted to say hello.

For online job search here are some handy sites you might want to bookmark for when you need them.

Chimby.com – career advice search engine

Fab Job – ebooks with specific insider information on a careers

Best Careers Report for 2008

FlexJobs.com – a job search site for telecommuting jobs

JobRapido.com – a great way to search many job search sites at once; send email alerts to yourself for your fav searches

InterviewUp.com – a good site to check when you are doing interview preparation

PayScale.com – very good site for salary research