New Year – New You. Self-care Tips for 365 Days of the Year

An important part of being job ready, or life ready, is self-care.  At the Career Centre, we can definitely support you with your professional care, and work with you towards finding employment, but what about the rest?

What is self-care? Self-care is any activity we do deliberately in order to take care of our mental, emotional, physical and spiritual health. Good self-care is key to improved mood and reduced anxiety. It’s also key to a good relationship with oneself and others.

What isn’t self-care? Knowing what self-care is not might be even more important. It is not something that we force ourselves to do, or something we don’t enjoy doing. As Agnes Wainman explained, self-care is “something that refuels us, rather than takes from us.”

Where do you start? Well, there are three golden rules:

• Stick to the basics. Over time you will find your own rhythm and routine.
• Self-care needs to be something you actively plan, rather than something that just happens.
• If you don’t see something as self-care or don’t do something in order to take care of yourself, it won’t work as such. Be aware of what you do, why you do it, how it feels, and what the outcomes are.

Source: https://psychcentral.com/blog/what-self-care-is-and-what-it-isnt-2#1

Self-Care Ideas:

 

Encouragement:

• Set up a 15-day self-care routine and see how you feel before and after. And never forget: As with everything, self-care takes practice!
• Self-Care Apps: There are many!  Fabulous, Sanity & Self, I am … Find one that works for you and Take Care!

 

ZOOM Your Way Thru an On-line Job Interview

So you’ve landed a virtual interview via Zoom.  Here are some helpful tips on how to be successful in your interview:

Get to know Zoom

First and foremost, it is important to familiarize yourself with Zoom by downloading the software onto your device. Although you can download the Zoom app on your smart phone, for a job interview it is wise to use a laptop or PC for better video quality. Once you have created an account, Zoom provides mock meetings where you can learn about how to either “host” a meeting or become an “attendee”.  Typically when you are interviewing virtually for a job position, the employer will email you a Zoom link with an access code, and you are an attendee at their meeting. Additionally, it is very important to find out how to “mute” or “unmute” your microphone as well as how to share with video.

Practice makes perfect

Setting-up a practice Zoom meeting where you can check things like the lighting, background noise, your eye-line, and video quality are excellent ways to prepare prior to your interview. If you are brave, you can even record yourself and look at things such as, your tone of voice, your body language, or how much you fidget! When you are creating a first impression for an employer it is important to reflect that you are professional and prepared.

Dress for success

Although it may be tempting to attend your virtual interview in pajama pants, this is not advisable. Even though you are at home, it is a good idea to dress as if you were attending the interview in person. Attending your Zoom meeting dressed in business casual attire (which is usually the standard expectation for an interview) shows an employer that you are taking the interview seriously, and that you care.

Be curious and ask questions

Just like in an in-person interview, have a few questions prepared to ask your interviewers. Being curious about the company is an excellent way to connect and can make the conversation become less formal. Also, one of the benefits of a virtual interview is that you can prepare your questions on a sticky note and place it on the side of your screen. The note then stays at eye level and reminds you of your talking points.

Taking the time to go through these tips can help to alleviate some of the stress of virtual interviews, and can certainly help to set you apart from other applicants!

Good luck!

 

Have you ever looked at a job posting and thought to yourself “I’m missing a skill or a level of experience the employer is looking for,” and then you do not apply?  This happens to many job seekers.

Think of your last employment.  Did you actually know everything you were going to do before you started the job?  Chances are incredibly high that you learned something on the job, so think of the skills listed within a job posting as a “wish list” from the employer.  Their ideal candidate will have all of the skills, education, and knowledge required for the position.  In reality, their perfect candidate may not exist but it never hurts to dream so they post a job description with their wish list.

So what do you do now?  You build your resume to sell the skills and relevant experience you have that employers are looking for and you apply for that job.  Let the employer make the decision of whether they will interview you or not and don’t let a missing skill hold you back from applying.  After all, you can’t be offered a job you don’t apply for.

Starting a business for the first time can seem like an overwhelming process.  The good news is that support and guidance is available.  The Self-Employment program offered at the Career Centre can assist eligible individuals in determining if they are a good fit for entrepreneurship, and may provide support in acquiring the specific skills needed to create and maintain their own employment.

Something I always recommend to someone who is thinking of starting a business is to seek out information from those in the industry and build a network of mentors.  I consistently ask business owners, “what advice do you wish someone had given you when you were first starting your business?”  The following is a collection of my favourite responses, which I hope you will find appropriate as we celebrate Small Business Week this October.

“Do one thing and do it well.  When we first opened (the restaurant), I often found myself trying to provide all thing to all people.  I thought everyone was my customer.  But what was really happening was that we were not offering anything “outstanding”.  Quality was inconsistent and we were fragmented in our service standards.  Once we narrowed down our focus of our product and style of service, our customers’ experience improved and they were able to identify what they could come to expect when they came in.”

“Make a plan, work the plan”.    

 “Have an end game plan – but know it may change.   When we started our business (retail) we never thought about how we would end our business.  We assumed our son would take over, but that didn’t happen. Do we scale back? Do we close the doors? Can we sell it? What’s the business actually worth?  We didn’t have an exit strategy and when we realized it was something we could have been planning for, we probably would have made some decisions differently (i.e. lease terms and inventory levels.)”

“It’s easier to save a dollar than to earn a dollar.  Spend like you don’t have money and eventually you will have the money.”

“Always be open to learning.  Listening to your customers seems like common sense but it’s surprising how often owners think they know more about what their customers want than their customers.  Also it pays to be observant of what other businesses are saying and doing – as well as what they are not saying and doing.  Maybe no one is offering the product or service for a good reason you just haven’t had a chance to learn about.”

“Talk to a bookkeeper or an accountant before you start…..make sure you know the steps to take, and in what order. There are a lot of nuances to be aware of and mistakes that cost time and lots of money down the line!”

“You are not your customer.  Just because you think an idea is awesome or terrible, or something is too expensive or too cheap, doesn’t mean that’s what the market is seeing/thinking or willing to pay for.”

“Most employees are golden if you treat them like gold.  Over the years we have hired several employees who have no experience, but who have outstanding “can do” attitudes, and they have turned out to be our best hires.  We offer average compensation, have regular staff meetings, realistic job descriptions, and we make training available where it makes sense for the position and the person.  Our turnover rate is lower than what we hear in our industry and our staff tell us it’s because they feel valued.   Maybe, it sounds like a bit of a cliché but we try to treat our employees how we would want to be treated.”

So there’s just a few tried and trusted words of wisdom if you are considering starting a business.

The following links are great resources as you start to discover more about the opportunities, guidelines and processes for self-employment and eligible support programs.

WorkBC’s Self Employment Program at the Career Centre

Starting a Business in BC

 

Lorrie Mohl
Employer Services Coordinator