Get to Know Our New Presenter: Michele Woodward

She is a Career Strategist, Master Certified Coach, Author, Blogger, Speaker and a Teacher. She has been quoted in various well-known publications including USA Today, Better Homes & Gardens and the Harvard Management Update. She is also the writer and presenter of the exciting new course on www.wehelpwomen.com, Career Restoration: Returning to Work After an Extended Absence.

Michele Woodward is the President of her own executive coaching business currently based out of Washington, D.C. She is able to draw upon her many years of experience in marketing, strategic planning, public relations, lobbying and politics in order to provide comprehensive and high-impact coaching to her diverse clients.

Michele is also the Author of “I Am Not Super Women: Further Essays on Happier Living” and currently writes a well known blog called Getting Unstuck for Psychology Today.

Along with all of amazing professional experience, she is a mother who is incredibly active in her children’s schools. She is the past PTA president, a Girl & Cub Scout leader, an assistant soccer coach and a mentor to girl golfers. She does it all!!

Lucky for the Fresh Start Community, Michele jumped at the chance to share her years of expertise by creating and presenting the course, Career Restoration: Returning to Work After an Extended Absence. Whatever the reason for you absence from work, Michele shares the tips that will quickly get you back on the road to employment and career advancement. The knowledge she shares are tips that are incredibly helpful even to those who are back on the job market after for the first time in a long time.

No matter what your situation, you can benefit from Michele’s expertise!

Take this course today by becoming a Fresh Start Community Member:
www.wehelpwomen.com

Check back with the Fresh Start Community next week for Michele’s featured blog series. She will share even more helpful career tips.

Career Smart: Advancing your Career by Working Smarter, Not Harder

by: Sherri Thomas, Author and Career Coach

It's easy to think that people who are successful are just plain lucky. Plum jobs and career opportunities fall into their lap. But the fact is, successful professionals encounter just as many obstacles and roadblocks in their career as anyone else.

Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team, Bill Gates was put on trial in 1998 for creating an alleged monopoly with Microsoft, and even President Barack Obama lost his race for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives in 2000. So how did they bounce back (and bounce forward!), and more importantly, how can you bounce ahead in your own career?

The technique is what I call being "career smart". That means making choices, decisions, and taking risks every day with the purpose of advancing your career. Being career smart is NOT about accepting whatever job is handed to you, but instead it's about finding and creating opportunities that energize and inspire you. Below are three strategies to help you be career smart and achieve a career that fills you with purpose, meaning, and passion!

Get into a career where you can thrive (not just survive!)
It's impossible to thrive in a career if you're just going through the motions at work. If you're walking around like Eeyore in Winnie the Pooh, then others are sure to see you as someone who is tired, bored and gloomy. To bounce ahead, you’ll need to be in a career that challenges you, allows you to flex your professional muscles, excites you and keeps you energized!

Think about what kind of work you want to be doing. Identify three key ingredients you need in your career to be happy and fulfilled such as leading teams, working on creative projects, developing new technologies, etc. Once you've defined the three key ingredients, then seek out opportunities and do whatever it takes to drive your career in that direction.

Find your value, find your voice
Everyone has experienced a few setbacks in their career such as a lay-off, poor performance review or passed over for a promotion. We need to get over it! We need to give ourselves permission to learn from the experience, let it go, and bounce ahead.

The key to moving forward is to focus on the value that we bring to an organization. Identify your key strengths, skills and career successes. This is the value that you provide to clients or organizations. Be confident in the value that you offer, and share that value in your networking opportunities, interviews and at work with your manager and senior leaders.

Be open to possibilities
I love the funny saying, "If you want to make God laugh - tell him your plans."

One of the biggest mistakes I ALMOST made was declining the privilege of serving on the American Marketing Association's National Council. I narrowly was only looking at it as another volunteer opportunity that cut into professional and personal life. Fortunately, a mentor helped me see the bigger picture which was a tremendous gift that could strengthen my leadership skills, deepen my marketing expertise, broaden my professional network, and advance my career ten fold. (After accepting the position and serving just one year, I was named President of the AMA's National Council which advanced my career up to the 10,000 foot level.)

Be assertive, and aggressively seek out new career opportunities
Give serious consideration to each and every possibility that comes your way. Never decline an opportunity without seeking advice from colleagues whom you trust. Whether you're considering a new assignment in your current organization, or a completely new career, you’ll want to first answer the questions:

• "What could be the best possible benefit?"
• "Could this help me learn a new skill or strengthen a current skill?"
• "Could this be a stepping stone to help me achieve my ultimate career goal?"

Successful professionals are not lucky. They are career smart. They make choices, decisions, and take risks every day with the purpose of advancing their career. So step up, branch out, and start being receptive to new possibilities. There are always opportunities around you. You just have to grab them, do your best, and hang on for the ride!

Do you want more helpful advice on job searching or career advancement? Become a member of the Fresh Start Community of women today: www.wehelpwomen.com. Membership gives you exclusive access to all of the exciting & interactive workshops.

Sherri Thomas is founder of Career Coaching 360, an international speaker and author of "Career Smart: 5 Steps to a Powerful Personal Brand" on Amazon’s TOP 10 LIST for personal branding books. Career Coaching 360 provides career planning, management coaching and leadership development to help professionals change careers quickly and easily. Connect with Sherri at www.twitter.com/sherrithomas and on her website at www.careercoaching360.com, where you can also grab a free Career Analysis Package.

Soft Skills Are the Key to Career Success!

By: Danielle Miller, Certified Career Invention Coach
One of my favorite songs is a classic Garth Brooks song called “I’ve Got Friends In Low Places” and a line in it that says “I’m not big on social graces”…fine for a song, but not if you want to really get ahead in your career.

Understanding the importance of soft skills is vital to enhancing your career and your opportunities. Soft skills are not about being “touchy-feely”, but are real qualities and traits that will enable you to put your best foot forward in pursuing your vocation.

Let’s start with a definition of soft skills: Soft skills can be defined as the traits and qualities that enhance a person’s job performance, career options, interactions with others, and leadership potential. These are qualities that are difficult to measure and quantify as opposed to hard skills, which refer to an individual’s skill set and more technical abilities.

What do soft skills look like? Some of the traits used to describe soft skills include things like:
• Effective communication
• Active listening
• Empathy
• Managing time effectively
• Flexibility
• Courteousness
• Adaptability
• Ability to manage emotions
• Problem solving
• Teamwork
• Conflict negotiation and resolution
• Motivating others
• Willingness to learn
• Conscientiousness

This is by no means a complete list, but it starts to give you an idea about the types of qualities that are considered soft skills.

Why are soft skills important? Well interestingly enough, as we are conducting more business and personal functions online, we are also becoming more social (hence the term social media). The world literally is at our fingertips now more than ever and we have more choices than ever. Clients, customers and people want to feel valued, respected, and have their problems solved and they will take their business and relationships elsewhere if those needs are not met.

Soft skills are also important because of their portability. What I mean by this is that you could change your career 20 times and the time you have invested in developing your soft skills will always be transferable to any career you choose. Not only will soft skills serve you professionally, but they will also enhance your personal relationships, attract like minded people to you, and empower you to make choices that are best for you.

We all have soft skills that can be cultivated whether you consider yourself to be a left brain or right brain person; for example, you may not be the best organizer, but you are excellent at motivating others to perform at their best. Perhaps you are the strategist that can see several different options for solving a challenge or the mediator in team meetings.

One of the most important things you can do is to know what your strengths and natural personality traits are so you can emphasize the ones that come naturally to you. There are any number of self assessments that can help you identify your strengths so you can capitalize on them. Another great way to start pinpointing your soft skills is to make a list of soft skill traits and ask friends to pick five that they feel represent you the best.

Knowing which soft skills you already possess and which ones you’d like to develop further will be invaluable to both your career success and personal success.

Do you want more helpful advice on job searching or career advancement? Become a member of the Fresh Start Community of women today: www.wehelpwomen.com. Membership gives you exclusive access to all of the exciting & interactive workshops.

Danielle Miller is a Certified Career Invention Coach and a Reinvention Strategist. She works with women who want to reimagine, reinvent, and reignite their careers and personal brand. She can be found at http://www.daniellemmiller.com