What shall I do with my future?

Because our work is an expression of commitment and caring for people, not just a way to earn money, or have status in society, it is important to choose a career in which you can shape your life with purpose, and create meaning that will make a contribution to your society and will endure beyond your own lifetime. You need to know why you are doing what you are doing, and how it fits into your future. There will be three exercises during our next seminar that will help you to explore and define your personal goals, will probe your own system of values and morals , and the legacy you want to leave to your family, friends and society.

Insights into the significant changes in the 21st-century job market

The next seminar at Aventin is designed to help those who are seeking employment or trying to advance their careers and enable them to match their spectrum of skills, qualifications, interests, values and accomplishments with the vital needs of businesses, organizations and institutions both in America and world -wide, including here in Czech Republic and in Central Europe. The global financial crisis of the spring 2009 and beyond, has significantly altered the career paths of those in the job market. Is is essential that we begin to point the way into a future in which each person can contribute to a newly-reimagined economy. In the coming economy, we believe, personal job satisfaction, will be the major motivating force especially in those job markets able to respond to challenges of the 21st century. In the coming seminar we will be talking about how you can become a vital part of this newly emerging economy.

The open job market

Looking for a job in the open market is a paradox. One the one hand, you can see right in front of your eyes that there's a job available in a newspaper ad, on a sign in a window, on an Internet job board, or through a professional website. There's a job! There it is! I'll apply!

But on the other hand, there may not be a job. The job is advertised, yes, but in reality there's a "strong internal candidate" who has the job sewn up. Your solid-gold application, wherein you match to perfection your qualifications to the job's requirements, is not even given a chance, because the outcome of the search is known in advance. Schools, universities, government agencies and non-profits are notorious for advertising jobs that are essentially already filled; the advertisement is simply to meet a legal requirement.

Another way in which there any not be a job is that, indeed, there is no current opening. Businesses with high turnover (language schools, restaurants, any sales job that pays on commission) are constantly looking for new employees. They routinely publish ads for jobs that aren't available at the moment, but probably will be open soon.

The third way that there is no job is that, indeed, there's no job at all. Businesses sometimes post ads for jobs in their industry to get resumes; these resumes give them an idea of the competition's qualifications. And some very sneaky businesses post attractive ads anonymously, trying to catch their own employees looking for another job!

Of course, people get jobs every day through the open market, so there's nothing wrong with using it to job-hunt. Just don't be too disappointed if you don't get called in for an interview right away. It's no reflection on your qualifications--it's just the reality of the open job market.

Don't let the job market define who you are

When you're looking for a new job, changing careers, going back to college, or even just writing a resume, it's tempting to give in to the stereotyped views of who you are. You're just one of many people in transition, like people in a bus station wating to get on the next available bus. You're one of the crowd.

How can you communicate your individuality to potential employers and admission personnel? How can you rise above the crowd, so that your application or resume stands out (in a positive way!) and attracts the attention it needs to get you an interview or offer?

1. Don't fall into the standard categories. You may be looking for a job, like thousands of other people,but you are unique. Learn to highlight and effectively convey what's special about you and your potential to contribute to the organization.


2. Don't use everyday, boring language. Think about your skills, abilities, talents, gifts, goals, values, beliefs, interests and accomplishments, then write about them in highly-specific and colorful words and images. Repeat your key accomplishments to yourself until talking about yourself in positive, imaginative ways becomes natural and easy.

3. Don't think in terms of "cannot" or "no experience." Think in terms of transferable skills and ability to learn quickly. Apply your management skills to a new industry; use your interpersonal and communication skills among a new group of people; demonstrate how your organizational and motivational skills can benefit your new school.

The job market can seem huge and impersonal. Don't give in to the tendency to present yourself in unoriginal ways that make it too easy to put you into an existing category. Think about people who've become famous or successful: they all communicated their unique gifts and abilities to the world and didn't settle for being defined by the job market.

Do you want your resume or application to end up in the "no" pile? It's up to you to resist being defined negatively, shuffled into the background, or labeled as unqualified. Define yourself, and people will give you the chance to tell them what you can do and how you can improve their organization by contributing your skills and abilities to their mission.