Feature Article: Ten Tips for Creating a Career That Lights Your Fire
Special Feature: Identifying Your Passion's Building Blocks
Bonus Feature: Self-Assessment for New Grads and Entry-level Job-Seekers Is First Step to Career Plan
Quintessential Site: Featured Career Web Site of this Issue
The Career Doctor: Answering Your Questions
What's New on Quintessential Careers
Q TIPS: Quick and Quintessential Tips to Guide Your Job Search
Notes from the Editor: About this Issue...
Early each year we devote an issue to the process of self-discovery
that can lead to fulfilling career choices.
This year, guest writers Curt Rosengren and Teena
Rose explore the ideas of self-assessment and discovering your passion.
We've also completed our annual update of our Quintessential Careers Online Career
Assessment Tools Review; see details below.
--Katharine Hansen, Credentialed Career Master, Certified Electronic Career Coach,
and editor at
kathy@quintcareers.com
Feature Article: Creating a Satisfying Career
Ten Tips for Creating a Career That Lights Your Fire
by Curt Rosengren
Have you ever found yourself so excited about something that the energy it generates just
seems to pull you along? Imagine feeling that every day in the work you do.
It's possible. What's more, it's within reach! Here is a Passion Primer to help you begin exploring
your passions and discovering ways, whether big or small, to incorporate them into your life.
With this issue of QuintZine, we are launching our new job-hunting portal,
where job-seekers can search for jobs, post your resume, build an online portfolio,
receive career consultation, and learn about continuing education opportunities.
If you're reading this article, you are probably giving some thought to how you can
build a career that you can be more passionate about.
A great first step as you begin exploring the possibilities for a passionate career is identifying
your building blocks. Take a look at the things that you have really loved doing over the course of your
life and break them down into the reasons why.
When you say "I'm passionate about ___________," or "I love doing ___________," that's not really
the complete picture. Whether you're conscious of it or not, what you really mean is "I love doing
___________ because _________, __________, and _________."
You identify your building blocks by exploring those underlying characteristics. Having an
understanding of those characteristics can open up a whole new world of potential.
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Bonus Feature: First Step in Career Plan
Self-Assessment for New Grads and Entry-level Job-Seekers Is First Step to Career Plan
by Teena Rose
One of the biggest mistakes that individuals make in their careers is to go aimlessly through school
or work in an entry-level position with no clear direction or goals. They wait until the homestretch
-- graduation, layoff, or departure -- before taking a stab at other opportunities. Finding a well-paying
job or locating opportunities for advancement shouldn't be treated as an afterthought, rather one that has been
planned and prepared for months or years.
Preparation, preparation, and more preparation! Imagine signing up for a marathon and waiting until the day before
to begin preparing for the race. Obviously, you're not ready because of lack of training. You didn't seek the assistance
of a coach or mentor, and you didn't assess the resources you would need on the day of the race. Without proper preparation,
what are your chances of completing the race?
Like any serious step you'll take in life, you must first determine the number of baby steps needed to get from one
spot to the next. In other words, where are you headed and how will you get there? Outline every obstacle or challenge
that will hinder your progress of taking these steps. Each small step (short-term goal) will take you closer to
satisfying the big steps, known as long-term career goals.
Ad: Increase Your Marketability with More Education
Increase Your Marketability by Obtaining Additional
Education, Training, Certifications
The number people enrolling in online education programs to advance their knowledge and their career
is increasing enormously.
Should you be one of them?
Programs range from business to management to computer
information systems and students can choose from accelerated
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Find programs from all the best schools in the country
-- to best fit your personal, educational, and career needs.
We've updated our reviews of free and inexpensive online career assessments. We've weeded out old assessment sites
that are no longer in operation and added some new ones. These tools provide fun and useful
ways to learn more about yourself and to gain food for thought about your career direction:
Online Career Assessment Tools Review.
Do you know of a free or inexpensive ($30 or less) online assessment that we should feature in our
review? Have any comments about the way we've rated the chart's assessments? Let us know at:
quintzine@quintcareers.com.
Quintessential Careers Site: Future Proof Your Career
Looking for a great career test or career quiz? Future Proof Your Career is one of a dying breed of
free online career assessments. Quintessential Careers has given Future Proof Your Career
its "3 Qs" (out of 4) rating.
The Future Proof Your Career (FPYC) career test helps you find fulfilling work and creates a
personalized career strategy for you that works with the latest employment trends of the knowledge age.
The career test consists of seven pages of simple questions, in which you locate yourself on a one to 10 scale.
It takes most people around 10-12 minutes to complete, although some do the career test much quicker and others
prefer to take their time.
Upon completion of the career quiz, you are taken directly to your free FPYC Personal Profile, where
a comprehensive report covers your temperament type, three dominant intelligences, six dominant abilities, knowledge
worker status, proficiency in the six key Knowledge Age Skills, and preferred learning style. A downloadable interpretive book
in PDF format is available for $27.
Anonymous writes: "I am lost. I have no clue what type of jobs are out there for me. All I know is these few
things about myself: I am a natural-born leader, I love working with people, and I love watching something work
for me. I am currently halfway through college, but still haven't decided what is right for me. I went after business
administration and then thought that it wasn't for me. I would like to know what jobs are 'hot' by 2005, when
I graduate. I am afraid of getting into a career that I feel I will regret. Please help."
Gail writes: "My question is how and where on my resume could I let employers know I'm looking for 24-32 hours a week.
How should I word this? Should I put this in my objective?"
Fiona writes: "I read the section on informational interviewing on your Web site and found it very helpful but I just have one
question.
What if the person you want to interview is in another state or city and you can't meet them in person? What if they
are usually very busy. Would it be all right to interview them for information using email? Say have a questionnaire for them
to answer? Or would they just read it and chuck it out because it is too impersonal? Help."
Shreena writes: "I am applying for a summer undergraduate work placement in a large company of opticians. One of the
questions of the application forms is as follows: Provide details of key achievements in your current role including facts and
figures and performance targets to indicate the business outcome that resulted.
Do I need to write about my role as a student at university? There is no real business outcome that results from being a student."
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Electronic versions now included with all resume and cover
letter products at Quintessential Resumes and Cover Letters at
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Dress for Success --
a great not-for-profit organization that helps low-income women by providing job interview suits,
confidence boosts, and career development -- in more than 75 cities. Learn how to volunteer, how to donate,
or how to get assistance. Free to job-seekers.
Jobdango --
an excellent job site for job-seekers searching for employment in the Northwest U.S.
Job-seekers can search for job listings (by keywords, category, location, employment type), post your
resume, register for a job-search agent, research employers, browse local career events,
and find career resources. Free to job-seekers.
Jobsearch -- an employment portal for
all job-seekers searching for employment in Australia and New Zealand, listing all the major
job boards (categorized into general, IT, executive, graduate and specialist)
in that region. Also includes listings for other major international job sites as well
as links to various career resources. Free to job-seekers.
Michigan Job Shop -- where job-seekers
searching for employment in Michigan can search for jobs (keywords, location, industry, career level),
post your resume, find basic career information/tips, and find local career events and resources
for relocation. Free to job-seekers.
Find even more career and job site additions to Quintessential Careers by visiting our
Latest Additions section.
Ad: Get Help Mapping Out a New Career
Based on years of research, the Jackson Vocational Interest
Survey (JVIS) accurately measures your interests, showing how
they relate to the worlds of study and work, and mapping out
your route to an interesting career.
Q TIPS: Quick and Quintessential Career & Job Tips
If you're unemployed, it can be tough to afford that perfect
interview outfit. That's why the U.S. organization Dress for
Success is urging businesswomen to donate a business suit during
the week of March 14. Organizers say having one good suit can be
a first step to self-sufficiency. Find out how to get involved.
Read the article from Quote.com.
Most job hunters skip the key step that helps focus their sights and sell themselves -- self-assessment -- reports
Patricia Kitchen in Newsday.
Kitchen writes: "Of all the career techniques, experts say, this is the one most neglected. We are a nation of doers,
not reflectors. And that's just what's called for -- getting quiet, plumbing the depths, digging through what we think we're
supposed to feel, to get to what we do feel about what's most important in our work lives." Kitchen notes that self-assessment
involves answering some fairly basic questions, including:
What activities do I do well that I also enjoy?
What have been my proudest accomplishments, big or small, whether others valued them or not?
What are my inherent interests -- the subject areas I find fascinating?
How do I like to spend my day, working independently or with others in a bustle of activity?
To what degree am I willing to sacrifice inspiring work for higher pay or vice versa?
Kitchen suggests carving out time for reflection, journaling,
testing the waters by doing volunteer work or reading any
number of books such as What Should I Do With My Life?
(Random House, $24.95), the bestseller by Po Bronson.
No. 5: I hope you are having fun on your job-search adventure! Please take your
lists from previous tips and combine them. Make out a master list and rank the listed items
in order. Start with number one, until you can go no farther. THIS EXERCISE IS NOT
MEANT TO BE SCIENTIFIC OR REALISTIC. Just play this game. You are getting closer
to knowing yourself, and what you want to do .... to be continued...
College students and new grads should check out this e-book,
The Last Job Search Guide You'll Ever Need:
How to Find -- and Get -- The Job or Internship of Your Dreams!
The book contains must-read contributions from 149 of North America's top employment experts
and is available risk-free for 90 days.
If your school, organization, business or other
entity has a Web site, we welcome you to link to Quintessential Careers.
If you already have a link from your site, we want you to know we
appreciate it. If you don't have a link to us, please
send a request to your site's Webmaster to establish a
link to Quintessential Careers. Thanks so much!
For more details (including sample HTML copy), see our
Link to Us page.
QuintZine: Topics in Upcoming Issues
WATCH FOR feature articles on these topics in upcoming
issues of QuintZine:
* Dining etiquette
* Turning an Internship into a Job
* 10 Career Change Mistakes to Avoid
* Resumes for New Grads
* 10 Resume Mistakes
* The Scoop on Resume Length
* Moonlighting/Holding Multiple Jobs
* Career Focus Quiz
* Overcoming a Lack of Qualifications/Credentials
* Fighting the Overqualified Label
* Surviving and Moving Beyond Low-Wage Jobs
* Pre-Employment Testing
* 10 Things for High-School Students to Remember
* First in a Series Tracking College Plans of a High School Student
* Importance of Junior Year of High School
* How to Make a Temp Job Permanent
* Temping Your Way to Career Change
* Mastering Second (and Subsequent) Interviews
* Interview Damage Control
* 10 Interview Mistakes
* Exude Confidence in Interviews
* Job Satisfaction Quiz
* Job-search Time-Management Skills
* Reinvent Your Career at Midlife
* Working Beyond Retirement
* Workaholic Quiz
* Building Your Brand
* Pros and Cons of Nontraditional Careers
* Nontraditional Career Paths for Men and Women
* Make Your College Application Shine
* Changing Landscape of College Admissions
* College Admissions Annual Report/Panel Discussion
* Internet Jobhunting Annual Report
* Top 5 Networking Strategies
* Quintessential Career Profiles of YOU, our readers
* Q&As with well-known career experts
* Book reviews
. . . and much, much more!
Don't ever want to miss another issue of QuintZine? Get a free subscription to
the email version of QuintZine by completing our
subscription form.
Quintessential Careers Announces Career Coaching
We now offer two types of career-coaching services!
Are you...
feeling stuck in an unsatisfying job?
facing a major change in career or job status?
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seeking help in developing a job-search plan?
looking for a solution to job-search obstacles?
desiring to bounce ideas off of a career expert?
trying to discover the keys to career success?
Let Dr. Randall S. Hansen, The Career Doctor, help you work through all your college, career, and job-search concerns,
issues, and problems. He has helped hundreds of teens, college students, and experienced job-seekers identify obstacles, develop
action plans, and achieve success -- and he can help you!
And for an economical online-only career-coaching alternative,
visit The Career Clinic.
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