From Diplomacy to Poetry and Writing

From Diplomacy to Poetry and Writing Success Story > From: Job To: Solopreneur From Diplomacy to Poetry and Writing “I was in paradise, but I wasn't fulfilled.” * From Diplomacy to Poetry and Writing Leilani Tamu had a great job. She travelled to beautiful desitinations and had status and respect. But something was missing â€" it didn't make her happy. Here's her story. What was your previous career? I was with Foreign Affairs for six years as a diplomat. In many respects it was ticking the boxes, but there was a creative side of me that just felt really restless in diplomacy. I’d also been writing poetry, and I’d started to build up a bit of a public profile as a poet. I was getting published in some prominent New Zealand books and magazines, so I was almost living a dual life. What do you do now? I’m an independent contractor and consultant for social and health issues in the Pacific region, and also a creative writer. I find projects where I can undertake research and write reports that help to inform policy or strategy in the region. What’s really important to me is that I have a lot more say in terms of what I do and what I don’t do. It means I’m making a contribution on my own terms. I’m actually earning at least twice, often three times more than I was when I was on salary. And I’ve got a lot more flexibility. I’ve just been offered a full scholarship in the USA for three monthsâ€" a paid opportunity for a residency at the University of Hawaii in September. If I had stuck with foreign affairs there’d be no way I could pursue something like this, and there’s no way I could write in a way that’s real and independent. The residency is to work on my second book of poetry, which ironically is going to be called ‘Cultural Diplomacy’. It’s the pinnacle of what this is all about for meâ€" three months getting paid to do what I love, which is write. It shows that the decision I took was the right one. When did you decide to make the change? 1st January 2012. I woke up New Years morning in Tonga. I was on a posting, on this beautiful compound with a swimming pool and tennis courts, it was amazing. I went outside and I just felt so depressed. And I thought, I’m basically in paradise, getting paid well, in a relatively prestigious position, but I’m not happy and I’m not fulfilled. And that was the point in which I decided: 'I’m going to take control of my life'. I thought I’d wait it out and see what would happen with an upcoming restructure. So I waited six months, and in the end they didn’t offer redundancy for my position. They were really generous with me as they didn’t want me to leave. They offered me leave without pay for two years, which was nice as at least I had something in my back pocket for a short time. But as soon as I moved back to New Zealand, I found all these other opportunities coming my way. My book of poetry got accepted for publication. That was the first big thing where my reputation as a creative writer was being recognised. Then I was also offered the opportunity to write for quite a prominent New Zealand magazine, and I had my own column. With both of those opportunities, it just became really clear to me that I needed to be fully independent to really capitalise on them. So it was at that point that I decided to completely cut my ties with the foreign office. Even though I had the 'leave without pay' option, I decided it was in their interests and my interests to resign. How did you decide on the route you were going to take? Early on in the process I used an online resource in New Zealand called Career Analyst, which has an online career centre. You spend $300 to use online assessment tools which help you understand your personal values, motivations, and career preferences. Every time I was wavering about the change I’d look at the assessment document, and use it as a signpost to remind me that this is the right decision. Although the old career path was ticking say half of the boxes, there were a heap of others that were completely unfulfilled, or secondary. So since I’ve taken on this more entrepreneurial route, whenever I refer back to that document almost all the key things that matter to me (my values, skills and motivations) are now covered. Did you have a plan of what you wanted to do instead, if and when you left the foreign office? Originally, as I knew that I had a creative streak and I collect a lot of art work wherever I go, I was thinking about going back to New Zealand to set up an art gallery. I started the market research, and realised oh hellâ€" this is the worst time possible to be opening a brick and mortar gallery. It’s highly competitive, and also because of the nature of the art market, if you really want to make money then you have to be in that elitist space. That conflicted with my values and career motivations. I’m very much more wanting to connect with everyday people. So it became clear to me that that pipe dream and early thinking wasn’t quite the right fit. I got back to the basics, and that’s when I realised that actually my key strength and earning capacity was one and the same thingâ€" writing. It was right in front of my face. But because it was right in front of my face, I had taken it for granted. How did you find these writing opportunities? As soon as I knew I was seriously thinking about leaving, I looked at who within my network worked in the spaces where I potentially might want to be. I had a holiday trip back to New Zealand, and during that time I had several coffee meetings with key people. It was as much to listen and learn, as to let them know that I may potentially be available. Some of these contacts told me to get in touch when I moved back to New Zealand as they would then introduce me to useful people they knew. Over the first three-four weeks of moving back, it was all go. Those contacts were my priority. I very much took the approach that I wasn’t going to go through the normal job market. I knew that I wanted to take a more entrepreneurial path, and I didn’t feel like I had the time to waste to go through the recruitment sites. I had a short stint where I took an employed role for a few months because my husband had stopped work. As soon as my husband got work, we decided that was a good time for me to transition. Then within a week of me submitting my resignation, I got my first major contract offer, and now I think I’m onto my sixth. What was the most difficult thing about changing? Trying to convince my husband that this was the right path to take. I would be going from my job, with the huge allowances when we were overseas, to contract work, without having any proof that it would work. Because I’m a mum and a wife, whilst wanting to be an entrepreneur in the fullest sense, I can’t throw myself into it fully without taking into account those other roles. Trying to find that balanceâ€" to do what I felt was right, and at the same time protect my family from that short term period of instability. Did you get any external support? The Career Analyst website had an option to get a coach, so I had two phone sessions with one. That was useful, but actually overall I found that trusting my own instincts and having the written material from the test results was probably of much more value. The coach was a good sounding board but I probably would have ended up where I am without that guidance anyway. Did you have any resistance to your decision? Within the Foreign Office my boss, the high commissioner, really advocated for me to stay. He told me that I could be a future ambassador, and that they really didn’t want to lose me. That was the first big hurdle. Then once I’d got past that, the next thing was my family. My mum was a policewoman for twenty years so for her it was really difficult to comprehend why I would want to give up a career that was well paid, well regarded, and relatively secure. But I think she’s gotten over it! Although even now, every other week she still says to me, with a concerned look on her face, ‘You are OK aren’t you? You don’t need any help financially?’. It’s one of those things where you can’t talk them around, you have to show them it can be done, just by doing it. They’re starting to see that now. I’ve had some of my former senior colleagues in the diplomatic core sending me private messages saying they read my magazine column and appreciate what I write. They’re so pleased to have someone like me out there talking independently, which has been a big affirmation as they’re people I really respected in a professional sense. Is there anything you wish you’d done differently? When I had that short-term employment role, sometimes I think maybe I should have just bitten the bullet and gone straight into the writing contract work. After taking the big risk of leaving the Foreign Office, I can see how, if I hadn’t been so determined, it would have been easy to have been back in that safe and secure career mode. What have you learnt about yourself in the process? I’ve learnt that while my skills and perspectives were of value in the foreign service, their value is greater than any one career. By being an independent writer, I’m aligned to touch a lot more peoples lives and make more of a contribution, which is what’s important to me. What would you advise other career changers to do? Be really honest with yourself. Don’t beat around the bush. Deal with the fact that you aren’t happy. Grieve if you need to. Especially if you’ve been in a career for while and it’s relatively secure, you do need to go through a grieving period. Be kind to yourself and accept that it’s ok to want to move on. Someone said to me once that it’s almost like breaking up a relationship. The next step is to really strategise and map it out in a thoughtful, considered way. For me, that meant I got the expertise from a career consultant. You’re going to need to do a bit of work in the outset that will pay off later. A lot of people get hung up on thinking they’ll have to study or start from the bottom, but I think all those things need to go out the window. Think creatively about different ways in which you can tackle the issue. You’re likely to come up with something that will get you on the pathway. I could have gone back to university for three years, but I didn’t have the time or money to do so. So I found a way to write and create opportunities out of that. What lessons could you take from Leilani's story to use in your own career change? Let us know in the comments below.

Looking For a Resume Writing Service in Naperville?

Looking For a Resume Writing Service in Naperville?When looking for a resume writing service in Naperville, there are several steps you should take to ensure you get the best results. Find out how to go about this in this article.First, determine if a resume writing service is right for you. Find out what the basic requirements are for the job. Will it be about creating letters that include your personal information?Will the job involve consulting or seeking out new skills or is it strictly about writing? Is the information you want to be short and sweet or will it need to be lengthy? For example, are you after career or education information? Do you want to have a title page?You should also think about your future client when deciding which service to choose. If your potential client is not sure about the best service to use, how do you ensure he or she will be satisfied with your efforts? The right service can set you up for success or put you in a frustrating situation.Now that yo u know what the services entail, consider a few questions to help you find the best one for your needs. Will the writer create my letters for me? What are the charges for the service? How often does the writer update his or her website and social media profiles? Why should I hire the writer?These questions will help you determine if the writer is good at this type of job or if it is something that they do not enjoy because of how much it takes to get into this field or because of the time involved. Be sure to ask for references before hiring someone. Ask friends and family members for names of people who have hired them and how they felt about the service.A resume writing service can come from just about anywhere in the world. It's important to know what to look for in a service before making your final decision.Finding a resume writing service in Naperville will require that you use a bit of your own effort. Making the right decisions before choosing a service, will help you achiev e this.

Network Technician Job Description - Algrim.co

Network Technician Job Description - Algrim.co Network Technician Job Description Template Download our job description template in Word or PDF format. Instant download. No email required. Download Template Using Your Template Follow these instructions to use your new job description template Step one: Fill out all details in your job description template using the provided sample on this page. Step two: Customize your requirements or duties to anything special to your workplace. Be sure to speak with team members and managers to gauge what's required of the position. Step three: When the census of the team has agreed on the description of the work, add in a Equal Employment Opportunity statement to the bottom of your job description. Step four: Check with your legal department, management team, and other team members to ensure the job description looks correct before creating a job advertisement. Choose a job board that's specific to your needs.

Business Fundamentals for Personal Branding Success - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

Business Fundamentals for Personal Branding Success - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career Personal brand building and career success require more than charisma, confidence and passion; you need to know the fundamentals of business and financial management. Regardless whether youre planning to continue working for others until you have saved enough to start your own business, or you want to start your own business as soon as possible, your career will benefit from increased familiarity with the basic terms and concepts of sound business techniques. Passion is not enough to succeed in business To succeed in business on your own, you need to know the vocabulary and the basic strategies. You also need to know where to turn for help. Thats where Thomas H. Grays Business Techniques for Troubled Times: A Toolbox for Small Business Success comes in; it provides a readable and practical introduction to what you need to know when going out on your own. Thus, Business Techniques for Troubled Times provides the missing link between your abilities, expertise, and passions, and the career or entrepreneurial success youre capable of achieving.  Business Techniques for Troubled Times offers an MBA for liberal arts graduates; its the perfect book for liberal arts graduates who wish they had a business degree, but dont have time to go back to college for more study. In todays unsettled economy, its more important than ever that you make career decisions on sound business and branding principles. The stakes are too high to start a business and hope for the best. What youll learn Obviously, no one book can cover everything you need about business fundamentals for personal branding success. But,   a solid, readable book can provide the groundwork for making the right decisions, and point the way for further study (or consultations with appropriate professionals). Among the topics covered in Business Techniques in Troubled Times: Business plans and target markets. Youll learn how to describe your ideal client, or reader of your book, and how to prepare a business plan for profitably addressing their needs. Competition. Youll learn how to analyze the competition for you personal brand and how to differentiate your business and your brand. Financing options. How will you fund your business? Youll learn the pros and cons of the major financing options, including banks, investors, and family resources. Marketing and pricing. Although you may be familiar with the basics of marketing, youll discover techniques you can use to support your personal brand at every step of the customer experience. Youll also gain fresh insights into bundling and pricing your service options. Additional topics include preparing marketing communications and managing your finances to maximize cashflow, and managing your business for continuous improvement. Specialized topics include the dynamics of involving family members in your business and creating an exit strategy for your business. What running a business has in common with traffic court If you’ve ever appeared in traffic court and tried to explain that you weren’t aware of the speed limit, or the rules of the road in a strange town, you’re probably familiar with the comment, “Ignorance of the law is no excuse!” Likewise, when running your own business, you have to know the rules and the fundamentalsthe best practicesrequired for safe passage. If you’re looking for one book that provides enough of a introduction to the fundamentals of business success to guide you as you attempt to profit from your personal brand, Business Techniques in Troubled Times is an excellent choice. Whether you read it from cover to cover before starting out, or keep it by your desk for reference, it will serve you well. What book did you depend on when starting your business? Where did you turn to get your “business smarts” before (or after) starting your business? After graduating with a liberal arts degree, was there a single book that you depended on to introduce you to the fundamentals of business success? Share your experiences and recommends, below! Author: Roger C. Parker offers advice, counsel, checklists, and worksheets to help you build your personal brand. Download his   99 Questions to Ask Before You Start to Write   workbook and ask him a writing question.

Resume Writing Tutorials - How to Create a Great Resume From Point PDF

Resume Writing Tutorials - How to Create a Great Resume From Point PDFOne of the most effective resume writing tutorials online is called Point PDF. This article will go over a few tips and tricks that will help you create a great resume from Point PDF. In this article I will go over a few of the most effective resume writing tutorials out there that you can use to learn to write a resume.The first thing that you need to do is learn how to create your own excel or word documents that are print-quality files. Most of the tutorials will tell you that the best resume to use is the one that has already been designed. Well the fact of the matter is that this is true, but the fact is that if you cannot design your own documents it is just impossible to use a good tool like Point PDF.Creating your own excel or word documents is an important step to take because it will allow you to automate the process of saving your documents. This will allow you to move on to the next step in the resume w riting tutorials.The next thing that you need to know about creating your own excel or word documents is that it is very important to use the free edition of Microsoft Office. Most of the tutorials are wrong and try to teach you to use the word wizard or Excel wizard. These are not very powerful tools and the only reason that they are used is because of the free trials that you can get when you get a copy of Microsoft Office. If you use these tools, you will end up with a lot of errors that will ruin your resume.The reason why you need to use the free version of Microsoft Office is because the free version of this software does not have all of the features that the full version does. You will find that most of the resume writing tutorials online are wrong in their advice because they try to tell you that you should use the full version. The reason why you need to use the free versionis because it is very limited in features.So, when you have your documents created using the free ver sion of Word or Excel it is very important that you go back to the Point PDF tutorials and take some of the time to learn how to use these powerful tools. In order to learn how to save your resume using the Word or Excel wizard you will need to go back to the Point PDF tutorials. You can do this by going back to the step where you went back to the free version of Microsoft Office and learn how to use the Word or Excel wizard.The next important step that you need to take is to learn how to format your resume. The problem with the majority of the resume writing tutorials out there is that they don't explain what the important formatting elements are that you need to learn how to use. The formatting elements that you need to learn how to use are: headers, bullet points, footers, and headers again.These are all the formatting elements that you need to understand when it comes to the learning process. You need to use these formatting elements if you want to create a successful resume. Th e great thing about these Point PDF tutorials is that they teach you how to use all of the formatting elements that you need to be able to create a great resume.

How To Nail Your Next Cover Letter - Sterling Career Concepts

How To Nail Your Next Cover Letter How To Nail Your Next Cover Letter Job seekers often wonder what goes in to writing a good cover letter. If I can teach you one thing about cover letter writing, let it be this: The least effective strategy is to focus on what you want out of a job or what your ideal job is. Consider the situation from the hiring managers perspective. An employer has posted a job and is collecting resumes and cover letters to fill an open position. They, quite frankly, don’t care about what you want. They care about whether or not your strengths are a good match with their needs. To be effective, your cover letter needs to help solve the company’s problem of an open position. Giving the company a solution to its problem (by hiring you!) will make you appealing to the hiring manager. The right time to address your own needs and wants (salary, benefits, title, etc.) is after the company decides they want to hire you. That is when you have the most negotiating power. That said, the best approach is to include 3-4 concise bullet points within the body to highlight your top strengths as they apply to that position. The key word here is “concise.” Further maximize the effectiveness of your letter by incorporating bold or italics sparingly to accent key phrases or concepts. Use formatting to your advantage to make it easy for a potential employer to decide if your resume should fall in the “A” pile. Why bullets? Have you ever tried to concentrate on a full page of text? Assume the reader is busy. Using 3-4 bulleted statements in the body of your letter is much more reader-friendly than lengthy, run-on paragraphs. This is not the place to include your entire life story! Cover letters that are a full page (or longer) are not as likely to get read as shorter, more concise letters that cut to the chase. Choose your words carefully and purposefully.

Last chance to take our International Survey on Happiness At Work - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog

Last chance to take our International Survey on Happiness At Work - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog Over 2,000 people have already taken our International Survey on Happiness At Work and were starting to see some fascinating results already. The final report showing which countries are happier at work and what makes them happy will be ready in time for the International Week of Happiness At Work which? runs from September 24-28. This means that the deadline for taking the survey is September 10, so we have time to crunch the numbers. So if you havent taken the survey already, please go here and do it it only takes 4 minutes and you may even learn something about what makes you happy at work. And please share the survey with others the more replies we get, the more relevant the results will be. Thanks for visiting my blog. If you're new here, you should check out this list of my 10 most popular articles. And if you want more great tips and ideas you should check out our newsletter about happiness at work. It's great and it's free :-)Share this:LinkedInFacebookTwitterRedditPinterest Related