Given the shaky economy, you never know when your own job is at risk. So it can be a good idea to start looking for an alternative, just in case you are suddenly let go.

You are also better positioned to find a job if you have one, so even you don’t like your current job, it’s better to stay there while you look. Though make sure you conduct your job search discretely so others, especially your boss, don’t realize you are seeking an alternative. Consider this another approach to add to your professional development.

Here are some ways to look for a job while you are currently employed so you don’t get discovered.

• Don’t send e-mails about other jobs from your work computer, even on a break or before or after work. Someone could see your e-mails, such as your boss when monitoring the computers at work to see what employees are doing.

• Do use your own computer at home or use a personal laptop or portable for sending out e-mail queries during the day – preferably at a local café or coffee shop, so you don’t do this in your workplace.

• Don’t talk about your frustrations at work or your plans to get another job to other employees, even if you feel they can be trusted, since they might mention this to someone else and the word can get around.

• Limit the number of friends and associates you tell about your job search and only tell close friends you trust to maintain Continue reading Finding a Job When You Have One – Another Key to Your Professional Development

Feeling down by the grim news everyday?

Here’s an antidote to feel better despite the turmoil – applying the principles of happiness to whatever you are doing, so you can enjoy it and overcome feelings of stress. There are 12 principles of happiness described below.

Keep them in mind every day and regularly apply them. One good way to do this is to copy them onto a list you look at each day. Then, as you put them into practice, they will become a habit, so you enjoy every day, no matter what happens. This approach to life will also help you get rid of any fears and other negative feelings about your work and future.

1. Cultivate love, often called the “root of happiness” and the opposite of fear. To this end, remind yourself to experience and express appreciation for your work, friends, and significant others. Focus on what you have now or will have, so you feel gratitude, not on what you don’t have or used to have, causing you to feel a sense of loss.

2. Be optimistic by letting go of any painful experiences and thinking about how to learn from any difficulties you encounter. Optimism can also help you overcome any regrets for the past and lead you to feel confident about the future.

3. Cultivate courage by embracing challenges to overcome your feelings of fear.

4. Remind yourself that you have the freedom to choose whatever the situation is. If you feel stuck at any time, think of the different ways you can remake yourself and do something different; consider how to adapt your skills to respond to the economic situation today.

5. Be proactive to shape your own destiny, rather than waiting for other people or events to make you happy. Think about what you can change or do differently to reshape what you are doing now.

6. Gain security by liking and accepting who you are, so you have an inner sense of assurance, since everything else in life changes. Look for security from within, not from money, popularity, or other outer attributes.

7. Work on being in good health, because you need Continue reading How to Stay Happy, Even When Times are Grim

Before there was money, there was bartering – an exchange of skills, services, or products instead of using money.

During a recession, with less money in circulation, bartering can be a way to create an alternate economy, such as occurred during a recession in the early 1980s, when many bartering clubs sprung up. As club members, people could gain points for the skills, services or products they offered; then others could use the points they acquired for own skills, services, or products to buy the offerings from others. The clubs used various systems to make sure there was a balance between what people offered and what they could buy from others. Then, as the economy improved, the membership in these clubs declined as people joined the mainstream economy.

Given the loss of jobs today, this seems to be a good approach to renew, whether you organize or join a bartering system. Consider it a part of your professional development, too.

If you become an organizer, Continue reading Barter Your Way to Success – and to Further Professional Development

Bartering existed long before the money economy developed. It was a way to exchange products or services you had for products or services from someone else.

The growth of bartering seems to be inversely related to the growth of the money economy. So as people earn more money, they have less interest in bartering, and vice versa. That’s why during the early 1980s recession, many bartering clubs emerged, so people with reduced funds or work could have more buying power.

The way these clubs work is that the members offer their services or products for points; then others use their own points to purchase those services and products. A person can accumulate negative points to some degree if they purchase more producers and services than they sell. But then they have to earn more positive points in order to continue to buy something. The ideal is attaining a balance between what people offer and what they get from others. It’s like another money system which you can use when you aren’t earning as much as you have earned in the past from the regular economy.

Today, this seems like a good way to increase Continue reading Join the Bartering Economy to Increase Your Income in the Money Economy

At networking parties for the film industry and the unemployed – sometimes the same people in both groups — I have been running into a growing number of people who speak desperately about spending 30 or 40 hours a week sending out resumes and trying to set up interviews. But then, nothing. There are no jobs. So their job has become finding a job – though there are few jobs to be had at a time when layoffs are spreading from industry to industry. No wonder they are increasingly depressed.

Sometimes if you are faced with such a situation, the best approach is to give up a frustrating and fruitless job search for now. Instead, think about how you can volunteer to do something where the work is needed and where your skills and interests make this task a good fit. Volunteering is a good way to learn new skills and further your professional development, as well as keep you busy and fulfilled because you are making a contribution. Later you can use that experience to help you get a paying job – or get clients to pay you for using these skills on their behalf.

As example of the value of volunteering, I just read a People magazine article about Mary Marzano, 49, of Maplewood, New Jersey, whose sister’s home in Galveston was destroyed by Hurricane Ike. Mary discovered from a hotel-employee friend that the hotel threw out sheets and towels each month, so they could provide the guests with brand new linen. Realizing that the poor people in Galveston could use the sheets and towels, she began collecting them from some local hotels and shipping dozens of boxes of sheets to the stricken area. Then, she began sending these extra linens, along with donated quilts and bathrobes, to local charities and public services, including Goodwill, the Salvation Army, and some homeless shelters.

Though Mary has been doing this mission of good will on weekends, since she works as an advertising-account supervisor, you might do such volunteer work to build your professional development portfolio during the work week, when you are out of work with little hope of a paid job in sight.

So where should you volunteer? Continue reading Volunteer Your Way to a New Job and Increased Professional Development