5 Ways to Recharge Without Taking a Vacation

By Maria Hanson, LiveCareer

Want a vacation, but just can't take one? Despite mounting evidence that vacations are essential to happy, healthy workers, some bosses still balk at the prospect of letting employees leave for a solid week or two--especially in this economic climate. And only half of employees are willing to speak up and ask a boss for support in taking a vacation, according to Ron McMillan, a coauthor of the New York Times bestselling book "Crucial Conversations."

It's time for managers to get up-to-speed on the benefits of vacations, according to Jenni Luke, national executive director of Step Up Women's Network. "The best supervisors insist that tired eyes and minds spend time away in order to return refreshed and ready," she says.

If you really can't escape for a big getaway, all is not lost. Here are some alternatives to a traditional vacation that can give you the same benefits:

1. Mini-vacations. You don't need to travel abroad for weeks at a time to benefit from a vacation. A few days off here and there can recharge your batteries. Take a Friday and Monday off, for instance, and enjoy four solid days of time away.

"Mini-vacations are priceless and help make work less stressful overall," says Talia Witkowski, a consultant for Heal Your Hunger, a concierge treatment service that helps people achieve and maintain work-life balance.

2. Daily vacations. "Be sure to do the things you love that are healthy and enjoyable every day, and not solely wait until vacation time to relax," says psychologist Kenneth Herman, the author of "Secrets from the Sofa." Take that dance class you've been wanting to take, or learn to sail. Treating yourself to daily perks that make you happy can make life downright enjoyable between vacations.

Having a job you love can also help put you in a vacation state of mind year-round. Take a free career test to find your dream career.

3. Mental vacations. Therapist Mindy Fox advises that if you can't take a physical vacation, you should take a mind vacation. "Incorporate meditation, yoga, or any activity that puts the mind in the present," she says. An additional benefit is that when your vacation does finally come, you'll be able to disconnect any workaholic tendencies more easily and embrace your well-deserved time off.

4. Staycations. A staycation, where your vacation base is your home, is an economical and relaxing way to kick back during vacation time. More than half of Americans say they plan to stay close to home this summer, according to the newly released Chase Freedom-U.S. News Consumer Monitor Summer Survey. Avoid the stress that often comes with vacationing (think airport security lines and cramped seats), and save big bucks.

And you can do many of the things you'd do on a traditional vacation: sleep late, check out local fun events or tourist attractions, embark on a new hobby, and go to a fun restaurant or two. Keep household chores to a minimum; with the money they save by not traveling, some staycationers even hire a housekeeper once or twice during their time off.

5. Unplug. "We live in a world where people go on camping trips with their laptops and cell phones," says Barry Maher, the author of the career book "Filling the Glass." This is no way to recharge your batteries. No matter how engaged you are with your job, it's essential to check out occasionally. (Find a job you can connect with, with a career interest test.) Even if you can't really get away, you can still unplug from the world of work emails, texting, and other job leashes.

Stress is inevitable. But the debilitating strain of chronic work stress is not, even if you're in an inherently stressful profession.

In fact, learning to manage your stress is likely to improve your career, according to career coach Julie Jansen, the author of "You Want Me to Work With Who? Eleven Keys to a Stress-Free, Satisfying, and Successful Work Life--No Matter Who You Work With."

Consider these tips for recognizing and managing work stress:

Become mindful
"The most important thing an individual can do is have awareness of both what's causing the stress and how you're responding to it," says Dr. Steven Rolfe, principal of the Boswell Group, a business consultancy in New York City.

Focus on your stress response and pinpoint causes:

• What activities, duties, or people leave you feeling drained?
• What or who causes your neck pain, headaches, or racing heartbeat?
• What tasks or situations do you avoid?
• How do you talk to yourself about your stress? What stories do you tell?

Take control
While you probably can't control layoffs or reorganizations, there are things you can control--and you should focus on those, says Diane Lang, a health and wellness counselor in New York City.

"I had a client who couldn't leave her job at the moment because she was a single parent," she said. "So we made a list of everything she could control and worked on the list."

Such a list might include focusing on improving your own job performance and setting short- and long-term goals for changing jobs.

Breathe
"Don't hold your breath" is a cliche for a reason. When people are stressed, they literally forget to breathe, says Jeffrey Brantley, director of mindfulness-based stress reduction at Duke University's Center for Integrative Medicine and a coauthor of "Five Good Minutes at Work: 100 Mindfulness Practices to Help You Relieve Stress and Bring Your Best to Work."

Even taking a few minutes to breathe deeply can calm your body's stress-spurred flight-or-fight response.

First things first
"You cannot get control of your stress without getting control of yourself physically," says Karissa Thacker, a Delaware-based management psychologist.

So go back to basics:

• Sleep. Your body may need more rest to deal with the stress.
• Avoid excess. "Stress is a physiological phenomenon that is immediately increased by lots of sugar or alcohol, which stress the system," says Thacker.
• Move your body. You don't have to train for a marathon. Even taking the dog for a walk will help clear your mind.

Change your pattern
Try this: talk to someone at work you haven't visited in a while. Go out to lunch if you usually eat at your desk. Introduce yourself to someone new. Do something to interrupt the usual cycle of stress and anxiety.

"Humans are routinized creatures," Thacker says. "Upset the routine, and you will also unfreeze the thought and emotional patterns that are keeping you constantly worked up."

 When experts talk about fast-growing industries with lots of jobs, health care is often mentioned. In fact, approximately 28 percent of all new jobs will be created in this industry through 2018, according to the U.S. Department of Labor--this translates to 3.2 million new health care positions.

But where else are jobs growing within the U.S. economy? Many people switching careers or assessing their education and training options aren't interested in health care. Are there other rewarding, rapidly growing jobs that may be a better fit for them?

According to a recently released reference, "100 Fastest-Growing Careers" (11th edition), there are many. In the book, author Michael Farr identifies and discusses the 100 occupations with the highest growth projections through the year 2018, based on information from the U.S. Department of Labor.

"Rapidly growing jobs will often be more attractive career options than jobs that are not growing quickly. Often, these jobs offer better-than-average opportunities for employment and job security. For this reason, you should pay attention to jobs that are projected to grow quickly," says Farr.

Below are some of the fastest-growing occupations, outside of health care, featured in Farr's "100 Fastest-Growing Careers":

Computer Network, Systems, and Database Administrators
Percent Growth Through 2018: 30 percent

Accountants and Auditors
Percent Growth Through 2018: 22 percent

Human Resources, Training, and Labor Relations Managers and Specialists
Percent Growth Through 2018: 22 percent

Computer Software Engineers and Computer Programmers
Percent Growth Through 2018: 21 percent

Customer Service Representatives
Percent Growth Through 2018: 18 percent

Market and Survey Researchers
Percent Growth Through 2018: 28 percent

Construction Laborers
Percent Growth Through 2018: 20 percent

Heating, Air-Conditioning, and Refrigeration Mechanics and Installers
Percent Growth Trough 2018: 28 percent

Barbers, Cosmetologists, and Other Personal Appearance Workers
Percent Growth Through 2018: 20 percent

Teachers-Self Enrichment Education
Percent Growth Through 2018: 32 percent

Don't "wing" your phone interviews. Do prepare as if they were face-to-face interviews.
Prepare and practice at least three hours for every one-hour phone interview. Research the company, know their mission statement, and create a message about how you can help them succeed. Finally, put together a list of questions you want to ask about the opportunity.

When it comes to job interviewing, we were given two ears and one mouth for a reason. We should be listening twice as much as we are talking. The best interviews are the ones where the interviewer is doing most of the talking. Ask open-ended questions that will help you uncover the interviewer's vision of the ideal candidate, the challenges the company is currently facing, the needs for the position, and the critical factors necessary to succeed on the job. With that information, you can position yourself as the best candidate for the job.

Don't forget to confirm logistics. Do confirm time, time zone, and so on.
In many cases, you''ll be interviewing with someone far away. Many a phone interview was missed because the time zone was not confirmed. Are you sure that your 9:30 a.m. interview is at 9:30 a.m. your time? Make sure you confirm not only the time but also the time zone. Secondly, confirm who will initiate the call and what numbers will be used. Get the interviewer's land line and cell phone in case connections are missed.

Don't forget to ask for the order. Do determine your desired outcome and go for it.
Usually, the goal of a phone interview is to earn a face-to-face interview. During your phone interview, show the proper enthusiasm for the job. At the end of the interview, convey your interest and ask for the next step in the hiring process.

Don't set yourself up for failure. Do position yourself for success.
That means, ideally, taking the interview in a secluded and quiet home office. Try to use a land line if at all possible, because cell phone connections can be dropped. Remove any clutter from your home office so you can fully focus on the interview. Dress as if you were in a face-to-face interview. Smile and keep the proper posture. Even try taking the call standing up, as you will sound more authoritative and confident. Over 90 percent of all communication is non-verbal, even over the phone. Interviewers can sense your subconscious energy.

Finally, believe you are the best person for the job. If you don't believe it, nobody else will. Visualize the success. Have fun, be prepared, and expect success, and you'll have winning phone interviews.

Post-Recession Bounce-Back Plan: Recover Your Earning Power

by Sara Eckel, PayScale.com

During the recent economic downturn, many Americans vastly lowered their expectations about earnings. One survey of career-fair attendees, conducted by Next Steps Career Solutions, found that 65 percent of respondents were willing to accept compensation that was up to 30 percent lower than their pay at their previous job. In addition to salary cuts, workers have also reduced their hours or accepted lower-paying jobs than they've previously held.

1. Forget the past
Whether you've suffered a pay cut or a raise freeze, understand that complaining about the hardships you've endured will get you nowhere. Instead, show your managers what you are doing now--and what you'll continue to do in the future. "They want to know, 'Did you make money for the company?' And even more important, what you are doing right now that will continue to make money for the company over the next six months to a year," says Browne.

2. Start the conversation now
Even if the company is still struggling, Brown says it's important to start talking before the good times start rolling in. "By the time you hear that your company is making money, it's going to be too late," she says. Approach your boss at a time you're feeling upbeat--that is, not the day you got a big credit card bill, for instance. Explain that you know times are tough for everyone (not just you) and thank your boss for sticking by you and recognizing your hard work. Once the positive tone set, let him or her know that when things start to pick up again, it's important to you that you are recognized for what you've done--and for what you'll continue to do.

3. Arm your boss with data
Your boss may need to convince upper management that you should get a pay bump. So provide him or her with a results summary--not simply what you did, but the results you got--that can be taken to decision-makers. "You have to help your boss help you," says Browne.

4. Work crazy hours
If you've had to reduce your hours, let your manager know that you can work whenever he or she needs you--Saturdays, holidays, or late at night if you can. "If company revenue and income are on the rise, then they'll need more hours to meet increased demand," says Jeff Cohen, the author of "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Recession-Proof Careers."

5. Make new friends
If you can't get enough hours in your department, get to know the people in other departments and see if there are opportunities to pick up extra hours there. "Tell everyone you know that you're looking for more hours--in a pleasantly persistent way," says Browne.

Resumes for the Digital Age

7 tips for mastering keywords and electronic formatting

by Margaret Steen, for Yahoo! HotJobs

Inundated with hundreds--or thousands--of resumes for some positions, many companies are using technology to streamline resume screening.

"Any time you submit a resume, you should expect to have your resume scanned for keywords," says Chandlee Bryan, career coach and owner of Best Fit Forward.

Although designing a resume that will impress both a computer and human readers may seem intimidating, there are some advantages.

"It used to be that when a recruiter said, 'We'll keep your resume on file,' it meant it was going in the garbage can," says Barbara Safani, owner of Career Solvers and the author of "Happy About My Resume." Now, they may actually mean it.

Experts offer these tips for making sure your resume stands out electronically and in person:

Choose the right keywords. Hiring managers and recruiters will use the applicant-tracking system to search for keywords related to the job they're looking to fill. To make your resume rise to the top of the list, you need the right keywords.

"Review the job posting for the position and try to mirror that language," Safani says. Find words and phrases that describe what the company is looking for and use them as much as possible.

Use variations of keywords. Some systems check how often a particular word or variation on a word is used. For instance, if you're looking for a job in accounting, use both "accountant" and "accounting."

Use keywords smartly. Some resumes have a keyword section that simply lists keywords for the computer to pick up. Others include a keyword list in white text on white paper, so that it is read by the computer but not seen by a human reader. Safani and Bryan don't recommend these techniques, though, because although they might help your resume get picked out initially, they can hurt you when a human reader takes a look.

"You don't want to write something that doesn't read well just because you're trying to get the word 'accountant' in 10 different ways," Safani says.

Make your job title generic. If most companies would call you a business analyst but your title is "process improvement specialist," consider listing "business analyst" on your resume (and perhaps putting your actual title in parentheses after it). Do not, of course, give yourself a loftier title than you actually have.

Don't go overboard. It can be useful to have a list of key skills on your resume, both for search engines to scan and to give human readers an idea of your strengths. But Bryan recommends listing no more than nine: "I don't think it fools anyone if it's not very deep."

Use text only. If you're asked to paste your resume into a website text box, make sure you use a text-only version. If you copy and paste from a Word document, for example, some characters and formatting may not translate properly (em dashes, bullets, indentations, italic or bold type, and even quotation marks, for instance)--making your resume illegible (for machines and people). You may want to save a copy of your resume as a plain-text file and make any adjustments in that file before you paste the text (plain text is offered as an option when you save a file in almost all word processing programs).

Follow directions. Every system is different, so the most important thing is to follow the directions on the site that's accepting your resume, Bryan says.

9 Tips for Getting a Promotion

 by Maria Hanson, LiveCareer

"Many people are forgetting about exploring new opportunities within their organization because of this challenging environment," says Eileen Habelow, Randstad's senior vice president of organizational development.

But it doesn't have to be this way. With the right tools, you can get ahead, even in the current climate. Here are some insider tips for moving up the ladder:

1. Have a plan. "The people who get the best jobs have been planning their strategy for one year or more," says Jay Jessup, the author of the personal-branding book "Fame 101." He cites Oprah Winfrey as a perfect example: "She planned her success every step of the way, and is still thinking ahead five years," he says.

2. Ask for what you want. "If you want a promotion, you need to clearly ask for it. If you don't ask, you won't get it," says Laura Browne, the author of "Why Can't You Communicate Like Me? How Smart Women Get Results at Work." "No one is just going to hand you a promotion."

4. Bring out your inner Tigger. "The woods are full of Eeyores," says Dan Bowling, former senior vice president of human resources at Coca-Cola Enterprises. "Bosses don't want these negative types. They want Tiggers--the energetic, can-do people who tackle the problem with a smile. Those are the ones who get ahead."

5. Show your face. Telecommuting is not a good idea when you're hoping for a promotion. Neither is communicating mostly by email with bosses and coworkers. "It's all about 'face time,'" says John McKee, CEO of BusinessSuccessCoach.net. "Communicating in person whenever possible is imperative for success seekers."

6. Remember the bottom line. "In any organization, the people who make the money are the ones who stay employed," says career coach Joan Schramm. "Document your efforts toward this goal and your rate of success, and make sure your boss is aware of them."

7. Replace yourself. "Being 'irreplaceable' can hold you back," says HR professional Jodi R. R. Smith, who teaches a seminar called Promote Yourself. "There are times when managers do not promote great employees due to the time, hassle, and stress of having to train a replacement. If you can, train a potential replacement so this won't be an issue."

8. Dress the part. "Dress for the job you want, not the job you have," advises image consultant Heather Alan, of Trel Style Consulting. "And remember that dark colors are perceived as more authoritative. Even those looking for promotions in the creative field should strive to wear deeper colors."

9. Make your boss look good. "Find out what your boss's boss expects of him, and do what you can to help your boss shine," advises David Wright, the author of "Get a Job! Your Guide to Making Successful Career Moves." "If you help your boss look good to his boss, you look good to your boss."

No Reply to Your Resume? Here's Why

Thursday, April 1, 2010

Dear Annie: What is going on in HR departments at big companies these days? The last time I looked for a job, which admittedly was quite a while ago, if you submitted a resume and cover letter to HR, you at least got some kind of response (even if it was a form letter saying "no thanks").

That seems to have changed. I've been looking for work for almost a year now, since I lost my job as a brand manager at a mid-sized company, and it is incredibly frustrating. I've sent dozens of carefully crafted resumes to HR people, usually in response to specific ads on job boards or company websites, and it's like sending things into a black hole. I just hear nothing.

Are your other readers having this experience? How can I get these gatekeepers to respond to me, or if that's asking too much, how do I get past them? -- Just Joan

Dear J.J.: No doubt about it, what you're experiencing is awful. What's even worse (and, alas, quite common) is to have gotten as far as the interview stage, and had one meeting or even several that went swimmingly, so that your hopes are as high as can be, and then to hear...nothing.

Why Texas is doing so much better economically than the rest of the nation.

By Daniel Gross

Once a separate nation, Texas has recently been behaving more like an independent economic republic than a regular state. While it hasn't been immune to the problems plaguing the nation, the Texas housing market, employment rate, and overall economic growth are relatively strong. Chalk some of this up to accidents of geology and geography. But Texan prosperity also reflects the conscious efforts of a once-parochial place to embrace globalization.

On several measures of economic stress, Texas is doing quite well. The state unemployment rate is 8.2 percent—high, but still one many states would envy. (California's is 12.5 percent; Michigan's is 14.1 percent.) It entered recession later than the rest of the country—Texas was adding jobs through August 2008—and started slowly adding jobs again last fall, thanks mostly to its great position in the largely recession-proof energy industry.

The Texas housing market also has fared better than many. The mortgage delinquency rate (the portion of borrowers three months behind on payments) is 5.78 percent, compared with 8.78 nationwide, according to First American CoreLogic. That's partly because relaxed zoning codes and abundant land kept both price appreciation and speculation down. "House prices didn't experience a bubble in the same way as the rest of the nation," said Anil Kumar, senior economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. But it's also because of two attributes not commonly associated with the Longhorn State: financial restraint and comparatively strong regulation. Unlike many of its neighbors, Texas has state laws that prohibited consumers from using home-equity lines of credit to increase borrowing to more than 80 percent of the value of their homes. The upshot: Dallas housing prices have fallen only 7 percent from their 2007 peak, according to the Case-Shiller index.

 As it has for decades, energy is driving Texas' economy. But it's not because the state's wells are gushing crude. In November 2009, Texas wells produced 1.08 million barrels per day, about half as much as they did in the late 1980s. In recent years, natural gas has been undergoing a renaissance. The state's production rose about 35 percent between 2004 and 2008. And Texas has received a big boost from a different, renewable source of energy: wind.

In this area, Texas' size and history of independence has enabled it to jump-start a new industry. The state has its own electricity grid, which is not connected to neighboring states. That has allowed it to move swiftly and decisively in deregulating power markets, building new transmission lines, and pursuing alternative sources. "We can build transmission lines without federal jurisdiction and without consulting other states," said Paul Sadler, executive director of the Austin-based Wind Coalition. Ramping up wind power nationally would require connecting energy fields—the windswept, sparsely populated plains—to population centers on the coasts and in the Midwest. Texas' grid already connects the plains of West Texas with consumers in Dallas, Austin, San Antonio, and Houston. Texas recently surpassed 10,000 megawatts of capacity, the most by far of any state and enough to power 3 million homes, Sadler says. Wind energy is also powering employment—creating more than 10,000 jobs so far. And it has attracted foreign companies, including Danish turbine maker Vestas, Spanish renewable-energy giant Iberdrola, and Shell.

Texas today is more suburban engineer than urban cowboy, more Michael Dell than J.R. Ewing. Austin, home to the University of Texas, the state government, and Dell Computer, has a 7 percent unemployment rate. Yes, ExxonMobil is based in Irving.* But the state's energy complex is increasingly focused more on services and technology than on intuition and wildcatting. And it is selling those services into the global oil patch. Russian, Persian Gulf, and African oil developers now come to Houston for equipment, engineering, and software.

While its political leaders may occasionally flirt with secession, Texas thrives on connection. It surpassed California several years ago as the nation's largest exporting state. Manufactured goods like electronics, chemicals, and machinery account for a bigger chunk of Texas' exports than petroleum does. In the first two months of 2010, exports of stuff made in Texas rose 24.3 percent, to $29 billion, from 2009. That's about 10 percent of the nation's total exports. There are more than 700,000 Texan jobs geared to manufacturing goods for export, according to Patrick Jankowski, vice president of research at the Greater Houston Partnership. "A lot of it is capital goods that the Asian, Latin American, and African [countries] are using to build their economies."

Thanks to that embrace of globalization, the Texas turnaround may help lead the nation in its economic turnaround. Texans have always had the ability to think big. Now that their state has become a player in the global economy, we can expect a new kind of swagger.