Labor Day was the brainchild of Peter J. McGuire, founder of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and was intended to honor the everyday working people. The first Labor Day was celebrated in Boston in 1882 and President Grover Cleveland signed the bill, making Labor Day a federal holiday in 1894. It is also considered to be the unofficial end of the summer season.

I have been an independent career coach, motivational speaker and author of books on workplace issues  for 12 years and often get asked the question, “How did you get started in this profession?” While I typically respond with a brief explanation, in honor of Labor Day, I would like to expound a bit in this blog.

I cannot remember a time when I didn’t work. As a child, I bought candy from the 7-11 store and sold it to my classmates at a mark-up. Like many young girls, I babysat for my neighbors and when I attended high school in Florida, I mowed lawns. Also in Florida, I worked at a Ponderosa Steak House and while still in high school when I moved to Connecticut I sold fertilizer and plastic pools and worked as a switchboard operator for a local chain of stores. The only time I was a member of a union, I worked as a cashier at an A&P where I joined the meatpackers union. I paid for 100% of my college education by working in a variety of jobs from being a receptionist to donning an Easter Bunny suit and distributing candy in the Hartford, CT civic center. Bartending funded a large portion of my college tuition. After graduation, my jobs ranged from writing radio commercials and TV news stories, placing programmer analysts as an IT recruiter, managing sales forces for consulting and coaching companies to selling big ticket business simulations to large companies.

Regardless of how menial or sophisticated my work has been, I have always loved to work. The opportunity to interact with and influence people, solve problems, create and build business and work toward a unified mission fulfills my values. In my work as a coach, writer and speaker, I have the platform to help others improve themselves and find gratification.

Naturally, like most people, I need to earn an income however, most of us don’t work just for the money as long as we feel that we are paid fairly. Unfortunately, we are living in a time of high unemployment and if you are someone who has been looking for work for a while, no doubt your perspective is different because of your situation.

My heartfelt wish on this Labor Day is that each and every person has the ability to find work that provides them with satisfaction.

I am often surprised by how few people really understand how a career coach actually helps her clients. Career coaching has actually existed as a service (then called career counseling) in the United States since 1890 when placement services were offered to people during the industrial era. Around 1920, public schools began offering educational guidance which moved to training counselors to work with college students in 1940. In 1960 career counselors started focusing on helping workers find meaning in their lives and in 1980 when the U.S. began changing from the industrial era to the technological age, career counselors focused on teaching the skills necessary to make this shift. Finally in 1990, changes in technology and demographics increased the popularity of career coaching for the general population. With the recent recession, more and more people are hiring career coaches because they have lost their jobs or have gone through a life altering situation such as surviving cancer.

It’s probably easiest to start by listing the few things that a career coach does not do for her clients. She does not find you a job. This means that she does not get on the phone and make calls for you to find job openings and she usually cannot influence a hiring manager to interview you. In other words, she does not perform the functions of a recruiter or headhunter.

However, there are so many things that a career coach can do to help you in your job search or if need be, change careers.

She can help you to bolster or rebuild your confidence. If you have been out of work for a while, this may cause you to feel insecure about your abilities and the value that you can bring to a new employer. Once your career coach learns about you and your work history and achievements, she can remind you of these accomplishments and help you to articulate the value you bring to an employer on paper and in an interview.

Being out of work usually changes your life priorities, including deciding what kind of work you choose to do moving forward. A career coach can help you with your overall career strategy as well as your job search planning. Hiring a professional to help you look at the big picture is very useful. It’s also likely that you haven’t looked for a job in a long time and many aspects of job search have changed since then such as using LinkedIn or the way you write your resume.

A career coach can advise you on some of the most common issues job seekers face such as how to handle questions about time gaps on your resume.

Networking with people is the number one method for uncovering job opportunities yet it can be an awkward skill to learn. A career coach can teach you the elements of effective networking including how to meet new people and what to say to them, networking etiquette and different ways to cultivate relationships and follow-through to reap results. Your coach can share her contacts with you as well.

Interviewing for a job can be nerve wracking and a skilled career coach can actually conduct a mock interview with you while helping you to come up with great responses to tough interview questions such as, “Tell me about yourself” or “What would your last manager say your biggest weaknesses are?”

As you can see the list of topics that a career coach can give you advice about is endless. Equally as important, the support you receive and objective sounding board that you have with a career coach is invaluable.

Last week I spoke at the national American Bar Association conference in Toronto about managing stress for lawyers. The consensus among the audience was that a certain amount of stress is motivating and can help you perform and achieve but too much can affect you negatively and lead to job burnout. Job burnout is characterized by exhaustion, cynicism, a lowered sense of accomplishment and severely reduced productivity as well as health issues such as anxiety, depression and heart disease.

Stress is caused by both internal and external factors including individual personality characterisitics such as perfectionism, limited self-awareness and workaholic values, workload, time pressures, a lack of control over your work and work relationships.

What’s the answer to managing your stress?

• Remember who you are and stay true to your best qualities and the values that imbue your life with meaning.
• Prioritize, say “no” nicely at times, and work at blending your work and life (I don’t believe that balance exists.)
• Develop and use a time management system that aligns with your personality. For example, if you are spontaneous, then checking your email just three times a day simply won’t work.
• Negotiate your attendance at meetings and stop allowing people to constantly interrupt you.
• Learn to delegate effectively – don’t micro manage and avoid delegating everything.
• Strive to lead a healthy lifestyle. My weaknesses are fried chicken, potato chips and wine. But I exercise regularly, drink tons of water and rarely eat dessert or processed food.
• Create and nurture healthy realtionships inside and outside your company or organization. Stay in touch with your network, make new friends and carve out time with your family.
• Learn how to manage difficult relationships. Difficult people are rarely motivated to behave differently which means you will have to change your behavior so that they will change theirs, or at a minimum so you can tolerate their behavior more easily.
• Use technology to become more efficient and effective, don’t allow technology to abuse you.
• Become more self-aware. Self-awareness is fundamentally important to possess because it enables you to regulate yourself by self-monitoring, observing yourself and changing your thought processes and behavior.
• Change the way you see your stressful situation and seek alternative ways of viewing things. When you are feeling stressed, it is easy to lock yourself into one way of viewing your situation. Remember that you are always in control of your perspective.
• Finally take joy in the small pleasures in life and remind yourself regularly of what is truly important to you.

Finding the right career is like finding the right pair of jeans. Boot-cut, flair, faded, destroyed, cropped—the list goes on and on.  But when the fit…well, fits, not only do you look good – you feel good.

The same is true of your career. Whether you are shopping for a new job or hoping to invigorate your current role, you need to approach it with patience, style and a clear sense of who you are. Simply stated, become self-aware. Gaining an objective understanding of your abilities, preferences, values and interests is a fundamental step in determining your best career fit. You wouldn’t step outside without checking that reflection in the mirror, would you?

Julie Jansen, Executive and Career Coach and Author, is one of Cancer and Career’s most trusted, go-to resources for career coaching, development and knowledge. At Julie’s interactive presentation this past June at Cancer and Career’s National Work and Cancer Conference, Julie posed some incredibly stimulating questions to her audience. Following the Conference, Julie’s captivated and motivated listeners requested that we post the questions on our website. So here they are. Ask yourself these questions and see how many of your responses are “yeses”. It may shed some light on what’s missing or important for you and your career path. They may help lead you to that perfect, dare I say tailored, fit.

• Do you really like and accept who you are?
• Are you able to not take mistakes or setbacks personally and view them as learning experiences?
• Do you believe that you deserve the best that life has to offer?
• Can you easily make a list of eight accomplishments in your work and personal life in the last five years?
• Do you express your opinions and feelings openly?
• Do you really trust your intuition or “gut” and follow what it tells you?
• Are you able to visualize what you want or need and make it happen?
• Do you feel proud of yourself when you overcome obstacles or improve something about yourself?
• Are you conscious of how important your image (demeanor, appearance, and the way you act and communicate) is?
• Do you accept compliments graciously and without discomfort?
• Do you enjoy feeling successful?
• Do you say “No” to other people when you need to?
• Do you realize that you do not need to be liked by everyone in your life at all times?
• Do you avoid magnifying the negative aspects of things?

Now are you the one with a list of questions? If so please visit our Career Coaching page where you can get answers from Cancer and Careers’ professional career coaches by starting a discussion or read posts from your peers on topics like planning, communication strategies and career change. Also, feel free to register for our next Ask the Experts teleconference with Julie Jansen herself.