Links to Useful Resources
Most, but not all, of these sites have been selected for listing because they specifically target women's work issues. They are available to you as resources, but their inclusion on this list should not be construed as an endorsement of products, opinions, or information. Visit the sites, exercise good judgment, and please forward to Nina@womenssuccesscoach.com any feedback, positive or negative, about your experience.
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Career Search Sites
For exploring self employment:
Take this free self-assessment quiz to see if going solo is a good idea for you.
www.WorkingSolo.com
Terri Lonier has a vast amount of very practical information for solo
entrepreneurs: naming your business, networking as a solo, and success strategies
for solos.
www.sba.gov/financing/special/women.html
Small Business Administration's site offering programs and resources to help
women entrepreneurs succeed. Both online and brick and mortar locations.
Entrepreneur magazine's website offers a lot of information on how to start and grow a business. The searchable database is a terrific tool if you need specific info on anything from bringing a product to market or registering your website with search engines.
Useful site for at-home mothers (and fathers) starting a business or considering starting a business. Includes message board, telecommuting ideas, work/life balance.
Resumes:
www.SusanIreland.com
a specialist in resumes. Has over 100 examples posted on site.
Susan Whitcomb, author of Resume Magic, is the matriarch of resume writing.
For researching data on careers and industries:
An interactive career research tool that allows you a personal and uncensored look into over 1800 real careers and jobs through the eyes of the people who work them.
Informal, personal interviews with people in careers in 24 different categories.
www.rileyguide.com
a directory of employment and career information sources and services on
the Internet.
www.rileyguide.com/employer.html
directs you to sites to answer "What's it like to work at..."
www.bls.gov/oco/oco1002.htm
U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Handbook gives summaries of professional
occupations, including salaries.
Articles and books specific to 50+ career changers:
Rewired, Rehired, or Retired?
A Global Guide for the Experienced Worker, Robert K.
Critchley. For workers age 50+. Full of short questionnaires and stories
of workers who choose one of these paths: continue working hard, cut back
on long hours, stop working or work part-time. Jossey-Bass/Pfeiffer, 2002.
The
Back Door Guide to Short-Term Adventures, Michael Landis
Browse more than 1,000 listings of off-the-beaten path opportunities. Includes
information for career-changers and retirees. Ten Speed Press, 3rd Edition,
2002.
Over-40
Job Search Guide, Gail
Geary
Includes
five of the most common age-related interview questions – and how to
field them gracefully
www.martynemko.com/articles/gray-hair-career-guide_id1406
"The Gray Hair Career Guide", by Marty Nemko. A short article with a refreshing perspective.
http://genplususa.com/work.aspx
Post your resume on this site (at no charge) that's searchable by 50 Plus-friendly companies, headhunters, and Human Resource professionals.
This site connects older workers with employers seeking to hire them. Search for a part-time job, a temporary job or project assignment, or full-time job. Or check job postings of senior-friendly companies.
For researching the non-profit sector:
"Connecting people with non-profit information.” Salary searches, financial performance data, database searches.
Sites for Solo Professionals
www.AdvancingWomen.com
Excellent roster of articles on career and workplace issues, as well as other
useful resources for SOHO and women-owned businesses.
www.score.org
Not only a source (in person or via email) of savvy consultants familiar with
your industry or business, but a wealth of useful how-to articles on topics
such as: challenges specific to running a home-based business; assessing the
viability of a business idea; financial planning for your business.
www.kiplinger.com
Medical Savings Accounts (MSA's) allow self-employed people and others who
have a health plan with a high deductible ($1600 to $2400 for individuals
and $3200 to $4800 for families) to set up a tax-deferred savings plan similar
to an IRA to pay for medical expenses. Take a look at http://www.kiplinger.com
for further information, and be sure to talk to your financial advisor to
see if an MSA is appropriate for you.
In addition to featuring the largest
selection of major medical health plans from leading companies, eHealthInsurance
also offers a wide selection of quality short term, student, travel, and dental
plans. You can obtain free instant quotes, side-by-side comparisons of the
best available prices. Apply online; a live customer service rep will be available
to help you find the right plan.
Useful Books
Po
Bronson, What Should I Do with My Life?
50 real-life stories of people from a wide variety of backgrounds, work experience,
and education level who have been searching for their "right work".
Told by journalist Po Bronson with insight, compassion, and a deep appreciation
of the challenges of the journey. A "must read" for anyone who feels
alone in not knowing what their life work is.
Marty
Nemko, Cool Careers for Dummies
Over 500 interesting, offbeat, and just plain cool jobs, followed by a smart,
funny, well-organized guide to choosing and nabbing the job. Full of sensible
as well as unusual advice.
Carol
McClelland, Your Dream Career For Dummies
A friendly, simple guide for professionals in career transition. It provides
exercises, worksheets, illustrations, and practical advice for people seeking
to change careers or identify the career that's the best fit for their talents,
interests, and personalities.
David
Whyte, Crossing the Unknown Sea: Work as a Pilgrimage of Identity
A poet’s perspective on work as the place “of our greatest opportunity
for discovery and growth”. Beautifully written, a potentially life-changing
book.
Martha
Finney and Deborah Dasch, Find Your Calling, Love Your Life
“Work isn’t just a source of income, it’s an expression
of our rightful place in the world.” Twenty pointers to help you find
your calling.
Richard
Bolles, What Color is Your Parachute?
Latest edition of classic career-changer’s manual continues to provide
broad-spectrum and practical tools to guide a career change. Useful for first-time
changers as well as veterans.
Bob
Rosner, Gray Matters
A lively book that pushes the envelope for entrepreneurs and gets you thinking
in different ways about basic business operations: e.g. how to more effectively
appeal to your target market; and “The Seven Deadly Workplace Sins”
For the employed.
Barbara
Stanny, Secrets of Six-Figure Women
Explores women’s attitudes towards money and earning and alerts reader
to many limiting beliefs.
Geshe
Michael Roach, The Diamond Cutter
A Tibetan Buddhist priest is sent to work in a New York diamond business and
writes about how Buddhist principles apply to work and to becoming wealthy.
Keith
Ferrazzi, Tahl Raz, Never Eat Alone : And Other Secrets to Success, One Relationship
at a Time
Networking – the “soft skill” stuff, not strategies.

C.J. Hayden, Get Clients Now!: A 28-day Marketing Program for Professionals, Consultants, And Coaches
An excellent guide and resource book for service professionals and consultants who want to build their client base. This new edition includes essential information for online marketing and networking.

Susan Whitcomb, Resume Magic
A highly regarded "nuts and bolts" guide to writing resumes, including specifics for e-resumes, common resume mistakes, and pointers for what it takes to make a resume stand out.
Kitchen Sink Sites
Topics of general interest, including money, spirit at work, working moms, working at home, work/life balance, work fulfillment.
www.simpleliving.net
A large range of resources, including discussion forums and books, for living
more simply.
www.guidetopsychology.com/pmr.htm
Stress reduction: self-administered progressive muscle relaxation guide.
www.spiritatwork.org
An organization that helps envision and create the enlightened workplace
www.selfgrowth.com
A complete guide to information about self-improvement, personal growth
and self help. It is designed to be an organized directory, with articles
and references to thousands of other web sites.
www.workplacespirituality.info
Resources for expressing spiritual and ethical values in the workplace.
www.tamingyourgremlin.com
Ordering information for the book, Taming Your Gremlin, which offers
compassionate, humorous and effective help for those negative and self-defeating
beliefs that accompany just about any change. Rick Carson is a master of
wisdom and humor.
Nina Ham, CPCC, LCSW | Success from the Inside Out
Email Coach Nina Ham |
Telephone 510-526-7377
all contents Nina Ham © 2002-2005
Jan
Zobel, Minding Her Own Business: The Self-Employed Woman’s Essential
Guide to Taxes and Financial Records”