Career Counselling and Guidance Services

Career Counselling:
Career Lifestyle is the trading name for Paula Stenberg careers practitioner's career counselling practice. The process I follow is usually focusing on one or more of the following issues: career selection; decision-making; or the psychological implications of obtaining satisfaction from work and feeling comfortable with one's role.

The entire counselling process helps bring my client to the point where she/he is confident and ready to make an appropriate and informed decision. My client is the one to take responsibility for making the decision and all subsequent after effects. Despite what pop culture tells you, there just isn't any one perfect 'career test' that will "tell you what your perfect job will be" – nor will there ever be. However, the use of career assessment tools can be tremendously useful. When used appropriately and interpreted correctly, assessment tools can help widen the scope of career options, leading my clients to consider/explore new career paths.

I am certified and registered to provide the following career assessment tools:

• Strong's Interest Inventory 
  
• MBTI™ Personality Profile Stage 1 and 2 
  
• FIRO - Profile
  
• CareerLifeTrack Profiles: values, interests, personality profiles

Please contact me for pricing on (09) 377 3348.

Career Coaching:
As a careers coach I assist clients in their career dimensions by first consciously articulating their career pathways, and then focusing on skills to make it happen. These are then developed and further acquired.

Life style issues are then addressed, and the client negotiates her/his life preferences and priorities within the world of opportunity.

As a career coach I endeavour to facilitate positive continuity and growth in the lives of my clients; as this can produce amazing results – it promotes optimism and hope and it instils self-efficacy. It captures their ability to embrace life abundantly.

MY CAREER HIGHLIGHTS as a CAREERS PRACTITIONER:
In 2000 I was invited by IceTV (a 1 hour youth oriented TV programme presented by Jon Bridges), to be featured in their 28 episodes called "My Life is Crap" where the winner of the show's competition was to be transformed in their life from complete loser in finances, work, love, health - life in general - to a complete winner! I was featured in these episodes for the participants' career transformation.

Styling your Personal Brand

♫ “You got that long hair, slicked back, white t-shirt.
And I got that good girl faith and a tight little skirt,
♬ ……. ♫
We never go out of style.” ♬

And so the song goes by Taylor Swift.
Style - that first impression you give someone when they first meet you. Whether you are a creative or indie business, style is an important component of the branding of yourself or business in the marketplace. Style is one of those factors that connects your image to its market. Your image is part of your packaging: you as the product, you as the brand. Your style is often multifaceted and can vary over the years, and can also vary depending on what ‘tribe’ you wish to brand yourself to. As a creative you may have several styles or just one favourite.
This article takes a look at how you can discover your style and then use it to reappropriate in your marketing campaigns as part of your personal branding identity.
First, we will look at developing your style sphere, then your style pillars, followed by your style pyramid persona, that is, three words that can best describe your style. If you can imagine the fashionista journos who describe designer’s runway collections, then it is quite similar. On that note your clothing is often the first port of call when assessing your style. Check what you are wearing, how you are wearing it, and what variety of clothing do you have in your wardrobe to fit x, y and z occasions.
It is easier to first define your style by your dress appearance, once you have that you can then decide further your overall style. E.g. your style may be Bohemian, Classic, Sacred. Your clothing style is not going to reflect sacred attire (unless of course you’re going to be a bishop!), but your work may reflect a sacred or spiritual element to it, which becomes part of your overall style.
Below is a table of words for you to read. Think about what words resonate with you? What image are you wishing to project? If you don’t like lists then print off and cut out and assemble on the next diagrams.
STYLE ATTRIBUTES LIST

* Some words are intentionally misspelt because of their style, while others have a French spelling, again because of their style.
Another way you may like to look at this is to see who influences you, and what their style is?
The first stage is to tick as many as you like and then whittle this down to ten. These ten are going to be your Style Sphere.
Style Sphere
So let’s look deeper into what style means in this context. Your style is your image but it is much more, it is how you say, do, express, appear or perform the distinctive features of YOU. With that in mind, your style has its own sphere of influence. Sphere of influence is a term to describe how you relate to your immediate surroundings and how you affect those within that environment. It's your context. That influence consists of your connections, networks and contacts. You influence others by your own beliefs, attitudes and values often reflected in your style. It is these “influences” which will affect and have impact on those around you.
Unpacking this concept further is to look at your Style Sphere. Here the sphere is ways your style can influence others. You have selected ten and these descriptive words become like keys, unlocking doors that are closed. A style creates a certain ‘tribe’ or group you reflect and belong to. Each of these ten words can be left as single words and combined or mixed together to create new words (or neologisms) indicating sub-tribes. These tribes or sub-tribes can be classified as your customer group(s), target market or community you belong with or aspire to belong to.
How to use your Style Sphere
With these ten words (your style sphere) think about ways of how you can reflect them into your everyday life.
Professional Development Ideas –

1. Use the words to develop a relevant psychographic profile of your customer segments. e.g.
   Hobbies
   Books
   Movies
   Websites
   Lifestyle
   Television Shows
   Magazines
2. Use some of your words to help write your career objective in a CV or a mission statement for your business.
3. Use some of these words to describe a project or assignment you may be working on.
4. Analyse each word. Check the thesaurus to get a larger scope of understanding its meaning.
5. Research more into your style. For example (taking two extreme styles), if you have used the word ‘glamour’ (or ‘aggressive’) in your style, and that does not fit in with your professional life, then how else can you use it as an appropriate avenue for yourself?
6. Do certain style words suggest further streams of revenue? Taking the above examples you may wish to develop a lingerie line based on your style of glamour; or create a choreographed or staged performance based on aggressive actions.

Personal Development Ideas –

1. Deliberately select a word for the next ten days from your list and consciously think how it affects you and your behaviour with other people.

From ten please continue to pare down to six.
Your Style Pillars
Pillars are used to support a building, and they can also act as a trophy or memorial. Pillar as a metaphor is a symbol of stability, security and support. You are creating two support structures based on your style. The use of paired pillars is representative of the witness of each pillar to one another. Paired pillars (actually or symbolically) guide your choices and decisions when relating to your personal branding. Your style words at this level will start to support each other, although they may be quite juxtaposed.
Your Style Pillar is the style words you feel most at ease in, and where you are not too much out of your comfort zone. These styles support you in your working environment. They can undergird the decisions you make. When you arranged your style words you gave thought to the foundation of the pillars. This is the understructure or underpinning of your pillars. The style words at the foundation level are supportive to your tribe, customer group, target market or community you are aligning yourself with.
How to use your Style Pillars
Professional Development Ideas –

1. Apply the style pillars to something such as an idea, a principle or fact that provides support for something. Particularly look at your foundation styles on each pillar. For instance if it was ‘eco-friendly’ followed by ‘smart’ and ‘sassy’, then your product/services’ underlying your USP (unique selling point) would be its eco-friendliness featuring in all other style areas. For example, the packaging of a washing detergent as biodegradable could feature smart and sassy dressed individuals.
2. To help guide you in the purpose of your vision, go through each of your six words and determine how they will fit in or relate to the project you are working on. [You may wish to only use your persona pyramid style for doing this.]

Personal Development Ideas –

1. Use the stability factor of your style to reflect constancy of character or purpose in your goals. This will help you stand and endure and not go off track; nor be unduly influenced by others and then taking on ‘their’ ideas that never really match your own. This can often result in you losing your vision (career, idea, assignment, project or whatever you are calling it).
2. Use the security factor of your style to be free from perceived danger or threat; and/or for protecting yourself (that is your vision). It could be
a certain niche market where your style pillar provides a secure base to operate from because of its business model; or your vision is so targeted and specialised that it allows little entry for other competitors or players.
3. Use the support factor of your style by understanding how it will help you sustain or withstand pressure, strain, demands, threats, and so forth for maintaining the ‘weight’ that may come upon you (your vision – career, project or lifestyle choice).

 Now pare further from your six down to just three. This is your tripartite style statement.
The pyramid has long been an emblem or symbol of enigmatic mystery. This appeals to peoples’ intellect as well as their emotion. The strongest appeals are to the emotions rather than to the mind. Your Style Persona Pyramid is a composite of appeals to the mind as well as the heart, focusing your vision, project, service or work on one area above the other depending on your specific tribe, community or target group.
How to use your Style Persona PyramidProfessional Development Ideas –

1. Slant your conversations/presentations according to your tripartite style statement (your style persona pyramid) – look at the tribes’ interest or desire. What are their needs? What are their wants? What do they desire? Appeal to their emotion. Focus on relationship rather than transaction.
2. Personalise any marketing collateral with your style in mind, after all you are now the brand! Your marketing collateral can be anything from your CV, portfolio, online presence (e.g. LinkedIn profile, website, blog, Facebook Page, etc), to your covering letters and press kit. All need to be integrated into a unified look (image) – that of your personal brand.
3. Use your Style Persona Pyramid in all your presentations, planning and delivery to unify the content and ensure the integrity of your purpose or vision.
4. By using your Style Persona Pyramid you will ensure that your first visual impression to your prospective employer, market, clients, community or tribe is favourable.
5. Use your style to become an expert in those three areas. Be so well informed in your areas of expertise that ‘they’ will want to listen to you. Be an authority in your field. Learn everything you can about your ‘tribe’, their psychographics – their likes, dislikes. Be the go to person to discuss trends and new developments in your field. Visualise your pyramid acting like a beacon within its spatial field, with your light being multi-directional.

Personal Development Ideas –

1. Start cultivating contacts and relationships within your Style Persona Pyramid. Be involved in a community forum, one of the best forms of online social media marketing tools and relationship building platforms.

Finally
Your style can change when you move into different groups, it can also change when you develop in new areas, or when life choices cause major changes. Learn to accommodate the changes. You may find doing the exercise in one year’s time maybe quite different from doing it now, time does change people’s tastes and preferences.
Build a strong positive reputation of brand YOU – your Style Persona Pyramid. Reputation will include your dependability, integrity, sincerity, respect
 and consideration of others. These qualities are vital in all relationships whether professional or personal.
Your beacon now beckons
Our final metaphor is the lighthouse. Once you are appropriating what you have discovered about your style, you start to move into your vision. Here you need to be prepared not only for smooth sailing but also tumultuous waves ahead. The lighthouse represents the shedding of your light (brand YOU) onto the waters to signal to others how to connect to you and also where danger may be. Ensure your team/community/ tribe do not go off course or worse get shipwrecked. After all brand YOU is about gathering together "your" tribe, and staying true to your vision – not someone else's.
The brand moves beyond yourself and with some people it becomes larger than life.

The WHY?

A closer look at our lives sees us busy doing the what in our life. What has to be done today?

We even start to define ourselves: What am I? instead of Who am I?

Part of the who is the WHY. Why do you do the work you do, like the things you like, why?
Check out this inspired talk by TED.

Next time you want to say I have planned .... remember ... I'll leave the punchline with Simon.

Job Vacancy Board

New Zealand General Job Vacancy Websites

nz.indeed.com 

Portal for NZ online job boards.

NZ Herald Jobs Search The New Zealand Herald's jobs section online.

Seek
An extensive list of job vacancies from employers across New Zealand and Australia. Also provides an email notification service and career development resources and training information.

Trade Me Jobs 
Job vacancies advertised on Trade Me.

Work and Income job search database
A large selection of current New Zealand job vacancies and general advice.

Workpool 
Aimed at connecting job seekers with recruiters. Job seekers can create profiles for viewing, and recruiters can list job vacancies.


Specialist New Zealand job vacancy websites 

New Zealand youth, student, and graduate vacancy websites

Defence Careers 
Information about joining the Navy, Army or Air Force.

GradConnection
A website that helps graduates to find jobs in Australia and New Zealand.

Student Job Search 
Listings of temporary job vacancies for tertiary students.

Maori and Pasifika job vacancy websites

Mahi.co.nz
A Māori-focused employment opportunities website.

Mana Recruitment
An agency specialising in Māori and Pacific employment.

Māori and Pacific Jobs
A jobs board that lists vacancies with a Māori or Pacific focus.

New Zealand self-promotion websites 

Green Sky
A website that allows you to promote yourself to employers by creating an online profile describing yourself and your skills.

I'm Looking 
An online community that allows employers to connect with job seekers.

JobCafe
A site that matches job seekers' skills with current vacancies in a wide range of fields.

Jobit 
An online open job market where people list jobs they need doing, and registered users submit a price for doing the work.

New Zealand job vacancy websites for people with disabilites 

Association for Supported Employment New Zealand 
Provides links to a variety of supported employment organisations that help people with disabilities.

Deaf Aotearoa New Zealand
Employment consultancy service for deaf people that supports you in your job hunt, including helping you decide on career options and work on your CV.

Ministry of Social Development – Mainstream Employment Programme 
The Mainstream Employment Programme provides subsidies, training, and support to help people with disabilities get work in the state sector.

Workbridge 
Helps people with disabilities, injuries and illness find work.

Workwise 
Supports people with experience of mental illness to choose, get, and keep jobs.

Job vacancy websites for migrants 

Seasonaljobs.co.nz
Search for seasonal job vacancies across the country, in many industries.

Seasonalwork.co.nz
A job vacancy site listing a range of short-term work across New Zealand, mainly in hospitality, agriculture and horticulture.

Working in New Zealand 
Find information on employers and recruitment agencies relevant to the occupation and industry you want to work in.

New Kiwis 
A site connected with the Auckland Chamber of Commerce that links New Zealand employers with skilled migrants who are eligible to work, and currently live or intend to live, in New Zealand.

Workhere New Zealand 
Find information on employers and recruitment agencies relevant to the occupation and industry you want to work in.

New Zealand General Recruitment Agency Websites

Adecco
A recruitment agency that allows you to search for current vacancies by region.

Advanced Personnel
A recruitment agency that places people across a range of industries, including engineering, roading, stores/warehousing, and building and construction.

Frog Recruitment
Browse jobs available through this agency including Accounting, IT, human resources, and sales.

Hudson
A recruitment agency operating over a range of industries, including business, IT, and sales.

Kelly
Browse temporary, part-time, and permanent jobs on offer through this agency.

Kinetic Recruitment
Browse temporary, part-time, and permanent jobs on offer through this agency.

Gaulter Russell
A recruitment agency specialising in sales, marketing, and communications talent to the New Zealand market.

Lawson Williams Consulting Group
A recruitment agency with vacancies in a range of industries.

Martin Personnel
A recruitment agency website with current vacancies in a wide range of industries.

Momentum
A recruitment agency with 10 specialist areas, including communications, finance, and bicultural employment.

OCG
A recruitment agency that lets you search for current vacancies in the main centres of New Zealand. Also provides an email address for sending CVs to the agency.

New Zealand Industry Specific Job Vacancy Websites 

Arts, Media, Creataive and Culture

The Big Idea
Lists vacancies in the creative industries, mostly voluntary work.

Writerfind.com NZ 
A site featuring local and international vacancies for New Zealand writers and communications professionals.
 

The CreativeStore

A recruitment site specialising in freelancers in the creative industry - media, advertising, digital, design, marketing and communications.

 
www.screenhub.co.nz

Animation, film, interactive media, post-production, television, screen education, and screen development jobs.

www.callingallcrew.com

(TV productions crew)

www.filmcrews.co.nz

Film work, annual fee $200.

Business, executive, and professionals

Alpha Recruitment 
A recruitment agency specialising in executive roles.

Connex Recruitment 
A recruitment company based in Auckland, specialising in administration staff, sales, finance, customer service, and other related roles.

Numero
A recruitment agency specialising in accounting, finance and supply chain.

Rice Consulting 
A recruitment agency that specialises in finding staff for other businesses in the recruitment industry.

Sheffield 
A recruitment agency specialising in accounting, finance, marketing, sales, human resources, production/technical and general management vacancies.

The Ultimate Recruitment Company 
A company that recruits for sales and marketing, support, operations and management roles across a range of industries.

Wheeler Campbell 
A recruitment agency that specialises in providing recruitment and human resource advice to organisations throughout New Zealand.

Wholeoranges Consulting
A company that recruits staff for executive, managerial and administrative business services support positions.

Education and social sciences 

Education Personnel 
A recruitment agency specialising in education vacancies.

NZ Education Gazette
Has an extensive list of teaching vacancies.

Oasis Education Ltd
A Ministry of Education-accredited teacher employment agency, useful for teachers seeking employment in New Zealand (especially Auckland), and schools looking for a teacher (relief or full time).

Engineering, construction, and transport 

Automotive Employment New Zealand Ltd 
A recruitment agency that specialises in automotive recruitment within the New Zealand motor industry.

BusJobs.co.nz
A job vacancy site with a variety of roles for people wanting to work with buses.

Campbell and Partners 
An agency specialising in automotive and heavy automotive recruitment for sales, parts and service-related jobs.

Career Engineer
A recruitment agency specialising in engineering and technical vacancies.

CRS Recruit
A recruitment agency that specialises in engineering vacancies in Auckland.

Dare Contract Services
A company that specialises in recruitment of engineers in the oil and gas, mining and infrastructure industries.

Engineer Network Group 
A recruitment company that advertises engineering jobs in New Zealand, and also in Australia, Africa, and other countries.

Inspirec
Inspirec is a consultancy specialising in the recruitment of oil and gas, engineering, and energy professionals throughout Australasia.

IPENZ Job Hunt
The Institute of Professional Engineers New Zealand (IPENZ) website provides a list of job vacancies in engineering.

JOBsmith
JOBsmith specialises in technical and trade recruitment.

Refocus Recruitment
A recruitment agency that finds jobs for engineers, technical staff, and tradespeople.

Rob Law Max Recruitment
A recruitment agency that specialises in engineering, technical and infrastructure positions throughout New Zealand.

Tandr Recruitment
A recruitment agency specialising in engineering, construction, and infrastructure jobs.

Technical Recruitment Solutions 
A recruitment agency that specialises in engineering vacancies.

Tradestaff
Supplies temporary and permanent workers to the trade sector.

Farming, fishing, forestry and mining.

AgCareers.com
Agricultural jobs in New Zealand and abroad.

Equus Connect
Search for riding and stable jobs in New Zealand, Australia, and the UK in the equine industry.

Fegan and Co
Fegan and Company focus on recruitment for the farming sector.

FRENZ Recruitment
A New Zealand-wide farming employment agency specialising in the dairy sector.

Friday Offcuts
Weekly job advertisements for forestry and wood processing jobs in New Zealand and Australia.

New Zealand Conservation Jobs
A website that advertises job vacancies in the conservation industry.

PickNZ
Pick NZ gives you access to seasonal and full-time work opportunities in the horticulture industry. Government, law and safety.
 
Localgovernmentcareers.govt.nz 
Job vacancies and advice on careers in local government in New Zealand.

Jobs.govt.nz
The New Zealand Government's job vacancy website.

The Johnson Group 
A specialist recruitment agency for policy analysts, policy managers and other government professionals.

Health and communityAssociation of Salaried Medical Specialists
A searchable database of senior medical and dental vacancies in New Zealand.

Au Pair Link New Zealand
An agency specialising in the placement of au pairs in New Zealand and overseas.

Carefinder
Register for jobs in childcare, pet care, home tuition, house-sitting, gardening and elderly care.

Do Good Jobs 
A website that lists jobs in the not-for-profit, charity and community sectors.

Execucare
A recruitment company for voluntary groups, charities, and not-for-profit organisations.

FIT
A site that lists job vacancies in the New Zealand health and fitness, sport and recreation, and spa and beauty industries.

Geneva Health
A recruitment service that lists health jobs in New Zealand, Australia, the UK and the Middle East.

HealthJobsNZ
Recruitment website that lists public and private health care vacancies. Allows you to sign up for job alerts.

Health ProfessionalNZ
A recruitment agency specialising in health jobs.

Kiwi Health Jobs 
Search and apply for jobs in the public health sector. Candidates can deal directly with employers.

KiwiOz Nannies
A company that fills childcare vacancies in Auckland.

Kiwis STAT 
A medical recruitment company for locum doctors and allied health professionals, offering short and long-term placements in New Zealand, Australia and the UK.

Lanz Recruitment 
A New Zealand recruitment agency specialising in the placement of health professionals.

Life Recruitment 
A recruitment agency for nurses, qualified social workers, locum doctors, home care and community support workers.

Medacs Healthcare
A recruitment agency specialising in health sector jobs.

NZLocums 
A free recruitment service from a not-for-profit medical recruitment organisation. It specialises in general practitioner (GP), and nurse practitioner vacancies in rural towns.

NZMedics
A free medical recruitment service specialising in nationwide doctor vacancies.

Psych Recruitment Ltd
A specialist recruitment agency focusing on employment opportunities in psychology, corrections and mental health.

Hospitality, tourism, and recreation 

Adventure Jobs New Zealand
Employment vacancy listings for the adventure tourism and outdoor industry.

Hospotrade
A website that advertises hospitality vacancies from around New Zealand.

Hospoworld Resourcing
Recruitment agency website that lists hospitality and tourism vacancies.

Information technology and telecommunications

Beyond  Recruitment
A recruitment agency specialising in IT, accounting, marketing and communications, telecommunications and engineering, and government.

Candle New Zealand 
A recruitment agency site specialising in the information technology and communications industry.

Comspek 
A contract and permanent recruitment consultancy working with IT and telecommunications professionals.

Geekzone
An online technology community with an extensive job listing section.

MCC People
Browse for ICT jobs available through this agency.

Pinnacle Recruitment 
An organisation providing a list of vacancies in the information technology and technical electronics sector.

Searchworks Ltd 
A recruitment agency specialising in IT and software engineering jobs.

Voluntary work 

Barnardos
A New Zealand organisation offering opportunities to work as a volunteer helping children in need.

English Language Partners New Zealand
Teach English to adult migrants and refugees in New Zealand.

Go Overseas
Search for international study and volunteer opportunities.

Refugee Services
Volunteer opportunities to help quota refugees as they begin to settle into their new communities in New Zealand.

Royal New Zealand Foundation of the Blind 
Details of voluntary opportunities with the Royal New Zealand Foundation for the Blind.

Volunteer Services Abroad (VSA) Aotearoa New Zealand
A list of current vacancies for volunteer work abroad.

Volunteering New Zealand
Information about volunteering in New Zealand, including details of local volunteer centres and jobs available.

Working Abroad
Volunteer, professional and casual vacancies in more than 150 countries.

International job vacancy websites 

CareerBuilder.com (USA) A US site with job listings and the option to post your résumé.

CareerCross (Japan)
Bilingual recruitment resource for Japanese-related jobs. Includes information on living and working in Japan.

CareerJet.co.uk (UK) A UK website that searches for job vacancies across multiple websites.

Eurojobs.com (Europe)
A job vacancy website that advertises English language jobs across Europe.

WORKgateways (UK)
A site for travellers seeking work in the UK across a range of industries.

CV Writing Tips

Here is an extract from my book "How to Write a CV" in 10 easy steps. It is a flow diagram showing the steps needed to create a CV. This visual gives that much needed quick reference.

CV quick reference flow diagram

CVs/Resumes for the Mining Industry

 

CVs for the Mining Industry

There are a number of items you will need in creating a CV for the mining industry.

1.     What job are you wanting to do?
Take a look at this list and see if one fits you and your skill base:

Trades
Digger operator
Jumbo operator
Bogger operator
Excavator operator
Bulldozer operator
Grader operator
Scraper operation
Tip truck driver
Shotfirer
Miner
Labourer
Laboratory Assistant
Field Assistant – Sampling
Driller
Welder
Boilermaker (heavy fabrication)
Sheetmetal Worker (light fabrication)
Heavy vehicle mechanic
Plant mechanic
Electrician

Professionals
Civil/structural engineer
Electrical engineer
Electronics/Instrument Engineer
Environmental Scientist/Engineer
Geological Engineer
Geoscientist
Metallurgist/Chemical/Process Engineer
Mining Engineer
Surveyor

2.     Once you have established what sort of position you are after, you then need to develop your CV with keywords that match this position.

A good idea is to read job descriptions of these roles and make a note of the key words used.

Think also about what type of machinery or equipment you are experienced in using, the brand, model and number; or if trucks think about its capacity in carrying loads.

You also need to provide driver’s licences of certain vehicles such as heavy truck and trailer, etc.

3.     Where are these jobs to be found and who are the key contacts?

Most of these jobs are to be found in Western Australia whose capital city is Perth.

Some key contacts are:
http://westjobs.com.au/jobseeker/mining-jobs-in-wa.html
http://www.miningcareers.com/

These sites also give further leads which you may want to investigate.

4.     If you need help in constructing your CV for the mining industry the trades CV package (includes covering letter) is $189 + GST, professionals package $270 + GST, and managerial $325 + GST.

Choosing a CV Writing and Résumé Preparation Service

Choosing a CV Writing or Résumé Preparation Service

Use this checklist to ensure you get the best deal.

1. First check who they are. Are you able to find this out from their website, or is that knowledge concealed. If that information is concealed then you don't know how they are qualified to write your CV. What is their background? Is it someone just jumping on the bandwagon to earn some extra income from home? Are they a secretarial service, or do they have a specialist knowledge of CV development? How long have they been in business? Are they operating from home or an office? Check their credentials or ask to see their CV or profile.
   
   Why? Because they are going to know everything about your job history and yourself, yet you may know nothing about them. It is important you know who the person is that you are sending your private information to. If they don’t give any idea of the person on the website, then give them a miss. Engage with someone who allows you to know who they are, not camouflaged or under cover of a company. That way you know a real person who you can contact  directly or even meet in person.
   
   
2. Will you be meeting them face to face? Again, it is about your PRIVACY, particularly when personal identify theft is now becoming more prominent. No face, no name – who are you really dealing with on that internet site, no matter how professional it looks.
   
   
3. Ask if they will be outsourcing your private information anywhere. Ask them if they are the ones typing and writing the CV. Many online CV services are getting you to fill in online forms to be only sent overseas for the typing. Plus you are doing half the work of the job you are paying for!
   
   
4. Are they backyard operators? If they don’t have a genuine mortar and bricks office, then they are presumably backyard operators. Beware, particularly if paying money upfront first. If they are working from home then they should be charging out less.
   
   
5. What does the service offer? People have unique needs. A person may require a functional CV, a chronological CV, or a combination of both. You may wish your CV to have an added dimension, that is, to be more of a sales tool, marketing your capabilities, skills and potential. Check whether this service is offered or not.
   
   
6. If a service says they offer a consultation service, check what the consultation entails, what is their process. It is really a consultation service or is it merely a preparation service?
   
   A CV consultation service will discuss the contents of your CV and what elements to add or not include. They will check its power of communication. That may involve all or some of the following: a skill assessment, profile statement construction, a core competency analysis, and a check of your personal qualities and attributes. A consultation service that is free is usually a pre-interview to ascertain your requirements before booking in to offer advice and the process of writing the CV.
   
   A CV preparation service will just take basic details from you – personal data, employment record, qualifications and education, hobbies and interests, referees and references and set up a CV from this information. There is generally no sales pitch to your CV to help market your skills.
   
   Beware of CV services that charge for consulting and only edit your CV. That is not consulting, that is an editing job and should warrant a fee applicable to that particular service. (A CV consultation service will take longer and, therefore, cost more than an editing job.)
   
   
7. Make sure the consultation is interactive. This means that you and the consultant discuss what the content of your CV is going to be – especially when considering your strengths and skills. If they send you away and make up details afterwards, the CV won’t have your ‘signature’ to it. Avoid CV services that produce CVs en masse (rather than individualised ones) – they will make your CV look equal to everyone else. It is a bit embarrassing when your CV is exactly the same as somebody else, and you are going for the same interview. Check also that it is not full of clichés – phrases such as ‘excellent interpersonal skills’, for example. Also check if they are using preformatted statements. If they are, be aware that your CV is being churned out, and may read like somebody else.
   
   
8. A CV consultation service, depending on the scope offered, should take between half an hour and two hours. Any more and the consultant could be padding out the hours, if they charge on an hourly rate. We charge on a package rate so you know what your spend is no matter the time factor involved. The best price structure is a package fee where you know you can spend unlimited time with a consultant to get the desired end product you want. A CV consultation service should not charge for time spent on deciding what sort of look you want your CV to have. That is focusing on paper selection and style: it is not consulting but offering advice, and that should be given freely.
   
   If the consultation only takes between 15 and 20 minutes it is more likely to be a preparation service and that should be reflected in the price charged. Shop around and ask them to be specific on what the consultation entails.
   
   
9. Ask to see their range of samples and what each particular sample may cost. If they don’t show you samples then don’t deal with them. How do you know how your CV will be presented?
   
   A standard format will obviously be cheaper than a typographically designed one.
   
   When checking samples look at the quality of printing. Is it laser printed or inkjet printed? An inkjet printer will not produce such a crisp edge to the type as the laser printer; however, it should be cheaper, but it is not professional.
   
   
10. Content is far more important than the cosmetics of your document. Watch for fancy fonts and graphics. Are they necessary? Do they achieve the effect you want or your prospective employer wants? One CV we saw produced by a curriculum vitae service looked more like an invitation or menu rather than a CV, much to the customer’s dissatisfaction.
    
    Keep you design in line with business protocol. Unless your job calls for a ‘designer’ look or you specify a certain style, don’t allow a consultant to pressure you into an overly fancy style. Keep a ‘vanilla’ look, crisp, clean and business like. Avoid brightly coloured stock. Yes, you will stand out, but it may be counter-productive and eliminate your change for an interview. A word on papers: select tones that match your requirements, industry and personality; for example, to achieve a conservative look try using grey bond paper. As most CVs are generally emailed now, a presentation CV can easily move you up the ‘accept and interview’ pile.
    
    
11. A CV writing service will use many types of material and resources in constructing your CV and to ascertain your needs and requirements. This might include completion of worksheets, use of checklists and data collections of various analyses.
    
    
12. Finally, check their advertising material. Is it full of superlatives? Your CV might be too, and thus destroy all credibility. Does it sell the sizzle as well as the steak? (Sizzle being the benefits the service offers you, the steak being the basic service). Do they use gimmicky tricks in their advertising? They might use gimmicky tricks in your document too.
    
    

General price ranges: CV editing $50 + GST: CV writing service $139 to $360 + GST. Check around, you generally get what you pay for.

CV writing books by Paula Stenberg from New Zealand.
Please place your orders by emailing me direct.

CV Style

Welcome to CV Style's website (and virtual brochure). We are a New Zealand company with offices in Auckland CBD. With today's competitive job market, it is even more important that one creates a CV/résumé/curriculum vitae which will articulate what your distinctions are from other people. What is your X factor? And how can you put that X factor into your CV. We do not offer a templated online service which tends to equalise you with everyone else, but rather our consultations are face to face. This allows that necessary dialogue which is so critical to ensure that we can project you in the best possible way and with the most potential for your capabilities and abilities.

CV Style Profile

CV Style has been operating since 1996. Paula Stenberg saw a niche market in providing a boutique CV writing practice. This service provides the typographical design of CV documents, together with a structured behaviourally-anchored interview process that gleans from clients their competencies, skills, abilities and strengths.

CV Style produce a variety of CV products for their customers to choose from in relation to the customer's budget and needs. All of these have exclusive content design structures which form the basis of the company's intellectual property and are copyright protected.

In 1996, the founder (Paula Stenberg) wrote a book which was published by Tandem Press entitled "Write Your Own CV". This book documented one of her product lines and was on the Top 10 list, rated number 4 by the New Zealand Institute of Management in March 1997. Since that time the book is in its 2nd edition with the first being sold out. Republished 2001, 2002, 2004 and 2006. Now under the imprint of Random House.

CV Style's managing-director Paula Stenberg is a qualified journalist and certified careers practitioner, advertorial writer and author.

CV Style assures their clients of complete discretion and integrity, and conducts itself in a professional and ethical manner.

Alice in Wonderland's Career Advice

Here is a sample for my high school students from the comic series "Blue Gothic", about a 15 year old school girl and her troubles, angst and issues that she goes through in life. This particular one is on facing career choices and the use of a mind map to establish various directions that may be taken ... the problem for "Blue Gothic" is deciding what one to choose. This is so often the plight of young people today --- having too many options, it's a minefield.

To understand how better to choose an option you can book in to see myself for career counselling, one tool we would look at using is the Strong's Interest Inventory. This tool can produce amazing results!

Career Advice for Artists: go here.

Survival toolkit for artists

By Margie Elley-Brown

5:30 AM Wednesday Oct 27, 2010

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Printmaker Annie Sandano learned to develop successful relationships with galleries. Photo / Supplied

Today's fine arts or design graduates might secretly hanker for the high status that artists enjoyed in the Renaissance period.

In those days, successful artists lived like princes as they were employed by the wealthy, with patrons such as the Medici, the Florentine bankers who were great supporters of the arts.

Today, most European and Western countries have state theatres and opera houses, and they support symphony, orchestra, ballet companies, and other groups of artists.

In New Zealand, the Government provides funding for various art projects through its agency, Creative New Zealand, and the principle of government support for the arts is widely accepted.

However, the contemporary artistic scene is more contestable than mainstream work opportunities. Uncertainty plays a major and highly ambiguous role. This means that art is a risky business.

Followers of the Bauhaus art movement, which emerged last century in Germany, believed that art schools had a responsibility not only to artists but also to society, to train artists in their chosen fields and in areas where they could earn a living and be socially useful.

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After World War I, admission into the Berlin Academy of Art was contingent on having first learned a trade in a workshop or trade school.

In line with the Bauhaus tradition, the Bachelor of Design degree at Massey University includes a paper in business in its third year.

Wellington's School of Design, which established New Zealand's first design degree more than 18 years ago, and has since expanded to include the Auckland School of Design at Massey's Albany campus, offers the widest range of co-ordinated majors in New Zealand.

At the Wellington campus students can complete a fashion design and business joint major, which provides a specific business major focus for those who aspire to be involved at the business end of the fashion industry.

This means that graduates leave the college well equipped for professional design practice and a range of industry, business and marketing-related activities.

AUT University also offers a business marketing paper as part of the second-year studies for the Bachelor of Graphic Design. Lauren Chase completed the paper last year and says it provided a good foil for the practical design work she was doing.

"The business marketing paper showed me how to use my creative knowledge in more practical and strategic ways. It taught me relevant workplace skills, how to write a business plan and how to implement the plan, including undertaking a market analysis.

"As a designer, I think being able to create is important yet also to be able to think strategically about the market in which the product one is designing for is equally important, creating aesthetically pleasing yet functional, applicable design. I feel confident that having a better understanding of business concepts and thinking will serve me well as I enter the workforce."

Career consultant and mixed media artist Paula Stenberg interviewed fine arts graduates for her Master's thesis on the career development needs of artists.

"One of the main career patterns for artists is the short-term contractual or sub-contractual relationship which prevails in artistic labour markets," Stenberg says.

"Another pattern is their ability to be connected with dealer galleries in order to sell their work. This relationship is crucial but is often unstable. Some galleries have short lifespans, and with the economic recession many have fallen under.

"There is an art world hierarchy, and status is even more complicated in that the personal prestige of the occupant of a position enhances the status of the position itself."

In her book, Collective Creativity: Art and Society in the South Pacific, Katherine Giuffre provides a new metaphor for the career pathways of artists, replacing the traditional career ladder with a career sand pile, where each person's footsteps in attempting to get to the top affect the shape of the climb.

"Guiffre's sand piles provide a helpful metaphor in describing career patterns of the artist," says Stenberg.

"The characteristics of career artist rely more on happenstance and chaos theory as the artistic scene is so contestable and is hallmarked by uncertainty and risk.

"The traditional linear career model has little relevance; a protean model or portfolio of different work opportunities makes more sense. Artists need to see themselves as self-employed practitioners or freelancers as they navigate sand dunes.

"It is important also that they make strategic career and lifestyle choices which don't impact negatively on their creative ability. This may involve taking on less-skilled jobs which don't require cognitive energy, reserving such energy for creative pursuits."

Stenberg refers to the case of one artist, whose part-time employment includes telemarketing and working three jobs so that he can be self sufficient. Another artist, who recognised that his time for optimum creativity was between 11am and 2pm, sought work opportunities outside those times.

Annie Sandano, who completed a fine arts degree several years ago and is now a successful printmaker says: "In the beginning I made sure I had a job that kept me from stressing out about having to make money from my art. This took the pressure off, and gave me the freedom to create something of quality that I was confident about exhibiting.

"In order to build a profile, I started to approach local galleries with work that I felt was relevant to what they were exhibiting. I was careful to be efficient and easy to work with, and focused on developing a good relationship with the galleries that took me on.

"I didn't have a specific business plan; I had projects I was excited about and career goals I wanted to accomplish. I made sure that they were realistic and achievable, and I persisted until I had achieved them.

"I was fortunate to have a family member who is a retired business person to teach me the pragmatic aspects of day-to-day operations such as accounting, taxes, negotiation, and legal documentation.

"I'd say to any new graduate to be absolutely dedicated to what you're doing and your plan, and to persevere. If you want to be taken seriously you have to establish your art as professional practice.

"From a practical perspective, nobody is going to magically discover you, so don't be shy.

"From a more holistic angle, I think that good art is about sincerity. If you're serious and genuine about what you're doing, then there will be people who will be interested."

Stenberg says: "They might wish otherwise but today not many young artists have patrons. There is the notion that for creatives work can be considered to be just about meeting one's values.

"In reality, all artists need money and they need to consider other options. There is a friction here which needs to be balanced.

"The body of research reveals that there are two types of rewards for artists: one is financial and the other 'psychic income' or non-monetary rewards.

"Psychic income includes job satisfaction, a high level of personal autonomy, the opportunity to use a wide range of abilities and a high degree of social recognition for the artist."

Sandano says: "I am always striving to improve, exploring new techniques and approaches and re-inventing my original starting point. There is always a lot of hard work involved. To produce your best work you have to put in the hours."

By Margie Elley-Brown

Career Research Symposium

I have recently delivered a presentation at the WELTEC/CDANZ Career Research Symposium, Friday, 2 July 2010 in Wellington.

Back in April there was a call for paper proposals and as I had just finished my Masters in Career Development (MCD) I thought it would be good to share the knowledge of my research done on people working in the artistic and creative fields.

My class had approximately 45 participants and I shared with them a synopsis of my research. I have attached the PowerPoint presentation for those who wish to view that. You can also review full notes on the CDANZ web site.

On being a genius

I was listening to a client of mine talk about how everyone can have a 'genius' within them. For myself I have a fascination with geniuses and like to spend some time reading their works (because if they were geniuses we certainly have a lot to learn from them). So in my previous posts I have often mentioned them e.g.  Daniel (from the bible), to Emily Bronte the author of Wuthering Heights. So on hearing that I realised yes, perhaps everyone does 'have' a genius, but we just haven't nurtured it, cultivated it ... we probably will just allow it to remain dormant. If we don't use our gift, we can lose our gift, right?

As a child, I think many of us received inspiration which was never really harnessed or channelled into something that we say would become more productive or more prevalent in later year. With some children, however, their 'gifting' or 'talent' or 'genius' within them was cultivated, either by themselves, a teacher or a significant other (e.g. partner, parent, sibling, mentor, counsellor, etc). And that genius within them was allowed to flourish. Some of them became famous, others did not, but still like many of us the genius remains locked inside waiting for the 'key' to come and unlock it.

Elizabeth Gilbert author of Eat, Pray and Love concurs that it's not about being a genius, but 'having' a genius. The Greeks called it Daemons (e.g. Socrates) and the Romans called it Genius (that is they acknowledged inspiration from another spiritual dimension). It's about ideas coming into us – as a source from the outside. Elizabeth believes it to be about a glimpse of God; personally I would not accept that everything is from God in the spiritual dimension, as there is light and darkness (Yin Yang principle if you will), but at least that wonderment and inspiration can have the germ of the divine within it, even if that germ only shows the wretchedness of man and his futile condition (as found in a lot of modern culture). This depravity of the human condition mystically shows a need for redemption and the need to rise above. Well, before I start losing you here I'll get back to the programme Elizabeth is on, and she says that the abilities we have are on loan to us, so use what we have got. Show the world your wonderment, have an olay olay experience. [Olay the Spanish word for cheering and applauding, coming to them via the conquests of the Moors who used the word Allah].