0 – 30 Days - Pre-Divorce Planning - PREPARATION

Steps:
(1) Evaluate Client Needs
(2) Stabilize Client Situation
-Financial
-Psychological
-Physical
(3) Formulate Plan of Action
(4) May Refer to Mental Health
Counselor

14 – 45 Days - Phase I: DIVORCE INITIATION

Steps:
(1) Assemble Team of Experts
(2) Research and Collect Data
(3) Prepare Financial Affidavit
(4) File for Divorce
(5) Request Temporary
Maintenance
(6) Request Child Support
(7) Formulate Parenting Plan
(8) Address Housing Issues

1-1/2 – 9 Months - Phase II: ANALYSIS AND PLANNING

Steps:
(1) Value Assets
(2) Identify Liabilities
(3) Determine Community
and Separate Assets
(4) Begin Career Assessment
(5) Create Post-Divorce
Budget
(6) Prepare Reports and
Settlement Proposals
(7) Bring Team Together and
Start Sharing Data

9 Months – 1 Year Phase III:  SETTLEMENT/ MEDIATION/ COURT DATE

Steps:
(1) Negotiate Property
Settlement
(2) Allocate Income (child
support and
maintenance)
(3) Present Rebuttal of
Opposing Expert Report
(4) Finalize Parenting Plan
(5) Give Court Testimony

Post-Divorce Planning: IMPLEMENTATION

Steps:
(1) Post-Divorce Planning
(2) Income Tax Planning
(3) QDRO – Retirement
Asset Transfers
(4) Cash Flow Management
(5) Investment Asset
Allocation
(6) Education and Career Plan

OLD MINDSETS

Are you operating on the following beliefs?

• College degree guarantee jobs and a middle class lifestyle

• If I just work hard, I will be secure in my job, career

• If I do the “right thing” I will be given an opportunity

• Security equals benefits and compensation

• Taking risks lead to rejection

• I need a job with insurance benefits

• One, job one career

NEW MINDSETS

• Taking the initiative to make my college degree work for me

• Security depends upon my knowledge of political and economic trends tht impact industries

• I am in charge of promoting me inside an outside of the company

• I need to be open to risk taking, new ideas and innovation

• Security comes from the people I know—my network of contacts

• I have to create my own opportunities

• I will have several careers over a lifetime, part-time, temporary, self-employed and multiple job holders

During these turbulent times, fear naturally sets in and shapes our outlook.  Our anxiety causes us to generalize and pitching us into a dark, never ending pit of hopelessness. This is the time to engage in some nurturing, self-care practices.

Number 1:  Reach out to family and friends for support—let them help and support you.  Someday you will able to return the favor.  Remember when we ask to receive from others; we give them the gift of giving.

Number 2: Practice healthy activities including daily exercise—-walking is good and costs nothing and stimulate endorphins.  Walking with a friend is even better.

Number 3: Take warm baths or showers to soothe and relax your body.  Throw in some bubble bath and Epson salts which draw out tension stuck in your body.

Number 4: Develop a consistent schedule—go to sleep at the same hour each night, wake up at the same time, place your schedule time for the job search, time for exercise and down time prior for going to bed.  By creating and following a schedule, you will be taking charge of your life and learning to rely upon yourself for a structure rather than one imposed upon you.

Number 5: Breathe deeply: Inhale and count to 9, exhale counting to 4, very inexpensive way to reduce stress.

Number 6: Turn off the news; listen to some music or read a book.

Number 7: Clean out a cupboard or some drawers giving you the feeling of accomplishing something concrete.

Number 8: Do a crossword puzzle or play a mindless game.

Number 9: Eat healthy nutritious meals—vegetable, fruit, proteins to prevent lethargy.

Number 10: Be kind to yourself and give yourself credit for every task you complete. 

May you reap the fruits of your efforts!

Only 13.2 percent of external hires in 2009 were made via job boards, according to a corporate study by CareerXroads.  Instead use job boards for seeking information about skills needed for each position to determine if it fits you. A much more powerful approach is to spend your time joining networks and associations to contact personally with people who could lead you to your next job. 

Remember there is no substitute for phone calls and handshakes. Go to industry networking events to maintain and build new connections.

Graduation, and Then What?
Advice for the student about to enter an uncertain job market
By Nan Mooney

The article highlights how to approach the job market when you graduate from college during this recession. I am quoted - “If possible, start that job search while you are still in college,” she says. “That way you can take advantage of all the resources the school provides like internships, volunteer options and special projects.”

You may have read the following report published in the New York Times on October 20, 2009 that states college costs continue to rise. 

According to the report the annual cost of college tuition and fees at four-year public colleges rose 6.5 percent from last year to $7,020.  Including room and board, the average total college cost is $15,213 for a year.

I am a career counselor in the Seattle and Bellevue area with over 30 years of experience helping people gain the best return on their college investment.  Currently, I am counseling several clients who are in different stages of career and educational planning. 

One of my clients is a 42 year old male who wants to have a specific career goal prior to returning to graduate school.  Another client is a young woman who recently graduated from college but has been unable to find a job that fit her educational background. Another of my client’s is a young male who is wants to determine a more specific educational program and career direction prior to starting his college career.  To ensure that their education was a wise investment, they are engaging in my career assessment program. 

The career program assists them with the following:

1) To acquire a clear picture of who they are and which careers best fit me.
2)  To learn techniques for researching the the job market, where the jobs will be and who will be hiring.
3)  To develop strategy and tactics for taking the first steps into the job market.

Just as my clients are discovering, a well defined career and educational plan of action helps to ensure that investment in educational costs pays off.

The pace of change in American culture — indeed, throughout the world — is moving faster than any time in human history. Over centuries, jobs changed from agriculture to manufacturing. In decades, the nation’s focus changed from manufacturing to technology. Today, ongoing technological advances influence almost every sector of American work. As a result, many types of jobs available to American workers 50, 25, 10, even 5 years ago, no longer exist.

With the nation in economic turmoil and hundreds of thousands of people being laid off from jobs that are no longer needed, finding a job for today’s workers is tough. Yet, thousands of young people graduate college each year without sufficient preparation for a well-paying job in the new economy. With the average cost of an in-state undergraduate degree approaching $50,000, can people really afford to be trained for a job that might not exist when they graduate?

Perhaps you prepared for your career following an old paradigm: You obtained your education in a subject that interested you, chose a job in a company and/or industry that would employ you for life, and prepared for a long retirement. This old paradigm doesn’t fit with today’s economic, political, and technological realities.

The new paradigm requires everyone to become keen educational consumers and to employ a comprehensive approach that bridges education to the career of choice. To prepare for admission to college, one still has to participate in many activities while maintaining high academic grades.  In addition, the student should:

• Define career goal.
• Determine educational path: college major or training program.
• Research job and industry trends.
• Identify and join industry networks and associations.
• Develop industry contacts and learn social networking.
• Find an internship, part-time or volunteer work.
• Research job boards for skills and job requirements.

This comprehensive approach will help your child bridge education to the career of his or her choice.

Too many people graduate college with only the vague sense of wanting to have a successful career. This lack of passion, commitment or interest in a specific field will not make potential employers pay attention to them. It reminds me of that line from “Any Road” released in 2002 by from former Beatle George Harrison:
If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will take you there.

Parents must shift their thinking from their experience of finding a good job to the new reality. Gone are the days when a college degree in any subject gives young adults instant entry to satisfying careers. Gone, too, are the days when employers will provide additional training to college graduates in order for them to qualify for their jobs. Why should they when there are many experienced Americans and foreign nationals with the skills they need standing in line?

In the midst of the disappointment of young graduates over their employment situation is the push from major corporations to hire talent for many critical fields from other nations. People decry the attitudes of corporate leaders. Corporate leaders are dismayed that they can’t find qualified Americans to hire. Something has to change and parents who are preparing to send their children to college play one of the most critical role in ensuring that the right changes are made.

The new reality is that college graduates must become much more focused and strategic. With the help of parents and trained counselors, students need to develop a strategy and tactics that bridge them to their career choice. A career and educational plan eliminates frustration, anxiety and loss of self-esteem, and wasted educational costs. Parents who continue to assist their young adults through the challenging phase of moving into the job market will teach them the skills of taking a more proactive approach in setting and achieving goals and the satisfaction of taking charge of their lives.

1. Take Control of your Life

If you are facing or have experienced separation or divorce, you know how difficult it is to put feelings aside to make clear and definite decisions such as related to future income and career choices.  If you put aside a career for the sake of the marriage or family, you may be evaluating job opportunities.  If you maintained a career, you may be considering a change.  Perhaps, you don’t desire or require employment, but you would like to experience the satisfaction of serving on a board or volunteering in the community.

My job as a licensed career counselor is to assist you to identify the possibilities and prepare you for gratifying work that matches your personality, style, abilities, skills and objectives.  Furthermore, in divorce cases, I can provide wage information to estimate potential income from feasible career options.  Attorneys and judges use the data in their attempt to determine fair and equitable division of assets and to set amount and length of maintenance.  I also provide expert witness testimony as needed.

2. Dream a Dream and Live it

How do you prepare yourself for a career or job change?

Begin by assessing your occupational skills.  In a series of private sessions, we will review your historical education and training, social/lifestyle situation and preferences, physical condition, work history, emotional preparedness, vocational interests, work values, learning and communication styles.

Once your abilities and preferences have been identified, you’ll want to learn about career and job options suited to your strengths.  Through field research, I will help you identify training and educational programs that will help open doors to employment or advancement in your chosen area.  An occupational outlook will identify trends and opportunities within specified corporations and industries. 

The planning stage pulls together the information about you and the opportunities that lie ahead.  Together we will build a strategy for career development using the following elements:

A. Your Career Objective

B. Plan of Action

1. Training and Education as needed.

2. On-the-job Training as needed.

3. Professional contacts, referral sources, networking opportunities, support group and other resources.

4. Job selection and entry.

5. Career advancement.

C. Phase-by-phase evaluation of cost and time requirements to get you from where you are at present to your career objective.

During divorce proceedings, your career objective, Plan of Action, and time line with associated costs can facilitate the determination of settlement awards.

3. Look Forward to Each New Day

Certainly the future can be scary.  But, most frightening is the unknown.  Taking a realistic look at the possibilities that lie before you fosters confidence and expectation.  You will know your career options and learn how to evaluate them. 

Of course, obstacles exist.  Wage disparity between male and female workers still plagues our society and has made divorce financially more burdensome for many women.  A well-documented assessment and career development plan are crucial to demonstrating realistic wage expectations for a female spouse which can then be compared with income expectations for a male spouse.  The gap can be closed by divorce settlements and maintenance programs that more equitably allocate financial responsibility and awards.

4. Play an Important Role

Freedom to achieve your personal goals is your greatest asset.  Being an integral, productive member of the community stimulates awareness, builds self confidence and promotes personal growth, whether you choose employment or volunteer work.

As part of a career development plan, we can even explore the multitude of community organizations, social groups and activities which will help you feel psychologically, socially and spiritually connected.

5. Relish the Satisfaction of Accomplishment

Although separation and divorce can be a painfully frightening life transition, there are many caring professionals who can guide you through the process.  Psychologists, financial planners and career counselors often work in harmony to assure you a secure and fulfilling future.

A career development plan is a valuable road map that helps you look ahead with confidence to a given destination.  Then the process of building a career becomes its own reward as you relish the satisfaction of accomplishment.

Recently Penny Loretto a writer for About.com points out Five Tips for Find Summer Internships during Spring Break.  Ms. Loretto advises to research internship opportunities through your colleges.

Another good resource about the value of internships is posted on the University of California, Santa Barbara Career Services site:  http://www.career.ucsb.edu/students/internships/index.html,.

You will increase your chances of obtaining a job of your choice through your internship by following these steps.

1)  First identify your career goal based upon your interests, skills, personality traits and values.  You want a job/internship to fit you.

2)  Determine the major industries in the location of your choice.  Each metropolitan area has specific industries aligned with it. For example, Seattle’s larger industries include technical and bio tech, manufacturing, retail, health care and education.

3)  Next research various companies within the industry to discover their current and future economic outlook. For example some of the companies in the tech and bio tech sector include Microsoft, Amazon, ICOS, Seattle Genetics, and Goggle; companies in manufacturing include Boeing, Paccar and in retail inclu Costco, Nordstrom, and Starbucks, in health care all of the hospitals and all of the private and public educational institutions.  Seattle also has a large non for profit sector including the Gates Foundation and Hopelink.  Refer to web sites of companies, industry publications, local newspapers and media for information.

4)  Do your research to determine which companies are most likely to hire prior to setting up internships.

5)  Refer to Ms. Loretto’s application process for internships.

If your college does not offer internships in your career choice, take the initiative to set up your own internships.  In my next blog, I will outline the process for developing your own internship.