Pedestrian View Of Los Angeles: 1/25/09

Pedestrian View Of Los Angeles

This blog focuses on rail lines in LA country that exist, are under construction or under consideration. The Californian high-speed rail project and southern CA to Vegas project will also be covered. Since most of the relevant developments in the news, rail websites and blogosphere take place on weekdays, this blog will be updated primarily Monday through Friday and occasionally on the weekends. Your comments, criticism and suggestions are encouraged. Miscellaneous stuff will also appear here.

Friday, January 30, 2009

New Creation Career Group

http://groups.google.com/group/new-creation-career-group

Welcome to the creation of your new work identity. [a Launch Pad Job Club special interest group]
- Hear personal stories from individuals who have successfully created new careers
- Pick up key strategies, as well as bold and unique approaches to re-invention
- Find and experience steps and supports for making successful transitions

*Do's and don'ts of career change

Sriram Savarkar

Subject: Do’s and don’ts of career change

*Do's and don'ts of career change

Some times it becomes inevitable to shift your career to suit your real
professional interests. Unless you are prepared with all the necessary
safeguards necessary for the smooth transfer, life becomes further critical.
Here are the key dos and don'ts by career counselor Randall S. Hansen
following which one can manage the career shift in a better fashion.

Do have a well-developed plan for making your career change. And don't rush
into a career change until you have thought it out and developed a strategy.

Don't worry if you feel a bit insecure or unsure about making a career
change; these feelings are normal. Do expect to put in a great deal of time
and effort in making the switch from one career to another, but don't allow
yourself to get discouraged at the pace or your progress. Changing careers
takes time.

Don't rush into a new career field because you are dissatisfied or
disillusioned with your current job, boss, company, or career field.

Do take the time to examine the activities that you like and dislike, with
more focus on your likes. And do focus on new careers that center around
your likes and passions.

Do leverage some of your current skills and experiences to your new career
by taking advantage of your transferable skills.

Don't limit yourself to similar careers or jobs when making a career change;
look for careers that take advantage of both your skills and your interests.

Do consider the possibility that you will need to get additional training or
education to gain the skills you need to be competitive in your new career
field, but don't jump headfirst into an educational program. Start slowly.

Do take advantage of all your networking potential, including using your
current network of contacts, conducting informational interviews with key
employers in your new career field, and joining professional organisations
in your new career field. (And do read more about networking.) Don't forget
to take advantage of the career and alumni offices from your previous
educational experiences as well as your current school (if you are going
back for additional education or training). Do gain experience in your new
career field, ideally while you are still working in your current job.
Volunteer or find a part-time job in your new career field — thus building
experience, confidence, and contacts in your new field.

Don't go it alone; do find a mentor. Changing careers is challenging, and
you really need to have someone who can help motivate you and keep you
focused on your goal when you get discouraged.

Do brush up on all aspects of job-hunting, especially if you haven't had a
need to use those skills recently.

And do take advantage of all career change resources. Do take advantage of
all the career change advice available in these career change books.

Above all else, be flexible. You're basically starting your career anew,
which means you may have to make concessions about job titles, salary,
relocation, etc.
*
--
Sriram Savarkar

http://groups.google.com/group/sriram-savarkar/browse_thread/thread/a4e8419c6f06afb7?ie=UTF-8&q=career+change#d818cc853665d20c

The Three Secrets of Successful Job-hunting

Parachute Newsletter
by Richard N. Bolles

We are all destined to go job-hunting again. The only question is how soon.
The job-hunt now occurs some 5 – 9 times in most people's lives, with two or three career-changes thrown in, somewhere along the way, just to keep things interesting. So the job-hunt always awaits us (unless we are retired or semi-retired).
For most of us, this frequency of the hunt is not good news. Job-hunting is something most of us do fairly well during good times, but not so well when times are hard. (And times will always get hard, sooner or later, believe me.)
There are people, of course, who are good at job-hunting come rain or come shine. I know of a man who successfully changes jobs every three years, precisely on January 2nd, no matter what the economy is doing. We call such people (get ready for this) "people who are good at job-hunting."
I have studied such people, now, for three decades. I have pondered the question: "Why are they so good at job-hunting?" So far, I have come up with three answers.

1. Some people are just naturally good at job-hunting.
It's no mystery why. As Howard Figler points out in his book, The Complete Job-Search Handbook, the job-hunt requires four families of skills: self-assessment skills, detective skills, communication skills, and skills for selling ourselves.
Now, since some people have jobs which demand those same skills, if they are good at their job, they will be good at job-hunting. Same skills required, in both places.
They have a head start on the rest of us; but of course the rest of us can always learn those skills – self-assessment, detective work, communication, and selling – that they already possess. (Figler's book, or Parachute tell you how.)

2. People who are good at job-hunting are willing to change strategies, depending on the state of the economy.
During good economic times, they may stick to the strategies that require the least work: resumes, agencies, and ads or job postings.
But during hard times, or if the above didn't work, people who are good at job-hunting change their strategy and pursue job-hunting methods that require a lot more work. They spend lots of time doing homework on themselves, researching organizations in detail, doing informational interviewing, building their contacts, and other methods that require work. (These alternate ways are described in Parachute and other job-hunting books.) In other words, like species that survive best in nature, people who are good at job-hunting deliberately adapt to a changing landscape.

People who are bad at job-hunting usually don't. They tend to stay with the same strategies during bad times and good. Namely: resumes, agencies, and ads. When this doesn't work, they usually just do more of it. (Everyone's favorite definition of insanity.)

So, if 400 resumes didn't get them a job, they send out 800. It does not occur to them to change their strategy altogether, in keeping with the changing economic conditions.

3. People who are good at job-hunting always have alternatives up their sleeve.
People who are not good at job-hunting tend to fixate on just one way of doing things.
In describing what they can do, they use a job-title. Period. ("I'm an engineer.")

a. In describing where they want to work, they use a field-title. Period. ("In the computer field.")

b. In describing their target, they name large organizations. Period. ("I want to work for Apple.")

c. In describing how they choose particular places, it's always places with known vacancies. Period. ("I'm studying all the ads and job postings on the Internet.")

d. In describing how they get into organizations, they use one way only. Period. ("I'm sending them my resume.")

People who are good at job-hunting figure out alternatives to each of the above. And have them ready at hand. You could call it "their fall-back position," or "Plan B."

a. Instead of just job-titles, they can name their individual skills.

b. Instead of just field-titles, they can describe their favorite interests.

c. Instead of just large organizations, they target small organizations also.

d. Instead of just going after vacancies, they go after any place that interests them.

e. Instead of just approaching organizations through resumes, they approach them through their personal contacts.

This is why they're good at job-hunting. When one thing doesn't work, they just switch over to the alternative.

Well, there you have the three secrets. If you keep them firmly in mind, you can change your own behavior so that you too will be good at job-hunting come rain or come shine.
http://www.jobhuntersbible.com/articles/article.php?art_item=008

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Data Privacy Day

BBC article:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/technology/2009/01/data_privacy_day.html

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

A pedestrian experience in San Francisco

I took a recent trip to San Francisco. It's the most pedestrian city here in California. I present 3 photo albums:

1) http://picasaweb.google.com/pedestrianviewofla/SF1112008?authkey=UllZvjT0T-I&feat=directlink

2) http://picasaweb.google.com/pedestrianviewofla/SFTrip11209?authkey=HPQb7WtgtDQ&feat=directlink

3) http://picasaweb.google.com/pedestrianviewofla/SFTripWayHome11309?authkey=sStXfHrGZOA&feat=directlink

Yukio Mishima Interviews in English and more

Rail Lines: Existing, Under Construction and Under Consideration

RAIL LINES: EXISTING, UNDER CONSTRUCTION AND UNDER CONSIDERATION

Existing:
1) Blue Line
2) Red Line
3) Purple Line
4) Green Line
5) GoldLine to Pasadena
6) Goldline Extension to East LA

Under Construction:
1) Expo Line

Under Consideration:
1) Regional Connector
2) Greenline extension to LAX
3)Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project on Wilshire Boulevard
4) Subway/Purple Line extention/Westside extension to the Sea
5) Downtown L.A. Streetcar Proposal
6) New Extension of Gold Line Eastside Extension

Under Consideration, Approved, but not yet under Construction:
1) Crenshaw Corridor Line
2) Harbor Subdivision Line

If a line is missing, please send me the missing line(s). Thanks.