Creating employment for yourself

I admire people who thin outside the box; and quite frankly many more people need to do that during these hard times. Here are few examples of businesses that are not business as usual:
1. Making tiles and other house-holds from waste products (specifically all the plastic bags)
2. Making and selling fresh juice (the fruits are in season and its a great time to start)
---sidenote: frozen juice in supermarkets is a great way to take it a step further--make juice while the fruits are in season and freeze the juice; package it nicely and approach the supermarkets.
3. small bed n breakfast resorts in remote and attractive places.
4. consulting business (if you are good at what you do, but cant find an employer, then employ yourself!!)
5. Unique art (you will surprised what you can make from trash if you put your mind into it--and people will pay good money for your work)
6. Find something popular and distinguish yourself ( I saw ecocabs in town--they are hybrid taxi that use less energy (toyota prius etc)

those are just a few examples that I have seen here in Nairobi, I am sure you can come up with something marketable if you take the time and think outside the box.

One other thing: do not listen to pessimism from your friends, do some market research and go for it!!!

New Style of Interview and how you should prepare

I was called in for an interview about a month ago; it was a surprise because I stopped submitting my CV and decided to concentrate on my start-up.
Well I went for the interview and did not think much of the process since I was not hedging my future on the particular position.
Well on Monday they called me (to my surprise) and asked me to attend a session for psychometric and aptitude test.
I went for the testing today and it was very easy but that is because I was well prepared for it. While working as a fund manager, I used to recruit many financial advisors and part of the interview process was psychometric and aptitude testing. My objective in providing these tests to the potential employees was to see how they reason and if their persona fits well with the position.

Many people do not know what to expect during such testing. Below is a link to a few tests that you can download (for free). These are good examples of what to expect during such testing.
It is important for you to understand yourself and how you would react in given situations, it is also important for you to keep your brain sharp with crossword puzzles, reading, scrabble, jigsaw puzzles, simple arithmetic etc. These are some of the things that psychometric and aptitude test measure.
http://www.psychometric-success.com/

all the best; I would like your feedback on such testing if you have ever administered or gone through one.

Jobless but not Idle

The recession is here with us whether we like to acknowledge it or not.
Many companies are downsizing and the possibilities of getting employment are becoming harder and harder.
So the question is: what do you do with your time while you are unemployed?
Do you become a couch-potato and start getting resented by your family because you are always idle or what?
There are certain actions that you can take which will keep your morale positive and also pass time in a more productive manner.
I suggest you account for your time (make a list of things-to-do)
I know you are probably thinking: but am not working what is there to do?
Here are a few things that you can do:
1. Read (trade-related books, novels, motivational books, success stories and bibliographies)
2. Get a hobby (mountain biking, gardening, blogging, writing etc)
3. Network (get to know people and what they are doing)
4. Start a small business (this might be the birth of a large enterprise!!!)
5. Stay positive (understand that a job or money is not happiness or the answer to a great life----it is how you react to your current situation that makes you a better person)
6. Find that one source of peace and go to that place (physically or mentally)
7. Volunteer your time to the less fortunate (stop the negative thinking!---you are not less fortunate --you simply are not employed---you have your powerful brain, great education, physically able, maybe ability to relate to people etc ---use these strengths)
8. Do not give up, continue to look and apply for jobs...am sure something will come up.