It really is confusing trying to sort out a career and life balance. How can you be sure what job suits you. Can you balance your income needs and personal life? Are there jobs out there you haven't even heard about you would be suited for?

Even if you know where you want to go, how do you get there! And the Internet is great for general information, but there is so much it is confusing - and some of it is pretty dubious anyhow!

Even if you know the job you want, it can be a competitive world to get it!

Maybe you need a little low cost expert help to think your way through it all?

Which is why we have developed the Apollo Career Kit. There are 4 steps to sorting out your career/life balance options:

1. Think your way through all the career and life issues at this stage of your life. Decide your best options. Have a plan to achieve your best outcomes.
2. Obtain objective feedback regarding employability strengths and weaknesses, including identification of any beneficial training and development needs.
3. If you need vocational guidance as to what specific career role/job/industry you are most suited for, do a Vocational Assessment.
4. Do your best to get the job you want.

The Apollo Career Kit offers solutions to each & every step.

Step 1. Think your way through your career and life balance options.

At this stage of your life, it could pay to sit down and concentrate for a while about exactly what you want in life. You need to consider any family matters, your personal values, financial aspects, as well as your job related attributes. This is quite a comprehensive process to do properly, whether you are a school leaver, graduate, generation Y, X, or Boomer or even a more senior person contemplating life ahead.

To help you think your way through, we offer a handbook containing 12 thought provoking workshops that help you discover who you are now, and your current life priorities. The workshops feed into and culminate in your Career Management Plan. At the end, you will be as clear as you can be about your life and career preferences and options.

The Apollo Handbook "Taking Control of Your Career" is a very comprehensive series of DIY exercises that will help you to orient yourself to a changing career landscape.

It is derived from a two-day workshop developed and run by professionals, and will help you to determine what you want to do next in your career and how best to get there. And it will make you consider many things that you are unlikely to have thought of. It may take a bit of time, and it will be a little hard work, but the effort will be worth it. You will end up knowing what you want from your work life and personal life balance, and have a plan to achieve your best choices.

If you would like to purchase just this 87 page Apollo Handbook.

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"Taking Control of Your Career"

It is downloadable immediately you pay, and you can get on with the job of working out your best job! (In fact, even if you want a job at all!)

Step 2. Obtain objective feedback regarding employability strengths and weaknesses, including identification of any beneficial training and development needs.

How does a prospective employer view you personally? It is one thing to have a good CV and qualifications and experience, but in the end an employer wants a person with certain attributes that will serve the job and their organisation well. Employers want to know as much as they can about your motivation and attitudes, how you get on with others, how you respond under pressure, will you accept responsibility, are you a good time manager, could you be a leader, do you have customer service or sales attributes etc? Final decisions for "who gets the job" are usually made on these more personal criteria rather than formal qualifications and job history.

Most organisations and professional recruiters these days use a personality test which compares you to "normal" scores of other people. Sometimes an employer wants people with strong characteristics in some aspects, so even being "normal" all the time does not mean that you would be the most suitable appointment!

So we recommend that you obtain the "My Career Development Profile" personality assessment, as used by many professional recruiters and large organisations. You will obtain comparative feedback across up to 34 factors relating to career success. You can compare yourself against norms of Executives/Senior Management, Sales People, Team Leaders/Supervisors, and of the General Workforce (white/blue collar), so there is an appropriate assessment for most roles. When you produce your Profile you choose which norm group you think is most appropriate. In fact, you can choose all/any at no extra cost.

So you receive an objective diagnosis of how potential employers are likely to see your strengths and weaknesses. Plus you receive developmental comments to help you improve if you wish. But that is not all.....

NEW AND UNIQUE

Now here is the unique thing with your "My Career Development Profile" - where the assessment indicates you might benefit from improving, links are provided to over 20 Handbooks on specific training topics. You can immediately download expertly authored Apollo Handbooks to help you gain more skills, competence and employability. The Apollo Handbooks are a fast and easy way to learn the basics, and contain workshops to teach you new skills. Each topic is only $20, a very low cost way to learn what you may need to know!

And now we raise the bar even further - we also have an arrangement with the Australian Institute of Management for you to download 34 different e-training courses powered by their online learning company. These courses are the latest and smartest way to develop your skills and knowledge at work or at home, and are friendly and involving to do. These professionally designed e-training courses use multi-media instructional techniques, and you have 30 days to complete them. Priced from only $99, and you obtain a Certificate of Completion at the finish.

So - without leaving your My Career Development Profile or the computer, you can access the training and development SOLUTIONS to your specific identified needs! E-learn at home or at work. My Career Development Profile is a properly designed "serious" career development report derived from the Apollo Profile psychometric test, developed by psychologist Dr. Richard Hicks and management consultant James Bowden, and used throughout the world. To see an example click here.

Whilst we know that there are "free" and low cost personality tests on the Internet, before you buy it might pay to explore how useful is the information they provide, how valid is the test, and whether it provides practical information to really improve your career prospects. Many free tests are very simplistic, and don't have any credibility with qualified psychologists and career specialists. Many "free" tests provide a mass-produced generic Summary report, and then require you to pay money for "your personalised test" Some are just plain misleading, and hide fees until you have invested time and energy into doing the "free" questionnaire.

Testimonial:

"I have used My Career Development Profile on three different occasions to help me keep on track of my career. It is very accurate and insightful, and has been vital in providing objective feedback, and in identifying my areas for improvement. It is also good to have my strengths recognised too, and has helped me get jobs, and perform better in both the managerial and sales roles I have held."

- Scott Cleary, State Manager - Valet Vacuum and Security Systems

Organisations and consultants providing properly designed professional high quality tests like the Apollo "My Career Development Profile" often charge over $100 for assessments. We are making this special DIY version available to individuals for only $48 - includes career feedback, suggestions for improvement, training recommendations and immediate links to convenient training Handbooks and e-training courses.

The "My Career Development Profile" is a true Internet online system, and your report is available immediately you have answered the questionnaire and made payment. No emails or waiting involved.

Here is an example report

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To proceed to purchase just this Profile, click here to go to the special My Career Development Profile page - Price $48

Step 3. Vocational Guidance (Option)

If you consider that you would benefit from knowing what career streams/types of jobs/industries might suit you, you can do a class of test, often called an Interests Inventory. Whilst commonly used by school leavers and graduates, because our interests and values change throughout our lives, sometimes it is worthwhile to re-orientate ourselves to the world of work. We change, the world changes, what used to please us no longer necessarily does.

We have made arrangements for you to do the VIA Vocational Interests Assessment if you wish. This assessment provides a report using industry recognised Holland Codes. The report contains suggestions for jobs to suit you, and the actual Code Score so that you can obtain further advice from a career counsellor if wished.

Extract from Wikipedia:

Holland Codes represent a set of personality types described in a theory of careers and vocational choice formulated by psychologist John L. Holland. [1] Holland's theory argued that "the choice of a vocation is an expression of personality" and that the six factor typology he articulated could be used to describe both persons and work environments. [1] His typology provides an interpretative structure for a number of different vocational interest surveys, including the two measures he developed: The Vocational Preference Inventory and the Self Directed Search. His model has been adopted by the U.S. Department of Labor for categorizing jobs relative to interests.

The six personality and work environment types described by Holland are as follows:

• Realistic - practical, physical, hands-on, tool-oriented
• Investigative - analytical, intellectual, scientific, explorative
• Artistic - creative, original, independent, chaotic
• Social - cooperative, supporting, helping, healing/nurturing
• Enterprising - competitive environments, leadership, persuading
• Conventional - detail-oriented, organizing, clerical

VIA is a Holland search vocational guidance inventory based on the AIMS (Australian Interest Measure). Its statistical base is entirely Australasian and it has excellent validity, reliability and correlation with actual job selection. VIA provides both a Holland's RIASEC code and a selection of prospective jobs.

Here is an example report

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To purchase the VIA Vocational Assessment only - Price $14

Your email details will be requested and sent to our business partner TestGrid who will set you up to get this report.

Step 4. Get that Job

If you have now reached the stage where you have a good idea of the job you want, it is time to check the job market, write applications and resumes and CV's and attend for interviews. These tasks do not come easily to all people. And there are many "tricks" to getting noticed amongst the horde of competitors trying for the same position. Somehow you need to give yourself the edge. How do you do it?

The Apollo Handbook "Get That Job!" is a friendly little guide providing tools, techniques and psychological support for how to write resumes and job applications, and how to market yourself to get your dream job.

Content of the Get That Job! Handbook is:

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To purchase the Get That Job! Handbook - Price $20

Career Kit Special

The four components of the Apollo Career Kit are:

• STEP 1. Taking Control of Your Career Handbook $20
• STEP 2. My Career Development Profile $48
• STEP 3. Interests Inventory $14
• STEP 4. Get That Job! Handbook $20
• TOTAL $102

Buy the whole kit for only $68! Save $34. 33% Discount! Because we'd like to think we can make it affordable for you to help yourself with your career and the rest of your life

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Purchase all 4 tools for $68

Your details are secured and protected by 256bit SSL encryption. Your privacy and security is guaranteed.

Satisfaction Guaranteed - if our services are not as we say they are, we will gladly refund your money.

PS If you have an employer, maybe the boss will see that you will be better trained and skilled for that new position or promotion and be willing to pay for you - it is probably tax deductible, and it is all as affordable as we can make it!

PPS I just asked my accountant what is the situation for individuals claiming a tax deduction. Following is her answer:

"Basically, these kinds of expenses are only tax deductible if they directly relate to the income that the individual is earning now. For example, if a person pays for training that will improve their ability to perform in their current job, this would be tax deductible. However, if a person pays for training that will help them obtain a job, the expense would not be tax deductible."

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