Career planning: what's in, what's eternal, don't lose yourself in your career planning!

  
Jobs Employment, Career Job, Employment Job

The Black Collegian October 01, 1997 | Williams, Gail | Copyright

COPYRIGHT 1998 IMDiversity, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan.  All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
During your collegiate years, planning for your professional development is one of your most valuable tools for career success. Self-assessment is the most essential aspect of your planning; it is the only aspect likely to lead you to career greatness. It is your starting point in an evolving process of professional development. Evaluating self, knowing how you process information, make decisions, and interact with the world around you, will help you discover the career that is right for you. Without self-awareness, you may lose sight of who you are. If you do, you may find that when you start your career you no longer know why you chose that career in the first place, because personal growth and development affect professional development. At no point in the process of professional development should you lose sight of the personality pursuing the career. So important is self-assessment that it ought to be done with a career counselor, a person trained in career development.
Planning your career development includes making certain that you have basic, academic competencies and skills employers expect of every college graduate. In addition to looking for internships, employers look for academic competencies in the following areas:
* Reading, writing and listening
* Problem solving
* Critical thinking
* Mathematics, especially basic statistics
* Computers, especially word processing
* Core humanities, social sciences and sciences
* A major discipline
* Interpersonal relationships, demonstrated by coursework and by membership in organizations
* Cultural diversity, demonstrated by coursework in ethnicity and by global study [see page 142]
Your career planning at this stage means designing your curriculum and experiences around these core competencies so that you do not graduate without them. It includes personally assessing how well you acquire these skills, because colleges and universities never set these skills forth in measurable terms. Standards of colleges and universities differ; standards within departments within institutions differ. Because these core competencies are not offered in measurable terms, your career planning should include an early internship or summer job in an area related to your intended career so that you can evaluate your own skills against those already successful in the work-world. Because you will need to design your own curriculum, as much as you can on your campus, and set measurable standards that will allow you to do well when you are employed full time, you need to intern as early as the end of your freshman year. Several internships, especially at the same place, and summer jobs are likely to help you get a full time job when you graduate. They will certainly help you with your self-assessment.
Integrating …

How To Increase Productivity In The Office

By Alan Cassidy

Jobs Indonesia, Careers, Indonesia Vacancy

Companies lose millions of dollars because of poor employee productivity. Man power is very important in the success of a company. If employees are unproductive, work outputs are lessened.

Here are some tips on how to increase productivity in the office:

Tip 1: Allot at least 10 minutes of your time in the morning to answer important e-mail. Personal messages should be answered right after work. Lessen the amount of time you spend on networking sites. Most companies block networking sites to increase productivity.

Tip 2: The company should provide ergonomic office chairs to employees. Since employees are expected to render about 8 hours of work daily, they spend most of their time seated in the office chair. This leads to the development of back pain and stiff muscles. According to studies, ergonomic chairs improve circulation of blood and lessen the appearance of body pains. Employees feel more invigorated while working. Moreover, they also feel more energized in completing the tasks for the day.

Look for an ergonomic chair with casters. The casters make mobility easier. It will allow the employee to transfer from one computer terminal to another without standing and walking to the area all the time.

Tip 3: Tasks have to be divided. While most employees are willing to work extra hours to complete tasks, frequently rendering overtime causes feelings of depression and chronic fatigue. Divide the tasks and make sure work tasks can be done competently by one person. Encourage team work in the office.

Tip 4: Employees should get enough sleep. The body also needs to recuperate after the previous ordeals it has gone through. A person who frequently lacks sleep has trouble concentrating on specific tasks. Memory loss and short attention span are just some of the effects of lack of sleep.

Tip 5: Some companies give free vitamin C supplements to employees especially during cold season. Vitamin C helps improve energy levels. This vitamin also improves immune functions so employees are less likely to call in sick.

Tip 6: Offer incentives especially when employees have exceeded performance expectations. Employees get motivated when there are rewards for their hard work or extra work. They also become more loyal. They grumble less and they tend to harness their skills willingly if there are incentives offered.

Tip 7: Facilitate seminars or skill calibration talks to harness the skills of employees. This will also freshen up their minds and allow them to set new goals for themselves.

Easy Tips to Increase Your Productivity Levels

By Kent Swigg

Jobs Indonesia, Careers, Indonesia Vacancy

We all know that time is available in limited quantity for everybody. There is so much work in our lives, that it is difficult to find time for everything. One way to overcome this problem is to increase productivity so that we are able to get more work completed in less time. This is one of the best ways of solving the problem of limited time.

This article deals with techniques to increase your productivity. When you focus on becoming more productive, you can get a lot of work done and surge ahead of your competitors. When you become more productive, you can enjoy a more fulfilling life. You will be able to add more value to your life. You can be of great benefit to your company as well as to the whole society. So let us discuss a few practical tips in this regard.

How to Increase Productivity:

1. Clear the clutter - Clutter is one of the biggest obstacles to being productive. So you need to remove unwanted distractions and clutter from your life, specially when you are working on an important project. One of the areas of your life where you can begin clearing clutter is your inbox. Delete unwanted emails as soon as they arrive in your inbox.

2. Take the first step - Whenever you find yourself procrastinating on anything, just take the first step. Begin the work and do it for a few minutes. Most of the times, you will not want to stop in the middle and will usually continue till the end. The first step is probably the most difficult one to take, so force yourself to take that step without much delay if you want to be super productive at work.

3. Begin with the most important tasks - If there are so many things on your to-do list, you should try to begin your day with the most important one. At the beginning of the day, you will feel active and full of energy and enthusiasm. So make use of this to get the most important tasks finished as soon as possible. It will help in easing the pressure off your shoulders for the rest of the day.

4. Simplify tasks - If any task seems difficult for you, then you need to break it down. Breaking it into smaller steps or chunks will make it seem less burdensome for you. Then you can easily and quickly finish off each smaller chunk. Within no time, the whole task can be finished even though it was looking too difficult when you first started it. This again is one of the most important secrets of being highly productive.

Get Organised, Easily

By Taff Nelson

Jobs Indonesia, Careers, Indonesia Vacancy

When it comes to organisation, according to recent studies, women have men beat easily, at least when it comes in relation to work. Men are more likely to get behind with their work, run late for their appointments, or miss their appointments all together. And according to the same study, this last of organisational skills has cost at least 1 man in every 20, at least one promotion in their life.

When it comes to your desk working area, this reveals massive amounts about your personality, and whether you're an organised or disorganised individual. If your desk looks similar to a bomb site, with bits of paper and pens scattered all over it, you can't possible be working efficiently, you need some organisation. Start by creating two piles of this clutter, to keep or to bin. File away whatever falls under the 'to keep' category, and shred or throw away whatever falls into the 'to bin' category. Also, if you have an item of paper work which can easily be accessed another way (an email for example), bin it.

At the start of every day, create a to do list. If possible, write up your to do list each morning on a white board which is next to your desk, and simply cross through them or tick them off as you complete each task. This gives you a great sense of accomplishment as you mark your progress through the day, and is a clear indication to those around you how hard you've been working.

Allocate a specific period of time for yourself each day. A time where you cannot be disturbed, by anyone, no matter the reason. This time is to be used for major projects, where any distraction could completely through you off course from what it is you want to achieve. If you work in a busy office environment, this isn't always so easy, so place a 'do not disturb' sign on your door, and turn off you mobile phone, and close down your email application. Do this at the same time each day, and eventually those around you will get the message that this is you're 'me' time. If you still get disturbed during this time, politely let them know that you don't want to be bothered at this time in the future.

Lastly, we all get overloaded with work at one point or another, and in these times it's important to delegate your workload. If you need to complete work by a certain time and you feel as if you're in over your head, with no chance of successfully completing it by the specified period, delegate it and notify your boss. It's of vital importance that you do this straight away, rather than later on when it could possible be too late.

How To Stay Focused - Your Calendar Is A Great Resource

By Helen Raptoplous

Jobs Indonesia, Careers, Indonesia Vacancy

I am a big advocate for a detailed calendar. I prefer a desk calendar to one that is online, but either one will work. Your calendar will tell the truth about what is important to you and what you most want to accomplish. How you block out your time and what you do with that amount of time is very critical to your success. If you are not making the progress you expect or you are not accomplishing what you know you are capable of, then take a peek at your calendar. In solid print you will see how you are using, or abusing your greatest resource of time.

Time is our greatest resource as well as the great equalizer among all of us. It is one thing to have time and another to use it well and productively. Distractions will test us day in and day out. Those distractions are the great challenge that separates those who are stuck from those who are moving forward. We will all find distractions to be a challenge, some more then others, but it is a skill we must master because how we use out time is of great strategic importance.

You will want to align your goals and priorities with how you consistently spend your time. You will block out space in your calendar to focus on the things that will move you forward each day. Time allocation is something to asses each week to see where and how you can make improvements. Your time is of great value. This is your time to accomplish whatever you set out to achieve for yourself. Use your calender to make constant commitments to your success and then follow through.

Seven Tips For Handling Stress At Work

By Paul Fischer

Jobs Indonesia, Careers, Indonesia Vacancy

We have all had those moments at work that overwhelm us. You know that feeling. The one that sends a surge of nervous tension up your spine and the only thing preventing you from "Going Postal" on your coworker is the Happy Hour on the horizon.
The stress of these demanding and harsh economic times has been slowly eating at us and leaving us frazzled more than ever. It is how you handle and deal with stress that makes the difference to you maintaining your composure, professionalism, and respect with others.
Below are some easy to implement stress management approaches:

1. Shut Your Door. If you don't have a door, close your eyes and take three super deep breaths through your nose and exhaling in a long powerful blow out of your mouth. While you are doing the latter, concentrate on a happy memory or a pleasant vision of the future.
2. Clean Desktop Daily. Make sure at the end of the day that your desk is clean and orderly. It will give you a positive feeling as you walk through the door the next morning.
3. Exercise. Stand-up and take a brisk one minute walk around the office. If you can get away with it, make it outside as well.
4. Excuse Me. If you feel yourself about ready to go into a profanity laced tirade, simply excuse yourself to get a class of water or take a restroom break.
5. Break Time. Be sure to take your scheduled work breaks. There has been a lot of research on this topic and they all agree, even a brief rest will ease stress.
6. Be Punctual. Unless you have a very good reason to put in constant overtime, starting and leaving on time prevents the overworked syndrome.
7. Eat Healthy. Make sure you get the prescribed dosage of vitamins and minerals that includes plenty of seafood and green vegetables.

Over an extended amount of time, pressure results in tense muscles and rapid heart rate with long term effects such as high blood pressure, weakened immune system, and depression. In fact the famed Framingham Heart Study showed that not taking regular vacations leads to heart disease and heart attacks risk that is 36% in men and 50% in women.

Yoga on the beach sounds pretty relaxing to me.

How to Become an Effective Leader in 9 Steps

By Takuya Hikichi

Jobs Indonesia, Careers, Indonesia Vacancy

Building an efficient and effective team leader requires desire, tenacity, dedication and skills. If you are new to the job of leadership or are facing difficulties, then you should follow a few techniques that will make you an effective team leader.

Here are nice bullets for creating an effective leader out of you.

1. Remove discordance: Individual differences and competition can be the end of a team. To foster teamwork, do not focus on individual efforts. Instill the importance of collective effort and harmony.

2. Define objectives and responsibilities clearly: Instructions for work have to be clear and well defined. Similarly, extent of accountability of each member should be clarified. All the members should have a distinct idea of the objectives and missions of the team. Goals for each and every member should be defined in detail.

3. Accept ideas of the group: A team comprises of people from various educational, social and cultural backgrounds. This results in variance of ideas and opinions. Be open to all ideas. Encourage people to come forth with their suggestions and teach all the members to accept the opinions of others. Give due importance to all ideas.

4. Encourage discussions: Frank and honest discussions should be organized in the team. Consult the team on all matters. Discuss problems and solutions with them. Encourage them to come out with constructive suggestions and criticisms.

5. Delegate decision making powers: From time to time, in crunch situations allow the members to take and implement decisions. Guide the team but don't impose your decisions on them. Give them some space. This will develop leadership qualities.

6. Give incentives: Recognize the skills and work of the team members and offer them incentives for excellence. Discuss what incentives that the team members most feel rewarded to receive.

7. Inspire and motivate: Inspiration and motivation are the keys to a great team. Lead from the front and push the team to greater achievements. But be careful, do not try to do things yourself, each the team to do it. Remember, a team looks up to the leader for guidance; it doesn't want him to do its work.

8. Facilities for improvement: Training and developmental programs should be organized frequently. Seminars and workshops on team building will also be helpful.

9. Finally, your conduct, behavior and work ethics should demand respect and be an example to the team. This will create the necessary ambiance for an efficient and cohesive team.

Team Building Vs Team Bonding

By Alan Hunt

Jobs Indonesia, Careers, Indonesia Vacancy

Look up the word "Building" in a reputable dictionary and you'll get something like "the creation or development of something over a period of time". Try the same with the "bonding" and you'll instead be rewarded with something akin to "establish a relationship or link with someone based on shared feelings, interests, or experiences". When it comes to helping teams be more effective, they both have a part to play.

Anyone responsible for a team's performance will want to ensure that as many obstacles to it doing as well as it can in any given circumstance are removed. Indeed, they'll want to go further than that and engage the team in proactive discovery of ways in which it can become every more efficient and effective. Team bonding can help with the former; team building the latter.

The closer that team members feel to one another, the more likely they are to stick together in difficult times and the smoother than more regular days will go as well. Team bonding activities can help with this. Taking our definition at the top, a bonding session is anything that the group can do together that offers them a shared experience. Old favourites like clay pigeon shooting, karting, chocolate making and so on all fall into this category. As, for that matter, do social evenings. Yes, organising a pub crawl really can help your team members get closer together! So any and all of these types of non-work time can bond a team closer.

What they won;t do is that harder, second step. To go beyond having a shared experience and move into the realms of creating or developing great team effectiveness you need to engage in team building, not bonding. As per the definition above, building equals development. That is, the team actually improves something significantly in the way it goes about its day to day business rather than simply gets its team members closer.

To be a team building session rather than a team bonding one, the activity undertaken needs to have two defining characteristics. Firstly, the action - whatever it is - needs to be something that requires team members to work together on in some way. As a simple example, getting into a kart and hammering it around a circuit is an individual affair. On the other hand, constructing a kart that is then driven around a circuit is an entirely different matter. Designing and building a vehicle capable of being driven safely by a team member will require the whole team to work together.

Secondly and most importantly, the activity agenda needs to have time set aside to reflect on what the team or teams did and how it or they went about tackling the challenge. Indeed, if the session is all about learning how to be better as a team, you should probably set aside at least as long for the debrief session as the activity itself. People often balk at this idea. Many think that a debrief session is the price you have to pay in order to be able to enjoy the activity. My experience is that a well run, structured debrief session is not only worth its weight in gold but is enjoyed every bit as much, and often more, than the activity in the first place.

In conclusion, make sure that what you select to do on your team away day matches what you want to get out of it. If it is all about having a shared experience and bringing people together, a team bonding session is the way to go. if you want more than that and have a sustained and positive impact back at work, then go for your choice of the many team building activities on offer.

Roustabout Jobs - Tell Me More

By Monika Nolte

Job, Jobs, Career

With the demand for oil and gas increasing in the world, the industry is expanding their operations and with technology making ever more possible the exploration and extraction of hard-to-get-at oil and gas, jobs, too, are expanding for people with various degrees and even for those with no degree. The first rung of the ladder is usually the roustabout so in this article, we will discuss what the job is all about and what you need to get hired for roustabout jobs.

The expansion of the oil and gas industries as well as the alternative energy sector such as wind farms, makes this the perfect time to try your hand at the entry level roustabout jobs. Yes, the roustabout is the one who does all the dirty jobs necessary to support everyone else working on an oil drilling platform. He takes the supplies off the boats and stows them, he does the scraping and painting of the equipment, deck and work areas, he does the stacking of the pipes for the drilling, he deals with the drilling mud and may even repair the mud pumps. His is a physically demanding job, with lots of lifting, bending and working at heights while dealing with heavy equipment, often in severe weather conditions (depending on the location). He will be working long hours, seven days a week but he gets very well rewarded for what could be called a 'hard grind'. However for someone with just a high school diploma and no experience, the roustabout's job is one way to earn lots of money and enjoy lots of free time as well.

We mentioned the type of work the roustabout does for his 12 hours shifts. The twelve hours off can be spent in the recreational areas as well as sleeping or eating in the crew quarters and canteens. He is likely to have to work those shifts from 2 to 4 weeks at a time, followed by the same amount of time off. Depending on where in the world the roustabout is located, that much time off means he could go home or go travelling.

A roustabout can earn anywhere from $20K to $30K a year as his starting salary. As he progresses up the promotions ladder, his salary could go as high as $50K. In some areas where labour is in short supply like the oil sands fields of Alberta, Canada, earnings can be even higher. Besides the wages, the benefits include full medical and dental, paid room and board while on the rig and very generous retirement pension contributions. Some companies will also give the roustabout an allowance for travelling to and from the heliports used to ferry crew to and from the oil rigs.

What qualities does the person (usually male over the age of 18), have to have to become a roustabout? He has to be in very good mental and physical condition, enjoy physical work and working outdoors sometimes working at heights, be willing to learn and work as part of a team and have the right attitude to safety and work in general. It also helps if doesn't mind being away from home.

To enter this industry, you need to be at least 18 years old, physically and mentally fit and fluent in English. You will have to pass a medical relevant to working offshore, plus follow the rules each country has for having the necessary work permits and training certification.

Electro-Mechanical Engineers

By Bormann Hartwich

Job, Jobs, Career

The electro-mechanical branch of engineering includes subjects on analysis, design, manufacture and maintenance of equipment or products which have a combination of electrical/electronic and mechanical systems. On becoming experienced engineers, they develop expertise in both the electrical and mechanical engineering. The subject is a mix or interface of the mechanical equipment and its electronic controls. The Graduates in this science can work in a variety of places including the new product development, applied research or any other entrepreneurial efforts. You can find engineers working for designing and building everything from simple bottling machines to high tech satellites and even very delicate medical equipments.

The overall employment of mechanical engineers is expected to grow same as the average for all other occupations. Individuals planning and interested in such kind of engineering specialization as there career have several training options available to them. These engineers get trained at technical institutes, community colleges, divisions of colleges and universities and at public and private vocational-technical schools. Most of the employers prefer to hire engineering technicians who have an associate degree or any other post secondary training in engineering technology. Having a combined knowledge of mechanical engineering technology and electrical/ electronic circuits these engineers also work in manufacture of computer-controlled mechanical systems like robotic assembly machines. They even operate such machines in factories and other work sites. Their work overlaps that of electrical/ electronic engineering technicians and mechanical engineering technicians at most of the places. However most of these engineering technicians work for the computer and office machines industries.

The studies and curriculum of electro-mechanical engineers focus on areas like computerized instrumentation, data acquisition and electrical control systems in electrical and things like fluid mechanics, thermodynamics and heat power and dynamics on the mechanical side. They also work on developing automated industrial systems through artificial intelligence, graphical user interface and various other electro-mechanical systems designs. These also work as customer engineers who service computers and other electro-mechanical equipment in the industries. You can even graduate as an electromechanical engineering technician diploma and join the workforce.

The electro-mechanical engineers get to understand electromechanical systems in a variety of fields and have an opportunity to work as a technologist, field service representative, research/ development technologist and equipment maintenance or repair representative in many big companies and firms.

Top Entry Level Federal Jobs

By Steven Bronsons

Job, Jobs, Career

Are you looking for jobs? If you have entered the job market then you might have understood the kind of competition that is present in the market these days. Some people are interested in the private jobs while others are interested in the government jobs.

If you are a resident of America and you are looking for government jobs then federal jobs can be the best choice for you. You will be happy to learn that the federal government is one of the biggest employers present in America.

They employ thousands of employers every year and this is the reason why lots of people stand the chance of getting employed. You just need to make sure that you have the required qualifications. Federal jobs can be of different types.

If you are new in this field then you can look forward to the entry level federal jobs. There are some top entry level jobs available these days. There are at least 3 million workers who are working under the federal government. There are lots of benefits of this employment.

The government employees get job security and other than this they also get lots of insurance and a good salary. While applying for the federal jobs you will find certain kinds of ratings. These ratings are usually the levels.

If you are interested in the jobs then you first need to get federal ksa writing service. Different kinds of jobs require different kinds of resume. You might not be aware of the kind of ksa that you need to create for this job. Government ksa writing is not that easy if you do not learn it.

There are people who do not know how to write and this is the reason why they want to take help from professional writers. Ksa writing has become quite popular these days because lots of people are showing interest in applying for the federal jobs. The levels start from GS1 and goes up to GS6.

The level can even proceed to GS15. GS is actually the number which reflects the amount of experience as well as skill that is required for completion of the job. The entry level jobs include that of a clerk.

The salary of the clerks can range up to 24,000 per annum. You can be located in any part of the country. You can even mention about your preferred location in your application. The next job that is available for the entry level position is that of the assistants.

The assistants are found in most of the agencies of federal government and they have a salary of almost 30,000 or even more per year. These jobs are available almost all over America. You can choose your location.

It is quite easy to get the entry level jobs if you know about government ksa writing. Proper ksa writing is one of the best ways to get the entry level federal jobs. Secretary, accountant as well as technician jobs are also available in federal government.

Safely Transition Into Your New Opportunity

By Curtis Valentine

Job, Jobs, Career

Hooray! Hope your new opportunity with, more money, new people, new location, and better benefits yes baby. Signing on to a new job can be stressful and exciting both at the same time. The word gets out to your current co-workers that you are leaving and the questions pile up. Your going to have to CYA (cover your ass) to successfully transition out of your current job without usage of friendly fire or enemy fire.

Giving the proper notice, when you accept your new offer-letter the new company usually once you to start within 2 weeks. If the new company wants you to start right away because of some training program you need to enroll into beware that your current job wants to download all the information in your head that is not already on paper. You know the projects that only you know the details. Could projects now be in jeopardy and if you leave early, your company sees this as you smacking them in the face (Ouch).

Write a resignation letter that explains in detail when your last day will be and how much you appreciate the learning experience you have encountered.

Emotions are everywhere! Your emotions, coworkers, vendors, security guards, even the janitor knows you by first name. Everyone fills you with feedback and asking tons of questions. Most of these feelings will be positive but some will be negative. Coworkers can be jealous, the old "Nothing Personal" but "I hate you for leaving before me, or can you take me with you, help."

Keep a level head because you do not want to burn any bridges just in case you current company opens up a position they should have had while you were there. Play the "Murphy's Law" game and expect the unexpected, again do not crap on your desk as you out-process. The environment that made you want to leave could turn for the better and the enticement to come back good is strong.

Prepare documents that will help your replacement. Clean out your desk with all your belongings with quickness, even if you have to stay late to do it. Too many things popup out of know where your last few days so get things done early. How many days will you need to take off before starting on your new job?

Turn in all items of value such as BlackBerry's, laptops, thump drives, and portable hard drives. Make sure to get a receipt. When you leave, you do not want any misconceptions that you may have taken something with you that needed to turn over to your replacement.

Your last check should not be a surprise to you. Did you receive any corporate training? Were you negative vacation and sick? If you received training, some companies prorate meaning you only owe based on the timeframe that has passed within one-year period. If you were negation vacation or sick, you had better believe it would affect your last check.

Thank-you-letter expresses your deepest appreciation for those who have helped you to become successful. You never know when a new opportunity might open up that makes you smile and you want to return to the same company you just left.

Exit interviews may not be mandatory, but whatever you do please do not trash your company, on the way out the door. Think about leaving on good terms. A good reference is worth it.

Will your manager counter offer to keep you around? Do you really have an option to return someday if your current situation just does not work out? Everyone has at least one nightmare transition story.

Making Your Boss Smile

By Curtis Valentine

Job, Jobs, Career

What kind of relationship do you have with your boss? Does your boss want you to be successful? Does the boss see you in the positive or negative? People that please their boss are the ones that get promotions, raises, and other rewards. Every Boss has an A-Team. Are you on the A-Team?

What exactly is it that supervisors/bosses want? Below are a several suggestions that have been through the trial and error test.

1. Understand your work place expectations. Know your job description. You should know what the critical success factors are for you and the team you work with. If you don't know ask. Provide recommendations on how your team could be more successful.

2. Readily accept opportunities. Be prepared for the opportunity to learn something new without hesitation. The more knowledge and skills you have the more valuable you become. The more knowledge and skills you have the quicker you can get on the ladder to growth.

3. Always be punctual. If you are always on time, you are showing a sense of pride and caring for your work and it sets the pace that you are in the game. Your boss will know that you are a professional and have respect. Coming in early when needed shows commitment to success as well as staying late to complete an important task.

4. Give it your best. Come to work ready to be productive. If you are not well, rested mistakes are bound to occur, and occur with frequency. Get off the bench and make things happen. Do not fumble the ball when it's your time to make a big plan.

5. Support. Support the strategic goals that your boss is have to promote. Your boss will appreciate you wanting to understand and will see you as an ally as well as someone who needs to be mentored with more structure.

6. Structure. Understand your chain of command. Don't be afraid to greet your boss's boss. Ask questions to reveal a company's dos and don'ts. Good supervisors/manager should always choose someone for succession training, could it be you.

7. Honesty. Everyone values someone they can trust. Sometimes your boss will ask questions to analyze a situation, be honest because based on your decision he could make the wrong course of action. Tell the truth even if it isn't flattering to you. Your integrity could help your boss fix a negative situation quickly so collateral damage is at a minimum.

8. Problem Solver. Everyone loves a problem solver, whether you are a computer doctor or an HR Guru facilitating office problems as well as technical situations. Problem solvers usually see the big picture and negotiate very well. Every office has a problem solver and he/she may not be in a position of authority. Problem solvers are well respected throughout the organization.

9. Negative talk & gossip. Supervisors and managers look for gossip as an opportunity to provide training or hold a meeting to provide insight into situations. It doesn't matter whom the source is fix the problem with correct information for the good of the team.

10. Communication. Every boss has a preferred method of communication, sometimes it is in person, email, or voicemail. Does your Boss respond quickly by e-mail, but voicemail calls are checked twice a day. Some employees use MS Communicator to converse throughout the day. The problem with MS Communicator is you need the paper trail.

11. Positive Feedback. Provide feedback to other employees about what you know about your boss. Make sure employees as well as others know that your boss is making a difference and is working behind the scenes at moving the organization forward. You are now encouraging others to respond to your boss in a positive light.

So what do you think? Can you make the boss happy without sucking up, sure you can? Can you picture yourself moving up the corporate ladder, you better? What is the biggest change you could make from this list that will influence you considerable?

Are You the New Manager Or Supervisor?

By Curtis Valentine

Job, Jobs, Career

Are you the new manager or supervisor? This new experience can be extremely stressful. Most companies do not provide any type of training when making a move to promote. You know you received a promotion based on your technical expertise, not because of your managerial skills. Everyone now sees you as the person who makes decisions and should have all the right answers. How quickly can you understand, rules, policies, and guidelines? Guidelines and policies are in place to help you navigate through the day-to-day positives and negatives.

Understand your co-workers that you considered your friends may not handle your new role as well as you would have liked? Will upper management except your management style that has yet to be developed? Have you ever made the comment "if I were in charge things would be different"? Will corporate politics derail your great ideas on changing your environment for the better? Everyone in management has gone through the transition from individual contributor to team leader/manager and people find their own way to "survive." The following suggestions will help you keep your perspective and your health to get you started.

1. Monitor your work hours

Monitoring your work hours will be easy to do, because when you work late you realize decisions that have to be made, such as, are you eating dinner at home or should you stop what your doing and get something to eat so you can continue working? You should estimate the hours you think you will need to work late. If you do not need to stay after hours that is great, but if you do set limits and stick to them. Even if you are lucky enough that you can take advantage of new technology such as a secure token or some sort of remote login to your network, remember the number of hours you work over-time can have a burn out effect.

2. Recognize signs of stress

Recognize signs of stress quickly. Everyone stresses out in different ways. Some people are quiet when stressed, others have "blow ups.'' Be aware if your home life starts changing, family and friends should gauge if your personality is changing. Are you distancing yourself from close friends and family because you worked late? Some people get very forgetful or lose concentration, and can be short-tempered. Know your signs of stress.

3. Mentor or a Coach

Make sure you have a mentor or a coach, this will be important to keep you moving in the right direction. There are many undocumented rules of behavior or corporate do's and don'ts you will need to hurdle over while you build your momentum. Your manager will be the first place to turn until you can build your networking skills to find a career mentor. Having lunch with managers from other departments is always a great way to get insight into the happenings around you.
4. Learn to delegate Delegating is giving others the responsibility and authority to carry out tasks. You maintain the accountability to get them done, but you let others decide how they will carry out the tasks themselves. Delegation is a skill to learn. Start learning it.

5. Communicate Communicate, communicate, communicate, cannot be said enough. Ninety percent of what you do should be communicating upward, downward, and sideways. You should hold regular meetings with your staff. The reactive approach is to meet just when new information is available or there is a fire to put out. The proactive approach is to meet with employees regardless. The idea is to build relationships and to prevent fires from occurring. There is always something to communicate, even if to say that things are going well.

6. Incidents & Problems

Based on the number of employees you have you could spend everyday dealing with employees who abuse time and attendance, missed deadlines, employee family emergencies, performance problems, team chemistry issues. You will have to learn through time or through your mentor on how to respond to the numerous situations that can occur through out the week. Should you wear the "Fire Hat" or the "Police Hat," each day, each hour it can be the opposite extremes. As you move forward with experience, you quit responding to the incident and instead respond to the problem that caused the incident. You learn basic skills in conflict resolution with employees, your manager, as well as with sub-contractors/vendors.

7. Ask for training Senior management should understand your need to receive training for career development. You know your employees need training as well. What kind of job training programs does the company offer? Who makes the decision? How much is in the budget for training? What is your training philosophy? Should you make sure your employees are more effective in their present jobs or help to prepare them for the future?

8. Recognize accomplishments Organizational culture is design to reward problem solvers or the person with the highest sales in a department. Make sure to reward those unsung hero's who perform outstanding work behind the scenes. Definitely acknowledge accomplishments, if only by having a good laugh by the coffee machine, monetary company bonuses, and communicate thank you notes to your people by e-mail. Doing simple things to let your people know you care. Give out movie tickets or restaurant gift certificates, these work very well when you need to give on the spot recognition. Lunch can be a rewarding experience.

Most important, you must understand that management is a process, you never really complete your "things-to-do" list. With experience, you will learn to relax and let autopilot engage. If you have ever complained about management now is your chance to make sure that learning happens and that productivity and morale are improved. You are the future. Good Luck to you!

Career Advice: Four Secrets to Creating Successful Job Opportunities

By Ed Sykes

Job, Jobs, Career

Soon after I graduated from college, I moved to New York City to find fame and fortune. I was in a great relationship, found a great job working in Manhattan and I was feeling on top of the world. I was going places!

I applied for job after job with no results. My money was running low and my rent was due. I didn't know what to do. Down to my last bit of cash, I had to go to the bank to get money to eat that night. I put on my winter coat, gloves, and boots and walked three miles in the cold to my local bank. At that time in the early 1980s, most banks didn't have ATMs so I had to go inside to a teller.

As my hands began to thaw, I went to the table to write a check for fifty cents. I dreaded waiting on line for the teller to serve me. As I inched forward in the line, I broke into a cold sweat in anticipation of interacting with the teller over a measly sum.

When my time came, I looked the teller in the eye and handed her the check. She looked at the check then looked at me. With a slight hesitation, she asked, "How would you like your fifty cents?" When she asked that question, I thought the whole world could hear her words.
That night as I sat alone at my kitchen table eating chicken noodle soup I thought it couldn't get any worse. I could have given up at this point, packed my bags, and went back home to a nice comfortable environment. But I knew I was better than the difficult situation I was in.

As I held onto positive thoughts, I looked up at the job classifieds in the paper. My new opportunity called to me: a listing for an entry-level position in the corporate technical training industry. This excited me since my family came from an educational background.

The next day I called and received a job interview. I got the job, and over twenty years later I am still empowering organizations and people to improve their situations. Whether you are in the middle of a job search or looking for a new position, adding the P-I-N-E principles will help you achieve your goals:

Patience is the Key to Success. Develop the courage to be patient when seeking job opportunities. When you are impatient you are more willing to accept job opportunities that will get in the way of your true calling. Develop clear career goals that will steer you to the job or promotion you want. Think of the following quote when you are seeking job opportunities or promotions:

"Never think that God's delays are God's denials. Hold on; hold fast; hold out. Patience is genius." - George-Louis Leclerc de Buffon

It may be against monumental challenge, but hold on for the job opportunity or promotion you really want.

Innovation is the Key to Success. Take the time to be innovative and stand out from the crowd. Recently a friend lost his job of fourteen years and was out of work for a week. He used innovation to get another job. He sent his resume with a giant chocolate chip cookie that had "Hire Me" written on it to prospective employers. He was hired within the week and has since informed me that he has received two even more lucrative job offers in the meantime.

Seek to provide solutions to prospective employer. No matter the economy, employers are always looking for people who can make money, save money, make them more competitive, and enhance their organization in any way.

Stand out from your competition by "taking the path less traveled" and being creative in your search. Another friend wanted to work for a company but they had no openings. She researched the company and approached them by creating a new position that would make the company more money in another marketplace. Not only was she hired, the company created a new department based on my friend's research and made her manager of the department.

Networking is the key to Success - "Cast your net" and make yourself and your skills known to the people who can make decisions on your career. This will help you cut the success curve in half because decision makers will be quick to hire or promote people they know, trust, and have confidence in doing the job.

Along with networking at association meetings, another powerful method of networking is volunteering with your company and outside of your company. By volunteering, new people both inside outside your company will see your skill.

Enthusiasm is the key to Success - Most importantly, bring a positive attitude to any career opportunity. Let the decision makers see the how excited you are about the job opportunity and communicate how you can make a difference.

I know your job situation may be challenging to say the least. Make sure you protect your enthusiasm and positive mindset so that you can overcome those challenging moments. Concentrate on the big picture and your career goals. Focus on these goals morning, noon, and night so that you have a crystal clear concept of what you want to accomplish.

"Energy and persistence conquer all things." - Benjamin Franklin

Let your enthusiasm sell you!
Follow these four techniques whether you are job searching or looking to be more successful at your present job. These career secrets are guaranteed to help you create more success in your career, your life, and your community.