Supplement Your Skills and Improve Your Work Position
It is often said that the majority of people are but a few checks away from homelessness. Without a consistent income, this may be a true statement.Some ability to multi-task can get you through a temporary employment down-spell. While a formal plan is often best, the theory of continued employment is rapidly changing.Your union may not have the foothold it had in less prosperous times or out-sourcing may be the view of an employers accountant. Indeed, there can be numerous reasons why the stability factors of a steady job may change. The most dramatic one for the next generation will likely be lower production costs of other countries, and the modern infrastructure for a company to relocate.On a more regional level, cheaper short-term labour is explored, where the cost of benefits to such persons are going to be more cost effective. Some European-wide laws can mean that the good of the many will override the desires of an individual who is sitting in a comfortable but temporary, "privileged" position. "You don't have to like it, but you might have to live with it". However, there are some steps that you can take to formulate your future, rather than passively responding to it. 1. Be aware of the changes that are on the cards. You cannot predict everything but you can act on current information. 2. E-learning has made some phenomenal leaps in their approach to distance learning. Anyone that did a correspondence course in anything of a technical nature, would have met with some disadvantages over a one to one learning environment. Look at this again and enjoy the flexibility of modern technologies.Where you may not have the funding, many local training authorities run similar courses. 3. Do something every year, and from year to year, to improve your skills set even if it just to learn how to type, for example. Learn simple little things that might give you an advantage as documentation is becoming necessary for jobs that were historically manual in nature. Your ability to type may swing an interview in your favour. 4. Look for D.V.D's/C.D.'s, where local training is not there for you. E.C.D.L.'s or European Computer Driving Licences are available on such media. Second hand computers are everywhere, and perfectly good machines are thrown out on a daily basis, simply because their owners deem them to be outdated. Indeed, with a little gossip and observation, these can be got for free. Older computers are often considered worthless, but perfect for general tasks and communication.It might be a safe assumption that anyone reading this has a computer, but for someone that you know who doesn't have a phone line/other access, direct them to local or public libraries. 5. Network with your community. Yes, the world is getting both bigger and smaller if that is possible, but the community network can be seen to care about those within it. An hour of a Sunday and involvement within something of interest can pay dividends. Anything from Soccer support to something a little quieter like knitting or card playing, may achieve such local networking returns.If you decide to do this, you'll not be alone in an objective context. 6. Network outside your community. Seek out connections wherever you can find them. Online forums/groups within your particular discipline may help, and even give you an idea of global thoughts. 7. Attempt to save at least three months wages. At least, attempt it or part of it. This strategy brings some peace of mind as well as some degree of financial security. "The World and everything in it, is changing, revolving and ageing. The changing of it is a transit more controllable than the other two". Seamus Dolly and Part-time work are at http://www.England.Bidhire.com Leverage your Userpage and advertize your service. | | | | RELATED ARTICLES Change Your Life, Change Your Career And Get A New Job! Careers dictate resume format Resume Layouts ... The Hidden Pitfalls Options for Resume Layouts During Midlife Change: Are You a Jumper or a Clinger? Over the years, I have identified two kinds of midlife career changers: Jumpers and Clingers. Skilled Mechanic Wage Study Review Well what is a good mechanic worth these days? You cannot place a value on them simply as labor units as they teach in management school, they are worth more than money. So why not treat them with respect and dignity and pay them what they are worth, we believe that the national averages are too low. There is a partial report on the Automotive and Trucking Sector from the Fed's Beige Book, June 2002. Bullseye Interviewing An interview is much like a blind date. 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Become A Personal Trainer Every human body is different and a personal trainer will know exactly how to not just get a human body into proper shape but also shape the body into the desired form. A personal trainer knows that while guys may want to 'bulk up'; a girl might want to slim down. A good personal trainer will know what to do to get the desired look wanted by their client. Working in Dubai Dubai in the United Arab Emirates is one of the world's fastest growing employment hotspots in the world. Up to 20 new companies establish themselves in the emirate's free trade zones every week and since 2002 some 650 companies have registered in the Dubai Media City free trade zone alone. The Computer-Friendly Resume The evolution of technology is changing the traditional methods for job searching and recruiting. More and more companies are now relying on computers to initiate the process of hiring and are filling their database with candidates with skills that are easily searchable. Traditionally, submitted resumes were first received and sorted by humans. What else, right? But now, for many firms, this step has been handed over to their computers. So you want to work at home There are several ways to work from home. Some of the more popular ways are affiliate programs, direct marketing and starting your own business. However it is also possible to find employers who hire people to work at home in various postions such as telemarketing, sales, teaching, freelance writing, etc. I have spent countless hours online searching for work at home jobs and even started a community to list the job leads I have found. (http://www.real-home-employment.com) Expose Lies on Resumes Purpose: Learn about the new Polygraph for management hires The Springtime of Your Career Rick Jarow, author of Creating the Work You Love, introduced many of us to the notion of career seasons. When we're struggling with a career, we're most likely to think of winter. At some point a career change (or other transition) feels like being buried under a coat of ice, hibernating through long, dark days. Hopefully we learn to see the beauty of winter -- sun on the snow, clear air, the bare outlines of trees denied their leafy cover-ups. Why Use a Resume Writer or Resume-writing Service? Here are some of the questions we have been asked by our clients or potential clients in the past, together with our answers to them. We hope you find them useful, and that they help you to make an informed decision. Phone Interviews: Prepare to Ace Them! More companies are saving time and effort by doing initial telephone interviews before committing themselves to hours of time assessing and evaluating applicants. They are doing this because, frankly, it's a good way to save a team's time from interviewing obviously unqualified people. From your standpoint, this means that you need to develop an additional interview skill. Ready to Move -- Anywhere! "I have lived in this city all my life. My family is here. I am pretty satisfied, but lately I'm getting restless. I want to move somewhere - anywhere. I was thinking of Seattle...:" How to Ask For a Salary Increase and Get Your Raise Feeling overworked and underpaid? If you're starting to feellike you deserve a raise, here are eight DO's and DON'Ts to buildyour confidence and tact (and what to avoid!) in asking for thesalary you feel you deserve. Whats Stopping You from Getting Your Next, Good Job? This question comes up often when I'm working with someone to help them move forward in finding their next job. Booster & Drainers Like huge anchors on cruise ships, other people can hold you down. Not intentionally, but their negativity impacts you. It's hard to be winning at working when you're anchored in place. It's hard to see the next great idea and enthusiastically embrace it, when you're feeling a sticky heaviness. And it's hard to think creativity when you're feeling empty. Like a balloon with air pouring out, deflated and flat at the end, I hung up the phone, drained. For the most part I'd offered a supportive ear with occasional contributions of asked for advice. Several days in a row, he called or stopped by my office, with a second, and a third, and a fourth verse of the same song. After each encounter, my energy felt zapped. It got to the point where Jay's presence alone started my energy leaving, replaced with an empty heaviness as if his negative energy was seeping into me. It took me awhile to figure it out, but Jay was an energy drainer. I've learned over the years, if I spend too much time around people with negative energy to share, my optimism, and enthusiasm for work (or life) are adversely affected.     You may know people in your own work life who hold you down, zap your enthusiasm, cheer you into self-destruction, and occupy so much of your time and energy that you can't offer the best you to anyone, including yourself. And you know people who do the opposite. My solution? Use that feedback. Spend less work time with the drainers, and more time with people who offer you an energy boost. Once you've identified how it feels to be around energy boosters, look to fill gaps, especially on work teams, with people who bring positive energy to a meeting, who are fun to be around, whose enthusiasm and positive approach lifts your spirits, enhances your creativity, and adds to your work life. Find and stay close to these energy boosters. I use a simple measurement to identify energy drainers and energy boosters: the laugh factor. The more laughter I find in the process of doing business, the more energy I know is in the room. The more energy in the room, the more gets done. I look for people I can laugh with, have fun with and share ideas with. My work results are better when I'm around people who make me feel energized when I leave them. Yours can be, too. (c) 2004 Nan S. Russell. All rights reserved. The Musketeer Approach Stories of intrigue, treachery, politics, lies, double crosses, and power struggles fill the history books, much like they fill today's headlines. In the world of the 17th century musketeer, life depended on who you could trust. In the world of the 21st century employee, one's livelihood may. I'm not naïve to corporate politics, competition, or sabotage in the workplace. I've held my own in corporations where silos, turf wars and power brokers delivered indigestion, sleepless nights, and distrusting cultures. But I still don't get it. When people are more focused on what's happening in the cube next to them than on achieving corporate goals, everyone loses. When corporate politics fill emails with mixed direction stalling productivity, everyone loses. And when discretionary effort and new ideas are swallowed in pits of bureaucracy, guess what? Everyone loses. The way I see it, if the company fails, we all fail. So, I believe the Three Musketeers got it right: "All for one and one for all!" Each understood his fate as an individual was tied to their fate as a group. Trusting each other was unambiguous. One was in trouble, they all were in trouble. One needed help, they all provided help. One succeeded, they all succeeded. The fiction of Alexandre Dumas, set in the 17th century, seems a good prescription for the 21st century workplace. I know it's worked for me. Arriving at a new job, I discovered the boss who hired me was away, and no one expecting me. I found no office, no desk, and no information. The person I was hired to replace was in my job, and had no idea I was replacing her. Each week got worse. Information and requests flowed like water through a clogged pipe. I was out of the loop on important issues and viewed like the enemy. Turning to my boss for guidance was like stepping into a sink hole, as I discovered his credibility and the department's lacking. I realized if I was to survive, I had to find, win over, and/or develop a handful of people I could trust. It took a difficult year, but the payoff lasted an entire career. Gradually the group of trusted colleagues grew. We never thought of ourselves as musketeers, but by our actions, we became them. Unspoken rules of ethics and integrity prevailed. We looked beyond individual interests. We shared ideas, collaborated on projects, borrowed resources, and worked together easily and enthusiastically. We wanted the best for each other and the best for the company, each of us worrying about more than our own five acres.  Unspoken commitments prevailed. If I was in trouble or asked for help, help was given. I was called upon to step up and provide help too. We all knew our musketeer roles required reciprocity. The bottom line was that helping each other succeed, helped each of us succeed. I don't know where I'd be today without the musketeer approach. My advice? Become a musketeer! (c) 2004 Nan S. Russell. All rights reserved.  Bringing Our Family to Work Let's face it, most of us consider professional success and personal success the same.
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