Resume Candidate – YOUR ONLINE RESUME SUPPORT, JOB SEARCH & INTERVIEW RESOURCE BLOG

The economy is rough nowadays, and with mass lay-offs and plenty of discouragement, its a good idea to look for career advice to change your focus to something you can be passionate about. The difference between a job and a career is that the first option is labor oriented and usually does not have much advancement involved, and the second option is passion oriented, allowing you to advance and grow using skills that you have learned through some kind of formal or technical education. If you do not know what direction to go into, seeking an advice is an excellent first step to organizing your goals while helping you head down a path that will encourage and motivate you to succeed.

As you begin your quest for a career, you may not have an idea about what kind you should be pursuing. An easy way to determine what direction to take, and the first bit of advice to edge you forward, is to think about what you have always loved to do with your time. There are activities that you take part in because you enjoy them as hobbies, and activities that you take part in because you could see yourself doing them to make money seriously. Those activities that you could see yourself turning into a career should be your first stepping stone to paving the road to success for yourself.

The second point of advice for is to consider going back to school or taking some kind of training to help enhance your skills. You may not be equipped with the necessary skills and education to begin your future plans right away, and finding a job without the right skills will be nearly impossible. It is best to research what colleges and institutions you can attend that will allow you to get a degree, certification or license in the field that you are interested in. Choose a college or program that you will enjoy going to in a location that makes you excited to be there. This will help to motivate you to continue on with your studies.

The final point of career advice is to learn how to negotiate your salary so that you can live a lifestyle that is enjoyable. Research the high, average and low incomes for your career so that you know what kind of base salary to expect with your experience and skill set. The skills you have obtained my be high end skills that allow you to select a salary that compliments what you have learned. Be confident when you negotiate your salary, but not cocky. It is always better to be humble than to come off as obnoxious or snobby, so keep your attitude in check and enjoy making the money that reflects what you are worth.

Author: Uma A Ilango
Article Source: EzineArticles.com

According to Merriam-Webster, destiny is defined as a predetermined course of events often held to be an irresistible power or agency. Whether you believe that your destiny is determined by a higher power or not, one thing is certain – we all have special gifts that we have been endowed with since birth. Sometimes these gifts are apparent very early on in our lives and sometimes we are not aware of them until we are much older.

For that reason, a great number of people are working in careers or at jobs that don’t take full advantage of their naturally occurring gifts and abilities. Another thing to consider is that as a human being, you tend to enjoy doing those things that you’re good at. So if you have gifts that enable you to do something well but are not using those skills on a daily basis in your career or job, there is a strong possibility that you may not be totally satisfied with your employment situation.

Acknowledging your destiny begins with acknowledging your personal gifts. By understanding what you are good at-and more importantly what you enjoy-the question of what you should do for a living becomes readily self apparent. All too often we become slaves to our careers as we pursue income to live and forget about our dreams and passions. By confronting yourself and exploring your true feelings about your day-to-day existence, by asking the hard questions of yourself as to what you do and why you do it, and then ultimately acknowledging your destiny, you begin the process of breaking the bond of career slavery and moving your life in a new and positive direction.

Some people believe that we were put here for a purpose. Perhaps that is true, perhaps not. But the fact remains that we are all good at something. Sometimes in the course of our day-to-day existence we neglect to acknowledge of what our gifts really are. Occasionally at work we may see a little glimmer of our true genius and potential. But unless we have positioned our careers to take full advantage of our naturally occurring gifts, it is highly likely that we sense a growing dissatisfaction with our jobs on a daily basis.

One method of acknowledging your destiny is to conduct a simple inventory of your skills and abilities, as well as your likes and dislikes. If you find after conducting this exercise that your job does not tap into and leverage that which you are good at and that which you enjoy, perhaps it is time to chart a new path and find a new.

Author: Scot Poole
Article Source: EzineArticles.com

Unless you’re just about to begin your career, you’re almost certainly familiar with a “job description” which consists of one or more pages listing your job title and a dozen or more of your responsibilities.

Job descriptions exist because employees are very expensive, so smart hiring decisions and human resources policies are pivotal factors in companies being profitable rather than bankrupt.

This means that few managers will be able to secure approval to hire an employee without ample justification. It isn’t enough to say “I really need another person in my department”. Instead, any manager looking to hire additional staff has to spell out exactly why he has a specific need for that person.

That’s why job descriptions tend to be lengthy: a job description with only three or four responsibilities won’t demonstrate nearly as much “need” as one with 15 or 20 responsibilities. That leads to padding, of course, since the executives at the top will say “yes” only to those managers who seem to have the greatest need for new staff.

So the first three or four listed responsibilities will be the main ones. But the next 10 or 15 will be mostly “filler” items designed to sound impressive and important while remaining short on specifics.

And the last responsibility will be a catch-all: “Any other duties assigned by management”. (That way, you won’t be able to point to your job description to get out of certain tasks you don’t want to do, or else seek a promotion and a raise as a reward for the “new responsibilities” that your manager eventually tries to add to your workload.)

But what’s more interesting about job descriptions is what isn’t in them. Regardless of what you actually do, there are several important (but unstated) responsibilities that make the difference between just getting by and getting promoted.

No matter what your job, your #1 responsibility is to “Make your boss’s job easier”.

That same dynamic holds true all the way up the corporate ladder. Your boss’s #1 job is to make his or her boss’s job easier. And so on all the way to the top. That seems simple enough, but most employees don’t actually practice this when they’re at the workplace. So let’s look more closely at how to make this concept work for you.

When your boss gives you work to do, that’s called “delegating”. It makes your boss’s job easier since it takes work off his (or her) desk by moving it to your desk instead.

But most employees sabotage their chances for upward progression by sending work in the opposite direction right back to their boss. That’s called “delegating up”.

Have you ever encountered a problem in the workplace with a client or a supplier and asked your boss “How should I handle this?” If so, that’s delegating up because you’re giving the problem to your boss to solve.

Should you solve it on your own? If a minor problem, yes.

But if it’s a major problem or if it has the potential to escalate into a major problem, then your boss will want to be aware of what’s going on and perhaps also make the final decision.

There’s a more efficient way of handling problems, though. Do the thinking for your boss and come up with what you believe to be the best solution. Then sit down with your boss, give a brief summary of the problem – and your proposed solution – and then ask your boss whether he or she would prefer a different solution.

Nine times out of ten, your solution will be a good one and your boss will tell you to proceed accordingly. And the tenth time, your boss will instruct you to handle it in a different manner and give you an alternative solution.

This means that over time, this problem-solving approach will reduce your upward delegation by 90% while still keeping your boss in the loop in your area of the company. And that’s something that your boss will notice – and appreciate – no matter what your job.

A happy boss who knows you can solve problems and communicate solutions well is a boss who will be looking to promote you so you can make his or her job even easier. After all, the more authority you have, the more upward delegation you can slash by 90%. That means good things will happen for you and your career if you keep up the good work.

By the way, your rsum or CV can benefit from the same principle. When marketing yourself to prospective employers, does your rsum or CV demonstrate how you’ve made your boss’ life easier? Your clients’ lives? Your customers’ lives?

Demonstrating that you provide real and tangible benefits is one of the major keys to a great rsum or CV. In fact, you could say that it’s your rsum’s or CV’s #1 responsibility to explain how you can “Make your next boss’s job easier”!

Author: Nick Thomas
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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