Developing your skills and your career

Whether or not you are working in your ideal job or are still trying to achieve that goal, it is important to continue developing your skills.

In terms of reaching your ideal career goal, it is important to build your skills, because after all you haven’t got your ideal job due to the fact that you are lacking certain skills or experience.

If you are already working in your ideal job, then it is important for you to keep up to date with the skills required for that role. In this fast paced world you need to be ahead of your game in order to achieve the success that you seek.

This article will look at ways in which you can keep your skills up to date and develop them further no matter what job role you are in.

Industry News

It is important for you to keep up to date with developments in your industry. Mainly because you will be basing your decisions on this information (this is especially important in the business world).

Even if you are still striving towards your ideal job, keeping up to date can help you progress your career. Showing good industry knowledge can be that vital extra point that helps you progress upwards through your organisation, or find success at an interview.
You can keep up to date by monitoring new developments in the news headlines or by subscribing to an industry journal.

There are lots of websites out there that provide up to date information about industry news, developments and other factors that will impress your interviewer or boss.

Develop your skills

I achieved my ideal job by continually improving my IT skills when working in temp assignments.

For me, this mainly focussed on developing my skills on MS Access, MS Word, MS Excel, graphic design packages and web design. The main thing to remember when developing IT skills is that the hardest thing about them is initially understanding them.
The best idea is to work at it, bit by bit and not worry about being an expert straight away. If you starting using software packages it is best just to mess around with them for a bit to begin with – this way you will get a better feel for them.

You can worry about the advanced features later on.

Some people find a introductory training course is useful and it can be. My theory in the matter is that you are better learning the basics by yourself and attending an intermediate or advanced course in order to hone your skills. It is much better to have an expert explain the hard bits to you, than the easy bits.

In terms of soft skills, you need to be developing these at every opportunity. At no stage in your career will these be perfect. There is always room for improvement.
These include:

Communication skills (one to one, phone skills, presentation skills, etc)
1.Teamwork skills
2.Leadership skills
3.Project management skills
4.Interview skills
5.Time management

Being proficient in these areas will never cease to be of benefit to you. Take every opportunity you can to develop them.

Develop your skills at work

In you are still climbing the proverbial career ladder, then you can develop your existing skills at work, as well as learning new ones. It is irrelevant whether or not these skills are of benefit to your final career goal.

Having a broad range of skills will stand testament your flexibility and adaptability and ultimately benefit you in your job search.

The best way to develop your skills at work is to find more work to do. Unfortunately!
Offering to work in other areas, or suggestion new tasks to perform will enable you to put dormant skills to use, or to develop new ones.

For example, I worked as a temp admin assistant for a charity.

After a few discussions with the IT manager (which involved me explaining that I wanted to pursue a career in web design, and giving him an idea of my IT skills) I was given more interesting work to do.

This include installing software on PCs, adding hardware, setting up databases and swiftly moved on to graphic design and eventually web design. In fact, the job was my first experience with MS FrontPage (the web design software I use) and Internet Marketing, which is directly responsible for more advanced jobs I secured and this website.

Had it not been for that one temp job where I seized an opportunity to develop my skills, then it is entirely possible that I wouldn’t be a professional webmaster right now and this site wouldn’t be here. No doubt to the delight of a few companies out there! You know who you are!

The main thing to remember

Seize the day!

Take every opportunity you can to further your skills, after all the worst that can happen is that you are told “no”.

The best that could happen is that you very quickly progress to your ideal job (or, if you are already there, become an expert in your field).

It’s your choice........................!

Deceptive Targets in the Job Hunt

5 Methods That Waste Your Time

Time is money - whether you've got a job or not. While it may be tempting to chase down every possibility when you're searching for work, don't. Many can lead you down a blind alley -- where you may lose the contents of your wallet.
A focused search using tried and true methods, especially networking, will lead to your next job, not tactics that smack of desperation.
Avoid these five job-hunting "don'ts" that will yield the poorest of results, according to leading workplace advisor Liz Ryan.

1. Spray and pray.

Don't blindly send your resume unsolicited, electronically or otherwise, to any company without first making verbal contact. Says Ryan, founder of AskLizRyan.com, "Tossing out un-customized cover letters and undifferentiated resumes in huge volumes and crossing your fingers is a job-search non-starter. That doesn't work, and it hasn't worked in 10 years, or more." Establish a connection before sending a customized cover letter and, adds Ryan, "You can even customize your resume if a job opening calls for it."

2. Stand in line for a job fair.

Admits Ryan, "Sad to say, but most job fairs are a waste of time. Avoid the huge cattle call-type job fairs where zillions of employers have booths, yet no one is taking resumes." There are some job fairs that have value. Ryan, a former human resources executive, points to company-specific open hours and college placement job fairs. Tap your network to learn if anyone can recommend worthwhile fairs. "Ask around before you head off to a job fair or risk having your time wasted and your ego dashed."

3. Earn certifications nobody wants.

It's common to feel less-than-confident in your skills if you're having a hard time finding work, but don't rush out to spend money on any additional training unless you're certain it will yield improved results. Ryan reveals, "Before you sign up for a certification training program, check the job boards to make sure that employers are asking for it. There's no sense investing time and money in a certification no one wants."
If you're getting the hard-sell from an educational institution, Ryan says, "Ask the people at the school that's doing the certifying, 'Which local employers have hired your graduates in the past year?' If they can't tell you, run away."

4. Pay a headhunter.

Don't dole out money to any kind of recruiter or sign a contract agreeing to do so. "Real headhunters, also known as search consultants or third-party recruiters, won't take your money. They get paid by employers to fill open jobs." She warns, "If a recruiter calls or emails you to say s/he's got jobs open, and then invites you to his or her office for a counseling session and presents you with a range of career-coaching services, bolt for the exit. Real search professionals won't take a dime from their candidates."

5. Sign up with a resume fax-blast service.

This old-school -- and desperate -- tactic is a total turn-off to potential employers and smacks of spam. Ryan says, "Services that send out hundreds or thousands of your resumes might have been worthwhile 20 years ago. Today, they're worse than pointless, because it irks employers to get unsolicited resumes. Forget the fax-blast services and do your own careful research to reach decision-makers with messages they actually want to hear."

Achieving A Work Life Balance

Having a work life balance is your best bet to ensure happiness at work and at home.

Certainly, there is plenty of research that suggest that companies expect more work from fewer employees especially after the large layoffs and downsizings that have occurred over the past few years in many companies and industries.
You’ve probably heard the old adage that money can’t buy happiness but not having money certainly doesn’t buy happiness either. Your job obviously provides you with income but no job is worth throwing away your personal life for.
At the end of the day, if your job requires you to work long hours and/or weekends that disrupt your personal life, you might either need to figure out how to get the proper work life balance or decide if this is the right job for you.

Here are some suggestions to help you get the proper work life balance:

1. Improve your time management:-

Do you waste time at work that could otherwise be spent on productive tasks? If you spend 20 minutes per day in the smoking area, 20 minutes talking sports with colleagues and 20 minutes making personal phone calls, there is 1 hour you have wasted. Don’t procrastinate. Look for ways to improve your time management and organizational skills.

2. Ensure you are doing everything you can to remedy the situation yourself:-

Do you take work home with you even though you don’t need to? Is everything at work a crisis to you? If your manager seems to be less stressed about work than you are, then something is wrong. We sometimes have a tendency to make mountains out of molehills and make things bigger than they actually are. Not everything is a crisis and not everything needs to be treated as being critically important. Learn how to distinguish between tasks that need to be done now and things that just need to be done at some point and don’t require you to drop everything else.

3. Speak with your manager regarding your situation and possible remedies:-

A good manager will understand the need for a work life balance and will help you achieve it. Is there the option for you to work from home one or more days per week? Do you require an additional staff member to help you with your workload? Could some of the work you are doing be done by other staff members? Write down options that you and your boss can consider and discuss them together to figure out how to move forward.

4. Change jobs:-

Some companies work their employees harder than others, that’s a reality. Before looking for a new job, ensure you have done everything you can to achieve a work life balance and that your inability to achieve it is not your fault. It would be a disaster to switch jobs and then find out you face the same (or a bigger) problem with a new employer.

5. Change careers:-

Certainly this is drastic but some careers/industries are known to demand more from employees than others. In some cases even if you have done everything you can to achieve a work life balance, your career might simply prevent if from happening. I know some people who have changed careers and taken less money and responsibilities but are happier for it. Your priorities might determine whether or not this is as option. The balance between work and life can be a tenuous one but your long-term happiness and health depends on it. No job is worth ignoring your personal life for.
Before achieving a work life balance, you need to take stock of your life and see what you can do to make things better.
Look for ways to improve your time management and organizational skills and don’t procrastinate.
Don’t make things more difficult than they need to be.

Top Ten Smart Networking Tips

Smart networking is a major key to career success. Master it, and you master your destiny. The following tips will help you become a pro:

1. If unemployed, print your own business cards to use at networking events. Include your contact information with your target market. Example: John Q. Smith, Sales Management.

2. Put your resume on the web with its own web page. Most Internet service providers give you a free page for personal use. Then, add your resume page's URL to your business card.

3. When you collect business cards, follow-up! Note on the back of each card where you met the person and something noteworthy to help you remember him. Schedule a time to meet for coffee to continue building the relationship.

4. Consider networking as a process you do for the life of your career, not just something to do between jobs. Continue to grow your career by building and maintaining relationships.

5. When networking, offer first - take second. Determine what value you can provide others before asking for their help. This way you will leave a very favorable impression.

6. As an employee of "Brand Me, Inc.," act like you're self-employed when you seek a new job. Market yourself as your most important product.

7. For entrepreneurs, public speaking and publishing are critical to building expertise in the public eye. For job seekers, doing the same can attract attention to YOUR expertise, hopefully leading to meetings with potential hiring authorities.

8. Remember that everyone you meet has the potential to lead you to your target. Most people are only three degrees removed from the person with whom they need to connect.

9. Networking gurus have polished 30-second commercials. Practice your "elevator speech" so it sounds natural and conveys the right message in a concise way.

10. As you network, be authentic. No one likes a know-it-all any more than a wallflower. Be yourself and be real. Above all else, remember your manners. Thank those who help you.

Career Options

“Publication is to thinking as childbirth is to the first kiss.”

(Friedrich Von Schlegel)

Career Options

To begin with, you might find it easier to find a job in an office that is not a publishing house. Here, you could work on company newsletters, help write advertising copy, layout various publications, proofread their website, or more. This kind of a job will give you the skills to move into book publishing or to a literary review. How do you know what kind of publishing is right for you? I’d say, try a couple of places until you find the right fit. In general, popular magazines & periodicals that come out monthly or more often will be the most bustling places to work. For-profit magazines are driven almost entirely by advertising revenue, so this can be a stressful environment if the revenue is not high. Book publishing is driven by season—usually fall & spring, sometimes summer or winter as well—& is generally busy in waves with some lulls in between. Scholarly journals are busier during the academic year or for shorter periods of time, as are literary magazines. With all this in mind, explore the various ways in which you might contribute to publishing.

Periodicals

f you work for a periodical, your office depends on the nature of the publication—whether it is a popular magazine, academic journal, or literary magazine; whether it features advertising or not; & whether the periodical is four-color, all text, or somewhere in-between. Here is a list of the different possible jobs, what you might do in each position, & what kinds of periodicals would offer these positions.

Marketing & Advertising: For any for-profit periodical, advertising is key. Look at the masthead of any major magazine & you will notice that the number of people working to secure advertisements is at least equal to those in any other department, if not larger. If you like to sell, this is the place for you. For limited-audience or specialty publications (e.g., academic journals or trade magazines), not a lot of resources are invested in marketing, especially if no ads are run in the publication.

Copyediting: These days, few copyeditors work in-house at periodicals; instead, many periodicals use freelancers. They work on the language of an article to make sure there are no mistakes (grammatical or factual), make it consistent, & ensure that it conforms to the magazine’s editorial style.

Design: Designers can make or break a publication in the for-profit world. Next time you’re at a newsst&, look at the differences between Architectural Digest & Publisher’s Weekly. Designers work with marketers to create the look that marketers think will attract buyers. Many designers have art degrees & training in computer design/graphics.

Production: People who work in the production department monitor & determine the physical results of the magazine/journal. They work with the typesetters & designers to layout the text & images, & they work with printers directly to ensure high-quality work. Those who work in production often also monitor the editorial aspect of the manuscript—copyediting, formatting, & contacting authors.

Books

Book publishing requires the skills of marketers, designers, production managers, editors, those who run the day-to-day business, & others, to make sure that the book is available to readers. In most publishing houses, there are a few key departments. Note, however, that not every company will use the same term for the same job.

Acquisitions: The job of acquisitions editors is to seek out books to publish in assigned fields. Usually they are given a set number of books that they must acquire per year. They consider a book from all angles: Is it well-written? Will it sell? Will the author be able to complete the book on time? Can we afford the author’s usual advance? They may also direct developmental editing, should their press use this process. Many editors also have assistants, especially at larger publishing houses.

Editorial & Production: The goal of this group of people is to produce the physical book. They include copyeditors, proofreaders, designers, & typesetters. Each of these specialists works with the other to create the product that the marketing & acquisitions have decided will sell, conducting quality control at every stage. Production receives the manuscript & works with it until there is a book in their h&s, which can take from six months (for camera-ready books, books that need no copyediting or layout) to over a year (for books that need to go through the full process).

Copyeditors & Proofreaders: It takes very specific skills to copyedit. You must know the rules of the style manual you’ve been asked to follow (e.g., The Chicago Manual of Style or the Associated Press Style) & be able to follow them; know the rules of English grammar; be able to thoroughly underst& the subject (e.g., if you worked at JAMA, you would have to know about medicine); & have patience, among many other things. The best copyeditors do not alter the writer’s meaning or style. Instead they make the piece clearer & ensure that it conforms to the house style. Proofreaders are checkers. They compare the proofs of the manuscript with the clean edited copy to make sure that no text is missing & that everything is correct. The more electronic publishing becomes, the more proofreaders become necessary.

Marketing: Their job begins after the book is manufactured. To work in marketing, experience in a bookstore can be as important as an editing class. Any kind of selling requires ingenuity. People in marketing are constantly wracking their brains trying to figure out who would read a given book & how to reach the market for it. They also try to catch the media’s attention at all times. From publicists to exhibit managers & envelope-stuffers, marketing is full of action.

Find a Health Job That's Right for You

What's your work personality? Are you someone who thrives in a team environment, or do you prefer to work alone? Like working in an office? Or would you rather be outside, active and moving around? No matter what your style, with over 200 types of health jobs -- far more than just doctors and nurses -- you're bound to find something that's right for you. Here are a few options:

Health Educator

Are you the first person your friends turn to for advice when they're in trouble? That says a lot about your skills as a communicator: You're probably someone who's good at listening attentively and helping people work through their problems -- without judgment -- which helps you gain their trust. Great communication skills and a strong desire to help people are key traits for health educators, who work at public hospitals or community health organizations, educating people about how to promote healthy living and prevent diseases.

Emergency Medical Technician (EMT)

If you thrive on adrenaline, you may love working as an EMT. But there's more to it than just the rush. You also need to be able to remain cool, calm, and collected in a crisis. EMTs are typically first responders on the scene of an accident or emergency along with police or fire departments, performing CPR, giving oxygen, administering drugs -- often while people's lives hang in the balance. They need to practice good judgment under pressure and communicate quickly and clearly with others on the emergency team. And they have a very real opportunity to save lives.

Medical Transcriptionist

Does the mere thought of blood and guts send you running for the door? That's OK! Jobs in health administration, such as medical transcriptionist, offer a way for detail-oriented people who prefer to work in a quiet, controlled office setting to join the growing health care field. Medical transcriptionists listen to recordings dictated by physicians and process them into documents such as hospital discharge and examination reports. Many medical transcriptionists work as independent contractors from home a plus if you prefer to work solo.

Medical Laboratory Technician

If you like technology, medical laboratory work could be for you. Medical lab workers test and analyze tissues, cells or fluids using microscopes and other equipment to help diagnose or treat a disease. They don't typically work face-to-face with patients (the people who actually draw blood and collect samples are called phlebotomists), but rather work alone in a lab setting behind the scenes. Precision is the name of the game, both for the safety of the lab worker (who may be handling biohazards and dangerous chemicals) and for the health of the patient, whose treatment depends on the lab results' accuracy.

Certified Nursing Aide (CNA)

For some people, nurturing and caring for the sick and injured comes as second nature. For Certified Nursing Aides (CNAs), that instinct is what makes the difference between a job and a rewarding career. CNAs typically work at hospitals or other nursing care facilities, providing around-the-clock care for patients -- serving meals, making beds, taking patients' vital signs and helping them get into and out of bed. For CNAs, "How can I help you?" isn't a question. It's a calling -- and a potential stepping-stone to other careers in health care.