CareerMysteries

 How would you like to work here?  Summer is the time to dream about what you really want to do most with your life.  For me, writing is one thing I have always dreamed of doing and my dreams have come true.  While I don’t live or work in a castle (just yet anyway) I feel like a big success because I love each day of my life, I work whenever I want and I play as much as I can.

Take the time now to evaluate where you are in your career.  Is this what you really want to be doing?  Are you working toward a larger and better goal for the future?  If you can do something you love to do and make enough money doing it to pay the bills and such, you are a success.

Balancing the work, the play and all the facets of your life and family is really the key to a happy successful life.  Find your happiness and don’t waste another minute doing something you don’t enjoy.

 Sometimes it is better to ease off on the workplace throttle and let yourself go with the flow…

Avoid procrastination on projects and deadlines. If you wait until the last minute to get things done, you will have a longer time to fret about the deadline and your stress level will increase. Working at a steady pace instead of in fits and starts will relieve your anxiety.

Keep distractions under your control. Shut off the telphone and close the office door if you need time to concentrate. If you only have a cubicle, borrow an empty conference room if you need quiet to do your best work.

Use email on a schedule. If you tend to check your email more than two or three times per day, you are wasting your time in busy work. If something is truly critical, you will get word of it in time. Also, if you can use voice mail to your advantage, send all calls to the machine when you need to focus on other things.

Use toys to increase your creative impulses. Desk toys like squeeze balls and plastic puzzles can be relaxing and stimulating at the same time. It is good for you to take frequent breaks from the computer use and use a squeeze ball to exercise your hands.

Most important of all, take a deep breath and repeat after me, until you believe it, “It’s only a job, it’s only a job….”. 

Try to relax when assuming new duties. It is hard to be promoted and then work with the same people, and become the leader of the existing group. Give everyone some breathing room before even considering making any changes.

Find a Mentor

Many companies now have formal mentoring programs for new supervisors that will give resources to bounce ideas off someone who has been there before. Even if there is no formal program, find an experienced manager who can help you.

Keep in mind that one need not take every bit of advice from a mentor, but at least consider his opinion on situations brought to the table. As long as there is mutual trust, a mentor will provide an objective perspective.

Maintain the Status Quo

A common rookie mistake is to try to change everything that is wrong within the department in a very short time frame to try to look like good. Forget about it. Get everyone on board with the new arrangement in the first couple of months.

Meet with the crew and discuss the promotion. Ask for input and help in getting things in order and functioning at a higher level. If people feel their opinions are valued, they will be much more likely to support change efforts.

Being a good boss is not too different than being a good employee.  Earn respect from others by doing the right stuff yourself and help them along with training, support services and advice.  You will do just fine.

Let’s face it, who doesn’t want to make more money these days.  Be careful, though not to get caught up in one of these on line schemes.  They are running rampant on every corner of the internet.

If you really want to make some money, hard work is needed.  Build your own website and acquire advertising.  It won’t happen overnight, but if you are ambitious and stick with it, it will happen for you.

Thanks for visiting my career blog and hope to see you stop by my Suite 101 website.  I am building a big bank of articles there and you may just like them.  Lots of career stuff and so much more.  Have a great week!

Here it is already, time to do another self-appraisal.  This time, do it right.  

Generally speaking, the self-appraisal is a way for the supervisor to pull together relevant data on work accomplishments for the prior year (saving him some time). Approaching this process with a constructive attitude is vital to an effective result. Here are some points to remember -

The primary purpose of the performance appraisal is to mold employee behavior. For most employees, this means a good deal of positive reinforcement of those things they are doing well on the job.

A good system will also provide honest feedback on at least one or two areas of potential development for the future, often in the form of goals.  The act of requesting the employee’s direct assistance by way of completing a self-appraisal has a twofold purpose. It allows the supervisor to gather the detailed information and documentation on annual accomplishments for each person. But more fundamentally, it allows the person being reviewed to feel at least some measure of personal influence over the review process itself.

This makes the job more personal and a significant part of your self-concept.  Learn more at

http://www.suite101.com/writer_articles.cfm/mstherese

 And have a terrific and inspired day.

Every so often, it makes good sense to re-examine your career status, goals and issues.  This need not be an extensive self-appraisal, but you should have a good idea in your own head on where you would like to be in the years to come and how you plan to do the ground work to get there.

The first big question is, do you have an updated resume?  This is not just the document, but a close examination of back up information, contact numbers for references, new company addresses if they have moved, etc.  Don’t wait until there is a problem contacting one of your key references to look into this.  You would hate to lose out on a job offer because you were sloppy.

Another critical question is concerning where you want to be now, a year from now, five years in the future and at the terminal position in your career.  What credentials do you need to get there?  Do you need classes, certifications, etc?  When will you obtain these things, how, with what funding?

Do you have a career or life mission statement to guide you through time?  If you have not taken the time to do this, now is as good a time as any.  Write yourself an essay on what you want to achieve in life, be it career goals, financial goals, family, friends, charities, volunteer contributions or anything else that you want to achieve.  You will be happy you took the time to do this.  You can revise it anytime you want and it is only for your benefit.  Why not do it today?

At one time, I was the quintessential workaholic.  I would work and work and never take lunch or breaks during the day.  By the time I left the office, I was stressed to the max and often had a miserable ride home, which took about an hour or so.

That is all behind me.  I gradually learned that if you don’t stop and take frequent breaks throughout the day, you will eventually burn out and be less effective on the job.  So, get out of your chair, out of the office and stretch your legs.  Go outside and sit on a park bench for thirty minutes and listen to the birds sing.  Breathe in the fresh air and let the sun beat on your shoulders for just a little while.

You will be a better person for it, and a better worker for the rest of the day.  If you can combine a break with a little walking, so much the better.  Stop and smell the roses when you can. 

Do Your Research - There are several reputable sources of information on the internet that can tell you what salary range applies to a particular job in your area. If you are unsure how to find this information, professional organizations in your field are a great resource.

Be Assertive - Taking the lead in the salary negotiations is often appreciated by the company representative. When you interview for the position, be assertive enough to ask for the salary range up front. If it much less than what you hope to make in the job, say so at the initial meeting so they know where you stand.

Be Realistic - Expecting to make a salary that is significantly greater than the market will bear in your area is unrealistic. There is some wiggle room, but unless you have unusual skills that are very hard to find, the company will hire someone else at the customary rate of pay.

Don’t Take the First Offer - Unless, of course, it is much higher than you thought it would be and you are thrilled with it. And for the rest of us - remember that there is a very fine line between declining an offer and not accepting it. Be careful what words you use at this point. You can say that the offer is lower than you expected and that you will have to think about it.

Come Back With A Counter Offer - There is nothing wrong with saying something like, “I was hoping for more than forty six. If you could increase the offer to fifty thousand, I would say yes right now.” You can talk about commuting costs, more money that you will have to pay for benefits, and other logical arguments.

Extras - You can ask for extra vacation days, a six month salary review with an increase or other perks. Some companies have the flexibility to offer a third vacation week to an experienced hire, for example.

Be Tactful - Be firm but tactful during the negotiation process. You will score more points with the people if you are polite, savvy and firm when it comes to the bottom line. Decide what amount you will be willing to accept ahead of time.

Negotiate the job offer from a position of power.  That’s the right way.

You want to be the best boss?  Read on and read:

http://human-resources-management.suite101.com/article.cfm/be_the_best_boss 

Managers need to be connected to one another. Make a daily practice of talking to each other manager at your level about what is going on in his area. You will garner good information and build rapport with others. Sure it is fine to talk about non-work stuff too, and socialize if you have things in common.

Treat everyone on the job with respect and courtesy at all times. This does not apply just to other managers. You need to set the example for everyone else. You need not be best buddies, but give others their due.

You should have meetings with your people on a regular basis and in some cases, where time sensitivity is paramount, daily meetings to ensure that everyone’s priorities are in line. Encourage questions and be courteous in answering them so as to encourage others to come forward if they don’t understand.

Learn to give out tasks to each of the people you manage. Some of them, like the older gent who has been there for 10 years, may not need close supervision and can be trusted to meet his quotas and deadlines. Still others, especially new people will need to be monitored periodically to ensure that they know what to do and how to do it.

Keep everyone in your group aware of the priorities and the order of priorities so they will do first things first. Avoid telling one employee and expecting him to communicate it to his work mates, unless he is a qualified lead person. This presents the impression of favoritism, which you want to avoid at all costs.

Allow each to talk about problems to you and be sympathetic. Giving them a hearing once in a while is good, and shows you are understanding. If the same person has personal problems all the time, however, beware. You may have a problem employee on your hands.

New employees often come to the company from other places where they have been trained to do work in a superior way. Take note and learn from these new folks. You might have a chance to do things better or faster than before. Be open and flexible.

Getting along well with others in the workplace is a vital precursor to potential promotability.  All to often, an employee is discounted as having management potential because they are difficult or tend to be on the bad side of conflict situations too often.

What does it take to have the kind of harmony you need to demonstrate?  For one, it takes patience with others and a big picture view of your job.  One of the main causes of workplace disagreements is when people clash with one another because they care too much about little things like turf, status, titles and small differences in wages.

Get past the pettiness at work.  Try to be objective, logical and level headed in all your interactions.  You don’t need to become best buddies with your work mates, but you need to treat them with common courtesy and respect.  Hopefully, they will treat you with more of the same. 

If you are faced with an unreasonable person and have no recourse besides conflict, take your supervisor into your confidence and explain the problem.  Working together with them to resolve issues is better than trying to go it alone and risk being misunderstood.