10 Tips for Getting Your Work/Life in Balance

by Randall S. Hansen, Ph.D.

job, jobs, career

Here are 10 tips to help you achieve a better balance in your life. Take a moment to read and reflect on these tips -- and then get your life in balance!

1. Negotiate a Change with Your Current Employer. Progressive employers recognize the value of good employees, and many are willing to find ways to help current employees deal with short-term or permanent changes caused by family conditions. The changes can include flextime, job-sharing, telecommuting, or part-time employment. Your first step is to research your employer's policies and methods of handling previous requests. Then go to your boss armed with information and a plan that shows how you will be an even more valuable and productive employee if you can modify your current work situation.
2. Find a New Career. Some careers are simply more stressful and time-consuming than others. If you need more time for yourself or your family, now may be the time to explore careers that are less stressful and more flexible.
3. Find a New Job. Rather than a career change, perhaps you simply need to take a less stressful job within your chosen career. This change may involve working with your current employer to identify a new position, it may involve a full job-search, or it may involve temping or becoming a consultant or starting a freelancing or other home-based business.
4. Slow Down. Life is simply too short, so don't let things pass you in a blur. Take steps to stop and enjoy the things and people around you. Schedule more time between meetings; don't make plans for every evening or weekend, and find some ways to distance yourself from the things that are causing you the most stress.
5. Learn to Better Manage Your Time. Avoid Procrastination. For many people, most of the stress they feel comes from simply being disorganized -- and procrastinating. Learn to set more realistic goals and deadlines -- and then stick to them. You'll find that not only are you less stressed, but your work will be better.
6. Share the Load. Even though we may sometimes feel we're the only ones capable of doing something, it's usually not the case. Get your partner or other family members to help you with all your personal/family responsibilities. Taking care of the household, children, or parents should not be the responsibility of just one person.
7. Let Things Go. (Don't Sweat the Small Stuff.) It's simpler said than done, but learn to let things go once in a while. So what if the dishes don't washed everyday or that the house doesn't get vacuumed every week. Learn to recognize the things that don't really have much impact in your life and allow yourself to let them go -- and then not beat yourself up for doing so.
8. Explore Your Options. Get Help. If you are feeling overwhelmed with your family responsibilities, please get help if you can afford it. Find a sitter for your children, explore options for aging parents, and seek counseling for yourself. In many cases, you have options, but you need to take the time to find them.
9. Take Charge. Set Priorities. Sometimes it's easier for us to allow ourselves to feel overwhelmed rather than taking charge and developing a prioritized list of things that need to get done. You need to buck the trend. Develop a list. Set priorities. And then enjoy the satisfaction of crossing things off your list.
10. Simplify. It seems human nature for just about everyone to take on too many tasks and responsibilities, to try to do too much, and to own too much. Find a way to simplify your life. Change your lifestyle. Learn to say no to requests for help. Get rid of the clutter and baggage in your house -- and your life.

In the end, the key word is balance. You need to find the right balance that works for you. Celebrate your successes and don't dwell on your failures. Life is a process, and so is striving for balance in your life.

25 Tips to Become More Productive and Happy at Work

by www.lifelearningtoday.com

job, jobs, career

Have you gotten into a rut at work? Would you like to be more engaged, satisfied, and fulfilled in your work? Would you like to be more productive and feel a greater sense of accomplishment at the end of each day? Well you can. It just takes a desire and commitment to renew your habits and routines. Follow these amazing tips and you’ll see your work life improvement. And that improvement will trickle into the rest of your life too.

1. Planning.

Establish a routine of planning your week and your day. This will allow you to have your most productive week all the time. Start your day an extra 15 minutes early to do this planning everyday. Write down the top 1-3 important things you must do that day. And most importantly, set and reach your Goals! Use the power of intention to get there! (This is what adds jazz to your life! And focusing on your future helps you get through challenging times.)

2. Power Question.

Keep a question like this at your desk to help you stay focused: “Am I making the most of my time right now?” or “Is this the most productive use of my time?”

3. Accept That You’ll Never Finish Your Task List.

For perfectionists and overachievers this is as frustrating as a greyhound forever chasing the mechanical bunny around the track. Get off that track. Just make sure you work on your most important stuff first. Let the fluff slide, not your priorities.

4. Turn off Your Computer.

“What?!” you say. “Everything is done on my computer!” Well is it really? What percentage truly is? Plan to have your computer on only for that amount of time each day. Plan out blocks of time for different computer tasks and work from a checklist to keep you focused. Giving your eyes a rest from the screen will give you more energy for creating. Even if you just close your eyes as you think of a response to an email can help too.

5. Don’t Check Email First Thing.

Unless this is required in your job, then let it go until after you’ve completed your top priority of the day. And then process email in batches, say two or three times a day.

6. Take Breaks.

It’s a fact that taking breaks will increase productivity. It’s been proven in studies. If you need to, find someone to help ensure you take a morning and afternoon break.

7. Make the Most of Your Commute.

How do you spend your commute? Make it positive time. Use it for reading, writing, creative thinking, creative projects, listen to audio books, or, heck, write your own book! If you enjoy your commute, that happiness will spill over into how you feel at work.

8. Drop Unimportant Tasks.

Delegate or delete the non-essential items from your to-do list. The best way to do this is to always do your most important things first. Somehow, miraculously, extraneous things will fall away.

9. Transitions.

Make sure you plan in enough time between activities and appointments, and find ways to fail proof being on time.

10. Choose Happiness, Humor, Enthusiasm, Gratitude, Kindness, and a Positive Outlook.

Being productive and competitive in business doesn’t mean that you have to be serious all the time. Smiling doesn’t mean you’re not working hard. Enthusiasm doesn’t mean you’re not competitive. Being positive doesn’t mean you’re blind to challenges. Choose to enjoy your time at work. Find others who are like this and spread good cheer. It’s contagious and it grows. Try to avoid gossip and negative chat. It can be tempting, but it doesn’t serve anyone well, including yourself.

11. Cultivate Compassion for Negative Coworkers.

People who are negative are that way for a reason. They may have difficulties you don’t know about. Try to be compassionate and non-judging. If you’re a manager, people still need to meet benchmarks, but you don’t have to dislike them if they are not cutting it. When you encounter a negative person, you have the choice to either be affected by the negativity or to be the one who influences the other person. It’s a decision. Choose to stay positive. Instead of saying (in your head or out loud) “Oh, that Suzy-Q! Her negativity always ruins my day,” try thinking “Poor Suzy-Q. She must have some difficulties. I wish her peace. In spite of her negativity I will try to be a positive influence around her.”

12. Pace Yourself, Especially on Bad Days.

Go slow. Don’t be in a hurry. Just take one thing at a time and keep moving forward. If you’re having a really low day, you might even want to take care of yourself by playing hooky ! :)

13. Take Everything in Stride.

Deadlines, tough bosses, rude clients, slow computers. Don’t make them into large dramas. Don’t lament the challenges of the world. Simply accept that they are there, and just keep moving forward.

14. Conflicts with Others. Let your goal be “to make progress.”

Don’t get caught up in trying to “be right” or to “win” the argument. That will just slow you down. In your mind ask yourself, “what will move this conflict forward right now?” And then get busy doing that.

15. Take Your Vacation Time.

Try doing something different. If you always go on a trip, try taking a more local vacation, and really get some good rest time. Or if you always stay local, try visiting a new place. Variety is one of the keys to happiness.

16. Pick Your Battles.

Cliche, but true. It’s kind of like “The Boy Who Cried Wolf.” When you complain or fight on everything, then your power to ask for things is diminished. Save it up for when you really need it.

17. Share Your Results.

This is not about bragging, but about ensuring that you get credit for the hard work you do. Don’t keep quiet thinking that the right people know what you are doing. Speak up and find ways to let the right people know how you are contributing to the success of the company.

18. Ask for Help.

Don’t be afraid to collaborate with others. Don’t wait for your company to tell you what to do. Think creatively about how you can work with others to generate a greater result than if you had each worked on this alone.

19. Face the Tough Stuff Head On.

If there is something difficult that you must do, just bite the bullet and do it. Don’t put it off. Do it first thing in the day. It’s like jumping into a cold pool. Just count to three and do it!

20. Ask for More Time.

If you are asked a question that stumps you or surprises you, never feel like you have to answer it right away. (unless you absolutely must) Seek more time to think about or research your answer. Simple as this, “I’ll have to get back to you with an answer later.” This will save you from giveing an answer you will regret.

21. Breaking Negative Habits.

For one day, observe yourself. Where do you face difficulties? With people? Certain people? Certain circumstances? Take notice and then later on during some quiet time, think about one or two things you would like to work on. Set up some kind of reminder system to fail proof it, such as a simple yellow sticky note next to your computer.

22. Learn from Criticism.
Don’t immediately reject critiques from others, even if you don’t like or respect them. Sometimes people you don’t like may be giving you more honest feedback than you can get from others. Don’t take it personally. Even if it is personal, who cares? Listen, process, and then decide what positive action you might want to take.
23. Adapt. Adaptation is the number one survival skill of living organisms. Those that don’t adapt, become extinct. In the work world, the same is true for companies, whole groups, and for individuals. Be open to change. Give it a chance. Adapt to new things while using your experience to guide you, and you will have great success.

24. Learning and Improving.

Always be on the lookout for opportunities to learn and improve your skills. Look for good seminars and training. Then ask work if you can attend and will they pay for your admission. If your company pays for education, use it! Borrow books from your local library, the company library, or even from your boss. Borrow some motivational audio tapes from your local library. Keep learning to continually renew your enthusiasm.

25. Creative Thinking.

Is your job boring? If so, take some responsibility in changing that. How can you make it more fun, more creative, more varied, etc.? What can you do that no one has done before? How could you grow enthusiasm at work? What is a new way that you could do old things? What processes could you alter to save time, work and money?

Careers: the difficult conversion frameworks

By Céline Tridon

job, jobs, career

Career change can not be improvised. Instead, it is usually a long and difficult project. This is underlined by a study published July 28, 2010 by the Association for the use of frames (Apec).

If, even in times of crisis, executives are considering a new career, they are aware that it is preparing. The first essential step is the most frequently cited skills assessment. The approach is essentially voluntary, none of the executives interviewed for the survey had changed his job under duress.

However, companies want is to secure their recruitment and become more cautious to hire people without experience on the job. Therefore: it is now virtually impossible for a framework to achieve what recruitment professionals call the "diagonal", that is to say change both business and enterprise. The executives who opted for external mobility have mostly followed a break or a long career break (unemployment, parental leave ...). But they face a problem: cloning Profiles recruiters, which limits the opportunities.

However, some profiles are more successful than others: business, consultants and communicators who benefit from cross-cutting skills, or even a few engineers capable of managing projects. Similarly, SMEs are often more open to atypical careers because they have more difficulty recruiting. Faced with such obstacles, the Apec calls for a change of career in-house. It requires less effort for managers as they have direct access to recruiters and their future managers. Moreover, they can more easily go back in case of failure. Finally, the internal mobility is also a way for companies to retain their employees.

Oil Rig Jobs - The Most Important Things You Need To Know

by Graham Lavery

job, jobs, career

Oil rig jobs may sound like tough soliciting jobs, but there are advantages provided for the employees that are not to be neglected. When on the rig, you get to live in a room that can be easily taken as a luxurious hotel room, while other expenses, like food or laundry, are supported by your employer.

There are many jobs that you can take on if you decide for such a career. You can be a driller, a derrickman, a shakerhand or a mudman. Other positions are those as a toolpusher, a floorman or a motorman. Jobs as assistant driller, crane operator, roustabouts, electrician or storekeeper are to be found on an oil rig. These employers also need people for jobs as sub sea engineer, rig mechanic, rig electrician, rig welder, barge engineer, ballast controlman, up to captain, chief engineer, rig medic and safety man.

One of the best parts of working on an oil rig is that you work 14 days for 21 days off, which means that more than half an year you are on vacation.

Most oil rig jobs are in countries like Saudi Arabia, United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Russia, China, Nigeria, Mexico, Norway, Kuwait, Venezuela or United Arab Emirates.

Jobs like roughnecks are paid about $300 a day, making for an annual salary of about $47,000.

Those that can apply for a more specialized job can earn up to $100,000 per year.

In general, salaries on an oil rig go from about $50,000 for an entry level position up to $220,000.

There are some safety measures that you will need to comply to. You will be provided with safety boots, hard hat, safety glasses and coveralls. You must keep your attention alert and you may be required to take night shifts. There are certain places where you can smoke and you must take off your equipment when you go eat. Another rule is to keep a good relation with your co-workers.

You must watch out for the color codes on the lifting equipment. These will indicate you that the equipment was tested as safe on the last check.

Weapons of any kind are forbidden on an oil rig. You cannot bring knives, lighters or matches as well as any alcohol or drugs.

You must also know that when you work on an offshore rig, you must remove the batteries from the electrical equipment in your luggage. Also, you are not allowed to carry your cell phone on the helicopter.

Not every job on an oil rig is about hard physical labor. There are positions for the catering section or the medical section. For instance, doctors are expected to follow these rules. They may come in contact with all kinds of diseases while working on an oil rig. As the workers are usually brought from different parts of the world, they may not be able to speak the doctor's language, so it is expected that the medical crew knows more than one foreign language so they can communicate with the patient. This type of job also includes night shifts. Their job description includes maintenance of the emergency supplies, verifying the water supplies, inspecting the food and conducting first aid seminars for the people on the oil rig.

5 Essential Tips For Fresh Graduate Job Seekers

by Peter Foo

job, jobs, career

Every new graduate coming out of college should focus on the career building, thereafter. This is a process, which involves great efforts and hard work and it starts from seeking a job.

Here is how one can do it systematically.

- Resume Building

Start with your name and address in clear, bold format. Add your qualifications, right from the school education, in a systematic manner. While doing this all, fresh job seekers should highlight any special training received in college, even for non-circular activities or towards military training.

Mention your experience in a separate paragraph or format. This should include any formal or informal training received after finishing the college. This can form the first part of experience for all fresh graduates.

- Post Your Resume

There are several websites, which cater to the aspirations of new job seekers. Some of these sites also assist in making your resume in a professional way. Taking their help always helps. Although there can be many sites offering jobs globally, it is better to visit and join those sites that provide local jobs for the candidates in their area. Hence, all those wanting to find a job in Malaysia can visit some of the sites listed below.

jobo3.com.....
jobstreet.com
jobdb.com

While there, can be many sites based at Malaysia, which offer such services, It is better to visit and join all of them and post your resume there. However, among the three sites mentioned above, www.jobo3.com can give the results sooner than expected.

- Prepare for the initial test

Some employees have a procedure of eliminating the candidates in the initial round, by calling them for a test. The short listed candidates are then asked to attend the interview. This test is, most of the times, simple to know your aptitude and strengths, which you must have highlighted in your resume.

However, be serious to take this test, because no seriousness shown at any stage can prove harmful to you and your prospects. Prepare yourself for this test well in advance as the notice for it is sent a week or two before the test is scheduled. All fresh graduates need to be confident all along.

- Attend The Interview With Confidence

Once you are through the test, next big step is the interview itself. Be sure that you are your best on the interview day, both physically and mentally. All job seekers must remember to face the interviewer with self-confidence. This results in the exercise half done, successfully.

- Follow Up With Agency or Website to Know Your Status

Follow up with the website through whom the interview was arranged, like www.jobo3.com as they have been helping you until this point, all along.

We wish, fresh graduate job seekers, all the best to start their career by following the tips given above, systematically. However, there are many steps to be taken for meeting the final goal of all fresh graduate job seekers. We will discuss about these in coming articles.

Technology adds a new dimension to learning

by johnmichelcane

job, jobs, career

The use and misuse of new technology is a common basis of case studies at business schools around the globe. But how are the schools themselves using technological innovations to educate the next generation of corporate leaders?

With five campuses in Boston, San Francisco, London, Dubai and Shanghai, Hult International Business School faces a constant battle to sustain a worldwide MBA community. It is aiming to tackle the challenge by creating its own TV network, HultTV, which will allow students and alumni to watch professors and students debate live or catch speakers presenting on new trends and developments on a dedicated channel. Once up and running, the channel will provide a centralised knowledge management system which will remain open to graduates throughout their working lives.

Warwick Business School has addressed a similar problem by introducing wbsLive, a virtual learning environment which allows distance-learning MBAs to interact with other students and academics as if they were in the same classroom instead of on different continents. The system has been so well received it is now also being used as the basis of an interactive mentoring project involving alumni and current students. "Many of our current mentors are based in the UK, whereas our mentees range from Canada to India, France to Malaysia," says Tracy Lynch of Warwick's alumni relations department. "WbsLive helps to sustain the personal aspect of the mentor/mentee relationship."

Other major schools have used the communications revolution to make lectures, seminars and case studies accessible through such platforms as the education-specific area of iTunes, iTunes U, and YouTube. This summer, Apple announced it had exceeded 300 million downloads in just over three years from iTunes U, with more than 800 universities contributing to a range of audio and video files. Eddy Cue, Apple's vice president of internet services, said: "iTunes U makes it easy for people to discover and learn with content from many of the world's top institutions." Harvard, MIT and Cambridge are among those taking part, with business schools such as Saïd Business School, University of Oxford encouraging users to don headphones to access lectures.

A pioneer in the field is HEC Paris, which began experimenting with podcasting as early as 2005 and is now an enthusiastic contributor to iTunes U. From April to June this year, the school reported more than 300,000 downloads of its materials. "Video podcasts are particularly useful in preparing students for a new course," says Valérie Gauthier, associate dean at HEC. "If a whole class has viewed a recording of frequently asked questions before the session starts, for example, the professor will not have to answer the same questions over and over again and the quality of course interaction increases."

HEC has also been at the forefront of providing technological tools to students to enable them to make the most of online libraries and networking platforms. The school was one of the first in Europe to build a relationship with Apple which allowed it to equip its MBA students with an iPod touch.

As Gauthier explains: "Millennials are accustomed to getting information when and where they want it, and this enables them to do just that."

As yet, the take-up of the next generation of communication devices such as the Kindle and the iPad has been patchy. IMD in Switzerland was one of the first to supply programme participants with an iPad, allowing them to carry around course content which previously occupied more than 1,000 pages of print. Hult is also equipping MBA students with Apple's latest gadget, preloaded with all course materials. It has also set up a team of "virtual tutors" who offer optional online coaching sessions for groups of up to 15 students at a time focusing on all aspects of the Scholarship MBA.

However, one of the most innovative uses of the iPad can be found in the Apps in Business project on the newly relaunched MBA programme at Nyenrode Business Universiteit in the Netherlands. Partnering with ICT company, Sogeti, the school gives each student an iPad and encourages them to develop their own apps which can then be road-tested in the classroom and the workplace. "The project gives students the opportunity to work with Sogeti to undertake practical research into the wider use of apps in business strategy and education," says Nyenrode's Professor Désirée van Gorp. "It will be invaluable experience, putting them way ahead of their peers in an area of huge commercial potential."

Sometimes, however, technology doesn't live up to its initial promise. When two US schools, University of Virginia – Darden and the University of Washington – Foster, ran a pilot programme equipping students with Kindle e-readers last autumn, the initial response was enthusiastic. But by the middle of the trial period, nearly a third of the Foster group and more than 80 per cent of the Darden guinea pigs had dropped out with many complaining the file management system made the storing and searching of information too difficult.

The most successful use of gadgets and new media seems to be based on a cautious approach which may be the reason why there are still more schools assessing their use than actually implementing them.

Above all, thought leaders in the sector are highly conscious that new technology can never be a substitute for good teaching and good communication. As Jennifer George, dean of the Melbourne Business School in Australia, puts it: "The teaching model devised by Plato in ancient Greece has been serving us pretty well for over 2,000 years. And while we must always move with the times, we should also remember the old adage that if something isn't broken you may not need to fix it."

A guide to sales positions

by Philip Weston

job, jobs, career

Working in sales is a challenging yet rewarding job, but there are so many different types of sales jobs it is easy to get confused by each role. Below is a brief explanation to the most commonly advertised positions.


Sales representatives
A sales representative's role is to call customers each day, enquiring about their needs, promoting products, advising customers and taking orders. Depending on the company and the exact description of your job, you may have higher emphasis on serving existing customers offering them new products and building on the firms relationship with the consumer. However, some companies expect you to cold call and find new business which is often incentive based. Working as a sales representative is often seen as the starting point in a sales career.

Sales executive

If you take on the role of a sales executive, you are likely to have to make fewer calls per day to customers as more emphasis will be put on you finding new business and presenting demonstrations of products. Depending on the products on offer, you could find that each sale involves two or more visits to a potential customer.

Telesales
Working in telesales is similar in some ways as working as a sales representative. The role is usually office based and involves calling customers to offer products or services. It is mainly proactive in that you make the calls, but it may also involve the answering of incoming calls to answer sales enquiries. The role tends to be less technical but requires energy, enthusiasm and resilience.

Sales director

The sales director plays a pivotal role in a company and is typically responsible for the sales and marketing functions of a business. How hands on you are in the position is highly dependent on the size of the business and whilst it is likely as sales director you would be responsible for strategy, direction as well as sales and marketing initiatives, you may also be expected to play a key sales role.