Job Worn Out its Welcome Know When its Time to Go

Job Worn Out its Welcome Know When its Time to Go One of the most sought after traits in a job is securitythe knowledge that your job will be there for as long as you need it. And it doesnt take much of a stretch of the imagination to see how moving jobs can be a major life stressor even if an employees potential is higher at another company. But sometimes it is impossible to remain at a job for a number of reasons, be it related to development opportunities, work environment, or the condition of the economy. Take a look at some of the symptoms of a job that may be holding back yourcareer so that you can better determine whether it is time to consider seeking employment in greener pastures Your Job doesnt Cater to Your StrengthsNo one is good at everything and there are many positions where one may find that the skills he or she has dedicated years to cultivating just arent relevant to their curre nt job. ur effectiveness at our jobs is also closely related to how much we enjoy performing the everyday tasks required of the work. If you cant stand what you are doing, this is an immediate red flag that you are in the wrong business.Sometimes the problem is with an organizations management. Good management will delegate work in a way that assigns tasks to those employees who are best equipped toperform them. That is, the stronger an employee performs in a task, the more likely he or she is to regularly work at that task. Unfortunately, not all managers are good managers and often do a poor job at delegating with the end result being a workplace full of unhappy employees.Your Trek up the Corporate Ladder is Slow to StagnantMost companies, especially large companies who have gone public, are intensely focused on increasing profits from quarter to quarter, meaning most of a corporate executives day is spent obsessing with the bottom line instead of organizational talent. Unfortunat ely, your company may not have the time or resources to work on developing and promoting their employees. If you feel that your future is limited at your current employer, now is a great time to develop an exit strategy.Your Work Environment is Unhealthy or Operates on Unethical PrinciplesYour surroundings, and the people who inhabit them on a daily basis, have a profound effect on how you feel about your job and your level of performance. A workplace that generates low morale among employees is likely to produce an environment of complacency and indifference. Additionally, if unethical, immoral, or unprincipled behavior is the accepted norm at your workplace, its probably a good time to take the risk and seek out a healthier employer with a supportive and ethical environment.geschftsleben is Slowing to a Crawl with No Signs of ImprovementWhile sales positions are most prone to feeling the effects of a dying business at first, eventually, if the customer pool dries up, no ones salar y is getting paid. In the world of business, loyalty is a precious commodity but dont let this noble trait lead you to unemployment. If a company is tanking, let it go and find a job at a more financially secure company.

Negotiate With Confidence

Negotiate With ConfidenceNegotiate With ConfidenceDont just know your worth, know how to sell it.iVillage Chief CorrespondentKelly Wallaceand I spoke with Kathie Lee and Hoda on theTODAY showabout a surveyiVillagereleased on women in the workplace. According to the survey, only 35 percent of the 1,500 women polled online have ever asked for a raise, and less than 20 percent have ever asked for a promotion.The fact of the matter is, if you dont ask for what you want, you wont get it you have to negotiate. We see this all the time in the workplace. Men expect the raise and ask for it women keep their nose to the grindstone, hoping their hard work will be recognized and, hopefully, rewarded.By not negotiating, you are setting yourself up to lose hundreds of thousands of dollars over the lifetime of your career. To Sheryl Sandbergs point, we have to purple drank in if we want more. Here are a several ways you can set yourself up for successful negotiations.Do your homework.If youre goin g to negotiate confidently, you need to be prepared. Whether youre asking for a raise or negotiating a new contract, first gather all the facts. Use resources like Salary.com and Ladders competitive analysis tool, Scout to determine the average compensation range for the role youre vying for, taking into account the location, industry, and company size.Know your worth.What do you bring to the table? Make a list of your major contributions and accomplishments, quantifying them whenever possible. How have you (or will you be able to) cut costs, increase revenue, make things run more efficiently, improve customer satisfaction, etc.? Use this list to remind you of your value and prepare for negotiations.Leave emotion at the door.Negotiation is not about one person winning and the other losing. Instead, it is about each party giving a little to keep or get what they want most. Its business, not personal.If you feel your emotions rising, hold off on negotiating until you can stay cool, ca lm, and collected. These will breed the fourth C confidenceFake it till you make it.Most executives agree that confidence is essential to being a good leader and strong negotiator. You have to exude self-assurance, even when you feel schwefelyperit and helpless. Never apologize for negotiating own it. All too often women apologize when theyve done nothing wrong and, as a result, they are viewed by men as being weak or lacking conviction. Do not let yourself fall into that trap.Empower yourself.Negotiation can be learned, but it takes practice. Role play with your partner or a friend, and dont forget, you negotiate more than you know it. Whether youre debating who will wash the dishes after dinner or negotiating with your five-year old over bedtime, youre practicing those skills.If youd like more information on negotiation, I recommend picking up a copy of A Womens Guide to Successful Negotiation , by Lee E. Miller and Jessica Miller, and Negotiating Your Salary How to Make $1000 a Minute , by Jack Chapman.

24 Quick Tips That Will Improve Your Writing

24 Quick Tips That Will Improve Your Writing24 Quick Tips That Will Improve Your Writing Every day, we write college papers, blog posts, work documents, emailles and social media updates. Our writing represents who we are personally and professionally, so its worth it to hone your skills. Here are twenty-five tips to help you communicate better in text.Maybe you want to write a certain number of words per day or upgrade your vocabulary. You cant reach a goal unless you have one , so write that goal down and work toward it.For many people, writing comes easier right after a good nights sleep. Grammarlys research also shows early birds make fewer writing mistakes .Heres a tip Grammarly runs on powerful algorithms developed by the worlds leading linguists, and it can save you from misspellings, hundreds of types of grammatical and punctuation mistakes, and words that are spelled right but used in the wrong context. Learn moraBefore you begin writing, do some reconnaiss ance reading. Take notes as you read up on your subject material. Ideas will form as you research.Heres a tip Once youve jumped into the writing process, dont stop to do more research. Instead, add a placeholder like RESEARCH and keep rolling. You can come back to finalize facts and add references when your first draft is finished.If you often find yourself rambling on without a clear structure, start with an outline. Follow this simple, no-fail outlining process to organize yourself from the start.Brevity is important in professional communication . Respect your colleagues time by knowing exactly what you need to communicate before you begin writing so you can keep your message concise.Does the person youre communicating with have the same information and frame of reference you do? If not, make sure you provide context. You dont have to give the entire backstory, just fill in the missing pieces so your message will be clear.Use good email formatting structure . Write an enticing s ubject line so your recipient is compelled to open your email. Understand proper email salutations and closings .Yes, you might be irked at your colleague for dropping the ball on that project and making you look bad, but dont send emails when youre still fuming. If you must write when emotions are hot, do it offline. Walk away for at least twelve hours, then edit with a calm head.Heres a tip Dont treat email as anything less than an extension of your professional persona . The way you communicate in professional settings reflects on you in a potentially lasting way.Typos and grammar gaffes make you look bad. Scan your email and fix errors before you send it. Youll look your best when your correspondence is mistake-freeYour writing should sound natural and fluid. Unless youre communicating in a more formal context, write as though youre talking to a friend.We just said Write like you talk, but theres a caveat - dont ramble. Avoid winding twists and turns, and dont use filler words such as like , really and you know . Good writing should get to the point and avoid fluff.No matter what the message, we humans are drawn to stories. Consider Pixars guide Once upon a time there welches ___. Every day, ___. One day ___. Because of that, ___. Because of that, ___. Until finally ___.Empathy can improve all kinds of writing, from fiction to content marketing to email outreach. Take the time to put yourself in your readers place. Are you preaching to them, or are you engaging them by showing that you relate to their feelings and experiences?The more interested you are about the subject youre writing about, the more intrigued your readers will be with what youve written.Heres a tip Faced with less-than-inspiring subject material for an assigned project? Find a fascinating angle for your story. With the right approach, its even possible to write an interesting story about something unappealing.Whenever possible, dont edit just after youve finished writing. Come back af ter a break and review with fresh eyes. Even stepping away for a quick walk or a cup of coffee can help you shift gears from writer to editor.When you edit, its time to cut the fluff. Every word needs a job, and those that arent pulling their weight have to go. Heres our list of words and phrases you can eliminate right now .Get rid of fruchtwein adverbs and use stronger verb choices instead . When you do, ran swiftly becomes darted and cried pitifully becomes wailed . Remember what Stephen King said I believe the road to hell is paved with adverbs.The comma is a misunderstood punctuation mark. There are a number of rules for proper comma usage, but if you study them, theyll become second nature. Heres a quick guide . And heres another that lists the most common comma struggles and how to solve them .We often write in the order that ideas and thoughts come to us, but thats not always the best way to present the final product.Heres a tip If you didnt outline before you began writi ng, try outlining your finished draft. Sometimes, the process of outlining a finished draft will reveal paragraphs or whole sections that would make more sense if they were moved.One of the best ways to find clumsy sentence structure is to read your writing aloud. If you stumble as youre reading, take a look at the sentence you tripped over and see if you can clear it up.We all have our writing struggles. Make a list of your most frequent mistakes so you can easily find and eliminate them next time.Heres a tip Let Grammarly do the tracking for you Members receive free weekly email insights , which include not only statistics about their writing habits and level of mastery, but their top writing mistakes.Sometimes a second pair of eyes can prove helpful. Just remember the mnemonic, TWYWALTR - in creative circles, it means Take What You Want And Leave The Rest. Give all the advice you receive your full consideration, but make your own choices in the end.Editing yourself is hard. Gram marlys app can help you find all kinds of writing errors . Think of it as a helpful friend looking over your shoulder and saying, Hey, that doesnt seem quite right. Want to take another look?Read about writing. (Youre here, so youre off to a good start) Read in general, and youll learn style and grammar by osmosis. And practice often. The best way to improve your writing is by doing it. OnwardThis article was originally published on Grammarly . It is reprinted with permission.

Tips for Job Searching When You are Unemployed

Tips for Job Searching When You are Unemployed Tips for Job Searching When You are Unemployed If you’ve ever been unemployed for any length of time, you know how difficult it can be to keep to a routine or perform necessary tasks without the threat of an angry boss looming over your shoulders.  Sure, you have plenty of time for personal development, networking, and sharpening your professional skills, but then there’s also the latest episode of “The Dr. MacDoogan Show” to distract you. Don’t get us wrong, we feel your pain.  Heck, after just a three day weekend it seems like a herculean effort just to get out of our PJ bottoms and into work slacks, much less after any break longer than 72 hours.  Unless you feel like taking up residence in the garden apartment (read basement) of your parent’s home for the remainder of your adult years, getting started on the job search and landing a new gig ASAP are essential to your bank account and sanity.  With that in mind, here are a few pieces of sage wisdom designed to help put a get in your giddy-up and kickstart your job searching when you are unemployed.   Schedule Your Time What do successful individuals from military generals to venture finance professionals all have in common?  They schedule their time.  When unemployed, it’s often easy to think that you have all the time in the world to polish up that resume, search for open jobs and submit an application or two, while fitting in your newly found obsession with daytime television.  In reality, however, by the time you’ve crawled out of bed, brushed your teeth, downed a cup or two of coffee and indulged in an episode of the “Young and Impossibly Manicured” your day is half over.  Cram in your laundry, picking up the house and minding the incessantly barking dog, and it’s time to go to bed and wash, rinse and repeat all over again. Creating a schedule for both your job search activities and your daily life helps unemployed candidates keep a handle on how they spend their free time.  This can help job-seekers ensure they’re spending sufficient time every day on career making activities.  In addition, setting a schedule can help make the transition back to the real world of employment easier once you’ve landed that position. Start out by making a list of daily must-dos such as job searching, networking and following up on opportunities.  Make another list of important, but not mandatory items such as household chores or social engagements that can be put off or that have time and date flexibility.  Finally make a list of purely optional, fun or recreational items that help keep you sane.  Assign each of the tasks an estimated time.  The important tasks should get reserved time slots daily, with the remaining openings filled in with items from the other two lists. Once you have a schedule, stick to it.  A structure can be hard at first, but, over time, can become freeing as you learn just how much of your day or week was wasted on spinning your wheels.  Last but not least, be sure to schedule exercise time on a regular basis.  Physical activity is important for physical and mental health and is especially useful for getting you out of the house and active when unemployed. Volunteer or Become an Intern Most unemployed individuals spend their time looking for full time, paid positions.  While your budget will certainly approve of this approach, if you’re struggling to find a winning role, a volunteer position or internship may be the ticket to job-hunting success. Volunteering for local organizations or charities in need helps get you out of the house and giving back to the community.  Many hospitals, schools, nursing homes and government buildings are often understaffed and in need of qualified and caring individuals to perform essential job functions.  Both non and for-profit companies also often have openings for unpaid internships.  With both of these opportunities, you may be able to keep your essential job skills sharp.  In addition, volunteer and intern roles introduce you to a host of different people at all levels of a community or organization.  These interactions can lead to beneficial social or professional opportunities and could even turn into an offer of employment down the line. Network and Then Network Some More Most candidates recognize the effectiveness of networking in order to attain upward mobility in their given field.  What may be less obvious, however, is that networking with others in your profession can also help when you’re looking to land a job outright.   Start out by reviewing your personal and professional contacts.  After a few emails and phone calls, you will most likely have a full roster of dinners, cocktails or casual conversations.  During these events, be sure to mention that you’re on the hunt for a new position and are interested in knowing what may be open with the individual’s company.  You may also do a little internet sleuthing for scheduled networking events offered by companies or services in your career field.   It’s important to network wisely to avoid leaving the wrong impression.  If you haven’t spoken to a contact in a number of years, hearing from you out of the blue when you’re in need of a job can leave a bad impression in addition to most likely not being beneficial.  Sending follow up emails and reaching out after your networking event with a personal phone call can leave a good impression in addition to keeping your need of a job fresh in the person’s mind. Don’t Over Criticize or Nitpick When you’re unemployed, searching for a job can often seem like an emotional roller coaster.  Combine that fact with the inevitable extra time on your hands and you can be left with a potential ego killing cocktail of self-doubt and criticism.  Likewise, the failure to land a job right away can often lead to nitpicking of perfectly good resumes and cover letters often with counterproductive results. If you’re unemployed its important to work to stay positive about your job prospects.  Speaking with a recruiter or trusted friend or previous work colleague can often provide much-needed advice in addition to boosting that self-confidence.  Having a positive outlook will benefit you both in the job search and when you inevitably land that interview or call back and are in the running for a job offer. Our last and final piece of advice for those who are unemployed but seeking a job is to avoid being stagnant in your life and job search.  Keep your eyes open for opportunities and constantly seek out contacts and job openings in a variety of forms.  Building on the momentum of the previous day’s job search, networking event or other activity will see you landing a job all the more quickly while helping keep your spirits high in the process.  

3 Easy New Years Resolutions You Can Keep - The Muse

3 Easy New Years Resolutions You Can Keep - The Muse 3 Easy New Years Resolutions You Can Keep In case you just woke up from a very long nap and missed it, a new year is officially here! Everyone you know is making resolutions to work out more often, eat less fried foods, and find a job that pays them one billion dollars a year to do the exact thing they want to do. You probably roll your eyes every time you read a status along these lines, and when you do, I have a feeling it makes you think that making these resolutions is an exercise in futility. I’m as much of a skeptic as the next person, but there are a few things I know you can achieve by the end of the year. 1. You Can Stop Thinking About Networking and Just Do It How many times have you bumped into someone you knew and said, “Hey, this was great. Let’s set up some more time to talk about what I want to do with the rest of my life,” only to see three months go by before you even think about following up? I’m not here to give you a hard time for ghosting anyone you intended to connect with. But at the same time, this is an ideal time to be more intentional about staying in touch with your network. If you meet with someone and feel the urge to say that you’ll reach out to set up some time, stop yourself and just schedule the meeting in that moment. If you can’t commit to doing this, don’t feel guilty about not throwing out the “let’s catch up” line to close a conversation. Nobody will hold it against you for not offering to meet whenever you run into each other, I promise. 2. You Can Look For New Career Development Opportunities I get it- sometimes it feels like there are so many options out there to “boost your career” that it’s impossible to narrow them down and make any progress. But as daunting as it might seem, the truth is that simply looking at your options is a great way to kick-start some serious career growth. You can sit down and create a list of all the options out there- courses, books, career coaches. And you can just pick one and follow through. Whether that requires you to create calendar events for yourself (with annoying reminders) to keep at it, leave Post-it notes around your place, or have a friend text you every week checking in- get started by surrounding yourself with as much encouragement as you need to make this one thing happen. Sure, you might find hundreds of classes and thousands of books that aren’t relevant to what you want to accomplish this year. But when you find the one thing that inspires you to dig a little deeper, you’ll be amazed by how motivated you’ll be to keep going. 3. You Can Take a Hard Look at How You Feel About Your Current Job You might like your job right now. In fact, if you’re lucky, you might really like it. But there will come a time when you like it a little bit less, and a little bit less, and a little bit less- until one day you wake up and want to quit. Avoid that feeling of “How the heck did I get here?” by setting regular checkpoints for yourself throughout the year (and creating actual events on your calendar that’ll pop and and remind you). On each of these days, ask yourself the following questions Was I happy to come into the office this week? Have I done anything recently that I’m proud of? Does my current path still fit my long-term goals? As long as you can keep answering yes, keep on cruising. But the first time you have to pause and think for a second, it’s time to have a heart-to-heart with yourself on what you want your next step to be (whether that’s addressing a problem or starting to make small moves). If you want to set some lofty goals for your career this year, I’m not going to stop you. But there’s nothing wrong with going easy on yourself and setting a few achievable resolutions. Remember: If you run into any roadblocks along the way, try not to let it get you too down for too long. The beauty of these options is that they’re ongoing and it’s hard to fall behind.

John H. Lienhard Engineer, Educator, Communicator

John H. Lienhard Engineer, Educator, Communicator John H. Lienhard Engineer, Educator, Communicator John H. Lienhard: Engineer, Educator, Communicator If John Lienhard, of Engines of Our Ingenuity fame, had not lived his life following the advice of the early Roman poet Horace to Carpe diem (Seize the day), he likely would not have been able to have a career that has combined his love of engineering, teaching, and cultural history. His personal story of struggle to earn a Ph.D. in engineering and of broadening horizons much further is an inspirational one although not a master plan. Commenting on his career track, he noted, Is anyones path built in from the outset, or is it formed by a succession of circumstances? Perhaps the person in question is least qualified of anyone to say. His early school years did not portend well. I couldnt read and write, could barely scrape through school, he said. Finally, his world opened up, when he began a drafting course as a high school senior. I just loved it and realized here is something I can do, he said. I didnt think I was stupid, but I recognized that there was a hurdle to overcome. The hurdle was dyslexia, which was identified in the late 19th century, but which was not on educators radar when Lienhard was struggling. There was no diagnosis back then except for lazy and stupid, he said. In 1980 John H. Lienhard received the ASME Heat Transfer award. But overcome it he did, mostly on his own, and then went on not only to train future engineers but also to incorporate his love of teaching and cultural history reaching the general public via radio with stories of how culture formed by technology and other creative enterprises in turn shapes technology and science. It was the drafting course that gave him some confidence, but he still struggled at community college as a C or D student in pre-engineering until he figured out how to make As. He repeated the same pattern before earning a B.S. in mechanical engineering at Oregon State College and took a job in the drafting department at Boeing. But drafting was mind-numbing for him. After some aptitude tests, he transferred to Boeings education department training new hires in skills such as drafting and design practices, and he loved it. But then he knew that meant he would need a higher degree to continue in education, and he enrolled to earn a masters in mechanical engineering at the University of Washington, only to be drafted by the Army upon graduation. In the Army, he found himself spending a lot of time just standing in lines. Again, carpe diem came into play. He tucked a paperback book in the breast pocket of his fatigue jacket. When I was standing in line, I would practice eye tracking, he said. That was his solution to improve his reading with his dyslexia. Discharged from the Army, he returned to the University of Washington as a teaching instructor and. Knowing he should have a Ph.D. for a career in academia, enrolled in the engineering program at the University of California at Berkeley. Same old story, he says, I started out as a C student and ended up with As. After graduation he returned to his first love â€" teaching â€" first at Washington State and subsequently as a full professor at the University of Kentucky, while continuing work in thermal sciences for which he was recognized as making outstanding contributions to the science of heat transfer and phase change. Always eager to learn new things, one summer he applied and was accepted at a Smithsonian course on how to write about the history of technology. Immersed in the Smithsonian archives, he was captivated by how much art, technology, and cultural ideas are all intertwined and have shaped society. Back teaching in Kentucky, he wanted to share that insight with his engineering students so he created a course in cultural history, a program of study that went so well that he also introduced it when he joined the engineering faculty at the University of Houston in 1980. One summer in the late 1980s in a chance conversation, the dean of engineering mentioned that he was considering creating 30-second radio spots to highlight engineering. Lienhard responded that they shouldnt be short advertising spots. We want to be telling stories, he recalls saying. Three days later, he had prepared three scripts, about four minutes each. Nobody thought it would work at that length, he said. But the show, Engines of Our Ingenuity, was produced by the University and its public radio station and began airing Jan. 4, 1988. It continues to this day as a five-day-a-week radio series now available on scores of public service stations across the country and other outlets overseas as well as in space (the International Space Station) and online. As of Jan. 7, 2016, 3,038 new episodes have aired and are posted on the Engines web site. The essays tell the story of human invention and creativity. The stories focus on engineering and technology, but bring in math, other sciences, art, literature, medicine, and music. For more than two decades while still teaching, writing, researching, Lienhard was the author and voice of the show before others joined his team. At first I cherry-picked things from teaching and put them together in episode form, said Lienhard, author or co-author of four books and more than 300 published articles. Then I had to learn new material and spent an enormous amount of time in the library and seeking out stories wherever I could find them, establishing threads of continuity. The threads weave, mix, and blur and start bifurcating into other topics. Something emerges out of this whole business of creativity and invention, and its that invention is a matter of catching the fleeting idea as it whips past you, and other people miss it. Carpe diem, full circle. Nancy S. Giges is an independent writer.Invention is a matter of catching the fleeting idea as it whips past you, and other people miss it.John Lienhard

Yes, attractive people really can earn more money

Yes, attractive people really can earn more money Yes, attractive people really can earn more money Self-Assessment Quiz: True or False What I wore in college is okay to wear in my new role because I work in Silicon Valley and we have a relaxed dress code. TRUE / FALSE I look this way because I can’t afford to buy nicer clothes. TRUE / FALSE I usually just roll out of bed and grab the first thing in my closet. TRUE / FALSE I prefer the less-is-more look when it comes to hair and makeup, so I don’t wear any makeup. TRUE / FALSE I know I’m going to get some hate mail for this post, but it’s my blog and my opinion, so let’s get this cold, hard truth out of the way right off the bat. “Attractive people earn an average of 3 percent to 4 percent more than people with below-average looks,” according to Daniel Hamermesh in his book  Beauty Pays: Why Attractive People Are More  Successful  (Princeton University Press, 2013).So what are you saying, Cheryl? Only pretty people get hired? Read that quote again, please. It didn’t once mention the word “pretty.” It said “attractive.” And in my opinion, anyone and everyone can be attractive, if they take the time and pay attention to how they dress, act, and carry themselves.Why is this important? Did you  read  the quote?  You can earn an average of 3 to 4%  more  if you just spend some time caring about how you present yourself to the world.  To me, that’s the definition of attractive. And if how much you earn at the start of your career plays a cr itical role in how much you earn going forward, doesn’t it only make sense to get as much as you’re worth right from the start? If your looks can help with that, why not maximize them to your benefit?!I know the world has changed! Gone are the days when you were expected to show up wearing the same dark blue or black business suit for each and every job interview you went on. However, it does not hurt one iota to dress up for an interview. Even if you’re applying for a tech position at the latest internet or social media company  du jour  in Silicon Valley, or a hip retail establishment, it won’t hurt you to show up for that first conversation looking like you care about personal hygiene and cleanliness, or that you know how to use a comb. No matter how smart you are. I stand firm on my assertion that you work better when you feel better about yourself. That includes your appearance. So if you answered TRUE to the quiz questions above, I encourage you to rethink your strateg y for long-term success. Dress for success still means something. I don’t care if the rest of the work crew is wearing flip-flops. Standing out can pay off in the long run.Cheryl Grace is the sassy aunt, best friend, and mentor you’ve always needed in your life. The successful jet-setting, global corporate executive founded the aspirational lifestyle brand Powerful Penny LLC. Her products, workshops and speeches probe, inspire and empower to ensure those who really want to can get to their next level of best. Her blogs on careers, prosperity, relationships, family, looking and living fabulously, and living a five-star life can be found at  www.powerfulpenny.com.