|
|
| Careers & Employment Information |
|
|
|
|
Should You Make A Career Decision Based Upon A Career Quiz?Q. I'm about to graduate High School and I don't know what I want to be "when I grow up". Do you think that a career quiz might help me decide? A. Yes, yes, a thousand times yes! But maybe not for the reasons that you think. You see, as the great Quizmaster, I've found one thing to be true: A career quiz, or any quiz for that matter, is always biased towards the thoughts and belief's of the person who wrote it. Usually a career quiz is written for entertainment purposes only. Now, if you are calling it a career quiz, but you really mean some sort of standardized occupational guidance test like professional career counsellors and the military use, then those are typically valid assessments of your career capabilities. However, since you are asking the question here, and I am definitely not a career counsellor, then I'm going to assume that you are talking about your run-of-the-mill career quiz like the type that you find in typical magazines and on a variety of general audience web sites. So, the reason that I said "Yes, yes, a thousand times yes" is because anything that gets someone thinking about career options is a good thing. A well-written career quiz has the effect of causing you to brainstorm over your career options. What you want to be "when you grow up" may be a moving target for you. Most people evolve as they mature and their goals change. What sounds like a good idea now may be far away from what you will eventually become. However, as I said, a career quiz gets you thinking and that's a start! When looking for a career quiz take a good look at the type of questions that are being asked. Remember what I said about the author's bias earlier? You want to find a career quiz that asks "horizontal" questions rather than "vertical" ones. For example, a horizontal question might be: "Do you enjoy working against deadlines?", while I vertical question might be "do you prefer the precision of hand tools versus the speed of power tools?". Horizontal career quiz questions are designed to explore general career likes and dislikes while "vertical" questions tends to try and shoehorn you into a particular career path. Now don't get me wrong, there is a place for a vertical career quiz. For example, if you are thinking about a career in woodworking, and you are trying to decide if you want to be a cabinet maker or a house framer, a vertical career quiz is exactly what you need. The important thing to remember is to never make a career decision based solely upon the results of some career quiz that you happen to come across. If the quiz gets you to thinking that you might enjoy some particular career, then research that option more fully. A career quiz is simply another tool to help you navigate the pathways of life. Good luck! ----------------------------------------------------------------
| | | | RELATED ARTICLES 7 Tips for Writing Winning Resume Cover Letters Writing a good resume cover letter is something you should seriously consider when preparing to send off your resume to potential employers. Writing Great Cover Letters Cover letters are an essential ingredient to your complete résumé package. This is the best opportunity for you to demonstrate your personal character, knowledge of the company and your business writing skills. The following is a relatively generic format for creating your cover letter. Note that most cover letters are designed to target a specific company or at least a specific industry. First Paragraph You must spark the employer's interest. Focus on your unique characteristics, whether they are based on experience or personal traits that will benefit the company. Don't simply restate your résumé objective statement. You must command attention, not simply alert the employer that you are applying for a position (they already know that!). Second Paragraph Provide more detail about your professional qualifications or relevant educational background. Highlight your professional accomplishments and/or achievements, not responsibilities. Use active verbs when describing things that you have done and back it up with a statistic or concrete fact when possible. Tailor this paragraph to the position that you are applying for. Third Paragraph Demonstrate knowledge of the company, their industry, and the challenges that they may be facing. This is where you connect what the company needs in an employee and the skills that you bring to the table. You want to implicitly show your knowledge of the company without regurgitating something you read on the company's website. Alluding to general industry trends that are affecting the company will let the employer know that you can see the big picture and how your position affects the company's strategy. Fourth Paragraph This is the final paragraph of most cover letters. You should demonstrate your confidence and enthusiasm in working at the organization. Be sure to include a call to action, requesting an appointment with the decision maker (using the word appointment over the word interview helps make you sound more confident and professional). It is also recommended that you alert the employer that you will follow up with them, usually one week after sending your résumé package. 5 Steps to a New Job The economy is picking up, budgets are new, positions are open and companies are hiring. Now is the time to rev up your job search efforts. Use these tips to dramatically improve your results. Resumes Arent Important - They are Everything When it Comes to Getting an Interview Employers and recruiters receive hundreds of resumes for every position they are trying to fill. To select their shortlist of candidates to interview, they look for the most common resume mistakes most applicants make and eliminate them first. Salary Negotiation: How To Earn More Money and Respect From Your Employer Despite how important fair pay is to most of us, effective salary negotiation is an often misunderstood and avoided topic. Current research indicates the average duration of a position today is 3.8 years. Over the lifespan of your career, how well you negotiate raises or starting pay will have an enormous cumulative effect on the quality of your life. ?How to Look Your Best in a Down Economy? As you know too well ~ many jobs have been lost during the turn down in our economy over the last several years. Important sectors as well as entire industries have felt the challenges of lost profits and reduced staff. Three Myths About Resume Writing Your perspective on resumes ? what they are and how they function ? will doubtless influence how well you can write your own. To create an outstanding resume, begin by questioning and replacing some of the commonly held assumptions about resume writing. Resume Tips To Take You From SAHM to WAHM When looking for a telecommuting position, it is very important to have your resume in tip-top shape. This is often the only thing that a potential employer has to base a hiring decision on since they most likely will not be interviewing you in person, your resume has to make that great first impression for you. What is Absolutely the Best Day to go on a Job Interview? First of all, to fully understand and appreciate the answer, a couple of givens must be taken into account. What I believe to be the most important item for dealing with an interview successfully is, your attitude. Your attitude determines the outcome of every interview. The core competencies must be there in order for you to get the interview in the first place but, your attitude during the interview will be what ultimately gets you accepted or rejected for the position. If it was as simple as, "I can do the job", there would be no need for an interview in the first place - the employer would just hire based upon the resume. The Inevitable Job Interview Question: ?Why Did You Leave (Are Planning To Leave) Your Last Position This is a question that you can almost count on being asked at your next interview What the interviewer wants to know is, "Why are you available?" Women Who Quit Work Abrubtly After Childbirth - Are You the Type? According to statistics one out of every five pregnant women will not return to work. Quitting abruptly after childbirth could wreak havoc on your finances, your career and even your relationship with your partner. Taking Charge During An Interview! Perhaps you've found yourself in the position of seeking a new position due to a layoff, cutback or downsizing and are now facing the interviewing process. As scary as that may seem, one of the most critical points to remember is that just because you're sitting in the seat opposite the potential employer doesn't mean you have no control. There are a number of ways for making the interview a more equal experience and the first starts with knowing you have the right to ask questions. If You Think You Cant Change Course... Youre Right Interview Tips, How to Get the Job You Want Enter into a state of relaxed concentration. This is the state from which great basketball players or Olympic skaters operate. You'll need to quiet the negative self chatter in your head through meditation or visualization prior to sitting down in the meeting. You'll focus on the present moment and will be less apt to experience lapses in concentration, nervousness, self-doubt and self-condemnation. Hiring Managers: Preventing ?Fall-Off?s? and Counter Offers "Bill, thanks so much for your assistance with this search. We're very happy that Robert has accepted the position. He will be a great addition to our organization". At this point, while most would consider the placement complete from both the candidate and employer's side, I would put forth that you are not quite at the finish line just yet. Consultants - If We Cant Laugh At Ourselves? There are hundreds of varieties of Consultants these days. We can find Consultants to take care of our diets, our physical well being, our mental well being, and pretty much anything you can imagine when it comes to business. Avoid Your CV Always Ending Up in the Bin Cover Letters must grab the reader's interest so that they immediately want to learn more about the writer (you). The Top Ten Strategies of A Great Interview You've just received a call to interview with your dream company. Do you know how to prepare for the interview so that you'll feel confident, have a good experience and set yourself apart from others? Try following the steps below and you'll not only be well prepared, you'll present yourself as a true professional. Doing What You Love What do you want to be when you grow up? I'm sure you were asked this question at least once when you were a youngster. When asked the question, did you have an answer at the ready, or did you need a few minutes to think about it? We all had dreams of becoming something great, like a fireman, a teacher, or a rock star, just to name a few. Well, how did you do? Maybe you never aspired to be what you set out to be or said that you would become. But then again, things change. The older we get, our tastes change, our view of the world changes, even our goals change. The Fallibility of Psychological Testing Psychological Testing has become rampant across industries, more so in the case of Information Technology, BPOs and ITES companies. These tests are used to 'throw up' personality profiles and competency descriptions that would help companies recruit the 'right' candidate. The Human Resources department in most organizations is responsible for the administering of Psychometric tests. |
| Home | Site Map | Careers | Australian Domain Names | UK Domain Names | Investment Property | Sydney Web Hosting | Email Hosting | NZ Website Hosting | NZ Domain Names |