Successfully identifying your career niche requires that you take a hard look at several different factors. First, what are your talents? You may need to ask an unbiased person to assist you in delineating these. As a general rule, we enjoy the things we are ‘good’ at. But, we may fail to consider other area as well. One useful exercise to determine what you are well suited for is to write down each job you have had and create two columns:  one for LIKES and the other for DISLIKES. 

Chances are that the career you choose will probably incorporate more items from your ‘LIKES’ column than from your ‘DISLIKES’ column.  

If you choose something that excites you and is something at which you excel,  you’re more likely to remain with the company long enough to advance within your department. Remember: the employee who goes the extra mile is the one who moves up the corporate ladder.

Ask yourself this — where would you like see yourself in five years? What level of income do you anticipate?  What are your accomplishments to date? Keep this in mind so that your career choice will enable you to achieve your anticipated goals and objectives.  Keep a journal in your present position of responsibilities and projects you have been given, and initiatives you have undertaken on your own.  When it comes time for your annual review, re-read these entries and present them to your superiors.

Finally, and possibly the most important of all, is to correctly ‘read’ the economic climate of the times.  Certain industries flourish no matter what.   Find out what these are in your region.  Three years ago for instance, becoming a realtor was tantamount to assuring your financial future.  But, we all know the sad story behind that industry.  Do some research to determine what careers are promising these days.  

There may be an emerging job market for which your talents, education and interests would be a perfect fit.

If you’re not…. you SHOULD!

In fact, if you ask Recruiters, Human Resource Directors, Hiring managers and HR Executives what their pet peeve is about the hiring process, they’ll all tell you the same thing. And that is, that they are deluged each day with resumes replete with grammatical errors, punctuation problems and spelling mistakes—to say nothing of inconsistencies in formatting and style.

If you’re applying for a job or sending out any type of business correspondence, please, please, please take the few minutes it requires to read what you’ve written OUT LOUD. The reason for this is that mistakes are far more evident when speaking a text then when reading it to yourself.

And, spell checkers aren’t the total answer.  Consider the following sentence:  Fred Finkelstein’s company announced the creation last week of “two” product lines that are “too” expensive “to” market overseas.   News flash: a spell checker doesn’t distinguish between two, too and to.  Therefore, all it takes is a slip of the finger and you’ve now got a document that is incorrect—in spite of the spell checker!

If you have doubts about your writing ability, go find someone who CAN write—an English teacher, a journalist or a published author for example–and ask  THEM to check your letter for accuracy.

So, why is it that spelling is such a big deal? Well, first of all, a letter that is poorly written sends the message to a prospective employer that you are either lazy, stupid or both. Second of all, by sending a document with even slight deficiencies, like it or not the  message is that you just don’t care–and more importantly that you have no pride in the quality of your work. Not surprisingly, the position will go to someone else!

 Moral of this story: write as though your livelihood depends on it, because it DOES!

There are some 40 million people in the U.S.who reportedly suffer from anxiety in some form or other.  Not all of these incidences are severe enough to be considered disabling, but the disease manifests itself by making them fearful and uncertain. 

As a general rule, anxiety is thought to be a normal reaction of the body to stress. However, when it becomes excessive, doctors will classify it as being a disorder. Anxiety disorder patients tend to worry to a greater extent than is justified by life’s circumstances and  can frequently become unable to cope with their  daily existence.

Unending worries about health/job/family dominate their every waking thought. Ultimately, they become unable to perform normally. Certainly, looking for a job IS a very stressful situation in and of itself and this is understandable. The key is HOW to deal with these issues.

It is not known at this point what causes such a severe state of distress.  Medical professionals theorize however, that it is most likely a combination of genetics, brain chemicals and the environment that trigger the disorder.

In addition to the excessive worrying that characterizes anxiety, there are also physical manifestations such as nausea, headaches, dizziness, rapid heart beat, problems breathing, sweating and acute tiredness that come into play.

While drugs such as Zoloft, Valium, Paxil, and Prozac are moderately successful in treating the condition, for a better result, therapy is generally also mandated to help the patient identify–and change—his or her thought patterns which leading to unsettling feelings of anxiousness.

And, of course, the living environment is also extremely important. If you think you may be suffering from anxiety, it goes without saying that eliminating the sources of stress in your life will prove to be beneficial.  If it isn’t possible to eliminate them, then you’ll want to change your habits slightly and get away from the source by going out with friends, spending some relaxing quality time with your spouse or taking an invigorating walk in the neighborhood.

Additionally, controlling the intake of such stimulative food substances as coffee, tea and chocolate, has been known to help mitigate the symptoms of anxiety.  Daily exercise, coupled with an attempt to maintain a healthy diet is also recommended, as is meditation and yoga.

You have all heard the old expression, “Looking for a job in itself.” (So true, so true!)

Before applying for another position, you must be sure you actually possess the requisite skills. These go far beyond just being able to know how to do the job. Employers look for people who have a diversity of talents and abilities.  Perhaps they volunteer at their children’s schools, or belong to the PTA or the Chamber of Commerce. Some activity or pursuit of happiness beyond the parameters of the job itself is usually welcomed.  

Critical employment skills for range from time management to verbal and written communication skills. Effective communication means being able to understand and respond to co-workers, clients and colleagues in an appropriate manner. This means knowing how to write literate sentences AND give thoughtful responses to questions. One vastly overlooked skill is the ability to enunciate such that you can actually be understood by others. 

All too frequently, young people come out of High School or college speaking the jargon to which they’ve become accustomed during their school years.  Nothing can be less helpful to your career.  The success of any emmployee is predicated on the ability to communicate in the business world, and THAT means pronouncing your words correctly and eliminating those slang expressions in your vocabulary.

Other skills for employment that most employers look for are critical thinking, problem-solving and a well-developed work ethic that goes beyond just clocking in and out on time. Employers want to hire those who go above and beyond the call of duty to finish projects by coming in early and staying late.  “Team Players” are valuable to employers because they’ve learned how to be a part of a unit and are accustomed to rowing the boat in the same direction. This type of an employee is an asset to any company.

So, before you set out for that next important interview with one of the top companies in your town, take a few minutes to draft your answer to the question “WHY SHOULD WE HIRE YOU?”  If your response is a memorable one, you’ll probably end up with a job!

Time Management–or the skills and techniques required to successfully accomplish numerous activities, tasks and goals–is an easy concept to understand but one that is far more difficult to implement.

Well, you say to yourself: “It’s not such a big deal if I don’t manage my time as effectively as I could. There’s no harm done!”  Ah, but there is! Ineffective time management can actually cost you money in the form of cold, hard cash.

Take the example of a small company that makes tents for instance.  Let’s say that the purchasing manager’s assistant–who is working on 4 other tasks simultaneously—is pressed for time and is trying to cut corners. The VP has asked her to identify a new canvas supplier to replace their old one who has just gone out of business.

Within the first half hour, she stumbles across a supplier offering pricing that’s too good to turn down. Figuring that it’s a waste of time to research any more firms, she places an order with this firm, and production of both large and small tents begins.

Since the cost of raw materials is significantly less, the price of each tent can be significantly reduced so as to encourage more orders. Orders now pile in, fast and furiously. Management is understandably thrilled and delighted to be making so much profit so fast. 

But in a few weeks time, customers begin e-mailing and calling to say that their brand new tent leaks and they either want a replacement or a refund. Upon closer inspection, the purchasing manager discovers much to his dismay that the canvas they have just ordered is actually 1/8” thinner than the material the company had used in the past, and hence far more susceptible to puncture.

Result: a hastily-made decision has now cost the company an inestimable amount of money to fix!  Had the assistant been better able to cope with the demands of her schedule, she would have been more attentive to the nature of the task at hand and would have researched the new material more carefully…. all of which just proves the old adage: “Haste Makes Waste!”

Even though exciting, changing jobs is often very stressful and its emotional intensity is sometimes compared to a divorce or death of a family member. However, a few simple tactics should alleviate your understandable anxiety or discomfort and put you well on your way to making friends in your new environment. 

One of the first things you’ll want to tackle is learning your way around: knowing where the kitchen, mail room, conference room, rest room are can help you feel more in control.  

Next, instead of hanging back and waiting for your co-workers to approach you, a better way of handling this would be for you to initiate conversation by deliberately seeking out others in your department with a friendly tone and a firm handshake.  

You might say:  ‘Good morning!  My name is Kim Jones, and I was just been hired as Special Assistant to the Marketing Director.  If you can spare a few minutes at break, I’d love to find out what YOU do for the company.”  (People love to talk about themselves and you should have no trouble finding willing partners for this type of conversation. If this encounter is successful, you will have made your first inroads into your new company, and perhaps even have found a new friend in the process! 

Be careful to avoid the all too common mistake of failing to provide your old firm with sufficient notice of your departure. Although it may not seem like a big deal to you at the time, it will become very important when a future company asks you for references. If what sticks in your boss’ mind is the fact that you came in on a Friday and left the following Tuesday, you aren’t likely to receive a very positive review.  

But, you don’t get ‘stuck’ in a position. By changing jobs regularly—even within the same company—you stand to benefit from an increase in salary, to say nothing of responsibility.  Watch for such opportunities, and grab them when they come along!

      .