Congratulations! You worked hard and got the job you wanted. You are probably hoping it will work out perfectly and that you will never have to look for a job again. Unfortunately, some of the factors affecting your job security are not under your control. Your new company could have a cutback, reorganize, relocate, be acquired by a larger company, or go out of business. But there are many things you can control to get off to a smooth start. Reviewing The Lessons Of The Past

• You have learned by now that no one is completely secure in any job. But you can increase your value to your new employer and your chances for success by thinking about following questions:
• Do you have traits or skill areas that you can improve in your new job?
• If so, what do you need to learn in order to function more successfully?
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Topic: Corporate Survival
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More than 70 percent of America’s workers are still living paycheck to paycheck according to a recent American Payroll association poll. And current tough economic times have everyone wondering what they can do to stretch their paycheck a bit further. We’ve compiled a list of what we feel are ten of the best ideas to help stretch your paycheck. With a little extra effort, you can yield some big savings. 1. Stop Buying Bottled Water Americans spend a staggering amount on bottled water - $15 billion last year. Name brands in small bottles can cost more than $10 per gallon while tap water costs about ½ of a cent per gallon. If you feel the tap water in your area needs further filtration to be palatable, many commercial filtration systems are available that filter water directly at the tap or in containers which translate to a cost of approximately 18 cents per gallon. 2. Skip the Gourmet Coffee OK, maybe you can’t go cold turkey on your morning latté, but you can at least reduce the number of times you stop for that special brew. At an average price of $3.00 per cup ($15 week, $60 a month), this is a savings you owe yourself. (more...)

Know thyself There is actually a wide variety of ways people motivate themselves. For example, my client, an event planner learned quickly that the best way to feel motivated was to set up incentives or prizes for herself. “If I have something special I can work toward, I get a lot more done,” she says. She entices herself with promises of rewards for reaching her goals. For instance, she once told herself that if she had a particular exhibit all filled by a certain date, she would send herself to an upcoming national conference. She hit the goal and took the trip! Diane, another client, has a thriving counseling service; is motivated by the satisfaction she gets from the work she does. All she needs to do is think about how much joy her work brings her and she finds it easy to do whatever is required to make sure she succeeds. Jeffrey, a sales trainer, knows that money is what motivates him. “The more money I can make, the better I produce,” he told us. A photographer, however, says that showing everyone what he can do is what keeps him going: “So many people told me that I shouldn’t do this – that I’d never make it. Now all I have to do is think about how much I want to prove they’re wrong, and I’ll do whatever it takes.” At times, people motivate themselves from an “I’ll prove I can do it” position. (more...)

Stress The World’s In A Mess, How Do YOU Handle The Stress? You need stress in your life! Does that surprise you? Perhaps so, but it is quite true. Without stress, life would be dull and unexciting. Stress adds flavor, challenge and opportunity to life. Stress is with us all the time. As you probably know, too much stress can seriously affect your physical and mental well being. A major challenge in this stress-filled world of today is to make the stress in your life work for you instead of against you. Recognizing the early signs of your stresses and then doing something about them can make an important difference in the quality of your life, and may actually influence your survival. Here are some suggestions for ways that work in having more control of your life and handling stress. Choose following techniques you think will work best for you and make them a part of your everyday life. (more...)

Marge Powers provides quality resume and career coaching in San Jose, CA

Portfolio Writing Using Portfolios in the Search For Work: In these days, the only job security you can count on is the transportability of your own skills. The new emphasis on skill portability suggests that you must do whatever it takes to Brand Yourself and keep your qualification package (your Professional Career Portfolio) branding yourself; up to date. Using a professional portfolio in the search for work helps put you in tune with the new emphasis on “portability.” Constructing a portfolio requires looking upon a career (or an entire life) as a collection of experiences, which can be grouped and re-ordered to match the changing direction of your career journey. As you search for a job, you will feel more organized using the portfolio, and you will have a better focus and perspective on the interview and your career possibilities. A portfolio’s is a very helpful and powerful way to help you throughout your career. The professional portfolio collection helps you to answer the broad range of questions you will face during your career life. For instance, when a person loses or changes jobs he or she begins by asking, “What do I want to do next?” (more...)

An Overview:

The job of downsizing is brutal to those responsible for the actual task of termination. Perhaps this is because under normal circumstances, all pre- downsizing efforts are focused on who will be leaving, rather than on those who will be needed to keep it altogether.

When a company implements layoffs, it is essential that planning and preparation take the concerns and well-being of the surviving employees into account because layoffs can create a lost sense of purpose, or acting through rebellious silence or loss of motivation on the job. Layoff survivors see their work environment as being destabilized by changes, and then retention becomes an issue.

A mismanaged layoff can result in a vicious circle. Companies downsize to cut costs, but then are quickly forced to make new hires as surviving employees leave for what they perceive to be more stable environments. This turnover feeds a loss of production and lower quality of work that likely began with the initial layoffs, which triggers another demand for new hires. Since the cost of a single new hire is generally equivalent to one year’s salary, any savings from layoff are negated.

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Overview Mentoring helps employees successfully maneuver through the organization to enhance their performance and career growth. It is often paired with a segment of in-depth analysis of a person’s “psychology of performance.” Mentoring supports employees in goal clarifications and accountability. This one-on-one coaching experience engages employees to consciously think about his or her personal development and career aspirations. The coach/mentor explores with employees the many organizational, interpersonal and personal obstacles to their development. Mentors guide, counsel and provide feedback towards the achievement of goals and is an objective resource to help one think through issues and problem solve the challenges. This mentoring/coaching process holds one accountable and ensures significant improvement and skill building in support of driving your business objectives. (more...)

Have you ever had a time in your life when you realized you were just going through the motions? Going to work each day to get paid, so that you could afford to do the other things in your life you truly enjoyed? Have you ever thought, ‘there’s got to be more than this!?” Perhaps you feel that way now. What you may long for at a time like this is to regain your sense of self. To restore yourself and get a new sense of your well-being. To do so, you will need to align what is important to you deep inside with the daily life you lead on the outside. After all, you probably spend more time at work than anywhere else—shouldn’t you feel like you are contributing to your sense of self while you are there? What is Self-Renewal? Self-renewal begins when you take time out to reflect on what is working and not working in your life, to determine what is really important to you so that you can reframe, refocus, and rejuvenate. Self-renewal requires that you, by choice, step back—away from whatever it is that you are doing and that you look at what you want in life and work to determine how the two can be more synchronized. (more...)

Tips for Organizing your Desk During the Job Search Your desk is the most important part of your office when you are looking for a job. It is your private work space, However many people make the mistake of using your desk as a storage space which can add to confusion. In order for you to be focused on the task at hand, the desk should be clear and free of distractions, such as piles of paper, books, notes, bills, etc. In order to manage these items without losing them, find the information you need to work on, and still have a clear and organized work space, you need to create Action Files. Action Files are your Action Items; temporary homes where papers live until they either end up filed away permanently or thrown away. Your Action Files may sit on the far corner of your desktop, in a file drawer, or in baskets on a credenza. Whichever method works for you is fine. Label them appropriately according to what actions fit best with your job search. (more...)