All about education

“Personality can open doors, but only character can keep them open.” ~Elmer G. Letterman

“The best job goes to the person who can get the job done without coming up with excuses or passing the buck” ~Napolean Hill

What About Politics?

Political Astuteness is something that you may not learn in school; however, it plays a significant role in success in business.

“Man is by nature a political animal.” ~Aristotle

Take Control
It’s important to keep in mind that you are responsible for your own career. Don’t Expect the Human Resources Department to plan your career. In fact, don’t expect anyone else to be concerned about it either.

There have been times in my career when someone has taken an interest in my promotion; however, it has always been in their own best interests to do so. Remember, companies are in business primarily to make money.

Dress for success
There is a clear distinction between how a President, a Senior Vice-President, a Vice-President, and District Manager dress. You should dress just a cut above your current level.

Above Everything, Have Integrity

“If you have integrity, nothing else matters. If you don’t have integrity, nothing else matters.” ~Alan Simpson

You will find that the concentration of integrity increases the higher you go in an organization.

Remember Who You Work For

Always Support the Company
It’s true that where your treasure is, your heart will be also. There will be ample opportunities on a daily basis to bash your employer. Resist those opportunities. Keep in mind that (1) you chose this company, (2) they pay you, and (3) you can leave if you want. The leaders of the company will not be impressed by your ability to complain.

Make Your Boss and Your Boss’s Boss Look Good
As a practical matter, you are most likely working to take your boss’s job. Hopefully, your boss will be promoted, which will leave a vacancy. If your boss is not going anywhere, then the next level will have a major impact on your next position.

Who are the Leaders of the Company?
Find out the background of the company executives. What career path did they take? Chances are, they will value those credentials above others. Take note of great people in the company and get connected to them. If possible, find a way to work for them. If not, establish a network with as many of them as possible. The best possibility is to ask one of them be your mentor. You will be surprised how many people will be interested in helping in this regard.

Learn the Rules

“Whoever gossips to you will gossip about you.” ~Spanish Proverb

Watch What You Write or Say. Assume that anything you write or say will be read or heard by everyone in the company. E-mail makes it easy to respond emotionally. Before you respond to an irritating e-mail, take a minute to calm down, then, write the e-mail. If you have a tendency to send harsh messages, save a draft and review it sometime later to ensure the tone is business appropriate.

A corollary to this principle is Happy Hour – don’t go! There is a huge risk of saying something you shouldn’t say, getting out of control, or just being in the wrong place at the wrong time. You should stay out of office politics. Don’t say anything bad about anyone, ever.

Arrive Early and Leave Late, but Not Too Late. You want the reputation of a hard worker, but not one that can’t get their work done. This principle also applies to taking work home. Over the long-term, you want to have a life outside of work. Maintaining a work/life balance will keep you engaged in your job; therefore, more productive.

Find Out What Your Boss Wants and Deliver. Regardless of your personality, relationships, or good looks, you must be productive. For your boss, it means doing what they want, no matter how silly it may seem to you. For example, I had a boss that wanted to know how many Dairy Queens between Dallas and Houston served a particular yogurt.

Always say, “Yes!” to a request from leadership. For your boss, there are ways to provide better solutions without damaging the relationship.

“Always do more than is required of you.” ~General Patton

Give People Credit. Don’t take credit for yourself. This is important for a variety of reasons. First, you need people to help you get things done. Second, when people recognize people who work for you, you get the credit as well. Third, it’s the right thing to do.

Conclusion

When It Comes to Your Career

1. You’re Responsible

2. Remember Who You Work For

3. Learn the Rules

As Bill Karnes put it, “Eagles don’t flock; they fly alone. And eagles soar above the rest of their world. So, too, do people who start things, who lead groups or who otherwise set themselves apart from the crowd.”

A job interview is stressful. The person who hasn’t made a lot of changes isn’t practiced at what is involved (nor should they want to be), and the person who has made a lot of changes doesn’t have any idea as to what’s involved either, or they wouldn’t be making so many changes!

Preparing for the interview de-stresses the situation considerably. Yet, 78% of all candidates – regardless of the level for which they are interviewing – wing it! And frequently cause themselves to be weeded out in the process.

Like so much of the interview, seemingly innocent questions can trip you up. You think you are answering them in a way that puts you in the best light, but you’d be surprised at how many people completely miss the boat. Merely to hope an interview has a positive result is not enough. That’s basically forfeiting your ability to drive up the percentage of a positive outcome.

For instance, in response to the question, “Why do you want to work here?” some people will say things such as:

“I’ve worked in this industry for 15 years and been very successful. I feel I can make a difference in your organization. I have a proven track record of leadership. I’ve read in the paper that your company is having some problems, and with my experience as a Director of XXXXX, I can help straighten those out.”

That answer may sound good and appear to suffice, but on a scale of 1 – 10, it ranks about a 4!

Why? The answer shows no research, no thought, no consideration. It sounds stock and could suffice for any number of companies. Overall, unimpressive.

In my experience as a recruiter, I’ve found that while mid level management tends to UNDERanswer the question, upper level management will often OVERanswer the question. One group doesn’t provide enough information because of a limited lack of experience. The other group has been around, worked their way up the ladder in more than one company, and in their attempt to sound thoughtful, intelligent, and wise, end up saying very little at all.

Let’s look closer.

WHY DO YOU WANT TO WORK HERE?
Here’s where you get to show off your research. Tell the interviewer what you’ve learned about the company, and why it’s appealing to you. SPECIFICS are the key here.

Relate those specific examples from your experience to what you’ve learned about the company, their focus, and their market. Look to your personality and what motivates you and how that relates to any details you learned from the ad, your recruiter, your friend who referred you, or from where you learned of this opportunity.

For instance, perhaps their ad stated that they were looking to establish a marketing department from ground up. If you thrive on growth, challenges, making things happen – there’s your answer – along with examples of how you have grown, established, or done market research in a parallel situation.

And you might ask, “What if it’s not a high profile company? What if it’s on the small side and local?” Right. Not every company is the size of General Electric or even a regional public powerhouse that you can look up in Dun & Bradstreet.

But most librarians are more than willing to help you find any information that might be present in any of their research books. Local newspapers may have done stories on the company, and the library would have those too. And these days, most companies have a website.

Share what you can do and why you feel you can make a contribution and benefit the company. This question is about how YOU can benefit the company, not how the company can benefit YOU.

TELL ME ABOUT YOURSELF
Some interviews are lost right at this point. This is not an invitation to go on ad nauseum about everything that has happened to you since you were five years old or since your first job out of college. Nor is it the time to shrug your shoulders and give an unplanned, one-sentence answer.

Some people, especially those who haven’t prepared and have a tendency to talk when they get nervous, find themselves rambling. Put together a nice little 2 – 3 minute verbal bio about your career, your qualifications, and why you are interested. Know what you’re going to say in advance.

A FEW POINTS TO REMEMBER
In recruiting we used to say, “‘A’ candidates for ‘A’ companies, ‘B’ candidates for ‘B’ companies and ‘C’ candidates for ‘C’ companies,” and a ‘B’ candidate is not only some one who’s talents and track record is only so-so, it’s also an ‘A’ candidate whose poor interviewing skills MAKE him a ‘B.’

Knowing who you are, what you want, what you have to offer and what you’ve accomplished – and having it all on the tip of your tongue – can make or break you for a job offer – not just for your perfect job, but sometimes for even finding ANY job.

Being able to sell yourself, your skills, how you can benefit a potential company and then being able to close the deal necessitates taking the time to research and learn the company. It means knowing yourself well enough that you can apply aspects of your capabilities to the individual facts and details of that INDIVIDUAL company – and that you can do it smoothly without groping for words or just winging it.

And last, but not least, the words of Peter Handal of Dale Carnegie Training, echo the importance of interview preparation, including what strikes most people as silly – role playing. But as he said, “you only have one chance to make a really good impression,” and if you don’t take it seriously enough to study and thoroughly prepare, someone else will, and that’s the person who will get the job!

Do your homework before EVERY interview! There’s no chance to make a second good impression!

Accredited checking technician jobs are similar to pharmacy technician jobs. While the latter receives the prescription, takes out the drugs from shelves and packs them, the former checks the dispensed prescription for its accuracy. Checking, labeling and packing have all become formal procedures and the accredited checking technician will be trained in all these in a pharmacy context.

Training to Become an Accredited Checking Technician

The technician training is done under vocational training schemes, and accredited checking technicians are NVQ 3 or BTEC certified (in UK). The checking technician is trained to check that:

• The medicine or product matches the prescription and is in date
• It is assembled using correct equipment and processes
• It is packed and labeled appropriately
• Appropriate records are made
• Health, hygiene and safety procedures are followed at all times

To equip the technician with the required competencies, the vocational training program will typically:

• Start with an explanation of the legal and professional issues involved in checking, packing and labeling pharmacy medicines
• Train the technician to work with other staff of the pharmacy
• Make the technician go through typical checking exercises
• Involve a final project to check 1000 items at a hospital without errors
• Proceed to a test and assessment by a panel of pharmacists and technicians
• Involve a probation period during which his or her performance is observed

By the end of such a course, the trainee would have gained the practical skill needed to check dispensed medications against the prescription. The person would typically check only items dispensed by another person, not by himself or herself. The prescription would also have undergone review and approval by a pharmacist regarding its correctness and accuracy.

Self-checking by non-pharmacists (like an accredited checking technician) is also considered acceptable once the technician has gained sufficient experience attested by their dispensary manager. To continue their checking career, the technicians need to be reassessed every two years.

Role of the Accredited Checking Technicians

The role to be assigned to accredited checking technicians have been the subject of some debate. Pharmacies have considered entrusting them with more responsibilities to cope with the serious shortage of pharmacists.

Some groups have opposed this move on the ground that technicians cannot be entrusted with responsibilities requiring professional knowledge. They see the move as an attempt to cut costs, replacing high cost pharmacists with lower cost technicians.

As we saw above, accredited checking technicians have to undergo a rigorous program of training and assessment before they are allowed to check.

Accredited checking technicians perform a labor-intensive function that also requires specialized vocational skill. In doing this, they relieve the pharmacist to focus on the more important tasks of checking all prescriptions, and other tasks requiring a higher level of professional knowledge.

Without the support of pharmacy technicians and accredited checking technicians, the pharmacist will be overburdened in any busy dispensary, and not be able to provide a sufficiently satisfactory level of service.

The above, in essence, is the significance of accredited checking technician jobs.

If you are job hunting and want to land a great opportunity it is extremely important to ace the job interview.  While a job resume is important to get you into the door, in order to get the job of your dreams, you must first ace the job interview.  Here are some tips on doing well with the interview process.

A job interview is for the employer to meet with you to make sure you have the skills necessary to perform the job competently and also make sure that your personality will be a great fit with the company.  If you want to impress your interviewers there are a few things to remember.  The top three things to remember is to be prepared to ask and answer questions, dress appropriately, and show off your personality in the best light as possible.

Many people don’t come prepared for the job interview.  They don’t know what they will be asked and they don’t have any questions to show the interviewer that they know about the company or that they are interested in the job that they will be asked to perform..

It is also important to dress properly. Many times people are dressed so inappropriately that the interviewer makes a negative first impression.  If you have any doubts on your dress, change your outfit.  It is also important to be personable.  You don’t have to be the life of the party, but show the interviewer that you are a positive person that is responsible.  Nobody wants to interview a negative or combative person.  So in order to ace your job interview, follow the above tips.

Administrative professionals are among the most highly skilled and competent people in today’s workforce. Many are experts in desktop publishing, spreadsheet reporting, budgeting, and Internet research.

Beyond these proficiencies, they possess enhanced verbal and written communication and multi-tasking capabilities, the ability to work in a team environment, and problem-solving skills. Because of their versatility, administrative professionals play an essential role in many organizations.

Although the demand for office staffing is strong now, the future is less certain. The Bureau of Labor Statistics anticipates overall job growth for administrative professionals will decline over the next eight years. Still, opportunities will exist for those who keep pace with new technology.

Ed Meisenheimer, vice president and general manager of Kelly Services, experts in office staffing, suggests, “To increase marketability, become an authority in Web content, multimedia presentations, online meetings, and video conferencing. Specializing in the accounting, insurance, legal, or medical field is another way to widen employment opportunities.”

Having employed millions of administrative professionals during its 60-year history, his company offers these additional career tips to keep a competitive edge:

• Enhance computer skills and be proficient in all the software applications your organization uses. Volunteer to teach others.

• Further develop time management, organizational, and prioritization skills to manage multiple projects and priorities.

• Sharpen written and verbal communication skills.

• Expand leadership, negotiation and strategic thinking skills. Join associations that provide educational seminars and offer networking opportunities.

• Volunteer to participate on teams to increase exposure among executives.

• Create a portfolio of your skills to give yourself a competitive edge when marketing your accomplishments.

• Subscribe to various periodicals to stay informed about your industry.

• Dress appropriately for your office environment. Whether the dress code is business or business casual, dress to convey a professional image.

• Keep a positive attitude. With constant change in organizations today, this is an important quality that will be recognized by your boss and your peers.

Administrative professionals are among the most adaptable and resourceful employees, and the best employers nurture them by offering training and providing a career path. In today’s fast changing business climate, administrative professionals who hone existing skills, gain new talents, and are proactive in career planning, Meisenheimer concludes, will enhance their advancement potential.

Being an administrator, you may have to interact with the CEO one minute and the next minute a floor cleaner. What is expected from an Admin, varies from organization to organization.

But overall, an admins role is to be very flexible and friendly, approachable with good inter personnel skills. Also, as an admin you are expected to learn quickly. Having said that, make sure your resume conveys this message if you posses these skills.

Apart from the basic resume contents like contact information, employment history, qualification etc, following additional tailored information could be helpful to you.

- Mention How flexible you are. This is a plus for any role. But, for an admin, it is a required soft-skill.
- How good you are as a people friendly person?
- How do you handle others’ egos? If you can speak CEO language as well as layman’s office language, do mention it.
- As an admin, you might have to learn new processes and undergo new training programmes. Mention your quick learning skills.
- Mention how you have reduced costs and saved money in your department or the organization in general by any means.
- Narrate in brief why you should be called for the interview. For example Oracle certified database administrator with 5 years of experience, experienced hospital administrator with relevant skills etc.
- Mention any technical or computer qualifications and personality development, diploma in office administration or hospital administration etc done as a course with its content in brief, the duration, institute and also its results.
- Mention how you improved the efficiency and productivity within your department or the organization in general.
- Highlight any other achievements that have benefited your department and obviously your organization in general.

A GED or General Education Diploma is sometimes also called a General Education Development program.  The basis for the GED is a series of tests to determine if a minimum level of proficiency has been reached.  These are not difficult tests but do require a wide breadth of understanding on a variety of subjects.
Today, distance learning may be the option most preferred.  It is an affordable way to work toward a GED, and determine the level of skills necessary to pass the GED exams.  Unfortunately, there are companies that offer shortcuts to almost every kind of education.  Promises of college degrees, doctorates, and even high school diplomas are all available for the right price.  These companies are in the business of selling shortcuts that are really bogus credentials.  Fake diplomas and worthless transcripts are a growth industry with the explosion of information found on the Internet.

In most cases, the GED — the term for General Education Development credential — is the only official ‘diploma’ that has value and is meaningful for adults who never completed their high school education. There are exceptions. Many people have been duped or misled with the promises of phony certifications.  These diploma mills are nothing more than a printer, some software and a marketing plan.

The reality is however, that many businesses do not check into the background of a person to that extent.  This is especially true of jobs in the lower 50% of the general pay scale.  Recently there have been a rash of high level business president, vice-president types who have been found to have used phony credentials to obtain their positions.  If large corporations paying huge salaries to these types of people don’t check them out, how deeply do you think they will check your his troy?

Still, the future is anything but set.  Although it’s possible to get away without having solid educational proof, the future may be much different.  In a few years, it may be possible for companies to check historical records online and then the phone degrees will all become evident.

The very best solution is to obtain a solid education no matter how much effort it may take.

In today’s highly volatile and ever-evolving job market, job security is fast becoming a thing of the past. Hundreds of thousands of people are laid off each year, and this figure is on the rise, so you are not alone! But depending on how long you were at your last job, you may find that you are somewhat rusty when it comes to how to look for a job in today’s environment.

The first thing is to realize that being laid off is really not the end of the world. In fact, it might even turn out to be a blessing in disguise – a mandatory career change! Utilize it as a chance to reflect on why you were laid off and what the next stage is. Getting laid off can happen to anyone, of course, but if you want to turn the situation into a productive, positive one, you will need to face the facts and understand why this happened to you. Go through a self-analysis of why this happened to you: Could it have been avoided or not? Could you have gotten out on time or not? All this is required to ensure that your next move and job market strategy has a realistic and factual foundational. The last thing you want to do is keep at an industry which is becoming extinct!

As you put together your job market strategy and decide what job options to pursue, and whether to diversify or stay within the same industry, you may discover that you are a bit rusty in your job market awareness. There are key things you need to be aware of if you are going to successfully achieve your job goal. For instance, never put on your job applications that you were laid off, as this will raise unanswered questions as to why you were laid off. You will have time to explain the reasons once you get your foot in the door for a face-to-face interview. A great tip is to write “End of contract” on your applications. This is playing it safe.

Whatever you do in seeking work, make sure you take charge of your life and show your best side to prospective employers. With the right plan and a great resume, your success is certain. However, to achieve it you must have the appropriate job market skills. So start by analyzing your job market activity competency level with our FREE Job Market Performance Assessment.

I like Simon, one of three judges on American Idol. I find his feedback refreshingly honest. And while his words startle me with their ego wounding potential, the traditional feel-good, let-you-down-easy, sugar-coated feedback is not much of a gift. It’s hard to tell someone they’re not good enough and their dreams are not going to happen, at least in this venue. But not telling them is no gift either. Some contestants rise to the challenges he throws at them. Some don’t. And, some can’t. Which one are you?

The people who influenced me most in my career were those who gave me the hardest critiques. Stricken with a bruised-ego for days, or on occasion for months, inevitably their feedback helped me make the right life choices to improve, change direction, or stay the course with intensity. In fact, the boss who was the hardest on me is the one I thank the most. Good was not good enough if I was capable of better, and she was quick to point out when that was. No sugar coating from her. And the funny thing? When I was honest with myself, I knew she was right.

Being honest with yourself is one of the challenges to winning at working. We all have talents and abilities, but they’re not always in the areas we pursue at work. Too many people I’ve run across in my career have American Idol Syndrome (AIS). Like Idol contestants auditioning with little or no singing ability, these people believe they are good at what they do. They can’t understand why they don’t get the promotion, the outstanding review, or the highest increases. They view themselves as varsity team material, but they play with junior varsity skills.

When I was a freshman at Stanford, I got a D in biology. Stanford graded on a bell-curve, so an 84% that might traditionally put me in a B category, was near the class bottom. Accustomed to A’s, first quarter grades woke me up. At first, I rationalized a D at Stanford was an A or a B at most any other school. But, reality prevailed. I wasn’t at another school. If I was going to compete at the school I was at, it was time to use more than high school skills to bring results.

Are you applying yourself? Are you as good as you could be to get the raise, the promotion, or the more interesting work? If these are things you want, don’t suffer from AIS. Give yourself some Simon-esk feedback. Ego aside. A Simon-esk answer to the questions, “how good are you?” and “are you in the right field?” offers you a chance at becoming happier and more successful at working. The answers give you choices: you can stay the course; find a playing field at your skill level; improve your skills to compete where you are; or change directions.

(c) 2004 Nan S. Russell.  All rights reserved

For people who find themselves at sea when it comes to choosing a career path, or for those who simply yearn to live on the open water, the U.S. Merchant Marine may be the perfect port. Here are answers to some common questions about the nation’s “fourth arm of defense”:

Q. What is the merchant marine?

A. The merchant marine is composed of men and women who crew U.S.-flag commercial vessels on the deep seas, inland waterways and Great Lakes. It’s an industry with a wide range of opportunities, partly because there are so many different types of vessels-containerships, tankers, bulkers, passenger vessels, tugs and much more.

Q. Is the merchant marine part of the U.S. military?

A. America’s mariners are civilians working for private companies, and are not members of the armed forces. However, merchant mariners crew all types of vessels, some of which are under contract to transport troops and military goods. Mariners continue to support U.S. troops in Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom.

Q. Where do merchant marines receive their training?

A. There are a number of maritime schools across the country. For example, the Paul Hall Center for Maritime Training and Education, based in Piney Point, Md., offers entry-level training, a program for military veterans, ongoing vocational classes, academic support and more. Since the school opened in 1967, approximately 145,000 students have trained there. The school offers academic support plus GED and college degree programs. Also, many of the maritime classes can be used for college credits.

Q. What is the training like?

A. The Paul Hall Center features top-notch educational equipment in a picturesque setting. The apprentice program blends hands-on training with classroom instruction. It consists of three phases, including 90 days aboard a U.S.-flag ship.

Q. Do graduates tend to stay in seaworthy careers?

A. Approximately 75 percent of students who complete the entire program are still sailing four years later.