Career Advice

Starting a new job can be a nerve-wracking experience. Given the lack of knowledge and familiarity, the first instinct you may have is to simply survive. If you are the ambitious type, however, this approach can at best be unproductive and at worst make a bad impression on your boss. Your first day should not be a time of survival but rather one of opportunity, a chance to convince your boss you are someone worthy of paying attention to. Here are 5 ways to impress your boss on your first day: 1. Be an Early and Well-Dressed Bird The first thing people will notice is what you are wearing and what time you clocked in. Showing up early and dressing professional will set the foundation for how your boss views you going forward. It fosters an impression of loyalty, service, and preparation that can be built upon by your actions in the office. From there you can create a habit of greeting your boss as they enter the office. Eventually you want your boss to conflate the picture of you hard … [Read more...] about 5 Ways To Impress Your Boss On Your First Day

"Nothing is good or bad, but thinking makes it so." William Shakespeare  1. Stop Complaining We all get into bad habits sometimes but consistently complaining saps our energy (and other peoples) and can drain our energy and affect our attitude to work. There is of course a difference between letting off a little steam and being a consistent complainer. It is worth noticing how much we complain about things at work and nipping it in the bud if it is a bad habit we have fallen into. 2. Be Proactive Following on from the first point, being proactive and doing something about those things we want to change at work is a healthier approach than complaining. We can turn complaints around by doing something about them. It is easy to complain when something isn’t how we would like it, but  taking the initiative and trying to make a change though harder, is more rewarding in the long term. 3. Stop Gossip Gossiping usually makes everyone involved feel worst at some level. Stopping gossiping … [Read more...] about 5 Ways To Cultivate A More Positive Attitude About Your Job

The big day is approaching. A day of strategy, gameplay and a raw talent for outmaneuvering the other side. No, I’m not talking about Valentine’s Day. I’m talking about the Super Bowl – the culmination of months involving shouting at the TV screen and checking Fantasy Football stats. As the big day approaches and both teams prepare to showcase their top skills, I can’t help but think of some parallels that can be applied to your workplace performance. Capitalize on Your Talents To claim a Super Bowl victory, each player must put their full talent on the line while also relying on their teammates’ talents. In the workplace, certain employees are more proficient at some skills than others. Rather than trying to outshine coworkers on every task and project, learn what you’re truly good at and capitalize on those talents. In the process, you’ll learn to coordinate your skills with those of coworkers to create higher level results. Make the Most of Each Play Super Bowl players can’t … [Read more...] about 4 Super Bowl Performance Lessons That Translate to the Workplace

Like other mammals, humans have a knack for hibernating in the winter. When the winter season crosses paths with your job search, this temptation can be even more appealing. Not only is it below zero and snowing, but everywhere you look there is another advertisement for Christmas sales that remind you of all the presents you still have to scrounge up for friends and family. Besides the shopping, most companies are just counting the days to their holiday breaks and aren't exactly welcoming to new applicants, so if you’re in a job search in the winter time, things may look grim. Let's admit it: job searching in the winter can sometimes make you just want to go home and chug some egg nog until you pass out, but deep down you know you've got to keep that resilient searching spirit alive. If your job progress is frozen this winter, consider the following tips to heat things up. - Consider alternative money-making opportunities Before you get desperate enough to put on a Santa suit, grab … [Read more...] about Staying Busy and Motivated During Your Winter Job Search

It hits the best of us, we are working, or studying, and we just don't want to do it anymore. You take a small break on Facebook. That break can end up taking a couple of hours. It may happen in a different way. You might want nothing to do with work or your homework. You've got it bad, you are procrastinating. Procrastinating is almost never good, but if you must, here are a few ways to procrastinate effectively. 1. Gym time! If you want nothing to do with studying or work, go to the gym. Exercising will give you a lot more energy, will lower your stress, and if will boost your level of concentration when you do decide to get back to studying. 2. Look up jobs, or scholarships. If you are still in school, start looking for scholarships that you might be eligible. If you are bored with your job, start looking for jobs that will be good for you. 3. Buy tickets. If you are going home, or you want to go to a concert, start looking up tickets. You might end up finding a great deal! 4. … [Read more...] about 14 Ways to Procrastinate Effectively

While your project may have come to an end it is by no means time to put your feet up and take a break. If you want to develop as a project manager then this is the perfect time to look back over the now completed project and review it. The reviewing process is necessary so you can create a list of lessons learned; a list that is vital to stop you making or repeating any mistakes or problems you encountered over the project’s course. It doesn’t matter what project management methodology you use, be it PRINCE2, Agile or anything else, if you keep repeating previous mistakes future projects will suffer. The process of looking back and listing your mistakes highly increases your chances of avoiding them in the future, or at least flag them up early on. So how can we analyse our projects effectively? Get Your Team Involved Getting the perspectives of all of your team gives you a much better view of the overall project, with some picking up problems others didn’t. By holding a … [Read more...] about After the Work Project: Lessons Learned

People who are interviewing potential employees always have one single overwhelming concern: that the person across the table is out and out lying to them.  There's little worse than sinking thousands of dollars in taxes, fees, training costs, and materials into an employee only to have them turn out to be a dud.  Fortunately, there are lots of ways to find out if an employee is trustworthy or not -- some obvious, some devious. Get Your Facts If the candidate has passed a few rounds of interviewing and looks quite promising, you can (and should) take the time to contact their previous employers.  Get every bit of information you can about how they were as employees, why they left, and so forth.  Also, call their references and ask for details that might be less than perfect about them.  Then, simply ask them about their previous work experience. If they don't give you a perfectly honest answer, that's OK -- everyone has a tendency to remember the good and forget the bad -- but if … [Read more...] about 3 Tips to Determine If Your (Future) Employees are Trustworthy

In today's hypercompetitive business environment, it's common for workers to experience workplace stress. Stress will not only make you less efficient at your job, but it can also negatively affect your health. The following are 10 easy ways to manage workplace stress: Acknowledge the stressor. Sometimes simply acknowledging what it is that is causing you stress at the office can help put it in perspective and reduce the stress. Take a break. When stress gets too much to handle at the office, get up from your desk and take a break. If possible, leave the office completely. Even if it's just for 15 minutes, this break can calm you and give you new perspective. Try deep breaths. Stress results in a physiological response that includes muscle tension, an increase in one's heart rate and faster breathing. Deep breathing can counteract these responses, allowing you to relax and address the stressor at hand calmly and coolly. Let it all out. One of the best ways to manage stress at the … [Read more...] about 10 Ways to Manage Stress at the Office

Sweating under blindingly bright fluorescent lights in a stark white workspace isn’t exactly considered an ideal working condition. Rather, you must feel at ease in your workplace to produce your best results. The following are six tips for creating a more relaxing workspace to help you feel more at ease each workday. Listen to Music Music is relaxing and can instantly improve your spirits. Whether you’re annoyed from listening to coworkers in surrounding workspaces or simply work best with some tunage, bring headphones to the office and crank up Pandora or your favorite iTunes playlist. Adjust the Lighting Lighting is often a major hindrance to workplace productivity. Working under too bright of lighting can be stressful and irritating while lighting that’s too dim often puts employees too much at ease. If you aren’t happy with your workplace’s current light settings, discuss the possibility of adjustments with your manager. Also, consider bringing in a soft lighting lamp to make … [Read more...] about 6 Tips for Creating a More Relaxing Workspace