Under promise over deliver is the mantra of many a wise worker. Your boss storms into your small cubicle holding a large stack of paperwork. You know he's not making a trip to the recycling center, so you wait for the inevitable question. "Smith, I need these documents thoroughly researched. When do you think you can finish the job?" You have hit the moment of truth in the workplace, although the truth is not really what you're after. Your goal is to master an unspoken edict in the workplace, something so mysterious than Tony Robbins has never addressed the issue. Heck, Tony Robbins probably discourages how to under promise and over deliver. Well, at least we save money by not buying his motivational tapes. … [Read more...] about How to Under Promise and Over Deliver
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Personal Management Skills
You spent another day motivating the troops to perform the same mundane tasks that they performed yesterday, and the yesterday before yesterday. In fact, you've perfected the art of managing your team to perform the same mundane tasks every day of the working year. Yet, something is missing from your management skills repertoire. You always seem to finish a project within minutes the deadline. Many of your co-workers think your communication skills go about as far as your email address. You organize your day about as well as Donald Trump organizes his hair. The bottom line at the end of the cliché-ridden day is that you successfully manage other people, but your personal management skills need marked improvement. … [Read more...] about Personal Management Skills
What Salary Should I Ask For?
The third and final interview excruciatingly winds down to the final question. You've survived mind numbing questions such as "Where do you plan to be in five years" and "Tell me about a boss that you enjoyed working for." First, in five years, I want to be the one asking the dumb questions. Second, you would call me a liar, if I made up a boss that I enjoyed working for. So, let's cut to the chase and ask the last question of the interview. What salary should I ask for? You can flawlessly answer every interview question and still screw up because of the all-important what salary should I ask for question. Like Goldilocks and the porridge, ask for too much money and find the exit door. Ask for too less than what the job pays and the hiring manager might view you as someone that's less than confident. You need to be proactive and follow four simple steps to ensure you get the final question right. … [Read more...] about What Salary Should I Ask For?
How Much Sleep Do Adults Need?
"I'll sleep when I'm dead." How many times have we heard this declaration of invincibility from a co-worker, friend, family member, or even the sleep-deprived demons that live restlessly in our heads? We live in a culture that celebrates the walking dead, the adults wandering around aimlessly throughout the day barely functioning on a few hours sleep. Regardless for the reasons that motivate people to eschew sleep, the fact remains that sleep represents just as much of a contributor to living a healthy life as diet and exercise. For our health, we need to ponder the answer to the question, "How much sleep do adults need." How Much Sleep is Enough for Adults? According to the highly respected National Institute of Health (NIH), the answer to "How much sleep do adults need" does not vary much among the adult population. You've heard co-workers justify two to three hours of sleep per night by exclaiming, "My body knows how much sleep it needs." Hectic work schedules and immense family … [Read more...] about How Much Sleep Do Adults Need?
Welcome to the Workforce, Generation Z
What is Generation Z, you may ask? Good question. Just know that the answer is still way up in the air. It is an enigma, wrapped in a puzzle, launched on an app, seen on an Apple Watch and eventually will be livestreamed directly into an Oculus Rift. Is that enough buzzwords for you? Well, the modern office is going to be looking at you, Generation Z members, to make sense of all these concepts and integrate them smoothly into our economy. Basically, if you were born from the late 90s , you could be looking at membership in Generation Z. Late Millenialish, but the constant immersion into online life and the explosion of tech since your birth means that you have very little experience with the analog world that used to exist. What can you expect from the workplace? Oh, nothin’ much, just all your bosses and their bosses looking to you for salvation. Someone needs to come up with the innovations that will make the Internet of Things work, create new streams of revenue that rival what … [Read more...] about Welcome to the Workforce, Generation Z
Rethinking the Role of Vocational Schooling
Vocational education, a mainstay of the American school system since the early 1900s, has experienced a slow but steady decline in the last few decades. What was once a pipeline into stable, middle class employment has become, in many schools, a shell of its former self; programs have either been slashed in the wake of “accountability” and college readiness mandates, or have become options of last resort for students who don’t do well in college-track programs. The Smith-Hughes Act provided federal funding for vocational education for the first time in 1917. At the time, the nature of schooling and work in the United States was changing dramatically. With rapid industrialization underway, it was no longer safe or feasible for kids to learn a trade at their parents’ sides, and apprenticeships, which had once taken place in small, specialized shops, were no longer practical as a way of training new workers at a rate adequate to meet production demands. … [Read more...] about Rethinking the Role of Vocational Schooling
Planning the Perfect Career Shift
It’s normal for most people to go through a career shift as much as seven times and sometimes even more. If you’re not happy with your current career, it’s time for a change. The problem is you might want a change, but you’re not sure how to switch careers. The key is to be patient and take your time. With a little work, you’ll be in a new career you love. Decide What You’re Passionate About We all dream of a job we love getting up for every day and don’t mind working long hours when necessary. You don’t have to just dream about it. Start your career change by figuring out what you’re passionate about. If you enter a career you hate just because it pays well, you’ll be miserable. Think about things that make you happy. It could be a hobby, a major you never got the chance to use in real life or anything else. … [Read more...] about Planning the Perfect Career Shift
Learn Everything About Text Etiquette At Work in 2015
Put that phone down and read these rules of text etiquette at work! With the lines between personal life and work blurring all the time, chances are you are using your smartphone at your desk. In fact, chances are you are texting your buddies about meeting up for drinks at happy hour. But you need to know how to handle texting relationships with your boss, colleagues and others in your professional orbit. This is not your group text with your buddies from college. Also, and I cannot stress this enough, keep your romantic texting as far away from this environment as possible. In fact, keep all your romantic aspirations out of the workplace. Now, onto the new normal of texting. … [Read more...] about Learn Everything About Text Etiquette At Work in 2015
What To Do When You Have Nothing To Do At Work
Nothing to do at work? That means you are underutilized, ignored and ready for action. Take this opportunity to build a new skill, start a side business or work your way into more significant projects at your new job. We have all been there. Slowly wasting away the days under fluorescent lights, waiting for the lunch break to materialize like an oasis. Toiling under a management class that enjoys the fruits of a steady business, but has no time to assist in the growth of its youngest and brightest. Sound familiar? The best thing you can do is take advantage of the time you are allotted and the lack of intense oversight. Build yourself into a candidate that can get a better job, instead of lamenting the problems that stand in your way at the current gig. At the very least, take the perfect deep breath. … [Read more...] about What To Do When You Have Nothing To Do At Work
Virtual Online Education Learning Classes: New Age of Internet Communication
Before the Internet became as necessary to daily life as electricity or plumbing, learning had to be found beyond the walls of your home. As the public’s access to the Internet evolved, though, so did the learning process – you no longer need a complete set of the Encyclopedia Britannica to find out how many islands are in the Indonesian archipelago or what South American parrots eat. With this increase in informal learning comes a need for formal learning to keep up with the breakneck pace. By now, you are familiar with the mainstream avenues for formal online learning – the various colleges run entirely online and the auxiliary programs done off the side of an established university’s desk. Virtual learning is also starting to reach the younger demographic, with private primary schools now run online and experimental teaching philosophies being tested at high schools. The classroom is changing with the times, thanks to new technologies and an explosion in Internet access. … [Read more...] about Virtual Online Education Learning Classes: New Age of Internet Communication