Career Management Newsletter
Issue #5
Brought to you by Iris Wood from Pro-Active Human
Resource
Management
http://www.proactivehrm.com/index.html
Inspirational Quote
Formula for
success: Rise early, work hard, strike oil.
J. Paul Getty
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Welcome back to Career Management Newsletter
Topics covered in issue #5
In my last newsletter I said I would provide
information about the impact
of Globalisation on the job market. There wasn’t a
great deal of interest
shown, but the people who did write to me had heard
of companies
moving abroad. and were concerned for their own
future. This is why
ongoing career development is so necessary as well as
keeping up
with trends in the labour market.
Here is an article that is well worth looking at. It
is basically showing you
how to ' Fire Proof Your Career".
Globalization spawns wealth, but not
equality as deep poverty persists
By Edward Roby
Once again I would love to hear from you about the
relevance of this
newsletter or topics you are interested in.
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Career Advancement
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Succeed The Natural Way
Getting ahead needn’t be a complicated, contrived
process of
scheming and manipulating your way to the top. It can
be as
simple and natural as “doing the right thing”. Here
are some tips to
succeed in business the natural way:
Develop a reputation for kindness.
Genuinely caring about the
needs of others - customers, managers, co-workers and
suppliers
alike - is a powerful key to success.
Keep your ego in check.
Be willing to put aside your agenda to
benefit mutual goals.
Remain positive.
Resist the impulse to get entwined in the office
grapevine. Instead of complaining, try to look at
negative situations
another way and make a point to say positive things
about people,
instead of joining in on office feuds.
Work hard. Your
first priority should be to do the best you can to
meet the goals and those of the organisation you work
for.
Office politics, co-workers mood swings and petty
arguments will
usually take care of themselves, if you overlook
them.
Keep your word.
Don’t make commitments you can’t keep.
Consider verbal promises as contracts and write them
down to
ensure they’re fulfilled.
While sometimes it may seem that bending the truth,
playing office
politics and undercutting others will help you get
ahead, you’re
much better off conducting yourself with honesty and
integrity.
Not only will you build a firm foundation for
success, you’ll also find
it easier to live with yourself during the day and to
sleep well at night.
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Professional Development
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I had an e-mail from Karon of Wollongong who finally
plucked up the
courage to ask her employer for some outside training
to be attended
in working hours.
She said.... “Encouraged by your newsletter I thought
I would check
if my company was willing to pay for training in
company time. I enjoy
my job and I know they value my expertise, but they
had never thought
of staff development and although surprised by my
request, and my
“sales pitch’ as to how it can benefit them, they
said yes. That was the
beginning of a nightmare. I knew I wanted to do
Project Management,
but had no idea how to look for an accredited (if
possible) course,
I tried the University to do a single unit and that
was not possible.
TAFE didn’t offer any courses inside or outside
business hours, so
I turned to the Internet.
It soon became apparent that you needed to belong to
an Industry
Association or Professional Organisation to find
relevant training in
business hours.
I did find some were prepared to take me if they
could not fill their
places with members; however, they wanted over $6,000
just for a two
day course! There was a possibility of a Project
Management course
starting the following month, but I would have to
wait and see if
members filled all the places. In any case, I
wouldn’t expect my company
to pay for what I thought was an outrageous cost.
I turned to a friend, who was home on maternity
leave, because I couldn’t
take up any more time looking around. My friend
thought about it for a day
and got back to me.
I have goggled and yahooed, she said, and I could
only come up with
Distance Learning. This sounded ok as it meant I
could take time off
work to complete my assignments, which was an
alternative option.
She said she wanted to know what I thought about it
before she went any
further.
Sounded ok, but how do you know if the company is
credible I asked?
I don’t know, I will have to find out, was the
answer.
I didn’t hear from her for about 2 weeks and I was
really busy during this
period. Ironically I was in the middle of managing a
project that was
outside my division and area of expertise, and I felt
very much out of
my depth, but still coping.
The Project Manager who had implemented and started
the project was
very qualified and experienced. I was told, with a
grin, that he had caught
the mumps. My boss thought I could step in and handle
it because of my
interest in project management, and it was a good
career opportunity for
me.
I was beginning to think the whole idea was a
disaster. I couldn’t even find
a course on project management and here I was being
thrown into the
deep end.
The end result was that my friend got back to me and
said that only one
Distance Learning Programmes had the course I wanted
but they were
only offered one once a year and it the next one was
booked out.
She later rang back and said she had found one
appropriate course and
asked me if I wanted a holiday. She just said wait
for the brochure it is in
the mail.
Now that distance learning held no further options,
so my friend tenaciously
pursued the task she was given and eventually found a
course..
When I received the brochure it was on a course being
held on the Gold
Coast in Queensland, Australia, and lasted 5 days. I
thought the price
was reasonable, compared to what I had seen locally,
and it was
off season so the accommodation and meals package was
quite
reasonable, but still $5,000 I sighed ,and put it
back in my in box.
My manager, who rarely ventures into my work area,
passed by and
saw it. Oh you have found a course have you? he
asked. Yeah right
said I -I could do with the holiday. I nearly fell on
the floor when he said,
let me take it away and I will make some enquiries.
He came back in the afternoon and had spoken to
people within the
industry and he was told the training was excellent
and coincidently
was highly credible within our own industry.
You can’t miss this, he said. Book yourself in.
My mind was racing – kids- husband - meals, and who
would drive
the kids to school etc. I rang my husband and he said
great, "don’t worry
darling, we will work it out".
The biggest hurdle in this professional development
idea is finding an
appropriate course at the right price.
My friend said she came up with some interesting
courses from distance
learning packages and they are worth having a look
at. Perhaps that can
be a subject or the future.”….?
Thanks for sharing your story Karol. I think we get
the picture. I will check it out and see if I can come up with a site
showing all training
courses.
The moral of this story is,
if you want to something, “always ask”.
copyright Iris Wood 2007
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Surviving in the Workplace
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Settling Successfully Into Your
New Job
The euphoria of getting a new job can
sometimes be overcome by
apprehension about what comes next. After
all, you're "the new kid on
the block," and there's much to
learn--about your new job duties and
much more. But here are some things you can
do to make the process
go smoother.
1. Dress for success.
You'll want to look professional. Dress on the
conservative side for the first week. Once
you've got a good idea of
what's appropriate and what isn't, you can
adjust your style.
2. Be on time.
You never want to start your new job by being late, so
make sure you allow plenty of time for your
commute. Plan the most
direct route, but be aware of alternates in
case of an accident or other
traffic snarls.
3. Get to know people.
Be polite and friendly to everyone you meet,
whether it's the receptionist or the
general manager. Introduce yourself,
smile, and make eye contact. Make a
positive first impression. Ask a
bout your coworkers' interests.
4. Ask questions.
From "Where's the bathroom?" to "Which tool do I
use for this task?" It's OK to ask for
help! Your coworkers will feel good
about doing whatever they can to assist
you. Let them. It's always better
to have to ask the right way to do
something than to try to figure it out
n your own, mess up, and have to do it all
over again.
5. Remember your place.
You may feel "qualified" to tell your new
coworkers that there's a better way to do
something, but be patient.
Every workplace has its own way of doing
things. Never say, "That's
not how we did it at my old company!"
(You're coworkers may invite
you to return to your old company!) Be
patient and become an accepted
member of the team before you make
suggestions for improvements.
6. Be careful about office politics.
Pay attention to the grapevine, but
don't contribute to it. Do not accept at
face value what one employee
says about another; form your own opinions
based on your own
interactions and judgment. Never complain
about anyone at your old
job or your new one. Figure out who has the
real authority to give you
work to do, and who is trying to take
advantage of your newness.
Above all, keep a positive attitude, do
your work to the best of your ability,
and keep an open mind. Before you know it,
you'll be climbing the career
ladder and giving advice to newcomers!
Bonnie Lowe is author of the popular
Job Interview Success System
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A Little
Bit of Trivia
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Did you
know?
In the
first 48 hours of life, the larva of the Polyphemus Moth of
North
America eats its way through the equivalent of 86 000 times
its own
birth weight. This is the equivalent of a 7 lb (3.17kg) baby
taking in
269 tons of food!
*To achieve
the endurance record for yo-yoing, Jason Stremble
and Scott
Fletcher yo-yoed continually for 130 hours and
13 minutes
at Scarborough in Ontario, Canada.
*In 1955 a
47 feet long (14.32,) Sperm Whale was found entangled
in a
submarine cable at a depth of 620 fathoms (1134m). This meant
that the
whale was withstanding a pressure of 1,680 lbs per sq. in.
of body
surface
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This is
all for this month. I hope you found his issue of
Proactively Managing Your Career Newsletter
informative.
Your feedback will be appreciated.
E-mail me proactivehrm@tpg.com.au
As always, to your success - cheers
Iris Wood
PS. If you have enjoyed this series of newsletters
feel free to
forward this issue or past issues to friends or
colleagues who might
find it useful.
http://www.proactivehrm.com/index.html
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