Job Searching Tips

Job searching strategies for today's job seekers

So, you are ready to start down the path to a magnificent new career. Set your expectations high because in the next few moments you will be fully armed with effective strategies for attaining your dream job.

These tactics have been developed for job seekers just like you to make their job hunt a success. Go ahead and reach for the stars, the sky is your limit. What we need from you…100% of your commitment!

Here is your mission-->

Treat searching for employment as if it's your current job! Work regular, steady hours, and set up a space where you will feel comfortable spending time. Sample tasks might include drafting a cover letter researching companies, networking, setting up informational interviews, and applying to positions on the Internet.

Prepare
Put everything you need within hands reach. Set your desk up with office supplies, folders for tracking information, or anything else you might need to personalize your space.

* Use an Excel spread sheet as a tracking tool
************
Start now!

If you find yourself highly distracted and spending time doing everything, but searching for a job, STOP…it's time to reprioritize.

Best ways to eliminate job search procrastination:

1. List everything you have to do
2. Write down your career goal and keep it in eyesight
3. Set realistic goals
4. Make each task meaningful
5. Remind yourself of the rewards
6. Eliminate tasks you never plan to do
7. Estimate the amount of time you think it will take you to complete a task
8. Make sure your resume is completed and ready to send out

Get organized and stay on track!

Creating weekly or even daily plans of attack will keep you on target. Breaking goals down into an easy to read checklist can make you feel empowered as you see the list shrinking before your eyes.

An example list may include:

* Make __# of phone calls
* Send __ # of resumes
* Follow up calls
* Attend networking activities

Don't worry, lists are always subject to change.

Deadlines:

Make a promise to yourself that you must meet every deadline! Often a little bit of pressure will get your motor running into high gear.

Remember to develop realistic deadlines so that you can achieve all of them.

* By Wednesday:
Research completed on how to write an effective resume
* By Thursday:
First draft of resume completed
* By Friday:
Get feedback from someone who knows how to create an effective resume

*****************************************************************************
Write your thoughts down
It can become very overwhelming keeping track of all your activities when you are applying for numerous jobs on multiple job boards daily.

Developing a master list of all your activities no matter how big or small helps you remember what has taken place and it is a great reference.

1. Dates you applied for jobs and when to make follow up contact
2. What jobs you applied to on what sites
3. Names, dates, and times of job interviews
4. Names of people to network with
5. Dates of follow up contacts made

Ask for help
Entrust the people who can help you with the process of researching companies, conducting mock interviews, and proofreading your resume and cover letters.

Who?

1. Friends and family
2. Unions
3. Career counselors
4. Employment agencies
5. Teachers or mentors
6. Community organizations

This is also an excellent opportunity to Network!

-->Don't burn the candle at both ends:

-->Don't start your brand-new job on sick leave!

We all know that searching for that perfect job can be anxiety provoking; leaving you feeling emotionally and physically drained, but don't stress we will make sure that you are fully equipped with the tools necessary to keep your spirits high; so when it comes time for the interview you are fresh faced and clear headed.

1. Get plenty of rest; wake up and follow a normal schedule
2. Searching from home? Try leaving the house; even if is just to your morning Starbucks
3. Take a breather - walk around the neighborhood
4. Work within designated time frames
5. Stay hydrated and eat regular meals
6. Reduce stress by shifting to a deeper breathing pattern, taking in breath from the lower abdomen. Do it several times a day, every day
7. Check your posture. How you hold yourself can impact how you feel
8. Stay positive (red flag the negative thoughts) remember you are not alone and with persistence will find your dream job
9. Surround yourself with optimistic people
10. Ask friends and family for support

Effective Resume Writing Tips

Boost your candidacy with these must-follow Resume
Due to the increasing competitiveness of today's job market requires the job seeker to be far more aggressive in their overall job search campaign, particularly when developing their career-marketing document – the resume.

With a window of opportunity often as little as 10 seconds for the resume to spark the readers attention, demands a dynamic document that portrays the candidate's expertise and overall value offered. Gone are the days of a tasked-based resume with an inventory of a position's responsibilities, coupled with a standard (and boring) list of personal aptitudes. This has been replaced with an achievement /accomplishment driven document that depicts you as a pro-active candidate that demands results and demonstrates the significant value on offer to the organization.

Your resume is your initial handshake and must therefore not be second-guessed, so the aim is to demonstrate your ability to fulfill their requirements and to build an interest in the benefits and value you bring to the organization. Strive toward developing a document that will motivate the reader into action by requesting an interview.

So what strategies can be followed to create a professional marketing document that promotes your overall value and portrays you as a passionate contributor to the ongoing success of the company that demands an employment interview?

****************************************************
Here are some tips to inspire your writing:
~ Replace an uninspiring career objective with a succinct career profile that summarizes your expertise and includes accomplishment highlights with quantifiable results. This is bound to impress the reader and concentrates on what you can deliver for them, rather than on what you want.

~ Incorporate industry-related key words as well as action words that will grab the reader's attention. For instance:
Orchestrated, devised, instructed, spearheaded, maximized, led, directed, streamlined, oversaw, managed, motivated, controlled, delegated, consolidated, generated, implemented, proposed, specified … and the list goes on.

~ Identify challenges you overcame; the action or solution you undertook to alleviate the challenge; and the (quantifiable) result, and script into a powerfully written statement. For instance:

Challenge: Staff turnover high, performance levels extremely poor, with overall costs to recruit and train new staff high.

Action: Developed staff monitoring and incentive programs; implemented staff training programs.

Result: Increased staff knowledge base; decreased staff turnover by 66.7%; increased staff morale and collaboration; increased productivity levels by 77%.

Then by incorporating a number of action words, the above can be written as:

Enhanced staff morale; optimized productivity levels by 77%; and reduced staff turnover by 66.7% through implementation of strategic monitoring and incentive programs.
Notice the deliberate detailing of the quantifiable results at the forefront, followed by the method in which this accomplishment was obtained.

************************************************************
Ensure your document is consistent in its formatting; if you bold a position title, bold all job titles throughout your document. Make certain your overall document is well structured (plenty of white space), and aesthetically pleasing (professional headings and layout).

~ Refrain from providing details of every single position you have ever had. As a guide, generally the last 5 – 10 years is appropriate (if the position being applied for is relevant to what you have been doing), with a maximum of about 15 years.

~ For far greater impact when identifying your professional experience, create a strategically written paragraph outlining your main accountabilities (remembering to incorporate attention grabbing action words), followed by a bulleted list of achievements.

~ Lastly, edit, edit, and edit again. Then ask a family member or friend to read through the document to ensure your career-marketing document is error free.
******************************************************************************

5 Steps To A Successful Resume

1. Choose Your Format Correctly -
There are two main resume formats - chronological and functional. If you are seeking a job in a field in which you already have work experience, you will probably want to choose a chronological format where you will be able to showcase your job history. If, however, you want to transition into a different field, you definitely need to use a functional format. This will allow you to focus on your strengths and transferable skills and not box yourself into a certain field.
2. Be Specific -
Too often, I see resumes with experience stated this way, "Sold used vehicles" or "Negotiated claim settlements." Use real numbers to improve your resume. "Sold 20 used vehicles in first 3 months of employment" or "Increased overall customer satisfaction by 25% in claim settlement negotiations."
3. Be Accurate -
Don't stretch the truth just to impress. Make sure you use completely accurate numbers in your claims. You cannot build a solid career on a shaky foundation.
4. Be Precise -
Always proofread your resume. Spelling, grammar, or punctuation errors will disqualify you quicker than anything. A well crafted resume is an essential tool in the job search process. Find someone else to proof it for you as well. Often, other people will catch something you overlooked.
5. Be Brief -
Be careful to write a resume that is not "wordy" or "superfluous." It is very obvious to anyone reading one of these resumes that there is not much substance to them. Make each word count.
Ultimately, even a well crafted resume rarely gets you hired by itself. Click here for more info on the 3 Step Job Search Process that always gets results.

5 steps to Shine your Resume On-Line

The internet makes it possible to point and click your way into your dream position or a gig just to pay the bills. On-line job boards such as Hotjobs.com receives over 7.5 million visitors each month making it easy to get lost in the mayhem of the point and click stampede toward employment. Have no fear, there a few things you can do to get in the groove of this fast-paced job shuffle.
1.)Craft an eye-catching header.
That single line in the header of your e-mail is valuable advertising space, it separates you from thousands of other job seekers, make it count.
2.)Use keywords.
Craft your resume and cover letter using the description from the job posting. Include a "key words" section at the bottom of your resume, suggests Chris Jones, VP of Content at Hotjobs.com . Employers use automated systems to scan and flag resumes with certain key words.
3.)Target your search.
Treat your job hunt as a planned, precise operation. Do your homework on the industry and target potential employers. Apply directly on their corporate web site.
4.) Utilize on-line tools.
If you're posting on a job board, investigate the site and see what they have to offer. Hotjobs.com allows you to post up to 10 different resumes while Monster.com offers a specialized diversity and inclusion job search feature.
5.) Use any means necessary.
Experts agree networking is still the number one way to gain employment. Network your way into a company and cultivate a contact that will be receptive to receiving your resume and will pass it on to the right person.

A missed opportunity is as close as the delete button. Make sure you read the directions when applying for a position. Stay in the game by giving employers what they requested.

How to Face an Interview

The interviewer hopes that YOU are the right person for the job. They are under pressure to fill the position so that they can get back to their own work. Therefore you are in a greater position of strength than you think. Concentrate on what you have to offer in the way of qualifications and experience instead of feeling intimidated.

An interviewer has 3 aims:

1) To learn if you are the right person for the job
2) To assess your potential for promotion
3) To decide whether you will fit into the company environment

The key to a successful interview is in preparation

1. Be prepared: For the types of questions you will be asked
2. Be prepared: To ask questions yourself
3. Be prepared: To research the company
4. Be prepared: To look the part
5. Be prepared: To turn up on time

Questions you may be asked

Example question: How would you describe yourself?
Your answer: Should describe attributes that will enhance your suitability for the position. Have some ready in advance.
******************************************************************
Example question: What are your long-term goals?
Your answer: Should be career orientated. Make sure you have goals to discuss.
******************************************************************
Example question: Why did you leave your last job?
Your answer: Could be more responsibility; better opportunity; increased income. Do not be detrimental to your previous employer. He could be the interviewer's golfing partner.
******************************************************************
Example question: Why do you want this job?
Your answer: Your answer should be: more responsibility or better opportunity or similar. Not: because it is closer to home or the gym.
******************************************************************
Example question: What are your strengths?
Your answer: Should highlight accomplishments and experiences that relate to the position for which you are applying. Also give examples of situations where your strengths have been demonstrated.
******************************************************************
Example question: What are your weaknesses?
Your answer: Should not be a list of deficiencies. Don't mention anything that could make the interviewer question your ability to do the job, for example "I am always late for everything." Instead, discuss a weakness that could also be a strength such as "I am a workaholic!"
******************************************************************

More Examples of Interview Questions

1. Tell me a little bit about yourself.
2. Describe your current / most recent position.
3. What made you want to make this change?
4. What do you most enjoy doing in your current /most recent position?
5. Describe your future ambitions.
6. How would you describe yourself?

Questions for you to ask
Asking questions at interview has a number of positive effects:
It helps you find out more about the company and the position.
It can be used to divert the interviewer away from a subject you may wish to avoid.
It can help build a rapport with the interviewer.
It demonstrates an interest in the job and the company.
The questions must be about the position and the company.

Avoid questions about salary, benefits and facilities until after you have been offered the job. You should already have researched the company and it's products and services. Your questions should demonstrate knowledge of the company's history, successes and problems. If the interviewer is a representative of the personnel department the questions should relate to the company and be general. Specific questions relating to the position should be kept for the line manager who will have a more detailed knowledge

Example questions relating to the position

• What are the main responsibilities of the job?
• What are the most difficult aspects of the job?
• How did the vacancy arise?
• What is the career path relating to this position?
• How will my work be assessed?
• Example questions relating to the company
• What is the company hoping to achieve in the next 12 months?
• What new products are the company planning to introduce in the future?
• Are any major changes planned for the department/company?
• Who are your biggest competitors?
• Where to find company information

Information relating to companies, financial data, industries and business trends is available in business magazines which often publish on the World Wide Web and allow you to order

Annual Reports relating to specific companies.
Companies often have their own web site.
Newspapers - search on-line press reports including archived articles.

Presentation Tips

Obviously you should be clean and smart in appearance but you should also dress appropriately for the position, for example: a student placement that is more expensively dressed than the Managing Director may have a negative impact.

Clothes should be on the conservative side, which is more acceptable to people of all ages, cultures and backgrounds. After all, you are asking to be accepted into the company. Therefore always avoid extremes in hair, clothes, make-up and jewellery. Taking trouble over your appearance shows the employer that the job is important to you. *

******************************************************************
Travel tips
Arrive 15 minutes early.
Make sure you have the correct address and know how you will get there:
Parking? Public transport access?
Do a dummy run if you are not sure.
Make sure you have a mobile phone and a telephone number so that you can ring ahead if circumstances beyond your control are making you late.
Be polite to everyone you speak to, it could be the Managing Director's cousin!
Have a copy of your CV with you.

Summary

You should show interest in all aspects of the job and the company especially if shown around the premises.
Do your homework on the company and the nature of its business.
Take care in how you dress for the interview. First impressions still count!
Some of the main influences on the interviewer are:
Your experience in other employment or life situations
Your personal presentation.
How your personality comes across in the interview
Your background and references
Your enthusiasm for both the job and the organisation.
Relevant qualifications for the position.

Smart Codding Techniques in Programming Language

Do the smart codding and get the job in MNCs Like wipro,tcs,accenture,Honeywell etc.


I've working knowledge of a bunch of programming languages but job demands to learn a new language frequently in a short time. Instead of reading hundreds manual/book pages, I quickly read 10-15 pages of tutorial or primer. (As you know google is the best search engine to look for such stuff). I keep printed copy of the language syntax reference card handy. (There are many reference cards available over internet. Type in 'language to learn' + 'reference card' in google.)

First of all, get familiar with Compiler, compiler option, editor shortcuts or integrated
development environment (IDE). Start with a simple 'Hello World' program. Compile it. Use basic functionalities of debugger like setting break points, printing variable values, moving to the next or specific position, stopping debugger etc.

To grasp basics of a new language quickly, here are the exercises I use. Remember some programs may not good for beginners.

(1) Display series of numbers (1,2,3,4, 5....etc) in an infinite loop. The program should quit if someone hits a specific key (Say ESCAPE key).

(2) Fibonacci series, swapping two variables, finding maximum/minimum among a list of numbers.

(3) Accepting series of numbers, strings from keyboard and sorting them ascending, descending order.

(4) Reynolds number is calculated using formula (D*v*rho)/mu Where D = Diameter, V= velocity, rho = density mu = viscosity Write a program that will accept all values in appropriate units (Don't worry about unit conversion) If number is < 2100, display Laminar flow, If it between 2100 and 4000 display 'Transient flow' and if more than '4000', display 'Turbulent Flow' (If, else, then...)

(5) Modify the above program such that it will ask for 'Do you want to calculate again (y/n), if you say 'y', it'll again ask the parameters. If 'n', it'll exit. (Do while loop)
While running the program give value mu = 0. See what happens. Does it give 'DIVIDE BY ZERO' error? Does it give 'Segmentation fault..core dump?'. How to handle this situation. Is there something built in the language itself? (Exception Handling)

(6) Scientific calculator supporting addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, square-root, square, cube, sin, cos, tan, Factorial, inverse, modulus

(7) Printing output in different formats (say rounding up to 5 decimal places, truncating after 4 decimal places, padding zeros to the right and left, right and left justification)(Input output operations)

(8) Open a text file and convert it into HTML file. (File operations/Strings)

(9) Time and Date : Get system time and convert it in different formats 'DD-MON-YYYY', 'mm-dd-yyyy', 'dd/mm/yy' etc.

(10) Create files with date and time stamp appended to the name

(11) Input is HTML table, Remove all tags and put data in a comma/tab separated file.

(12) Extract uppercase words from a file, extract unique words

(13) Implement word wrapping feature (Observe how word wrap works in windows 'notepad')

(14) Adding/removing items in the beginning, middle and end of the array.

(15) Are these features supported by your language: Operator overloading, virtual functions, references, pointers etc.

Is there something called 'namespace / package / module' supported by your language? (Name mangling) - Read More on this

ASP.NET Interview Questins

What is the difference between Server.Transfer and Response.Redirect?
Response.Redirect: This tells the browser that the requested page can be found at a new location. The browser then initiates another request to the new page loading its contents in the browser. This results in two requests by the browser.
Server.Transfer: It transfers execution from the first page to the second page on the server. As far as the browser client is concerned, it made one request and the initial page is the one responding with content. The benefit of this approach is one less round trip to the server from the client browser. Also, any posted form variables and query string parameters are available to the second page as well.

Describe Paging in ASP.NET.
The DataGrid control in ASP.NET enables easy paging of the data. The AllowPaging property of the DataGrid can be set to True to perform paging. ASP.NET automatically performs paging and provides the hyperlinks to the other pages in different styles, based on the property that has been set for PagerStyle.Mode

What is Data Binding?
Data binding is a way used to connect values from a collection of data (e.g. DataSet) to the controls on a web form. The values from the dataset are automatically displayed in the controls without having to write separate code to display them.

List the ASP.NET validation controls?

1. RequiredFieldValidator
2. RangeValidator
3. CompareValidator
4. RegularExpressionValidator
5. CustomValidator
6. ValidationSummary

Explain the differences between server-side and client-side code?
Server side scripting means that all the script will be executed by the server and interpreted as needed. Client side scripting means that the script will be executed immediately in the browser such as form field validation, clock, email validation, etc. Client side scripting is usually done in VBScript or JavaScript. Since the code is included in the HTML page, anyone can see the code by viewing the page source. It also poses as a possible security hazard for the client computer.

What is Postback?
When an action occurs (like button click), the page containing all the controls within the tag performs an HTTP POST, while having itself as the target URL. This is called Postback.

Explain Web Services.
Web services are programmable business logic components that provide access to functionality through the Internet. Standard protocols like HTTP can be used to access them. Web services are based on the Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP), which is an application of XML. Web services are given the .asmx extension.

List the various stages of Page-Load lifecycle. ?
Init()
Load()
PreRender()
Unload()

Explain Namespace.
Namespaces are logical groupings of names used within a program. There may be multiple namespaces in a single application code, grouped based on the identifiers’ use. The name of any given identifier must appear only once in its namespace.

Career in SQL (SQL Interview Questions)

How would you find out the total number of rows in a table?
Use SELECT COUNT(*) ... in query

How do you eliminate duplicate values in SELECT ?
Use SELECT DISTINCT ... in SQL query

How you insert records into a table
Using SQL INSERT statement

How do you delete record from a table ?
Using DELETE statement Example : DELETE FROM EMP

How do you select a row using indexes?
Specify the indexed columns in the WHERE clause of query.

How do you find the maximum value in a column?
Use SELECT MAX(...) .. in query

How do you retrieve the first 5 characters of FIRSTNAME column of table EMP ?
SELECT SUBSTR(FIRSTNAME,1,5) FROM EMP

What is UNION,UNION ALL in SQL?
UNION : eliminates duplicates
UNION ALL: retains duplicates
Both these are used to combine the results of different SELECT statements.


Suppose I have five SQL SELECT statements connected by UNION/UNION ALL, how many times should I specify UNION to eliminate the duplicate rows?
Once.

In the WHERE clause what is BETWEEN and IN?
BETWEEN supplies a range of values while IN supplies a list of values.

Is BETWEEN inclusive of the range values specified?
Yes.

What is 'LIKE' used for in WHERE clause? What are the wildcard characters?
LIKE is used for partial string matches. ‘%’ ( for a string of any character )
and ‘_’ (for any single character ) are the two wild card characters.

When do you use a LIKE statement?
To do partial search e.g. to search employee by name, you need not specify
the complete name; using LIKE, you can search for partial string matches.
Example SQL : SELECT EMPNO FROM EMP WHERE EMPNAME LIKE 'RAMESH%'
% is used to represent remaining all characters in the name. This query fetches all records contains RAMESH in six characters.

What do you accomplish by GROUP BY ... HAVING clause?
GROUP BY partitions the selected rows on the distinct values of the column on which you group by. HAVING selects GROUPs which match the criteria specified

Consider the employee table with column PROJECT nullable. How can you get a list
of employees who are not assigned to any project?
SQL : SELECT EMPNO FROM EMP WHERE PROJECT IS null;

What are the large objects supported by oracle and db2?
Blob , Clob ( Binary Large Objects, Character Large Objects)

What's the difference between a primary key and a unique key?
Primary key wont allow nulls, unique key allow nulls.
Both Primary key and Unique key enforce the uniqueness of the column on which they are defined.

What is a join and explain different types of joins?
INNER JOIN
OUTER JOIN
LEFT OUTER JOIN
RIGHT OUTER JOIN
FULL OUTER JOIN
INNER JOIN

What is a self join?
Joining two instances of a same table.
Sample SQL : SELECT A.EMPNAME , B.EMPNAME
FROM EMP A, EMP B
WHERE A.MGRID = B.EMPID

Career Tips

Set goals
Be clear on where you would like to go with your career and formulate a 1, 3 and 5 year plan to get there. Set realistic milestones and targets, take inventory at frequent intervals and update these plans regularly.
Find a mentor
Identify someone in your field who can advise and counsel you in matters career-related and refer to this mentor in making the important career decisions as well as in negotiating the nuts-and-bolts issues that confront you on a day-to-day basis.
Mentor somebody
Become a mentor yourself to a younger professional to stay networked, build a reputation in a different peer group and stay abreast of developments in other divisions or companies.
Know yourself
Be honest about your strengths and weaknesses so you can work on them and try to see yourself as your peers see you bearing in mind that perception is everything.
Never stop learning
Invest in yourself by becoming a life-long learner. No matter how valuable our skills are, chances are they can be updated and upgraded through ongoing learning and training. Take responsibility for your own development and make sure you stay ahead of the learning curve by constantly updating your professional skills and credentials.
Hone your communications skills
Communication skills are essential to career success. Learn to give and receive constructive feedback, to persuade effectively and to solicit help and garner resources. Effective communications also entail learning to listen actively and attentively.
Keep the company's goals in mind
Treat your company as your most important client and don't lose sight of the company's vision, mission, values and objectives in anything you do. Also bear in mind the company's policies and procedures and seek to work within them or work with the leadership teams that amend or improve them.
Use your performance appraisals effectively
Performance appraisals are your opportunity to take on added responsibility and discuss where your career is headed and how you can propel it in the right direction by garnering the appropriate resources and support; use them appropriately.
Network
Whether it's through joining professional associations or being active in college or high school alumni clubs or other networking forums, it is important to remain networked in the community and to continue to broaden your circle of influence and network of contacts.
Volunteer
Represent your company in a community initiative or join a local community drive to make a difference and heighten your visibility outside of your immediate professional circle of influence.
Work on your interpersonal skills
Treat others as you would like to be treated - manners, respect and generally courteous behaviour travel a long way in the workplace.
Never bad-mouth bosses or peers
The surest way to lose the respect and trust of your boss or peers is to bad-mouth those you work with or previously worked with. Avoid office gossip and spreading negative opinions at all costs.
Upgrade your job
Bearing in mind that responsibility is taken, seldom given, always be on the look-out for new functions and responsibilities to add to your job description. Make yourself an indispensable part of the team by showing an eagerness to grow in your job and continuously being open to new methods, ideas and initiatives that positively impact the company's bottom line.
Develop a reputation as an expert in your field
Seek to become known as a true professional, a star player, someone who goes an extra mile in his/her job and who is a genuinely invaluable resource in a particular area. A reputation as an outstanding performer is your best asset in negotiating raises and promotions.
Promote yourself
Make sure others in the company, especially your superiors, know of your role and your accomplishments. Publicize your achievements and don't be afraid of blowing your own horn in order to get the recognition, praise and promotions you deserve.
Be passionate about what you do
The best way to excel is to be genuinely passionate about what you do. Enthusiasm is both visible and infectious and you will find others in the organisation as well as clients naturally gravitating towards you as your eagerness and passion for your job makes itself known.
Look the part
The most accomplished professionals are not necessarily the best dressed but good grooming and professional attire do convey the image you want to portray and leave an important lasting first impression.
Work smart
Focus on those aspects of your role that genuinely impact the effectiveness of the organisation and company's bottom line; its not just about how many hours you put in and how hard you work but also about the value of your output.
Leave your personal problems at home
No matter what is happening with the kids, the neighbours or the family dog, the workplace is only for dealing with workplace matters; leave all personal issues strictly at home.
Be a team player
Today's workplace necessitates being a teamplayer and working well with others. Be co-operative, eager and always willing and prepared to pitch in to make a project succeed.
Remember, if you follow these simple career tips you are not only optimizing your career, you are optimizing your life

What is Career

Career
Career is a chosen pursuit, a profession or occupation.
Career is a general course or progression of one's working life or one's professional achievements:

Career
Activity pursued as a livelihood:

A field for or pursuit of consecutive progressive achievement especially in public, professional, or business life

CAREER is what you chose in life. After graduation, you might tend to become something. That particular choosing is said to be career. That holds good for your entire life.






Career Planning
career planning is very complex and should start at an early age as well. think of the fields and areas you like to work and where you find yourself more happy then work towards that. changing career during mid life is not advisable so if you could spend the time and money now then make the decision to do some thing you love. this should also pay you well also.

for starters you have to evaluate the studies you have done and where that puts you - look to see if you have more technical or more commercial side on you. more of technical gives you options in Eng, IT, etc and commercial give you Business Admin, Marketing , Sales etc.


Identify what you love to do is another approach and then evaluating that against the qualification you have or the experience you have. reading a lot of job varied job opening can give you an idea as to what kind of jobs are out there and what you need to do to get there.

by weighing options like this you can choose an area of interest and thus move to that career






Information Technology Jobs
Career Opportunities Following are the career areas in the industry of Information Technology:

Software Offers vast range of employment opportunities in fields starting from computer operations, programming, system engineering and operation management, system analysis to system designing.

Hardware The key areas, which can be taken up as career, include hardware designing, assembling, research and development, manufacturing and maintenance of computer components.

Telecom The various fields, which can be pursued as career in:

Information Technology Jobs, include voice processing units, telephone technology, wireless technology, cellular technology and satellite communication systems.

Sales and Marketing Sales and marketing in IT industry are a specialist tasks and require a thorough study of products and their competitions in the growing market. A Marketing job covers selling of both hardware and software products.

E-Commerce and Web Development The job will include consumer/buyer information and services, developing and managing Web-portals; creation of Internet market, consulting, customer management etc.

Enterprise:

Resource Planning ERP is developing and planning the resources of entire network of an enterprise. Various fields like purchase, production, marketing, sales, distribution, service, inventory, finance, accounts, and human resource are integrated on single software through ERP, to facilitate better coordination.

Computer Operator A computer operator's job is to run both the computer software and its peripheral equipment. The job may vary depending upon size of the organizations and its exposure to computers.

Data Entry Data entry is transferring data and information into the computer and is the most basic purpose for which computers are used. Data entry operators are needed in almost every IT based organization.

Eligibility Individuals with an advanced degree in computer science or computer engineering or with an MBA with a concentration in information systems should enjoy highly favorable Information Technology Jobs. College graduates with a bachelor's degree in computer science, information science, computer engineering or MIS also should enjoy favorable prospects for employment, particularly if they have supplemented their formal education with practical experience.

Career Focus

Following are some of the important tips to improve your job as well as career.
Set goals
Be clear on where you would like to go with your career and formulate a 1, 3 and 5 year plan to get there. Set realistic milestones and targets, take inventory at frequent intervals and update these plans regularly.
Find a mentor
Identify someone in your field who can advise and counsel you in matters career-related and refer to this mentor in making the important career decisions as well as in negotiating the nuts-and-bolts issues that confront you on a day-to-day basis.
Mentor somebody
Become a mentor yourself to a younger professional to stay networked, build a reputation in a different peer group and stay abreast of developments in other divisions or companies.
Know yourself
Be honest about your strengths and weaknesses so you can work on them and try to see yourself as your peers see you bearing in mind that perception is everything.
Never stop learning
Invest in yourself by becoming a life-long learner. No matter how valuable our skills are, chances are they can be updated and upgraded through ongoing learning and training. Take responsibility for your own development and make sure you stay ahead of the learning curve by constantly updating your professional skills and credentials.
Hone your communications skills
Communication skills are essential to career success. Learn to give and receive constructive feedback, to persuade effectively and to solicit help and garner resources. Effective communications also entail learning to listen actively and attentively.
Keep the company's goals in mind
Treat your company as your most important client and don't lose sight of the company's vision, mission, values and objectives in anything you do. Also bear in mind the company's policies and procedures and seek to work within them or work with the leadership teams that amend or improve them.
Use your performance appraisals effectively
Performance appraisals are your opportunity to take on added responsibility and discuss where your career is headed and how you can propel it in the right direction by garnering the appropriate resources and support; use them appropriately.
Network
Whether it's through joining professional associations or being active in college or high school alumni clubs or other networking forums, it is important to remain networked in the community and to continue to broaden your circle of influence and network of contacts.
Volunteer
Represent your company in a community initiative or join a local community drive to make a difference and heighten your visibility outside of your immediate professional circle of influence.
Work on your interpersonal skills
Treat others as you would like to be treated - manners, respect and generally courteous behaviour travel a long way in the workplace.
Never bad-mouth bosses or peers
The surest way to lose the respect and trust of your boss or peers is to bad-mouth those you work with or previously worked with. Avoid office gossip and spreading negative opinions at all costs.
Upgrade your job
Bearing in mind that responsibility is taken, seldom given, always be on the look-out for new functions and responsibilities to add to your job description. Make yourself an indispensable part of the team by showing an eagerness to grow in your job and continuously being open to new methods, ideas and initiatives that positively impact the company's bottom line.
Develop a reputation as an expert in your field
Seek to become known as a true professional, a star player, someone who goes an extra mile in his/her job and who is a genuinely invaluable resource in a particular area. A reputation as an outstanding performer is your best asset in negotiating raises and promotions.
Promote yourself
Make sure others in the company, especially your superiors, know of your role and your accomplishments. Publicize your achievements and don't be afraid of blowing your own horn in order to get the recognition, praise and promotions you deserve.
Be passionate about what you do
The best way to excel is to be genuinely passionate about what you do. Enthusiasm is both visible and infectious and you will find others in the organisation as well as clients naturally gravitating towards you as your eagerness and passion for your job makes itself known.
Look the part
The most accomplished professionals are not necessarily the best dressed but good grooming and professional attire do convey the image you want to portray and leave an important lasting first impression.
Work smart
Focus on those aspects of your role that genuinely impact the effectiveness of the organisation and company's bottom line; its not just about how many hours you put in and how hard you work but also about the value of your output.
Leave your personal problems at home
No matter what is happening with the kids, the neighbours or the family dog, the workplace is only for dealing with workplace matters; leave all personal issues strictly at home.
Be a team player
Today's workplace necessitates being a teamplayer and working well with others. Be co-operative, eager and always willing and prepared to pitch in to make a project succeed.
Remember, if you follow these simple career tips you are not only optimizing your career, you are optimizing your life