Choosing The Right Career For The Ideal Job

Many people go into careers and jobs without thinking if this is suited for me or 5 to 10 years later they realize this is not what I expected. Many individuals spend months or even years not happy with their careers. Some may take any available job while others may follow in their parents footsteps. This may work out for some but many others never discover their true career skills and are dissatisfied with their jobs.

Careful career planning is essential in fulfilling one's job search that will give years of work enjoyment and satisfaction. If you are going to work it might as well be something you like to do and skilled at doing. Knowing what your skills are and what you are good at is the starting point in choosing the right career.You will unlikely be completely satisfied in your career unless you use the skills you enjoy and are good at.

Ask yourself some questions such as : What interests do I have? What sorts of people would I like to work with?

Don't confuse an ideal job with a job title. You might enjoy working in one place and hate working in another. Both could have the same job title but be entirely different jobs.

Let's say you were looking for a job as a sales person or a teacher, these would be job titles. The ideal job within the salesperson category could be in retail sales, real estate, manufacturing sales representatives, car sales, etc. A teacher might teach kindergarten, elementary, middle, or high school students. Or a teacher might teach adults or special need individuals how to read and write. So don't choose a job just by it's title but by the different job areas under the title that fits your interests and skills. People are more likely to stay in a career and be successful if it suits their interest and skills.

It would be wise to spend extra time thinking about what type of work you want to do. Some key factors to consider when planning a career is your skills, interests, earnings, location, work environment, kinds of people you like to work with, etc.

You may have to go back to school for more education, but don't let that hold you back from that ideal job. Education and earnings go hand in hand. The more education you have the more money you are capable of earning. Although earnings are important, liking your work is equally important.

Having a college degree is definitely a plus in career planning, but many trade, technical and other schools offer similar opportunities to individuals without a college degree.

A well trained electrician, plumber, police officer, auto mechanic, computer repair technician, tool and die maker among many others can do very well in todays economy. There are many jobs that only require one or two years of training. Many companies and organizations have on the job training while paying your salary. People in sales, small business, self employment and other job areas do quite well without a college degree, although for better positions more education is often required.

Your career will most likely change over the course of your life no matter how much career planning you do. That make's it important for you to recognize what you are good at and develop those skills throughout your life. As your interests change you may want to develop new skills.

Good career planning is very important, but it should be done in the context of what you want to do with your life.


Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Lamar_Dean

How To Find A Career You Love

Can you really find a career you love? Is it really possible to wake up on a Monday morning and WANT to go to work?

If you believe the results of a recent 2007 survey by US based "The Conference Board Inc." it's not very likely. The survey revealed that more than 50% of the workforce is unhappy.

Some of these people are dissatisfied with the conditions at their workplace. Such things as rates of pay, co-workers, job security, physical working conditions, benefits, or even their boss, affect job satisfaction. For these people, a change in pay or recognition for something achieved, may be enough to improve their situation.

But all the other unhappy people are not satisfied with the actual tasks they are doing in their job. The only way they will be happier is if they do something totally different - i.e., take a different career direction.

These people didn't ask the right questions in the first place to avoid making the wrong career decision.

The biggest thing preventing you from getting a career you love... believe it or not... is YOU!

Many people are simply not prepared to put in the effort needed, preferring to take the easy way out and accept second best... or maybe even whatever seemed like a good idea at the time.

And that is such a huge shame!

It's important to realize that choosing a career (or changing careers) is right up there with getting married, having kids, and buying a house. It is one of THE most important decisions you will EVER make in your lifetime!

You spend more than half of almost every day of your life either at work, or travelling to and from work.

And what happens at work, whether it's good or bad, affects ALL the other aspects of your life - your health, family, finances, relationships, self-esteem and so on.

Choosing a career is NOT something that can be done in less than five minutes, but unfortunately, that's how much thought some people put into it. Choosing a career involves:
1. Looking closely at yourself
2. Researching jobs which might be suitable
3. Being able to make a decision, and
4. Acting on, and being happy with, that decision.

The first of these steps in finding a career you love is "self-discovery". It looks at such things as:
* The things you like and dislike doing
* The things you are good and bad at doing
* The skills you have or need to get
* Your achievements to date, and what you want to achieve in the future
* Your family background
* Your attitudes, values and personal style.

Many people find it extremely difficult, if not even threateningly impossible, to answer such questions about "me".

But a thorough, honest and realistic self-assessment is vital if you are to gather the necessary information to make a good career decision... if you are to find a career you might love to do!

Because once you are armed with all this information about yourself, you'll start to get a really good picture of career areas most suited to you.

And just as important, you'll have a much better idea of what does NOT suit you!

Then it's time to do some more research... this time into the different types of specific jobs available in the area you are suited to.

Find out such things as: What training is required? Where can you do it? What duties/tasks are involved in the job? What hours will I work? How will it impact on my lifestyle? What companies offer work in this field? Where? What opportunities are available for future advancement?

There are always many hard questions that come up that need answers in the pursuit of the ideal career.

For example... suppose you find out you need to do a four-year training course in a different town. Are you prepared to move? How can you support yourself?

Are you going to "have a go" and see what happens? Or are you going to be committed and stick with your decision?

What's going to happen if you have to go in a different direction? Do you have a "plan B" that you will be just as happy with?

You can see why so many people give up chasing a career they might love. It is just so much easier to take the path of least resistance.

Are you going to get what you want from your career? From your life?

Or are you going to settle for second best?

rticle Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Andrew_Rondeau

Career As A Paramedic

What Is A Paramedic?

Paramedics are certified emergency medical professionals who act in response to specific trauma related crises. They stabilize a patient's condition while being transported to a healthcare facility, generally by ambulance. If the patient's condition worsens during transit, paramedics can switch to advanced levels of treatment available in the ambulance. Usually, they transfer sick patients to the emergency unit. However, some states have the "Treat-and-Release" practice, whereby patients can be discharged if they recover. These protocols cannot be overlooked, but at times, paramedics have to make decisions that work in the best interest of their patients. They can also provide Advanced and Basic Life Support and Pediatric Life Support care.

Paramedic Schools

Paramedic Schools or EMT (Emergency Medical Technician) Schools teach students the various skills and abilities that are required to become an emergency professional.

Whenever an accident or a sudden life-threatening incident occurs, upon being informed, 911 operators get in touch with healthcare centers, which dispatch paramedic teams to the emergency scene. Paramedics arrive at these sites and administer medical care and support to accident victims or medical patients, with the skills that have been learned in Paramedic Schools.

Paramedic courses include ambulance and emergency practical experience. All students have to go through 4 levels of rigorous EMT training, with level 4 being the most advanced form of training. Paramedic students are taught about adult and pediatric life support, general healthcare, first aid, CPR, and defensive driving techniques. In addition, they are also taught how to prevent the spreading of diseases, and how to handle mentally unstable or violent patients. Paramedics also receive advanced training in Pharmacology, Cardiology and EMT systems.

Their training also includes how to provide advanced healthcare like administering intravenous drugs and fluids, making diagnoses, inserting orotracheal equipment and manually applying defibrillators. The rules and regulations of training given by Paramedic Schools are governed by State Legislators. Paramedic Certification is required by all states.

Paramedic Job Opportunities

Students who graduate from Paramedic Schools can find jobs in hospitals, fire departments, ambulance services and even police departments. In addition, Paramedics can also choose to work for private companies or city municipalities. Because of the intensity and the length of training, most aspiring paramedics do not take volunteer jobs.

With irregular work hours, paramedics can be called out at anytime, but reports have shown that most of them find their jobs interesting, and of course, challenging. Salaries vary depending on the level of training, the organization and the geographic location. Usually, they begin at approximately $25,000.

In some places, critical care departments and emergency units hire paramedics. They treat patients in pre-hospital settings with their advanced skills and knowledge in handling emergency cases. Experienced paramedics are also employed as medical providers in far-flung industrial sites like offshore oilrigs. With their expertise, abilities and resourcefulness, they have made noble contributions towards society and are in great demand.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Tony_Jacowski

Job Interview Questions and Answers

Going to a job interview can be one of the scariest and most intimidating things one does in their life. There is much tension and fear, but surprisingly it can be much fun. If you play your cards correctly, the job interview questions and answers game can be used much to your advantage and he process will not need to be as lopsided as you might think.

In order to get in front of a potential employer to address the job interview questions and answers, you must first have a job interview in place. There are many types of job interviews and just because one is scheduled does not mean you have the job secured. The interview process in many cases can be incredibly lengthy and one that may take a long time for a decision to be made. The questions and answers exchanged in an interview can vary based on the type of interview.

Since not all jobs and organizations are the same, every interview process can be different. Some companies might want to conduct a behavior interview where they want to see how the interviewee reacts in certain scenarios. Some companies might conduct their interviews as a group. There are some companies that would prefer to host a video interview in case they need to fly you in from an out of town location and they want to screen you before they take on the cost.

With different types of interviews, comes different job interview questions and answers. Questions the interviewer might ask you but also questions you might want to ask the interviewer. Many employers think positively of potential candidates that show high levels of interaction in their interview. By asking the right questions, you are proving you have an interest in the company, you are thinking about the future of the company and you are the type of person the employer would look for.

Here is a sample list of the most asked questions by an interviewer with sample responses:

Q: Describe a typical work week for you?
A: Make sure to discuss in detail and be prepared to review some of our day-today responsibilities. Make sure to relate your answers to the job you are applying for. The more you can show a connection between the job you are applying for and your past, the more open the interviewer will be to discussing further with you.

Q:What motivates you?
A: Since the interviewer doesn’t know much about you, they want to know how and why you were successful at your previous job. Since your response will vary based on your previous experience and knowledge, you can include the following factors as motivation:

* You enjoy Challenges
* Employer satisfaction is very important
* Client satisfaction is most important
* Compensation to perform (if in a sales role)
* Team accomplishments (if it is a team based environment)

Q: What interests you about this job?
A: Be truthful. Describe the qualifications needed for the job. Tie the job description back to your own skill set and explain why you would thrive in this position because of your previous experience. If the job seems like a challenge, explain you are looking to learn and improve your skills. Regardless of the situation, be excited about the opportunity and how you can bring value to the organization.

Here is a sample list of Questions you should ask the interviewer (Make sure to take notes and pay attention throughout the interview so you do not ask a question that was already answered):

* How would you describe the responsibilities of the position?
* How would you describe a typical week/day in the position?
* Is this a new position? If not, what did the previous employee go on to do?
* What is the style of management within the company?
* Who does this position report to? If I am offered the position, can I meet him/her?
* How many people work in this office/department? How many people are in the company
* What are the prospects for growth and advancement?
* How does one advance in the company?

Overall the entire Job Interview Questions and Answers process is not terribly difficult, as long as you are prepared. Make sure to do your homework!!

How to Improve Your Job Interview Skills

ob interviews can be tough going, even for people who don't have problems talking about themselves or striking up conversations with total strangers. While virtually any book on job hunting will recommend doing a mock interview with someone you know - practicing standard question and answer routines -- there is nothing like real first-hand experience

As far as I'm concerned, the best way to improve your interview skills, especially if you find you get very nervous and tongue-tied, is to simply go on more job interviews. If it's really bad, start with jobs you wouldn't take in a million years. That way you can stop worrying about actually getting the job and can spend your time simply experiencing the interview and trying out different choices for how to field questions. So just get yourself into at least three interviews. After the first interview, sit in your car or on the bus or at a coffee shop and try and remember everything they asked you. Write those questions down!

Now go over how you answered each of those questions and pull apart what you did right and what you did wrong. Start developing the set of questions that you'll know you get asked and start formulating your answers to them. If you come up with more than one answer for each question, you will never sound stale or rehearsed. I actually have a notebook with all my job stories written down and I re-read them 15 minutes before walking into any interview. Do the same and you will get more job offers.

Once you've been on about three interviews, you'll have heard virtually every question phrased in every possible way. Build your interview playbook from those questions and start practicing your anecdotes. Prepare an anecdote for each question about your former jobs. You can now walk into all your important interviews ready to respond to the scripts. And remember to be flexible. You should know your stories well enough that you can adapt them to each situation so they sound unique and not like a spiel.

You can practice your interview technique with friends or family, talk to yourself in a mirror or read lots of books about interview techniques, but when it comes down to it there is no experience like an actual job interview. Think of even failed job interviews as a learning opportunity and get what you can out of the experience so you'll be better prepared for the next one.

source : http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Emma_Martin

Sample Targeted Resume - Human Resources

FirstName LastName
Street, City, State, Zip
home: 555.555.5555
cell: 566.486.2222
email: email@email.com

SUMMARY OF PROFESSIONAL QUALIFICATIONS

* Experienced manager with expertise in human relations and project management
* Extensive background in staff recruitment and retention
* Staff training and development
* Superb written and oral communication skills
* Organizational and Strategic Planning
* Management Coaching
* Program Marketing
* Contract negotiation and compliance
* Knowledge of Federal and State Employment Law

PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS

* Society of Human Resources Management
* Portland Human Resources Management Association

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

CLINICAL DIRECTOR
Riverbend Inc., 2000-2005

* Senior Management of a Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) accredited treatment facility. Responsible for all aspects of program management; clinical, administrative, fiscal.
* Responsible for recruiting, orienting, training and supervising 50 staff, was able to reduce staff turn over from 68% to 14% by improving staff orientation and training, professional development, and mid-level management coaching.
* Oversight of all aspects of staff performance; performance evaluation, progressive discipline, mediation of staff disputes and grievance procedures in accordance with state and federal laws.
* Leadership in the setting and achieving of strategic and organizational goals.
* Established training programs for staff in regard to all aspects of workplace performance and professional development.
* Program Marketing, increased annual revenue by 38%.

PROGRAM DIRECTOR
R. Dykeman Center, 1998-2000

* Administrative, clinical, fiscal and human resources management of a large outpatient mental health center; 60 full time employees and 45 contract employees housed in various locations.
* Responsible for the recruitment and supervision and performance evaluation of clinical, administrative and medical staff.
* Provided training to enhance workplace performance at all levels of staffing.
* Nominated as Training Co-ordinator for the West Seattle Mental Health Consortium, providing training as the a trainer or contracting with relevant professionals to provide training in the areas of culturally relevant services, professional ethics and law, and areas of professional development as requested by staff members.
* Concurrently completed a two-year certificate program in Organizational Development and Leadership as the recipient of a merit scholarship by the Microsoft Corporation.
* Independent Consultant to several small businesses, law firms, non-profit agencies and school districts on staff grievance procedures, team building and the setting and achieving of organizational goals.

PROGRAM DIRECTOR
Family Reconciliation Services, 1988-1998

* Provided program management of the largest FRS contract in Washington State.
* FRS was responsible for providing in-home crises counseling to families on a 24/7 basis.
* Responsible for the recruitment, orientation, supervision and performance evaluation of up to 45 Master's level clinicians.
* During this 10-year period, increased the ethnic diversity of staff from 0% to 36% providing more culturally relevant services to the community served.
* Served as organizational and clinical consultant to a variety of organizations including Bellevue School District; Port S'klallam Tribal Health Board; Eastside Mental Health; Renton Area Youth & Family Services; as well as several businesses and law firms.
* Completed the training required to become an American Association of Marriage and Family Therapists (AAMFT) Approved Supervisor.

CLINICAL DIRECTOR - Chemical Dependency Treatment Programs
Rogue Valley Medical Center, 1985-1988

* Hired by the medical center to design and implement a residential treatment program.
* Responsible for the recruitment and hiring of all staff; medical, administrative and clinical.
* Responsible for public relations and Program Marketing
* Developed compensation structure and performance management and employee training and evaluation structures.
* Developed an on-going training program for nursing and clinical staff and served as a liaison between the hospital and the community providing training to community partners; schools, the police department and relevant medical and mental health professionals.
* Designed and brought into existence a family education and support structure for the community.

EDUCATION

* Senior Professional Human Resources (SPHR) certification course work completed
* The Whidbey Institute, Organizational Development and Leadership
* University of Heidelberg, Germany, Psy.D in Clinical Psychology
* University of California at Berkeley, BA in Philosophy and German

source : http://jobsearch.about.com/library/samples/blhrresume.htm

Tips to Find the Right Jobs Online

Thousands of employers post jobs online, and each company is a unique organization. To optimize your prospects for success, you must pick an employer that has the right opportunity for you and a management style and culture where you'll be comfortable.Making a career map can be beneficial at any stage of the game for many of us. If you're just entering/re-entering the workplace, or perhaps been in the fray for decades, career mapping can prove to be an invaluable tool. Particularly if you are thinking of switching fields.

Below are several ways you can pinpoint the right employer for you:

1- Ask friends and colleagues to name the two or three best companies in your area.

2-Check the local Chamber of Commerce Web site to see which companies have received awards.

3- Search online to find press releases by and about companies in your area.

4- Check the online archives of your local newspaper to see which companies are making the news.

Once you've identified a few top prospects, visit their corporate Web sites. Many employers now host career sections where you can research their working environment, approach to employee development, reward structure, commitment to diversity and other factors that will determine how well you will fit in.

Try to complete the activities mention above. Do one, and you'll improve your job search performance. Do them all, and you'll be well on your way to capturing your dream job. And don't forget that you must have strong confidence to achieve it.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Cute_Fety

tips to find online jobs

i’ve lost count of the times someone has sent me an unsolicited resume. This one came with a transcript, but there was no cover letter. There was no information in the email as to why the person was sending me her job search materials or what she was attempting to apply for. I’m not hiring, I have no open positions.In fact, I have no clue why she wasted my time, and her own, and clogged up my email with multiple attachments as well as a message. The only thing the sender succeeded at doing was annoying me. If there’s one thing not to do when job searching, this is it. Instead, do yourself and your prospective employer a favor and follow the rules when you’re job seeking. I promise you that you’ll have much better luck with your job search and the employers will appreciate you more, as well.

Focus Your Job Search
Why would someone waste their valuable job search time, my time and the time of countless other people? I’m not quite sure, but, one of my pet peeves is people who randomly send resumes, cover letters and requests for information to someone who is not involved in hiring, like me. Or sends them to companies which are hiring, but, haven’t expressed the slightest interest in receiving unsolicited resumes for positions they haven’t advertised for.
Don’t Waste Time

In my day job, I work in a college career services office. We’re not responsible for hiring for jobs, internships or for anything else. Our college web site clearly lists jobs that are available with instructions on how to apply for them. Despite that, I receive several resumes a week asking me to consider a person for employment at our institution.

To make matters worse, many of the emails I receive are riddled with typos and I really don’t need attachments that I’m not expecting to receive. I’m probably not even going to open them.

Because I’m polite, I’ll take the time to write back directing the candidate to the appropriate section of our web site, which contains all the information they need to apply for a job here. So, not only have I received an email I shouldn’t have gotten (and I get way too much already), I’ve wasted time responding to an inquiry I shouldn’t have received and I have one more attachment I need to delete from my computer.

Job Search Don’ts

What has the job seeker in question accomplished? Nothing. Not only have they wasted my time, they have wasted their own. Sending random inquiries isn’t going to help anyone find a job. It really isn’t. Nobody is going to say “great!” another resume to review. Instead, the email will probably be trashed.

It simply isn’t effective to apply for positions that don’t exist, to randomly apply for positions where your qualifications don’t meet the criteria the employer is looking for, or to send job search correspondence that is any less than perfectly proof-read. There are too many candidates who are following the directions and targeting their job search. They will be the people who get the interviews.

Job Search Do’s

What should you do instead? First of all, make sure everything you send out, whether by paper or email, is perfect. Capitalization, grammar and content all need to be perfect. One typo is one typo too many. If you’re like me and it’s hard to proof your own work, have someone else read it over for you.

Apply for positions that you are qualified for. Focus your job search. Carefully review the criteria mentioned in the job posting. If it’s a stretch, make sure you mention why you are qualified in your cover letter. If it’s not even close, save your time and the employer’s time and don’t apply.

Use the time you might have spent sending random inquiries to network. I know two people who were hired within the last couple of weeks because of the networking they did. They approached contacts at companies they were interested in working for an asked for assistance. Remember that college career office I mentioned? If you’re a college grad (even from years ago) ask your career services office if they have alumni you can network with. Professional associations are another good source for contacts. Friends, neighbors and acquaintances can all help too.

Follow Instructions

Finally, and most importantly, if there are specific instructions in the job posting, in the newspaper ad or on the company web site, please do yourself, and everyone else a favor, and follow them!

Source
http://jobsearch.about.com/cs/jobs/a/rules.htm