The Job versus Career Debate by
Alan J MooreMany wonder what the difference is between a job and a career. Some would say that they are basically the same thing; after all, they are both venues in which a person generates an income. However, while a job is something an individual does to earn money it rarely involves any type of planning. One can apply for a job at a burger joint but few would consider that to truly be a career. When it comes to a career, there is typically an amount of groundwork or education. It more or less expresses the true skills of an individual; whereas a job tends to be a one size fits all income producer.
To prepare for a career, one will generally need to obtain a degree or special certification. This can be accomplished by attending a college or vocational school. Depending on the line of work, one may prepare for a year or seven years getting the right training. Those who opt for a certain vocation often tend to have firm goals in life they wish to make a reality. They may have a certain type of life or lifestyle they wish to lead that a simple job cannot provide. They can also have very strong abilities and talents that are unique and cannot be utilized anywhere other than in a specific career.
Once an individual launches into his or her career, they can be required to devote a certain amount of time honing their skills to solidify their profession. They may attend courses or seminars to further enhance their expertise or knowledge. Some professions require learning new systems or procedures from time to time. This can increase not only skill level but prestige and even earning power. While a job can provide the occasional training and raise, there may or may not be room for advancement. Even if there is, jobs rarely concern themselves with whether or not the individual's best skills are being utilized.
While it is easy to achieve the goal of bringing in an income, those who have a career accomplish this by doing what suits them best. It is no secret that when individual skills are recognized and put to use, people tend to love their occupation much more. They are more likely to refer to it as their livelihood and identify who they are with what they do. Those with jobs tend to become less satisfied over time because their true gifts and abilities are not being utilized. These are the individuals who end up chucking their jobs in order to go out and train for a career.
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The Job versus Career Debate
Using Job Fairs To Decide On A Career Path by
Ken Snodin -Making up your mind as to what you want to do in life is so difficult. Especially today, given the myriad options, with each profession looking better than the other. And you're not too sure what exactly it is you want to pursue. Enter the wonderful world of job fairs. Walk in and you'll see a vista of opportunities light up before your eyes, options even within professions. You can talk to people from various companies, find recruiters who will tell you what they are looking for, compare different salary structures and perquisites and have the opportunity to see what's on offer. For someone just out of college looking for a job, job fairs hold immense potential. They are eye-openers to the big world of career opportunities outside the campus. It could be your first reality check as to what awaits you.
Job fairs help you to assess different companies away from the terrifying environs of their offices. It also helps you to be exposed to the different kinds of interviews that different companies conduct. It is easier to ask a prospective employer questions about his company in a more objective setting. Most of all, it gives you the opportunity of choice. It is probably this that makes you know what you want or don't want. And this makes it easier to be clearer in your final decision.
Job fairs are held for various professions. The burgeoning healthcare industry, for example has many such fairs all over the country. This could be a great opportunity for professionals wanting to enter the industry as well as professionals who are looking for new opportunities. Whether the posts are for physicians, assistants, the nursing cadre or other supporting areas, here is a place where people can not just compare opportunities and benefits but also look at specific programs that the employer is associated with to see if it could be a perfect fit with what they are looking for.
Always remember to pick up all the available printed material from job fairs so you can read it at your leisure when you get back home. It's always good to look at the fine print. Also remember to pick up the free tote that most give to carry them so you're not distracted with a vast amount of brochures and material to manage. Go to as many job fairs as you can - you'll find the world of work unfolding its wonderful opportunities before you.
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Easy Ways to Be More Productive by
Sarah Carrillo, Savvymiss.comBetween the e-mails, phone calls, instant messages (mostly from friends, don’t lie) and people stopping by your office, it seems like you never get anything done. It can be hard to know where to begin when it seems like there is something waiting to distract you from your actual work everywhere you turn. That’s why we asked Dr. Lois Frankel, author of Nice Girls Don't Get Rich and See Jane Lead, 99 Ways for Women to Take Charge at Work, for her advice on staying on schedule and being more productive at work.
Savvy Miss: What is the most productive way to start the work day?
Dr. Lois Frankel: With exercise. It will provide you with the focus and stamina you need to get through a long day.
SM: How can people use e-mail more productively (and not let it take up so much of their day)?
LF: Schedule times when you pick up e-mail and close the e-mail file in between. It's a distraction so you should only check e-mail at scheduled times. Also, prioritize using sub-files. For example, create an “FYI” file—these are e-mails you've been copied on— and an “Action Required” file—these are e-mails that will need you to do something but not right now.
SM: What about instant messaging? Can it be a useful office tool or is it just a distraction?
LF: I don't like instant messaging. It's for friends and family, not business.
SM: What’s your advice for people to avoid distractions (phone, e-mail, gossiping co-workers)?
LF: It may sound counterintuitive, but to some degree you want to engage in distractions. By listening to co-workers, chatting at the proverbial water cooler and taking a few minutes to let people get to know you, you are building relationships that are critical to your career. But I'm talking about 10-15 minutes per day. If it goes beyond that you can always say something like, “You know I really want to talk to you, but I'm in the middle of a tight deadline. Can we catch up over lunch?” In other words, schedule the distractions at a time that is convenient for you.
SM: Should people skip lunch or breaks if they’re really busy?
LF: People should not skip lunch or breaks for a few reasons. This break is needed [for you] to work for the rest of the day at maximum efficiency. Another reason is because you should be using the time to be with your co-workers and build relationships. And a third reason is because you might be able to use the time to run a personal errand or make a personal phone call that will enable you to relax more when you get off work.
SM: Do you recommend to-do lists for managing time? What’s the best way to construct/utilize them?
LF: To-do lists are great—but they have to [be] prioritized. You can use a simple numbering system, where "1" means it must be done today; "2" means it needs to be done within a few days; and "3" means you've got more than a week to do it. Also use your Outlook calendar to schedule due dates. I recommend using the 50/50 rule—you have half of the amount of time given to you to do the project, to coordinate it, and the other half to be actually completing it. That's the only way you know you won't miss a deadline.
SM: How can people multitask successfully? Can they?
LF: It's been shown that multitasking actually decreases productivity in the long run. I'm in favor of planning well, prioritizing and being fully present in each moment.
SM: Some of us tend to do little, unimportant things first because they can be done quickly and because they pop up continuously. How can we get to the really big things we need to do?
LF: Everything you do should be categorized as urgent/important. When things are of high urgency and/or high importance they get done first. When things are categorized as low urgency and/or importance they get done later. If people would think in these terms they would focus more on what really matters.
SM: We don’t want to be careless, but we want to be speedy. How can we do this? Coffee?
LF: You don't want to use artificial stimulants to work at a faster pace. It's not healthy and you wind up crashing in the long-run. Being speedy isn't really the goal. Being efficient is. If you plan your work carefully, ask for the help you need and work at a steady pace throughout the day (with breaks in between) you will be performing to your maximum capacity.
If this isn't enough to get the job done there's something wrong. Either your boss is not being realistic about how much can be accomplished in a day or you may be spending too much time trying to do "perfect" work. Being in the wrong job may [also] cause drag in your efficiency. There are always times when a tight deadline forces you to speed it up, but that should be the exception not the rule.
SM: What are your best ways for people to be more productive during the day?
LF:
Get a good night's rest.
Do work that you love.
Plan your work and work your plan.
Take scheduled breaks.
Don't spend unnecessary time trying to perfect perfection. Know when "good enough" is good enough.
Build relationships before you need them so that when you do need help, people are willing.
Routinize as much as possible.
Let calls go into voicemail and close your e-mail when working on a tight deadline.
Exercise regularly.
Resist the urge to jump in and start projects before you've planned them out.
Now, with your instant messenger turned off, your to-do list prioritized and your lunch plans confirmed, you should be on your way to a much more productive and less stressful day.
This article was originally published on http://www.savvymiss.com, a free website community dedicated to connecting, empowering and informing women everywhere. SavvyMiss.com features articles on dating, love, careers, fashion, health, beauty and important societal issues. Members also use message boards and blogs to build relationships with other members.
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Definition Of Organizational Culture
By Jerry H.Hall
Organizational culture is a type of organizational analysis that is believed to be borrowed from the field of anthropology. It was first described as an organizational unit of concern in 1979. Subsequently when culture and its relevance to organizational systems have been matters of academic and professional concern, many books and articles are written to define and describe the nature of organizational culture. There is however no single universally accepted definition exists as of to date. The term organizational culture generally is referring to the shared meanings, beliefs and understandings held by a particular group or organization about its problems, practices and goals.
The organizational members? interaction patterns, language, themes of everyday conversation and rituals of daily routine seem to reflect elements of organizational culture. But culture is less conscious and it exists at a deeper level. So far none describe the ?essence of culture? itself, where the essence of culture is the basic assumptions and beliefs that are invented, discovered or developed by all members of a group during the course of coping with its problems of external adaptation and internal integration. These are later taught to the new members as the correct way to perceive, think and feel in relation to those problems.
Organizational cultures evolve from the social practices of organizational members and are, socially created realities that exist in the members? minds as well as in the formal rules, policies, and procedures in the organizational structures. Culture is an ongoing process of reality construction providing a pattern of understanding that helps organizational members to interpret events and give meaning to their working lives.
As highlighted by Lee and Yu (2004), when an organization is postulated to have a ?strong culture?, it is usually defined to be widely shared among employees. Well-developed cultural artifacts like ?rituals? and ?organizational stories? are anecdotes given to illustrate particular cultural traits.
In the research of Rashid, Sambasivan and Rahman (2004) however, organizational culture is defined in terms of the sociability and solidarity dimensions. Sociability is defined as the extent of friendliness in relationships between people in an organization. Solidarity is the ability of people to pursue shared goals efficiently and effectively for the larger good of the organization without much regard for the impact on individuals and the relationships between them. There were four main types of corporate culture derived based on these two dimensions: communal culture, fragmented culture, networked culture and mercenary culture. In this framework, culture is a community or the way in which people relate to each other.
The term ?organization culture? has been defined in the literature by numerous authors and two exemplary definitions are (Park, Ribiere and Schulte, 2004):
1. Routine ways of doing things that people accept and live by. Organizations have norms and values that influence how members conduct themselves. These norms may prevent members from applying a maximum effort or may encourage them to do so.
2. A pattern of shared basic assumptions that the group learned as it solved its problems of external adaptation and internal integration, that had worked well enough to be considered valid, and therefore, to be taught to new members as the correct way to perceive, think and feel in relation to those problems.
In short, organizational culture can be more simply defined as the character or the personality of an organization. Often, it is described as ?the way things are done in an organization?.
About the Author: Jerry H.Hall has an interest in Career Change Management related subjects. If you are interesting in finding out more information on Career Changes, please visit this successful Career Change site:
http://CareerChange.smartreviewguide.com
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