Maybe you survived the massive job cuts and lay-offs that have become the norm across our great country, but that doesn’t mean you can sit back and relax! You should be thinking about what you can do to make yourself a much needed asset to your company.
If you want to be the last person they’d think of letting go, follow these ten tips outlined by Tania Khadder in her article for Monster.com “10 Ways to Make Yourself Unfireable”.
1) Save Your Company Money
Do you have an idea for how your company can cut costs? Pitch it! Even if they don’t adopt your brilliant plan, they’ll respect your eye for savings and appreciate your effort.
2) Be Positive
Be optimistic about your company, and focus on steps you can take to have a positive impact on its future. Share good news. Make jokes where appropriate. Smile!
3) Work Longer Hours
Be prepared to stay until the task at hand is finished – that doesn’t mean grabbing your sleeping bag and camping out for the night but make an attempt to come in 15 minutes early or stay a few extra minutes in the evening to make sure the job gets done.
4) Be a Leader
Being a leader means helping others. It means understanding the bigger picture. It means being vocal about possible improvements and thinking not just about yourself and your position, but about the overall goals of the organization.
5) Steer Clear of Gossip
As tempting as it can be, don’t get sucked into office gossip. As soon as you do, you implicate yourself, make enemies and come off as unprofessional. If someone else insists on telling you something, make sure it stops with you.
6) Enhance Your Skill Set
Why not enhance your skill set to make yourself even more valuable to your team? Or better at your job? Maybe faster? Whatever your industry, there is always room for improvement.
7) Work Well with Others
Effective collaboration is seen as a key driver of success. So put aside differences in age, background and interests, and learn how to communicate effectively with your teammates.
8) Watch Your Back
Think your boss doesn’t notice all those personal calls? Or how much time you spend on Twitter? Think again. Often, they’re paying closer attention than you think. And if ever they suspect you’re wasting their time, they can easily look up phone, email or internet records.
9) Keep Time Off to a Minimum
It’s not that you shouldn’t take time off. It’s just that you should try and be a little more particular about your reasons, especially if your company is experiencing cutbacks. Don’t call in sick for a headache or plan any long, extravagant vacations (at least until the waters settle).
10) Be Visible
If you’re working late, helping others and/or coming up with new, killer ideas, make sure someone knows about it. Give your manager regular updates on your progress. A simple recap of your accomplishments sent by email will do the trick. You’re not bragging you’re just making sure they know what you’ve been working on. Let’s face it: if you don’t toot your own horn, no one else will.
Maybe you survived the massive job cuts and lay-offs that have become the norm across our great country, but that doesn’t mean you can sit back and relax! You should be thinking about what you can do to make yourself a much needed asset to your company.
If you want to be the last person they’d think of letting go, follow these ten tips outlined by Tania Khadder in her article for Monster.com “10 Ways to Make Yourself Unfireable”.
1) Save Your Company Money
Do you have an idea for how your company can cut costs? Pitch it! Even if they don’t adopt your brilliant plan, they’ll respect your eye for savings and appreciate your effort.
2) Be Positive
Be optimistic about your company, and focus on steps you can take to have a positive impact on its future. Share good news. Make jokes where appropriate. Smile!
3) Work Longer Hours
Be prepared to stay until the task at hand is finished – that doesn’t mean grabbing your sleeping bag and camping out for the night but make an attempt to come in 15 minutes early or stay a few extra minutes in the evening to make sure the job gets done.
4) Be a Leader
Being a leader means helping others. It means understanding the bigger picture. It means being vocal about possible improvements and thinking not just about yourself and your position, but about the overall goals of the organization.
5) Steer Clear of Gossip
As tempting as it can be, don’t get sucked into office gossip. As soon as you do, you implicate yourself, make enemies and come off as unprofessional. If someone else insists on telling you something, make sure it stops with you.
6) Enhance Your Skill Set
Why not enhance your skill set to make yourself even more valuable to your team? Or better at your job? Maybe faster? Whatever your industry, there is always room for improvement.
7) Work Well with Others
Effective collaboration is seen as a key driver of success. So put aside differences in age, background and interests, and learn how to communicate effectively with your teammates.
8) Watch Your Back
Think your boss doesn’t notice all those personal calls? Or how much time you spend on Twitter? Think again. Often, they’re paying closer attention than you think. And if ever they suspect you’re wasting their time, they can easily look up phone, email or internet records.
9) Keep Time Off to a Minimum
It’s not that you shouldn’t take time off. It’s just that you should try and be a little more particular about your reasons, especially if your company is experiencing cutbacks. Don’t call in sick for a headache or plan any long, extravagant vacations (at least until the waters settle).
10) Be Visible
If you’re working late, helping others and/or coming up with new, killer ideas, make sure someone knows about it. Give your manager regular updates on your progress. A simple recap of your accomplishments sent by email will do the trick. You’re not bragging you’re just making sure they know what you’ve been working on. Let’s face it: if you don’t toot your own horn, no one else will.
Back in 2005 I had attended a local community college for Criminal Justice. At the time my Mother had taken ill and I had spent a lot of time going to the hospital and nursing home for visits, in which I was finding it harder and harder to go to my classes. I wanted to be able obtain my degree and I and take care of my Mother; my Family as well as work fulltime and I was determined to do it all. I chose Penn Foster because they offered the classes I needed to obtain my degree in Criminal Justice. They made transferring my credits from my community college easy and they gave me the convenience of setting my courses at my own pace.
I graduated in 2008 with an Associate Degree in Criminal Justice. Currently, I re-enrolled with Penn Foster College for a Bachelors s in Business Management. I also received a promotion at my workplace. I work for Lake Shore Savings Bank as a Debit Card Fraud Specialist in the Compliance Department. I love what I do and I couldn’t have done it without Penn Foster.
I would encourage anyone to follow their dreams and never let anything get in the way of getting your education. No matter what obstacles take place in your life, never lose focus of your goals. My Mother passed away in 2006 and never got to see me receive my degree, but she will always be there in spirit to push me to achieve more.
Thanks to an article we found on About.com, here are some great resources if you’re looking for an internship to help complete your studies:
1. Some top general internet sites to consider:
a. Indeed.com
b. SimplyHired.com
c. Idealist.org
d. InternJobs.com
2. Sites more specific to certain fields of study:
a. YouIntern.com: an online community of college students and employers, where students can review internships in advertising and marketing, and employers can post them.
b. The American Society for Engineering Education: offers opportunities for engineering students.
c. Entertainmentcareers.net: offers numerous opportunities for those looking to get real world experience in the field of entertainment.
d. Studentjobs.gov: offers a range of internships with the federal government for high school, college, and graduate students.
e. Teamworkonline.com: offers fantastic sports-related internships and is a resource for finding internships from all over the country as well as being one of the very few free sports search sites.
f. Coolworks.com: offers interesting and fun summer experiences for U.S. and international students.
Do you have any suggestions to add to this list?
Have you personally used an internship site like one of these to obtain your internship? If so, what was your experience like during the internship?
As we’ve mentioned in previous blog posts, this newest branch of the digital era (i.e. iPhones, iPads, net books, etc) will definitely have an impact on not only how content is delivered, but also how students learn over the next decade.In a recent article written by Tanya Roscorla, she discusses six emerging technologies that will have an impact on colleges everywhere. For the full article, click here.
1. Mobile Computing
Smartphones, netbooks, laptops and other devices that access the Internet through cellular-based, portable hotspots and mobile broadband cards have already become main-stream on many campuses.At Georgetown University, the administration texts short messages to students, and professors use screen recording software to create podcasts of their lectures that can be downloaded onto mobile phones, said Betsy Page Sigman, a professor who teaches management information systems, databases and electronic commerce at the university's McDonough School of Business.
2. Open Content
Open content (online educational resources) has had a huge impact on the way colleges do business. However there will always be those that reject this new medium so to protect their intellectual property.
3. Electronic Books
Consumers have already mainstreamed electronic readers, including the Kindle, which was Amazon.com's best-selling product in 2009. Campuses have not adapted the readers as quickly, but as more academic titles become available, they are piloting e-books.
4. Simple Augmented Reality
The technology allows someone to point a smartphone at an object and find out information about it. For example, someone could take their smartphone to a place with a lot of plants, hold the camera up to one of them, and find out what kind of plant they were looking at.Imagine a student being able to do this with a potential college campus. Definitely makes those college-search road trips more interesting!
5. Gesture-Based Computing
The iPhone, iPod Touch, Nintendo Wii and other gesture-based systems have become popular in the consumer industry because they let users control what the device does with their body movements. Devices with these systems could make the Internet come alive and lead to new kinds of teaching or training simulations.
6. Visual Data Analysis
This technology basically combines advanced computational methods with sophisticated graphics engines. It will turn your boring data into 3-D graphics which help with retention and to actually see the data providing a better understanding.
How accepting are you of these new emerging technologies in your own studies? In the future, do you see a complete digital/online revolution for schools in general?