There are some supplemental online courses available on this topic as well:
Get that Well-Deserved Raise at https://www.udemy.com/how-to-get-that-well-deserved-raise/
10 Career Boosting Resolutions at https://www.udemy.com/10-career-boosting-resolutions/
Professional Development Toolkit at https://www.udemy.com/how-to-get-that-well-deserved-raise/
Check them out to see if you are interested in more tips.
1) Volunteer your services to non-profits and small businesses. You need to make sure you are offering your services in the area of your job skills/expertise. Example: You are a web-designer. Offer to redo a small business website with the understanding that you can place your logo and designed-by contact information on the pages.
The goal is to come up with ideas that both keep your skills sharp and helps get you that job. Each of these solutions have an affect on your resume and cover letters. You gain additional work experience, recommendations, and references for your resume and cover letters. You can also refer potential employers to your internet product or YouTube training videos.
Hello, this is Laura Lee Rose – author of the books TimePeace: Making peace with time – and the Book of Answers: 105 Career Critical Situations. I am a business and efficiency coach that specializes in professional development, career management, time management, and work-life balance strategies.
Everyone is busy. But if you don’t make the time to manage your career, your career will manage you. Today’s topic is how to find time for professional development.
Most people find comfort in the idea that they:
Whether these statements are true or not, they are irrelevant.
Both personal and professional development can be accomplished with 10 minutes a day. Audio tapes, short articles, online programs, discussion groups, pod-casts, as well as various mobile devices make it possible for you to study:
Everyone has 10 minutes a day for things that are important to themselves.
Also, identify things you can blend into what you are already doing. Some examples:
If you incorporate these things as you go along (with the goal of continuous learning and developing), it doesn’t really add any time to your day.
Once you clarify your professional development goals, opportunities will automatically appear. This isn’t because they magically appear out of nowhere. It’s because your vision is now clear enough to see what was always there.
But – how is the best way to recognize opportunities
Quick Tips
When you know what to look for – there are opportunities everywhere. This may bring an immediate feeling of overwhelm-ment and stagnant of indecision. Jot your opportunities down as they occur (the IT Professional Development Toolkit calls this the Parking Lot Method). Jotting them down will avoid being overwhelmed. Realize that this is merely a smorgasbord; you simply have to pick and choose.
Conclusion: Use your scheduled 10 minutes a day to fill your pipeline of knowledge.
Use your scheduled 10 minutes a day to shift and sort the opportunities that start appearing. Think about how which event can help you the most; which event you are most ready for; which event you can implement right now.
But all these things start with the desire and commitment to start. Pause for 10 minutes a day and devote that to your professional, personal and career development.
The IT Professional Development Toolkit is covers a comprehensive set of development tools and techniques in less than 10 minutes per practice. It contains audios, videos, articles, webinars, presentations and practice exercises designed to be less than 5-8 minutes in length. It can be used as a reference platform or a 12 week course program.
The IT Professional Development Toolkit, goes into the who, what, where, when, why and how to accomplish all of the above. The toolkit comes in two forms: DVD and online eLearning program.
For more information about the toolkit, click on the above buttons or please go to my website at www.lauraleerose.com
Or sign up for my weekly Time and Career Management Newsletter at: http://eepurl.com/cZ9_-/
Hello, this is Laura Lee Rose – author of the books TimePeace: Making peace with time – and the Book of Answers: 105 Career Critical Situations. I am a business and efficiency coach that specializes in professional development, career management, time management, and work-life balance strategies.
Today we are going to talk about How to deal with competition in the workplace.
Examples:
More often than not – the feeling of competition comes from the idea of scarcity. When you believe there are only one spot on the high-profile project, one job available, and one seat on the conference table – then of course there is a feeling of competition. The face is that there will be other high-profile projects around the corner (that’s not the only one that is ever going to present itself). There will be other open positions in other departments and groups (this isn’t the last job available ever). There are other ways to get to a conference (having your department send you isn’t the only option). The MVP isn’t the only award given, your department isn’t the only one that gives out awards, and this isn’t the only year that they give it out.
To eliminate the feeling of competition – create your own opportunities.
1) Network and investigate other leads and job opportunities in other sister departments
2) Increase your value to other departments, managers, executives and clients
3) Meet with mentors and experts to get guidance on how to shore up you skill set and talent gaps to get the next high-profile project.
4) Make yourself visible to high-profile clients to eventually become their pick as a liaison.
5) Submit abstracts and papers to various conferences. When you are a speaker at the conference, your admittance is paid for by the conference. Your department budget isn’t affected.
6) Offer to assist the marketing or sales departments to create additional opportunities for yourself.
7) Publicize and clarify your goals to allow others to keep an eye and ear out for you.
The Personal Business Commitment plan, the Individual Development Plan and the Individual Network Strategy workbook (all found in the IT Development Toolkit), helps you outline the steps to accomplish the above.
Bottom line – There’s rarely only one way to succeed. Get yourself out of the competition mode by realizing that you don’t only have 1 bite of the 1 apple. Focus on your ultimate goal.
For example – If your goal is to get to the conference, then the goal is to get to the conference. It’s not to get your department to pay for your conference expenses.
Your goal is to be considered a valuable employee and eventually lead on a high-profile project. It’s not to be the lead on this particular high-profile project.
Once you focus on your real goal, additional alternative routes appear. Others will continue to focus on the more obvious routes. But if you focus on the path less traveled, you will eliminate much competition.
The IT Professional Development Toolkit, goes into the who, what, where, when, why and how to accomplish all of the above. The IT Professional Development Toolkit is covers a comprehensive set of development tools and techniques in less than 10 minutes per practice. It contains audios, videos, articles, webinars, presentations and practice exercises designed to be less than 5-8 minutes in length. It can be used as a reference platform or a 12 week course program.
The toolkit comes in two forms: DVD and online eLearning program.
For more information about the toolkit, click on the above buttons or please go to my website at www.lauraleerose.com
Or sign up for my weekly Time and Career Management Newsletter at: http://eepurl.com/cZ9_-/
Hello, this is Laura Lee Rose – author of the books TimePeace: Making peace with time – and the Book of Answers: 105 Career Critical Situations. I am a business and efficiency coach that specializes in professional development, career management, time management, and work-life balance strategies.
Today’s question is : What’s more valuable to job force…..jack of all trade or expert in a few? Which is better to stay employed and get promoted.
Once again, it will greatly depend upon your career goals. Let’s look at some career goals as an illustration.
In all of the above, it’s beneficial to be an expert in your dominant field or role, and very good in adjacent areas and roles. The degree in which you are proficient in each area depends on your current career path.
If your goal is to be considered a valuable contributor to your department, you need to be ready to step into other people’s positions on an as-needed basis. The argument of “that’s not my job” is fine is but it also limits your value to your department. You still want to be an expert in your assigned tasks, but being able to manage other adjacent tasks, functions and areas of your department increases your value. You will not be able to be an expert in all areas, but if you can be an adequate temporary solution in some adjacent roles (jack of some skills AND an expert in one or two) to help the team to conquer the current huddle, your value increases.
As you sale up the career mountain, business networking and collaboration becomes more important.
If you want to be the GoTo Person in your division, you need to be well-connected and knowledgeable across departments. You don’t need to know everything about everything; merely seem that way. This means you know how to gather the data or borrow the expertise from someone else. By creating a entourage and support circle of co-workers, mentors, and other experts, you can provide the needed service to both sides of the equation. You will have become an opportunity agent for both the requester and the supplier.
The higher the stakes, the wider the net of experience.
For instance, if you are interested in receiving an Average Performance Rating, then you only need to do excellent work in your assigned duties (expert in one or two areas). But the higher the stakes and the higher you rise, the wider your experience net needs to be. As you rise on your career ladder, you will be depending more on your business relationships, market trending and forecasting experience, business cycles and even human nature. You will find that the higher the rung, the further away from the technical details you will be traveling. You will be traveling more toward forecasting, predicting and designing long-term strategies.
You will still be knowledgeable in your primary technical skill, but that will no longer by your dominant attribute or value.
Conclusion: If you have your Individual Development Plan (outlined in the IT Professional Development Toolkit program), it will be easy for you to determine which areas to focus on as an expert; which to gain secondary experience and knowledge; and which gaps to fill in with your network of experts, mentors and collaborators.
The IT Professional Development Toolkit is covers a comprehensive set of development tools and techniques in less than 10 minutes per practice. It contains audios, videos, articles, webinars, presentations and practice exercises designed to be less than 5-8 minutes in length. It can be used as a reference platform or a 12 week course program.
The IT Professional Development Toolkit, goes into the who, what, where, when, why and how to accomplish all of the above. The toolkit comes in two forms: DVD and online eLearning program. For more information, click on the below version.
For more information about the toolkit, click on the above buttons or please go to my website at www.lauraleerose.com
Or sign up for my weekly Time and Career Management Newsletter at: http://eepurl.com/cZ9_-/
2) Dress professionally as though you are having this interview in person
3) Look at a picture of your best friend and act as though you are talking to them. The ease and confidence will come through the phone.
5) Take notes. When you are on the phone, your mind is tempted to wonder directly to an answer, before you even heard the entire question. Quickly jot down a note if something is triggered while they are speaking. Then return to listening to them. You can return to that note afterwards.
6) Avoid the brain-dump. Because you can not see the interviewer, it’s tempting to catch diarrhea of the mouth.
It’s easy to assume that you understand the question and feel that you have to give a full biography of everything that you know about that subject. And as you are speaking, you think of more and more things to share. This comes off more as rambling than informative. Before you fly-off, pause and paraphrase what you think they are asking – to make sure you are answering the question (and in the level of detail) that they are interested. If the question is vague, ask for clarification in stead of rambling off in several directions.
Example: Interviewer: “How did you accomplish that?” – You could go into minute detail of how you coded something. But if you answer: “That project had many different levels. Would you like to know the high-level general process? the team, client and executive interactions? or more about the specific coding challenges?” This shows the interviewer that you are aware of the different levels involved – and want to answer the question that they are interested in.
When you are interviewing in person, you can read body language to see if you are interested in your answer. But when you are on the phone – you can’t tell if they are shifting in their seats, pacing or rolling their eyes. So keep your answers concise and brief. Pause and ask them if they need would like more detail. Pause and ask them if this is what they were interested in. Pause and ask them if you have fully answered their questions.
For a detail conversational-interview practice flowchart, please email me at LauraRose@RoseCoaching.info
Although there are many reasons for leaving a job, it’s a good rule of thumb to leave it on good terms (even if the work environment was difficult).
Some things to consider:
1) When asked “Why are you leaving”, avoid saying anything negative about the position or people that you are leaving. Focus on the fact that this current position has prepared you for this new opportunity. Appreciate all the learning experiences and skill set that this current position afforded you. Without this current position, you would not have been able to advance to the next level.
2) Leave with an attitude of service. Offer 1 week of limited phone or email consult. Even though your last two weeks at the current job should be training and handing-off to your replacement; many organizations don’t actually rehire until after you have gone and they may have some questions after you leave. Offering some availability, illustrates your desire for the department to succeed after you leave. It’s is not likely that they will call. But it’s a nice offer to make.
3) When asked “Is there anything we should change, to better retain good employees like yourself?” be prepared with procedural improvements that support the business mission and goals. Avoid emotional and personal comments on managers and co-workers. Focus on steps that will increase the company’s revenue, customer satisfaction, and efficiency.
4) Avoid losing contact. Keep in touch with all your significant co-workers, managers, mentors and clients from this job. Business network with these people after you leave. Things change. Their positions will change; their needs will change; your position will change and your needs will change. Opportunities will rise because of these business networks.
5) Leave with a strong handshake and smile. Exit a job just as you would leave a job interview. Promise to keep in touch and wish them well.
The Professional Development Toolkit DVD and e-course goes into the who, what, where, when and why of all of the above.
For a limited time only – the first 20 people to register for the course will get in free. Just enter the coupon code “Open Enrollment” at
https://www.udemy.com/it-professional-development-toolkit/
This is Laura Lee Rose, a business and efficiency coach that specializes in professional development, time management, project management and work-life balance strategies. In my Professional Development Toolkit package , I go into professional development and real-world IT topics in detail. If you are interested in more training in these areas, get signed up
I know the usual reasons for not hiring a particular individual, such as under-qualification or just-not-a-fit; but what are the reasons employers interview and then decide not to hire anyone?
There are often different reasons why employers interview and then don’t hire. Because reasons are normally asynchronous to the hiring process, they are less evident.
Since the interview process takes time and money (from advertizing for the position, filtering and sorting incoming resumes, initial candidate screening and the interview meeting),no company goes into this process with the idea that “they do not intend to really hire anyone”. They enter this process with the full intention of finding good candidates and eventually a good employee.
But because this process takes time, things can change during the interview process itself. The longer it takes to find someone, the higher the risk of something changing.
Some things that they may realize during the interview process are:
1) The longer it takes to find the right person, the higher the risk that they realize that this position isn’t as critical as first thought. They may feel that they are doing fine without the extra hand. After viewing several candidates, they realize that they rather train and promote from within. Or they find that they have actually completed the project that they were trying to hire.
2) The position disappears because of an re-organization or business strategy change. It could be combined with some other role or eliminated altogether.
3) A new project management strategy is instituted such that either the schedule is extended to allow the current resources to handle the added tasks; or the project scope is diminished such that the current resources are satisfactory.
4) A hiring freeze was just initiated.
5) A different way of subsidizing the resources is implemented instead. This could be a short-term contractor, an affiliated partner is providing the service (outsourcing), the company decides to eliminate that service altogether (and refer clients to their referral partners)
In the Professional Toolkit, I provide worksheet, templates and guidance on how to accomplish these things. The Book of Answers: 105 Career Critical Situations contains 105 work-life scenarios like the above. The scenarios show how to accomplish your goals in similar situation.
How to deal with difficult clients without losing business.
For your business to thrive, you need the right client (not just any client). Often times the difficult clients means it’s a poor match. It could mean that you don’t have the right product; the right price; or the right service level for them. In these cases, they are not the right client for you. If you continue to try to provide for the wrong clients, you will loose business for a few reasons:
1) 
They will never be happy with your service.
2) You will loose money trying to make them happy (which you will never be
able to do).
3) They will tell everyone that they know – not to go to your place
(loosing you more clients).
So – sometimes, trying to keep a client actually loses you business.
Some ways to deal with difficult clients without losing business:
1) Understand the reason the client is asking for this particular item. Sometimes what the client really needs is different from what they are actually asking for. If you take the time to understand the client’s perspective, goal and reason for the purchase (of service or product), then even if you don’t have the exact product they are asking for, you may have a different solution for them. Sometimes people get fixated on one way to fix the problem, when there are multiple solutions. You may have a different product that solves their problem – just not the one they are fixated on right now.
2) Be prepared with a list of affiliated or referred partners. If you don’t have the right solution, be prepared to hand-off to someone in your referral or affiliated program. This way the client stays happy and you get the referral fee.
3) Apologize for the situation and ask the client how he/she would like this situation handled. Try to accommodate as best as you can within the goal of your company. If you are not able to accommodate the client and you have caused them some inconvenience, provide them an in-store coupon or gift certificate that requires them to come back to redeem.
This is Laura Lee Rose, a business and efficiency coach that specializes in professional development, time management, project management and work-life balance strategies. The Professional Development Toolkit package covers professional development and real-world IT topics in detail. If you are interested in inexpensive training in these areas,get signed up
More and more small businesses are popping up. Either you or your spouse is working at a small business or you know someone that is involved in a small business. In a small company or business, discretionary funds are very restrained. Even so, the need for employee recognition and appreciation is still important. Your company’s success lay on your employees shoulders (especially when your resources are limited). You and your employees are wearing multiple hats and are responsible for significant tasks that can make or break the company.
So — How can a small business reward and recognize outstanding performance without breaking the bank?
The best way to recognize employees on a budget is to create a 2-fer. By this I mean to think a little out of the box to discover and create rewards that also support your business success.
Some examples could include (but not limited to):
1) Use your client’s restaurants or facilities to hold recognition lunches.
2) Use your client’s print shop or merchandize to reward with plaques or gift certificates.
3) Make it an honor to be selected to escort clients to games, dinners theater, or other interesting entertainment etc (only select people that this is fun for — you want this to be a treat, not seen as a punishment).
4) Your company needs to be represented at certain luxury events, have your high-performing employees enjoy those evenings as your representative instead of you.
5) Work with a local Gym or Fitness Center to purchase group memberships in exchange for them placing your marketing/advertizing banner in their hall.
6) Sponsor a local technical conference in exchange for employee seats in certain certification, training or sessions. Your marketing logo will be strategically displayed throughout the conference as well as getting your high-performers a lead into the next generation skill set.
7) Your company needs to periodically travel to high-profile client sites. Prepare your high-performing employees to do these important client retention visits. While they are during these travels, add an additional vacation day to their itinerary. Picking up the extra night hotel stay is a minimum expense, but it gives them a nice retreat.
So the idea is to make the effort to add value to what you are doing. Combine the recognition program with your client retention/referral/loyalty program or marketing/advertising dollars. Since you need to spend money on your marketing and client retention programs (as well as your employee recognition program) – find a way to get more bang for your bucks.
In the Professional Toolkit, I provide worksheet, templates and guidance on how to accomplish these things. In my Book of Answers: 105 Career Critical Situations, I have 105 work-life scenarios like the above. The scenarios show how to accomplish your goals in similar situation.
For more information on how to get this toolkit or the “Book of Answers“, please contact LauraRose@RoseCoaching.info