11 Dec 08 How to get Through Your First Week at Work

Anyone starting a new job is really bound to feel a sense of apprehension. Going into the office on your first day, especially if you are in a relatively junior position can seem a daunting experience. After all, you don’t even know where the toilets are, or where to make yourself a drink, so the first day and even the first week can seem quite slow and lengthy.

But there are some things that you can do to help yourself and make the settling in process a little bit quicker. Don’t be afraid to ask. If you don’t know how to do something or where something is, then ask, but try not to ask the same person all the time, or they may grow a little tired of it.

Don’t be too forward on your first day. If you come in and try to change things too quickly, people may resent you. So just adapt to how things are done and don’t keep telling people how your last employer did things: they probably won’t be interested.

It is always important to be friendly but do not attach yourself to a particular individual until you know what is what in the office and understand the dynamics of the workplace. It is really easy to alienate people by inadvertently saying the wrong thing. Remember that these people are colleagues, not necessarily your new best friends.

If you are temping for a recruitment agency, then you probably will get used to settling into new work experiences very quickly, but you should still ensure that you don’t rock the boat too much, whether you are temping or there on a permanent basis. Changes in the workplace often need to be handled sensitively and many people may be wary of a new person joining the team, so simply be yourself, but be slightly reserved until you start to understand how things work and what the office is really like. That way, settling in should be no trouble at all and you will soon be a valued member of the workplace.

Tags: Afraid To Ask, anxiety, Apprehension, Bound, Changes In The Workplace, Colleagues, fear, first week, help, Junior Position, Little Bit, Many People, New Best Friends, New Friends, New Job, Recruitment Agency, Rock The Boat, Settling, Starting A New Job, Toilets, Work Experiences

05 Dec 08 Retirement – A Dirty Word?

The days when men had to retire at 65 and women at 60 are now long gone. Many people now want to continue to work, some because they have to for financial reasons, but others simply enjoy feeling that they are still a useful part of Society. Until recently, there was very much a feeling in the workplace that once you reached 65, you were pretty much past it and really you should go home, look at your retirement clock and go on cruises. My how times have changed!

Now there is an increasing feeling that people have a lot to offer after the age of 60 or 65. After all with age comes experience and that can often be life experience. Many older people are also very patient, so they can be calm in a crisis and not panic when all does not go to plan.

Many people find that they enjoy a second career, very different from their first one. So someone who has been the MD of a company may enjoy working with young people, or gaining skills in IT and then mentoring younger people. Gardening, odd job work, tutoring are all really worthwhile careers that can offer people over the age of 60 a chance to learn new skills and sharpen up their existing skillset.

You will find that if you sign on with a recruitment agency that age doesn’t necessarily have to be a barrier, although some jobs cannot be undertaken after the age of 70. But really there are lots of opportunities available, whatever your age.

So retirement should not be viewed as something that is automatic and that you ‘have to’ do. When and if you retire should be entirely your choice and something that happens when you want it to be. Retirement is therefore not a dirty word, but something that can be done when you choose and you will enjoy it much more, rather than if you are forced to retire.

Tags: 60, 65, 70, career, continue, Cruises, Dirty Word, elderly, Jobs, Life Experience, Lot, Many People, Odd Job, Recruitment Agency, retirement, Retirement Clock, Skillset, working, Young People

03 Dec 08 Midlife Career Change

Is it possible to wake up some day at 40 and think that you want to do something completely different? Is that just a day dream, to be thought about on the drive home from work, but nothing more than a dream?

Well it can be a pipe dream, or it can become reality. The choice really is yours. Many people find that once they have hit mid life, they know what they want from life and they aren’t going to compromise. Instead they want to make sure that they fulfil all their dreams and if that means suddenly throwing everything in to become something very different, then so be it.

But (and here is the cautionary note) make sure that your dream is all that you want it to be! If, for example, you dream of being a gardener or landscape architect then instead of jacking in your job, re-training and then finding out that you actually hate it, try to get some work experience first. You can either do this on a voluntary basis, working with a company just to see if you like it, or sign up with a recruitment agency, so that you can test it out and get paid for it at the same time!

Remember that life is short and one thing that we all have in common is that we all have only one shot at life, so you need to make sure that you don’t regret things you haven’t tried. Even if you try things and they don’t work out, you chased your dream and that counts for a lot. But chasing your dream usually means that it does work out, since you have so much vested interest in creating success. So mid life career changes can be the best thing that happened to many people: go for it!

Tags: 40, 40's, career, Career Change, Career Changes, Cautionary Note, change, Day Dream, Dreams, Gardener, Job, Job Training, Landscape Architect, life, Life Career, Mid Life, midlife, One Thing, Pipe Dream, Recruitment Agency, Success, Vested Interest, Voluntary Basis, work, Work Experience