Your career should essentially be in your control. In an ideal world, you would progress within your chosen company for doing your job well and doing it on time. However, whether you are looking for a deserved pay rise or you want promotion you may find that you are often overlooked in preference for employees that you believe are not as accomplished as you are. There’s no use in performing well, if the right people don’t hear about it.
Networking within the company you work for may not seem like the ideal way to spend your time, however, it will ensure that your face fits. Never be afraid to put your best foot forwards and sing your own praises if necessary. When you do something noteworthy let your managers and, if necessary, their managers know. If you come up with an idea that will potentially make or save money then tell the right people about it.
Your career is important and only by taking control of it’s progression can you be sure it will go the way you want it to. Setting goals is a major part of this aim. With short, medium and long-term goals you will be able to micro manage every aspect of your career. Your short-term goals should be geared towards achieving your medium-term goals, which in turn should help you achieve your goals.
Write down your goals and keep track of how you are doing. Always make sure that they are achievable but rewarding. If your goals are too easy and you can reach them with little or no effort, then there is no real point. Alternatively, if your goals are too difficult you will quickly become disheartened and give up. Life can throw the occasional obstacle or unexpected gift your way and so it will be necessary from time to time to re-evaluate your position. Try to only change your short-term goals if you are worse than expected and your medium term goals if better than you had hoped.
Tags: Achieving Goals, Advancing Your Career, Aim, Best Foot, Career Goals, Control, Face, Forwards, Job, Medium Term Goals, Money, Obstacle, People, Praises, Preference, Setting Goals, Taking Control, Unexpected Gift
Q. “I wasn’t happy with my last performance review. Should I dispute the review? Write a letter for my file? Talk to a lawyer? Or just let it go?”
A. Most professionals feel you should offer some kind of response. But whether to respond, and the way to respond, will depend on your company’s culture, the unwritten message and your own career goals.
1. Assess your report in light of the company’s culture.
In some cultures, anything but glowing praise will be viewed as negative. In others, tough reviews are the norm.
Often your boss will be expected to come up with at least one point of constructive criticism. After all, nobody walks on water. But if you’re being attacked or unfairly criticized, you must explore further.
Sometimes you’ll win more points by taking the review in stride than by fighting. But in some cultures, a single negative review means you need to start job-hunting right away.
2. Calculate your boss’s strategy.
Sometimes your performance report has nothing to do with you or your performance. Your boss might honestly want to see you leave the company or make sure the next promotion goes to someone else.
Your boss may be a new hire who is still learning your company’s culture. She may combine good intentions with weak implementation.
Or maybe your boss wants to get your attention: he’s dropped hints and you’ve ignored them. Or he wants to help you progress but doesn’t know how to communicate tactfully.
3. Listen for unwritten messages.
Does your company have a category where a low score means you’re headed for disaster? Does your boss try to tell you, “It’s a great review!” when you know otherwise?
Suppose you’ve been getting terrific reviews – and now you get slammed with a truckload of criticism. Maybe you really did have a bad year. Or maybe there’s an agenda you need to understand.
4. Get the facts without getting defensive.
Ask your boss to explain each criticism.
For example, if your boss said your project was delivered late, get dates and times. If you’re criticized for interpersonal skills, ask for specific instances.
But give your boss a chance to save face.
Anyone can make mistakes. An overworked, harried boss can skimp on her own data collection. You can say, without confrontation, “My records show I managed six projects, not four. Can we go over this point?”
5. Delay your response.
Ask for a second meeting, explaining calmly that you need time to think. Use the time to collect your backup file. Consider a consultation with an outsider: career coach, consultant, human resources professor – even a lawyer if the situation warrants.
Do not discuss your report or your decision to seek help with your peers. Ever.
6. Back up a rebuttal with facts, not emotion.
Assemble your own evidence of performance. Collect letters of appreciation, dates and times of project completion, statistics showing how you helped the company.
Often simply placing a rebuttal letter in your own file will defuse the impact of a negative evaluation. When you’ve had a strong track record, your company will ignore an occasional negative, unless someone has introducedå a new agenda.
Your boss may be ordered to grade on the curve, i.e., assign some employees the “low” category even if everyone’s doing great. And, being human, he may assign those ratings to those who are least likely to speak up. A strong, carefully written rebuttal will clarify your strength of purpose.
7. Avoid jumping to conclusions – or to a new job.
When clients ask, “Should I look for a new job?” my answer will be, “When you work for any organization, keep yourself marketable. Maintain your network. Identify reputable recruiters and build ties with them.”
It’s rarely a good idea to share your career change plans with your colleagues or boss until you have a written offer in hand. And it’s rarely a good idea to accept a counter-offer from your present company. (Over half of all workers who accept a counter-offer are gone within six months, one way or another.)
But if your company wants to send a “Go Away!” message, they may be happy to give you a good reference that reflects your real contribution.
Tags: Agenda, Boss, Career Goals, Company Culture, Constructive Criticism, Cultures, Disaster, Dream Career, Good Intentions, Implementation, Job Hunting, Last Performance, Lawyer, Norm, Performance Report, Performance Review, Recruitment Agency, Recruitment Jobs, Score, Terrific Reviews, Truckload, Write A Letter
First Things First: What is FAFSA?
The first step in receiving any sort of scholarship or financial aid for college is to complete the FAFSA. FAFSA, or free application for student aid, is a form that is filled out by every student wishing to be considered for college tuition. This is a federal form, and you only have to complete it once, unlike the past when you had to complete separate paperwork for each college you hoped to attend.
The FAFSA form will provide you with information that will determine the amount of money your family is expected to provide for your education. The difference between what your family is expected to pay and the amount of tuition at your chosen college can be covered by federally backed grants and loans. To reduce the amount that you are expected to pay further, you can apply for a variety of scholarships.
Academic Based or Need Based Scholarships
While there are a variety of scholarships available, they generally fall into two categories, academic based and need based. Academic based scholarships are determined on grades and test scores. Financial need is not a consideration. Competition for these awards is typically stiff, with many very strong candidates vying for the same scholarship. You may be required to submit an essay, or chronicle any previous volunteer work.
Need based scholarships are determined on the financial need of applicants. While grades are typically considered, the academic pressure is usually not as intense as with an academic based scholarship. Many scholarships are a combination of the two: needs based scholarships that require a high GPA, a concentration in certain subjects, community involvement, or specific career goals.
The Nursing Shortage
There is currently a nursing shortage, and the future outlook is that a shortage will remain through the immediate future. As our population lives longer and medical technology continues to grow, the need for nurses outstrips the rate in which they are completing school. This nursing shortage means that an industrious student is likely to earn enough scholarship money to pay his or her way through college and graduate debt free.
One program many hospitals have implemented is paying tuition for current nursing students. Of course, this does come with strings attached. Once the student graduates from nursing school, he or she is expected to work for the hospital for a prearranged period of time. If the nurse leaves before that time, he or she is responsible for paying back part or all of the tuition. This can be an excellent way for students who would otherwise not be able to afford college to earn a degree. Not only does the student graduate debt free, but they automatically have a job once they leave school. The years after nursing school can be spent gaining experience in a variety of hospital settings, and if they decide to move on once their obligation is fulfilled, they have a good idea of what field of nursing they are most interested in.
Financial Help for Graduate Degrees
The lack of nurses with graduate degrees indicates that it is possible for you to earn a Nurse Practitioner, Nurse Midwife, or Nurse Anesthetist degree without the burden of taking on a significant debt. Previously, it was often difficult to weigh the benefits of returning to graduate school against the problem of expensive graduate school credit hours. With many hospitals and clinics lowering costs by employing Nurse Practitioners in place of physicians, and Nurse Anesthetists to assist the Anesthesiologist, it is very likely that the medical group that you currently work for offers tuition reimbursement. If they do not, you should speak to your supervisor or human resources personnel. They may be willing to offer tuition reimbursement on a case by case basis. If your current employer does not offer tuition reimbursement, you may want to consider moving to a different employer. Many employers will offer full tuition reimbursement or even allow you to attend school full time, with the agreement that you will work for them for a specified time once you receive your graduate degree.
Increasing Your Likelihood of Receiving a Scholarship
Whether you are looking for a needs based scholarship for an undergraduate nursing degree, or are searching for a hospital financed scholarship offer to complete your graduate degree, there are several things that you can do to improve your chances of success.
Work in your field. It does not matter if it is paid employment or volunteer work, but working in the field you plan to earn a degree in shows the decision makers that you understand the work and are less likely to switch majors or drop out.
Watch your grades and your money. No matter if you are looking for a need based or academic based scholarship, keep your grades high, even in classes that you do not think matter, and watch your money. When you receive your scholarship money be sure to buy the books and study materials that you will need to succeed. If possible, hold some money back so that you can afford a tutor before exams if you find yourself struggling.
Tags: Academic Pressure, Academic Scholarships, Amount Of Money, Career Goals, College Tuition, Combination Of The Two, Community Involvement, Concentration, Fafsa Form, Financial Aid For College, Free Application For Student Aid, Gpa, Grants And Loans, Grants Loans, Immediate Future, Medical Technology, Nurses, Nursing Scholarship, Nursing Shortage, Paperwork, Recruitment Agency, Recruitment Jobs, Scholarships, Test Scores, Volunteer Work
