Telecommuting is a wonderful option for anyone who would prefer working at home to working in an employer’s office. The benefits of having a telecommuting job are immense especially for parents who want to be at home with young children. Imagine having an extra hour in the morning and evening to spend with your family because you don’t have any drive time. Also imagine not having to spend as much time or money on the clothes required to work in a professional office. Granted, you may have to go to an occasional outside meeting every once in a while, but for the most part, it’ll just be you and your computer and the computer doesn’t care what you wear.
Finding a telecommuting job isn’t always easy but for the well-skilled job seeker, there are many jobs to be found. Tenacity and patience are the attributes you will need to make your way through the maze of finding the job you’re seeking. Below is outlined one resource– Craigslist.com – that you can use when you start your search for a telecommuting job. This is not the only resource available to you, it’s just one of many, but it’s a good place to start. The jobs are there, you just need to find them.
Craigslist.com is a national classified ad website where a lot of great jobs get posted, including those looking for work at home telecommuters. The website is free to read and it’s free to post as well. It’s become a very popular place to find jobs that are available. This article will explain how to find the telecommuting jobs that are advertised.
To find telecommuting jobs, first go to http://www.craigslist.com. Click on any city in the right-hand column, and then choose a job type in the column to the left of the city column. It doesn’t matter what type of job category you choose, we’re going to change that choice anyway.
Once you get to the next page, you’ll see a search box at the top of the page. Leave the KEYWORDS field blank and change the drop-down box to ALL JOBS. Then place a check mark in the Telecommute box. Click Search. All the telecommuting jobs for the city you chose will post to the page.
You will need to click into each job separately to determine if it is a legitimate job posting or not. Often you will also find regular jobs posted as telecommuting jobs, so read the postings carefully. Watch out for the postings that offer more money than what you know to be a normal pay range for the job you’re seeking, they are probably scams. Also, be careful about going to interviews, if it’s not in an office building where other people are around, like at someone’s house, either pass on the offer or explain to the interviewer that with internet fraud as bad as it is, you would feel more comfortable meeting in a public place like a restaurant or a coffee house.
CraigsList doesn’t offer a feature to search the entire country and it’s a shame because it makes this type of research very time consuming having to check each city individually. It may be easier for you to set a “Favorites” folder with all the searches so you can get to each city quickly. You should consider checking every major city since telecommuting can be done from anywhere in the country. It doesn’t matter if you’re in a tiny town in Texas and the company is located in New York City or Los Angeles. Just be sure to watch the ad to be sure it doesn’t request you to be local to the employer, some require periodic meetings in their office. And lastly, be sure to only apply to the most recent entries as these jobs go quickly, no need to waste your time applying for a job that’s already filled.
Good luck with your job search. A little hard work along with some patience while seeking out the jobs should help you to be employed in no time.
Tags: Attributes, Classified Ad, Clothes, Drive Time, Extra Hour, Find Jobs, Hand Column, Job Seeker, Job Type, Matter What Type, Maze, Morning And Evening, Patience, Professional Office, Recruitment Agency, Recruitment Jobs, Search Box, Skilled Job, Telecommuting Job, Telecommuting Jobs, Tenacity, Working At Home
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
While having a formal education is certainly a good way to break into some industries, don’t fret if you didn’t earn a college degree. There’s still hope! Let’s look at three qualities you must possess in order to get the job you want without a degree.
Soft Skills: These are skills not obtained by getting a degree. Some of these skills deemed most important by employers include the following:
Enthusiasm
Friendly personality
Punctuality
Ability to get along well with others
Professional appearance and mannerism
Genuine interest in the job at hand
Making Connections: Great jobs are handed out every day to so-and-so’s cousin or the head honcho’s friend’s grandson. If you want to meet with the same success, you will have to make and tap your connections effectively.
When you’re trying to make connections, you have to step outside of your comfort zone and come to life when you meet others. Sometimes you simply have to strike up conversations in coffee shops or grocery store lines. Make a proactive effort to find out a little more about the people who
surround you in your daily life. You never know who might be standing next to you in line for a movie or sitting next to you on a train!
And don’t neglect those contacts you already have. Take the time to analyze people you know and whom you have recently met. Who can potentially help you in your job goal search? Who have you forgotten to ask about job opportunities? If you feel at all embarrassed about networking, remember that it’s never begging if you go in to speak to someone full of confidence, high energy, and optimism. In fact, you may be doing them a favor if they can put you in touch with somebody who actually ends up hiring you—this makes your friend look good! The bottom line is that you’ll never know whether your connections can work for you until you try.
Market Research: Employers appreciate applicants who “do their homework.” Market research can also help clear up any confusion. When you discover how the industry you’re interested in works with other industries, you may find that some of unlikeliest contacts are the ones who can help you the most. So don’t wait around for a job to find you. Go out and do you research, talk to your contacts, and bring the job to you!
Your ability to successfully tap and utilize the three qualities above depends on how well developed your job market skills are over all. So start off by analyzing your competency level by taking this FREE Job Market Performance Assessment.
Tags: Bottom Line, Coffee Shops, College Degree, Comfort Zone, Conversations, Cousin, Formal Education, Genuine Interest, Grocery Store, Head Honcho, High Energy, Homework, Job Opportunities, Mannerism, Market Research, Neglect, Optimism, Professional Appearance, Punctuality, Recruitment Agency, Recruitment Jobs, Research Employers
If you have ever been told that you have a great voice, then you may have thought of making use of that great voice in a professional way, as a singer, announcer or as a voice over talent. Voice over, or adding your voice to advertisements and recorded messages, can be a very lucrative field for a trained talent. If you would like to get the training necessary to succeed as a voice over talent then here are a few steps to take.
But first before I give the step-by-step guide to a career in voice over, remember one thing: in the commercial world all kinds of voices are needed: low voices, whiny voices, gravelly voices, flat voices and even average voices. So, even if you don’t have a classic “good voice” you can enter the field if you have determination. Here is what you should do.
1. Take Acting Classes:
Yes, take acting classes if you are in a major city. Find a course and enroll in it. Why acting classes? You need to know how to create the characters who “speak” in a commercial. Just taking an animation class won’t do it. You need to start the process organically. It’s not about the voice, yet, it’s about the intent beneath the voice that shapes the voice.
2. Take a Voice Over Class
After you’ve opened yourself up for three months in an acting class, time to move into specifics with a voice over class. In L.A., the best resource is http://www.voiceoverresourceguide.com. It lists all the studios as well as all the classes in L.A. At the top are http://www.voicecaster.com and http://www.kalmenson.com.
3. Start Practicing at Home
In addition to class, listen to any and every commercial on the TV and radio. Mimic them. Pick up magazines and read aloud the ad copy as though it were a commercial. Get so used to your voice that silence sounds wrong.
4. Find Your Niche
Once you’ve gotten a handle on your instrument - your voice - you need to know what your range is and, by association, what your market is. Are you the classy BMW voice, the GenX hamburger guy, the Don Pardo game show host? You could be all three and more. Knowing all that you can do will help you with confidence and direction when promoting yourself.
So, start studying, keep practicing and try to determine where your voice would fit in best.
In the next article, I will discuss how to get your demo reel ready and made, how to find an agent, and how to book the job.
Tags: Acting Class, Acting Classes, Advertisements, Animation Class, Bmw, Bmw Voice, career, Class Time, Lucrative Field, Magazines, Niche, Radio, Recruitment Agency, Recruitment Jobs, Shapes, Silence, Sounds, Specifics, Three Months, Voice Over Talent, Voice Talent, Voices
Massage therapy can offer senior citizens a number of benefits that will greatly improve their sense of health and wellbeing. As the population continues to age, it is important to consider ways that we can work to improve the lives of those affected by the passing of time. A number of studies have shown that massage therapy can have a direct impact in managing the effects of aging. It has also shown promise in bringing comfort to those suffering from arthritis and other physical ailments.
As people age, they naturally become less active. This lack of physical activity can lead to the onset of other conditions which, if not dealt with, can greatly reduce their quality of life. The National Certification Board for Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork (NCBTMB) has been promoting the use of massage therapy for some time now. According to a recent study, there is a general awareness of massage therapy but a lack of understanding of its direct benefits.
In the case of senior citizens, there are a number of benefits that be derived from therapeutic massage. According to the Touch Research Institute, it is extremely useful in the treatment of Alzheimer’s patients, as it can facilitate relaxation and communication. In the case of arthritis sufferers, it can greatly assist in pain management and help increase range of motion. It also triggers natural joint lubrication, which is extremely important for those suffering from arthritis.
Massage therapy has also shown promise by helping to increase strength and muscle coordination. It can also greatly improve one’s posture by reducing muscle tension, which has the added benefit of assisting seniors with a higher quality of rest. Massage has also been known to boost one’s natural energy levels, along with their mental awareness. Study after study has shown that there is a place for massage therapy within the health care community.
More and more people are becoming aware of the benefits of massage therapy. In an age where the common approach to pain management has been dominated by the interests of the pharmaceutical industry, massage therapy has shown to be an effective and natural solution to the ailments associated with process of aging. If you or a loved one are interested in learning more about the benefits of therapeutic massage, please visit the website mentioned below.
Tags: Added Benefit, Arthritis Sufferers, Energy Levels, Health And Wellbeing, Health Care Community, Massage Therapy, Mental Awareness, Muscle Coordination, Muscle Tension, National Certification Board For Therapeutic Massage, Natural Energy, Ncbtmb, Pain Management, Passing Of Time, Physical Activity, Physical Ailments, Posture, Range Of Motion, Recruitment Agency, Recruitment Jobs, Senior Citizens, Therapy Massage
