Self-Publishing

Self-PublishingSelf-Publishing

The No. 1 Reason Job Seekers Make Bad Career Decisions

The No. 1 Reason Job Seekers Make Bad Career Decisions The No. 1 Reason Job Seekers Make Bad Career Decisions We spend about a third of our days at our jobs, and yet roughly 70 percent ofus are unhappywith our careers.While a lack of praise from leadership can explain this unhappiness, the jobs fit may be a problem, too. Its not necessarily that an employeeisnt smart enough to do the job theyve chosen even the smartest people make poor career decisions. Rather, poor career choices often happen because a person doesnt have all theinformation they need to make a decision that will positively impact their long-term career goals.In fact, a lack of information is the No. 1 reason why job seekers make bad career decisions.I often see job seekers say yes to any and all job opportunities given to them by recruiters without thinking about the long-term consequences of taking oneach job. It is important that, instead of jumping at every offer, professionals take time to scope out the whole s ituation and really think through the impacts of their decisions.Here are a few steps you can take to make learning a part of your decision-making strategy for long-term career successRecognize Learning as the SolutionYou can certainly learn how to make the right move at the right time, so its important to recognizelearning itself as a job search solution and career success principle. Learning gives you the opportunity to research and gather the information you need to make better decisions.Learning is not just limited to what you read in books you can learn from experiences, podcasts, career consultants, coaches, mentors, and peers.Love the Learning ProcessLearning should be a lifelong pursuit, so its vital that you learn to love the process. Many top industry leaders and influencerseven go so far as setting aside five hours for dedicated learning every week.By learning to love the learning process, you can establish learning as a habit. As a result, youll be spending time every we ek growing your career and speeding up your job search.Remain in Student ModeBeing in student mode means being in a constant state of learning. When you are in the student mode, youre always looking to gain insight. This will help you mora easily find the information you need to reinvent yourself when the climate for your industry changes, or you require new skills to excel in your career path.Celebrate Each MilestoneJust as it is important to love the process of learning, it is also important to celebrate each milestone that you reach. Acquiring a new skill doesnt come to anyone easily. Treat yourself to something nice when you master a new ability or otherwise accomplish your goals.- Making a smart career move requires more than knowing how to do the job for which youre applying it also means understanding your whole career so that you dont deviate from the plan.Being in thestudent mode on a consistent basis allows you to stay ahead of the curve and beat your competition whenever necessary. Education and training are the pathways to job search and career success, so take time to learn everything you need to in order to have the career you desire. Proactively pursue connections with those who can teach you the skills you require. That is how you will become a well-rounded professional who can handle themselfat work.By making lifelong learning a cornerstone ofyour career plan, you will set yourself up to make smarter short- and longterm career decisions.Nader Mowlaeeis an engineering career coach and recruiter who is motivated by building confidence in engineers.

The changing workplace Appreciation and remote workers

The changing workplace Appreciation and remote workersThe changing workplace Appreciation and remote workersThe culture that we live and work in is subject to constant change over time. And in recent years, that change has occurred at a highly accelerated rate. Rows of desks filled withstenographers and secretaries are well in the past. In the 70s, arbeitszimmers looked like cubicle farms, and these, in turn, transformed back up to open office plans, attempting to encourage communication and collaboration.Additionally, rapid technological changes (from the phone, to faxes, to emails, texting and videoconferencing) have created an entirely new category of employee, the remote worker. And their ranks are growing.In 1995, 9% of U.S. workers telecommuted. By 2015, 37% of employees reported in aGallup pollthat that they worked off-site. And in 2016 43% of employees spent at least part of their week working remotely. A recentsurvey of 500 managers and executivesfound that53% of companies i n the U.S. continue to have standard workplaces, with nearly every employee coming into the office four or more days a week.37% have a main office with some people working remotely.10% have no office space at all.These changes in our daily work cultures impact (and create new challenges) in how we relate to those with whom we work. A key question has arisenHow do you effectively communicate appreciation to your team members in the context of long-distance work relationships?Communicating appreciation effectively to remote staff and virtual teams is challenging but the data from our research shows it can be done. Yes. Communicating appreciation has changed due to cultural influences. But the foundational aspects of appreciation (the need to communicate regularly, in ways meaningful to the recipient, and authentically)haventchanged.In the newly released edition ofThe 5 Languages of Appreciation in the Workplace, we devote an entire (new) chapter to address the issue of appreciation w ith remote employees, and virtual teams. We share specific examples of successful (remote) appreciation that both managers and employees have shared with us, and the resulting guiding principles we discovered.Research Differences in Appreciation Desired?Additionally, we began to wonder if those individuals who were in long-distance work relationships desired to be shown appreciation in the same ways as employees who worked on-site. That is,do employees who work remotely have different preferred languages of appreciation than those in the general workforce?To find out,we conducted a research studywhere we compared almost 90,000 individuals who had taken theMBA Inventory. The majority of individuals had completed the general workplace version of theMBAIbut over 2,500 used a version specifically designed for Long Distance workers.We found that employees in long-distance work relationships choseQuality Timeas their primary language of appreciation more frequently (35%) than workers on-s ite (25%). The majority of these switched fromWords of AffirmationtoQuality Timebeing their primary appreciation language (48% in general work settings to 38% for long-distance employees).So it is important for supervisors and colleagues to keep in mind that many remote employees valueQuality Timewith their colleagues more highly than those who work in face-to-face settings. Specifically, using videoconferencing to check in and including them in team meetings virtually can help these team members feel valued.There are more findings than we can report here, and a number of additional practical action steps are described in the books remote employee chapter, butone of the most important lessonswe have learned for effectively communicating appreciation to remote colleagues is thatyou must be more proactivethan in face-to-face relationships. While communicating appreciation in long-distance work relationships takes time and forethought, itcanbe done and it is important to do so.Without ongoing appreciation and support for the work they are doing, employees who work remotely are at risk for becoming discouraged, not producing to their capability, and eventually quitting. Take the time and effort to communicate how much you value your staff who work in a different physical location, and the return on your investment will be well worth the cost.This article was originally published on Appreciation at Work.