Interesting Facts

Women in ICT field

October 9, 2012|Interesting Facts| No comments yet

There was a time when it was widely felt that women were at a disadvantage in ICT – Information and Computing Technology. However, with more and more young women earning college degrees and entering technical fields, this is no longer the case. In fact, there are several ICT specializations where women tend to predominate. Some examples include graphic design, technical communication and the emerging field of user experience design.

However, women should not feel that they are at a disadvantage in the ICT hiring process – even outside the areas where women are common. Naturally, most job seekers realize that they are protected by strict federal anti-discrimination laws during their job search. In turn, the job seeker’s contribution is to develop a resume that effectively and concisely discusses what they can offer a given employer. The basics of effective resume writing are useful in all situations.

Here are some things for women pursuing ICT careers to remember when preparing a resume:

1) Focus on Achievements, Not Duties
Achievements are individual accomplishments that stand out and tell your future employer about your skills. Duties, on the other hand, merely rehash day-to-day minutiae; all the low-level activities that every person holding a similar job title deals with every day. To give an example: If you are a sales professional with a $5,000 per month quota, reaching that quota is your duty. Reaching $10,000 a month is an achievement and represents the kind of information that makes a difference.

2) Offer Quantifiable Data Whenever Possible
In ICT, hiring decision-makers thrive on mathematical detail. They appreciate knowing indisputable quantitative facts behind your achievements. In many positions, it will be easy to compare the state of technical resources at the time you were hired and the time you left to see what positive changes you contributed to. If you made changes that caused your network to run 10% faster, reduced trouble calls 25% or resulted in 13% greater user satisfaction, all of these things put your performance into context.

3) Demonstrate Competence and Confidence in Communication
Although stereotypes are usually problematic, understanding them allows you to find advantages. ICT professionals, both male and female, are generally believed to be poor communicators. On the other hand, the opposite belief is “generally” held about women – that they are more communicative and empathetic than men. Your resume serves as a visual representation of your ability to communicate, so work hard to tailor it to the reader’s needs. Using graphic design principles like cuing and emphasis can help.

To develop professionally in ICT, it’s necessary to think like a senior ICT leader and begin building your path to the executive ranks at the very beginning of your career. Doing so means balancing technical skills and people skills without giving short shrift to either. With skill, dedication and patience, women in ICT can progress just as far and just as fast as their male counterparts; ICT is an industry where creativity and ability count for more than anything else.

Athletic career- is it easy?

October 4, 2012|Interesting Facts| No comments yet

An athletic career may not be as hard to enter into as it first seems. Granted, becoming a professional athlete is a difficult road that takes years of dedicated training, advanced opportunities and a bit of genetic predisposition, but it is not the only way to make a living through athletics. Here are a few suggestions for those interested in pursuing athletic careers and the steps to make it happen.

Choose a Sport
Being a professional athlete means finding a way to be paid for your particular athletic talents. Typically, many imagine playing for a professional team. The way to accomplish this begins early in life by choosing one or two sports to fully pursue. As you grow, your ability and knowledge in the sport will grow with you. Along the way, young athletes hone their skills on teams. Playing year-round if possible will yield long term benefits, but cross-training in the off season can still help to keep the athlete’s body in competition condition.

Once you are ready to join the ranks of a professional team, the team needs to know who you are. Team scouts may notice your talent and offer you an opportunity to tryout, but most likely you will have to “walk-on” to an open tryout. The key to making it into the pros is dedication to a sport and persistence in pursuing the goal. For professional team-sport athletes, their exhibitive talent is their resume.

Coach
Many athletes may reach a plateau in their pursuit of professional sports that eventually outlasts their ability to play at the competitive level. Aging is a time clock on the body’s ability to compete in most sports. However, the mind can continue to grow in experience and wisdom of a sport long after the body has lost its competitive edge. That is why many former professional athletes transition into coaching positions.

This is an opportunity to share years of understanding and strategy in the leadership of younger athletes. Coaches work in all sports, so finding a suitable coaching position is a reasonable expectation. The key to landing that position will be in the power of your resume. For this type of position, it is important to translate athletic experience into quantifiable value for the potential employer. Mentioning that you were on a championship team is not as definitive as highlighting that you were the captain of your college team, which more clearly defines your leadership characteristics. Look for other ways to use your resume to show you are an athletic leader and not just a team player.

Supporting Roles in Athletics
The world is full of people who love sports activities, but most require a supporting staff to facilitate it. This is where the opportunity to transform a resume of general athletic experience into a focused application toward a specific support position. Some supporting staff positions will require additional training and certification like personal trainers and physical therapists. There are hundreds of positions that support the efforts of professional teams and could give you the opportunity to advance from the inside of a big sports franchise.

Is nursery at work a good thing?

September 20, 2012|employees, Employers, Interesting Facts, Tips At work| No comments yet

Just like any supposedly cure-all for a social problem, on-site nursery for employees does not necessarily always work. It does, however, solve some problems for both employers and employees. Depending on the individual employers and employees involved, an onsite child care facility may be an answer that solves many problems associated with an out of balance work-family balance.

On-site day care reduces anxiety many parents have about putting their children in child care centers where they are not nearby. Being able to visit during lunch hours or breaks can be a significant relief to a parent. Nursing mothers are also able to return to work sooner and still be close to their infants. On-site nurseries are also often licensed by a governmental authority, which further eases parents’ worries that their children are not receiving age-appropriate care and safe supervision.

Employers also benefit from on-site nurseries in many cases. While it is not feasible or practical in all cases, those employers who do offer child care at work have typically seen a significant reduction in the amount of money they spend on labor each year. In the book Kids at Work: The Value of Employer-Sponsored On-Site Child Care Centers by Rachel Connelly, Deborah S. DeGraff, and Rachel A. Willis, two companies included in an approximately 1,000-strong employee survey that offered on-site nursery saved $150,000 and $250,000 per year in wages.

Moreover, employers with on-site nursery report reduced absenteeism and turnover. They are also able to recruit and retain workers they may not have otherwise been able to entice to work for them.

Furthermore, employees were very willing to help subsidize childcare costs out of their paychecks, even those without children. They understood that on-site nursery would improve morale and productivity among workers with children. That would make the work environment generally more enjoyable for everyone. Furthermore, they were willing to help pay for on-site child care because they liked that the employer was willing to help its employees. Workers were willing to pay between $125 and $225 per year, on average, to help pay for work site child care.

On the other hand, it is true that in American society, about 27 percent of women work in blue collar jobs, and many of their employers would not consider on-site child care. Also, child care responsibilities in American society typically fall to women. Employers are also not offering health care services as often as they used to. Asking them to provide child care on-site is not likely to happen.

Perhaps a better alternative would be to provide longer maternity and paternity leave for parents. Flexible work schedules would also be a good option for many employers compared to providing on-site nursery. Nursery workers cannot take children to the doctor or care for them when they are ill, and school-aged children still require care between 3 and 6 p.m.

So, depending on a particular employer’s situation and the attitudes and financial situations of the people it hires, on-site child care may offer a good solution to labor problems like absenteeism and tardiness. Still, other employers may find similar benefits in more flexible work schedules and paid leave for both male and female new parents.

Google: The most interesting company for job seekers

September 14, 2012|employees, How to find a job, Interesting Facts| No comments yet

Finding a job can be a difficult task, especially in today’s economy. However, finding the right job seems almost like an impossibility. Add that preponderance to being a student just entering the workforce and fresh into the career world and it may seem as if getting a job, any job will likely ever happen.

Do not lose hope just yet, though. With up and coming companies like Google, the possibilities are opening up and will be offered to individuals with fresh ideas and cutting edge abilities. With Google and the job search, knowing what is available and honing in on what the company is looking for in employees just might land you a position with one of the most interesting companies on the market.

The Positions

Google basically breaks down its available positions into three teams. We will call them the Builders, theSellers, and the Doers. Within each of these teams there are a variety of jobs and assignments completed.

The Builders are those individuals involved in engineering, operations and support, product management, and technical client-facing. Engineers create the technology that’s fueling the development now and for the future. Operations and support staff are involved in supportive internet technology development and usage. Product management personal manage the process of creating, integrating, and launching new products. And, those in technical client-facing build the bridge that connects Google and technology itself.

The Sellers includes the innovators behind retail and business management within the company, including positions in sales and account management, product and customer support, partnerships, and sales operations. Each of the individuals in this team is directly responsible for the success of company interaction, product innovation, business expansion, and smooth operation, respectively.

The Doers encompass possibly the most diverse team of Googlers, ranging from business strategists to real estate and workplace servicers. Yet, much like the name suggests, without the Doers in the company, little would actually be accomplished. This team is a fine team of people comprised of positions in administration, finance, marketing and communications, legal and public policy, people operations, and others. Taking on the grit of the Google workforce, this team maintains the atmosphere and environment presented at the company as well as brings new ideas to the table for business practices and discipline.

Aside from even these opportunities, though, Google offers specific prospects for student involvement. Google offers internships for current students in the technical field and even gives precedence to recent technical graduates. And, in the sales, general, and administrative departments, the company offers student internships as well as career paths to those working on higher education degrees.

The Requirements

As Google is such an innovative company, the application and acceptance process is a rigorous path to reflect the company’s high expectations. With Google, the process is comprised of six steps that offer the company ample opportunity to get to know its candidates.

So, at Google it is about standing out in the crowd, about letting people get to know you as an individual, and sharing innovative ideas. Presenting yourself as a “go-getter” is a must, so being proactive about the application and interview process is crucial. To this end, Google has compiled a list of tips and suggestions available on its student website (http://www.google.com/intl/en/jobs/students/joining/) to aid individuals through the hiring process.

Whether just entering the field or just looking for a career move, Google is worth considering. I mean, it is the most interesting company in business today…

Is is possible to be workoholic anymore?

August 23, 2012|employees, Employers, Interesting Facts| No comments yet

The death of the workoholic may be upon us. This was a term that used to describe people who couldn’t seem to peel themselves away from work for very long. They preferred work to just about anything else in their life. Granted, they were a rare breed, but now they may be almost a dead breed.

There are two main problems for the workoholic individual. The first is all of the modern technology that the world offers. It is very difficult not to be distracted by some of it at some point. If you have that electronic gadget that keeps taking away your attention from work, then you are slowing becoming less of a workoholic. There are so many things other than work that could fill up your time now. It is hard to imagine how there is still anyone out there who would rather work all the time.

The second big problem for this breed is that there are fewer jobs to go around. This simply means that many are not able to be workoholics even if they wanted to. If they cannot find a job, then they are just sitting at home doing nothing like the rest of us. It is actually something that bothers certain people greatly. When they are not able to find a job, many of this type of person feels that he or she is not contributing to society at all. That is a tough thing to deal with.

The question must be asked. Should we be cheering the vanishing of the workoholic or worried about it? That kind of depends on the person that you are and what you have done with your life. If you are an employer, then you may wish that these types of people were still around in your workforce. However, if you are the spouse of one of these types, then you are probably happy that this behavior is starting to go away. If you are or were a workoholic yourself, you may be very confused about how you are feeling. Some are very upset that they are not able to live the way that they once were, but others are starting to come to terms with it and look around and their life and try to find ways that they might improve it.

Is it possible that the workoholic could make a return? There is no reason to assume that it is out of the realm of possibilities. People could suddenly decide that this way of living is something that they want to return to. They might find a way to deal with all of the distractions of the modern world and start to work towards focusing back in on their work life. It is also possible that the economy could come roaring back and jobs become bountiful. These are all things that could happen. If they will or not is yet to be decided, but for the moment the workoholic is very nearly an extinct breed.