Career Development Plan - Understanding Your Career Anchors

In the 1970's some very interesting work was begun in the Sloan School of Management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology by Professor Scheming. Scheming aimed to identify the major groups of motives that influence people in their careers. These motives were called career anchors. It is a critical part of any career development planning to understand your motivations and focus your activities on the right career search areas.A career anchor can be thought of as a combination of self perceived talents, values and motivators that organize...

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Taking Charge with a Free Career Test

While choosing a career can be interesting and exciting, after awhile it is not uncommon for many wonder if they have chosen the right calling. Everything has its ups and downs in life but when a career gets into a rut, the average individual starts reevaluating his or her decisions. Sometimes the cure for this is the use of a free career test, found either online or at a local career center. By answering the questions truthfully, one may be able to determine if it is a career change that is necessary or if it is just time to take the career...

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Best Physical Therapy Training Leads to the Best PT Careers

Due to the rapidly growing needs in the medical and healthcare industries - especially in the different rehabilitative fields - physical therapists are in high demand.With an aging population that continues to experience longer life expectancy, as well as continued advancements in these types of therapies, licensed professionals with training not only have a great job outlook right now, but are said to have one of the most personally satisfying, rewarding positions of all professions.Becoming a physical therapist does take a lot of hard...

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Careers in Negotiations

As the global marketplace becomes increasingly diverse and people from all walks of life find themselves working together more closely than ever before, conflict may be inevitable. Business leaders who understand the positive aspects of conflict can leverage the power of conflict resolution skills to build better teams, increase productivity and improve communication among employees. Possessing proven negotiation skills can set you apart from the competition and lead to a variety of career paths across industries. Professional...

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Making the Most of Your Commute to Work

For many Americans, the average work week not only encompasses 40 hours, but also the added time spent commuting back and forth. This can make finding work–life balance a daunting task. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, on average, Americans spend more than 100 hours per year commuting. Add this up on a day–to–day basis, and often times you can be adding an extra hour or more per day to your work week, driving or on public transport. While not everyone has the luxury of reducing or eliminating commuting time, it doesn’t have to...

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Are You Being Paid Enough?

In today’s fragile jobs market it’s not uncommon for employees to take on multiple roles and responsibilities, working harder than ever. With lay-offs and consolidation of employee roles, this may prompt you to ask yourself whether you are being paid enough. Making an exact determination about your salary can be somewhat difficult in the shifting employment landscape; however, there are several strategies you can employ to determine if your salary does in fact reflect today’s market value. Look at salary ranges on job listings and the...

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Are You on the Right Career Path?

Regardless of what career level you currently find yourself in – seeking a new opportunity, unemployed, leaving school – asking yourself if you are on the right career path is one of the most frequent questions job seekers ask themselves throughout their careers. While the answer to this question may seem insurmountable at times, employing a strategy where you dissect the question. Breaking it down step–by–step may help. First and foremost, the question you should ask is not "Is this career path right for me?" but rather, "What motivates...

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Best Jobs for Veterans

The unemployment rate for veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan was 12.1 percent in 2011, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). And young male veterans (those ages 18 to 24) have an even higher unemployment rate, or 29.1 percent, as compared to their non-veteran counterparts who held an overall unemployment rate of 17.6 percent. And compound this with the fact that veterans aged of 35 to 64, according to the BLS, make up nearly two–thirds of all unemployed veterans. And as more veterans return from active...

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Team Work: What it Really Takes to Create a Team Environment

The old mantra – "there is no I in team," although overused should be considered a sound philosophy all employees need adopt to succeed in today’s work environment. A streamlined workforce, mergers and acquisitions and countless other shifts in business necessitate that employee’s foster a sense of community with their peers. There are some simple steps you can take to build this team environment. Start with respect. This includes respect for your peers, respect for schedules and deadlines and building a solid relationship with your...

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The Accessible Workplace: How to Discuss Your Disability in an Interview

Interview preparation is a necessary and sometimes difficult task for many job applicants. Whether you are participating in your first or twenty-fist interview, preparation is a core essential of the job search process. For those with accessibility issues in particular, along with prepping for the standard interview questions, you should also understand how – or if at all – to discuss your disability in an interview, and what a prospective employer can or cannot address. While every employer may broach the subject of disabilities differently,...

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How the Overcrowded Job Market Is Changing the Mindset of Universities and Students

In today’s difficult economy, there are many qualified candidates coming out of top–flight graduate schools, but unfortunately there are not enough job opportunities waiting for them. The overall employment rate for the law school class of 2011 fell to its lowest level since 1994 – at just 85.6 percent. Even worse, merely 65.6 percent of law school graduates in 2011 found jobs that required bar membership in the first place, thus leaving 35 percent of law school graduates to either be underemployed or not employed at all. This problem of having...

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New Technologies Spawn New Professions

The advent of new technology platforms continues to spawn the creation of jobs that were not present the decade prior. From social media, to blogs and mobile apps, the rise in new technologies means job seekers are required to learn new skill sets and become familiar with new platforms and industries. While keeping up with these new trends can be daunting – as they continually shift – they may prove useful to explore in terms of firming up job prospects for today and tomorrow. One of the largest growth areas today is social networking....

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Starting Your Own Business – What You Need to Know

More than half of working Americans are employed in small businesses – those classified as having 500 employees or less. As the unemployment rate continues to stagnate, current job seekers and others may be considering whether it makes sense to start their own business or continue to rely on corporations to keep themselves employed. While there is uncertainty in today’s job market, people consider starting their own business for other reasons too, including the freedom and flexibility offered when you become your own boss. And with the internet...

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