Ahead-of-the-Curve Careers: 13 Cutting-Edge Careers, Viable Now and Poised for Growth

by Marty Nemko, U.S. News & World Report

Cutting-edge careers are often exciting, and they offer a strong job market. Alas, the cutting edge too often turns out to be the bleeding edge, so here are some careers that, while relatively new, are already viable and promise further growth. They emerge from six megatrends:

Growing Health-Care Demand

The already overtaxed U.S. health-care system will be forced to take on more patients because of the many aging baby boomers, the influx of immigrants, and the millions of now uninsured Americans who would be covered under Barack Obama's promised health-care proposals. Jobs should become more available in nearly all specialties, from nursing to coding, imaging to hospice. These health-care careers are likely to be particularly rewarding. Health informatics specialists, for example, will develop expert systems to help doctors and nurses make evidence-based diagnoses and treatments. Hospitals, insurers, and patient families will hire patient advocates to navigate the labyrinthine and ever more parsimonious health-care system. On the preventive side, people will move beyond personal trainers to wellness coaches, realizing that doing another 100 pushups won't help if they're smoking, boozing, and enduring more stress than a rat in an experiment.

The Increasingly Digitized World

Americans are doing more of their shopping on the Internet. We obtain more of our entertainment digitally: Computer games are no longer just for teenage boys; billions are spent by people of all ages and both sexes. Increasingly, we get our information from online publications (just look where you're reading this), increasingly viewed on iPhones and BlackBerrys. An under-the-radar career that is core to the digital enterprise is data miner. Online customers provide businesses with high-quality data on what to sell and how to individualize marketing. Another star of the digitized world is simulation developer. Ever faster Internet connections are helping entertainment, education, and training to incorporate full-motion video simulations of exciting, often dangerous experiences. For example, virtual patients allow medical students to diagnose and treat without risking a real patient's life. A computer game, Spore, allows you to simulate creating a new planet, starting with the first microorganism.

Globalization, Especially Asia's Ascendancy

This should create great demand for business development specialists, helping U.S. companies create joint ventures with foreign firms. Once those deals are made, off-shoring managers are needed to oversee those collaborations and the growing number of off-shored jobs. Quietly, companies are off-shoring even work previously deemed too dependent on American culture to send elsewhere: innovation and market research, for example. Conversely, large numbers of people from impoverished countries are immigrating to the United States. So, immigration specialists of all types, expert in everything from marketing to education to criminal justice, will be needed to attempt to accommodate the unprecedented in-migration.

The Dawn of Clinical Genomics

Decades of basic research are finally starting to yield clinical implications. In 2007, it cost $1 million to fully sequence a person's genome. By mid-2009, Complete Genomics says it will do it for $5,000, and some experts predict that, within five years, the cost will decline to $100. That decline will greatly accelerate medical discoveries and already enables a person to determine if he or she is at increased risk of diabetes, cancer, heart disease, Alzheimer's, and 15 other conditions. Within a decade, we will probably understand which genes predispose humans to everything from depression to violence, early death to centenarian longevity, retardation to genius. Such discoveries will likely give rise to ways to prevent or cure our dreaded predispositions and encourage those in which we'd delight. That, in turn, will bring about the reinvention of psychology, education, and, of course, medicine. In the meantime, the unsung heroes who will bring this true revolution to pass will include computational biologists and behavioral geneticists.

Environmentalism

Alarm about global warming has made environmentalism this generation's dominant initiative. The environmental wave is creating jobs in everything from sales to accounting in companies making green products, regulatory positions in government, and grant writing, fundraising, and litigation work in nonprofits. Among the more interesting green careers, engineers are working on such projects as hydrogen-powered cars, more efficient solar cells, and coal pollution sequestration systems. But those jobs require very high-level training and skills and are at risk of being off-shored. In contrast, the so-called green collar specialist is off-shore resistant and often needs less demanding training (for example, learning how to do green-building audits). Hands-on greenies might consider a career as a solar installer, a career that will likely enjoy increased demand because of government tax incentives.

Terrorism

The expert consensus is that the United States will again fall victim to a major terrorist attack. Jobs in the antiterrorism field have already mushroomed since 9/11, but if another attack were to occur, even more jobs would surely be generated. Demand should particularly grow in such areas as computer security and Islamic-country intelligence, but their required skill sets are difficult to acquire. More accessible yet also likely to be in demand is emergency planning.

6 Unusual High-Paying Careers

by Gabby Hyman, FindTheRightSchool.com

American job titles and responsibilities are constantly morphing to suit the economic and cultural transitions of our madcap age. Euphemisms are often the way recruiters dress up old job titles to narrow the field to specialists. A "hash slinger" is now termed a "culinary resource professional." Kidding aside, today's workers are often forced by marketplace realities to undergo at least one rapid job change over their adult lives. Many enroll at online colleges and trade schools to garner fresh skills that fit their experience and previous training.

Some of these hot new careers you may have never heard of are "green-collar" jobs. These jobs are on the rise as the business world responds to dramatic increases in energy costs and environmental regulation. And while disposable income seems threatened by a roller-coaster economy, other new careers are springing up to suit those who have cash to spend.

Here are six hot career fields you may not have heard of:

Eco Tourism Director

Traditional hospitality careers are increasingly marching to the ecotourism drumbeat. According to the International Ecotourism Society, ecotourism is growing at three times the rate of traditional vacationing, increasing annually up to 30 percent. If you're just preparing for the field, seek an associate's degree in hospitality, travel, or tourism. If you're already aboard, why not train to manage a hotel, bed and breakfast, spa, or resort with a graduate degree in business or hospitality? The majority of lodging managers are self-employed professionals. Top earners in 2007 averaged $83,240 for the year.

Professional Hacker

Ever hear of a certified ethical hacker? That's the professional IT certification for a computer scientist that works as a security specialist, forensic investigator, or network defense architect for corporations, the government, and law enforcement agencies to help prevent hacking or to track down perpetrators. To get into the field, you'll need more than the hacking skills you tweaked together in your garage. Begin by earning a bachelor's degree in computer science or information technology. You can get additional online college training in network security. The top 50 percent of computer scientists earned between $97,970 and $123,900 in 2007.

Pet Psychologist

Don't be so shocked. Even Sparky sometimes needs help to keep from gnawing through the neighbor's bed of prized roses. Once the local vet has ruled out physical ailments that can contribute to rude pet behavior, people who love their animals may need to call in a trained, certified behaviorist or pet psychologist. As with human patients, pets can be analyzed and taught to act contrary to destructive impulses. There are even certified applied animal behaviorists. To get into the field, you'll need a master's or doctorate degree in psychology, preferably with additional work in zoology and animal behavior. Salaries vary greatly by locale, but can be upwards of $90,000 a year.

Conservation Consultant

There are companies who are greatly concerned with increasing energy efficiency. And there are those with a conscience, striving to reduce their carbon footprint. When Yahoo! decided to go carbon-neutral by 2007, they hired a director of energy strategy and climate change. Combine your thirst for conservation with an engineering degree to prepare for this thriving field. The U.S. Labor Department predicts a hefty 25 percent increase in environmental engineers during the 2006-2016 decade. In 2007, the top 50 percent earned between $70,000 and $106,000.

Fashion Consultant/Personal Shopper

Among those who care about their appearance, many are born with amazing taste; some have to work for it. Fashion designers and consultants help those who can afford personal attention to transform their image. You can be the one to consult on hair, makeup, and fashion--and then be the one to take your clients shopping. Get career training through an associate's or bachelor's degree program in fashion design. Top earners in the fashion design trades in 2007 took home $121,640 on average.

Mobile Experience Architect

The cool streaming videos and eye-popping CD covers that get delivered to the screens of millions of cell phones and PDAs each hour are designed to make you spend money. Information architects create the structure and mind-manipulating patterns (site maps) of each mobile delivery. You'll need to learn about marketing, strategy, and user testing through a degree program in computer science, Web design, or business. There's even an IT certification for professional mobile architects. Salaries range into six figures.

As our world rapidly evolves, it's no surprise that the work landscape is evolving as well. You can prepare for and keep up with the changes by updating your training and credentials.

Gabby Hyman has created online strategies and written content for Fortune 500 companies including eToys, GoTo.com, Siebel Systems, Microsoft Encarta, Avaya, and Nissan UK.

Changing Careers In A Changing World

Making a career change is not impossible, but you must be willing to make the commitment necessary for success

A study conducted by DBM revealed that one in two people who find themselves in career transition, are changing industry or job function, do so successfully.

The biggest challenge to changing careers is identifying your transferable skills and then learning how to package them to appeal to an employer in a different industry. An accountant with several years of experience may have an easy transition period from one industry to another due to a core capability that applies across industries. But a teacher trying to move to a sales role may have a difficult time transitioning due to the wide gap of skills requirements between the two jobs.

The larger the gap between the experience requirements of your current industry and the new one, the harder it becomes to make the switch and the more compromises you must be willing to make.

The stronger your skills are and the broader your knowledge base is, though, the more credibility you will have and the easier it will be to make the change.

There are several key considerations to keep in mind when contemplating a career change.

1. Plan for a longer job search. Changing industries requires research, which requires time. Assess your financial situation and make realistic decisions. You may have to consider an interim position or part-time work to form a bridge to your new career. Stay optimistic and be realistic at the same time, knowing that in Malaysia the average job search period is 6.5 months. Be mindful that the longer you stay out of a job the more difficult it gets to land a new one or to explain the ‘gaps’ in your resume.

2. Use outplacement (a term used when a company releases an employee) services, such as DBM, to your advantage.

With more and more companies providing outplacement services to employees, it is to your advantage to use this service to get a new job.

3. Stay grounded in reality. Successful career change is based on setting realistic goals and making an honest assessment of your skills, then matching those against the current market conditions. If you need to gain some skills to be able to move from one industry to another, consider taking up short-term courses that will equip you with some basic skills.

Stay in tune with what’s happening in your industry or the industry where you want to move into by monitoring the big companies or employers, the current salary range and available positions.

4. With the exception of entry-level positions, companies run advertisements to recruit prospects with specific experience.

This is also true of search firms, which are paid to find highly experienced talent that matches the job description exactly. In some cases, critical or sensitive roles are not even advertised, so don’t just rely on what you read on the newspapers or the Internet.

5. Network, network, network. Networking is the key to any successful job search, especially in the case of a career change. The most effective way to transfer skills to a new field or new career is by using your contacts. Companies are more willing to take risks on people who are referred to them by individuals who can account for the candidates’ abilities and potential.

6. Learn the language. Every field has its own culture and language. Assess your skill set and align it with industry needs – then translate your skills into language that resonates within that industry.

7. Learn the business. Professionals today are expected to have an understanding of their industry – current issues and challenges faced. Read every article you can find on the industry, so that you can leverage your skills in offering solutions to industry challenges and demonstrate the value you would add to an organisation.

Do a thorough research of the company or industry you want to move into. Use all the resources available to you including the Internet, libraries and other publicly available materials. Just as companies would ask for references before hiring anyone, it would be worthwhile talking to current and previous employees of a company you’re eyeing to join. This would give you some ‘insider’ view of how the company works, its culture, vision and values.

Making an industry or career change is not impossible, but it will increase your job search time and the amount of research you have to do to be successful. Before you make any firm decisions, consider the positives and negatives carefully and seek advice from knowledgeable friends and colleagues, so that you can be sure you are willing to make the commitment necessary for success.

Article contributed by Mastura Diana Jaffar, managing director of DBM Malaysia, which offers human resources solutions.

Pick Yourself Up

When you face a setback in life or at work, the challenge is not to cave in

RESILIENCE means knowing how to cope in spite of setbacks, barriers or limited resources.

Resilience is a measure of how much you want something and how much you are willing, and able, to overcome obstacles to get it.

It has to do with your emotional strength. For instance, how many cold calls can you make in a row that all turn out to be, “No, thank you”?

Look to Lincoln

Remember Abraham Lincoln? You wouldn’t, if he had given up.

In 1832, he was defeated for the state legislature. Then he was elected to it in 1834.

In 1838, he was defeated for speaker of the state house.

In 1840, he was defeated for elector. He ran for Congress in 1843 and, guess what, he was defeated.

He was elected to Congress in 1846 and then lost for re-election in 1849.

He ran for the United States Senate in 1855 and was defeated.

In 1856, he was defeated for vice-president. He ran again for the US Senate in 1858 and lost.

And in 1860, Abraham Lincoln was elected president of the US — but only after eight major setbacks. That is resilience!

Your challenge to stay resilient may not be quite the same as Abe Lincoln’s.

You might be working on making a sales quota when 90 per cent of your prospects say “no”.

You might be pushing for a change in your department and you have to fight with the management.

You might be trying to get your co-workers to recycle paper to save money and trees.

When you are up against obstacles, you can either maintain your resilience — or cave in to defeat.

Kids know better

People are all pretty resilient when they are kids. When they fall down, they pick themselves up again.

When the tent they make with sheets and cardboard gets blown apart by the wind, they put it back together again.

When someone says they cannot go to the park because it is raining, they find something else to do.

However, somewhere along the way, they start to develop a rigidity towards the unexpected, and then towards change in general.

They lose their ability to shift course or to try something else. They lose their resilience.

Bounce back

Let me give you a couple of tips on improving your resilience.

Here is an exercise that is fun and can tell you something about yourself.

Finish this sentence with five different endings: “When I’m faced with a problem, I ...”

Give yourself 30 seconds to come up with any five answers. Be creative.

Is there a pattern to your answers?

Here are some answers I came up with for myself:

When I’m faced with a problem, I...

• generate several different options to deal with it.
• ask my wife, Sue, what she thinks.
• listen to music in the dark.
• say to myself: ‘OK, this too shall pass.’
• call one of my friends to get his input.
• decide it is time to read the sports page.

Now, some of those answers are useful and some are silly. However, the exercise revealed to me that my attitude is basically one of engaging the problem rather than running away from it.

I hope you have some silly answers among the serious ones. But I hope that your answers indicate that your basic approach to problems is a hands-on, can-do attitude. That is the stuff resilience is made of. — Source: ST/ANN

Article by Dr Tony Alessandra, president of Online Assessments and co-founder of MentorU.com. He is also the author of 14 books including Charisma and The Platinum Rule.

Bouquets or Brickbats?

Whether you receive positive or negative feedback during your performance appraisal, treat it as a tool to chart your career development

ACCORDING to media reports, about 30 per cent of British workers regard staff appraisals as a waste of time.

It is probable that many local employees feel the same way.

But until a dramatically different way of measuring work performance is created, it looks like staff appraisals are here to stay.

You may have just had one and are keen on preparing better for the next.

First, make sure you know what exactly a staff appraisal is.

PERFORMANCE REPORT

A staff appraisal is information provided to an individual concerning certain aspects of his performance on a task.

It takes the form of positive and/or negative feedback.

Positive feedback is where the employee is essentially told to “keep up the good work”.

Negative feedback is where an improvement in areas of work, competencies or behaviours is usually sought.

It is an employer’s responsibility to praise an employee’s strengths and alert him to his weaknesses so that his work performance may go from strength to strength.

But how can employees accept negative feedback to improve themselves and move one notch up to reach or optimise their potential?

RECEIVING FEEDBACK

Some people do not want to receive feedback as they consider it “a criticising session”.

Others see it as another way to confirm their worthlessness.

Many only want to hear “the good stuff” and nothing more.

And then there are those who want feedback and are willing to accept it although it may be painful or disturbing, only because they believe they can benefit from it.

Supervisors should always treat their staff with dignity and respect, and feedback should be given in a fitting manner.

Employees should also accord their managers with similar respect and listen to what they have to say.

Here are some tips on how to receive feedback:

1. Don't be defensive

Trying to justify your every action leaves you little time to see your supervisor’s point of view. Listen carefully to judge if the feedback is correct or misplaced. Clarify issues if necessary, and do not interrupt your supervisor as far as possible. You will have time to respond accordingly.

2. Don't verbally attack your supervisor

Getting personal may not be in your interest.

Just stick to the facts and defend yourself, if you have to, by clarifying your actions regarding specific events.

Take feedback as a reflection of another person’s perspective. You might learn something about yourself.

3. Don't shift the blame

Blaming someone else is not the solution.

If you believe that a colleague should be held accountable for something, ask that he be included in the dialogue session too.

You don’t want to be accused later of having “stabbed someone in the back”.

4. Don’t ignore your supervisor

Looking blankly at him while he is giving you negative feedback tells your supervisor that you are not interested in improving.

5. Don’t pretend to listen

Giving the impression that you agree to what your supervisor is saying may seem like an easy way out, but it really does you no good.

Your supervisor is hoping for a sincere effort from you to improve.

It is better to ask him to specify exactly what he expects from you, rather than to nod in agreement.

You don’t want to come back the next time and face the same criticism.

OPPORTUNITY TO IMPROVE

Be thankful for the feedback you receive during your appraisal. Treat it as an opportunity to reflect and ponder on your actions or non-actions.

If you are able to act on both positive and negative feedback — leveraging on your strengths and minimising your weaknesses — you will have an advantage over your peers.

As a final tip, focus on the future and not the past. Think about what you can do instead of what you did not.

- Source: Straits Times/Asia News Network

Article by Victor Gomez, a consultant on leadership, management, creativity and communication issues.

Games People Play

"BACK stabber” is an expression commonly used to describe an employee who strives to achieve personal gain at the expense and detriment of others.

Such individuals are generally disliked, but like them or loathe them, most people, at some point, have participated in what is termed “political behaviour” at work.

“Politicking” or political behaviour within a work context is the attempt by individual employees to enhance their career prospects by engaging in behaviour that places them in positions of opportunity or in an otherwise favourable light.

One of the characteristics of politicking is that it takes place outside the scope of one’s job.

What’s OK, what’s not

Let’s distinguish between “legitimate” and “illegitimate” political behaviour.

Legitimate political behaviour is that which is broadly acceptable although not necessarily ethical.

It includes forming coalitions, bypassing decision-making procedures and generally adopting a positive profile within the organisation.

Illegitimate political behaviour violates the norms of what is acceptable both within the organisation and within society generally.

As well as being considered generally unethical, in its most extreme form, it can also transgress the law.

This type of politicking might include the use of bribery, the spreading of false rumours and lying about previous employment or qualifications.

Political animals

Psychologists have identified specific personality characteristics associated with “political individuals”. They tend to exhibit these behaviours:

■ High self-monitors: They are conscious of the signals that their behaviour gives out and are aware of how it can be used to their advantage. High self-monitors are able to adapt the image that they present in accordance with the prevailing political climate.

■ High degree of control: They have a strong belief in controlling their own destiny as opposed to leaving it to circumstances. These people have an ability to manipulate a situation in a way that the outcomes favour them personally.

■ High desire for power and control: Their need for power and control often supersedes their need to be liked. They are better able to cope with being unpopular.

Other factors

■ Investment in the organisation: Employees who have spent some time building up their career within an organisation are likely to devote more energy and time to politicking as a way of justifying the time already spent developing a power base within that organisation.

■ Scarcity of opportunities outside: A shortage of opportunities outside will also provide a strong incentive for employees to consolidate their position within an organisation through politicking.

■ Age: As people grow older, the opportunities of finding employment outside the organisation start to diminish, and this can also be an incentive to start politicking.

■ Immobility: If employees’ mobility is restricted as a result of their personal circumstances, politicking is often seen as a necessary activity.

Environmental factors

Organisations where politicking is widespread share some common traits:

■ Low trust cultures: A lack of trust usually implies lack of confidence. Employees will fall back upon personal strategies as a way of protecting their own interests.

■ Role ambiguity: Blurred divisions of authority usually give rise to the need for employees to reduce this ambiguity by developing their own allegiances, power bases and lines of authority by politicking.

■ Unclear performance targets: If expectations are unclear, politicking is a way by which employees can create their own performance criteria.

■ Downsizing: When there is the threat of job losses, politicking is often adopted as a survival strategy.

■ Value chain reconfiguration: During the transitional period of major change in an organisation, politicking may be used as a way of protecting one’s own interests within the organisation.

Seeing the world

Further research has shed more light on why some individuals are more naturally inclined to engage in political behaviour than others.

Employees whose worldview is shaped by a series of random, unrelated and often-irrational events and outcomes are likely to apply this type of scenario to their organisations.

In other words, they perceive the organisation as part of a disorderly and unpredictable world where politicking is inevitable and necessary.

Typically, these tend to be younger and less experienced employees with lower incomes and limited responsibilities.

Politicking is their way of bridging the gap between certainty and uncertainty, and often reflects feelings of frustration and powerlessness.

In contrast, more experienced managers tend to have greater faith in decision-making processes which they see as generally rational and equitable.

They are less swayed by the notion of the world or the organisation as a political jungle.

A matter of conscience

Political astuteness is a necessary skill in any context. Unfortunately, we live in a world where increasingly one individual can benefit at another’s expense.

At the end of the day, you have to reconcile your own sense of selfesteem, integrity and dignity with how far down this particular road you are prepared to travel.

- Source: Straits Times/Asia News Network

Article by Paul FitzPatrick, a consultant with the Singapore Human Resources Institute.

Not Just A Techie

Sales and marketing engineers are in demand because they have both soft and technical skills

TODAY’S technology or engineering-based businesses need to look for new and unique ways to promote their products or services as the competition heats up.

Many technology-based businesses and professionals have strong technical skills, but don’t know how to attract new clients. This is a common problem in the industry. Also, the business of marketing and selling is always changing.

The challenge for today’s professional sales and marketing person is more than just adapting to the new technologies; it is to master them and learn how to leverage on them as powerful tools to create new sources of selling advantage.

Customer expectations are constantly changing. A salesperson’s ability or inability to meet these expectations becomes as much a part of his competitive advantage as product or price. Today’s customer increasingly expects his sales representative to:

• Have instant access to accurate and up-to-date pricing and product information;
• Respond quicker to customer requests, questions, and issues;
  
• Produce and deliver quick and error-free proposals and/or written communications;
• Be better informed and have sound knowledge of the competition.

Customer expectations extend not only to the sales and marketing person; they include his company as well.

In the past, many companies operated as if they were a group of “smaller companies” who needed to work together but not very well. These “small companies” or departments were sales, customer service, marketing, finance, manufacturing, operations, administration and so on.

A new breed of salesmen

But in the last decade, new technologies have revolutionised selling and marketing strategies. Businesses are now heavily dependent on information technology and communications, which have improved decisionmaking and meet customer needs more effectively.

The investment value is clearly beneficial even though the technology costs and implementation challenges are great. The greatest challenge has been changing the way people view their jobs.

No longer can an employee be a part of just the sales department or marketing, service, engineering support, and so forth.

Many sales and marketing people do not have technical orientation and many technical and engineering people are without any sales or marketing orientation. This has to change. Technical and engineering people must sell professionally with a sales and marketing focus to be successful.

Many products and services, especially those purchased by large companies and institutions, are highly complex. Sales and marketing engineers also may be called sales executives or technical marketers or specialists.

They work with the production, engineering or research and development departments of their companies to determine how products and services can be designed or modified to suit customers’ needs. They also may advise customers on how best to use the products or services provided.

For sales and marketing engineers, selling is as important as their technical skills. They have to demonstrate to potential customers how and why the products or services they are selling suit the customer better than their competitors’ products.

Occasionally, the sales engineer has to demonstrate to the customer the usefulness of the product or service. He has to convince him, for example, that new production machinery would save a lot of money.

Engineers apply the theories and principles of science and mathematics to technical problems. Their work is the link between scientific discoveries and commercial applications.

For example, sales engineers selling chemical products may have chemical engineering backgrounds, while those selling business software or information systems may have degrees and diplomas in computer engineering or information technology.

Many of the duties of sales and marketing engineers are similar to those of other salesmen. They must interest the client in purchasing their products, many of which are durable manufactured products.

Sales and marketing engineers tend to employ selling techniques or marketing approaches that are different from those used by most other sales and marketing executives.

They generally use a “consultative” style — they focus on the client’s problem and show how it can be solved or mitigated with their product or service. This selling style differs from the traditional “benefits and features” method, where the sales and marketing person describes the product and leaves the customer to decide how it would be useful.

In addition to maintaining current clients and attracting new ones, sales and marketing engineers help clients solve any problems that arise when the product is installed. Afterwards, they may continue to serve as a liaison between the client and their company.

Training may involve teaming with a sales mentor who is familiar with the employer’s business practices, customers, procedures and company culture.

After the training period has been completed, sales and marketing engineers may continue to partner someone who lacks technical skills, yet excels in sales.

It is important for sales and marketing engineers to keep up-todate with industry knowledge because much of their value to their employers depends on their knowledge of the latest technologies and their ability to sell them.

Professional sales and marketing engineers must have a thorough knowledge of the products and services they sell, and possess customer relationship skills and as well as technical and analytical skills.

– Source: Straits Times/Asia News Network

Article by Ray Ong, a trainer with TriOng Associates.

Secrets of Success

With the right skills and a positive mindset, you can climb high up the career ladder

As a career management professional, I am often asked: “How can I ensure career success?”

While there is no single method to achieve this objective, here are some things you can do to get on the right path:

1. Regular activity
Successful career planning is not a one-time activity but a lifelong process. Mapping your career will help you to track your progress. Your interests, hobbies, transferable skills and past accomplishments are all clues to opportunities that may be awaiting you in the future.

Defining your career goals clearly will help you to align them to career trends. Once you regularly review and plan your career, you will be better prepared for whatever lies ahead.

2. Winning attitude
The happiest and most successful people see themselves as winners and maintain an optimistic outlook as they move toward their goals.

Unhappy and unsuccessful people often have a pessimistic outlook on life. They lack confidence and have a deep-rooted belief that they cannot do much or do it well. They do not realise they are advertising themselves as losers.

So develop a winning mindset and you will be on the path to a successful career.

3. Move on
Never become too comfortable in your current job. If you have been in the same job for three years or more and you are doing similar, if not the same, work, then ask yourself whether you are learning new skills or enhancing your competency?

To experience the best of life, seize opportunities as they arise. Never get stuck in your “comfort zone”. If opportunity comes knocking, grab it.

4. Positive values
True winners live by the virtues of fairness and decency. To succeed in the long term, you must know what’s right and wrong, and you must use these standards of behaviour every day in your business and personal life.

Adhering to a strong code of positive values will make your life productive, fulfilling and profitable. These are also traits that employers value.

5. Turn pain into gain
No life is free from suffering. When hard times cause anguish, there is no point in becoming bitter. Winners face suffering head-on and try to turn the pain into gain.

Develop your career resilience. If you are retrenched or made redundant, use the time to learn new skills while looking for a job.

Offer to do voluntary work while waiting for a job offer to come through. Don’t look at the door that was shut. Focus on opening new doors.

6. Learn to laugh
Cultivate and maintain a sense of humour. Humour cleanses the spirit, lightens your burdens and keeps you from taking yourself too seriously. Learn to smile and laugh more.

Find happiness in doing the tasks assigned to you, no matter how difficult, demanding or challenging. Developing this ability to smile will help others to see your “can do” attitude, a commodity employers treasure.

7. Help others
The most satisfied people are those who help others. Offer to mentor your juniors or new hires.

Find time to do something for the community or a voluntary organisation. By working in the community, you not only hone some of your work skills but also may be noticed by those who can influence your career advancement and success.

Career success involves many ingredients. Getting the right mix is not easy. Be positive and optimistic, diligent and dedicated at work, offer to go the extra mile and help the community, remain cheerful in the face of challenging tasks and maintain a winner’s mindset, and career success will find you.

– Source: Straits Times/Asia News Network

Article by Dr Kamal Kant, a career management professional and an adjunct lecturer.

Super-Strategies for Workplace Success

Work is like a chess game. But what type of strategies does one need to ensure success at workplace?

by Molly Luffy

You know something? I’m constantly amazed at how many people I see plodding through their daily routine at work with barely a thought to their career happiness, growth potential and future. You've seen them - they're the ones who play the victims in life. They think everything just happens to them as if they have no part in their lot in life.

Another thing I've noticed about these corporate zombies is that they like to vocalize their workplace despair. They complain and carry on about all the bad things about their job and their company as if they have no control over their own circumstances and satisfaction. It’s unbelievable!

But not you, fair readers. You certainly don’t fit into the category of corporate zombie, do you? No, you understand that you do have control over your work life. You understand that you can make your day more productive and happier. So the Wiz is here to help with a quick list of super-strategies for workplace success!

First of all, if you want to be super-successful and happy at work, you need to make a commitment to your own workplace happiness. Some people will never be happy because they don’t understand that the need to work is a fact of life for most of us. If you've not reconciled yourself to this fact, it’s a good thing to do. Once you have that issue behind you, you will be in a better position to objectively look at your current job, job satisfaction and future potential. It’s a matter of the proverbial glass being half full or half empty. As yourself “What would I do, or where would I be without this job?” It could give you quite a different perspective and change in attitude.

Finding happiness at work

Make finding happiness at work a priority and an initiative in your life. So maybe you don’t love your job. So what? Is that a reason to be miserable? Find the things that you do like about your job and focus on them. Remember, you can choose your attitude just as easily as any other decision you make in your life, so why not choose to be happy and focus on the positive things?

To continue on your path to workplace success, set out on a course of becoming the absolute best at what you do. Why not become the departmental expert in your particular field? No matter what you do ˆ you can always aim for improvement. And becoming the departmental expert is a great goal to shoot for. Not only is becoming the expert a great way for you to solidify your current position in the age of corporate downsizing, but it helps you stand out as a star. Think about it…who are the people that seem to get picked for promotion? The best of the best, right? And who better qualifies as the best of the best than the departmental expert?

A good way to start becoming the expert is by joining your local professional association. These associations have lots of resources and information on the emerging trends in your profession. You can network with other people, attend workshops and gain a wealth of information.

And after you've joined your local professional organization, get involved. Join a committee and help make your association the best that it can be. It’s a wonderful way to meet and get close to other committed professionals. Your exposure to those emerging trends is even closer since you'll be in on all kinds of interesting discussions during your committee meetings.

After you’ve served your association well, shoot for becoming a Board member. This is a killer enhancer for the old resume and most bosses consider this a major sign of professionalism, leadership ability and commitment so it helps you look good at your current job too!

Becoming involved in a professional association not only provides you with valuable information, but helps you become recognized in your professional community as an expert. And along with that comes future opportunities!

These are just some of the ways that you can aim for workplace success. A positive attitude and professional enrichment offer a number of benefits that will have a positive and lasting effect on your personal satisfaction and your ability to climb those corporate ranks.

Now go out there and be a STAR!

Quest for Perfection

You may never be perfect in everything you do, but you should still aim high

MOST of us know Benjamin Franklin as the inventor of bifocals and the man who flew a kite in a storm to prove that lightning was a form of electricity.

Franklin was also a printer and newspaper publisher, postmaster, civic activist, scientist, inventor, diplomat, and drafter of the American Declaration of Independence. Where did he find the time to accomplish so much?

Franklin was also America’s first self-improvement guru. At the age of 27, he began his grand goal, loftily titled “Project of arriving at moral perfection”.

He identified a dozen virtues and developed a system to attain them. They were temperance, silence, order, resolution, frugality, industry, sincerity, justice, moderation, cleanliness, tranquillity and chastity. When a friend suggested that Franklin seemed proud, he added humility to the list.

Realising that it would be difficult to focus on all of these areas at once, Franklin focused on one a week. It was quite a challenge. While he never achieved moral perfection, he benefited greatly from the exercise.

Perfection is an impossibly high standard. The perfectionist is essentially telling himself that nothing he does will ever be good enough!

Franklin recognised this and moderated his goal. He was not perfect, but he was astonishingly productive and successful throughout his life. When you examine his list and how he approached it, you begin to understand why.

“Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time, for that’s the stuff life is made of,” Franklin wrote.

Valuing time is a no-brainer for most of us, as we seem to have too little time and struggle to make the most of it. But valuing time and actually using our time productively are two different things.

Three of Franklin’s virtues address the need to work at valuing time and using it wisely: Resolution, order and industry.

Resolution means making good on your promises, implementing and executing, and following through to completion. It requires persistence and determination.

Order means being organised and systematic, planning and prioritising your activities. Industry means working hard, focusing on your objectives and being productive. The one personal quality behind all of these is discipline.

What wisdom does Franklin offer us in terms of discipline — doing the work of valuing our time and managing our priorities?

He arranged his objectives into a system. He proceeded step by step. He broke his main objective — selfimprovement — into smaller goals. He focused on them one at a time. He measured his progress by keeping track of how many times he erred, and he reviewed his progress regularly.

By creating a system to help himself focus on his goals and measure his progress, Franklin was able to accomplish far more than his contemporaries.

Systems are critical in any time management regimen. It is not enough to return e-mail and phone calls, handle paperwork and prepare reports on an ad hoc basis.

A sporadic approach will produce sporadic results. Setting aside time for performing routine tasks, using templates for your work, and having systems in place allow you to be both effective and efficient.

Another feature of Franklin’s approach was repetition. He focused on one objective every week, completing the cycle in 13 weeks and repeating the entire cycle four times a year. He repeated the process year after year.

To use his own words, “Energy and persistence conquer all things.” Using time effectively is a matter of habit, and habits come from repetition.

Finally, Franklin organised and planned. The key to managing your time is organising your activities and planning strategies to complete them.

Every day should begin with a planning session. Part of this planning time should be in creating a prioritised “to do” list. In other words, you must have a system for organising and planning.

Someone once said: “If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail.” I don’t think it was Franklin, though … but it could have been!

– Source: Straits Times/Asia News Network

Article by David Goldwich, author of the book Why Did the Chicken Cross the Road? Lessons in Effective Communication.

Career Management

Career Management is defined by Ball (1997) as:

1. Making career choices and decisions – the traditional focus of careers interventions. The changed nature of work means that individuals may now have to revisit this process more frequently than in the past.
2. Managing the organizational career – concerns the career management tasks of individuals within the workplace, such as decision-making, life-stage transitions, dealing with stress etc.
3. Managing 'boundaryless' careers – refers to skills needed by workers whose employment is beyond the boundaries of a single organisation, a workstyle common among, for example, artists and designers.
4. Taking control of one's personal development – as employers take less responsibility, employees need to take control of their own development in order to maintain and enhance their employability.

Now that the job-for-life covenant between employer and employee has been superseded by an insecure and uncertain job market, career management has become a necessary survival skill rather than being an activity pursued by Ivy League alumni or people born with a silver spoon in the mouth. Job security is now based on knowledge, skills and added-value rather than length of service or loyalty to an employer. Career management is nothing more than a small investment of time, money and energy to protect the major source of revenue—one's job.