Tag Archives: career

May30

Why You Should Care About Your Employees’ Health

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Why You Should Care About Your Employees’ Health

As a business owner, you might think that you have more pressing concerns than the health of your employees, like running the business properly for a start, but here’s the thing – the health and well being of your employees should be one of your most vital concerns. Here’s why:

Employees Who are Healthy are More Productive: When your employees feel well, they operate at optimum levels. Healthy employees have bundles of energy and that means that they will work harder than employees who are sick, ill, and unfit. It, therefore, makes sense to encourage your employees to live healthier lifestyles in any way that you can, including by bringing in spectrum healthcare to run corporate wellness checks in the office periodically or offering free or subsidized gym memberships to all of your staff.

Healthy Employees Will Take Less Sick Days: Obviously, employees who are in good general health will take fewer sick days over the course of a year. This will not only ensure that your productivity stays high, but it could also save you a lot of money, especially if you have a lot of employees.

Sickness Won’t Be Spread: We’ve all seen it happen – one person comes into the office with a cold, and the next day three employees call in sick, the next day ten people aren’t there, and so on and so on until it seems like the whole office is wiped out and you’re struggling to keep the business running. By offering your staff immunizations for common illnesses, you can stop the spread of sickness and keep your business running come what sore throat, horrible flu may.

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Pixabay Image

Healthy Employees Have Their Heads in the Game: When you’re sick, you will know only too well that you start to ruminate about your illness. You start to think the worst and you worry if you’ll ever feel better. This can take your head out of the game and make it difficult to concentrate on your work. When your employees are ill, then it can be all too easy for them to make mistakes that they wouldn’t usually make and this could cost you your company’s reputation or a lot of money, depending on how serious those errors are.

Healthy Employees Will Be Less Stressed Out: Stressed employees, again, are more likely to make mistakes and be less productive than those who are completely relaxed and healthy. Not only that, but stressed employees can make for a tense and often unpleasant environment, which is why taking care of your staffs’ mental health needs by providing meditation classes, yoga, or other relaxing activities can be really worthwhile and pay off in the long run.

Healthy Employees are Positive Employees: Sick people tend to be naturally more negative because they are worried about themselves. Like stress, this can cause a negative atmosphere to develop in the workplace. Healthy employees, on the other hand, are more likely to be positive more often, which will make your workplace a happier place to be.

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Happy, healthy employee!

Featured Image By: Pixabay

May26

7 Steps To Maximizing The Profit Potential Of Your Home Business

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7 Steps To Maximizing The Profit Potential Of Your Home Business

Running a small business from home has become a very popular option for entrepreneurs from all backgrounds. By removing the need for commercial offices, you can significantly reduce the overheads involved. In turn, this can remove a great deal of pressure and buy a little more time as you look to turn the operation into a profitable one.

Reducing the overheads is a positive starting place. However, it’s only worth doing when you couple it with maximized profits. Otherwise, those savings will be counterproductive. In turn, this will prevent the company from achieving its full potential. Thankfully, you can achieve those great results by mastering just seven key factors. So, what are you waiting for? Let’s get started:

#1. Learn: There’s nothing wrong with starting your business almost immediately. However, it’s equally important to appreciate the fact that you don’t know it all. While improvements will come with experience, you should also appreciate the need to learn as you earn. First and foremost, you should be open to the possibility of formal education. Many entrepreneurs feel that there is no need for this as they aren’t looking to boost their hopes of securing a better job. But knowledge is power and enhancing your wealth of business-related info will serve you well.

Meanwhile, it’s imperative that you conduct the necessary research into your business. From working out the costs to knowing what else is on the market, that knowledge will enable you to make far smarter decisions.

#2. Build A Work Space: The thought of working from home is a dream for many, especially when you remove the need for commuting. However, separating work from leisure is the hardest challenge facing any home-based worker. Fail to establish those boundaries, and any success will remain limited.

If you have a home office space, that’s great. If not, it’s probably time to transform a guest room or the garage. Either way, your home office should be built for business rather than just working. Given that you could be spending long periods in this area, choosing an ergonomic chair is essential. Meanwhile, it’s imperative that all internet facilities and tech items are reliable, too. Sadly, if they go wrong, you could be set for a nightmare.

Building this working environment isn’t only important for you. It’s equally crucial for your family. If you’re in the office, you’re working. If you’re not, then they’ll know that you’re ready for family time.

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So snazzy!

#3. Focus On Teamwork: All business owners require the support of a winning team. When running the operation from home, the chances are that you won’t have people actively working in your home. But that doesn’t mean that you should ignore the importance of embracing employees. The recruitment process will vary from the traditional ideas. However, hiring remote workers and freelancers can enable you to make your staffing budget work far harder. Meanwhile, you won’t need to worry about providing them with the necessary equipment. In turn, this can only send profitability through the roof.

Working from different locations shouldn’t be an excuse to ignore your responsibilities, though. Regular perks, good salaries, and a sense of empathy and understanding should be considered essential. After all, you need to trust that they’ll be working in the right manner.

#4. Think About Your Presence: Regardless of the industry, customer perceptions are imperative for success. Failure to make a good first impression will harm your hopes of achieving sales before you’ve even started. Unfortunately, some customers will be put off by the fact that you operate from a residential address. Acquiring a physical address in a prestigious location instantly provides a better company image. Meanwhile, it’s important that your website and other tools display contact details in a clear manner. Otherwise, it can give consumers a reason to feel that you’re hiding something.

A strong SEO game will boost your web visibility to further enhance the initial responses. That helps the company plant a seed of interest into the client’s mind, which can only bring positive impacts for future sales figures. If this has gone way over your head, you are not alone! That is why marketing agencies like Justified Media offer SEO services to help give your business the visibility it needs to succeed.

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Pixabay Image

#5. Do More: Ultimately, you need to show that your business is the best solution for the client. One of the best ways to do this is to offer something that your competitors don’t. If yours is a localized service, you could make it mobile by visiting clients in their homes. Whether it’s hairdressing, accounting, or selling clothes doesn’t matter. Removing some of the hassle will give them another reason to choose you over competitors. On a similar note, accepting more payment types can have a positive influence on proceedings. On the one hand, those gestures are made for the benefit of customers. On the other hand, though, you should have pride in offering the best service, anyways.

#6. Find A Great Marketing Strategy: Branding is a crucial element of any business, as it provides the company with an identity. Your home-based venture shouldn’t be any different. In addition to logos and slogans, you should think about attention-grabbing ad campaigns.

Given that you don’t have a store, embracing online opportunities is pivotal. In addition to strong SEO, you should look to blogging, video campaigns, and interactive tools. Not only are those ideas far more cost-effective than traditional methods, but they additionally encourage participation. And when the clients are actively interacting with the brand, they’ll be far more likely to respond in a positive manner.

Just remember that you must express your personality at all times. If they can relate to the people behind the brand, the customers will be far more likely to complete a purchase. Once again, it all comes down to that sense of trust.

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Stats n’ stuff

#7. Excel At Customer Care: Getting your business to the point where it generates regular sales is no mean feat. So when you do reach this stage, it’s crucial that you find ways to encourage long-term loyalty. When you have customers that keep coming back for more, sustained success is assured. Good communication is always a solid starting point. For example, if you are using help desk outsourcing, you will want to ensure that the person manning the desk is friendly and patient. A positive attitude goes a long way when communicating with customers and clients.

You can also go one step further with small gestures like promotional freebies and special promotions. Likewise, running loyalty schemes can be hugely beneficial. Above all else, you should go beyond the call of duty when dealing with customer issues.

Essentially, showing that your commitment to the client doesn’t end with the transaction is vital. In addition to boosting those direct relationships, it could encourage them to recruit friends and family, too.

Featured Image By: Maxpixel

May11

The Three Skills You Need To Get Ahead In Your New Career

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The Three Skills You Need To Get Ahead In Your New Career

It’s a competitive world out there. People are actively discouraged from taking a jump into a new career or to leave their miserable job for a freelance career because there are so few roles out there but with so much competition. The fact of the matter is, is that for anyone that’s unhappy in their job, there is no point in resigning yourself to a life of the mundane blues if that’s not what you want. So if you want to take the plunge away from the work blahs, then all power to you! But before you go into your new life, it’s always best to make sure that you have the right skills. “Skills” is a bit of a vague term in life, but there are three constants that you definitely need to have in your reserves. Know how to implement these three and it will see you through any difficult work situation in the future:

Leadership Qualities: You don’t need to have had experience in running a ship! But when you’re looking for a new role, the brief will be likely to include the phrase “self-starter”. And this may not mean leading a team to victory, but you will need to be able to motivate yourself. And if you can’t motivate yourself, then how can you be expected to motivate anyone else? Learning about leadership opens up so many new doors for you. Knowing the vital skills that it takes to motivate people and knowing the right techniques to achieve results will make you indispensable and a cut above the rest. While you may think that you need to learn by doing, which is a fair assessment, there is a Fresno Pacific Online Leadership Masters program, which you can complete online. People don’t make the most of online courses, and it is possible to complete whole degrees or Masters courses without leaving your home and in your spare time (and in your pajamas!).

Research Skills: Vastly underestimated in any role, the ability to research a topic properly and demonstrate a good working knowledge is something that can take some time to get right. While we all have our own ways of researching a topic, it may be a possibility that you are doing it the long way round. The big trick to researching a topic is to identify the touchstones – i.e. the salient points, before burrowing further into each one. It’s like ironing in some ways; go over each bit once and then thoroughly go across the whole thing.

Interpersonal Skills: Getting along with people is a must in the vast majority of roles. So if you’re searching for a new career as a change from your cubicle where you have been on your own for the last 25 years, it can be a major challenge to start communicating with lots of people again. While we all know how to speak to people, do we really know how to listen? This is a big part of being a leader or being able to work in a team, and it’s all about learning to work with different ages and types of people. The value in developing excellent working relationships is incredibly high. Being an amazing team player is something that rarely goes unnoticed in the working world!

Having the skills above is something that will make you irreplaceable at your next or current career opportunity. Hone in and perfect them and you will certainly be a force to be reckoned with!

Featured Image By: Pixabay

May4

Want to Help People? Here’s What to Study

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Some people just have a huge heart. If you’re thinking of going to college, you might not know exactly what you want to do yet, but you do know that you want to help people. If helping others is what you want to do with your life, you have many options to play a part in improving the lives of other people. Some careers that will help others take place behind the scenes, perhaps as part of scientific research or even administration. Others involve much more interaction with people who need help and care and are much more hands-on. If you want to go into a caring profession or help others in any way that you can, here are some fields of study which you might want to consider:

Types of Study: Depending on what you think you might want to do with your life, you don’t necessarily need a degree. Some professions require you to have a college education, whereas others might ask that you have specific training or experience. You can study your chosen area of interest in different ways, too. Even if you want to get a bachelor’s degree, you can study it online instead of having to go on campus. Many people improve their education in their evenings and spare time while they work. You might decide to spend around four years doing a bachelor’s degree at college and, perhaps, even go on to postgraduate study. Or you could do a shorter associate’s degree for some subjects. There are lots of ways to study and to reach your desired career path, although some have paths that are more set in stone than others.

Getting a Nursing Degree: For many people, the first caring career that they think of is nursing. Nurses can do a huge range of jobs, from supporting doctors in hospitals and clinics to working in nursing homes or out in the community. This is a degree that can take you to many different places. To become a nurse, you have to get a degree in nursing, which could open you up to a wide range of specialisms. You need to be registered to practice, which proves that you have the qualifications that you need. During a nursing degree program, students will get to experience a range of patient care scenarios to prepare them for the work force. If you’re looking for a quicker route into the healthcare field, you might consider training to become a certified nursing assistant, which allows you to gain hands-on experience with patient care.

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Such a flight attendant pose!

Do You Have What It Takes to Be a Doctor? If you’re considering working in a medical profession, you might also have considered becoming a doctor. Some people start thinking about it long before graduating high school, whereas others might not think about it until after they’ve completed their undergraduate education. Qualifying as a doctor takes grit, especially if you want to work in a high-pressure field like emergency medicine or surgery. Not everyone makes it, so it’s important to be sure about what you want to do before you start your medical degree. There’s no doubt that you’ll help lots of people as a doctor, but it also needs to be the right career choice for you.

Human Services: Not every caring profession involves working in a hospital or medical environment, or even working with sick or injured people. Many caring professions involve various supporting roles, which help to deliver services to the people who need them. This could be in areas such as social services, family support, veteran affairs, or elderly care. If you want to work in community outreach and help to connect people to services that they can benefit from, a degree in Health and Human Services could be right for you. This degree teaches you how to help people with a number of challenges in their life, from disabilities and illnesses to difficult home situations. It could lead to a career working with people of all ages, from children to the elderly.

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Wikimedia Image

Admin, Management, and Support: There are also lots of other roles in health care, caring, and social work that are more behind-the-scenes. There are careers in management, administration, and support that might appeal to people who don’t want to be as hands-on as a nurse or carer might be. It could still involve working with people who need help and doing a lot to improve people’s lives, though. Some specific fields of study to consider include Healthcare Management, Medical Billing and Coding, and Health Information Technology. Facilities like the Portobello Institute (or a similar learning institute in your local area) offer facilities management courses to get you started on your career path. These careers can still often require plenty of compassion, as you might be making decisions that affect people’s lives.

Studying Pure Science: What about being a scientist? It wouldn’t necessarily mean that you work directly with people who need help. However, it could mean that you do a lot to help the people who need it. Working in scientific research can give you opportunities to help people by furthering understanding of medical conditions and diseases and developing and testing medications and treatments. If you want to work in scientific research, you might consider a Biology degree. A science degree could also lead to working in laboratories, hospitals and medical clinics.

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SCIENCE!

Social Work: Outside of healthcare, one of the professions that many people who want to help others consider is social work. It can be a tough career, but there can be plenty of rewarding moments. People often think of working with children and families when they think of social work, but it can involve working with anyone who needs help. A social worker might help people with disabilities or perhaps people who have experienced an abusive relationship. They can work with elderly people or people experiencing health issues. A bachelor’s degree in Social Work is a necessary foundation, while some roles in schools or clinical work require a master’s degree. Like many caring roles, social workers also need to be licensed by their state.

As you can see, there are a lot of education requirements for social work but it is well worth it if this is your passion. Every lesson and lecture, every study session with Social Work Exam Strategies, and every essay written will get you one step closer to achieving your goal. Social work is a field that requires your complete dedication and if you can’t dedicate yourself to your studies, it might not be the best choice for you.

Education: Another way to help others is to assist them with their education. This could mean working with children, but there are lots of ways to begin a career in adult education. If you want to teach children or teenagers, there could be several different education paths which you can consider. High school teachers are often required to have a bachelor’s degree in the subject that they want to teach, perhaps with a minor in education or a qualification in a program that prepares them to teach. If you want to teach kindergarten or elementary, a bachelor’s degree and teacher education program would probably be necessary, as well. Some specialist education areas might include teaching English as a second language or teaching music, which you could do for both adults and children.

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Knowledge is power!

Counseling: When people need help, they don’t always need assistance with physical illnesses. Sometimes, they require help through talking therapies, whether it’s to help with a mental illness or just personal problems. Being a counselor or therapist is one option that you have if you want to help people work through their problems. Counselors can help people with their relationships, give school guidance, help with addictions, and much more. Although you can start off with a bachelor’s degree, many counselors also have a master’s degree and even a PhD.

Ministry: Some people want to help others in a more spiritual way. If you’re religious, you might consider some form of ministry. If this is something that interests you, entering the career might involve attending a specialist institution or school, such as a seminary. However, some people might begin by studying theology or even philosophy. If you want to offer religious leadership and guidance, it’s best to look into the structure and rules set out by the religious organization that you’re a member of. Different groups and churches may have their own ideas on what qualifies you to help others.

Law: If you want to help people, another area to consider is the law. There are many areas of law in which you could practice and several of them involve helping people to get justice. You might consider criminal law, in which you can also help people on matters such as accident claims and other civil matters. Of course, to be a lawyer, you need to go to law school. There are also other careers and roles that you might consider, though. For example, you could look into being a paralegal or a legal secretary. These still involve some legal knowledge, but you don’t have to study for as long.

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#justiceisserved

Emergency Services: If you think that you can handle a high-pressure and fast-paced job, you might consider a role in the emergency services. For several of these roles, you’re unlikely to need a college degree. You will have to complete the necessary training and education, though. You could consider roles such as an EMT, firefighter, or emergency call responder. Some people take on these jobs as full-time careers, while others do them while studying to help them pay for their education. It can also give valuable experience for future careers and opportunities.

People who like to help others can use their career to change people’s lives in many different ways. You can choose to study a variety of subjects at college or find other ways to get the skills that you need to positively impact someone.

May3

Getting Ahead In Your Medical Career

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Getting Ahead In Your Medical Career

If you already have a job in the field of medicine, then you are probably well aware of just what a challenge it can be. More than many other kinds of work, working in medicine can really take it out of you (coming from the daughter of a doctor and nurse!). To succeed in such an area, you need to have a wide variety of decent skills and the courage and patience to put them into practice every day without fail. What’s more, if you are keen to progress in some real manner, then you will also need to be able to forge ahead with a number of other qualities as well. Fortunately, knowing what those are is often enough to give you a good head start and that’s why we’re going to take a look at some of those essentials now:

Being A Team Player: It might sound like something of a cliche, but that’s only because it is actually based on something quite true: if you want to get ahead in pretty much any kind of career, you need to know how to be a team player. This is as true in medicine as it is in anywhere else, so you might want to bear that in mind if you want to improve your standings at your current job. It is not just about focusing on the actual medical skills, after all, but also ensuring that you work well as part of your team. Get this right, and the people around you will really appreciate it – and that will make all of the difference.

Gaining Further Education: Getting to any kind of role within medicine can take many years of training and education, so it is no wonder that so many are no longer interested in continuing their studies once they have landed a secure job. However, this can actually be one of the most powerful ways to continue to advance in your medical career. If you are happy to take on further education, you will probably find that it does wonders for your ongoing career and growth. What exact route to take here will depend on your current role and on what you want to achieve. If you are a registered nurse, for example, and you want to receive training that will help you in management and leadership roles, then something like the OLOL Online RNBSN course might help you. Again, it all depends on your situation and what accomplishments you want to make.

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Knowledge is power!!

Proving Yourself: In many ways, the way to improve your medical career is to remember that there are aspects in which it is just like any other job. This means continuing to be professional no matter what stressers may arise. If you are able to keep your cool and to continuously persevere and improve, then your superiors will likely notice that in no time at all – and that will probably serve you very well, indeed. Simple things like ensuring that you are always punctual and remembering to be polite will help you to get ahead much faster. It will also make yours and your coworker’s working lives much more enjoyable.

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Team work makes the dream work

Keeping Up With The Latest Developments (not the Kardashians!): The world of medicine is one that is prone to constant change because of new discoveries and technology. If you are able to keep up with those changes, then you will be much better off because of it. This can be much easier said than done, but as long as you know where to look and which resources to trust, then you should soon find that it is easier than you think. The fact is, developments in medicine are constant, and it is unlikely that you will be able to keep on top of every single change within the field. But showing your employer and your colleagues a willingness to understand all of the latest developments, and the bravery to try and put them into practice without harming any patients, is one of the foremost abilities and qualities that are likely to be highly admired by everyone you work with. Get in the know, and constantly seek new horizons within your work – this is how medicine succeeds and how you might succeed, too.

Consider Different Paths: Finally, it is worth bearing in mind that there are always other paths within medicine that you might be able to consider. Knowing and remembering this when things get tough will help you to remember that you can always change paths slightly while still remaining in the world of medicine. Sometimes this is far preferable to staying in your role and merely hoping to succeed.

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Maybe not mountain climbing…

Featured Image By: Pexels

Apr27

How Education Can Help You Get Fluent in the Language of a Business

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How Education Can Help You Get Fluent in the Language of a Business

The language of a business is the models and practices in place within it. No, it doesn’t mean the employees literally speak a language created by the business (although, sometimes it might seem that way!). It means that each business has its own way of doing business and its own methods that it chooses to use to do so. And each business speaks its own language in the sense that they provide different things and expect different things in return. And, like with any language, it is possible to get fluent in a business’s language through taking courses.

Different businesses are like different cultures. Each one differs from the next, even when they are in the same market. But just because there’s such a variation in businesses and their languages, it doesn’t mean that you can’t get fluent in them. In this day and age there are a whole host of courses to take and degrees to earn. So, fear not, because you’re always going to be able to find one that helps you in the business that you work in. Gone are the days where you could only get a grasp of the language of business by obtaining a Business Management degree. Today, you can take any number of courses to help you better understand the business that you business in.

For instance, if yours is a business in the Geriatric Care Management sector, then you can get fluent in the language of dealing with your older customer base by earning a Gerontology degree. In doing so you can learn and understand the behavioral habits of the elderly. You can also garner a deeper understanding for their societal standing. In learning these things and becoming fluent in this particular language, you are setting yourself up for success in this sector.

Despite the variation in businesses today, there are still some overarching languages spoken. A language that is spoken in every business is accounting. It is an integral aspect of every business, as it determines how protected and sufficient it is in a financial sense. If you want to be a successful business owner, then it is imperative that you become as fluent in accounting as you are in your mother tongue. To do so, you can try earning an Accounting degree from the UAB Online School of Business. In taking such a venture, you are giving yourself the best opportunity to be fluent in this crucial area of business. Plus, because 100% of this degree is completed online, you need not let any of your important everyday business aspects slip while you take it.

Whether you major in the liberal arts and humanities or in the STEM fields there are skills from both sides of the divide that can be translated into the language of business. As a liberal graduate you stand yourself in good stead to be able to speak persuasively. As a STEM grad, you have the skills to be able to deal with tasks logically. When taking a degree, in order to get the right qualifications needed for your career path it is imperative that you choose the right one. But when you are taking a course in order to better your knowledge, you can find different skills and techniques in all sorts of different classes. It’s just about how you implement the knowledge that you’ve garnered when the time comes.

Featured Image By: Wikimedia

Apr27

Underrated Careers You Should Consider

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We could probably name a bunch of careers that are overrated. ‘Advertising executive’ sounds flashy, but it’s actually a dying career field, with pay not being all that great. Lawyers get great pay, but when you consider the amount of work they have to put in (it’s basically non-stop, and the vast majority of it is paperwork), it may not be that great a trade-off. But, there are a bunch of important careers in our society that a lot of people don’t appreciate as much as they should. Not only are they essential to our country, but they’re also more complex, interesting, and stable than many seem to think. Here are just a few:

Accountant: A lot of people know that accountants are important, but they don’t see it as a particularly desirable career. After all, aren’t the accountants in films and books always really boring characters? The fact is, is that accounting is a very stable career choice that can land you a very healthy paycheck. It’s not just a career that people fall into because they couldn’t decide what else to do with their lives!

Nurse: When some unfortunate people think about nurses, they usually just think about hospital assistants who weren’t quite good or qualified enough to become “real doctors”. (Some people still seem to think that “doctors” are the males in healthcare and “nurses” are the females. To which I say… well, I don’t know what to say.). But this couldn’t be further from the truth. Nurses fill very particular roles that doctors couldn’t necessarily do, and becoming a nurse often requires very heavy-duty training and education. Courses in nursing science from the likes of Maryville University make clear just how complex and socially-needed this pursuit really is. Not to mention how rewarding!

Nurses are essential to healthcare

Vets: Vets, like nurses, are often just dismissed as ‘people in medicine who aren’t quite doctors’. (Although vets can actually refer to themselves as doctors in some parts of the world!) Some also seem to question why someone would choose to work with animals when human healthcare is so understaffed and overworked right now! But veteran veterinarians aren’t just high-earners; they’re also very important for society because they help deal with diseases and other issues in livestock. Without them, we’d have a much harder and more dangerous time getting… well, food. But us vegetarians have nothing to worry about! 😉

Also, you get to hang out with kitties!

Engineer: Like many similar careers in trade and manufacturing, civil engineering seems to have lost its cool factor, with an alarming amount of people assuming that such pursuits are basically pointless. But we don’t live in a post-industrial age; we’re still heavily reliant on careers such as this in order to keep our societies advancing. (Not just standing; advancing.) Someone with a great engineering grade can land a high-paying job pretty quickly, and the benefits for society when more people enter these fields are staggering.

Kitty Joyner, electrical engineer!

Waste collector: Seriously, they’re keeping the streets clean. People don’t just go into this work because they can’t do anything else; many do it because they care about their communities. That, and the pay isn’t half bad!

Apr24

What Dangers Lurk At Work?

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What Dangers Lurk At Work?

We should all be aware of the fact that our employer is, in large part, responsible for our well-being at work. If there’s a risk that they could have protected us from and they failed to, then they are to be held responsible. But it’s not all about the fires that break out and the slipping hazards that people fall prey to. If you’re concerned that your workplace is somehow affecting your health, consider some of the more invisible dangers:

Know When Stress Gets Unhealthy: We’ll start with one of the most common risks of any workplace. Stress, some would say, is a natural part of working life. You have to be able to cope under pressure. That’s not to be disputed. However, that doesn’t mean that employers have carte blanche to overload you with environmental factors that can push stress into unreasonable levels. Employers need to be aware of the effects that too much overtime, too many regular night shifts, traumatic workplace events, and overcrowded workloads can have on the employee. Make no mistake. Your mental well-being is also their responsibility, not just the physical.

The thing about stress is that it doesn’t need to come from one big thing. It could be the result of prolonged exposure to a hectic work environment, not necessarily being on night shifts, but just having no time to breathe at work is enough. While you may think that this is just until a project is over, or it’s just until the next holiday season, or whatever other excuse you are using, it doesn’t mean it has no effect on your health. High stress for a prolonged period of time can lead to chronic conditions, such as high blood pressure or ringing in the ears, known as tinnitus. The risks of high blood pressure are obvious to everyone. But did you know that persistent ringing in the ears can affect your hearing health permanently?

Beware of Older Environments: The actual building that you’re working in can sometimes be a danger all in itself, especially if you’re working in an older building. The risk is fast disappearing from the world, but asbestos can still be found in many properties and is a cause of a particularly dangerous form of cancer. It’s why you should select only the best attorney to represent cases involving mesothelioma. But it’s best to have your employer perform a thorough check on the property if you’re concerned with the age of it, first. Lead paint is another hallmark of older buildings that still hasn’t been completely eradicated.

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Office crush?!

Get Up and Move: This is partly on you, of course, but if you’re working in a job that involves sitting at a desk or standing at a counter for most of the day, you need to be aware of the risks it poses to your posture, back, and joints. Repetitive strain injury and back pain are not uncommon and can have lifelong repercussions. Sitting is becoming the new smoking, as they say. But you can work to fight against the effects. For instance, ask your employer to give you more opportunities to get up. You should spend five minutes every hour, at least, in a different posture and you can use that time to do errands for the office. But there are also furniture choices such as ergonomic chairs or adjustable desks that allow for sitting or standing that you could ask your employer to acquire.

A Breath of Fresh Air: The indoor air quality of a lot of businesses is not acceptable. When it gets visible to the point that you can see dust bunnies often in the air or a buildup of debris around the ventilation, demand an air quality test from the employer. Failing to consider the air you breathe can lead to breathing conditions like asthma or cause attacks in those who already suffer from them.

There are a lot of ways that your employer can ensure that any risk of the workplace is being dealt with. However, you shouldn’t always assume that they haven’t done so out of laziness or greed. Talk to them about your concerns and ask them to act on it. If they fail to, then that’s when you should consider getting legal involvement.

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Apr7

Jump On These Stepping Stones After Your Degree

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Jump On These Stepping Stones After Your Degree

When you finish your university degree there is the sense of what now, what comes next? It’s a good question, and the answer probably isn’t as simple as you might think. You might assume that as soon as you finish your degree, you’ll head straight into a top paid position in your chosen industry. However, research shows that doesn’t happen. Instead, you can spend up to a year searching for a position in your chosen industry, often working in the services industry. It’s true, there are people with PhDs right now, working at McDonald’s. Okay, that might be a slight exaggeration, but you do need to think long and hard about your next step. The challenge is far from over, but luckily, you’ve found the answers:

Get Charitable: Let’s say that you struggle to find a position in your chosen career in the first month after your degree. Don’t waste your time completing work in an unrelated job. Instead, volunteer, doing something different and exciting like building houses in Africa or teaching English in Indonesia. The more out there and extraordinary the better. In some cases, having a unique experience like this on your CV will automatically earn you an interview. Why? The employer just wants to hear what it was like working there.

Be Free: You can also set yourself up as an independent worker. While you are waiting for that dream position to come along, put yourself out there for hire part time or full time on a contract basis for different companies. By doing this, you can earn a solid income and avoid the killer empty time on your resume. Any time you spend doing nothing looks terrible to employers. In contrast, if you have a solid period where you’re constantly working, it looks fantastic. It shows that you have become a valuable asset to that business. Freelancing can help you find a position like this while you’re searching for your dream career.

Build The Ultimate Resume: Next, let’s think about that resume. Is it designed to attract the interest of employers and recruiters? You might say yes, but you have to remember, you’ll be facing a lot of competition on the market. Make sure that you do everything you can to beef it up and make it stand out. One of the best possibilities would be to create a resume online using a building tool. By doing this, you’ll have all of the tools that you need to ensure that it looks professional and doesn’t get lost in the shuffle.

Pay It Back: Finally, you need to think about that expensive student loan that’s weighing down on you. It can be a career killer because eventually, it’s going to start affecting your credit score. Employers do look at info like this before making a hire. Paying your loans off earlier will make you look like a more attractive hire and someone who is already taking their future prospects seriously.

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Apr7

Bored At Work: What Comes Next?

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Bored At Work: What Comes Next?

There comes a point in any working environment where you begin to sense that you need more. A job that once seemed overwhelming in its complexity has become mundane; the challenge has gone and you can go through your daily tasks without batting an eyelid. For awhile, being the master of a job is enjoyable – you know what you need to do and how you need to do it, and that feels good.

Over time, however, it becomes boring. So you find yourself seeking a new challenge. The obvious first instinct is to look for a new job with a new company that offers a brand new challenge:

Is This An Option For You? Whether or not switching jobs is an option for you depends a lot on the role that you are in. There are certain fields where you reach the top relatively quickly. For example, with administration: there is only so far that you can go up that chain. You might be able to move sideways in the company, but there will inevitably be a moment where you reach an end point.

For other occupations, there is always somewhere for you to go. With medicine, for example, even if you move up into supervision, a click to visit 360HealthCareStaffing.com will quickly show you all of the possibilities. Fields like law enforcement, caring services, and those in the media tend to always have an upward curve that you can latch on to.

So first, evaluate if you can progress with the skills that you already have. What you may find at a certain point in your career is that you have reached the top of the tree on the existing knowledge that you have, and then you are faced with an option…

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Pixabay Image

Should You Add Training? This is a valuable consideration that should be given some thought, too, – even if your first instinct is to pull away from the idea of going ‘back to school’. While we see the idea of education and training as being something you do before a career, it also has its place for the sake of career progression. It may have been a while since you were in a classroom, but if you’re no longer finding your job satisfying, it might be the best way to change things up.

For example, if you are a nurse and have reached the top of the ladder, then additional training could allow you to be a nurse practitioner. If you work in administration, then learning some tech support skills can be beneficial. These types of in-work qualifications allow you to take your existing knowledge and experience and build on them to craft a new challenge for yourself.

Not only does this have the benefit of giving you the skills that you need to do something different with your career, but it also looks very good on your resume. It shouts out to new employers that you are not the type who is comfortable to sit on their derriere and do nothing, coasting through life in exchange for an easy paycheck. It says: “I want more than this, and what’s more, I have gone through the effort of taking the time required to invest in my future.” It makes you look more dynamic as an employee; someone who is open and receptive.

Speaking of that resume – has it been a while since you updated yours? If so, brush up with some ideas from www.TheBalance.com and ensure that you’re up to the current accepted standards. If it’s been a while since you applied for a job, you need to make sure that you’re right on target, especially with your resume.

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Study Up!

What Are The Other Options? There are numerous reasons why you might not feel that moving to a new company or entering training are viable options for you. Family commitments, liking the environment of your current job, or something as simple as knowing the commute and the people at your current job can make it difficult to leave something behind. The best option if this is the case is to look for progression within the company.

Moving up in a company can be a pretty daunting task. It’s one thing to know that you’re good at your job and could do something more advanced, but it’s quite another to say this to the company that you work for. It can feel like you are advertising your dissatisfaction, saying that you are unhappy in your current role. Given that employers tend to like their employees to be reliable, it feels like you are taking a huge chance if you voice the fact you are unsatisfied.

While it’s the dream that workplace politics don’t exist, the reality is that they do. If you are seen to be hankering after change, there is a chance that this will go against you. So to an extent, you have to be careful with how you do this – but not too careful so as to look like you’re not serious about wanting something different. There’s no doubt that it’s a minefield.

If possible, look for opportunities within the company that are not directly related to the department that you work in. If you’re a nurse, rather than looking to advance within your sector, you could look for a move into the research side of hospital life. This means that you have the chance to discuss the need for change without any concerns about insulting anyone in your current position. If this isn’t a possibility, then you have the ultimate weapon in your arsenal: ask for a performance review.

Why A Performance Review? A performance review of your current job and how you do it might sound daunting, but it’s the only tool that you have left. That’s because it’s not specifically a review; it’s a chance for you to ask about progression and let your superiors know this is something that you’re looking for.

Everyone has the right to a performance review, especially if they have been working in a job for some time. Make the request informally, asking that it would be good for you to review things. Not only will you look like a conscientious employee for wanting to ensure that you’re doing your job to the best standards, but it also provides a natural vehicle for you to bring things up in a meeting about the future. You never know, you might not even need to, as in the course of the review they see you are clearly ready for more than you currently have.

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Performance review party!

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