Career Opportunities

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

(This podcast is pulled “from the archives” and presented here as a service to more recent listeners — Douglas)

Ask the typical computer user to describe a tech support or IT worker and you will hear the same response repeatedly. “Whenever you asked him or her a question, they would make an exasperated sigh and then reluctantly tell you what to do.” Beyond any lack of fashion sense or social skills, the exasperated sigh is the hallmark of the tech geek. So much so that Saturday Night Live once had an on-going sketch in which tech staffers took the sigh to ludicrous heights. What some tech workers don’t know, though, is that a simple sigh could be a major pothole in their career. No one likes to be treated like an idiot, but sometimes this is exactly what high-tech workers do.

iTunes Review | Career-Op Forums | Digg.com | Podcast Alley | Reader/Listener Line @ 818-804-5049

Technorati Tags: career, job, jobs, work, workplace, podcast, podcasting, technology, high-tech, employment

An excellent article from Wake Up Later. I agree with nearly everything they say here. In some cases, I have established the same policies, too. If you are a freelancer, or thinking of becoming one, these are some great guidelines.

When I first started freelancing as a college student, I was eager to do any website and would say “Yes” to anything, regardless of my skill set or the time involved. It was just nice to know that someone needed me for a skilled task. Unfortunately, I quickly found myself working all the time, eating Ramen noodles, and not getting anywhere in terms of paying off my wonderful college debt. To make things worse, these people were also giving my contact info out to other such people (you know, the lady who has been thinking about selling dog sweaters online and has a $100 budget for an e-commerce site, 1000 brochures, and a guaranteed #1 Google search result for the words “dog”, “sweater”, and “love”).

(Continue reading on the web site)

Originally found via c_d_j‘s delicious bookmarks

[from c_d_j] 10 Absolute “Nos!” for Freelancers

A blog about freelancing, passive income, and my learning experiences with both.

 bookmark this on del.icio.us
-
posted
by c_d_j

– more about this bookmark…

(Via del.icio.us/network/dewelch.)

I use a lot of social media and networking sites, including LinkedIn. One of the features of all of these sites is the ability to “invite” someone to join your network, your contact list, your group whatever. Each site also has some default text that gets sent to the person. In the case of LinkedIn, this reads, “I’d like to add you to my professional network on LinkedIn.”

If you really want to be effective in using these tools, though, take a few extra minutes to add a personalized note to every invitation, friend request, etc, you send. In my case, I offer Career Opportunities listeners the chance to join my network, BUT they need to tell me this in their invitation. I like to have some small, tangible connection to people in my social networking groups and this is one way I can tell that our paths have crossed, somewhere, sometime.

Do yourself, and your potential contacts, a favor and give them something more to go on then the default invite. If you do, I can guarantee you that many more people will accept your invitations in the future.

** Click the link above to join my LinkedIn network, but remember to tell me that you are a listener or reader of Career Opportunities.

Get daily career tips directly in your Twitter account, visit http://twitter.com/careertips

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Start building some independence for yourself
By Douglas E. Welch

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Listen: Start building some independence for yourself

It is the 4th of July, Independence Day here in the US, where we celebrate the founding of our nation. If you haven’t read the declaration recently, there are some truly stirring words to be found there, starting with “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal…” While we all may be created equal, the circumstances of our lives are quite different. In many cases, we find it hard indeed to seek out “…life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness…” in the ways the signers first imagined. We are constrained by so much in society today, both culturally and economically, that we each need to form our own “declaration of independence” and seek out that happiness we all so deserve.

First, in my mind comes economic independence…the ability to choose how and when we make and spend our income. Nothing is so basic as the dollars in our pockets or our bank accounts and yet many of us leave important monetary decisions to others. We allow our confusion of need vs. want to bury us in uncontrolled debt. We make career decisions based solely on the amount of money paid. We let others trap us in cycles of abuse simply because we think we have no other choice. You can start building your economic independence today.

Look at each purchase you are making. Don’t just blindly consume. It is ok to buy a new cell phone, a new computer, a new car, as long as you have considered your needs and how your purchase will fulfill them. Don’t let others make purchasing decisions for you, via advertising or peer pressure. Make the best decision for you. I am sure you find that many of the items you purchase everyday are not really necessary to your overall happiness and, in some cases, might even be making you unhappy, especially when you have to find a way to pay for them.

Save money today so you have a buffer against tough times in the future. The goal is not to deny yourself everything today in case things get bad. Instead, you want to have money in the bank to tide you over in the event of a layoff, plant closure or family crisis. I find that nothing else lends as much peace of mind as knowing that, if needed, you could easily survive for 3-6 months on your savings. It wouldn’t be fun, but it also wouldn’t mean losing your car or your home as well.

The framers of the Declaration of Independence showed great wisdom when they included happiness as an unalienable right. It is happiness that we seek, in all of its forms, no matter where we work or what we do

In terms of your career, just as you might develop an economic buffer, you should also develop a career buffer. Gather new skills as if they were dollars because that is exactly what they are. Skills, experience and education are stepping stones to the next level of your career. Unless you consider your current job perfect, you will want to move and grow. You will want to increase your pay and influence. Skills, experience and education hold the power to do just that.

Next, understand that no job should hold you captive. If you have built up your savings, then money should no longer be a factor when deciding to leave a meaningless or abusive job. You know that you can support yourself while you find another. Still, lack of faith in your own career skills can trap you in jobs you hate because you don’t have confidence in your own abilities. As I often say, “You got this job. You can get another.” You need to remember this. You had skills enough to get your current job. Getting another one, as least as good, should be no problem. Your goal then becomes to improve your position. If you have developed your skills, even this should be only a small problem. You must have a clear view and a faith in the quality of your work, otherwise you will constantly be underemployed and always under the power of those around you.

Declare your own independence today. The framers of the Declaration of Independence showed great wisdom when they included happiness as an unalienable right. It is happiness that we seek, in all of its forms, no matter where we work or what we do. Happiness…a deep, abiding happiness, is what makes life worth living. You either seek happiness for yourself or leave yourself to the whims of those around you.

One time:

Monthly ($2):

iTunes Review | Career-Op Forums | Digg.com | Podcast Alley | Reader/Listener Line @ 818-804-5049

Technorati Tags: career, job, jobs, work, workplace, podcast, podcasting, technology, high-tech, employment

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

A July 4th Gift from WelchWrite.com

“I am apt to believe it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forevermore” — John Adams

Prelude to Revolution – May 1775, to July 4th, 1776

A live audio production of Eclipse-1 Media.

“Live your liberty, don’t lose it in a history book.”

Listen: Prelude to Revolution Part 3
Listen: Prelude to Revolution Parts 1 & 2

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

(This podcast is pulled “from the archives” and presented here as a service to more recent listeners — Douglas)

Too often, we speed through our work, never noticing the small things we leave behind. Often, in the heat of a meeting or consulting call, we promise many things, but do we remember to deliver? Did you promise to research the procedure for importing data for mail merge? How about that request to update some router firmware? Does a client need a recommendation on a memory upgrade? How many small items have “slipped through the cracks” and disappeared. Even more importantly, how many opportunities to help your clients, and your career, have been lost? If you want to build your high-tech career, you need to become better at capturing these opportunities and using them to improve your relationship with your clients.

iTunes Review | Career-Op Forums | Digg.com | Podcast Alley | Reader/Listener Line @ 818-804-5049

Technorati Tags: career, job, jobs, work, workplace, podcast, podcasting, technology, high-tech, employment