This article from Lifehacker.com, provides some great advice, much like I wrote about in my column, A Little Recognition, (June 1998) and Make Your Resume A Blog ( Jan 5, 2007). The notes described in the article are just the type of thing you should be adding to your career portfolio, just as an artist adds there work and show reviews to theirs.

Work: Keep a File of Your Accomplishments

If you're doing a good job at work, keep a record. Office productivity site Slacker Manager suggests keeping a "yay-me!" file:

The basic idea is simple: you just keep a file of good stuff you do. When you figure out some trick new process that saves hours per week, you make a note about (don't forget to datestamp it) and drop it in the yay-me file.

There are two benefits of this practice: first, you can always give yourself a pat on the back when you're feeling down. Second, you're storing up good karma for your annual (or otherwise) evaluation. Do you have a "yay-me" file? Share how you've used it in the comments. Yay-me! file [Slacker Manager]

(Via Lifehacker.)

Technorati Tags: career, employment, job, jobs, work, workplace, portfolio

Labels: career, careers, employment, job, jobs, portfolio, respect, work, workplace

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It is rare for life to present you with a simple either/or situation. Normally, life is lived in shades of grey -- an almost infinite set of possibilities. That said, while talking over career problems with some friends last night, we stumbled across a dichotomy that every careerist faces today. In your career, and in your life, you can either "do something" or have something done to you. You can either control your career or let someone else dictate what you do and when you do it.



Next Friday: July 20, 2007: Immerse yourself in other environments in order to improve your own

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

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The second week of July, the entire family is heading off to Columbia, MO for the Stephens College Summer Film Workshop. My wife is the writer-in-residence and I will be speaking on podcasting and online video.

If you are a Career Opportunities listener in the area, let's try to arrange a meetup.

Columbia is about 2 hours from Kansas City and St. Louis and is also the home of the a Univeristy of Missouri-Columbia. Not an easy trip, but I'm up for a meetup if you are.



Add your comment to this post using the Comments link below or send an email to career@welchwrite.com.

I look forward to meeting you!

Technorati Tags: missouri

Labels: career, careers, job, jobs, missouri, work, workplace

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This week I launched a new blog and podcast here at WelchWrite.com, Careers in Podcasting.

In some ways, I consider it a spin-off of Career Opportunities, as the growing opportunities for podcasting-related careers are growing dramatically.

I will be highlighting news and events and also detailing my own forays into podcast producing and consulting.

Link: Careers in Podcasting

Labels: career, careers, job, jobs, podasting, podcast, work, workplace

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I am sure you have all experienced it as often as I have -- the worker who has decided that their job is not meant to offer customer service -- or any service at all. Their job is only to fill a particular space for a particular amount of time and receive their paycheck at the end of the week. This attitude doesn't just effect retail and other customer service operations, though. Nearly any company can fall victim to employees who have just stopped trying.



Next Friday: May 25, 2007: Bad reputations follow you everywhere

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Labels: career, high-tech, job, jobs, podcast, podcasting, technology, work, workplace

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You might not think you would learn something about high-tech at the local Chuck E. Cheese franchise, but this is exactly what occurred the other day. Due to some technical difficulties at this particular branch, I was reminded of a basic truism of technology -- little things mean a lot.

As the father of a 5-year-old, I spend more time than I care to admit attending birthday parties at CEC. It seems every child in my son's pre-school class is intent on keeping the company in business for at least the next several years. I have had an opportunity to visit several different locations, so I know the basic layout of their shows and how the technology is supposed to work. Unfortunately, at one location, the technology was not working very well. Even though the failures were small, it created quite a negative feeling in both the children and the adults.




Next Friday: May 18, 2007: Your job is more than just filling time

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Labels: career, high-tech, job, jobs, podcast, podcasting, technology, work, workplace

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This week we have 2 great discussions happening on the Career Opportunities area in the Friends in Tech forums.

* The first discussion is taking place in our monthly Career Complaints topic and deals with how companies deal with training and another on micromanagment.

* The second is entitled, Is there hope to love my job again? where a listener is trying to find the balance between a job they do well and a job they love.

I'd love to hear your comments on these topics and others. Head over to forums.friendsintech.com. It's free and it can be a great step towards "Helping to Build the Career You Deserve!"

Note: If you would like to subscribe to the forums using your RSS reader, you can use this feed to easily follow the conversation.

Technorati Tags: build, make, DIY, howto, how-to, career, job, jobs, work, workplace, discussion, advice

Labels: advice, build, career, discussion, DIY, how-to, howto, job, jobs, make, work, workplace

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With this show I take a few minutes to bring you up to date on some happenings here at Career Opportunities, what might be in store down the road and ask a few questions of you.



Links from this show:

Talkshoe.com
How to join our LIVE shows on Talkshoe
Friends in Tech Forums

This Friday: May 18, 2007: Your job is more than just filling time

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Labels: career, high-tech, job, jobs, podcast, podcasting, technology, work, workplace

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Watching my son's Little League team, I was reminded once again about the deep difference between knowing what to do and doing it when the time comes. I watch them go through drills at practice, perfectly implementing such concepts as the double play and acting as backup to other players. Then, in their games we see them faced with the reality of high fly balls and hot grounders and all their best practices fall apart. The outfielders overthrow the base, catches are missed and runners circle the bases until the ball finally gets returned to the pitcher. I am sure that this can resemble your business on a bad day, too. No matter how much we practice, crises can cause us to forget all that practice and to panic instead.



Next Friday: May 11, 2007: Automatic pilot can be a good thing

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Labels: career, high-tech, job, jobs, podcast, podcasting, technology, work, workplace

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Join John Braheny, author of The Craft and Business of Songwriting*, for a discussion of A Career in Music. We'll discuss many of the lesser know musical careers and dispel some of the sex, drugs and rock and roll myths of the music business.

* I wrote the podcasting sidebar for this edition of Johns book

Listen to this interview

Listen (Backup)

From John's web site...

JOHN BRAHENY (Bra HAY nee) is one of the most recognized and respected names in the music industry, and, more specifically, in the songwriting community. He is referred to as "the songwriter's best friend" for his tireless efforts to create education and discovery opportunities for songwriters, to help bring public attention to songwriting as an art form and to champion songwriters' rights.

Author and Journalist
Braheny wrote the best-selling and highly acclaimed Writer's Digest book, The Craft and Business of Songwriting (Writer's Digest Books 1988, 1995, 2002. 2007), now in its 3rd Edition. The National Academy of Songwriters called the book "A veritable songwriters bible. This is the definitive work on the subject of songwriting."

He had previously written the Songwriters Handbook for the American Song Festival, a bi-weekly "Songmine" column for Music Connection Magazine, and has contributed to Songwriters Market, Songwriter Magazine, Keyboard Magazine, Musician Magazine, The Musician's Business and Legal Guide, American Songwriter, and Music Biz Magazine among others.

Interviewer
Along with more than 600 interviews with music industry professionals and hit songwriters at the weekly Songwriters Showcase sessions and Songwriters Expo panels, Braheny conducted and edited more than 150 interviews for the Songwriters Musepaper, the monthly magazine of the Los Angeles Songwriters Showcase.

For several years he co-hosted Samm Brown's For The Record, a weekly music industry interview and call-in show on KPFK (90.7 FM) in Los Angeles.

John's expertise in interviewing songwriters is so well known and respected that in 1997 he was commissioned by Disc Marketing's In-flight division to conduct an ongoing series of 55 interviews with both legendary and contemporary hit songwriters for United Airlines' in-flight audio Salute to Songwriters Channel. The channel was a favorite on Air Force One. In November 2000, John was presented with an award by United Airlines in recognition of his contribution to their winning the international WAEA Avion Award in 2000 for "Best Overall Inflight Entertainment." (more)

Technorati Tags: california, career, job, jobs, work, workplace, podcast, podcasting, events, losangeles, music

Labels: california, career, events, job, jobs, losangeles, music, podcast, podcasting, work, workplace

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After doing a little research in my web statistics, I teased out these blog posts and columns as the Top 10 for the 1st Quarter of 2007.

The Right Way To Resign

Elsewhere Online: 100+ Ways to Write a Great Resume Cover Letter

Next Career Opportunities LIVE - Feb 28, 2007 with creativity consultant JoAnn Braheny

Time for you - July 14, 2006

A crazy workday is familiar to all of us. We are busy from the moment we arrive to the moment we leave...and even after we leave, in some cases. Our lives are driven by one urgent project after another. While we may be busy in this environment, too often we are not very productive. Without some time for ourselves, to re-group, analyze and plan, all of our busyness can come to mean very little. To break free from the constant interruptions of your event driven work, you need to take time for yourself, morning, noon and night.

Zoom in - April 28, 2006

Over the years I have written several columns encouraging you to step back and try to get a bigger picture of your work and your career. While this is still good advice, reversing this concept can also be useful. There are times when you need to zoom in on your work and inspect the minutia that are often ignored. Not only will this intense focus yield its own reward, it will also help you to gain a deeper understanding of the big picture.

Interview with Jo Ann Braheny - Creativity and Your Career

A LIVE interview with Jo Ann Braheny, creativity expert and writer of Goosing Your Muse, a creativity blog.

Playing "the enforcer" could put your career at risk

In the typical corporation, you will find many people whose main role is that of "The Enforcer." Project managers who enforce project timelines, human resource staffers who enforce work policies, union representatives who enforce labor agreements and even IT workers who enforce company standards, approved hardware, software and password policies. While, in most cases, all of these items need policing and enforcing, playing the role of the enforcer could be damaging to your career as a whole.

Make your resume a blog

You can find advice on how to build, design and send your resume almost anywhere. They will tell you how to format it, which font to choose and what information to include. Heck, even I've written my share of columns on resumes. Despite this, though, I want to offer one more bit of resume wisdom. In this age of ubiquitous Internet access, search engines and an increase in the serendipity of finding the right job for you, the next step may be to make your resume a blog, because, in many ways, your blog might already be turning into your resume.

Have you talked with your manager (or employees) today?

Career Opportunities podcast logoOne of the most important parts of any job, whether you are an employee, manager or executive is communication. Without regular communication among all the parts of your company, projects will fail, tasks will go incomplete and business will suffer. Furthermore, as an employee, if you are not communicating with your manager enough to know that you are doing the most critical work of the moment, you risk your job, as well. Have you talked with your manager today? Managers? Have you talked with your employees today? Does everyone know the critical path through this day, this week , the month? If not, why not?

Traveling Technology - from the archives

Despite the fact that traveling, especially by airplane, is getting more and more troublesome, there are still a lot of people traveling around the US and the world. Whether they are traveling for business or pleasure, those people are probably bringing some type of personal technology with them. Digital cameras, GPS receivers, laptop computers, PDAs and more are finding their way into suitcases these days. This provides an interesting opportunity for high-tech careerists. If people are traveling with this technology, they are going to need help with it. High-tech workers might find that they can still practice their trade while living and working in a tourist town or resort.

Technorati Tags: career, job, jobs, work, workplace, podcast, podcasting, creativity

Labels: career, creativity, job, jobs, podcast, podcasting, work, workplace

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You will never hear me claim to the expert on interviewing strategy, so I offer up this podcast from the folks at Manager tools to get you off on the right foot.

Like everything at Manager Tools, this podcast offers a clear, step-by-step approach that can give you an edge in any interview situation.

Be aware, this podcast is part of the Manager Tools Members Only section and will require a FREE registration to gain access. Trust me, though, it is well worth the time if you plan on interviewing anywhere soon.

Manager Tools - Tools for Leaders and Managers : Blog Archive : Interviews - The Introduction

In this cast, you’ll learn how to handle the crucial first five to ten minutes of any interview - Introductions. It is absolutely true that this is a critical part of the interview - first impressions are being formed, and I’d bet 75% of interviewers have a strong indication of how it’s going to go by the time this portion is done. That translates into our gut feeling that this is where 75% of technical interviewees fail. It’s THAT important.

(Via Manager Tools - Tools for Leaders and Managers.)

Technorati Tags: howto, how-to, career, job, jobs, work, workplace, podcast, podcasting, interview, interviews, interviewing

Labels: career, how-to, howto, interview, interviewing, interviews, job, jobs, podcast, podcasting, work, workplace

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No matter who you are, where you live or what you do, if you really want to learn something about your work, your ideas or a particular product, you only have to ask. Of course, asking for feedback can feel embarrassing and even frightening. Still, listening to other's consul and opinion is one of the most important ways that we learn to improve our own ideas.



Next Friday: May 11, 2007: Automatic pilot can be a good thing

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Labels: career, high-tech, job, jobs, podcast, podcasting, technology, work, workplace

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Tonight I posted this career-related story over on the Friends in Tech blog.

Turning one consulting client into many

Sometimes we plan deeply and then take concerted action to build a computer consulting career. At other times, good fortune just seems to fall into our laps. That said, it doesn't mean that you can't learn something from my good, if somewhat accidental, fortune.

It is a natural part of any consulting business that you often make clients of people who once worked for you. In my case, a contractor who remodeled part of our house has hired me several times over the last few years to maintain his office and home computers. When he launched a new endeavor, running a high-end photo studio, he called me in once again.

Continue reading at Friends in Tech

Labels: career, computer, consulting, friendsintech, job, jobs, work

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Whenever I talk with people about their careers, a number of complaints always come up. Sometimes we can get so frustrated with our work situations that complaining seems to be the only thing we can do.

So, in that regard, on the Friends in Tech Forums, I have set up a message topic for Career Complaints. Feel free to rant and rave and get it all off your chest. If you are relating a particular story, you may want to change the names to protect the innocent.

There is one rule, though.

For every complaint, you need to think of one way to improve your situation, one task to make things better, one change to move on with your career. I will chime in on each message and I encourage everyone else to offer their best advice. I'll post this message every so often to remind people that the forum exists. Eventually, if this forum is popular, I might set up a LIVE show over at Talkshoe.com to address some of the issues we discuss.

In this way, maybe we can make turn our career complaints into the career change we all need.

Who's first?!

Visit the Career Complaints section on the Friends in Tech Forums! (FREE)

Technorati Tags: career, job, jobs, work, workplace, complaints, complaint, rant

Labels: career, complaint, complaints, job, jobs, rant, work, workplace

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Even if you listen to my podcasts directly from the web site, or see the Subscribe links on this page, you still may be wondering what this "subscription" thing is all about.

Well, here is a video that shows you exactly how to subscribe to podcast using iTunes or the Juice podcatching client.

Watch How to Subscribe to a Podcast

After you watch the video, you can use the links below to subscribe to Career Opportunities and and receive each new episode automatically.


Subscribe with iTunes

Copy this link to Subscribe using other podcatching clients or RSS feed readers

Technorati Tags: howto, how-to, career, job, jobs, work, workplace, podcast, podcasting, tutorial, technology, video

Labels: career, careers, how-to, howto, job, jobs, learning, podcast, podcasting, technology, tutorial, video

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Everyone it seems, from business pundits, book authors and your spouse, knows that change is important in our lives. We all need to change, sometimes on a daily basis, in order to address the pressing issues of life and work. No matter how important we might see change, though, change is tough. Our own innate sense that "change=danger" triggers feelings of fear from deep within our usually rational mind. This fear can cause us to avoid the very changes that would most improve our lives. Change can feel overwhelming and can paralyze us in place, unable to make any move in any direction. One way of breaking through this paralysis, though, is to break our changes into smaller, manageable parts, much as you should do with any project.



Next Friday: May 4, 2007: Don't be afraid -- you won't learn unless you ask

Enter Dancing with Elephants "Let Them Hear You!" Contest

Win an iPod Shuffle!

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