Dodo Loves Marketing

The conventional career path lacks forgiveness. As the employee climbs from rung to rung, the rungs are burned behind him. If he climbs onto a rung and struggles, he knows that his reputation will suffer and his job will be in jeopardy. There is no turning back. By punishing career missteps so severely, this path discourages everyone from taking bold career steps. In conventional wisdom’s world, taking bold career steps in order to discover a latent talent or to refine an existing one is almost as foolhardy as volunteering to learn the trapeze without a safety net. ..more

• Read More »

At some point during your performance planning meetings, the employee may want to talk about his career options. He may want to know where you think he should go next. A healthy career discussion rarely happens all at once. Instead it is a product of many different conversations, at many different times. However you choose to handle these conversations—and each will be unique, according to the potential and the performance of the individual employee ..more

• Read More »

Most people cringe at the thought of giving a speech or chairing a meeting. The limelight is on you and everyone is watching and listening. Who wouldn’t feel at least a bit on edge under these circumstances? While many can muster their courage to get through these events, there are some who find their limbs shaking and their foreheads perspiring at the very thought of the next public speaking occasion. ..more

• Read More »

• First, do your homework. Find out if anyone else in the organization is working — or has worked — from home. Your union as well as the personnel department may know. If so, arrange to have a drink or meeting with them, to find out how they tackled the subject, how the arrangement works or, if it has stopped, why it ended.

• When I decided to move to the Isle of Bute, in Scotland, I thought I’d have to leave the bank,’ says Kevin Attwood, Strategic Planning Development Officer for Nat West who now works two days from home, and three in London. ‘In fact, I kept the move so quiet that when I told my boss I’d moved to Scotland over the weekend, he was flabbergasted. When we had lunch I said flippantly, that if I’d got my act together I would have come up with a strategic plan for teleworking. He told me to come up with a proposal. I rung up people in the bank who were already working from home some of the time and talked to them extensively before coming up with my plans. Listening to their experiences helped me make a convincing proposal.’ ..more
  • Read More »

Having thought through the career possibilities and assessed the advice given by the resource people you consulted, it is time to consider the market—what jobs are available to you? Depending upon the type of work you do, or would prefer to do, there may be a specialised employment service available to help. For example, in most cities there will be agencies specialising in secretarial and receptionist services, computer personnel, and technical sales people, to name but a few. For managerial positions, management consultants can be approached. Generally, the fees for placing an applicant are paid by the employer, but there might be some service fees payable by the applicant. ..more

• Read More »

George has owned a small machine shop for about twenty years. He’s very good at what he does. He delivers precision parts at good prices on time. He is so good that his customers are always pushing him to expand his capacity. You see, George has maintained his on-time delivery reputation by having the audacity (and the discipline) to turn down work he knows he can’t deliver on time.

Five years ago George had eight employees. The business consisted of a bookkeeper, an estimator, a production supervisor, and five machine operators. George took home $90,000 a year and paid cash for each new machine. He owned the building free and clear. He had no bank debt. ..more

• Read More »

After an interview, send a thank-you letter to the person who interviewed you. If there was more than one interviewer, write the note to the one who has the power to hire you. Mail the letter that day so the person doesn’t have an opportunity to forget you. Now continue your job search, meeting managers and lining up interviews— keep working at it. Your goal is to have at least two or three offers to choose from.

When you get a job offer, generally by phone, thank the person sincerely. Write down the details; starting date, wage, hours, and so on. Tell the employer that you’d like to accept but you need a day to discuss it with your family. Now talk it over with your parents and some close friends. Compare the job offer to your original goals. Sometimes in the excitement of landing a job you can lose sight of your own best interests. ..more

• Read More »