Feature Article: Job Satisfaction Quiz: How Satisfied Are You with Your Job?
Special Feature: Wrestling the Time-Management Monster in Your Job Search
Bonus Feature: Mid-Year Career Checkup: Are You "On Your Game?"
Q&A with a Career Expert: Meg Montford
Quintessential Site: Featured Career Web Site of this Issue
The Career Doctor: Answering Your Questions
Q TIPS: Quick and Quintessential Tips to Guide Your Job Search
Notes from the Editor: About this Issue...
We're a little past the midway point in the year, and with employers beginning hiring for the second
half of the year, it's time to diagnose where your career and job search stand and
rev up your engine so you can get ahead in the coming months.
First, see whether it's time to leave your job by taking our Job Satisfaction Quiz.
Next, get some pointers on how to manage your job-search time in our article on that
subject. Then, see if you are "on your game" for the rest of the year. Finally, learn
about the importance of career management with our expert interviewee, Meg Montford.
--Katharine Hansen, Credentialed Career Master, Certified Electronic Career Coach,
and editor at
kathy@quintcareers.com
Feature Article: Job Satisfaction Quiz
Job Satisfaction Quiz: How Satisfied Are You with Your Job?
by Randall S. Hansen, Ph.D.
Does this job-seeker's scenario sound similar to yours? Jamie once loved his job and the accomplishments he achieved
in it. But as time went by, the work began to get repetitive, and on more than one occasion he was either promised a
promotion and never received it or was simply passed over for a promotion. He began pining for the weekends
and dreading Sunday evenings. His attitude toward his job and employer turned sour. He often felt tired and
uninspired. Yet he stayed
on the job because the pay was good and the job market poor.
It is fairly obvious that Jamie was dissatisfied with
his job, but the bigger issue is -- when did it turn
from something he really enjoyed to a chore? We spend
the vast majority of our lives working, and while it
won't all be wonderful and satisfying, we need to make
changes before we hit a point of no return -- when our
dissatisfaction begins a downward spiral of missed
promotions, increased sick days, poor performance
evaluations, and lost salary increases.
Wrestling the Time-Management Monster in Your Job Search
by Katharine Hansen
One of the stickiest wickets in the job search is how to manage your time. If you're unemployed and
need income fast, you want every bit of your job-search time to be productive and yield some sort of payoff.
If you're employed but desperate to get out of your current situation, it can be very difficult to carve
out time for a job search. It has often been said that job searching should be a full-time job, but clearly
that's not possible if you're employed.
Our article offers tips for job-search time-management. The first portion
of the article offers suggestions that apply to both the employed and unemployed. The next part is for the unemployed,
and the final section applies to the employed job-seeker.
Read the full article.
Bonus Feature: Mid-Year Career Checkup
Mid-Year Career Checkup: Are You "On Your Game?"
by Dan Puleio
When the year reaches its midpoint, it can seem like only yesterday that you made your New Year's
resolutions. Now you find yourself repeating the same old habit patterns you promised yourself would
not happen again.
Regarding your job-search activities of past months,
you reflect back at how exhausting it was to spend
all day (at least that's what you told people), day
after day, and actually accomplish the equivalent of
about an hour's true productivity when you were last
employed on the job and "on your game." You asked yourself
at each day's end, "What did I actually accomplish today,
and why am I both mentally and physically exhausted?"
I suggest the answer is that you were chasing activities
and not focusing on results.
This site, which touts itself as offering "true, honest, stories of people and their jobs,"
is all about building a collection of stories from people talking about their jobs and careers.
From the site: "This site was inspired by Studs Terkel's 1970s book,
Working, which chronicles the work lives of various people, so that we can all get an idea of what other
people do. This is your chance to get out all your frustrations and dreams. Perhaps millions of people
will read it someday....or perhaps not, but at the very least, we hope it will feel good to share your
thoughts with others who access this site."
Job-seekers can choose from a growing collection of job titles and read first-hand accounts of people
who are working -- or have worked -- in a particular job.
Granted, there are a lot more negative stories than positive ones, but
the negative pieces may serve as cautionary tales. Plus anyone can contribute,
so the site provides a good venue for venting about one's job.
Jobs range from corrections officer to teacher to telemarketer, and MANY
stories of McDonald's workers and disgruntled nurses are included.
Have you read the Quint Careers Weblog (Blog)?
It consists of career and job-search news, trends,
and scoops for job-seekers, compiled by the staff
of Quintessential Careers.
The blog is a great way to stay posted on the most
recent events occurring in the career and employment fields.
"View your career as a work life map," said Meg Montford in the Q&A interview she did with us. "There are many
types of roads, towns, hills, and rest stops -- some big, some small; some busy, some remote -- but all part of the
journey of one's work life. You have choices throughout your career about the routes you take and the places
you settle. But they are your choices, and no one else's. Even if you choose just to wander and stop wherever you
run out of gas, you're making a choice.
"Self-reliance is the key to the new employment game," Montford continues. "Adopting a career
self-management
approach can help you develop a career-resilient mentality that will empower you to control your own job satisfaction.
Bottom line: No one owes anyone a job. In fact, you must earn the right every day to just keep working. By deciding
to manage your own career, you ensure your right to have choices."
Read more of Montford's advice, including five steps to effective career management, the downfalls of the passive
job search, how to build credibility and visibility, and the importance of adapting to change in
our full Q&A with her.
Steve writes: "I am at a point with my job where I think I may have a problem. I used to love my job, but lately
I feel trapped -- trapped by being in a job where I feel underpaid and under-appreciated and trapped because the
job market is still so bad for my occupation. Please help me."
Erin writes: "I had a job interview, and although I didn't receive the job, the employer expressed genuine interest
in my candidacy. If the other person who was selected didn't work out, she expressed that they would like me
to come in. Time has passed and I am looking for a job again. How would I approach her after this much time?
What kind of letter would be best?
Also, I am looking for examples of letters to a potential employer from a candidate on 'How to get
reconsidered for employment?' Do you know if they exist anywhere?"
Tammy writes: "Your article on negotiating an offer package was extremely useful!! If you have time, I
just had a few additional questions about a negotiation I am currently pursuing.
I was offered a position that was only $1,000 more than my current salary, and typically I would try for a much
greater improvement. However, since I have inside contacts, I know that the offer is about as high as they can go.
They have already come up once, since I rejected an initial base offer that was below my current base salary, but I want
to ask for a change in the bonus structure as well as a change in the job title. I simply want 'senior' added
to my title to more accurately reflect my experience in the industry.
Should I pad the request letter with other requests as well? Since these are really the only two things that
are important to me, I'm afraid they will get passed over in favor of other requests that are easier to meet."
Q TIPS: Quick and Quintessential Career & Job Tips
An unwillingness to try new things could harm your career prospects suggests a recent survey by Accountemps, a temporary
staffing service for accounting, finance and bookkeeping professionals. More than one-third (35 percent) of chief
financial officers (CFOs) polled recently said embracing change is a critical success factor for employees.
Twenty-seven percent feel a desire to learn new skills is the most valuable characteristic.
Responses from 1,400 CFOs from a stratified random sample of U.S. companies with more than 20 employees made up the
survey, in which CFOs were asked, "Which one of the following characteristics do you consider most necessary
for an employee to succeed?" Their responses:
Adapts easily to change: 35 percent
Motivated to learn new skills: 27 percent
Strong interpersonal skills: 15 percent
Welcomes increased responsibility: 13 percent
Willing to work long hours: 5 percent
Don't know/no answer: 5 percent
To distinguish themselves from the competition, job-seekers should demonstrate their versatility,
said Max Messmer, chairman of Accountemps. "In cover letters and during job interviews, cite examples of how
you've viewed change as an opportunity rather than an obstacle."
Messmer also advised professionals to make a personal commitment to continued learning. "Absorb as much as
you can," he said. "Attend trade conferences, read industry publications, take classes, network with
others in your profession -- take every opportunity to identify and acquire the skills you need to be a
peak performer."
Liz Hughes, executive director of OfficeTeam offers the following tips for more effective communication:
Keep it short: Whether it's an e-mail, voice mail or face-to-face meeting, make your comments brief and
salient. Busy executives and staff appreciate people who can get right to the point.
Play nice: Don't forget to say "please" and "thank you,"
and do what you can to help those who need assistance. If you go out of your way for people, they're apt to
return the favor.
Be a wordsmith: Choose your words carefully when e-mailing, since written messages often appear more
severe than intended. If you're requesting action, make sure it's clear what is needed. Also, be concise
in your correspondence. Proof messages twice (once with the computer spell-checker, then with your own eyes)
to catch any errors.
Listen up: Give those with whom you speak your undivided attention. Resist the temptation to finish
others' sentences or formulate your own responses while they are talking.
According to Business 2.0,
the top 20 hiring markets in the U.S. are:
Raleigh-Durham, NC
San Jose, CA
Washington, DC
Austin, TX
Atlanta, GA
West Palm Beach, FL
San Francisco-Oakland, CA
Middlesex-Somerset, NJ
Seattle, WA
Boston, MA
Sacramento, CA
Phoenix, AZ
Minneapolis, MN
Denver, CO
New Haven-Stamford, CT
Baltimore, MD
San Diego, CA
Dallas, TX
Charlotte, NC
Philadelphia, PA
In these 10 places, life is at a slower pace, but the economic engines are still revving:
If your school, organization, business or other
entity has a Web site, we welcome you to link to Quintessential Careers.
If you already have a link from your site, we want you to know we
appreciate it. If you don't have a link to us, please
send a request to your site's Webmaster to establish a
link to Quintessential Careers. Thanks so much!
For more details (including sample HTML copy), see our
Link to Us page.
Ad: Electronic Versions of Documents Included Free
Electronic versions now included with all resume and cover
letter products at Quintessential Resumes and Cover Letters at
no extra cost!
An electronic version of your resume for sending via e-mail and posting to Internet job boards
is an absolute must these days because 80 percent of resumes are now placed directly into keyword-searchable databases.
Read more here.
That's why electronic versions are now included at NO EXTRA COST with all our resume and cover letter
products!
WATCH FOR feature articles on these topics in upcoming
issues of QuintZine:
* Dining etiquette
* Career Focus Quiz
* Pre-Employment Testing
* Mastering Second (and Subsequent) Interviews
* Exude Confidence in Interviews
* Working Beyond Retirement
* Workaholic Quiz
* Building Your Brand
* Pros and Cons of Nontraditional Careers
* Nontraditional Career Paths for Men and Women
* Make Your College Application Shine
* Changing Landscape of College Admissions
* College Admissions Annual Report/Panel Discussion
* Internet Jobhunting Annual Report
* Top 5 Networking Strategies
* Quintessential Career Profiles of YOU, our readers
* Q&As with well-known career experts
* Book reviews
. . . and much, much more!
Don't ever want to miss another issue of QuintZine? Get a free subscription to
the email version of QuintZine by completing our
subscription form.
Quintessential Careers Announces Career Coaching
We now offer two types of career-coaching services!
Are you...
feeling stuck in an unsatisfying job?
facing a major change in career or job status?
searching for your ideal career or job?
seeking help in developing a job-search plan?
looking for a solution to job-search obstacles?
desiring to bounce ideas off of a career expert?
trying to discover the keys to career success?
Let Dr. Randall S. Hansen, The Career Doctor, help you work through all your college, career, and job-search concerns,
issues, and problems. He has helped hundreds of teens, college students, and experienced job-seekers identify obstacles, develop
action plans, and achieve success -- and he can help you!
And for an economical online-only career-coaching alternative,
visit The Career Clinic.
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An unwillingness to try new things could harm your career prospects suggests a recent survey by Accountemps, a temporary
staffing service for accounting, finance and bookkeeping professionals. More than one-third (35 percent) of chief
financial officers (CFOs) polled recently said embracing change is a critical success factor for employees.
Twenty-seven percent feel a desire to learn new skills is the most valuable characteristic.
