Feature Article: Managing Job Stress: 10 Strategies for Coping and Thriving at Work
Special Feature: Job Burnout Quiz: How Close Are You To Burning Out?
Bonus Feature: Survey Says: Telecommuting Ranks High on Job Seekers' List
Quintessential Site: Featured Career Web Site of this Issue
The Career Doctor: Answering Your Questions
What's New on Quintessential Careers: Latest Additions
Q TIPS: Quick and Quintessential Tips to Guide Your Job Search
Notes from the Editor: About this Issue...
Are you fried and burned? Is it a summer sunburn, or are you experiencing job burnout?
Sweating? Maybe it's more than the summer heat; perhaps you're under great stress at work.
If so, this issue is for you. Our Job Burnout Quiz will enable you to gauge your level
of burnout, and our article, Managing Job Stress: 10 Strategies for Coping and Thriving at Work,
will help you deal.
Those who are stressed and burned out on their jobs often seek an alternate
arrangement, such as telecommuting or other work-at-home possibilities.
Our article from telecommuting expert Pamela La Gioia offers the lowdown on
these arrangements.
If a new job is in the cards to help you recover from stress or burnout, check out
our job portal.
--Katharine Hansen, Master Resume Writer, Credentialed Career Master, Certified Electronic Career Coach,
and editor at
kathy@quintcareers.com
Feature Article: Managing Job Stress
Managing Job Stress: 10 Strategies for Coping and Thriving at Work
by Randall S. Hansen, Ph.D.
Melissa had been the ideal worker, always willing to take on new projects, work long
hours and weekends -- until last year. There were subtle changes at first. Her demeanor
turned from always positive to a growing streak of negativism. She began to have
problems sleeping. She felt frustrated with a lack of progress within the firm,
and a growing sense of no longer being a part of the team. She started to use
sick days for the first time -- some for a nagging number of illnesses, some for
"mental health" days. Luckily for Melissa, she had some friends who recognized the
problem she was suffering from was job stress.
Job Burnout Quiz: How Close Are You To Burning Out?
by Randall S. Hansen, Ph.D.
Job burnout can affect all workers at one point or another. There are
many signs of burnout, and if you are feeling fed-up with your job, your
co-workers, and your employer, you may be suffering from burnout.
Survey Says: Telecommuting Ranks High On Job Seekers' List
by Pamela La Gioia, Copyright 2004
It's tough to find employment in today's job market, especially if a person lacks a
formal education or has minimal work experience. Still, even without such background deficits,
attempts to find home-based employment may be fruitless at best, financially and
emotionally draining at worst.
According to the International Telework Association and Council (ITAC) of Washington, D.C.,
more than 19.6 million people reportedly worked from home as of 1999. The ITAC estimates that by
2010, there will be around 40 million people working part- or full-time from their homes.
Sage Research, Inc. reported that companies will continue to initiate telecommuting programs.
The use of remote workers will become a
necessity as overhead costs continue to rise.
Yet, even though the trend of telecommuting (working from home) has steadily grown over
the past two decades, it remains an untapped benefit for the majority of North America's
workforce. This situation makes many job-seekers ask: "Where are the companies that allow individuals
to work from home? What does it take to land a home-based job?"
To learn what it is like trying to find and actually land a telecommuting job,
Telework
Recruiting, Inc. surveyed dozens of people who frequent online e-mail groups that focus
on telecommuting issues. The results of this survey will help give job seekers an understanding
of what's involved in a search for a telecommuting position.
A Home-Based Business Online offers practical business ideas, opportunities, and strategies for
the home-based entrepreneur and a large collection of helpful links for those who want to start a
home-based business.
The site also offers a large library of articles and a huge list of ideas for home businesses.
See all our featured Quintessential Sites.
Sandy writes: "I'm struggling, and I need your help. I used to love my job and my employer, but ever
since a few months ago when takeover rumors started to circulate and the company announced
a new round of layoffs my attitude has changed. I used to love getting up in the morning but
now need like two alarm clocks to get me up. And I also find myself making more and more
excuses for not going to work.
What can I do to go back to how I used to feel? What should I do?"
Fred writes: "I am a 23-year-old newly minted college graduate with a degree in journalism.
I have a job working for a small-town newspaper. I have worked for my current employer for about
two months. Before graduation, I felt my hard work in college would not go unnoticed, but my futile
attempts to get hired at a bigger place make me feel as though it has.
Working for a small paper was never my idea of a permanent career. I felt it would be a
stepping stone to a larger paper and what I would consider more challenging and fulfilling
work. I don't feel comfortable where I currently work.
Nobody in their 20s intends to graduate from a college filled with other hip 20-somethings
and go right to work in dullsville, at least not permanently. My question to you is: how soon
is too soon after starting a job to begin looking for a new one? I itch to dust off my resume and
send it to larger papers, but I worry potential employers might not want to take a chance on me
because I have worked for my current employer for such a short amount of time. Am I right to
be concerned?"
Jean writes: "My husband changed positions twice during the past few years, resulting in unanticipated
moves; these moves resulted in my separation from the workforce for two years. Now, my new location
does not have opportunities in my old profession, and I have limited networks, so I am considering
a career change. How would you suggest a person begin networking in a new field when they have
no local contacts? Can you advise any book or site that documents the progress of individuals
who make significant re-careering decisions in their mid-30s to 40s?
I would also like to point out that my experience as an older career-changer is daunting because
there seems to be a trend toward increased credentialing over the past year that makes
retraining longer and more costly. In particular, do you know of any list that shows the best
jobs for older workers?"
Anonymous writes: I read your article on Job Hunting Cold Calling.
I've been employing this strategy for a few weeks and have had great success in getting the names
of hiring managers and answers to specific research questions. But once you reach out and contact
the senior executive who's hiring for the position, what's the best approach in beginning and conducting
this conversation. I'm interviewing for senior positions in marketing (i.e., VP, director, 17+ years of experience).
I can manage all of the other conversations, but I'm stumped when I get to this point. I need something
more than, "ask for an interview."
Get the latest career, college, and job-search news you need!
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.
DiversityCanada.com --
a job site specifically designed to bring employers who have career opportunities together with
Aboriginal peoples, people with disabilities, women and visible minorities. Job-seekers can
browse job listings and post your resume. No cost to job-seekers.
MedicalWorkforce.com --
a great site for medical professionals, where you can search job listings (by location
and job category), post your resume, and register for a job matching alert. Also
includes continuing education resources, a career center, and healthcare-related links.
No cost to job-seekers.
MyCoolCareer.com -- a career
exploration site for teens and twenty-somethings, where you can find all sorts of
career tools and information, including self-assessment tools, streaming MP3 interviews
with people in various career fields, and much more. Also includes college resources.
No cost to job-seekers.
naukri.com --
India's largest career and job Website, where job-seekers can browse job listings by company or search listings
(by keyword, location, industry, functional area, job level), and post your CV. Includes a job-matching service.
No cost to job-seekers.
Find even more career and job site additions to Quintessential Careers by visiting our
Latest Additions section.
Q TIPS: Quick and Quintessential Career & Job Tips
Recruiters report that they have significant success in recruiting candidates from niche
job boards. The flip side of recruiter success is job-seeker success, so if you fit any of
these niches in which recruiters have reported success, you may want to try searching for jobs and
posting your resume on one of these boards:
JobsInTheMoney.com, Finance niche.
In finance, recruiters also recommend professional associations, such as credit-union and bank
associations.
Sibson Consulting reports these trends in sales jobs based on a survey of 65 major
North American companies:
At 90 percent of companies, a top sales rep can earn more than the rep's managers do.
And at 19 percent of companies, a top sales executive can earn more than the CEO does.
During the past two years, companies have experienced 12 percent annual sales-force turnover.
Only 9.7 percent of companies (but 23 percent of high-tech companies) view stock or stock
options as an advantage in attracting and retaining salespeople.
When salespeople quit, the majority of the time it's because there's a better opportunity
to improve their career at another company. The second-most-common reason is higher base
pay, followed by higher incentive pay, followed by more attainable quotas.
Suffering from job stress or burnout? CNN/Money contributing columnist Gerri Willis
offers ways to jumpstart your career.
Position yourself for opportunities both inside and outside your company.
If you are looking to change fields, learn the lingo and find out whom to talk to.
Follow your passion. If you're unsatisfied or expected to be in a better position, pursue
your bliss; consider doing what you REALLY want to do.
Leave the country. Approximately four million Americans work abroad. Language and international-
business skills will make you more marketable.
Take a class, or more. Your employer may pay for you to polish essential skills.
Lose the ego. Tout all your accomplishments, but do it with humility in a way that describes
what your talents can do for your next employer.
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.
QuintZine: Topics in Upcoming Issues
WATCH FOR feature articles on these topics in upcoming
issues of QuintZine:
* Job Burnout Remedies
* The Value of Internships Abroad and Study Abroad
* Top 10 Fears of Job-seekers
* For Job-hunting Success, Develop a Detailed Job-Search Plan
* How to Build a Personal Advisory Board
* Keep Your Career Dreams Alive
* MBA Career Portfolios
* Trends/Tips in Career Portfolios
* Pre-Hire Background/Credit Checks
* Noncompete Clauses
* Sticky Job Interview Situations
* Situational Interviews
* 10 Resume Tips
* Why Hire a Resume Writer?
* Is Your Resume Lost in the Internet Void?
* Career Activist Quiz
* Practice Career Management to Avoid Career Crisis
* The Changing Landscape of College Admissions
* Offbeat Ways to Pay for College
* Financial Aid/Scholarship Timetable
* Build Confidence and Avoid Insecurity in Job Interviews
* Empty Nest Job-seekers
* Baby Boomers Beware
* Are You Sabotaging Your Job-Search/Career?
* Quiz: Marketing Yourself
* Marketing Yourself with internal/External Promotions
* Lifelong Networking
* Networking for the Shy
* Converting a Seasonal Job to a Permanent Position
* Working Night Shifts/Odd Hours
* Quintessential Career Profiles of YOU, our readers
* Q&As with well-known career experts
* Career, College, and Job-Search 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.
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