Q TIPS:
Quick and Quintessential Career & Job Tips
Job-hunting tips from the December 17, 2007 issue of
QuintZine.
Compensation/pay, benefits, job security, flexibility to balance work/life issues and
communication between employees and senior management remain top
contributors to job satisfaction, according to employees surveyed for
the 2007 Job Satisfaction Survey Report released by the Society
for Human Resource Management (SHRM). In fact, over the past four
years, survey respondents ranked benefits and compensation/pay
as the top two aspects. Still, nearly eight out of 10 employees report
overall satisfaction with their current positions
Are you actively managing your own career? If not, you may want to make it a goal in 2008 to do what at least half
of employees were doing in 2007, according to a study of nearly 1,000 workers in 33 countries by BlessingWhite,
a global consulting firm based in Princeton.
Asked if they actively manage their career based on clear, personal goals, 51 percent agreed or strongly agreed. Moreover,
57 percent of participants do not expect their employer to provide a career path for them.
Among the study's other findings:
Four out of five employees do not think there is anything
wrong with staying in the same job if they have the opportunity
to try new things or develop their skills.
A majority of the participants (52 percent) indicated that they
are looking for work that is satisfying when they make a job change.
While 45 percent of study participants reported that that they
know what they want their next job to be, only 22 percent think that
they know what their employer wants their next job to be.
Half of respondents (48 percent) believe they have decent
career opportunities with their current employer, while more than
a third (39 percent) expect their next career move to take them elsewhere.
A few salary-negotiation tips from John D. Hoover of JobLynx:
Make your salary discussion a friendly experience. Assume
amiability when discussing salary, not conflict or controversy.
You should make the employer feel that you are on the same
side and working together to find a compensation package
that would satisfy everyone's needs. Anticipate a win-win situation.
Dispute any doubts about your suitability for the position.
You will have the most influence if salary is the only source for
hesitation. Make sure that there are absolutely no other concerns
from your employer or doubts that you are the best candidate
for the position.
Justify your cost-effectiveness. Try pointing out to the
company how your ability will help reduce costs through
your performance so you can justify higher pay.
Remain calm and poised. Once the offer has been made, and
appears too low, remain quiet as though you were pondering the
offer. This will imply your dissatisfaction with the offer, and the
uncomfortable silence may prompt the interviewer to improve
the offer on his/her own.
Compensation/pay, benefits, job security, flexibility to balance work/life issues and
communication between employees and senior management remain top
contributors to job satisfaction, according to employees surveyed for
the 2007 Job Satisfaction Survey Report released by the Society
for Human Resource Management (SHRM). In fact, over the past four
years, survey respondents ranked benefits and compensation/pay
as the top two aspects. Still, nearly eight out of 10 employees report
overall satisfaction with their current positions
