Landing a good job in the desired work environment can signal the start of a promising career but care should be taken that this beginning will not spell the end of career ambitions and goals.  It can be tempting to be too contented to aspire for anything better or higher only to realize that time does not wait too kindly for those who do not make their career moves in time.  Advancing age and minimal qualification due to exposure to only one nature of  job do not exactly equate to the ideal formula in qualifying for management positions.

While still on the early stages of carving out a career path, working professionals should already be looking into ways of maximizing career potentials.  Every career step taken should be a conscious effort towards achieving the desired goal.  It is necessary to determine as early as possible what this is so as to eliminate unnecessary career moves that will only result to delay. 

There are several time-proven ways of maximizing career potentials.  These include gaining a variety of work experiences related to the target field of expertise as well as pursuing continuous education that will facilitate career advancement.  Online degree programs and certification courses make it possible for professionals to study while holding on to their existing jobs.

Giving up a job to study is a luxury that not everyone has, due to family obligations and responsibilities.  A job not only provides a source of living but also an indispensable source of required experience to qualify for a higher and better-paying position.  Nothing builds confidence more than being consistently considered for promotion.  A promotion signifies more than a satisfactory job performance which is what career-building is essentially about.  For added career opportunities, professionals can consider branching out to a related field where demand for their particular expertise and background is high.

This is the reason for the great interest in knowing job market trends as they come.  Actually, the key to maximizing a job trend is to spot it before it explodes.  Hoping to be part of it when a job is already on the most wanted list is usually too late for most.  We have to realize that most highly preferred jobs require appropriate experience, knowledge, and skills. 

It is no secret that getting these qualifications require time. We derive experience from actually working on a particular field.  We obtain knowledge from taking appropriate courses.  We gain skills from getting the right educational background and the opportunity to apply learning on an actual work environment.  All these cannot be rushed although we are seeing efforts to address these requirements through short intensive courses offered to working adults.  At present, allowing an employed worker to pursue further studies answers the immediate need to establish experience and education at about the same time.

Unless one has the power to foresee the future, no one can really tell for sure what time has in store for the job market.  We can however use certain indicators to guide us in narrowing down our options.  Much sought-after jobs are driven by prevailing needs and these would include the need to save time and do things faster, the need to bring down costs while affording more convenience, as well as the need to make the world safer with an emphasis on better reliability.  People who are involved in producing answers to these needs are expected to be in demand for the coming year and the years to come.

Review Your Goals

How have your goals changed since the last time you reviewed your resume? If they haven’t, why are you even considering revising the entire document? If your goals haven’t changed, you must be totally satisfied where you are right now. Many job seekers boil down their goals to a single sentence that talks specifically about what they want to do and where they want to work.

Review Your Experience

What have you done professionally since the last time you reviewed your resume? Whether or not you feel as if you’ve accomplished anything, you have no doubt been a significant part of several projects you can list and describe – helping others find an online payday loan group, financial counseling, insurance – you’ve done something good. Everything you’ve done contributes to who you are and what you have to offer, so don’t be shy in describing what you’re capable of and what you can offer a potential employer.

Keep Your Contact Information Updated

If you have a LinkedIn profile, share it. If you’re on Skype, your Skype name can also be on your resume. The more ways a potential employer can contact you, the better off you’ll be.

Focus on Solving the Problems Your Potential Employer Has

What problems do you solve for a potential employer? If you can’t answer this one immediately, the likelihood is a potential employer also won’t know the answer. This type of ignorance is a serious problem. The good news is that you have plenty of time to work out a solution and write down how helpful you can be.

Tighten Things Up

The usual rule of thumb is that most resumes should be single-page documents. If you were writing an executive packet, you could go longer. But in this day and age, hiring managers responsible for the rank and file have to review too many resumes to have any desire to go flipping through multiple pages.

When you want to review your resume, you have to think in terms of making life easier for the hiring manager. What do you have to offer them that a million other job-seekers don’t?

The reasons we provide when we want some change in our lives can be real or perceived (if not imaginary).  It is no different when we think of leaving our existing careers.  Somewhere in the middle of that desire for change lies the truth of  job dissatisfaction.  Because a career change can have a potentially drastic effect on a person’s life, it is important to determine whether such a move is warranted or not.  

The most obvious manifestation that a career or job change has to be seriously considered is when you don’t like your job.  It makes no sense spending another minute in a job that you don’t like, much less abhor, right?  But what if there are considerable economic conditions to consider like providing the essential needs of your family?  Then the decision-making becomes more complicated as compared to when a person has to decide only for himself/herself.

In this case, not liking the job per se should go a little down the line in the list of considerations.  Occupying the top slots for reasons to absolutely consider a career change are job-related illnesses, an abusive work environment, discrimination, inability to perform family responsibilities, and a better offer from another company.  These reasons are not mere excuses to leave a job since they do not only present a matter of simple inconvenience but real threats or incentives to an employee and his/her family’s well-being.

Other reasons that should send us to the thinking chair for career change include many other considerations such as not agreeing with company ethics and policies, the absence of career growth opportunities, lack of challenges left to conquer, questions in the company’s long-term stability, and change in family circumstances that requires finding a new job.  Employees who do decide to leave their current jobs to find another, must realize that they cannot escape being asked about their previous jobs by companies where they decide to apply afterwards.  For prospective employers, there would be acceptable and unacceptable reasons and you better be sure you have the right one.

The position of “Car Czar” will be available soon and the list of applicants is filling up fast. Do you think you have what it takes to do the job? Here’s a list of some of the questions on the application form:

Are you now or have you ever been a member of the Ferrari Club of America?

Have you ever keyed a Prius? Include photo of yourself standing next to it smiling.

Fill in the blank: “See the USA in your ___.”

Name the model of car driven in “Starsky and Hutch,” “The Dukes of Hazard” and “Knight Rider.”

Describe the last time you changed the oil in you car. Bonus points if it was within the last 20 years.

Without the help of Google Maps, locate Detroit on a globe.

Name three things you can do in the back seat of an American car that you can’t do in a foreign car. Bonus points for photos.

What is the most number of miles you’re driven with the needled on E? Provide towing and repair bills to substantiate.

Can you sit through a presentation by the CEO of General Motors without saying, “Heh-heh, he said Hummer”?

Give as many reasons as you can why Ralph Nader should be sent to Gitmo. Use back of form if necessary.

List three things you will throw in at no extra charge to get this job.

Sing “Hot Rod Lincoln” without making any mistakes. Bonus points for realistic car sound effects.

Name as many pro sports teams as you can whose mascots are also American car models.

Tell three jokes with the word “Isuzu” in the punch line.

Explain in your best car dealer voice why “I must be CRAZY to apply for this job!”

From: The Best Colleges

• Learn the lingo
  A blog is a singular entity. Each entry you write is called a post. Nothing destroys net cred like mentioning how many blogs you’ve written on your blog this week.
• Strike the right balance
  It’s important to maintain your superiority while also coming across as one of ‘them’ – all those masses who buy the crap your company sells. Espouse the American Dream at every opportunity.
• Stick to business
  While you may have gotten the idea that all blogs feature snapshopts of babies and tales of woe at the supermarket, remember that no one’s sympathetic when your Rolls is in the shop or the jet was grounded for weather.
• Know that you’re not cool
  No matter how many times you heard your kid, or grandkid, or the Joe Bros say it, you can’t pull it off. K Beeyatch? Stay away from teen speak. Just saying.
• Never talk money
  Your own that is – no matter how stoked you are for tat $10 million bonus, do NOT share your enthusiasm with your readers. Complaining about your tax bracket, ivy league tuition payments, and upkeep on the Hamptons home is also a bad idea.

Most important, give of yourself when you blog. Take the time to sit down and write something of value. It’s not like you’re busy doing anything else.

Just recently, L’Oreal was found guilty of racial discrimination by the French Supreme Court. The conviction stems from the company’s policy that Garnier sales staff should be “bleu, blanc, rouge” — the colors of the French flag but also the company’s code for white French people. What were they thinking? That people won’t likely buy lipstick from a person who’s not white? It’s just stupid beyond words. How can they even think their bottomline can be affected by the ethnicity of the sale staff. I want to buy hairgel, I won’t care if the salesperson’s from Mars, okay, I probably would, but only in so much as I’d want to strike up a conversation with a person from another planet.

In this day and age, it’s quite shocking that a company as progressive as L’Oreal would still propagate discrimination. It just reeks of bad taste offensiveness. I mean, the French has been described as rude and aloof but, I don’t believe they’re racist. L’Oreal is giving the French people a bad reputation.

Come on, L’Oreal guys! I think you know that beauty is not just skin deep. Merde!

Not only is this frustrating, it’s an attack on your ego and should be taken personally.

Here are ten quick ways to exert your power within your office and gain the respect you deserve from colleagues:

1. Always give your two cents on a project whether you are asked about it or not. It’s important that you vocalize why it’s not going to work–people need a voice of reason.
2. Don’t reply to emails. If someone needs an answer from you, make them go out of their way to find you.
3. Never come to scheduled meetings on times. Making colleagues wait is a great way to let them know how busy you are and how valuable your time is.
4. Interrupt meetings that don’t include you. Most likely, there is somebody in the meeting that has information you need about any random situation. Interrupting a meeting to get your information lets them know that no matter what they’re discussing, your needs are more important, even if it’s a printer paper jam.
5. If someone is late to work or misses a day, be sure to bring it up next time you’re with them in front of the boss. You don’t have to be serious about it, just a quick, “So what kept you out of the office?” shows that you have a sense of humor too.
6. No matter who you’re talking to or what you’re talking about, check your blackberry incessantly. Regardless if you have a text, email, or voicemail message pull it out of your pocket every five minutes to check. And if you get a call, tell them you have to take it, even if it’s your mother-in-law. The best way to let someone know that you are more important than they are is by never giving them your full attention.
7. If you get a chance to actually lead a project, micromanage EVERYONE on your team. It’s your butt on the line, so you better make sure they know who is in charge. Ask for hourly updates and excel spreadsheets with status columns, second guess every decision that is not yours, and don’t give anyone due credit unless it’s going to benefit you. [A side note to this rule: don't put yourself out there too often. Being a project lead is the quickest way to fail at work; and, avoiding failure is the goal.]
8. Do your best to get one-on-one time with department heads, chief officers, or anyone in a more powerful position than you…and then tell everybody about it. Whether it’s a shared trip on the elevator or a round of golf, letting people know that you have direct access to real decision-makers gives you a certain amount of power by association. It’s a bit like name-dropping, only more professional.
9. Yell a lot and yell at everyone (except, of course, you’re supervisors). This is a must. The louder you can be the better. Some believe irrational outburst are unnecessary and inappropriate in the office environment. Not true. Projecting your anger is the best way in the world to exert power. People know you mean business and will think twice before they cross you again…or even talk to you. Sarcasm also works well in this way.
10. If you really want to let people know just how important you are–tell them. Tell them how busy you are, how many voicemails and emails you get a day, how many meetings you have to go to in a week, how often people keep bothering you to do their jobs. Feel free to add in all of your non-work activities. Busy people are important people.

Work is important; and there is nothing more gratifying than knowing that you’re just as important as the people you work with. These simple rules offer a quick and easy route to instant power. If you’re not using them regularly, now is the time to start and see if you can make it to a corner office by year’s end.

CareerCast.com, a new job site, evaluated 200 professions to determine the best and worst jobs in America based on five criteria: environment, income, employment outlook, physical demands and stress. Career.com did not answer calls to find out why it didn’t also evaluate more important criteria such as the size of front steps for smokers, hours before late-arrivals are towed from handicapped parking spots, responsiveness of elevator buttons to frantic pushing by people late for meetings and distance to the nearest Starbucks.

According to the study, the ratings add up to mathematician being the best job in America, followed by actuary (a mathematician with a B average), statistician (mathematician in Vegas), biologist (mathematician who took biology to meet girls) and software engineer (rich mathematician). At the other end of the job scale, the worst job in America is lumberjack (apparently flannel shirts do not provide good protection from falling redwoods), followed by dairy farmer (milking cramps), taxi driver (middle finger cramps), seaman (too much seasickness) and EMT (too much see sickness).

Of course, the average American has no chance of getting a job as a mathematician, either because he doesn’t like math or he’s a she. And the average American would never work as a lumberjack, especially after seeing any of the 30-odd sequels to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. What the average American is qualified for is a mediocre job. So, straight from the middle of the Best and Worst Jobs in America listing, here are the 10 Most Mediocre Jobs In America:

Typist: You know you’re mediocre when you know what a “carriage return” is.

Pharmacist: The only drug pushers who can’t accept payment in sex.

Piano tuner: No matter how hard you try, you can’t fix bad playing.

Bookbinder: People who think “Kindle” is a four-letter word.

Teacher’s Aide: Cafeteria worker without the hairnet allowance.

Forklift operator: A Top 10 job until they outlawed impaling.

Correction officer: It’s nothing like those “Women in Chains” movies.

Meter reader: The high point of your day is beating the dog to the gate.

Chauffeur: Cab driver without the joy of swearing.

Dishwasher: No chance to spit in someone’s food.