July 7th, 2010
Your immediate boss or the person to whom you have to directly answer for your responsibilities or the in charge of your section — whatever you call him / her — may become a problem sometimes! It is often noticed at workplace that the senior colleague of yours to whom you have to directly answer becomes a nuisance for many reasons. He /she might be insecure because he / she may have realised your potential and might consider you a ‘threat’. In this situation he /she may start finding out ‘ways’ to trouble you in order to ruin your image in front of the manager or the boss of the entire organisation usually called as ‘General Manager (GM)’, CEO, Director, etc. If your boss starts irritating you for reasons such as asking you to sit late, reach office earlier than your usual time, keeping an eye on each and every activity of yours such as what you are doing on your computer, which websites you are surfing, to whom you have been meeting in office, etc. These are the signs of being insecure and if your immediate boss is doing any such thing, you definitely are in trouble and need to look for ways to avoid these problems.
First and foremost way is to not give him /her any opportunity to point finger at you. Be punctual, remain disciplined, perform all your tasks on time, don’t do unnecessary phone calls (in front of him / her), avoid being too social in the office and try to remain focussed on your work only. (Avoid long chats with colleagues, avoid gossiping and other such stuff).
If you have other colleagues who are working at your level (under your immediate boss), beware of them as they might be working as ‘spies’ for your immediate boss! Avoid badmouthing about anyone especially your ‘immediate boss’ in front of your colleagues as they might leak out your opinions about him /her, which will be harmful for you.
Remain in touch with the Director or CEO of the organisation. Your better relations with the authority figures will compel your immediate boss to avoid conflicts with you and he / she will not misuse you for any reason.
If all this is not working for you and your immediate boss has really become a nuisance for you who does not let you sit relaxed even at your home and keeps you troubling by ordering official work through phone calls and emails; who scolds you and insults you in front of the other staff then it is the time to take action. Talk to your manager! Inform him / her about your sufferings. He /she may either move ‘you’ to any other section or change your ‘immediate boss’!
Good luck!
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Organizational Learning | No Comments »
July 7th, 2010
Has your boss left the office and new boss has taken charge? It is not the time to sit relaxed; it is time to be proactive and get yourself introduced to your new boss no matter you have already met with him in a formal ‘welcome party’! It is very essential for your future growth that you let your new boss about yourself, your abilities and your role in the organisation. Consider this fact that whatever you achieved when your previous boss was in charge, has now become a history unless you have already close relationships with the new boss. But if this is not the case, then you must keep in mind that now your promotion, your growth prospects, increment in the salary depends on how your relationship is with your new manager. Keep in mind some important points: When a new boss takes charge, usually a formal get-together takes place and everyone is introduced to him by either the previous boss or someone from the management. But this is not enough! It is compulsory to meet your new boss in personal. For that when he takes charge, wait for about a week; then take an appointment from his personal assistant and go to his office to meet him. Get yourself introduced respectfully; like telling him your name, designation, department you work for and the number of years you have served in the organisation. It is also recommended if you take with you any gift such as a bouquet of flowers (avoid roses) or any official sort of gift such as diary, calendar, etc. Avoid being extravagant in choosing a gift for your boss because it might seem a bribe rather than a compliment. Keeping in touch with your new boss is very important as he must remember your name and your position. But do not disturb him every now and then and also keep in mind that he is your boss, not a friend, so always keep your meetings with him ‘formal’. Your organisation may have some faults that you may have recognised and pointed out to the previous boss but no action would have been taken to resolve the issues for the betterment of the organisation. Discuss these issues with your new boss and also suggest some reasonable solutions so that your boss may get to know about your analytical and management skills. The success in life whether personal or professional depends upon the ‘networking’ and having formal meets with your newly arrived boss, letting him know about your ideas, etc are all nothing but important aspects of networking at a higher level. So, don’t remain confined to your office, adopt a ‘get up and go’ strategy and keep your eyes wide open in order to remain informed and updated about the latest happenings (official only) in your office. May be your current boss is planning to leave the office so it is high time you adopt a proactive approach and be ready to make better relations with your new boss for better career prospects.
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Employer, Organizational Learning | No Comments »
June 29th, 2010
With so many private channels, newspapers, magazines, radio stations and websites emerging, career prospects for a journalist are bright in this part of the world provided that he/she finds a reasonable employer which does not tests employees’ patience when it comes to pay raise, bonus and other perks.
To become a journalist, you are required to have a formal degree in mass communication / journalism. In addition to this, a degree in international relations is also preferred. Those who want to become English language journalists may also opt for a degree in English literature or linguistics. English journalists have many advantages that Urdu journalists don’t enjoy for example English newspapers and TV channels pay quite better as compared to the Urdu ones. Various fellowships and scholarships that are offered to the journalists by the foreign countries are only for those who work in English language newspapers and channels. Therefore, excellent English language skills — both written and oral — contribute a lot in making you a successful journalist. Besides, a deep insight of the current affairs is a must for those covering serious issues in journalism.
It is also seen that some people who don’t have a degree in mass communication or journalism also work as a journalist. The reason is that they have a flair for journalism and not always degree or formal education can give you the job of your dreams; many a times it is your hidden talent that gives you the job of your choice. Thus we see engineers and MBAs working as journalists in prestigious media organisations.
Journalism is broadly categorised into two fields: editing and reporting. The work of editors is mainly confined to office while reporters have to work in the field. The reporters cover events, press conferences; interview celebrities, politicians and general public too. They collect data, then compile it in the form of a news report and deliver it to the editor.
The editorial team consists of sub editors, assistant editors and chief editor. The sub editors are responsible for editing the stories that reporters deliver. They check it for language, grammar and spelling errors. They make the story more readable and transform it according to the house style of the publication for which they work.
That was all about the print media. When it comes to electronic media, it is more exciting, more challenging and more rewarding too. Electronic media offers posts for news anchors, analysts, TV hosts, editors, etc.
Besides working for newspapers or TV channels, journalists have also options to work in radio or for various websites. They can also become freelance writers.
Journalism is a career-oriented job and offers a career path. These days journalism is considered as a well-paid occupation and also offers you the exciting opportunities to travel, study abroad and meet different people belonging to various fields.
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Career Planning | No Comments »
June 29th, 2010
Good looks matter in every aspect of life – of course, a good looking person is easily noticed, and is always the centre of attraction. Attractive face also helps you get success in career as there are many fields in which good looks matter a lot especially the ones in which you have to deal with the public. But the question is: do ‘only’ good looks can get you success? The answer is ‘no’!
Good looks are definitely a plus point and if you have a nice face, it can help you get attention quite easily! On the other hand, if you are an average looking male or female, of course you will have to struggle to get noticed! But this is only one side of the picture and good looks without intelligence, good communication skills and professionalism can get you nothing! So, the bottom line is that if you are talented, hardworking and know the tactics of your job — and in addition to all these qualities, you are charming as well; then you can get success easily. It means that good looks are an added quality to get you success but ‘not the compulsory factor’ to excel in your professional life.
It is often said that tall and handsome boys get promotion easily. Likewise, it is also a very common thought that well-groomed and pleasant looking women get pay raise in lesser time. It is not that tall boys and pretty women get increment in salary, bonus and other perks just because of their good looks — a company is always interested in hard working, sincere, loyal and efficient employees. If someone despite being good looking is not good at work, his /her employer would not at all be interested in him/her because a business can be run successfully with great efforts and if a good looking worker is not good at putting his/her efforts in his/her work, he/she is of no use for any company.
Therefore, if you are an average looking male or female, don’t get disheartened because what can get you success in your career is your talent, hard work and professionalism; not your looks. If you are able to prove yourself as an efficient worker in your field, you will definitely be noticed and can become the centre of attraction of people.
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Interview Preparation, Motivation | 2 Comments »
June 18th, 2010
You must have expertise of using MS Office, Photoshop, and other important software because you can’t work in an office without having the skills in the said software packages. But in addition to these, there are other skills too that are often underrated but are far more important than having a know-how of using software and these skills contribute a lot towards strengthening your position at the workplace.
Be friendly
Subtracting Saturdays and Sundays, we have to spend 40 hours every week in the office and of course who would want to spend a major part of his day with a difficult colleague! An easygoing, helpful and co-operative colleague is the one who is always in demand and is appreciated and respected by everyone. Being friendly does not only mean that you remain polite only with your co-workers but giving respect to the cleaning staff, peons, waiters and office boys is equally important.
Be a good writer
This is the era where everyone is communicating via email and text messaging and remains in touch through networking websites where nothing but your writing skills count when you write on your friends’ walls, comment on their photos, etc — you won’t be able to make a right impression if you are not good at writing. So having expertise in writing is very very necessary these days to build your reputation and enhance your career prospects.
Diplomacy is the key
You find many different types of colleagues at workplace — majority of them are unlike your expectations and you find it hard to cope with them. Here comes the role of ‘diplomacy’ when you can put to use your flexibility and politeness and come with rather rational solutions of difficult problems without creating mess. In addition to being polite, it is also important to remember your limits while being friendly and if someone is not interested in sharing his/her personal matters with you, showing reluctance and minding your own business would help you a lot.
Talk to the point
In this fast paced era, you need to learn the skills of talking to the point and getting right info in lesser possible time. So learn to ask exactly what you want to know, avoid being vague and unnecessarily prolonging your talk time (both face-to-face and on phone) — and while writing emails too, (here comes the test of your writing skills)! An email or a written form of communication too, is required to be direct, to the point, concise yet polite.
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Organizational Learning | No Comments »
June 7th, 2010
There are some careers that are long-lasting and once you get established in them, you don’t have to worry about choosing any other profession to make both ends meet. These careers offer you a stable path once you get to know the tricks of the business.
Writer
A writer has to struggle initially to get published and earn name and fame but once he becomes successful, the career is for lifetime. A writer can start by just freelancing for newspapers, magazines and websites. Then after getting this experience, he can make further contacts so that when he starts writing a book, he may find some sponsors to get the book in print. Later on, a writer can also enter the showbiz world and write the scripts of movies and TV serials and may also become the dialogues writer. Many companies also hire professional writers for different purposes such as to write research papers, for bringing our company’s magazines, etc. And there is no age limit rather an older and more experienced writer is more demanded and paid better thus making ‘writing’ a long lasting profession.
Lawyer
The more experience a lawyer has, the better player he is in his field. Therefore, either you take cases independently or work for a company; your older age and years of experience are a plus point for you thus making career in law a lifelong one.
Filmmaker
An actor may have a brief career but the one who makes an actor a ‘superstar’ has a lifelong career. In the film industry, we see filmmakers who are as young as 24 years and older as above 80 years of age. The more experienced a filmmaker is, the more would be his knowledge of the business. Although filmmaking is a risky profession and you can lose money if the film doesn’t do business at the box office but its plus point is that it doesn’t get you retired and there is no upper age limit for making films.
Career in cooking
As soon as you complete your training as a cook, you have many options to choose from. Working in hotels, event management companies, as personal chefs and the list is quite long — and the plus point of being a professional in the field of food is that there is no upper age limit. If not working in any company at an old age, a professional cook can become a cooking teacher too at some culinary school and may also start cooking classes at home.
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Career in Pakistan | 1 Comment »
June 7th, 2010
There are some careers that don’t last longer and have a very limited duration. These fields are lucrative, but if you are in one of them, you must keep in mind that this career is not for lifetime and you have to think of an alternative before you start looking older enough for your field.
Acting
If you are competent enough, only then you can grab roles according to your age for life in the film industry but this is of course very rare and as soon as you start looking older and physically unfit, films tend to slip from your hands, your market value goes down and producers start showing reluctance in casting you in their films. An acting career is normally started from the age of 18 to 21 years and as soon as you cross 40, your image starts to change thus compelling you to think of an alternate profession.
Modelling
A career in modelling is even much shorter than acting career. A model’s career may exceed till 24 or maximum till 26 years and then it ends. Therefore, before you enter the glamorous field of modelling, do keep in mind that it is going to last soon and you must think of some other field where you can immediately jump when your modelling world turns its back on you.
Sports
A sportsman too has a very short career and ends before the age of 40. A sportsman can earn however, a lot of money, name and fame even during a period of just 18 or 20 years but he has to say goodbye to the sports field as soon as his body starts feeling difficulty in tolerating the hardships of the playground. A sportsman, after getting retirement, can opt to become a coach, can open his own institute to train young blood and there are many other options which a retired sportsman can choose!
Dancing
A dancer is required to be physically fit, strong and flexible. Therefore, normally the training starts at a very young age like 17 years and usually professional dancers stop performing on the stage in their late 30s. However, they can opt to become a choreographer or dance teachers.
Military
A career in military requires brutal physical training but then gives you perks and an option to get retired early say after 20 years that means if you had joined the army at the age of 21, you can take retirement at 40. Retired military officers can then serve in government offices.
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Career in Pakistan | No Comments »
June 7th, 2010
During the current economy condition, people are more than happy in just having a job and don’t show any desire of having any better option than what is currently on their plate. But somewhere deep inside, every person has a desire to be in a glamorous profession that not only you feel proud to be associated with; but your friends and family members too feel themselves superior in being linked to you.
Following are some of the professions that are considered to be quite glamorous and the professionals associated with these fields always charm others because of the glamour-factor tagged on their occupation.
Fashion designer
A fashion designer’s job is no doubt full of glamour as he/she has film stars, TV actors, models and other celebrities from various fields as his/her clients. A fashion designer gets the attractive opportunities to travel the world for carrying out his/her fashion shows. Surrounded with all factors associated with beauty, a fashion designer’s job is the most glamorous one!
Fashion magazine editor
Just like a fashion designer, the editor of a fashion magazine is also surrounded with glamour. Although not directly working with the celebrities; having direct interaction with celebrities, fashion designers and show organisers are part of the job of a fashion mag editor. Fashion editor keeps an eye on the latest fashion trends and remain in close contacts with the celebrities and is of great importance for the fashion models and designers as a fashion magazine editor is the one who can make or break a fashion’s image.
PR manager
A PR (public relation) manager works everywhere — in event management companies, NGOs, and many other sorts of industries. He/she is required to build relationship with the media personnel, industrialists, celebrities and all those people who can be of any benefit for the company he is working for. A PR manager’s job is not boring and offers him/her with great opportunities of travelling, remaining in close contacts with interesting and famous people and this job also requires from a person to look presentable thus making you to look after your personality and consequently giving you a glamorous image.
Photographer
Fashion photography is of course very glamorous area of work as everything that is associated with the fashion industry automatically becomes charming. But photography is not restricted to fashion only; a photographer can choose many other areas of specialisation such as nature photography, food photography, child photography, etc and every area of photography has its own charm thus making photography an attractive profession.
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Career in Pakistan | 1 Comment »
June 7th, 2010
Do you have close friends at your workplace? Beware! Making friends (close friends) at workplace is not recommended by career experts as it may prove to be risky!
A close friend is supposed to share your secrets that should not be made public but if you have told your thoughts and plans to a close buddy at your office, it can be dangerous — what if he/she turns against you in the time to come, then he/she (if not a decent person) may take advantage of knowing your weak points and may harm you in such a way that affects your career. Therefore, be very much careful while making friends at workplace. It is ok to be social, talk and meet everyone but having one or two very close buddies who share your secrets, go out with you, know about your family and its affairs and also visit your home very frequently can be risky so think about it!
The best approach is to have a circle of colleagues in the office but maintain a reasonable distance with them such that neither you feel isolated nor you become so much attached with them that if in future you may wish to detach from them, it becomes difficult!
The issue is rather more serious for women as they may share more secrets with each other, which eventually may turn out to be dangerous for them. Girl colleagues often seem sharing with each other the secrets of their personal relationships, domestic affairs and money matters too. This is not only an unprofessional attitude but highly risky for your reputation as well. Your female colleague knowing all about your secrets may misuse you in the time to come if differences arise between two of you. She may disclose your personal matters in front of other colleagues which will become a cause of embarrassment for you! Besides, it is also harmful for your career as your seniors and boss may start judging your character and it might influence their decision at the time of giving promotion or an increment in the salary.
It is a fact that every human being needs someone with whom he/she can share his/her problems, with whom he/she can feel safe and secure, to whom he/she can call a true and sincere friend. But seeking such kind of friendship is risky when it comes to your profession. Therefore, be very very careful in making friends at your workplace and always remember that being alone is better than being trapped in a wrong relationship.
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Organizational Learning | 1 Comment »
June 7th, 2010
Many jobless youngsters these days seem looking for a job in any call centre and they find it easily if they possess excellent English language speaking skills as these call centres want their agents to deal with their foreign clients and for that of course, fluent English speaking skill is a must!
Call centre jobs have no doubt very long timings and many of them want you to work in night shifts but they also offer good money for your tiring efforts. Some call centres offer a fixed salary in addition to the commission for every sale you make. On the other hand, some call centres hire the agents only on commission basis and pay them when they meet the set sales target on monthly basis.
Call centre jobs are ideal for those who are still studying and need money to meet their daily expenses along with handling family’s financial needs. If you are energetic enough to do evening or night shift job after getting free from your college or university then call centres are a good option for part time job seekers (provided you have the required skills).
Many people claim that call centre jobs are only good for making money but don’t offer career growth, which is not 100 per cent true. It varies from person to person whether he remains static after joining a cell centre or looks for the options to grow. If you get a job in a call centre, you have to work here consistently and prove yourself as a reliable worker. It may then help you become a ‘team leader’ from being just a relationship officer after spending some months or a year may be. After proving yourself as a team leader, you may be promoted to become an ‘operations manager’. From there, you may also switch to some other company which can offer you a post of a regional sales manager or area supervisor.
It’s not about any particular profession be it a job in a call centre or in any other place, career growth depends upon the qualities you possess as a professional. If you have the right attitude towards success, you can become rich and gain a respectable post too by just starting your career from a call centre!
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Telecom Jobs | No Comments »
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