Ten Career Resolutions
by Dan Miller

Like the old saying, "Today is the first day of the rest of your life," it's never a bad time to start moving your career in a better direction. Here are 10 New Year's resolutions to help.

Pay Attention in Class

Treat every workday like a school day. Be sure you learn something and use it to make yourself more productive. It doesn't have to relate to your skills set. It may be as simple as understanding how to work with specific peers or emotional intelligence. Take mental notes. Don't sleepwalk through the day.

Look for the Next Rung

You need to excel at your job. This is how you gain credibility. But understanding your next step is key to career happiness. Career pathing is critical to remaining engaged on the job. Schedule discussions with your manager to get clarity on the next challenge. If you don't get it on your team or in your company, it may be time to look elsewhere.

Understand Company Goals

Make sure you understand how your job contributes to your company's business objectives. Are you in a revenue-generating role? A brand-awareness role? Is your mission to delight the customer? Knowing how your job fits into the big picture will give you inspiration and a sense of accomplishment -- and will help you understand your job's impact.

Be Ethical

Bring integrity to your job. Whether you're running the company or cleaning its bathrooms, be honest in all you do. Don't call in sick just to get a day off -- that's stealing. Put in an honest day's work. Be accountable. If you're working remotely, be sure you are. Do what you say you're going to do. Honesty and reliability mean a lot to your manager.

Stay Fit

OK, this was probably on your last New Year's resolutions list, but that's because it's so important. Try to break a sweat for 20 minutes, three days a week. Go for a walk at lunch. Join a gym. Lift weights. A healthy body makes a healthy mind. Exercising increases blood flow to the brain and gives you ideas. You'll be more productive at work, and best of all, you'll feel better.

Stretch Your Role

Occasionally think how you can go above and beyond. Are there projects outside your defined role you could help with? Be proactive; ask to join. Come up with your own ideas, and work with your manager to implement them. If you're a hamster, step off the wheel and poke your head out of the cage. Stretch a little. This won't go unnoticed.

Manage Up

Make sure you and your manager are in firm agreement on what you're doing. Be proactive and get on his calendar to ensure you're meeting or exceeding expectations. Don't assume he's paying close attention. There are bad managers. If there's a disconnect between what you're doing and what your manager wants, you're partly to blame. Don't wait until review time.

Manage Across

Even if you work primarily alone, be sure to make time to understand your peers' roles and how they go about their jobs. Show an interest. Don't just choose a few friends and become part of a clique. High school is over. You never know when you may need people -- or be reporting to them.

Communicate

Don't leave people waiting for answers. If you're in an email environment, return emails promptly. Let people know what you're doing. If you're working on a project, always ask yourself who needs to know about it, then tell them. Talk to people; give them a heads up. And when someone helps you out, be sure to thank him. It's amazing this even needs to be on a list, but bad communicators abound. Don't be one of them.

Make Time for Play

Have fun. Work hard, but smile while you're doing it. No one likes a grump. Approach each day with a positive spirit and stay loose. Enjoy your family and friends as well. Make time for them -- and you. It's called work/life balance. All work and no play makes life a chore.

Don't Talk Too Much in Interview

The gift of gab can be something of a curse during an interview. You could end up talking your way right out of the job.

It's important to remember that interviewers are only human, and their attention tends to wane as you speak. Fully understanding this is critical to effectively communicating during any interview. Your response should be less than a minute and a half when an interviewer asks you to tell me about yourself." Why? You'll have that interviewer's attention for just about 90 seconds.

The average interviewer's attention span looks something like this:
As you begin speaking, the interviewer is listening with nearly full attention.
After about 10 seconds, he begins listening with less intensity.
After 60 seconds, his mind begins to wander and he's devoting less than half his attention to you. The interviewer starts asking questions about your response or begins formulating his next question.
After you've been speaking for 90 seconds without interruption, the interviewer is barely listening at all.

An interviewer's attention level can be nearly impossible to detect, because most people are skilled at nodding their heads and saying "hmmm" while looking at you, all in an effort to disguise their wandering minds. The longer you speak without interruption, the less attention the listener is giving you. Hence, when you provide a long answer that builds to an important conclusion, often the interviewer is no longer listening. This is particularly important when you respond to an interviewer's request to tell him about yourself, because there is just so much you can say on the subject, and you can't be sure what part of your background the interviewer is most interested in learning about.


Your Questions Are Key

Near the end of your response, it's important to keep the interviewer engaged by asking questions.

Skilled interviewers will pose behavioral-event questions, asking you to describe specific examples of your experience. In these situations, your response can easily last much longer than 90 seconds. In such situations, interrupt yourself by asking the interviewer a question like, "Is this the level of detail you are looking for?" or "Is this the type of example you're interested in?" This strategy helps to reengage your listener and promotes two-way communication.

According to Kent Kirch, the global director of recruiting at Deloitte, interviewers are more impressed with your questions than any selling points you try to make. "What's really disappointing to an interviewer is at the end of an interview and I ask the candidate, ‘Do you have any questions I can answer for you?' and he says, ‘Nope, I think you answered them all,' and that's the end of it; it's just really frustrating," he says. "It all goes back to preparation, and [your questions] tells the interviewer you thought about this interview before you walked in the door."

Asking questions can also give you a strategic edge. "People love to talk about themselves," says Austin Cooke, the global recruitment director at Sapient. "So if you as a candidate can kind of get interviewers talking about themselves, you're one step up."

Your interview goals are to ensure you are understood and to make the best presentation of your talents. Engaging interviewers in two-way communication by asking questions helps you ensure they are listening while you deliver your response.

7 Tips For Continuing Education Online

I love continuing my education, right in the comfort of my own home. Can you imagine this - having the flexibility and freedom to attend classes according to my own schedule, choosing the course I want, and having easy access to all the materials for classes for the next lesson?

If you too, are an online student, you could probably relate with me. However, if you are considering an online education, there are 7 important tips to know about continuing your education online, and how to be a successful online student:

1) You must be able to communicate through writing.

As you are attending a virtual classroom, nearly all communication is written, and in order to fully participate in classes, it is critical that you are able to express yourself effectively through writing.

2) Motivation and self-discipline.

When you attend a conventional school, you have your friends and teachers to motivate you and even 'punish' you if you do not complete your assignments. Not in the world of online education. You must therefore be highly motivated and disciplined, and take responsibility for your own education.

3) Learn to 'speak up'

In the traditional world of education, if the teacher sees that the students look confused or unsure of what has been taught, he/she will repeat it until the students are clear. However in the online world, the instructors are unable to know if the students are able to keep up to speed with the lessons, unless the students 'speak up'.

4) Have a different attitude towards online education

Most students nowadays think that online education is the easy way to get an education. That is far from the truth. In fact, continuing your education online may be harder than a normal education, due to the strict quality control most online schools enforce. Therefore, view it as a convenient way to get an education, and not an easy way.

5) Practise critical thinking and decision making

The online learning process requires the student to be decisive in making decisions based on information provided, along with experience. And making the right decision requires critical thoughts.

6) Participate

One of the most important tips is to participate actively in a virtual classroom. You can learn alot from your peers as well, and this makes continuing your education online a much more fun process.

7) Be polite and respectful

Although you are anonymous, be wary of your language. You are after all dealing with real teachers and students, and it is crucial to have a productive and supportive online environment. In such positive environments, you will feel more valued, and your own work will have higher value naturally.

Online education is starting to take the world by storm, and more and more students are turning to virtual schools to get their accredited online degrees. If this sounds good, you can always request for your free online education match, and decide for yourself if continuing your education online is suitable for you.

25 Job Interview Tips to get confidence in interview

1.Never stop learning.
2.Make sure your resume and interviewing skills are strong.
3.Be prepared
4.Get to know yourself.
5.Make your a career plan.
6.Put your plans into action.
7.Regularly review your career progress.
8.Don’t expect your ideal job to jump up and hit you straightaway.
9.Think about what you want from your working life.
10.Don’t assume that to find your ideal job you have to change careers completely.
11.Finally, remember that, in the final analysis, it’s your life, your career, and your unfulfilled potential if you don’t find and follow your dream
12. Job-Related Skills
13. Multiple Skill Sets
14. Willingness to Learn
15. Teamwork Skills
16. Customer Service
17. Initiative
18. Adaptability
19. Promotability
20. Salesmanship
21. Communication Skills
22. Begin with Self-Assessment
23. Research and Explore Career Options
24. Choose a Career Field, then Target Employers
25. Prepare Job Search Materials and Develop Job Search Skills
26. Plan and Conduct Job Search Campaign
27. Obtain Offer and Continue to Develop Your Career Action Plan