IN this era of global competition, the focus of education should be on enhancing employability of the students of professional courses rather than merely seeking employment. This is the only way to ensure sustainable employment.
What's employability?
When an employee adds value to the employer's investment in the human resource by effectively performing intended functions, he/ she is employable. It's important that educational institutions focus on integrated development of knowledge, skills and attitudes of students for holistic personality development. Knowledge based on information and data should lead to understanding and wisdom. Skills in its multifaceted dimensions require the capability to use domain knowledge wisely for good of humanity. This calls for communication, interpersonal skills and personality pre-dispositions like initiative, leadership, team playing, positive thinking, integrity, respect for self, others and the environment and of course time management.
'Total quality person'
A positive attitude comprising both time and work discipline is perhaps the most powerful attribute to enhance a person's employability quotient. Every problem has a solution for anyone with a positive attitude. A negative attitude finds problems with every solution offered. A great mind and a greater mindset are essential for excellence. Integrity and trustworthiness are vital for success. In domains of technology, a set of good human values is a pre-requisite to ensure that technology contributes to progress and improved life quality. Hence, every engineer, scientist, professional or manager would succeed in life if he/she is also a good human being. It is an interesting coincidence that the weighted sum of the words 'ATTITUDE' and 'DISCIPLINE' in each case adds up to a perfect 100 by giving increasing weight to alphabets (A=1, B=2 etc.). They make you a 'total quality person'. Patience, entrepreneurship, innovation, integral thinking, eye for details and capacity to analyse as well as synthesise are some other attributes that will stand you in good stead. In today's world of electronic revolution one must one's computer skills on a regular basis
Learn to learn
Learning to learn is the trait that enables us to our knowledge fast and retain our employability quotient. Knowledge is said to double every 72 hours and if we do not update, unlearn and re-learn, we are left behind. Today we have to run to remain at the same place!
Weakness to opportunity
Analyse your strengths and weaknesses and choose a career where your strengths are leveraged and weakness minimized and converted to opportunities to improve. "Do the job you love and love the job you do" is a mantra for success in life. Excellence and indifference can not coexist. If we nurture our young talent well, the demographic dividend that we have in India, can ensure that we lead the knowledge driven society and become a major supply source of globally employable Indian talent.
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Do the job you love and love the job you do
Bosses We Love to Hate
The Egomaniac: No matter who does the work, this boss takes all the credit! He doesn't support, coach, nurture or grow his employees. It's all about him, and your career path is terminal if you work for him. True leaders know that they need other people to help manifest their dreams-and they acknowledge other people's efforts freely.
The Liar, Cheat, or Thief: This boss just wants to get whatever he can out of the company while offering as little as possible. He milks the company dry if he can (think Enron and Worldcom). One client's boss (a manager at a major retailer) even taught all of his employees to get as much as they could out of "they system" by damaging goods so they couldn't be sold, and taking the goods home. A leader without values is no leader at all. With the advent of financial disasters such as Enron and Worldcom, values have become more important than ever.
The Terminal Lifer: Going to work can be hard enough without having to work for a terminal lifer, a boss who just wants to make it to retirement (or to the end of the day!). These types of bosses have no vision and don't inspire any of their employees. A leader's job is to inspire his people with a dream that makes a real difference in the world.
The Flake: This boss has so many other things going that he can't focus on the business at hand. Whether its romance, other business deals, or personal issues, this boss is so low in the commitment department that he drives employee turnover sky high! One client's boss was so engrossed in the dating scene that she took all the revenue out of the business to go gambling in Las Vegas with her new boyfriend. The result? She bounced everyone's paychecks! Leaders need to be more committed to the organization's vision than anyone else. They need to become a shining example of the sort of commitment they expect from their people.
The Fearful Boss: This boss is so afraid of making mistakes that he's afraid of anything but the status quo-and "change" is a bad word. He might listen to your ideas, but if they're too radical, he'll be sure to squash them so he doesn't make a mistake. One of the most important things a leader does is remove the stigma of mistakes. He knows that bold action sometimes leads to mistakes, and is willing to take calculated risks.
The Fire Fighter: This boss runs around the office putting out fires but never gets anything done. The list of hot new ideas you put on his desk a month ago is buried under paperwork from all the latest crises. This boss thrives on action and excitement, but doesn't make much actual headway toward any goals. One of the most important roles in leadership is that of the visionary. The leader has to be able to see goals that are far into the future, and lead their people to those goals.
The Angry or Moody Boss: This boss stomps around in a fit of rage or slumped in deep moodiness all the time. You can't tell whether he's mad at you, or just hung up on some personal issue. Anything can set him off, so you're afraid to approach him with any news-good or bad. The greatest leaders in the world have peace of mind because they are satisfied with the contribution they are making to their company, the world, and their own lives.
5 Action Steps to Get Around Your Boss
Get another boss either by transferring within your own company or finding a different job altogether.
Cultivate a relationship with your boss' boss. This gives you an extra channel for any new, innovative ideas you might have. Be subtle, though, since this can be a tricky process.
Sign up for extra-curricular tasks within the company that will put you in contact with bosses from other departments.
If you've got innovative ideas that your boss won't listen to, look for some other channel, perhaps outside your department, where you can implement your ideas. Or, suggest a partnership with another department.
Learn what you can where you are. If you can learn something about leadership and management (even if it's what not to do) where you are now, get all the experience you can while cultivating a new position for yourself elsewhere. Sometimes this kind of on-the-job training can give you the experience you need to move up in your career.
The Virtual Assistant - Regain Control and Love Your Job
Marie Schulz, an admin to an Air Force general, found herself at a crossroads several years ago when the base closed. She got a new job but hated it because the long commute and office hours drained her, leaving no time or energy to work out or see friends. "The employer expected the employees to live for the job," says the Rumely, Michigan-based Schulz. "They even had computers put into our homes so that when we weren't at work, we were still working from home. I wanted my life back."
Schulz took her life back by rolling up 20-plus years of admin experience and parlaying that to her own business as a virtual assistant, or VA. Now her days are noticeably different.
What is a VA? Stacy Brice, chief visionary officer and founder of AssistU, sums it up this way: "A VA is a small-biz owner who provides administrative and personal support across the board to clients in long-term and collaborative relationships."
Preparation is key to a VA's success, and Brice advises against admins jumping into things because they have years of admin experience. "Remember, it's a business, and you don't want to start a business on the seat of your pants," says Brice. "Most startup businesses don't make it to the five-year mark. You don't want to make mistakes."
VAs' primary client base are the small business owners, or entrepreneurs who need support because they can't do everything on their own but don't want the hassle of hiring a full-time employee, according to Brice. She estimates a VA's rate at $30 per hour. However, that amount can skyrocket if a VA has experience in a niche area.
Being a VA requires numerous hard and soft skills, including:
- Writing: "The world is sloppy when it comes to grammar," says Brice. And a lack of solid language skills can be a great detriment to a VA. "Even if a client is a poor writer or speller, she won't accept that in a VA."
- Organization: Being a VA involves juggling numerous clients. Being able to put your hands on the right files when a client calls is crucial.
- Technological Savvy: A VA must also be comfortable with technology, since the job requires working in a virtual world. "Your primary tools are technological, so if you're not comfortable in that environment, you'll have trouble," says Brice.
- Fast on Your Feet: "You must be able to quickly take in information, synthesize it and logically spit it back out," says Brice.
- Emotional Responsibility: A VA must be entrepreneurial and self-disciplined, since no one is watching over your shoulder, notes Brice. "One thing that comes with the VA territory is you're playing at a different level," says Brice. "You're not sitting in an office being told how, what and when to do things, with set lunch times and the inability to say no to a project. You must be able to transition to the thinking that you're a business owner, you get to say what you want to do, and you get to pick your clients and set your rates."
- Good Communication: Setting business standards and sticking to them can be a rough transition for many VAs. "Sometimes you have to have hard conversations with your clients if things aren't going the way you initially expected," says Brice. "You may have to speak frankly that when you started out with the client, you expected X, but Y is happening, and that you two need to discuss how to make things better. Those aren't easy conversations to have." The upside to such frank discussions is VAs generally build long-term, collaborative relationships with their clients, she says.
- Vision: While many admins want to work from home, many are not willing to do the hard work to make it happen. "The fear of success keeps many people down," says Brice. "They sabotage their actions, because they may think that if they're as successful as they want to be, their lives might change -- and that frightens them."
Turning a Love of the Arts into a New Career - Career Change Profile: Brian Johnson
When Brian Johnson tired of his job at a small financial advisory firm in Madison, Wisconsin, he wanted to make the transition into a career closer to his passions.
“I knew I wanted something different, something more,” Johnson says. “After four years doing something I was good at but wasn’t crazy about, I knew it was time to find something I could really put my heart into.”
Johnson always loved the arts. At the University of Oklahoma, he received a bachelor of music, focusing on percussion performance. And while living in Madison, Johnson spent his free time as a freelance musician as well as music arranger and instructor for the Madison Scouts Drum & Bugle Corps.
Starting the Search
After taking some time off to go to Thailand, Johnson returned to Wisconsin and scaled back to working part-time while he thought his career through. He worked on construction projects at his late father-in-law’s house, apprenticing under his wife’s grandfather -- it was a perfect forum for self-reflection. As Johnson trimmed and nail-gunned Sheetrock, he asked himself over and over again: What do I want to do next?
A friend referred him to an occupational psychologist, who gave Johnson tests to find out what jobs appealed to him most. The psychologist helped Johnson understand he was searching for a career that could fuel and coexist with his happiness.
“I was going about it the wrong way,” Johnson says. “All along, I was focused on finding a position where I could maximize my talents and have a big impact, but after talking with him, I realized that what was more important was to find an organization whose vision I agreed with; something in the arts.”
Networking Turns into a Job Opportunity
As Johnson set out researching potential professions by thumbing through headings in the Yellow Pages, a friend on the board of the nonprofit Madison Ballet mentioned the group needed a new business manager. Johnson was intrigued and applied. He got an interview.
“As I started talking to these people, I realized that while the ballet wasn’t music, it was still very much the arts, which meant it was a way to facilitate creativity in young people while teaching them about life,” Johnson says. “The arts are laden with educational opportunities in a way that not much else is.”
After a series of interviews, the ballet board offered Johnson the job. He quickly was promoted to executive director, a position from which he orchestrated tremendous growth. Under his leadership, the group amassed hundreds of new members, dozens of new dancers and launched a number of new programs. During Johnson's tenure, the ballet was also the recipient of a $210 million gift for a new performing arts center: The Overture Center for the Arts.
Johnson left the ballet for a job with a high tech startup in January 2008 but says his time at the Madison Ballet was one of the most fulfilling professional experiences of his life. “Every day, we were helping these young artists learn about ballet and about life,” he remembers. “To me, there’s no greater calling than that.”
Four Ways to Follow Your Own Passion
Here are Johnson’s top four tactical suggestions for changing careers and following your own passion:
- View Job Hunting as a Job: “You should take finding a job as seriously as a job itself,” Johnson says. “Commit to the process of working on the resume, networking and finding job postings. Spend at least five to 10 hours a week. If you’re really trying to hit a home run with your next job, it’s not enough to wait for a new career to fall in your lap. You have to get out there and find it.”
- Get Impartial Advice: “Your family will always encourage you, but talk with people who are not vested in your career outcome,” Johnson advises. “Personally, I recommend an occupational psychologist or mentors. You want to find someone who is objective to help you dissect the issues and help you figure out what it is you’re truly passionate about.”
- Focus on Your Resume: “The resume is a standardized tool for the employment process, and it behooves you to spend the time to get it right,” Johnson says. “Read sample resumes, and pay close attention to the phrasing, words and verbiage. Ultimately, your job comes down to how well you can market yourself, and you may need to extend your vocabulary beyond where it is now.”
- Build Your Network: Since a friend’s recommendation landed him his job at the ballet, Johnson is up on networking. “Joining service clubs such as Rotary International, the Lions Club and Kiwanis is a good way to network and find new opportunities,” he says. “In these groups, you will create relationships that are deeper than they would be in a traditional employee-employer situation. In the end, the relationships can only help you follow your passion.”
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