Career Advice

Posted by Paym Bergson

It's Canada's B'day today (July 1), and I started wondering what I would do at that age to keep myself in shape, both mentally and physically. Canada has evolved as others do, but in a different way. We strive to accomodate ALL people's beliefs and traditions, and sometimes we do that too much. In the end though, it has been worth it overall.

If I was Canada, I'd tell people that to live and thrive you need to keep your mind active. Keep learning, keep going to school. Learn from those younger than you; learn from those older than you. Don't let experience get in the way of HAVING experience.

Keep your body active too! Walk, skip, hop, dance - just have fun while moving your body. It's the only one you'll have, so respect it, but enjoy it. Whatever shape you're in - admire it, accept it, and live in it to the fullest.

Make sure you have friends - BE a friend. Don't let negative people influence you - get rid of them in your inner circle, and only deal with those who are negative as little as possible.

And if you do nothing else today - smile! Not only is it catching and infectious, it makes you kinda smile inside as well. Even if you don't really feel like it in the first place. I make an effort to smile especially when I am down. I find others all of a sudden are smiling at me - and that makes me smile even more, and gives me a good feeling inside. So pass it on - smile - you too make live to 141 as well!

__________________________________________________________________

Copyright July 1, 2008. Paym Bergson and Suite 101. All rights reserved. Any unauthorized use of this material will constitute an infringement of copyright.

Posted by Paym Bergson

The internet never ceases to amaze me! After posting my most recent article, a sponsored ad caught my eye - yeah, I know, who ever looks at those ads, right? I do admit I like to see what pops up with my articles and other articles here at Suite - but sometimes I just laugh at the titles and move on.

Anyway - this ad looked great - Education Job Fairs Online or something like that - the ad was about a specific Job Fair online for Canada right now, hence my interest. It's for the Education industry (duh!), and I am truly amazed at how this site integrates technology to create a terrific online job fair - there are chats going on, booths set up that you can wander around, information you can pick up - all right in the comfort of your home.

So, coffee in hand, I perused the site. Nada for me at this time, but I intend to bookmark this site and come back - often. Upcoming job fairs include Australia, United Kingdom, First Nations, and ESL. Check it out. And if you know of any other Online Job fairs - let me know, I'll showcase them here.

__________________________________________________________________

Copyright June 16, 2008. Paym Bergson and Suite 101. All rights reserved. Any unauthorized use of this material will constitute an infringement of copyright.

Posted by Paym Bergson

Finding a job can be very frustrating, and it's hard to keep your spirits up as the job search stretches into months. While this week's article on Having Trouble Finding A Job gives you some tips on survival, it still will really depend on you to keep your attitude positive.

Just don't get caught into the trap of blaming yourself, or others, or a company. If you can, try to find out why you didn't get an interview or the job. While most companies will only give you a basic "if you did not receive a call, your resume/cover letter was not what we were looking for", some might actually give you more pertinent information. And make sure you do go over your cover letter to the job advertised - maybe you are missing something.

Keep looking, keep hunting, and keep taking care of yourself, too.

__________________________________________________________________

Copyright June 2, 2008. Paym Bergson and Suite 101. All rights reserved. Any unauthorized use of this material will constitute an infringement of copyright.

Posted by Paym Bergson

Well readers, it has been a strange week! Lots of new contacts in my inbox - and this will make for some great articles in the near future! Unfortunately, the flu bug has held me down for a bit, but I should be able to follow these great leads shortly!

Upcoming articles will include some neat new career choices, and of course updating your important business documents. So stay tuned to Career Advice!

On a personal note, I'm plugging along at my Masters - it's a fantastic course and online University - so I just might do an article on how you too can achieve education goals through accredited online education. It can be a murky field out there - and yes, you do have to be careful on your choice of university - not all are really accredited.

I'd be interested in hearing your own education goals and situations with online education - so please drop me a line when you can - or post in any discussion thread!

__________________________________________________________________

Copyright May 23, 2008. Paym Bergson and Suite 101. All rights reserved. Any unauthorized use of this material will constitute an infringement of copyright.

Posted by Paym Bergson

I’m thinking of changing careers. It’s that time again – and it’s déjà vu all over. Those who know me and previous columns might remember my diatribe with spiders. Well, I’ve moved, and d-mned if the things haven’t followed me, or sent out a telepathic message. “C’mon over to this house! It’s warm, and the household does not believe in killing insects! Ya just get thrown out, and so ya come right back in!”

Mind you, the spiders are different. Bigger. Just what I needed.

So I need to become a Spider-Buster. Any help on this mid-life change in career would be greatly appreciated. So far I’ve called a few exterminators, but all they offer is to fumigate IF the house is over-ridden. And I was told I’m too squeamish to bother training as an exterminator. So cross that off the list of career choices.

Maybe I should offer a reward to the one who is able to guide me – yeah right. I can see it now – Mr. Spider comes to my door, rings the bell, is dressed with a baseball cap, armed with papers under three of his legs, and two reaching out asking for the money.

Guess I’ll go to a Coach. At least it will be an even match – for me.

__________________________________________________________________

Copyright May 7, 2008. Paym Bergson and Suite 101. All rights reserved. Any unauthorized use of this material will constitute an infringement of copyright.

Posted by Paym Bergson

I'm really getting tired of online job sites - so many just post scams or old postings. To be fair, the job sites should not have to verify that the postings are real. But to not archive old postings (let's say six months or more) is just false advertising that the site has more postings than reality.

Monster's new look is a real pain. Now I have to figure out which of the myriad of categories I think an appropriate job might be listed under - as I am limited to a max of 20 categories per search. I tried this a few times, then gave up. It was a frustrating experience which yielded no perceptable gain on results due to my efforts.

My favourite (um, my OLD favourite) is now a site to be avoided. Craiglist is a free posting site, and I (and others) used to be able to pick up some good contacts, work, etc. Now, it is filled with "earn while you sleep" type of ads. Yep, I did answer one of those, to see what it is about. Anything where you pay a "start-up fee" and get money for "signing others up" is a scam, no matter how many times someone tells me they made money on it. Yeah right, you made money by signing other suckers up.

So, anyone have a good job site out there? Feel free to vent about your own personal experience too!

__________________________________________________________________

Copyright April 21, 2008. Paym Bergson and Suite 101. All rights reserved. Any unauthorized use of this material will constitute an infringement of copyright.

Posted by Paym Bergson

I remember when I first awakened to the fact that you can be judged by your shoes. Working backstage, I usually wore my capezio's as they were quiet but had enough grip so that I would not slip - but still easily and without any noise run errands between stage right and left. One professional told me he trusted me, because of my shoes. I was shocked, and asked what he meant. "They are neat and appropriate for your work". I looked at his shoes - black, shiny, patent leather, pointed, and polished to a hilt. While the person was a pain, I always remembered his words, and they do apply.

Messy shoes mean you did not take the time to really look yourself over. You'll miss details. Old shoes show you want comfort, or resent change. Quick repairs you've done yourself (and it shows) means you'll do patchwork to keep something going. Those 12" stilettos - you're there for the look, not the work.

And black, pointed, shiny, patent leather shoes? You are fastidious, pay attention to detail, but can still be a pain! Or is this getting a bit thin?

So, what do your shoes say about yourself?

Read the article that prompted this blog - Putting Your Best Foot Forward.

__________________________________________________________________

Copyright April 16, 2008. Paym Bergson and Suite 101. All rights reserved. Any unauthorized use of this material will constitute an infringement of copyright.

Posted by Paym Bergson

Keeping up a weekly blog has its limitations. Too much and it becomes an article; too little and it is just a passing comment.

I think Cover Letters and Resumes often face a similar dilemma. How do we know when enough is enough? If there's too much we take the chance of turning off the employer if it is not about what s/he wants to read; too little and we get passed over as we still haven't hit the magical words.

Yes, sometimes I do think it is a game, where we kinda know the rules, in a general fashion (we need to send a Resume and Cover Letter), but the specifics of the game change with each person who reads our Resume/Cover Letter. So, we try each time to find different ways to catch the attention of the prospective employer - or at least we should.

More on this in upcoming articles.

__________________________________________________________________

Copyright April 1, 2008. Paym Bergson and Suite 101. All rights reserved. Any unauthorized use of this material will constitute an infringement of copyright.

Posted by Paym Bergson

Microtrends came across my desk awhile ago, and I started reading it just when I was studying/learning the different statistical methods used in research. Talk about coincidence! In class, we are trying to make sense of the numbers we get, as well as how to get them. What I loved about this book was its joining of quantitative and qualitative analysis/methodology. This in itself is a growing trend in research - especially in Distance Education. The book actually helped me see a real-life, applicable research scenario not related to my own field .

I was surprised at some of the scenarios - I knew the numbers, but not a proper interpretation. More importantly, the book touches on something I deeply feel - we are turning to others to interpret the world around us, but forget it is THEIR interpretation, limited to their own biases or personal agendas. When looked only in context of what is happening to what happened, you can begin to see and understand the trend.

Great book! Dare I even say fun to read, even on its own.

Read my review in this week's article

__________________________________________________________________

Copyright March 24, 2008. Paym Bergson and Suite 101. All rights reserved. Any unauthorized use of this material will constitute an infringement of copyright.

Posted by Paym Bergson

This week Career Advice will concentrate on answering your questions. Each day one letter will be highlighted, and each one pertains to an area you might be interested in reading. Each one is short and is only part of a larger scenario. There are many reasons you may not get an interview, or get the job you want. All I can do is guide you to better performance. Most important though, is your attitude. So be confident (or at least practice in the mirror to look confident) that you WILL get a job you want, and that it does take time. Be patient with yourself!

I'm thinking of devotiing one day a week to posting your questions (with answers of course), but would like feedback on what day you readers would prefer.

So let me know via the discussion board or drop me an email! Don't forget to add in your own advice to any of the situations/questions this week!

__________________________________________________________________

Copyright March 17, 2008. Paym Bergson and Suite 101. All rights reserved. Any unauthorized use of this material will constitute an infringement of copyright.