July 4th, 2008
PimpYourWork
Ever feel like you’re not noticed enough in the workplace? If that’s the case, you need to make your mark and leave yourself indispensable - your job may just depend on it.
Here are some articles that have stories and ideas on what standing out in the workplace means, as well as tips on how to achieve it:
5 Unusual Things to Do on Your First Week at the Job from NewlyCorporate
Build Your Professional Persona from AskMen
Where is the place for irreplaceableness in the work environment? from Consumerism Commentary
10 WAys to make yourself indispensable at work from AllBusiness
Stand out at work and reap rewards from the NZ Herald
Photo Credit: Image from Celine Roque from Blue Rabbit Media
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By Celine -- 1 comment
July 3rd, 2008
In the previous PYW Asks, I asked readers this question:
Would you do your job even if you weren’t paid to do it? If not, are there any aspects of your job that you would do without pay?
Here are some answers from other Pimp Your Work readers:
According to Lex, this is a tough topic. “I work at office on a commercial project and without compensation surely I won’t be there any more.” However, Lex works on open source projects in his spare time - projects that he doesn’t mind not being compensated for.
Hantulga also shares the same sentiment over ‘passion projects’, but it depends on the job. “I would rather gain some experience from any kind of job.”
I asked a friend the same question, and her answer depended greatly on her line of work - which is sales. “Being in sales, you bring profit to the company. It would be unfair to think that you’re bringing in money and not getting paid for it.”
As for me, although I can choose which projects to undertake and I like all of my jobs, there are some gigs I would pay less attention to than others, if I wasn’t getting paid for any of them. I actually own a blog without any intention of income (Frugal Pinoy), but since I’d still blog there even without the money, it means I really like it that much. However, since I’d still need to make a living, I’d probably look for an alternative source of income if I couldn’t make money blogging - leaving me with less time to actually blog.
How about you? Would you still do your job even if you weren’t paid for it?
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By Celine -- 0 comments
June 29th, 2008
Being busy does not always mean real work. The object of all work is production or accomplishment and to either of these ends there must be forethought, system, planning, intelligence, and honest purpose, as well as perspiration. Seeming to do is not doing.
Thomas Alva Edison
Image by Dan Shirley from sxc.hu
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By Celine -- 3 comments
June 29th, 2008
Pimp Your Work
One of my high school friends, let’s call her Jane, wanted to meet up with another friend named Eric. Here’s a little backgrounder on their careers:
Jane’s Career:
- B.A. in English, so she naturally went into the publishing world after graduation.
- After a few years working for a magazine, she decided to join the marketing team of a business process outsourcing (BPO) company. But she also does some freelance writing on the side.
- Now that she’s leaving that BPO company, she wants to try a variety of options that may not have to do with marketing or publications (probably in the IT world).
Eric’s Career:
- B.S. in Biology, but moved on to get his Master’s Degree in Finance.
- Has worked in banks since then, and is now VP of some department in one of the biggest banks in the country.
Eric, after hearing that Jane left the marketing world, scolded her along the lines of “What do you want to do with your life? You don’t know what you want!”
I felt that in this case, Eric was judging Jane too harshly. Especially since Eric’s job had such poor work-life balance, he didn’t know Jane as well as he used to.
But who’s on the right track, Jane and her diverse career choices or Eric’s calculated steps?
A Straight Career Path
A straight career path usually means that straight from graduation, you work for a company in a job that is relevant to the degree you recently acquired. From there, you go higher up the corporate ladder, and even if you leave one company for another, you are still somehow going up the ladder based on your job description and salary. Almost everything in your CV ties in neatly.
Advantages:
- It’s very easy to see what your specialties are.
- You can clearly position yourself as the master and expert of one field.
- Everytime you make career choices, it’s based on where the choice will lead.
Disadvantages:
- You limit yourself from finding golden opportunities in other fields and industries.
- You might not have as much creativity with designing your lifestyle and finding alternate activities to do with your time.
- A straight career path is often based on the false assumption that your personality, needs, situation, and desires won’t change (but they will).
A Varied Career Path
This career path tends to be more instinctive (or even impulsive in some cases) and leads you in unexpected turns. You may have gotten an MBA, but now you’re working on your second novel! If asked what you will be doing 10 years from now, your plans are dynamic - you have some ideas, but you’re not entirely sure. When reading your CV, a stranger will see that you’ve been working at a variety of positions among several industries and businesses.
Advantages:
- Unlimited sources of learning and applying what you’ve learned. Like the example of the MBA’ed novelist, he’d be able to apply his business and marketing knowhow to promote his books.
- You can easily adapt to changes in the business and economic world, giving you a wider range of opportunities throughout your career.
- Your make your career choices mostly because you believe that these choices have some value in your life, whether they bring you up a corporate ladder or not.
Disadvantages:
- To the untrained eye, you will look disloyal and non-committal.
- It’s hard to explain answers to the question “What do you do?” People often expect a one word answer, not “I’m a freelance writer on the side, but I’m also a marketer, although right now I just got a job as a programmer.”
- You might not get enough comparative (when compared to the straight career path people) experience in one field to be considered as an expert.
Now what?
We’re living in exciting times where the word “work” and “workplace” are being so drastically redefined. Work doesn’t have to stem from what you studied in college and it doesn’t have to be done in weekdays during 9am-5pm. The workplace doesn’t have to be a cubicle in a tall metropolitan building.
At the same time, if you’re comfortable with the 9-to-5 setup and a pre-designed career path, there’s a place for you in the business world as well. In fact, you’re still part of the majority.
In other words…
A straight and narrow career path is not necessarily better than a varied path, and vice-versa. There’s only what’s better for you.
What’s your career path like? Is it straight or varied? Or do you strike a balance between both?
Image credit: Photo by Reynaldo Ismael Morel from stock.xchng
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By Celine -- 3 comments
June 28th, 2008
Pimp Your Work
If you often find yourself with ruffled feathers when dealing with collaborative works, then you might want to check out SpiceBird.
SpiceBird is an application that combines Instant Messaging, Email, Calendar and Task Management – applications essential for collaborating – under one application. Setting up is a quick, smooth and simple process. Once you have it up and running, you will be prompted to setup your mail and instant messaging accounts.
The interface is clean and quite easy to grasp. The instant messaging function is quite limiting, allowing only Gmail and Jabber accounts to be used.
The mail function features instant setup for Gmail accounts and, though it doesn’t offer automatic settings for other email services such as Yahoo Mail, you can manually add other email accounts.
The calendar tab offers multiple views: daily, weekly, and monthly and adding tasks and events on it is a simple point-and-click chore. SpiceBird also offers a built-in RSS reader that can manage feeds from your favorite sites.
While the current setup of SpiceBird may seem quite paltry, given its beta stage nature, the software shows a lot of potential to be a great tool for better collaboration.
SpiceBird is compatible with Windows 2000/XP/Vista (32-bit) and Intel-based Linux.
Screencapture by Celine Roque from Blue Rabbit Media
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By Celine -- 0 comments
June 28th, 2008
This is a trailer for a new book called “The Adventures of Johnny Bunko: The Last Career Guide You’ll Ever Need”. I know that it’s just a trailer, but already I’m curious about it. First of all it’s a comic book, and being the comic geek that I am I could go on and on about the versatility of the medium (but I won’t). I’m gonna see if I can pick this up. Has anyone read it? Care to share your thoughts on the book?
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By Celine -- 0 comments
June 27th, 2008
Pimp Your Work
Happy Friday, readers! Here’s our discussion for the week:
Would you do your job even if you weren’t paid to do it? If not, are there any aspects of your job that you would do without pay?
So, readers: share your feelings about whether you’d do your work even without compensation. Leave a note at the comments section.
Image by Celine Roque from Blue Rabbit Media
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By Celine -- 3 comments
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