Category Archives: Career

A Closer Look At Two Interview Questions

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A job interview is stressful. The person who hasn’t made a lot of changes isn’t practiced at what is involved (nor should they want to be), and the person who has made a lot of changes doesn’t have any idea as to what’s involved either, or they wouldn’t be making so many changes!

Preparing for the interview de-stresses the situation considerably. Yet, 78% of all candidates – regardless of the level for which they are interviewing – wing it! And frequently cause themselves to be weeded out in the process.

Like so much of the interview, seemingly innocent questions can trip you up. You think you are answering them in a way that puts you in the best light, but you’d be surprised at how many people completely miss the boat. Merely to hope an interview has a positive result is not enough. That’s basically forfeiting your ability to drive up the percentage of a positive outcome.

For instance, in response to the question, “Why do you want to work here?” some people will say things such as:

“I’ve worked in this industry for 15 years and been very successful. I feel I can make a difference in your organization. I have a proven track record of leadership. I’ve read in the paper that your company is having some problems, and with my experience as a Director of XXXXX, I can help straighten those out.”

That answer may sound good and appear to suffice, but on a scale of 1 – 10, it ranks about a 4!

Why? The answer shows no research, no thought, no consideration. It sounds stock and could suffice for any number of companies. Overall, unimpressive.

In my experience as a recruiter, I’ve found that while mid level management tends to UNDERanswer the question, upper level management will often OVERanswer the question. One group doesn’t provide enough information because of a limited lack of experience. The other group has been around, worked their way up the ladder in more than one company, and in their attempt to sound thoughtful, intelligent, and wise, end up saying very little at all.

Let’s look closer.

WHY DO YOU WANT TO WORK HERE?
Here’s where you get to show off your research. Tell the interviewer what you’ve learned about the company, and why it’s appealing to you. SPECIFICS are the key here.

Relate those specific examples from your experience to what you’ve learned about the company, their focus, and their market. Look to your personality and what motivates you and how that relates to any details you learned from the ad, your recruiter, your friend who referred you, or from where you learned of this opportunity.

For instance, perhaps their ad stated that they were looking to establish a marketing department from ground up. If you thrive on growth, challenges, making things happen – there’s your answer – along with examples of how you have grown, established, or done market research in a parallel situation.

And you might ask, “What if it’s not a high profile company? What if it’s on the small side and local?” Right. Not every company is the size of General Electric or even a regional public powerhouse that you can look up in Dun & Bradstreet.

But most librarians are more than willing to help you find any information that might be present in any of their research books. Local newspapers may have done stories on the company, and the library would have those too. And these days, most companies have a website.

Share what you can do and why you feel you can make a contribution and benefit the company. This question is about how YOU can benefit the company, not how the company can benefit YOU.

TELL ME ABOUT YOURSELF
Some interviews are lost right at this point. This is not an invitation to go on ad nauseum about everything that has happened to you since you were five years old or since your first job out of college. Nor is it the time to shrug your shoulders and give an unplanned, one-sentence answer.

Some people, especially those who haven’t prepared and have a tendency to talk when they get nervous, find themselves rambling. Put together a nice little 2 – 3 minute verbal bio about your career, your qualifications, and why you are interested. Know what you’re going to say in advance.

A FEW POINTS TO REMEMBER
In recruiting we used to say, “‘A’ candidates for ‘A’ companies, ‘B’ candidates for ‘B’ companies and ‘C’ candidates for ‘C’ companies,” and a ‘B’ candidate is not only some one who’s talents and track record is only so-so, it’s also an ‘A’ candidate whose poor interviewing skills MAKE him a ‘B.’

Knowing who you are, what you want, what you have to offer and what you’ve accomplished – and having it all on the tip of your tongue – can make or break you for a job offer – not just for your perfect job, but sometimes for even finding ANY job.

Being able to sell yourself, your skills, how you can benefit a potential company and then being able to close the deal necessitates taking the time to research and learn the company. It means knowing yourself well enough that you can apply aspects of your capabilities to the individual facts and details of that INDIVIDUAL company – and that you can do it smoothly without groping for words or just winging it.

And last, but not least, the words of Peter Handal of Dale Carnegie Training, echo the importance of interview preparation, including what strikes most people as silly – role playing. But as he said, “you only have one chance to make a really good impression,” and if you don’t take it seriously enough to study and thoroughly prepare, someone else will, and that’s the person who will get the job!

Do your homework before EVERY interview! There’s no chance to make a second good impression!

A Closer Look At Radiology Technician Jobs

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Are you interested in the field of radiology? Have you ever considered becoming a radiology technician? If you’re looking for information on radiology technician jobs, you’ve come to the right place. Below, you’ll find all the information you need to know regarding this job, including what will be required of you and what types of jobs are available. Let us help you decide if it’s the right career choice for you.

Job description

What, exactly, is a radiology technician? If you’ve ever gotten an X-ray or an ultrasound at the doctor’s office, then you’ve dealt with a radiology technician. Radiology techs are trained to use X-ray machines, ultrasound machines, positron emission scanners, and various other types of machines to view the inside of the human body. The information gathered from these scans is put into image form, and the tech is in charge of developing the images. The physician then uses them to help diagnose any illnesses the patient may have.

Some radiology technician jobs are highly specialized, dealing with certain types of equipment and scans. All radiology technicians are expected to deal directly with the patient; in fact, part of the job description is to prep the patient for the scan and make sure they are comfortable.

When X-rays and other potentially hazardous machines are involved, radiology technicians must set up the machines properly and ensure that the room is arranged safely. Lead screens and shields must be arranged at a certain distance from the X-ray, and the room must be properly sealed. Radiology technicians are well-trained in all of these aspects of handling X-rays and other machines.

Techs work closely with physicians and health care practitioners, who are in charge of analyzing the images produced by the X-rays or other procedures. Most general physicians will set up appointments for their patients with radiologist techs, and specify what types of procedures need to be performed. The radiology technician is in charge of getting clear and correct images as specified by the physician.

Some radiology techs, such as sonographers, work specifically with a certain type of procedure. Sonographers, for example, work with machines that produce images by sending sound waves through the body. In these cases, the tech is also trained in how to interpret the results, and they will often assist the physician in reading the results and diagnosing and treating the patient’s illnesses.

Requirements of the job

Radiology technician jobs are plentiful in today’s medical world, and those with the proper training shouldn’t have any trouble finding a job. Techs are required to have a high school diploma or its equivalent. They must then attend and graduate from a training program that specializes in radiology. Training programs generally last from two to four years, and can be found either through schools or through hospitals and clinics.

Types of Radiology Technician jobs

Radiology technicians work under a wide range of conditions. Traveling radiology techs go around to various hospitals that do not have trained techs on staff, and stay for a few months in each location. Radiology techs may also work in clinics, laboratories, nursing homes, or in private homes. The type of job you choose to pursue is entirely up to you.

The field of radiology technician jobs is advancing quickly, and there’s never been a better time to get involved. With a shortage of radiology techs in the field, finding a job is easy, and many hospitals are eager to hire and help train newly certified techs.

Learn valuable skills with true opportunity for advancement, and give yourself the chance to really make a difference with a radiology technician job.

A Career in The Culinary Arts

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Many people who choose to explore the culinary arts sometimes have a pre disposition for Culinary Arts Training, and some do not discover their interest and talents for this field until later in life. It is necessary to have creativity if you want to be a chef. You will need to be creative with the recipes and ingredients as well as plate presentation. One thing a chef is responsible for is coming up with new and exciting dishes. A great sense of creativity can help accomplish this and help you find new ways to prepare old standards. You will also need creativity when dealing with your staff. It is often the responsibility of the chef to manage not only his kitchen staff, but front of the house staff as well.

The only real way that you can become a good chef is to put a great deal of effort into honing your culinary skills. To do this, you must obtain professional Culinary Arts training from an accredited school. You will need to study the art of cooking, preparation, and presentation. In Chef School you will learn from books and practical Culinary Training.

No chef even became “great” without spending a lot of time mastering his craft. Chefs are always mastering new skills with constant practice. As a budding chef yourself, you need to be prepared to put effort into learning the craft, as well as spending a great deal of time doing so. If you want to make the kind of money that goes with any successful profession, you will need to spend long hours to get the experience you need to become a great chef.

Melissa Steele, EducationGuys.com Senior Writer <br>
Find Culinary Degrees Near You!

A Career In Medical Transcription: Is It For You?

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You’ve very likely heard of someone who is making a good living as a medical transcriptionist. He or she might even be working from the comfort of their home. And you’ve probably asked yourself if this might be a career option for you.

It may well be. Let’s take a look at the facts.

What exactly is medical transcription? In the course of their work, doctors and other healthcare professionals make dictated recordings of various things including physical examination observations, patient history, operative reports, referral letters, discharge summaries, observations regarding imaging data and so on.

A medical transcriptionist listens to these recordings and transcribes them into medical reports, correspondence, etc. She listens to a segment of recording, pauses the playback and keys in what is said before moving on to the next segment. She may do some editing for better grammar and clarity.

The transcribed document is sent back to the health care provider who then reviews it for accuracy and gets it signed. These documents become part of the patient’s medical history records and perhaps insurance records.

To be effective at this job, you should understand medical terminology well. That includes anatomy, pharmacology, diagnostic procedures, treatment assessments and more.

Many distance education programs, colleges and vocational schools offer post-secondary training in medical transcription. Having a degree is not essential. With a home-study course, you can usually pick up the necessary knowledge within a year, often in less than nine months.

You can find work in hospitals, laboratories, physician’s offices, firms offering transcription services, government medical facilities and so on. Working from home is also a possibility and many employers offer work-at-home options for transcriptionists. Apart from that, many individuals work as independent contractors.

With experience, it is possible to move into supervisory positions, which include editing work, teaching, consulting, etc.

What equipment would you need, if you wanted to do medical transcription at home? Not very much — a computer with a medical spellchecker, printer, a transcriber and reference books are about all you need. To help you save on the actual typing, a word expander utility might help. If you are on a tight budget, buy second hand equipment will do just as well.

Medical transcription work does call for certain skills and mindset. Apart from basic computer skills, you must be detail oriented. If detail work bores you to tears, this might not be the career for you.

You must know typing, although speed will come with practice. You should also have excellent listening skills and grammar skills.

If you’re planning to work from home, it is essential to be comfortable with working alone and meeting deadlines. You must be a self-starter who can work consistently without being driven by a boss.

Given the growth in health practices and hospitals and the need for standardization of records, the demand for medical transcription services is likely to keep growing. You should carefully analyze the pros and cons of this field before venturing into it. Medical transcription provides a rewarding and fulfilling career for many people and it can do the same for you too.

A Career In Accounting

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Accounting is the study of how businesses track their income and assets over time. Accountants do much more than the generic presumptions; they compute costs and efficiency gains from new technologies, participating in strategies for mergers and acquisitions, quality management, developing and using information systems to track financial performance, tax strategy, and health care benefits management.

The career is a highly momentous and versatile. The field is usually divided into three broad areas: auditing, financial/tax and management accounting. Audit: Work in audit involves checking accounting ledgers and financial statements within corporations and government.

Budget Analysis:
Budget analysts are responsible for developing and managing an organization’s financial plan.

Financial:
Financial accountants prepare financial statements based on general ledgers and participate in important financial decisions involving mergers and acquisitions, benefits/ERISA planning and long-term financial projections.

Management Accounting:
Management accountants work in companies and participate in decisions about capital budgeting and line of business analysis.

Tax:
Tax accountants prepare corporate and personal income tax statements and develop tax strategies involving issues such as financial choice, how to best treat a merger or acquisition, deferral of taxes, when to expense items and the like.

Various levels of skill are apportioned dissimilarly amongst the divisions which implies that depending on your position their will be specific demands on your adeptness, while average
speaking skills are requisites for all areas; the ability to synthesize varies from throughout each. Audit accounting requires a medium level of skill, tax and financial demands a low level of skill, and Management accounting a high level of proficiency.

Entry level accountants can expect a very team oriented environment. Often they will start as a junior member of a team responsible for auditing an important account or preparing financial statements. It is imperative that junior members learn to pull their weight, and function as a capable, effective, and useful member of the unit. Anyone interested in the field can prepare for a bright career.

According to the bureau of labor statistics their have been considerable increases in job openings, reflective of the fields growth and competitiveness. With the right skills and education this growth establishes the possibility for an incredibly profitable career.

Top firms include KPMG/Peat Marwick, Ernst and Young, Deloitte and Touche, Arthur Anderson, Price WarterhouseCoopers, Grant Thornton, BDO Seidman, and McGladerly and Pullen. College graduates seeking entry level positions should consider employment with these firms. Most people do not make partner at public accounting firms but the experience and training can be excellent.

From there, many move on to careers with an accounting focus in business or government. Ambitious talented accountants can advance their career with the acquisition of skills and experience along the way and subsequently enjoy a very successful career.

A Career Built On Character

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“Personality can open doors, but only character can keep them open.” ~Elmer G. Letterman

“The best job goes to the person who can get the job done without coming up with excuses or passing the buck” ~Napolean Hill

What About Politics?

Political Astuteness is something that you may not learn in school; however, it plays a significant role in success in business.

“Man is by nature a political animal.” ~Aristotle

Take Control
It’s important to keep in mind that you are responsible for your own career. Don’t Expect the Human Resources Department to plan your career. In fact, don’t expect anyone else to be concerned about it either.

There have been times in my career when someone has taken an interest in my promotion; however, it has always been in their own best interests to do so. Remember, companies are in business primarily to make money.

Dress for success
There is a clear distinction between how a President, a Senior Vice-President, a Vice-President, and District Manager dress. You should dress just a cut above your current level.

Above Everything, Have Integrity

“If you have integrity, nothing else matters. If you don’t have integrity, nothing else matters.” ~Alan Simpson

You will find that the concentration of integrity increases the higher you go in an organization.

Remember Who You Work For

Always Support the Company
It’s true that where your treasure is, your heart will be also. There will be ample opportunities on a daily basis to bash your employer. Resist those opportunities. Keep in mind that (1) you chose this company, (2) they pay you, and (3) you can leave if you want. The leaders of the company will not be impressed by your ability to complain.

Make Your Boss and Your Boss’s Boss Look Good
As a practical matter, you are most likely working to take your boss’s job. Hopefully, your boss will be promoted, which will leave a vacancy. If your boss is not going anywhere, then the next level will have a major impact on your next position.

Who are the Leaders of the Company?
Find out the background of the company executives. What career path did they take? Chances are, they will value those credentials above others. Take note of great people in the company and get connected to them. If possible, find a way to work for them. If not, establish a network with as many of them as possible. The best possibility is to ask one of them be your mentor. You will be surprised how many people will be interested in helping in this regard.

Learn the Rules

“Whoever gossips to you will gossip about you.” ~Spanish Proverb

Watch What You Write or Say. Assume that anything you write or say will be read or heard by everyone in the company. E-mail makes it easy to respond emotionally. Before you respond to an irritating e-mail, take a minute to calm down, then, write the e-mail. If you have a tendency to send harsh messages, save a draft and review it sometime later to ensure the tone is business appropriate.

A corollary to this principle is Happy Hour – don’t go! There is a huge risk of saying something you shouldn’t say, getting out of control, or just being in the wrong place at the wrong time. You should stay out of office politics. Don’t say anything bad about anyone, ever.

Arrive Early and Leave Late, but Not Too Late. You want the reputation of a hard worker, but not one that can’t get their work done. This principle also applies to taking work home. Over the long-term, you want to have a life outside of work. Maintaining a work/life balance will keep you engaged in your job; therefore, more productive.

Find Out What Your Boss Wants and Deliver. Regardless of your personality, relationships, or good looks, you must be productive. For your boss, it means doing what they want, no matter how silly it may seem to you. For example, I had a boss that wanted to know how many Dairy Queens between Dallas and Houston served a particular yogurt.

Always say, “Yes!” to a request from leadership. For your boss, there are ways to provide better solutions without damaging the relationship.

“Always do more than is required of you.” ~General Patton

Give People Credit. Don’t take credit for yourself. This is important for a variety of reasons. First, you need people to help you get things done. Second, when people recognize people who work for you, you get the credit as well. Third, it’s the right thing to do.

Conclusion

When It Comes to Your Career

1. You’re Responsible

2. Remember Who You Work For

3. Learn the Rules

As Bill Karnes put it, “Eagles don’t flock; they fly alone. And eagles soar above the rest of their world. So, too, do people who start things, who lead groups or who otherwise set themselves apart from the crowd.”