MAKE A GOOD DECISION THE ACIP WAY

Whether you are graduating from fifth form, sixth form or from college or university, “leaving” brings with it a mixed bag of emotions. On the one hand you are pleased and proud of your achievements, but at the same time there is invariably a feeling of uncertainty, maybe even a tinge of fear. “What will happen next?” “What is the best path for me to take?” “Should I continue studying? How will I find a job?”
The many decisions and choices you face can be quite overwhelming as you try to balance your desires with financial and familial issues, peer influences and the urgent need to ensure that you are on the best and correct career path for your life.

Making good decisions about your life, educational and career path involves several factors including:

· knowing yourself and being clear about what you really want to achieve
· knowing your options and how to put these in place
· accessing the necessary information and having the formula, knowledge and ability to make sound decisions

Intensive research conducted by various outstanding scientists has identified the important factors in making good, quality decisions. Dr. Lawrence Jones has condensed and simplified the process into four steps.

These four steps form the acronym ACIP. Following these steps will ensure that you make the best decisions possible. Beware of the temptation to skip any of the steps, as the more steps you leave out, the greater the likelihood of your regretting the decision you make later on.

STEP 1 - Alternatives
When making an important decision, always consider all your options. Whether this relates to choosing an occupation, an educational path or any other general decision, freely and thoroughly explore all possibilities. Get advice from others. Ask them for suggestions, and don’t just ask your friends; Speak with your mentor - if you have one - your teacher or a guidance counsellor. Brainstorm. Be imaginative.



STEP 2 - Consequences

Once you narrow down your alternatives to those that seem best to you, then weigh the pros and cons of each alternative. Research shows that you need to consider four types of consequences. So, for each alternative that you are considering create a "Decision Balance Sheet" and write down:
The gains and losses to yourself.
The gains and losses to significant others in your life such as parents, other family members, close friends, teachers or community, social, political or religious groups you value or are associated with.
Whether you would approve or disapprove of yourself, if you chose this alternative.
Whether the important people in your life would approve or disapprove of your choice.

STEP 3 - Information

In this step you research and accumulate more information about the alternatives you are considering, which you can add to your decision balance sheet as well as new facts that either support or change the pros and cons you wrote down.
Use all the resources available to you - the internet, the library, career counsellors, persons who are working in the career field that you are interested in, teachers, mentors ….. etc. Get your information from all relevant sources, always ensuring of course that the sources are knowledgeable and trustworthy.
Never, ever neglect this step in decision making. You cannot have too much information on the career you’re interested in.

STEP 4 - Plans

Once you have made your choice, it's time to start planning. Your first step is to ensure that you
1. make detailed plans for putting your choice into action
2. make contingency plans for handling any negative consequences that might arise from your choice
Planning and timing are the keys to success in any aspect of your life. A plan represents your intention, your focus and your desire. It is a reference that can keep you steady in those times when you may become a little derailed, and therefore should be clearly written down and reviewed regularly­ not only because you may and probably will make changes to it, but more importantly because reviewing it will keep you focused and centred on your goals and what you want to achieve.
Excerpted from The Graduates’ Guide to Making The Best Decisions For Your Career, Education & Life, a publication of CHOICES Career Advice. E-mail <info@choicesonlinejm.com> for information or go to www.choicesonlinejm.com.

REWRITE THAT OLD, TIRED RESUME

by Angela deFreitas
Now that you have been made redundant, you may have fallen victim to the knee-jerk temptation to send out your old resume - which you perhaps designed ten years ago – in your new search for a job. You will not be well-served by such a strategy. This is a mistake that could well result in your sitting at home for several months without a job. Instead, for each new job search, you should redesign the document in such a way as to focus on and draw attention to new skills, accomplishments and experience gained in recent positions. Re-writing the resume is not just sleight of hand. Your resume (and also cover letter) should be modified to suit each job application, which you make. Re-designing your resume has the effect of refreshing and revitalising the impression you create in the eyes of potential employers. Just as well, if you are seeking a new position, it's in your best interest to blow your own trumpet regarding the new experience, skills and accomplishments gained at the previous job. No-one else will do that for you and this is the only chance you get to add that boost to your resume. Consider also that in this job market there are more takers than jobs so for every job available and/or advertised, there may be literally hundreds of applications. You must therefore find some way of enticing the reader of your resume to want to read further than just the first few lines and also to be excited enough about what is there to then want to invite you in for an interview. Your new resume should be written and presented in such a way that it gets you an interview. if it does so then it has served its main purpose. Review the language of your resume by adding more powerful and active words; to add zing to the presentation and style; to achieve a better visual and literal effect.. Ensure that your experience and special skills jump out at the reader immediately in your new resume. Use a simple technique to highlight these by putting them at the beginning of each new position described in chronological order. You would therefore have: 1. Date and Name of Position 2. Major Skills and accomplishments 3. Plus a general description of what your work entailed on that particular job. Example July 04 - June 08 - Regional Sales Representative, Jamaica Soda Company Ltd Major accomplishments - increased sales by 10% over targeted amount; supervised implementation of new electronic customer data base development Major skills - use of Microsoft Excell END BOX In a complete overhaul or retrofitting of your resume, be prepared to begin from scratch, to dissect the whole thing and re-fit in back together in a more enticing and exciting way. This process should also include self-searching to get to all of the new and relevant information which you may have forgotten such as a leadership position in a school PTA, or in a community or church group. (This is where your career portfolio comes in as you should have in it reminders of these achievements for adding to your resume and cover letter and using in interview situations when the right time comes.) Overhaul the language you are using also - go for power words which have a very descriptive meaning. Remember that there are certain resume formats and styles which are most readily accepted, but that does not mean that you cannot be creative especially if the job you are applying for expects that. However, always let someone else read over your resume - not only for typos - but also to ensure that it hangs together properly and will not have a reader searching for a needle in a haystack to find the all-important information which they seek. *Angela deFreitas is General Manager of Choices Career Advice, Kingston.
Email info@choicesonlinejm.com.

WORKPLACE ETIQUETTE

By Angela deFreitas
Just think about it. From where you sit in your new job, whatever or wherever it may be, every employee around you also had a “first-day-on-the-job”. And those first-day jitters can last a little while depending on just how friendly and helpful your co-workers are and just how well you prepared yourself for the experience of fitting in with your workplace etiquette.
Workplace etiquette is in fact an extension of general etiquette, good manners and acceptable behaviour which in some cases can relate specifically to the work environment.
As a new kid on the block, the bottom line is, don’t be afraid to ask questions of either your immediate supervisor, your colleagues or your boss. They can’t expect you to know everything straight away so they’ll be expecting a barrage of questions from you anyway so you shouldn’t feel stupid to ask.
Of course, as years go by and you gain more experience and change more jobs you will have a better understanding of different organisational cultures but until then, err on the side of caution in all things or ask for advice.
The upshot is, whether you are out there on a short summer holiday job or if this is the start of your working life, take these matters seriously as poor office etiquette can jeopardise your job and chances for success.
Wise counsel such as this may be hard to swallow, especially when you know that you’re nervous, feeling totally out of it, trying hard to fit in, and guess what too, you just called your supervisor by his first name (well, you’ve seen it in so many movies) and were asked very nicely to address him as “Mr. Brown”. Oops!
You just had your first lesson in workplace etiquette. Trust me, you will make such mistakes as you step out into the working world and you’re going to feel like a fish out of water when that happens so be prepared to ask as many questions as necessary especially when it comes to areas of office etiquette such as taking/making calls on your own cell, reporting sick or absent for some reason, general office “netiquette” (rules, procedures and standards relating to sending email messages etc), and yes, addressing your managers and co-workers.
For a while, you may feel like they are out to get you, change you or alter your lifestyle and personality, but just remember that the less outstanding or different your behaviour, attitudes and actions the more easily you will fit in.
Now is the time to remember also that there are clearly some habits and styles which are best left behind at school. Those who are more experienced won’t hesitate to tell you for example that things like sitting on the desk (even it’s yours), spending the first and last half hour of each day in the bathroom and eating at your desk (unless it’s coffee/tea and a biscuit as you work) are a no-no. If there is a kitchen or lunch area, that’s the place for you and your box lunch. You will make a good impression when you tidy the area behind you. The same goes for the board/meeting room and any other common areas when you use them and also your desk, cubicle or work station at the end of the day.
Lateness is also never excused in any workplace. You may rationalise that you will put in few hours after work to make up but lateness, even for a departmental meeting, still reflects badly on you. Anyone can stay back a little late after work, but it takes greater effort and discipline to arrive at work on time, every time, and to stick within the lunch hour given. It also follows that extended absences from your work -station should be avoided.
Talking of work station, this is where cubicle culture comes in. Cubicles are part of modern work environments which you also need to understand. Yes, it is your space in which to comfortably do your work but lining the partitions with romantic pictures of you and your boo will more than likely be seen as inappropriate for the workplace.
Your cell phone may be another area of uncertainty. Your cell should in fact be off unless you must receive an urgent call in which case it should be on silent or vibrate and you take the call discretely. Even though this is your own private cell on which you are getting or making a call, this is still company time on which you are talking so leave the private calls for lunch time and after 5.
You will find that the workplace can be a very social place where you will eventually make friends, find a lot of social life and build relationships with co-workers. You will be going to lunch, sharing stories and discussing all of the new hot topics from the news, the soaps and the dailies. Some topics should, however, be off limits, among them politics, religion, your (or other people’s) sex life, personal problems and your health issues.
If you have chosen “work while studying option” beware. It may be tempting to do assignments at your workplace. However, the use of office stationery, the internet and excessive use of printing and other office equipment will always be frowned upon. Leave the assignments and projects at home and ensure that office work is done at work.
As you will find out, being a “newbie” on staff has some very important positives but also some essential negatives from which you can learn the ways of the working world. Whatever you encounter, remember that it’s the beginning of real-life, real-time experiences which will kit you out for the next stage in life and which will help you to get your foot firmly onto the ladder of workplace success. So don’t blow your chances with poor office etiquette.
Angela deFreitas is the General Manager of CHOICES CAREER ADVICE publishers of The Career Key (Caribbean edition), CHOICES Career & Education Magazine, The Graduates’ Guide to Making the Best Decisions For Career, Education & Life and Help Your Child With Career Choice - A Guide For Parents. For more information call 969-5741 or visit the CHOICES website - www.choicesonlinejm.com





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WANT TO BE YOUR OWN BOSS?

by Angela deFreitas
How many times have you considered giving up that awful, pressuring job and working for yourself? Once? Twice? Every month-end when the pay cheque comes? Yes, you know you would love to.
Being your own boss is the ultimate goal of not just you but many who are tired of the routine of a regular 9-5 and who just need that change from being bossed to being the boss.
But before you make such a drastic life-changing decision, understand that studies show that entrepreneurs are born and not made. So, if you find that you have personality traits such as toughness, resilience, tenacity, courage, innovativeness, dynamism, resourcefulness, passion and persistence, then you have a good chance of making a go of it. All of these are very important personal ingredients which will help you to succeed or fail in the business you choose.
Going it alone can take many forms including simply “doing a business”, becoming an entrepreneur (and there is a difference), free lancing, consulting, free agenting and many more. All, however, become very attractive possibilities, whether or not personality traits point in the right direction, when someone is unexpectedly “separated from their job’” or when no job offer is forthcoming.
Whichever you opt for and for whatever reason you may find yourself in the SOHO category. That is small office/home office.
The SOHO is a growing phenomenon, both global and local, as people increasingly move towards small, home-based operations due to the need for people running small businesses to locate themselves somewhere where overheads are not exhorbitant.
The SOHO runs the gamut from professionals such as lawyers and doctors serving their surrounding community, skilled workers such as plumbers, masons, cabinetmakers, hairdressers and fashion designers running their own small concerns and even consultants working on outsourced projects and contracts from large corporations.
However, before you even think as far as your SOHO, if you are considering this leap of faith, map out a plan. A plan will be an essential tool in the process. It will help you to clearly outline your thoughts in relation to the concept, nature, structure, direction, size etc. of your business and also the equipment which you will need.
In a notebook and outline everything which is in our head. This may add up to 3, 4, 5 or even more different business ideas. Having done that, look at each one as a great possibility and outline them one at a time in your book. You will reach a point of great excitement when it becomes clear that a particular plan is working out or, you may put away the pencil, greatly disappointed, when you reach a point of great clarity and know for sure that there’s a snag with this idea. If that happens, don’t destroy the notes but just turn over a new page.
When you decide on which idea to pursue, put away your note book carefully where you will be able to find it in the future. Don’t set up yourself for failure but you may need to turn back to those ideas if the one you choose fails. You may also want to add new ideas as they present themselves.
These notes will also eventually be the basis of a more formal and structured business plan which you may need in the near or distant future if you require a loan from a bank, credit union or another financial institution and if you wish to apply for funding or grants of any sort. It will also be a road map to keep you on course to your goal so view it as a basic and essential requirement.
Some advice:
Don’t go cold turkey – as much as possible develop the idea and get things going while still in a job.
Don’t worry about location – a SOHO generally has a skeleton staff of probably less than 3 or 4 employees. A lot of people will tell you that their business actually began in their living room, bedroom, around the kitchen table or that their office was literally in their car for quite a while. You may also consider creating a Results Only Work Environment (ROWE) which does not require permanent staff reporting to an office on a daily basis or “hot-desking” where one desk is shared by many, as and when each needs it.
Start buying the equipment you will need – i.e. - excellent – read cutting-edge – communication technology fax, email – computer, internet access, photocopier, fax machine,colour printer, scanner – business software to help you to simplify billing, accounting and record-keeping tasks.
This will ensure that you are connected to your community at all times, without delay. In this way you will receive all messages, product orders, requests for information etc. even when you are not there, can send information in any form required.
So if you think it’s the way to go, get a plan and save the pennies. It’s an investment which will not be wasted. Even if you don’t go SOHO you will have a home which is able to match up to the 21st century environment.
Angela deFreitas is General Manager of CHOICES Career Advice
Email – info@choicesonlinejm.com; Website –www.choicesonlinejm.com

HOW MANY RESUMES?

by Angela de Freitas
Career Writer
In these days of computers and other easy methods of storage it's a good idea for job seekers to have more than one resume at-the-ready to suit different needs or different job applications. If, for example you have skills in diverse areas such as accounting and maybe administrative work, you may want to use the technique of including an "Objective" at the start of the resume. With this strategy you can change the objective to suit the needs of the job for which you are applying without then having to change the body of the resume. Also, today, with so much emphasis being on 'skills' and the possibility of the inevitable question "what skills can you bring to this company?" your resume will be able to answer that clearly and quite visibly. By doing different versions of your resume - targeted at different skills-sets and job descriptions - you will be able to respond more easily with each new application. Re-designing your resume has the effect of refreshing and revitalising the impression you create in the eyes of potential employers. Taking the time to customise a resume with this in mind can bring real rewards. In general, if you are seeking a new position, it's in your best interest to blow your own trumpet regarding the new experience, skills and accomplishments gained at the previous job. No-one else will do that for you and this is the only chance you get to add that boost to your resume. Consider also that in this job market there are more takers than jobs so for every job available and/or advertised, there may be literally hundreds of applications. You must therefore find some way of enticing the reader of your resume to want to read further than just the first few lines and also to be excited enough about what is there to then want to invite you in for an interview. A reader will not have the trouble of having to wade through too much reading and to sift out this information for themselves. They don't have time for that (remember, they have a large pile of resumes in front of them and yours is just one such!).
Angela deFreitas is general manager of Choices Career Advice, Kingston.
Email: info@choicesonlinejm.com