Full-Time Job?

For the past few weeks I worked at the school as a personal care aide, one of my three jobs, and I loved it. There is quite possibly a full-time aide position opening up for the following school year. I have written a letter of interest, which I was told to do by the administration department. I asked fellow employees and other teachers who teach in the same curriculumn if I needed to do anything else in applying for the position and the answer was “no”.
I’ve been a substitute at this school for three years. Is there anything else I should be doing to ensure the hiring committee that I really would love the job or should I just wait and see what happens? Afterall, summer hasn’t begun yet. I think I made it pretty clear that I want the job, but I feel that I need to “get my foot in the door” now (even if I already am a sub), who knows who the school will hire.
I heard that the woman who is leaving the job will not be giving her notice until the end of summer. If she decides to do this, I will go crazy. Full-time jobs are hard to come by, especially the one I like doing. I’m waiting for this job to pan out. Should I plan on finding something else for this fall just in case it doesn’t? I already have this job, plus two other casual jobs.
How much time do I give them until I call and see if the position was filled or even if the woman has left the position yet? I don’t want to be bothersome.

Tackling Recruiting Sourcers’ Challenges

Candidate sourcing is the single greatest opportunity to impact the total cost, quality, and performance of recruiting. Sourcers have tremendous challenges facing them, but somewhere tucked away in these challenges we have the potential for a solid sourcing plan.
Sourcers face many obstacles that recruiters don’t have to deal with. For instance, regardless of how strong your sourcing skills are, in some circles you’re still considered junior-level, or even worse, entry level.

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Who’s to Blame?

Dear Sue:
I am having difficulties with a coworker who happens to be a friend of the troublemaker she replaced. She has been identified as a troublemaker herself.
She admitted to me that people had told her negative things about me and that others were betting we wouldn’t get along. She also said that neither of us is as bad as people make us out to be. I was offended by her comments.
After hearing she was bad mouthing me to others, I approached her and told her I felt tension between us and asked if I had done anything to offend her. She informed me that she felt tension from me. She said she feels there is a division on our team and that there is not enough communication. I asked her what I can do to make it easier for her. She asked me to let her know what I am doing and be more of a team player. I agreed.
I am concerned that she is being negatively influenced by the troublemaker she replaced, but don’t know how to stop his influence without proof that he is encouraging trouble now that he is gone.
My supervisor is a nice guy, but a weak leader who hates confrontation. He mentioned that he is thinking of changing the shifts around because there are too many strong personalities but has not indicated whose personality he is using as the reason to switch shifts. I do not want my supervisor to label me as a troublemaker so I’m keeping quiet.
My performance evaluations have been great, but dealing with these negative people makes me wonder — is it me? I don‚Äôt want to rock the boat, but it is rocking!
- Rocking

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Meeting Etiquette

Dear Sue:
I meet with folks every day. A few folks I meet with do not know common courtesy guidelines for meetings. I have one person in particular who constantly interrupts me. I get very frustrated and have asked this person, very calmly, to let me finish. I have asked in several ways, for this person to stop interrupting me. Before I get frustrated, I try to forewarn everyone that I need to have the meeting respectful and courteous, with no interruptions. My position relies on the information I obtain from these folks.
Do you have any tips that I can print out and have everyone agree to before I have a meeting?
I really would love some professional comebacks that I can use when folks interrupt me.
–Rebecca

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Uncomfortable With Selling

Dear Sue:
Over the past year I’ve been selling ad space for a major magazine. It’s been a little over a year and I still am not comfortable with the sales process. I’m constantly stressed out over making phone calls, the in-person meetings and the demands of the publishers. I feel at times as if I’m forcing myself into this career because the monetary benefits are so great.
I’m not sure how to combine the skills I’ve gained from this career with the other skills I gained through my previous experiences which include retail sales. Do you have any advice for me?
–Not a sales person

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Self-Evaluation

Hey everyone! I know it’s been a while since the last blog; I have been a busy bee. Earlier this month I did something I don’t recall having really ever done while trying to form my career path. What you ask? Identify my strengths and weaknesses. I’ll keep both to myself for now. One resource said “taking stock” of yourself is the first step in a successful job search. I never really thought about doing that before. I guess human nature makes it hard sometimes to be critical of yourself, as opposed to being critical of others. This online resource and a couple of other ones I hope will help me be more proactive in my job search. I wrote down my strengths and weaknesses, and ironically, a week later in the newspaper was an article talking about the same subject as it relates to Generation Y, my generation. This sounds like good karma! I will talk about Gen Y’s strengths and weaknesses in another blog.
I hope everyone enjoyed Memorial Day. Let the summer begin!

BREAK RIGHT!! How to Survive the Missiles of Life

Picture a crisp, clear spring day. You’re flying 633 mph at 22,000 feet, with your wingman two miles off and exactly ninety degrees to your right on a combat mission in southern Iraq’s no-fly zone. You both are scanning for enemy aircraft, surface-to-air missiles (SAMS), and radar activity. Over half your time is spent “checking six”-looking behind you and your wingman for unseen threats or movement.
Suddenly, you hear your wingman’s voice blare over the radio, “Break right, break right! Missile launch your five o’clock!” Your heartbeat ramps up and you feel the surge of adrenaline as your fight-or-flight reflex kicks in. This all happens in an eye blink, and in that same instant, it’s time to act. Instinctively you ‘break right’ – crank the stick to the right, bank the aircraft ninety degrees, and pull back as hard as you can, feeling the g forces flatten you back into the seat.

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Expected Salaries for 2007 College Graduates

The graduating college seniors of 2007 face one of the best job markets in history and certainly the best since 2000. Employers and students both talk about greatly increased efforts by employers to land the candidates they most desire and the multiple job offers being received by many and perhaps most of the grads. Yet few employers are complaining like they did in 1999 and into 2000 that they are unable to hire the people they need to hire. They are complaining that it is difficult to hire those people, but generally they are able to hire them with the proper effort. And part of that effort is paying a salary which is competitive.
According to a recent survey by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), 90 percent of college career service offices believe that the class of 2006-07 is graduating into a strong job market with 11 percent rating the market as being “excellent.” In comparison, only three percent rated the market as being excellent in last year’s survey. In addition, two-thirds of the schools reported that more employers recruited on their campuses, 82 percent reported increases in on-line job postings and the number of employers attending career / job fairs, and 87 percent reported that at least as many employers signed up for spring 2007 recruiting than did last year.

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When Do Insults Become Harassment?

Dear Sue:
I am pregnant and have just found out I am considered high risk, and that there is a good chance I will deliver by cesarean. I shared this with one of the partners of the firm I work for and told him that the recovery may be longer with a cesarean and that I may need additional time off. His response was so offensive to me that I am having a hard time putting it past me.
He said, “Oh suck it up, how hard can it be? My wife had three of them; besides you can schedule when you go in.” He may have been joking and trying to make light of the situation, but I felt his comment was discriminatory, and it is not the first comment of that kind uttered by him. What constitutes discriminatory comments, and what should I do?
—Insulted

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Surviving the Office Party

General Advice from Sue:
If your idea of a festive holiday party is one in which you drink heavily, cozy up to your boss and carry on intimate conversation, you might need to change your ideas. If you’re looking forward to a little dirty dancing or the chance of winning the title of best karaoke singer at the company party this year, you probably won’t. Go ahead and have a good time, but you might want to tone down your behavior a bit.
Whether you’re at the company picnic, the holiday party, a convention, or celebrating someone’s retirement or promotion during happy hour, you have the opportunity to either strengthen or weaken your relationship with others. Act as if your behavior is being observed every minute, because it is.

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