Keeping Your Job Search on Track During the Holidays -

Keeping Your Job Search on Track During the Holidays -With all the extra hustle and bustle associated with the holiday season, it can be particularly tough to set aside time to focus on your job search. However, the holidays can actually be a great time to re-energize your job search for several reasons. First of all, youll have much more contact with your network of friends and colleagues. Secondly, companies often kick-start hiring right after the new year.Networking opportunitiesWhen youre facing uncertainty about your future, often the last thing you want to do is dress up and celebrate with other people. However, every chance you have to interact with others offers a vermgen networking opportunity So when your significant other tries to drag you to their office Christmas party, put on your holiday best, slide some business cards into your wallet, and go see who you can meetThe time-honored tradition of sending holiday cards also offers you an excellent opening to check in with y our network. Include a short letter or note with your card that lets your friends know that you are continuing to look for a job in your targeted field. Dont feel self-conscious about doing this Not only do your friends and family genuinely care about how youre doing, but chances are that your employment status has slipped their minds in the midst of their own holiday craziness. If you get your holiday cards out early, before your round of parties, your contacts may very well ask you to tell them more about your job search.Position yourself for the new yearAlthough many retail companies hire seasonal workers, the corporate world often drags on hiring throughout December while many employees are out of the office for extended periods. The good news is that when companies return to work in Januaryoften armed with new annual budgetstheir hiring season picks up in full force. After all your social activity during the holidays, your contacts will be eager to recommend you for openings in their companies.In your downtime between opening presents and stuffing yourself silly, take a couple of hours to update your resume and LinkedIn profile. You may not get as many calls for interviews during the holiday season, but optimizing contact with others and getting your job search materials in top shape is still a productive use of your time. Not only will doing these things allow you to hit the ground running in January, but productivity will allow you to relax and enjoy the holiday season with your loved ones as well

Ask Amanda What Should I Do After a Negative Performance Review at Work

Ask Amanda What Should I Do After a Negative wertzuwachs Review at Work Ask Amanda How Do I Recover From a Bad Performance Review?Each week, TopResumes career advice expert, Amanda Augustine, answers user questions on Quora. Well be republishing those answers here. A certified professional career coach (CPCC) and resume writer (CPRW), Amanda has been helping professionals improve their careers for over 10 years. Have a question for Amanda? Submit it here.Q What should I do after a negative wertmiger zuwachs review?Performance reviews are just around the corner. Last year I was dealt some pretty nasty feedback something about having a heart three times too small and I have a feeling my boss isnt changing his tune this time around. How do I prepare for this tough conversation? Mr. GrinchSay thank you for your employee reviewHi Mr. G The first thing you should do after your manager delivers your employee performance review is to say thank you. It doesnt matter if you received a glowi ng review or if your boss words were hard to swallow constructive feedback is one of the greatest gifts your manager can give you, provided youre willing to listen. Remember, you cant improve your performance if you dont know where you stand, what youre doing well, and where youre falling short. However, feedback is only valuable if youre willing to receive it with an open mind and act upon it.Remember, perception is realityYou may not agree with all of the feedback you receive, but you still have to change your managers perception of your behavior. For instance, you probably didnt intend to come off as argumentative in your project meetings however, if your manager believes youre being difficult, you cant ignore his or her perception of your behavior its hurting your performance. Perception is reality, and youll need to find a way to change how your actions are being perceived by your kollektiv in order to improve the situation.Ask for specificsIf the feedback in your review was v ague, ask your manager for mora information. Theres nothing wrong with asking your boss to provide specific examples of the behavior he observed. If your manager cant think of one on the fly, request that he let you know the next time he notices you slipping back into a bad habit as soon as it happens. That way you can take steps to course correct.Make sure you have a clear understanding of how your performance is being evaluated. For instance, what metrics or key performance indicators (KPI) are being used and what are the goals? Different measures of success may include meeting or beating a sales quota, finishing a certain project on time or within budget, delivering an error-free project, and improving your personal customer rating.Develop a career-development roadmapOnce you know what changes to make and what goals you need to hit, you can break them down into smaller, more digestible milestones and tasks that you can manage on a weekly or even daily basis. In addition, make a l ist of the resources available to help you turn the corner. Are there programs, webinars, online publications, or industry networking events that could help you strengthen a certain skill or learn more about a subject thats important for your job? If theres someone else on the team whos really thriving, ask yourself what theyre doing differently. You may want to go as far as taking them out for a cup of coffee to pick their brain.Click on the following link for more career advice.Is it time to look for a new job? Kick off your job search with a free resume review.Recommended ReadingHow to Set Goals That Really Matter for Your CareerHow to Ace Your Next Performance Review7 Questions to Ask Your Boss on a Regular BasisRelated Articles

The One Thing to Do for How Much for Resume Writing Service

The One Thing to Do for How Much for Resume Writing Service If a content writer develops its LinkedIn resume and attempt to use some weird keyword for its profession like Content Artist, he then will not receive the expected reaction. Writing is such a struggle. Ruthless How Much for Resume Writing Service Strategies Exploited Youll discover a list of some of my personal preferred tafelgeschirrs at the close of the post. You may review tafelgeschirrs on our site at Great Resumes Fast. Always ask to find a resume sample if you cant locate them on the site. Scannable resumes need specific page designs because computer scanners cannot read certain products. Facts, Fiction and How Much for Resume Writing Service A professional resume service is a great idea at any moment, but its a particularly important service in the current competitive job marketplace. Needless to say, more experience doesnt always translate into better quality. Resume editing service must have some importa nt qualities to assure the success rate based on the demands of new trends. Its quite natural for a professional to want his or her resume to speak of all of the knowledge they possess in their various field. How Much for Resume Writing Service Features Not only resume writers, but the client also know very well that readers have zero opportunity to departure looking into the resume in detail, they simply want to be familiar with critical aspects of candidates that are related to the needs of vacancy. Resume writing is a rather personalized experience, particularly for executives. Though some resume writers are generalists and work with anyone, it is much simpler and more lucrative to pick a particular niche. All our writers pass a considerable procedure to look at their abilities. Nothing differs in the event of deciding on the resume writing service. Well, now completion for each and every job was raised so much and employers have zero opportunity to waste on the particul ars of every resume. If you choose a resume service with a jumbled and confusing worksheet, then odds are that is just how your resume will turn out. Needless to say, its much important to find the assistance of some expert writer to prepare the greatest federal resume because the demands of federal resume are much different than resume required for private job. Even though you can brag and compose every single of your work and feel taller than ever bur it isnt the expert means of resume writing. A Resume is the one which decides whether you get an interview call or not. The majority of the resumes writing services dont provide the chance of direct contact by making use of their writers. Each client is unique and will call for unique levels of attention. The important thing is to learn the way the approach works with each service and determine which approach best fits your needs. Sometimes your resume requires a couple of minor tweaks and occasionally it needs an entire ov erhaul.

4D Printing The Next Level of Additive Manufacturing

4D Printing The Next Level of Additive Manufacturing 4D Printing The Next Level of Additive Manufacturing 3D printing has everybody talking these days, but a kollektiv of researchers at the University of Colorado-Boulder just upped the ante.In 2013, H. Jerry Qi, associate professor of mechanical engineering at CU-Boulder (now associate professor of mechanical engineering at Georgia Institute of Technology), and research partner Martin L. Dunn of Singapore University of Technology and Design, successfully developed a process called 4D printing.By incorporating shape-memory polymer fibers into composite materials, a 3D printer can be used to manufacture a 3D object that, when later heated or cooled to a specific temperature, will transform into a different 3D shape.Qis research is based along the lines of earlier work by Skylar Tibbits, a research scientist at MITs department of agriculture who has also studied self-assembly of materials into 3D structures. The key to the CU-Boulder br eakthrough is the development of unique printed active composites whose architecture is carefully designed to include precise locations of certain shape-memory fibers that will behave a certain way when exposed to an external stimulus, and morph into the predetermined shape.How It WorksWith funding from the Air Force Office of Scientific Research and the National Science Foundation, Qis research team created specific fiber architectures at the lamina and laminate levels, for several composite materials. There is considerable design freedom for creating composites with interesting thermomechanical behaviors based on fiber architecture, shape, size, and orientation, and even the spatial variation of these parameters, says Qi.Schematic of thermomechanical protocol to achieve the self-folding and opening box with application of heat. Image University of Colorado BoulderThe printed active composites (PACs) are soft materials consisting of glassy polymer fibers that reinforce an elastomer ic matrix. These fibers exhibit the shape-memory effect, which is used to create the active part of the composites. The PACs are then thermomechanically programmed to assume three-dimensional configurations such as bent, coiled, and twisted strips, folded shapes, or complex, contoured shapes with nonuniform curvatures.The shape change is controlled through the design of ordered material structures or inhomogeneities at micrometer scale, says Qi. Inhomogeneities are widely used in mechanical engineering to enhance material performance. The inclusion of inhomogeneities is typically done randomly, as it is very difficult to control precisely where they can be placed. However, with 3D printing, the desired properties (which can be predicted by theory) can be achieved, which gives us the ability to control the performance of the material.The complete 3D architecture of the fibers and matrix is printed from a CAD file using an Objet Connex 260 3D printer. Droplets of polymer ink are depos ited at about 70 C, wiped into a smooth film, and then UV photopolymerized. This process results in a film that contains matrix and fiber material. The complete composite architecture is then realized by printing multiple film layers to create an individual lamina multiple lamina then create the 3D laminate.Using this technology, Qi created solid objects that successfully transformed into different shapes as predicted. For example, two-layer laminate bars transformed into curved or twisted shapes. A sheet of laminate material took on its pre-programmed non-uniform curvature, resembling a sculpted surface. The fruchtwein impressive example consisted of two-layer PACs that were printed to serve as hinges, attached to six plastic plates not meant to deform. The flat configuration was heated and stretched biaxially upon cooling and release of the mechanical loads, it assembled perfectly into a closed box.Future PossibilitiesThe ability to create shape-memory effects like folding, curlin g, stretching or twistingbased on the orientation and location of particular fibers within composite materialsopens up huge possibilities for product design. It may also be possible this shape-altering technology can be adapted to metals and other materials.Industries that can especially benefit from the use of adaptive, composite materials include manufacturing, packaging, and biomedical. A possible aerospace application is using 3D printers to build solar panels that would power space satellites. The panels could be built flat and stored compactly during launch, and then transformed to 4D dimensions in space.As 3D printing technology continues to evolve with more complex, printable materials and higher resolutions at larger scales, it is very likely that 4D printing will provide new ways to create highly functional, complex surfaces that could revolutionize engineering.Mark Crawford is an independent writer.Participate in ASMEs Advanced Design Manufacturing Impact Forum, focusing on the intersection of advanced design and manufacturing in industrial and consumer applications.The ability to create shape-memory effects like folding, curling, stretching or twisting opens up huge possibilities for product design.

Dont Go It Alone in Your Job Search

Dont Go It Alone in Your Job SearchDont Go It Alone in Your Job SearchDont Go It Alone in Your Job SearchBrian Ray (pictured) is founder of Crossroads Career Network, a national, non-profit membership of churches that provides online job search/ career resources and access to career groups. He is also author of the 2010 Crossroads Career Workbook, owner of Primus Consulting executive search, and former vice president for human resources and administration for Chick-fil-A restaurants.Recently, I saw the movie Up in the Air for a second time.While the movie focuses on Ryan Bingham (George Clooney) and his unencumbered lifestyle as a frequent-flying corporate downsizer, the backdrop of the film is the more than 15 million laid-off workers. It reveals the shock and emotional hit of being jobless, up in the air, and all alone.No, wait It doesnt have to be that way.One morning last month, I went to North Point Community Church in Alpharetta, GA, and saw 200-plus people meeting and greeting one another at a career group event. The volunteer leader, Peter Bourke, invited people to sit at one of 30 round tables.Most jobs that get filled are not posted publicly, Peter began. Most are filled through networking. Networking, however, is really hard without relationships. That is why we are here today. Here you can meet people, make friends, start relationships, and help one another.As he continued, he outlined three rules to help you succeed at networkingThe 3-Foot Rule If you get within three feet of anyone, you are obligated to share your career transition experience with them.The Help-Others-First Rule If youre wondering who can help you find leads, turn your thinking around and adopt a new mindset Who can I help?The Have-a-Weekly-Plan Rule Each week, be prepared to talk about the job and the employers you seek, including a list of the top five organizations you want to network with. Know (and ask for) the help you needwhether its contacts, intelligence about an employer , or encouragement to keep going.We quickly moved on to a facilitated conversation around each table. Each person had 10 minutes to describe the opportunity they wanted and the help they needed. Others offered suggestions, and shared phone numbers and email addresses. A few days later, I sent an email introducing an HR director from our group looking for a contact in a specific company to a friend of mine who is a VP in that company. Thats the power of career groups, contacts, relationships, and personal referralsBack to the movie Up in the Air ended with video clips of people who were unemployed, talking about their career transitions and the power of relationships.The moral of the story? Career transition is NOT a journey you should make alone. Take the trip with others. Consider it a team effort in which we help one another with contacts, counsel, encouragement, and accountability. Find career groups near you. Be prepared, reach out, and help others through their crossroads.Have you joined a career group recently? Has the experience helped you? Tell us about it in a comment below.

Engineering Spotlight Hanan Altabbakh

Engineering Spotlight Hanan Altabbakh Engineering Spotlight Hanan Altabbakh Engineering Spotlight Hanan AltabbakhHanan Altabbakh is an engineering graduate student at Missouri University of Science and Technology in Rolla, MO working on zu sich Ph.D. in Engineering Management with an emphasis on risk assessment. She holds a B.S. degree in Industrial and Management Systems Engineering from Kuwait University and a M.S. in Engineering Management from Missouri ST.I chose industrial engineering and engineering management since both fields combine technical as well as managerial aspects of running an organization. It also prepares young engineers to be motivating leaders and successful decision makers as they are capable of managing various disciplines due to their acquired skills and knowledge during their education.Prior to starting her graduate academic journey, she worked for the Ministry of Education in Kuwait as a Safety Engineer.Hanans current research is focused on applying various risk assessment tools and accident causation models to analyze accidents in sociotechnical systems. She credits Dr. Susan Murray, her advisor, for providing continuous guidance and support for all of her research and academic progress.In her latest research paper with contributing authors Dr. Murray and Dr. Katie Grantham, she won first place in the 2012 ASME SERAD competition. Towards Quantifying the Safety Cognition in the Undergraduate, examines safety training exposure and knowledge within young engineers involved in engineering competition teams and potential causes that prevent young engineers from making appropriate decision from a safety prospective. The research showed that young engineers have been receiving informal safety training, which is often ineffective, and do notlage always assure positive safety attitude or safety performance, which reflected in their attitude in schools workshops or labs.When asked, about why engineers should care about safety/risk analysis, Ha nan said, Considering both safety and risk assessment in different stages of any research or project it is essential to prevent accidents by designing for safer systems/products. In addition, identifying hazards and assessing risk at early stages, such as the conceptual stages, will definitely reduce, if not eliminate, undesired cost of adding safety controls as the system/product progress. In her experience, Hanan has discovered that every task and activity has a safety and risk analysis component and she strongly advocates that young engineers be exposed more to formal safety training and education within their undergraduate education. I hope that safety education and training will be parte of college education since these young engineers will be future managers and decision makers who will play a major role in establishing a safety climate within their organization. Hence, it will positively influence the employees safety performance. Hanans ultimate goals as an engineer over the next few years will be to explore more risk assessment tools that can both analyze accidents causation and prevent them from happening in complex system that involve human, machines and environment.Her advice for other early career engineers and students, Dont stop seeking knowledge after graduating from college do more research and read what others have contributed to different fields. Try to participate in conferences and forums that enhance your skills. Try to keep yourself up to date with new ideas or technologies concerned with safety and risk assessment. Once you are part of an organization, always be prepared for a good change to achieve quality and dont be an Anchor dragger. Safety is an essential part of the ultimate quality.

Busyness and the lack of margin in our lives

Busyness and the lack of margin in ur livesBusyness and the lack of margin in ur livesOne of the most common maladies in the 21st century is living lives that feel stressed and chronically overwhelmed. We are busy, tired, and we feel stretched there always landseems to be mora to do than we have time or energy.When demands appear to be greater than ur resources, the result in our lives is stress. We feel stressed in different areas of life time, physical and emotional energy, relational demands and finances. Stress then displays itself in our lives in a variety of ways irritability, anxiety, not eating well, poor sleep habits, not exercising regularly, making hasty (and usually, poor) decisions.A number of years ago, Dr. Richard Swenson wrote a wonderful book entitled, Margin Restoring Emotional, Physical, Financial, and Time Reserves to Overloaded Lives where he convincingly demonstrates how not leaving extra space in our lives (with our time, energy and finances) creates significa nt, but predictable stress for us.The concept of margin is based on the premise that it is wise to leave space in our lives to deal with the unexpected or unplanned events that may arise. This is in contrast with our tendency to pack our schedule full, or (as some people frame it) to make the most of our time.Just in case you need an example, in daily life, let me cite a coupleWorking full days, plus filling the evenings with meetings or activities (kids sports, etc.), and then having a full schedule of activities for the weekend. Repeat this pattern over several weeks until you either become exhausted or sick.Stretching the budget to buy a little nicer house, in a neighborhood with good schools stretching things a bit further to have the kids in private school or in numerous sports and lessons and then splurging a bit to spring for that nice vacation that you really cant afford but the kids are only young once.The problem is life is interrupted by the unexpected. If we plan and sc hedule our days, weeks and lives with no room for the unexpected, then the stress in our lives dramatically escalates when the unexpected occurs.So what types of things often occur in daily life that we havent learned to expect?traffic jam on the way to an important appointmentthe printer breaks down before a critical presentationone of your children gets sicka major client calls with a problem.Other common needs for margin (but less daily and more seasonal)getting sick, having an auto accident, or the car breaks downfamily events illness, death, accidentstechnology breakdowns computer/pad, phone, websiteweather travel delays, flooding, blizzards, tornadoes, hurricanesglobal national events terrorism, war, economic meltdowns.The likelihood of one or more of these events happening in the near future is actually fairly high (although we cannot predict which ones specifically). Interestingly, there are also positive events in our lives that place demands on our resources and suck up our margin weddings, births, graduations, moving, professional opportunities. So it is not always negative events that create stress in our lives.The Results of Living Without MarginWhat happens when we continue to live in a manner that doesnt leave room for the unexpected? Pretty obvious results, actually increased stress, irritability, tension, poor communication, relational conflict, being chronically late, missing important events, not being adequately prepared for meetings, poor quality work, frustration and anger, guilt, loss of sleep, depression.Why Do We Do It?If we have a fairly good idea that there will be unexpected events in our lives that will take additional time, energy and money to deal with, why dont we allow for them? I think there are different reasons for different people (or at different times in our lives). The following isnt an exhaustive list, but is a startUnrealistic expectations about life. Believing that life will continue to go on as it has, without dis ruption.Being fearful and anxious about the future, which drives a frenetic pace to do as much as you can today (the you can never save enough syndrome).A pleasure and stimulation seeking approach to life some people live for excitement and adrenaline. They also often have an inability to enjoy inactivity, peace, or just to rest.Survival. Although this is not true for most of us, there are people who have to work long hours (both for money and at home) just to provide for themselves and their families.Other negative driving factors in our lives workaholism, greed, excessive desire for achievement.How Do We Start to Change (and Live a More Sane Life?)Change starts with awareness and acceptance of a problem. If we dont think how we are living creates problems for us, our family or our business, then we wont change. So it might be wise to start with an honest appraisal. Take a look at your life and see if the occurrence of unexpected events are fairly common in your life and create s tress because you dont allow space in your life to deal with them.Next, pull out your calendar for the next week and month. Are there any unscheduled blocks of time (during the workday, evenings, weekends) or is your calendar already packed? In what arenas of your life do you tend to live close to the edge? With your time? Finances? Physical and emotional energy? Take stock of the beliefs that push you to live without margin. Develop a plan to explore and correct the distortions you have.Remember, we were not designed to live life under constant, unrelenting pressure. Take a deep breath. Look around you and identify something that is beautiful. Take a walk and enjoy the outdoors. Pause and give thanks for the good things in your life. And put some time in your schedule to do nothingRecently, in the closing session of the Recognition Professionals International conference, I talked aboutbusynessand how it is one of the major threats to healthy workplaces today. For more information a bout reducing busyness in the workplace, see my bookThe Vibrant Workplace, where I devote a whole chapter to the issue.This article was originally published on Appreciation at Work.