What to Do When the Right People Are in the Wrong Job

What to Do When the Right People Are in the Wrong JobWhat to Do When the Right People Are in the Wrong JobIf youre aProject Managerwho isnt using their resources (i.e., your staff) well, youre not alone. From a Managers Perspective What manager hasnt struggled with the schwierigkeit of not having enough people to get the job done? Like others in your position, you might shuffle people, juggle tasks and priorities, and plead for mora resources. You might even cross-train, contract specialists, and work far too much overtimeyourself. You know the toll its taking on you, but what about the toll on the people you supervise, and more importantly, how do you solve the problem? Consider Your People The key people on your team want to stay busy, engaged and feel needed but if they burn out theyll begin to resent the demands placed upon them. Conversely, others team members might be bored because theyre being underutilized or, perhaps, theyre unhappy theyre being cross-trained to help in areas theyre not skilled in or lack interest in. Some people are in the wrong job because they chose it for the attributes. For example, a doctor might be a surgeon for the prestige but have no interest in people. Some are stuck in a job they dont like because they lack the skills needed to get a new job or they lack the initiative to job hunt. Others may be in the wrong job because of pressure to stay in the family business or because a certain career is expected of them. Others abflug a work history based on the first job they can get and just stay in that industry.In the end, its surprising how much time is being lost because people are placed in jobs they arent suited for or excited about. Steps You Can Take People do best when they enjoy the work they do. You, as a manager, have some control over the situation simply by how you manage. When you give a person the latitude to decide how to do their job, (instead of micro-managing every detail of every task) theyll do thin gs in a way thats most enjoyable for their personality. The result is a more productive, satisfied employee. Youll also have more time to manage the big picture and will make yourself more promotable. More importantly, be sensitive to the skills and interests of employees when you assign tasks and try to match people up with the jobs that best suit them. Put the dreamer in charge of creative tasks and the detail-oriented individual on more structured tasks. Just think how much more would get done if people only did jobs for which they had a talent and a passion. Determining the Best Fit There are a lot of companies that will either sell you the tools to do employee screening and testing or do the work for you, for a fee. Most of this is aimed at pre-employment screening to make sure you get the best employees. Firms like EmployeeScreenIQ will check out a prospective employee for you by checking for criminal record, verifying educational qualifications, and employment history, et c. While that is important, after anemployee is hired you have to make sure you put people in the right position. Carl Jung, noted Swiss psychologist and the founder of the Jungian approach to psychotherapy, created the concept of personality typology. Isabel Briggs Myers and Katharine C. Briggs created a refinement called the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI). Many companies, like The Brain Type Institute, will conduct MBTI personality inventories both for you and your staff and classify an individual into one of 16 types. Dr. David Keirsey developed the concept into the Keirsey Temperament Sorter. His self-administered online test lets you answer 72 questions that determine your temperament and variant. His descriptions of the 16 types and subtypes will help you better understand, and place, your people.

How picking up dog food became my most life-changing event

How picking up dog food became my most life-changing eventHow picking up dog food became my most life-changing eventNo Really.In early 2012, my life looked completely different from how it looks today.Before Knowledge for Men, before writing best-selling books, before building a 7-figure geschftsleben and doing what I love, I was just Andrew The retail manager.I was driving to work one day in my beat up Honda civic driving 45 Mph on the freeway, trying to get a few precious minutes to myself before clocking in at my soul-sucking job.Heck, I spent 80% of the drive silently praying that I would get rear-ended and suffer from a mild concussion so Id have an excuse to skip work for a week.Fortunately, I made it to work in one piece.As I made my daily morning rounds I thought that day would be like any other.It wasnt After about 45 minutes on the job, I got a call on my coms unit alerting me to an emergency on aisle 13 (or at least I think it was 13).I rushed over and saw the Emergency.A n otherwise sweet middle aged lady had lost control of her dog and the little bugger had torn open not one, not two, but three bags of dog food.The mess was horrendous.It looked like this Only worse.I told her that everything was ok and then, as soon as she was gone, stooped down on my hands and knees and began cleaning up the dog food.And in that moment It hit me.Like a Grand pianoforte getting dropped on my head (Zombieland Style), I looked at myself and asked a simple question Is this what you were born to do?Is this what my life had really become? Had I spent $50,000 on a college degree and countless hours studying so that I could clean dog food in the middle of a freaking retail store?I held back tears, silently cursing myself and wishing that I could trade lives with someone, anyone. Because God knew that anything would have been better than where I was in that moment.I made it through my work day, drove back home, and started violently scribbling down my thoughts and ideas on a scrap piece of paper.I knew something had to change.In that moment, I didnt know exactly what I was going to do or how I was going to do it.But I knew that I was going to quit my job and build my own business.I was tired of working for The Man.I was tired of selling my soul for $55,000 a year.I was sick and tired of feeling like a slave instead of a free man.It didnt happen overnight, and it didnt happen as quickly as I would have liked.But over the course of the following months, I began researching different escape plans and silently plotting my exit from Corporate America.90 days later, I launched my blog, handed in my two weeks notice, and strapped in.For months, I slept on my brothers couch, working 1016 hours a day trying to get my business off the ground.18 months in I was still broke.I had a podcast with millions of downloads, thousands of email subscribers, and less than $15 to show for it.But I kept at it.I was going to succeed or die trying.And today, Im happy to an nounce, that I didnt die and I did succeed.Ive built a 7-figure lifestyle business helping men all over the world and doing what I love.I get to connect with some of the coolest people in the world and Im privileged to run in some of the most incredible entrepreneurial circles on the planet.And it all started that fateful day with a few bags of destroyed dog food.This article first appeared on Quora.

Ten Steps to a Federal Job for Veterans

Ten Steps to a Federal Job for VeteransTen Steps to a Federal Job for VeteransTen Steps to a Federal Job for VeteransThe federal government, which offers some of the best jobs, pay and benefits in the United States, is hiring veterans. If you follow the Ten Steps to a Federal Job below, you could increase your odds of getting hired.Despite all of the economic uncertainties that Americans are facing, the US added 146,000 jobs in November, with thousands of civil service jobs open to applicants, according to a recent examination of the USAJOBS federal employment database.The current status of federal hiring is misunderstood by many veterans. The sad truth is that government jobs are frozen. So writes a disgruntled and misinformed job seeker. The only way to get a government job is to join the Army. The government is leid hiring.Yes, its true that thousands of veterans are competing for federal jobs, and theres lots of gloomy news affecting the jobs economy these days the fiscal cliff , gaping budget deficits, Europes troubles, military drawdowns, some agency freezes, and a still-tentative recovery. So its not surprising that many professionals are feeling discouraged about their job prospects, even with that fruchtwein dependable of blue-chip employers Uncle Sam.But its also true that there is no overall broad freeze on government agency hiring at the moment on any given day there are likely to be thousands of jobs available. From a Resume Place survey of job postings at just a few of the larger federal departments this week, here are the facts Homeland Security had 368 openings posted on USAJOBS. The Department of Agriculture advertised 463 jobs. Health and Human Services was looking to fill 766 positions. Veterans Affairs sought to hire 3,237 civilian job openings at Defense numbered 4,602 (including 2,359 Army Civilian jobs even though there were rumors of a hiring freeze).With the myth of a federal job freeze put to rest, the question remains How do veteran s go about navigating the byzantine government application process to secure a job offer? We recommend that you utilize the following Ten Steps to a Federal JobSTEP 1 Focus the Federal Job Search Find out which federal jobs are right for the qualifications and education. Search the Office of Personnel Management Classification Standards and find jobs that will match experience and education. You can find out how Rifleman / Combat equates to a federal job Security Specialist, Police Officer, Special Agent (requires a bachelors degree).STEP 2 Networking Success Veterans should set up LinkedIn and other networking accounts. Add your work experience, certifications, skills and objectives. Then research federal employees who work in the agencies of interest to youSTEP 3 Target Top Accomplishments Get out your fitness reports and make a list of your accomplishments. They can be added to your resume so you will stand out. Accomplishments are impressive, interesting and can help you get Best Qualified and Referred to a Supervisor.STEP 4 Find the Perfect Job Announcement Go to www.usajobs.gov and search for jobs in your salary range, geographic preference and with a keyword such as administration, human resources, security, information technology. GOOD NEWS Veterans can apply for most of the jobs listed on USAJOBS. The excepts would be positions that are open ONLY to that particular hirin agency.STEP 5 Identify Keywords Popular keywords for veterans could be team leader, trainer, instructor, analyst, critical thinking, supervisor, data analyst. For each opening, analyze the USAJOBS announcement to identify at least five keywords to add to your resume.STEP 6 Master the Federal and Electronic Resume. The federal resume is practically your ENTIRE application. This is important The federal resume is on average 3 or 4 pages. Samples of the USAJOBS federal resume are available in the Ten Steps to a Federal Job publication. You can also see this article about resume tips .STEP 7 Conquer the KSAs and Questionnaires Conquer the Questionnaire Test Give yourself all the credit that you can with the questionnaires. You will be demonstrating your Knowledge, Skills and Abilities with your answers. This is a No-Kidding Test.STEP 8 Apply for Jobs with USAJOBS Be patient and apply for the jobs online with your resume in the builder and ready to go.STEP 9 Make Sure to Follow Through Track down your applications. You can see your RESULTS on most applications in applicationmanager.gov. If you are ineligible or just eligible thats NOT great news. You want to see Best Qualified for the best results.STEP 10 Interviewing 101. The federal job bewerbungsgesprch is another TEST. Be ready to talk and get graded on your answers. This will take practice and preparation. For more interview tips, see this section.In summary, the federal job application system is highly technical and specific. Be prepared and read the job announcements carefully. Be sure to match the res ume to the qualifications in the announcement.The federal government is hiring. The jobs, pay and benefits are the best in the United States the application process for these highly competitive positions is complex. Be ready to earn your federal government job by putting time and effort into each step of the application.Article published at Military.com