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A recession is the state of an economic decline, characterized by a widespread decline in the Gross Domestic Product  and employment and trade lasting from six months to a year. A sustained recession may become a depression. 
If you would like to increase your odds of saving your job when thousands are being laid off due to the recession follow these tips

 

 

1. Increase your visibility by participating in meetings, offering creative, new ideas and taking part in company outings and get-togethers. Make sure that people (preferably higher-ups) within your organization know of your existence. Maintain a positive outlook any time you are at work and especially in the company of your boss etc.

 

2. Increase your marketability. Think of ways to supplement your current degree. If you don't have a degree it goes without saying that you should take immediate steps to get a degree or at least certification of some sort. Make sure your boss is aware of your intent to continue/enhance your education. The benefit of enhancing your education and skill set is two fold. First it can make you indispensible at your current job; perhaps you'll be able to take on more responsibility and be tasked with working on other projects that require additional skills. Second, if you lose your job it will be easier for you to get a new one.
3. Focus on maintaining a strong relationship with your boss (and, ideally, your boss's boss) and make sure he/she knows about all your contributions to the company and the valuable work that you do. In other words your employment at your company should undeniably be benefiting both you and the company you work for.
4. Be Flexible and Proactive, Employees who keep a good attitude and volunteer for unpleasant tasks will always have a better chance of keeping their jobs than those who complain and shirk their responsibilities. However, attitude alone has seldom provided real job protection. The willingness to take business trips and transfer to another location may keep your employment on surer footing, and a willingness to work overtime performing tasks that no one else wants to do can elevate your status among your superiors.
   
   Don't underestimate the impact of your willingness to go the extra mile when layoff notices are being decided upon.
   
   
5. Don't be a high maintenance employee or a general pain in the neck. Make yourself easy to work with. Don't complain about everything from the temperature in your office to your coworkers. Maintain your professionalism at all times and refrain from taking one too many sick days, arriving late to work, or taking excessive vacations. Be as efficient as possible and very helpful to your boss and your coworkers.
6. Don't demand an increase in pay when clearly your company is not able to afford it. If the organization you work for is struggling not to start laying people off, you don't want to be trying to negotiate a higher salary. Such behavior will put you at the top of the lay-off or perhaps even to be fired list.
7. Stay busy. If you have a lot of down-time during the day, ask your boss for additional work. Not only will that increase your visibility and value to the company but your boss will know exactly what it is that you do on a day to day basis.

 

Follow these tips and you will likely keep your job and be able to ride out the recession.

 

Is your boss a yeller, a micromanager or clueless? Does he put insulting notes on memos that co-workers can see? Does he throw things? Here's a guide for dealing with an irritating boss.

1. When your boss calls your name, take a deep breath. It will all be over soon.

2. If you are called into his office and told to shut the door; smile, shut the door, sit down, and shut up. He can't say anything you don't already know, and if he says something that you deem incorrect, you have the right to defend yourself. Present yourself with confidence.

3. By now you're probably pissed. If you don't smoke cigarettes, go outside anyway. Call a friend. Grab a co-worker and go have a laugh in the pantry or anywhere that can keep you away, even if for just a minute.

4. Having co-workers who you really get along with should be at the top of your list of "reasons to stay in this job." There are so many stressors in the workplace, but if you have people around you who you can relate to, it helps calm your nerves and control your emotions.

5. If you work in an environment where you hate your co-workers as much as you hate your boss, then call someone. your friends mom, dad, or brother could help cheer you up. You could also go to metroholica.com to get some useful tips.

6. Don't forget who you are. Never let someone make you feel like less of a person. don't let anyone ruin you happiness, don't be a victim. And if you ever feel that it has gone too far, go to the next person above your supervisor. If all else fails, call the HR. or find a new Job.

Do you suffer from office blues? Does the thought of going to the office makes your soul shiver? Is it the same feeling you had during your 

school days when the mere thought of going to school made you feel sick thanks to the big bully gang of your class who were ready to pull you down and make fun of you given any chance? 

Don't assume that you can't handle office politics. It surely is not an easy task but it is very much possible. Here's how to do it: 

1. Forgive & Forget: Don't get mad or even. I know, forgiving and forgetting is easier read than done! However, as leaders it is important for you to look at the end result you want. Will holding a grudge help you reach your vision? Probably not. We are at work to do a job and I have yet to see grudge holding listed in any job description (not even in Other Duties as Assigned.)

2. Don't try to change or resist company culture including dress, communication styles and office hours. Being different does not work.

3. Don't complain:Like gossiping, complaining is a vice that's hard to break once you get into it. Complainers are annoying, counterproductive, and have a habit of dragging others down with them. Bosses like problem solvers, not problem seekers. If there's something about the company you don't like, make yourself a solution to the problem, not a part of it.

Be a source of pleasure. If you laugh and smile a lot, but keep a professional stance, you help keep things light and fresh. Encourage people to feed off your good vibes.

4. Practice self-awareness. This is a life-long task and every day you can become a little bit more aware of how people perceive you. Just doing your job is not enough. You need to do it in a way that makes a positive impression on everyone else.

5. Don't play with a person's reputation: If you know that a person has got a bad name in the office circle, it is not an obligation on your part to believe in the story. Remember today you are on the other side of the court but then times can change at an instant. The same ball may drop in your court also, you may not be wrong , but still people may be saying so. Then what? At least some people will come on your side then. These can be the same people whose reputations you did not try to hamper during their troubled day

6. Manage your stress levels so you can avoid emotional displays of inconsistent behavior and inconsistent messages. Most emotional outbursts come from unmanaged stress.

7. Don't participate in office politics: Try to keep yourself unattached from the whole mess. Just because people are badmouthing a person you also are not supposed to do it. You can take a neutral stand and observe from a distance.

8. Be approachable all the time – in your cube, in the hallway, even in the bathroom.

9. Network before you need to network. Being good at politics means that you are good at relationship building, and you can count on a wide range of people when you need them.

10. Talk to people
Work is about people. You work with people and for people. A faceless, impersonal work environment goes against this, breeding dissatisfaction and resentment. You should talk to people face-to-face whenever possible, reserving e-mail for those not in your office. When you make the effort to communicate in person, it shows a knack for interaction and good communication. So take the initiative and leave your cubicle to deliver a message.

In the workplace, isolation is the best way to be overlooked, if not spurned. When you refuse to be a part of the workplace, you might be setting yourself up to be the subject of gossip, or worse, the scapegoat of trivial problems. So don't be an outsider and practice the art of one-on-one.

11. Interaction is the solution to many problems, communication gaps have the power to do a lot of damage and you could avoid that. You know a colleague has been badmouthing you, rather than returning the favour, you could actually go forward and talk directly to the concerned person. You can let him know how you felt about what he said about you.

I9. If interaction has not brought any results it is about time you raised your voice openly rather than suffering alone in a job or leaving it as a loser. You know you are right and in spite of your efforts nobody is paying heed. Remember - "Never start a fight but if a fight has been initiated from the other side, do finish it". 12. Have a sense of equity: What is right is right for you as is for any other person. If you know this time you are on the wrong side, have the courage to come forward and accept it. You should take the responsibility for your wrongdoings just as you expect from others.

13. Keep track: Keep yourself updated with the happenings in your office. Information be it of any kind is always welcome. This will also help you in preparing for the future. Many a times you take some actions in the reflex mode but when you know the details of how is how, you can avoid this and as such avoid a lot of unpleasantness in future.

1. Check out LinkedIn jobs, if you can see a job there, that means that you're connected to the job. If you do not have tons of connections, connect to some of us on the PowerForum.


2. Use LinkedIn for your job-search research project. You will focus on specific companies - you should do that, as it gives you a target for your job search and turns you into an active job researcher/seeker rather than just a person who trolls Monster.com all day long. As you identify these companies, you can learn a TON about them via LinkedIn. Search on the company name to find people who work there now or who used to work there - what sorts of backgrounds do they have? What sorts of education? Which of these target companies seem most suitable for you given your own experiences and interests?

3. If you're looking to apply at a company and don't feel comfortable contacting someone who works there now, contact someone who USED to work there! Corporate alums are under no pressure to recommend you for a job, and will most likely talk very freely about their former company. This is the indirect approach - LinkedIn is a terrific vehicle for that. (Do the person a favor, since he or she is helping you - create a logo for his or her teenage daughter's blog, for instance.)

4. Use LinkedIn to find relevant headhunters to talk to. Headhunters are well-connected and, like real estate agents, seldom shun a phone call that comes out of the blue (although it may take them awhile to call you back). They may not be able to help you find a job specifically - lots of search people don't work with new grads, because new grads are not the job-seekers that firms will typically pay search people to find for them - but they can advise you nonetheless. In ten minutes on the phone with a headhunter you can learn enough to target some companies, drop others from your list entirely, and save yourself hours or weeks of trouble.

5. use LinkedIn to expand the network of people you ALREADY know, who should be informed that you are out of school and job-hunting.
Where there isn't a compelling rationale for contact, it's awkward to reach out to strangers and say "Gee, want to hire me?" But you should absolutely use LinkedIn to get back in touch with people you already know - friends of your parents, your friends' parents and older siblings, the lady you babysat for in high school, anyone you interned for during college, the McKinsey VP who sang in choir at church all those years with your mom - get it? - and enroll them in supporting your job search.
What you are doing with LinkedIn in this case is simply pulling together your existing network (the people you know, though you may not have thought of them as your network) and bringing them up to date on your professional status. Here's how to find them:
a) do a LinkedIn search on the city where you grew up and identify people you know. If you grew up in San Jose or New York or Chicago, scratch that and go right to b)
b) sit down with a piece of paper and a pencil and list everyone in business that you know. A new grad should be able to list 100 such people - push yourself. Think about Girl Scout leaders, the volunteer who directed "Grease" your senior year of high school, the track team parents, the librarian back in your high school who is a corporate Knowledge Manager now - you can do it! Once you have the list on paper (actually, do it in Word so you can cut and paste names into the LinkedIn search box) start looking for these folks on LinkedIn.
Some of the people on your list won't be on LinkedIn yet, of course - if you really want to include them in the network you're constructing, you'll have to find their email addresses so that you can invite them to join. The easiest way (short of phoning them) is to Google them - there's a decent chance you'll find an email address that way. Out of your starter list of 100 friends-and-family advocates, perhaps you'll end up with a decent network of 65 LinkedIn contacts. Perhaps more!

Repost from : http://www.intuitive.com

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So you hate going to work. You dread hearing the alarm clock going off. It's not the work itself you hate, it is your boss who is intolerable. You want to quit! You are not putting up with this anymore! You've had it! So many of us can relate to this. We've had a bad boss. And what stops us from quitting? A lot is at stake. It's not just your job, it will affect your family as well. AND the bad boss situation affects them now as well. You come home irritated, frustrated, impatient. Your family and friends have to listen to you venting. You might have been doing this for weeks, maybe months. Some people will commiserate with you, and share their stories. So together you manage to be even more angry and miserable. How much longer can you do this, before your health and relationships start getting affected negatively?

 

Followings are the tips to handle your boss  

• Do act professionally in all situations, choose the right time to talk and never approach them in the middle of a meeting or when you see him in the hallway. Make sure you're in a quiet, undisturbed place so that you have their complete attention, and you are calm and collected.
• Make sure you are doing everything right
  the first solution is an honest analysis of your actions and behavior. How have you been handling yourself in your job? Have you always taken the high road, or have you resorted to occasional backstabbing, gossiping, or underperforming? If you're human, it's likely your bad boss has affected your performance, so try ignoring all these distractions and focus on your work to see if that changes anything. Find other sources of positive reinforcement for doing your job to the best of your abilities.
• If anything changes, be the first one to tell him. Reality is that "do-do occurs." Things are not going to go according to plan. Sometimes, for reasons you can't control, you are going to be late or miss your budget. It's inevitable. Your only salvation is to beat a path to your boss's office and tell him first
• Talk to this boss. Tell him what you need from him in term of direction, feedback and support. Be polite and focus on your needs. Telling the boss he's a bad boss is counterproductive and won't help you meet your goals.
• Don't reduce your productivity, feign illness, or otherwise compromise your job, ask the manager how you can help him reach his goals. Make sure you listen well and provide the needed assistance.
• Try to show how his or her actions reduce motivation, hurt business, or increase expenses.If you can, explain the changes that would make working conditions better, and make for a happier atmosphere. Suggesting specific alternatives makes it easier to make positive changes. Agree to follow up at a later date, to evaluate the new situation.
• Praise your boss when they get it right. Many managers never receive praise because somehow, it is mistakenly believed that praise should only flow from managers to employees. You may be nervous about approaching your manager to offer advice, but good managers are truly grateful for constructive, useful feedback, and will appreciate any opportunity they get to learn how to do a better job. Still, this article is about "bad" bosses - but when you have the chance to give them a good word, take it.
• Do consider scheduling a meeting with your boss to discuss ways your boss could change his/her behavior.
• Don't become the victim indefinitely. If you have truly tried to make it work between you and your boss, but they did not accept or appreciate your attempts, escalate your complaint to higher management. If that complaint falls on deaf ears (or if there's no higher authority to appeal to) it's time to move on! Try to get an interview for another position within the company (with someone you know to be a great boss), or in another organization.
• Don't expect your boss to change -- or at least change overnight.
• Be Aware of Internet Information about You: Employers search the Web to get information about their employees. Anything you post to a Web site, a Blog or an online Forum may be seen by your employer. And anything anyone else posts about you, including the media, may also be seen. Know what's out there. Do an "ego search" (enter your name in a search engine, such as Google or Yahoo) regularly. If you're involved in anything you wouldn't want your employer to know about, don't discuss it on the Web.
   
  If you're searching for a new job, check to see what's out there. If you ran in a Breast Cancer Survivor marathon that was reported by the med ia and a potential employer finds that story, the employer might reject your application, considering you a heath insurance risk-- you would never know the real reason you didn't get the job. 
  
  If someone else has your same name and there's news out there that could be used against that person, be sure to point out to your employer that the news is not about you.
• Do evaluate your performance on the job and consider ways to improve your behavior, but don't blame yourself for a bad boss.
• Get a Copy of Your Job Description. Your salary is determined by the responsibilities (duties and obligations) assigned to you. Your responsibilities and required skills are outlined in your job description--a list of duties and obligations you are expected to perform in exchange for the compensation you receive. 
  
  Your job description is an important document for you to have. Think of a job description as a formal agreement between you and your employer that states, in effect, "You will do these things and we will pay you this amount for doing them." Without a copy of your job description, you cannot determine when you are being asked to perform jobs that are beyond your compensation level, so you may be manipulated without your knowledge. 
  
  It is appropriate to ask for a copy of your job description, and it is best to get a copy when you are new to the job--long before any problems or challenges arise. In large organizations, formal job descriptions are required to assign a salary level before a job is advertised or filled. If your boss doesn't give you a copy of your job description, you may get one from the Human Resources Department. In very small organizations where this document may not exist, create your own. Keep the job ad to which you responded when you applied for your position and consider that to be your job description. If it contains a statement such as: "And other duties as assigned" get clarification as soon as possible about what some of those "other" duties might include as well as the kinds of things you will definitely not be asked to do. Add those duties to the job description you are creating if they seem appropriate--if not, challenge them before you are asked to perform them. You have a right to know what is expected of you at each salary level. 
  
  Remember: If it isn't in writing, it doesn't exist.
• Reports your bad boss A last resort is reporting the bad actions/performance of your boss to his/her supervisor -- or to someone in human resources. While logic would hold that the company would not want a manager who is hurting performance or productivity, the reality is often that you become branded as a trouble-maker/whiner/complainer and your days at the company quickly become numbered.
• Do use your network to keep abreast of better opportunities outside the company. And do have your resume up-to-date and ready to send out.
• Don't sacrifice your health or self-esteem
  The worst thing you can do is simply to do nothing, hoping the problems will get resolved. No job, boss, or company is worth losing your health, sanity, or self-esteem. If you can't find a way to resolve these issues and/or your boss simply will never change his/her behavior, you should immediately start working your network and begin looking for a new job -- within or outside the organization. Again, if you love the company, a transfer might be the best option -- but keep in mind that your boss might be as evil as to sabotage that transfer. And try not to quit before you find a new job, but again, if work just becomes too unbearable, you may need to consider quitting to save yourself.
• Don't think you are alone in having a bad boss; several studies suggest that many of us have to deal with a bad boss at one time or another in our careers.
• Do consider keeping a journal that documents all the bad behavior of your boss.
• Don't sacrifice your health of self-esteem by staying in the job for the sake of a job. Do consider quitting your job -- even if you don't have a new job lined up -- if continuing to work for your bad boss is likely to permanently damage your career.
• Do continue to document all your accomplishments.
• If you think the problem is that your boss can't – or won't – change, ask for a transfer to another department. This recommendation presumes you like your employer and your work..
• If a transfer or promotion is unavailable, begin your search for a new job. Fleeing is always an option. You may want to conduct your job search secretly, but under the circumstances, it may be time for you to go.

 

1. Don't reduce your answers to Yes or No rather you should explain reasoning. This is an example of a crisis manager who can not think farther than a few hours ahead. A yes/no manager find it a waste of time to find the real answer through intellectual thought. They are already thinking about the next crisis.
2. Delegate work rather than balance work loads. It may seem to you that you are managing the team but in actuality you are creating work imbalances within the group. It can create unnecessary overtime for some and under utilization of others. A good manager is aware of the skill sets of all the people below them and should allocate work accordingly while trying to enhance the skills of everyone to be even more productive.
3. Always try to stand behind subordinates when they fail. Never leave your people to hang out to dry. Always back them up, right, wrong, or indifferent. If an employee tries their best in a situation and they fail to come through. They should be commended on their effort and not punished for the failure
4. Always separate personal life from professional life. Don't bring your personal problem to work. Try to separate their emotional imbalances while trying to manage people. Be focused and give your team the attention and direction they need for success.
5. Always encourage smart work. Smart workers understand the concept of time management and multi-tasking. Smart workers are methodical in their thinking and can generally be successful because of their abilities management projects and time. Hard workers may take twice as long to do the work. It is important to assign work accordingly to the skills and personalities
6. Always remember all humans makes mistakes .don't create an environment where mistakes are unacceptable. Making mistakes only helps you become a better person, manager, etc. try to learn from your mistakes and reduce them, Take a chance and don't be scared.
7. Manage crisis. If you are a company that has crisis managers, then you can say goodbye to innovation and progression. Proactive thinking is critical to the success of any company. If you are not finding ways to stop or reduce the amount of crisis that has to be managed, then your competition will pass you by. Leaders have to think out of the box and make change.
8. Don't mix employee problem with group.

 

They say clothes make the man. Exactly how true is this saying?

In today's working world, first impressions are not only an important concern but often can decide whether you get a job. The clothes you wear on a job interview can be just as important as the resume you present.

In fact, opinions start to be formed about our intelligence, professionalism, background and ethics within 10 seconds. Within 30 seconds, the interviewer has already assimilated a great deal of information from you. That is why it is important to dress your best at that job interview.

The way you look at a job interview will never get any better, interviewers assume. So, if you don't take the time and effort to properly present yourself, how can you expect a potential employer to take you seriously?

conservative business suit or dress of a natural or woven-blend fabric in a soft color complementing your skin and hair color -- blue, navy, gray, beige, tan or brown.

• Skirt length should be at least to the bottom of the knee.
• Sleeves must touch the wrist
• Buttons should be fastened two buttons above the cleavage and should stay fastened
• The shirt must be below the hip.
• Should not be a tight fit
• No creases
• No pulling back
• Must be able to place two fingers between your skirt and body
• Loose fit
• Shouldn't curve under waistline when you bend or sit
• Length must be appropriate
• No pulling of the pleats.
• Well-groomed hairstyle.
• Clean, manicured fingernails.
• Minimal perfume or cologne. Best if applied at least two hours before the interview. A little goes a long way in a small, closed interview room.
• Empty pockets? no tinkling change or bulges.
• No gum or cigarettes.
• No body piercing (nose rings, eyebrow rings, etc.)
  
  Pay attention to even smallest details. Interviewers often consider the condition of your shoes as a way to tell whether you pay attention to detail. To that end, avoid shoes that are not shined or that have run-down heels.

Remember, your competence is not based on what you wear but rather on your business and personal knowledge and skills. Clothing simply allows you to state who you are and helps you to reach your professional goals. Appearance can be a powerful and useful tool in controlling the kind of message you send to others. With a little common sense and attention to details, you can easily make sure that first impression is your best.

 

 

You can improve your sales success ratio significantly by learning as much as you can about your prospect and focusing on his needs.

1. Build rapport. Before discussing business, build rapport with your prospect. To build rapport, do some homework. Find out if you have a colleague in common. Has the prospect's company been in the news lately?, Get a little insight into the company and the individual so you can make the rapport genuine.
   
   
2. Ask a broad range of questions. Ask questions that require more than a "yes" or "no" response, and that deal with more than just costs, price, procedures and the technical aspects of the prospect's business. Most importantly, ask questions that will reveal the prospect's motivation to purchase, his problems and needs, and his decision-making processes. ,Don't be afraid to ask a client why he or she feels a certain way.(That's how you'll get to understand your customers.)
   
   
3. search deeper. If a prospect tells you, "We're looking for cost-savings and efficiency," , immediately tell him how your product meets his need for cost-savings and efficiency, Ask for more information so you can better position your product and show you understand the client's needs.
   
   
4. Learn to listen. Sales people who do all the talking during a presentation not only bore the prospect, but also generally lose the sale. You should be listening at least 50 percent of the time, You can improve your listening skills by taking notes, observing your prospect's body language, not jumping to conclusions, and concentrating on what your prospect is saying.
   
   
5. Follow-up is critical. Write thank-you notes, call the customer after the sale to make sure he or she is satisfied, and maintain a schedule of future communications. "You have to be in front of that client and always show attention and responsiveness.
   
   
6. Sell benefits, not features. The biggest mistake entrepreneurs make is in focusing on what their product or service is,Always concentrate on how your product will benefit your customer.
   
   
7. Sell to the people most likely to buy. Your best prospects have a keen interest in your product or service and the financial resources to purchase it. They are the ones who will buy most quickly., If you're selling camera, don't try to sell to people who have never bought one before ,Sell to those who already have one, or to those you know would be interested in buying one. Show them how yours is superior.
   
8. Differentiate your product. Why should a customer buy from you and not from your competitor? Coming up with at least three to four features that will give a customer reason to buy from you. , People don't like to go out of their comfort zone to try something new. So, give them three good reasons to try your product
   
   
9. Get face to face. Get one-on-one with your customer--if not in person, at least by phone.
   
   
10. Focus on the second sale. Concentrate on developing future and referral business with each customer, everything you do must be aimed at the second sale. Ask yourself: Will this be such a satisfactory experience that my customer will buy from me again or tell his friends?