http://directyourcareer.com/blog from MEA Strategic Solutions, LLC Fri, 18 May 2012 16:19:00 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 http://directyourcareer.com/blog/what-do-you-know-about-your-employees.html http://directyourcareer.com/blog/what-do-you-know-about-your-employees.html#comments Fri, 18 May 2012 16:19:00 +0000 Mike Anderson http://directyourcareer.com/blog/?p=767   Charley Charley, a new retiree-greeter at Wal-Mart, just couldn’t seem to get to work on time.    Every day he was 5, 10, 15 minutes late. But he was a good worker, really tidy, clean-shaven, sharp minded and a real credit to the company; obviously demonstrating their “Older Person Friendly” policies.  One day the boss called him into the office for a talk. “Charley, I have to tell you, I like your work ethic, you do a bang up job. But, being late so often is quite bothersome.” “I know boss, and I am working on it.” ”Well good, you are a team player. That’s what I like to hear. It’s odd though your coming in late.   I know you’re retired from the Armed Forces. So, what did they say if you came in late back then?”  ‘‘They said, ‘Good morning, Admiral, can I get you coffee, sir?”’ What do you know about your employees?  Some of them have skills and talents that are far beyond what you see of them day in and day out. The Problem Several years ago, I had an opening for a computer programmer.  One of the computer operators approached me with an [...]]]> http://directyourcareer.com/blog/what-do-you-know-about-your-employees.html/feed 1 http://directyourcareer.com/blog/what-is-a-ba-and-why-do-i-need-them.html http://directyourcareer.com/blog/what-is-a-ba-and-why-do-i-need-them.html#comments Wed, 16 May 2012 15:12:09 +0000 Mike Anderson http://directyourcareer.com/blog/?p=2421 Recently, a colleague asked me a question.  He asked “What is a BA, and why do we need so many? What do they do?” I am always surprised that people ask me questions like that.  Then, I stop being intellectually arrogant, and realize I just know “stuff” and just answered him. A BA is short for Business Analyst.  A BA wears many hats in an organization.  If they are correctly used, they can be the most important part of a well run IT organization.  Let me give you a brief history of the BA. Rock on dude! I started in IT back in the 80′s.   AC/DC, Anthrax, Black Sabbath, Alice Cooper, Deep Purple, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, and KISS were the bands of the day.  Big hair and make-up on guys was ok, and politically we were moving from Jimmy Carter and onto Ronald Reagan.  In the early days of IT, we programmers did it all.   We were even more interesting than the Dos XX guy. Once a user requested a project, the programmer would meet with them, gather the business requirements, turn them into technical requirements, create a project plan of sorts, and then start programming.  We ran [...]]]> http://directyourcareer.com/blog/what-is-a-ba-and-why-do-i-need-them.html/feed 0 http://directyourcareer.com/blog/10-business-terms-you-need-to-know.html http://directyourcareer.com/blog/10-business-terms-you-need-to-know.html#comments Tue, 15 May 2012 14:42:12 +0000 Mike Anderson http://directyourcareer.com/blog/?p=1087 Mentoring is a nearly dead art.  Gone are the days when a veteran employee or manager will take the time to take someone under his wing and show them the ropes.   There are many reasons why, but I think the fact that people change jobs, careers, and companies way more often today than they ever did in the pre-1980′s “Greed is good” period of Gordon Gekko in a major factor.  For that reason, I have found that many young people are less prepared for the real world and have little opportunity to learn things that people of my generation learned from seasoned professionals.  For that reason, I am taking some time to define some terms that I continually see people misunderstand or misuse. #1 – Draw Against Commission Many companies will hire commissioned sales people that may not receive a commission check for many months after starting their new job.  If the position is highly commissioned, meaning the bulk 2of their paycheck is from commissions, the company will loan money to the new salesman that is to be paid back from future commission checks.  This keeps the new salesman’s cash flow steady while he builds up his business and starts [...]]]> http://directyourcareer.com/blog/10-business-terms-you-need-to-know.html/feed 6 http://directyourcareer.com/blog/should-you-get-and-mba.html http://directyourcareer.com/blog/should-you-get-and-mba.html#comments Sat, 12 May 2012 11:17:30 +0000 Mike Anderson http://directyourcareer.com/blog/?p=215 Many of my career clients often ask me if they should go back to school for an MBA. Most of the time they are asking as a result of some negative experience they just suffered. It usually comes while they are looking for a job and aren’t getting offers, or even interviews. Generally, my answer is no, don’t go back. Why would I discourage someone from getting more education when the conventional wisdom might say otherwise. Well, it is because you must examine your motives whenever you do anything. If you are going back to school because you feel the additional knowledge will make you a better employee, then yes, you should go. But, if you are using it to add a pedigree to your resume, then forget it. The MBA might get you in the door and could possibly get you to the finals, but your work experience and the chemistry you create with the hiring authority is what will get you hired. Sorry, your credits aren’t any good here I am not a big fan of the industry of higher education. College is a business. The business of college is to collect tuition, turn out graduates, and recruit [...]]]> http://directyourcareer.com/blog/should-you-get-and-mba.html/feed 0 http://directyourcareer.com/blog/persistence-dont-leave-before-the-miracle-happens-2.html http://directyourcareer.com/blog/persistence-dont-leave-before-the-miracle-happens-2.html#comments Thu, 10 May 2012 09:53:31 +0000 Mike http://justmike70.wordpress.com/2008/06/02/persistence-dont-leave-before-the-miracle-happens/ I learned the hard way that the primary key to success is not talent. It isn’t brains, looks, or education. It isn’t any of the things that you are taught growing up. No, the key to success at any level is persistence. To succeed, one needs to continually strive to get what they want. And when I say continually strive, I don’t mean work harder, etc., I mean picking yourself up when knocked down and continuing the fight until you get what it is you want and to expect and learn from your failures. Some people call it suit up and show up. When I was a freshman in high school in 1776, I played soccer on the school’s soccer team. I didn’t go out for soccer because of some deep love of the game. No, as an American I played soccer because I knew it would force me to get into excellent physical condition for my first sport love, basketball. Even then I understood my own shortcomings and knew that if I didn’t have someone or something driving me to workout, I would not have been in good enough shape for basketball. Before each practice, our soccer coach made [...]]]> http://directyourcareer.com/blog/persistence-dont-leave-before-the-miracle-happens-2.html/feed 1 http://directyourcareer.com/blog/in-flight-consultants.html http://directyourcareer.com/blog/in-flight-consultants.html#comments Wed, 09 May 2012 08:51:37 +0000 Mike Anderson http://directyourcareer.com/blog/?p=93 I have had far too much experience in my career with people who believe everything that they see and hear is fact, before actually doing any research to find out the truth.   I have had bosses, co-workers, subordinates, and friends who will declare something as fact when the facts are actually in opposition to their point. I will give some examples of someone’s perception being their reality. Some years ago there was a new fad in toys called pogs. It was a game where you would try to flip disk shaped pieces of plastic into a cup. Our CEO at the time came back to the office and said he had a conversation with a 16 year old kid on a flight who told him that pogs were the next big thing.   A 16 year old kid? Our CEO then ordered the toy buyer to go out and corner the market on pogs.  He directed him to buy millions of dollars of  the stupid little game. The buyer argued that we should test the product before buying that many, but the CEO over-ruled him and forced him to move ahead.   Well, I’m sure by now you have guessed the end [...]]]> http://directyourcareer.com/blog/in-flight-consultants.html/feed 0 http://directyourcareer.com/blog/the-best-management-personalities-2.html http://directyourcareer.com/blog/the-best-management-personalities-2.html#comments Mon, 07 May 2012 07:34:01 +0000 Mike http://justmike70.wordpress.com/2008/06/13/the-best-management-personalities/ As I have studied careers, business, and management over the years, I have come up with four personality types of leadership. The first is positive, the next two are neutral to negative, and the fourth is a disaster. The first management personality type is the manager who wanted to be the boss, and once there, likes being the boss. This personality type is normally very qualified for the job. They have a comfort level around their employees and around their peers. This is a very effective manager. The second and more neutral personality is one that wanted to be the boss, but once their hates it. They campaigned or pursued the job for much of their career, and in fact may have spent many years preparing for it. But, once there, for some reason they found that they really dislike or hate the job. Maybe they don’t like the politics. Maybe they don’t like dealing with or directing people, maybe they were very good at the job they had, but found management was not what they thought. This manager is effective, but not great. The third management personality is also neutral to negative. This boss who doesn’t want to be [...]]]> http://directyourcareer.com/blog/the-best-management-personalities-2.html/feed 0 http://directyourcareer.com/blog/there-is-no-they-in-your-career.html http://directyourcareer.com/blog/there-is-no-they-in-your-career.html#comments Wed, 02 May 2012 01:39:38 +0000 Mike Anderson http://directyourcareer.com/blog/?p=1025 Like so many people, in my early years I often blamed a great many things in my career on the invisible “they“.   As in “they don’t care about us” or “they just don’t understand”.  It was the same thing so many people say that are not in control of their jobs or their lives.  Then, one day, a great boss  said to me “Mike, quit saying they.  There is no they.  There is only you.”  It caught me by surprise, but a second I realized it was some of the best advice I ever got. I have had many conversations with people over the years that talk about  “they”.   The fact of the matter is that whatever your rank, there is no they.   You can take control of any situation and demonstrate leadership once you accept the fact that you are they,  especially if you are in management, then, in fact, YOU are THEY. Do the right thing Whenever you are faced with making a decision, make it. If you do the next right thing, whatever that happens to be, you are most assuredly not going to get into trouble. There is an old management saying that goes “I [...]]]> http://directyourcareer.com/blog/there-is-no-they-in-your-career.html/feed 5 http://directyourcareer.com/blog/get-ready-for-that-interview-3.html http://directyourcareer.com/blog/get-ready-for-that-interview-3.html#comments Tue, 01 May 2012 00:41:59 +0000 Mike Anderson http://directyourcareer.com/blog/?p=729 http://directyourcareer.com/blog/get-ready-for-that-interview-3.html/feed 81 http://directyourcareer.com/blog/job-hunting-in-a-tough-market.html http://directyourcareer.com/blog/job-hunting-in-a-tough-market.html#comments Sun, 29 Apr 2012 23:44:53 +0000 Mike Anderson http://directyourcareer.com/blog/job-hunting-in-a-tough-market.html In recent weeks, several of my clients have asked my help in finding them a new job. They each have different reasons for wanting to change jobs. Some just want more money. A few are not comfortable with the financial health of their current employer. And, I have one entry level client and one recently “outplaced” client that just need help getting started. Finding a job is not necessarily that hard, but finding the right job does take a plan. There was a time in the recent past when people would just shotgun resumes or respond to every job ad they saw. That method does work, but it is a lot more painful in terms of time, and success. If you think about it, you need to hit the right company at the right time looking for your credentials. Odds seem a little against you. So, it is best to create a plan of attack, and to work your plan. This will take how long??? The first rule of thumb that people need to know in the job search is that, as non-scientific it may be, you should expect to spend about one month per $10,000 of salary hunting for [...]]]> http://directyourcareer.com/blog/job-hunting-in-a-tough-market.html/feed 6