Are you one of the ‘workers’? Or are you one of the 80%? According to the  Gallup Organization’s study,  90% of company profits are churned out by 20% of its employees. The same study reports that the leftover 80% do just enough to not get canned.

Many hunters fail to mount this mighty beast’s head on their mantle. These big game hunters stumble into my office, wide eyed with white knuckles clutching a crinkled resume, desperate for some hint of their elusive quarry. These poor hunters want it all: high salary, passion, respect, a sense of accomplishment, and everything else s/he can possibly fathom about a career.

There are several problems with this type of hunt: Many of these hunters have never seen their perfect job, they’ve only heard about someone from someone else that bagged a perfect career. This mystical beast is often the pinnacle of a lifelong search. 

5. It’s ok:  Frustration is ok to feel, everyone does at some point. But it’s NOT ok to take your frustration out on other people.
4. Put it in perspective: Is whatever has steam coming out of your ears going to matter in 6 minutes? 6 hours? 6 days or 6 months? If not then who cares?
3. Get over yourself: Not everything has to do with you! If you think it does, you may need to have your head screwed on a little tighter.  
2. Vent it: Jog, box (on a Wii, not in a bar), bike, golf, ride a horse, take a drive, take a pet to a park, talk to a friend, have some ice-cream. Just do something to get rid of tension.
1. If it gets too bad get out: What are you a sadist? If is sucks that bad then bail! Of course you might try to get something lined up before you jump ship….

The number of scars I have is directly proportional to my ability to make and follow decisions at the drop of a hat. Fortunately for my hide, the longer I’m around the fewer  scars I accrue. I want to believe that is because I‘m gaining wisdom. My friends have a different theory, but it’s really is too ludicrous to mention. I’d like to think I’m a little smarter now then I have been, but I really can’t back that up with anything tangible. What really has changed is how I go about making decisions.

    Feeling a little let down coming back to work after the 4^th of July? Or is work an oasis of calm after the craziness? Hopefully, you fall somewhere in the middle of excruciating pain and anticipation at the thought of returning to work. After a wild weekend, even the 9 to 5 grind in a job you love can be tough.
    This is to be expected on some levels. I would imagine that someone would have trouble bearing down under the work yoke after a long weekend of (hopefully) doing as you please. So don’t freak out about hating your job just yet. Give it a week (or three), and if you still hate it then think about bailing, but get “holiday mode” out of you system first.
    What causes the holiday hangover? Career envy can do it. Seeing some guy that runs a hotel in a party spot can turn some of us a lovely shade of green and cause jealousy in all but the stingiest of hearts. Hopefully, that wears off after coming down from vacation. Those lives can be hard. Not impossible, just hard. It isn’t always as easy or rewarding as it looks. But, sighing heavily as you are about to open the door to your office can be a sign of something that bears a moment’s thought.
    It can take a day or two to slip back into the work groove after a long and fun weekend. Make sure you allow some extra time to get adjusted if you can. For some jobs, it’s possible to ease in, others it’s expected to hit the ground running. Finding a balance is important so you don’t feel overwhelmed. Treat yourself with a latte or read an inspiring story.
    At the same time, be cautious about who you let in on your holiday war stories. Telling your boss about doing a keg stand or waking up in a strange place may seem funny at the time, (and it usually is in my experience) but do you really want your boss to think of that side of you every time they look at you? Or have the first thing that comes to your bosses mind is how you streaked a golf course rather than the great job you did on a report?
    Focus on the fun harmless stuff you did, burning a pizza, falling off a pair of water-skis, stuff like that. You don’t need to say why any of those things happened. I’m not saying to keep the Berlin wall up between you and your work mates, just clean it up a bit.

Being a short work week I can’t believe anyone is keeping their nose firmly pressed to the grindstone.  I even find myself hard pressed to self motivate, so I figured this would be a good time to toot my own horn. So here goes:

 Whoo ho WE ROCK! One Day One Job voted this Career Blog #3 out of the top 10 career services blog! Thanks to everyone for all your suggestions and support, keep it coming!

    Making a positive impact, whether in face-to-face sales pitches or an email to a client, is important for career success. Here are some tips to make a positive impact, instead of going down in flames.

5. Test the waters. Share small pieces of your message with coworkers as a test to see how well, or badly, the message is received.

Do you have any suggestions or advice for someone trying to get out of sales and into exec asst or similar while finishing a degree?

 Yeah! Transitioning careers is all about mapping cross over skills. Cross over skills are skills that are portable,  that someone can take \ from one job to the next. Usually, cross over skills have mass appeal. Everyone needs to know how to maneuver in Microsoft Office, right? That’s something that anyone can put on their resume.

                The real question is what skills are needed in the direction you are headed in? Here is an executive assistant job description from OfficeTeam :

    The idea that biology predetermines what a person’s career path will be is a scary thing to percolate over. I’m talking the hide-under-the-bed-and-weep kind of terror here. The UK scientists that are working on connecting infant exposure to estrogen and testosterone to an adult’s career seems like it’s straight out of a science fiction movie (no really!).
    A decade ago, a movie took this concept to the extreme. The world in Gattaca judged people by the supposed purity of their DNA and a job interview consisted of submitting genetic samples. Check it out:

    The idea that a person’s genes are able to determine her/his potential for a job ignores the possibility for conscious thought, of choice. On some days it would be nice to be spared the trouble and angst of having to actually choose a career, to think that a person could be groomed for something from the womb on. He/she would be spared the trouble of thinking and worrying over what to do with their life. Of course, not being able to change careers would make some people itch a bit and I couldn’t see the rags to riches story working out.
    I see people every day that have defied odds and upbringing to pursue a chosen career, or to succeed in something they weren’t originally cut out for. Consider Dave Thomas, the founder of Wendy’s: His drive and ambition pushed a high school dropout to the tops of the restaurant food chain (sorry, couldn’t help myself there).
    Science is a long way off from screening job applicants, hopefully, but the seed of worry has been planted. Worrying about it isn’t going to change the fact that science is already looking to unlock a biological reason for career success. I know that process will take some time and that scientists are only on the tip of the mountain of that process. I just wonder if the slippery slope has become a little steeper, speeding us towards a Gattaca-like future.

Several people asked me recently to take a look at companies suspected of being pyramid schemes. Why? because if you log onto CareerBuilder or Monster and post your general resume, straight commission jobs are what is more than likely going to flood your inbox first.

According to the Federal Trade Commission the biggest signs of a pyramid scheme are:

-Lack of retail sales: If you don’t see the product at Wallyworld, how can it be selling really well?