You're Fired! But it's not Donald Trump on the Apprentice.

Donald Trump is famous world-wide for those words, "You're Fired!" But if you have ever been terminated from a job, you know the heartache you feel when you hear those or similar words.

I would guess that almost anyone who is successful in their career has been fired at least once in their life. How you react is important. The reasons for someone being fired may be justified or not. Reasons can be for illegal actions or for immoral activities. In many instances, if you are an "at-will" employee, you can be terminated for no reason whatsoever. If you feel you have been illegally dismissed because of your age, skincolor, race, national origin, religious beliefs, handicap, gender or sexual orientation, you may be able to contact someone who specializes in employment law to help you determine what you should do next.

So you got the notice, you will definitely have some emotions. Being fired is about the same stress level as the breakup of a marriage or the death of a loved one.
Anger is typically the most frequent emotion. Don't keep it bottled up. Find a trusted friend who will listen while you vent. Avoid a pay-back attitude. If you are interviewing for new positions, if you share negative comments about a previous boss or company, you could be limiting your chances with that new company.

Here are a couple of things that you should try to do:

• Identify the reason you were fired.
• Reassure potential employers that the problem has been resolved.  

You and your previous employer have two perspectives about your termination.

• Employer - Inability to perform job functions effectively due to excessive absenteeism.
• Employee - My car kept breaking down. It was unreliable.

Whatever happened, if you can rectify a situation to keep it from happening again, you should. If you were not given a reason why you are being fired, you may want to contact a previous employer to find out so that you can avoid making any of the same mistakes.

What do you tell a potential employer about getting fired?

• Don't ever misrepresent your employment history on a job application. It is a legal document and if an employer finds out it is falsified, that in itself, could be grounds for termination.
• Avoid using the word "fired". Other phrases could include "let go involuntarily" Involuntarily dismissed"
• During an interview prepare a one sentence summary of the problem that led to the dismissal and then offer an explanation of how you have resolved the situation.
• Never express anger or make negative comments about your past employers. Instead focus on the transferable skills and improved attitude. 
• When you are asked "Tell me about yourself" you can initiate the discussion with the interviewer using your prepared statement and not have to wait for when the interviewer brings up the dreaded question.

We can be our own worst enemy. Check with a friend whose opinion you trust to see if your attitude is good, your outlook on your job search, and your statements regarding your previous employer. Make sure everything is going to appear positive to a new employer before you go on that first interview.

50 Top Careers for 2011

The following is a summary and this writers thoughts on a tweetchat on 12-7-2010. The discussion was with Alexis Grant tweeting as @USNewsCareers.  Here are the results:

How do you determine what careers/industries make the list?
Our list is based on job-growth projections from the Labor Department. We look for jobs with above-average incomes, and high job satisfaction, etc. Those job-growth projections are a great measure of stability, they tell us how much growth is expected between 2008-2018. We also talked with people who work in these jobs to gather anecdotal evidence about employment prospects and job satisfaction.  The report excludes careers that don’t have large numbers of positions, because they provide opportunity only for small number of people.  The list looks to diversify in terms of category and education requirements to offer a wide variety of solid jobs. USNewsCareers uses the Federal Bureau of Labor Statistics to determine the initial numbers but all of the factors are taken into consideration.  They also analyze past lists and many of the careers transfer onto the list from year to year.  One participant said, "...if (the list) changed too much from year to year, they would be great jobs, not careers."

If you are searching for a career that isn't on USNews list, you can go to www.bls.gov/oco or to http://www.onet.onlinecenter.org/ .  O*NET is a useful site as it gives a total picture of the career path as well as similar titles.

Seven careers that were removed from the list this year were: loan officer, funeral director, cost estimator, plumber, landscape architect, security system installer, market research analyst.  Some of these were affected by the economy.
The new seven included:
Athletic trainer – http://bit.ly/h0jFnL. Largely b/c of high demand in high schools.
Interpreter/Translator – http://bit.ly/gYiohJ. I find this one fascinating – high demand because of global economy.
Sales manager – http://bit.ly/gF2o9f. This job is recovering along with the economy. Highest median salary of $97K
Education admin – http://bit.ly/fBTQfk. For example, a high school principal. Ranks high 4 job satisfaction. 
Heating, Air conditioning and refrigeration technicians did well partly because of demand for green energy compliance. 
For the full list:http://usnews.com/careers Check this link: http://ht.ly/3l9Xg

Many participating in the discussion were amazed that Funeral Directors were being booted from the list because you cannot predict when people will die and with the aging of the Boomers, there should be a large prospect for that career field.  Perhaps tho, the Boomers are living longer and "flying in the face of death".

The question was raised about whether entrepreneurs should be on the list?  Thoughts on this were that isn't everyone who starts a business an entrepreneur?  Isn't everyone who is an entrepreneur performing multiple careers at one time - CFO, COO, CEO, marketing, sales, and on and on. But while entrepreneurs are a growing path for many people, in fact, they are often sole proprietors.  Employment data is much more difficult to calculate on sole proprietors.

What top skills are hiring managers looking for?

Skill sets! As part of each career profile, we’ve included tips and advice for people who work in the industry on landing a job. Look for this advice at the bottom of each profile.  Hiring managers are looking for achievement oriented people who can do for their company what they have done for others. They want to see multi-talented individuals - but who still fit the "mold".  Know what your skills are and how you can apply them. Not only do you need the right skills, but  be able to fit within the new corporate culture and team. Along with job-specific skills, many hiring managers said “people skills” are also super important – being able to communicate. You can also see USNewsCareers slide show with advice for landing jobs on our list:http://bit.ly/gmfCSP.  

For some jobs, having business savvy was also cited as helpful. Besides job skills, soft skills are important - things like communication, team work, conflict resolution and about 10 others.  Soft skills are so vital in the business world. if you don't have them, you wont get far. Many employers prefer someone who displays these skills - they can't teach someone (workplace skills) but, they can teach job skills. Even the president of Southwest Airlines says "that you can teach skills, but you can't teach behaviors". You can hire for attitude and train for skill. Because no one career is right for everybody, USNewsCareers include 50 jobs on their list, with variety. Hiring managers are interested in people who can solve their companies problems.  Being able to explain how you helped your previous company achieve their goals will be a good selling feature for you.

This article was given as a resource - Inside the Hiring Manager's Head at the Job Interviewhttp://ow.ly/3lp75
Strong speaking skills + strong work ethic most sought in#jobseekers by employers per NACE studyhttp://on.wsj.com/grThmX 

One participant asked "Does anyone have a good list of hard skills for each industry/sector or know where I could find one?"  My answer to that would be use O*NET.  Here are the skills needed for an athletic trainer for example.

What jobs are in the most demand?

A good way to measure demand is with job-growth projections.  It tells how many positions are likely to be created between 2008-2018. To put this all in perspective, the average expected growth for all jobs based on data from BLS from 2008-2018 is about 10 %.

• Using job-growth stats from Labor Department: 
• Biomedical engineer is at the top for percentage of growth at 72%.
• Neetwork architects – 52 %
• Health care jobs - Dental hygienist = 36%, physician assistant = 39%
• Athletic trainer – a job that’s new on the list this year – 37%
• HVAC (also new on our list) - 28%.
• Leisure & Hospitality -12% 
• Professional & Business Services - 11% 
• Information - 10%

Illinois has a website - www.illinoisworknet.com that features a Key Sector area explaining the high-growth, high demand sectors for Illinois that include Agriculture, Healthcare, Information Technology, Manufacturing, and Transportation/Distribution/Logistics. 


Several participants sited career paths in IT - especially web developers, health care, and manufacturing. One poster said their hiring expectations for 2011Q1 is the most optimistic in two years. 


The best place to find the skill shortages in the marketplace is to track the volume of ads on job boards by sector/discipline. A good article re: skills not matching job openings:http://nyti.ms/h6HKsZ There are plenty of other articles out there. 

So many unemployed individuals have skills that are no longer in demand. Our economy has changed so fast and new skills are needed.  Workforce Investment Act (WIA)funds will help unemployed individuals learn new skills and can be targeted toward high-growth, high-demand careers.  If you are a lifelong learner, you will continue to build skills/attitude being able to keep up with the rate of change in workplace. People will have to adapt. Just as one example wind turbine repair technicians will have only  50% of the personpower needed by 2015 to maintain the wind turbines that are on-line right now. That doesn't take into consideration the effort to increase wind power into the future. 

Which careers on the list give a great salary for little education? 

Another article from USNewsCareers was: 10 jobs that offer a big bang for your buck: http://bit.ly/eGuh60

• Sales manager jumped out at Alexis, since you need a bachelor’s degree for a median annual salary of $97K.http://bit.ly/gF2o9f
• On the health care side, dental hygienists make about $67K with associate’s degree and license. 
• Physician assistants need 2-year associate’s degree plus certification, to bring home paycheck of $84K.
• Gaming managers - who work at casinos, make about $67K after vocational or dealer school, plus certificate.http://bit.ly/e5NZG5
• Meteorologists also do well, bringing in median of $85K with a bachelor’s degree. http://bit.ly/gKMRPH

Certifications and licenses are becoming more important, it shows you can actually do the work vs. take a test.
Service industry jobs are here to stay. It is one of the longest professions around.
One poster shared that you can research markets by asking what skills employers rate most important soft skills or hard skills. Alternately you could use a LinkedIn or a Twit poll.

One problem about which we have been hearing here at KCDEE is that employers want people with experience, but those who are retraining into new career fields may not have experience in their chosen new career field.  My question would be - How can you meld your transferable skills with your newly learned skills to impress upon a potential employer that you would be a great hire?

Which of the jobs on the list most interests you as a career path? 

Whichever career path you seek - technician, exec, etc., it is good to be proactive, knowledgeable, forward-thinking about your chosen industry. 
 
Some closing thoughts and resources that were offered include: 

• You miss 100% of the shots you never take- T. Paulson
• Read "The Hidden Job Report" to find jobs before they are advertised. http://t.co/s4E2IDm 
• 10 smart ways to use #socialmedia in your #jobsearch:http://bit.ly/e8ZMyK   
• This is a copy of the transcript for  #Careerchathttp://bit.ly/hgMvSo 

If you would like to participate in upcoming Tweetchats, you will need a twitter account. Then go to www.tweetchat.com.  Log-in using your twitter account enter the hashtag #Careerchat and type away.  Let me warn you that the conversation is fast and furious and you can miss things as you type your thoughts, but they are full of useful information.

Soft skills include dealing with relationships and conflict

INTERPERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS & CONFLICT RESOLUTION – Interpersonal relationships are, in effect, how you get along with your co-workers. For some people you spend more of your waking hours with your co-workers than you do with your family. Therefore, it becomes extremely important that your interpersonal communication with your co-workers is at its best. Several things that you can do to improve your relationships include:


1. Don’t criticize, condemn, or complain about people – instead ask questions about what and how the person is doing something. Provide a helpful alternative that is a benefit to their performance.

2. Appreciate people – genuinely provide appreciation for the good things that employees or co-workers do. This adage applies to both of these first two points “If you can’t say something nice, don’t saying anything at all.”

3. Solve your own problems by solving other people’s problems – especially in a sales situation; if you ask questions of the person you are interacting with to find out how you may solve their problem, you may in fact end up solving your own. In another way, if a co-worker is not completed with a task that is holding you up from completing your own, you may ask them questions to figure out how what you want might benefit him or her.

4. Be genuinely interested in others – most people’s favorite subject is themselves. Use this to your advantage.

5. Smile – it helps you and everyone around you feel better.

6. Be a good listener – listen more than you speak. It helps you gain insight and build relationships.

7. Make others feel important – Be sincere when you tell others, including your family and friends, that they are important to you.

8. Understand that you really aren’t always right – arguing results in neither person listening to what the other is saying. Remain calm, listen to the other person’s perspective, be tactful, and consider feelings including how you would feel if you were in the other person’s position.

9. Accept responsibility – if you are wrong, made a mistake or misspoke, help rebuild trust and admit to your error.

10. Anger breeds defensiveness – approach a person calmly and ask to discuss a problem amicably. This approach can deter someone from immediately going on the defensive and putting up a wall to communication.

11. Suggest, don’t tell – short of implementing procedures, people react more favorably when given an option to consider than being told how to think or do something.

Now that you have established a great interpersonal relationship, what happens if you do encounter a conflict? This will depend upon the actual relationship between the people in the relationship. Is it a superior/subordinate, co-worker, customer/vendor, union/management sort of relationship? Whatever the case there are a few basic things to consider:

Deal with the issue – things will fester and become worse if an issue is prolonged. By learning how someone gives feedback or deals with feedback, you can sometimes avoid the conflict in the first place.

Listen – feelings aren’t always apparent when someone is in the middle of a conflict. By listening effectively, you may become aware of anger or resentment in the other person. Learning to bridge the gap between the two sides of an issue is accomplished with active listening skills and trying to understand the other person’s perspective. If you do need to express your feelings use the “I feel” statements in a clear non- confrontational manner to avoid inflaming a situation.

Solutions – is there a happy medium that can satisfy both sides of the conflict. Does one person “win” this time and concede an issue the next, or is it a situation where you just must agree to disagree?

Limits – have the limits of the relationship been reached or breached? In some situations, there may come a time when the boundaries established have been exceeded and the conflict causes a relationship to “go their separate ways”. Being able to recognize if a relationship, whether work or personal, is able to overcome a conflict is the key.