We don’t yet have enough data know how wide the chasm is now or could become, but the early statistics are startling. At the University of Michigan, 39% of faculty and 35% of staff will be eligible to retire within five years. More broadly, a GE study found that 22% of the workforce is now over 55.

A more diverse factory floor presents new challenges for motivating and managing workers of differing age groups. Here are five ideas for how and when to engage them:

1. Millennials. While there’s no specific birthday range for those who identify as Millennial, otherwise known as “Generation Y,” most accept that this group is typically not far removed from college, still in their twenties or early 30s, and hungering for experience andrecognition. These workers are more likely to take to social networks, and as a result, they crave public accolades for a job well done – both in person and via technology networks. Engage early and often.
2. Gen X. These middle-aged workers were born during the 20 years that stretched from the early 1960s to the early 1980s. They share an affinity for technology with Millennials, some of who may be their children, but that doesn’t mean they crave more recent big ideas such as social media. They’re also used to sharing the burden of making ends meet with a spouse and may prize a balanced lifestyle as a result. Consider using time off and flexible work arrangements as motivators.
3. Baby Boomers. Traditionally known as those born in the aftermath of World War II, most Boomers are either approaching retirement or already retired. They face the prospect of leaving the workforce at a troubled economic time and with less saved than only a few years ago. Consider one-time bonuses for outstanding achievements in production or leadership. Create incentives for these workers to help train younger peers who will one day have to replace them.

Mature Workers. Those either about to retire or working past the traditional retirement age have varied reasons for doing so. For some, income is a priority. For others, the prospect of not working is simply too scary. Get to know these workers individually and customize your rewards program accordingly. Assume nothing.

Requirements to Become a High School Guidance Counselor

High school guidance counselors help students assess their skills and interests as well as helping them develop academic and career goals. These professionals typically evaluate students through counseling sessions, interviews, and aptitude tests. Counselors may also help students with social and behavioral problems.

A master’s degree and a state-issued credential are required to become a high school guidance counselor. The following table outlines common requirements to become a high school guidance counselor as reported by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS):

Step 1: Earn a Bachelor’s Degree

At the undergraduate level, aspiring high school guidance counselors typically earn 4-year degrees in psychology, counseling, or education. Foundational courses in these programs cover topics in child and adolescent development, cognitive psychology, and personality theory. Programs may also include studies of psychological testing and the statistical methods used in research.

As students advance in their respective majors, they take specialized courses. For example, while psychology students may take classes in abnormal psychology, education majors may learn more about curriculum development.

Success Tip

• Take liberal arts and communications classes. Since communication is an essential part of a high school guidance counselor’s job, aspiring counselors can benefit from taking elective courses in liberal arts and communications to improve their communication skills.

Step 2: Complete a Master’s Degree Program

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), a master’s degree is the typical education requirement to become a high school guidance counselor. Students can choose from master’s degree programs in secondary school counseling or in education. Such programs focus on developing the skills and techniques needed to help young adults identify the source of their problems and find a coping mechanism. Courses may cover topics ranging from family therapy to cultural diversity.

Success Tip

• Complete an internship. An internship can help an aspiring counselor log required practicum hours for credentialing and earn first-hand experience working with students in a school counseling setting. An internship may even be required, depending on the school or the program.

Step 3: Acquire a School Counseling Credential

Many states require high school guidance counselors to obtain school counseling credentialing, which may be referred to as a license, certification, or endorsement. While the requirements for credentialing vary, most states require applicants to hold master’s degrees, complete an internship, and pass a state exam.

Step 4: Obtain a Teaching License

Some states require counselors to earn teaching credentials to work in school settings. In some such states, this may entail completion of a teacher education program, teacher certification through an alternative program or several years of teaching experience. The American School Counselor Association provides counselors with professional development resources, including a list of state-specific licensure requirements.

Step 5: Continue Education

High school guidance counselors may be required to renew credentialing regularly by earning continuing education credits. Continuing education can also help a high school guidance counselor stay current on industry trends and advances in counseling methods. A guidance counselor can complete their continuing education training through classes, workshops, seminars, and online coursework.

Success Tips

• Join a professional organization. Joining a professional organization, such as the American School Counselors Association (ASCA), can provide guidance counselors with access to a number of continuing education resources.

Consider earning professional certification. High school guidance counselors may benefit from earning professional certification through the National Board for Certified Counselors (NBCC). The NBCC awards the National Certified Counselor (NCC) designation to qualified candidates who pass a certification examination. Select states accept NCC certification in lieu of passage of a state licensing exam. To qualify for NCC certification, applicants must have master’s degrees as well as 100 hours of supervision and 3,000 hours of counseling experience within two years of graduating.

WHERE THE JOBS ARE

Want to optimize your chances of getting a good job? Get into health care, science or management – and then move West, where unemployment rates are lowest. Research data looking at future job needs consistently point to labour shortages in health- and science-related fields, as well as mining and engineering. Most of the highest-demand job areas require university degrees or intensive training, raising doubts about the emphasis policy makers are placing on more basic trades training. Health-care jobs are expected to remain strong due to an aging population, while managers in industries such as science and health will be in demand because large numbers of people in those job categories are expected to retire in the next decade.

Health care

• Physicians, dentists and veterinarians
• Optometrists, chiropractors and other health diagnosing and treating professionals
• Pharmacists, dietitians and nutritionists
• Nurse supervisors and registered nurses
• Technical and related occupations in health
• Psychologists, social workers, counsellors, clergy and probation officers

Management

• Managers in engineering, architecture, science and info systems
• Managers in health, education, social and community services
• Managers in construction and transportation

Business

• Auditors, accountants and investment professionals
• Human resources and business service professionals

Science

• Professional occupations in natural, applied, physical and life sciences
• Civil, mechanical, electrical, chemical and other engineers

Natural resources

• Supervisors in mining, oil and gas
• Underground miners, oil and gas drillers and related workers

WHERE THE JOBS AREN’T

At the opposite extreme, traditional jobs like butchers and bakers, as well as occupations in manufacturing, fishing and forestry, have far higher unemployment rates. A 10-year job projection in 2011 by Human Resources and Skills Development Canada concluded occupations expected to have a “labour surplus” in 2020 are mainly lower-skilled occupations that do not require a college or university degree. Many are linked to the processing, manufacturing and utilities sectors, where “expansion demand” is not projected to be strong. Others on the 10-year list are sectors where there is an excess supply of workers, or involve jobs such as computer professionals where workers are younger on average and there is not expected to be a high retirement rate by 2020.

• Managers in manufacturing and utilities
• Clerical supervisors, workers, general office skills, office equipment operators
• Finance and insurance clerks
• Mail and message distribution occupations
• Secondary and elementary teachers and counsellors
• Sales and service supervisors
• Cashiers
• Occupations in food and beverage services
• Tour and recreational guides, amusement occupations, attendants in travel, accommodation and recreation
• Technical and other occupations in personal service
• Butchers and bakers
• Upholsterers, tailors, shoe repairers, jewellers and related occupations
• Fishing vessel masters and skippers and fishermen/women
• Machine operators and related workers in metal and minerals
• Products processing, machine operators and related workers in pulp and paper production and wood processing

Source: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/economy/jobs/the-job-landscape-where-workers-are-needed-and-where-they-arent/article10111532/

 

1. Accept Responsibility

Your next great job begins with you. No economy, political party, or corporate entity can be responsible for your success.

2. Know Yourself

Knowing yourself is the first step to creating a career that will meet your goals in life.

3. Find a Mentor

If branching out into something new, find a mentor. Get some experience working or volunteering with them and get acquainted with an industry you’ve always been intrigued by through getting to know influential people in that field. However, be careful to make the relationship mutual. Respect their time and try to take their advice more often than not. A great mentor will be a person with a long track record of proven success in their industry.

3. Own a Niche

In an increasingly specialized society, consider your greatest strengths in your field and become the expert. Instead of trying to be a generalist, develop skills in your niche and actively market your expertise. Consider starting a blog where you routinely give advice and engage with other thought leaders in your field. Develop a class or skills training session that you can teach, and market that to industries and groups that could benefit from your talents and become clients. Many full time jobs come from consultant relationships that lead to long-term work.

4. Brand Yourself

You are your number one product! You must brand yourself digitally so people can find you and know who you are. Capitalize on networking sites like LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and Aboutme.com.

Consider investing in a website and blog for yourself – in your name – so that prospective clients can easily find you.

Also, do some online house cleaning. Prospective employers today will look at Facebook and other on-line locations to better know the people they may hire. View these online social media accounts and your blog as an extension of your resume. In fact, most potential employers will see this before they ever see a resume since you are most likely to be hired by friends and your network contacts. Does your online profile make you look like an executive or a college party animal?

5. Network Daily

Join local business networks. Get involved in your community by volunteering with non-profits. Network with your temporary employment agency that can actively work with you to find job openings.

View networking as a full time job and do something everyday that helps you build and maintain your network. In fact, never eat alone; make every lunch and dinner count. An unlisted job market exists as business leaders stay on the look out for available and talented people.

6. Join the Free Agent Economy

Part-time employment and flexible arrangements are, in fact, becoming the norm as the American job market is transitioning to a Free Agent Economy, in which part-time, flexible and often short-term opportunities provide long-term income.

7. Be Persistent

Finding a great career may take some time. On average, for every $10,000 you’re trying to make in salary, it takes a month of searching. So consider the job you want and do the math. But don’t stop your job hunt with a mailed cover letter and resume. Take your prospective boss to lunch. Attend company events. Creatively pursue opportunities to meet the decision makers. Consider asking for an interview even if the company isn’t hiring just yet, anything to start a conversation about how you can help them meet their company goals in the New Year.

1. Get involved in campus activities as soon as possible.

When you get on campus at the beginning of a school year, you will usually find some big event in which almost all of the campus clubs and organizations set up booths to recruit new members. Definitely go to these and see what is out there and what attracts your interest. If you think you might be interested in a communications career, for example, you could work for the campus newspaper or radio station, or join the student chapter of the Public Relations Society of America,

2. Take advantage of your school’s career center.

Career centers are an amazing resource that some students don’t ever use. A recent study showed that students who use the services of a university’s career center are three times as likely to land a job after they graduate. Career centers don’t just help set you up for job interviews or list current Job openings. As Lonnie Dunlap pointed out, they can also help you figure out what you want to do with your life. Through various assessments, students can help themselves identify their interests and skills and what types of jobs would match up with them.

3. Get to know your professors.

Professors do more than just teach. They do research. Many are also still doing professional work outside the university and belong to industry associations. And, most schools encourage professors to make time available to meet with students individually. Professors can give you great advice and guidance, and often even contacts, to help you figure out what career you want to pursue.

4. Seek out internships.

Most schools reserve formal internships that count towards academic credit for juniors and seniors, but that doesn’t mean you can’t still look for a volunteer position in an industry that may be of interest to you. If you think you might be interested in a career in education, see if a nearby local school district has any volunteer programs to help out students.

5. Keep an open mind.

This may sound a bit contradictory, but you don’t have to start your college career knowing exactly what you want to do with the rest of your life. Explore lots of options. Take some courses that may seem completely out of left field for you. Try something you have never done before.

I had one student who knew she wanted to work in television. But, while spending a summer in Spain taking an intensive Spanish language course, she wound up teaching students English during her summer there, and discovered she loved teaching. When she came back to school, she changed her major from broadcast journalism to education.

The key to all of this is to take advantage of all the resources your university provides to you, and to explore as much as possible. Every single career advisor I talked to told me that it is O.K. if you don’t know what your major is going to be right from the start. The important thing is to get to know yourself and what truly interests you. Hey, that’s what college is all about.

(http://jobs.aol.com)

1. Pay Attention in Class

Treat every workday like a school day. Be sure you learn something and use it to make yourself more productive. It doesn’t have to relate to your skills set. It may be as simple as understanding how to work with specific peers or emotional intelligence. Take mental notes. Don’t sleepwalk through the day.

2. Look for the Next Rung

You need to excel at your job. This is how you gain credibility. But understanding your next step is key to career happiness. Career pathing is critical to remaining engaged on the job. Schedule discussions with your manager to get clarity on the next challenge. If you don’t get it on your team or in your company, it may be time to look elsewhere.

3. Understand Company Goals

Make sure you understand how your job contributes to your company’s business objectives. Are you in a revenue generating role? A brand-awareness role? Is your mission to delight the customer? Knowing how your job fits into the big picture will give you inspiration and a sense of accomplishment — and will help you understand your job’s impact.

4. Be Ethical

Bring integrity to your job. Whether you’re running the company or cleaning its bathrooms, be honest in all you do. Don’t call in sick just to get a day off — that’s stealing. Put in an honest day’s work. Be accountable. If you’re working remotely, be sure you are. Do what you say you’re going to do. Honesty and reliability mean a lot to your manager.

5. Stay Fit

OK, this was probably on your last New Year’s resolutions list, but that’s because it’s so important. Try to break a sweat for 20 minutes, three days a week. Go for a walk at lunch. Join a gym. Lift weights. A healthy body makes a healthy mind. Exercising increases blood flow to the brain and gives you ideas. You’ll be more productive at work, and best of all, you’ll feel better.

6. Stretch Your Role

Occasionally think how you can go above and beyond. Are there projects outside your defined role you could help with? Be proactive; ask to join. Come up with your own ideas, and work with your manager to implement them. If you’re a hamster, step off the wheel and poke your head out of the cage. Stretch a little. This won’t go unnoticed.

7. Manage Up

Make sure you and your manager are in firm agreement on what you’re doing. Be proactive and get on his calendar to ensure you’re meeting or exceeding expectations. Don’t assume he’s paying close attention. There are bad managers. If there’s a disconnect between what you’re doing and what your manager wants, you’re partly to blame. Don’t wait until review time.

8. Manage Across

Even if you work primarily alone, be sure to make time to understand your peers’ roles and how they go about their jobs. Show an interest. Don’t just choose a few friends and become part of a clique. High school is over. You never know when you may need people — or be reporting to them.

9. Communicate

Don’t leave people waiting for answers. If you’re in an e-mail environment, return e-mails promptly. Let people know what you’re doing. If you’re working on a project, always ask yourself who needs to know about it, then tell them. Talk to people; give them a heads up. And when someone helps you out, be sure to thank him. It’s amazing this even needs to be on a list, but bad communicators abound. Don’t be one of them.

10. Make Time for Play

Have fun. Work hard, but smile while you’re doing it. No one likes a grump. Approach each day with a positive spirit and stay loose. Enjoy your family and friends as well. Make time for them — and you. It’s called work/life balance. All work and no play makes life a chore.

Source: www. monster.com

• Plan a day for Christmas shopping!

  We’re all guilty of it: popping out to town to do some Christmas shopping over an extended lunch break, or hopping online in the afternoon to do that last bit of shopping. Don’t attract negative attention from bosses and colleagues alike; nothing goes unnoticed!
  Instead, book a day, an evening or a weekend in your diary and give yourself a set time to get that shopping done meaning you can focus on work in work, and shopping whilst shopping! Crossing the two is too stressful.

• Careful what you drink…it affects what you say!!

  Of course, after a hard year’s work, you feel you deserve to go out and celebrate with your colleagues at the Christmas party. You do! But, just be careful because we all know how much more vocal we become after a bottle or two.
  So, if you go out to celebrate with your team, alternate between an alcoholic drink and a non-alcoholic drink and make sure you get something to eat! Words spoken out of turn will last long into the New Year. Remember, nothing goes unnoticed!

• Get your work done!

  At Christmas time everyone tends to wind down and prepare for the long overdue Christmas break. Don’t be the person who misses those final deadlines and leaves a pile of work for the New Year!
  Instead, focus on the fact that Christmas is just around the corner and use that as an incentive to complete your work and clear the decks! Again, nothing goes unnoticed!

• Set goals for the New Year:

  Sometimes Christmas can make us lose site of our longer term goals. Spending a few weeks off with family or worrying about everything you need to do at home this Christmas can take a lot of your focus, and your drive. Don’t let your career go unnoticed!
  So, counteract this by writing your career resolution now. Start by highlighting your key successes from 2012 and then think about what you want to have achieved by this time next year. Then, store it in your draw and be sure to read it in the New Year. Just don’t write “get new job” in bright red pen!

• Stay pro!

  Of course, Christmas is a time to be jolly and have a little fun but don’t be the Christmas clown this year. Wearing too much tinsel into work, drawing holly and ivy on your reports or coming in late and hung over will bring negative attention.

  Instead, keep it simple with Christmas cards and Christmas treats towards the end of the week / month and do what is needed to bring positive attention to put you in good stead for the New Year. Did we mention that nothing goes unnoticed?!

Interview DOs:

• DO take out your pad of paper and pen so you can take notes.
• DO be friendly. Give a firm handshake, make eye contact, smile and speak up. Try breaking the ice by engaging in small talk. For example, comment on the nice surroundings or a book you notice on the hiring manager’s shelf.
• DO tell yourself you deserve the job. (That doesn’t mean they owe it to you. You must convince them.)
• DO use the interview to describe your strengths and how they align with the requirements of the position.
• DO be prepared to talk about your professional goals.
• DO be enthusiastic, courteous and alert throughout the entire interview.
• DO sit calmly. If you tend to gesture a lot when you talk, try clasping your hands in your lap.
• DO ask for a business card so that you can send him or her a short and prompt thank-you note.

Interview DON’Ts:

• DON’T bring a friend or child along.
• DON’T be insincere. Fake flattery shows.
• DON’T wear flashy jewelry (keep it simple and small) or a facial piercing.
• DON’T speak negatively about former employers or colleagues. Focus on the positive aspects of your work history.
• DON’T start with questions about your salary or time off. These questions are only appropriate if you have been offered the position or the interviewer expresses serious interest in hiring you.
• DON’T be afraid to express your interest in the position. It’s okay to say, “I want this job. I know I could make a real contribution to the company.”
• DON’T slump, yawn or chew your nails or gum during the interview.
• DON’T panic if you make a mistake, trip over your words or even knock something over. Show how cool you are under pressure.

Women’s Interview Attire

• Solid color, conservative suit
• Coordinated blouse
• Moderate shoes
• Limited jewelry
• Neat, professional hairstyle
• Tan or light hosiery
• Sparse make-up & perfume
• Manicured nails
• Portfolio or briefcase

Men’s Interview Attire

• Solid color, conservative suit
• White long sleeve shirt
• Conservative tie
• Dark socks, professional shoes
• Very limited jewelry
• Neat, professional hairstyle
• Go easy on the aftershave
• Neatly trimmed nails
• Portfolio or briefcase

Rogers TV, Cable 10 received the Ted Rogers Innovation Award for its live gavel to gavel coverage of The Mississauga Judicial Inquiry and the award for Best Mini-Program for Remembrance Day, which highlighted war veterans living in our community, young and old.

“It’s a great honour for our station to be recognized,” says Station Manager, Jake Dheer.  “It’s truly a testament to our hardworking team who continue to produce excellent community-driven programming.”

The Impression Awards are annual honours handed out by Rogers TV for the past 13 years and recognizes the very best in local programming and community commitment from across the country.

The Ted Rogers Innovation Award recognizes exceptional innovation by honouring a community event, local channel, sponsored project, internal process, fundraiser or a community initiative where a new innovative approach was taken.  Rogers TV in Mississauga served Rogers Cable customers by providing live gavel to gavel coverage of the entire Inquiry proceedings, ensured multiple camera coverage in the court room in the least obtrusive manner, streamed and archived the proceedings on the website and was the lead broadcaster which provided media pool feeds.

Rogers TV is a unique TV channel where community members take an active role in conceptualizing and producing programming for local audiences. Our staff and volunteers produce informative and entertaining local programming, reinforcing Rogers’ commitment to the communities we serve. Rogers Communications is Canada’s largest provider of wireless voice and data communications services and one of Canada’s leading providers of cable television, high-speed Internet and telephony services. Rogers TV is only available to Rogers’ customers, including the company’s 2.3 million cable customers in Ontario, New Brunswick and Newfoundland.

1. Take a day off

I know it sounds strange to tell you to take a day off when you are trying to do it all. But, a tired body lead by an exhausted mind cannot be effective and productive. So, take a day off, by yourself if at all possible, to just recover and renew. Go shopping, stay in bed late, take a long hot bath. Whatever it takes (within reason) for you to feel like your batteries have been recharged, that’s what you should do on that day. Nothing more, nothing less. Put away the books, and the mop and broom. Simply take time for yourself! You’ll be much more prodictive when you do get back to work!

1. Retreat to set objectives and goals

You can schedule this as part of your day off, or simply take some time out by yourself after everyone goes to bed. Sit down with a piece of paper and write down what you see your life looking like in a year. Then, write down what would need to happen between now nad the end of that 12 month period in order for that to be a reality. Break that even further into specific actions that would need to be taken in order for those things to fall into place. Write that down. Now you have a list of goals (what you want to accomplish) and objectives (tangible, measurable things you can do to get closer to your goals)

1. Make a weekly and daily schedule

Using your list of goals and objectives, create realistic, stress on realistic activities you need to complete on a weekly and daily basis in order to complete your objectives and goals. Give those activities a day and time. This is you new schedule. Post it where EVERYONE in the family can see it. Make sure to include things for all the members of the family to do. Before creating your first schedule, sit everyone down and explain that mom needs help, and that the best way they can help you is by following the schedule and doing their share. Make sure you do the same!

1. Create a routine

It is a lot easier to get things done when you don’t have to stop every five minutes to think about what your next step is going to be. The worst enemy of productivity is distraction, and not having a routine in place will cause you to wonder around in circles and fall prey to every distraction imaginable. Routines can be hard to establish (it takes seven times doing the same thing over and over to establish it as a routine or habit), but they will become your best friend in the end.

1. Prioritize, the right way

First of all, this is the time to remind you that you are NOT Wonder Woman. You cannot do it all. So, every morning, make it part of your routine to take fifteen minutes to “purge” your to-do list. First, decide which things you can delegate to others, like picking up the dry cleaning or buying milk. Cross those off, but make sure you tell the other person you need them to take care of that task. Then, out of what’s left, what can realistically be moved to a later date without causing greater damage or stress? Take your planner and schedule a new date of completion for those tasks. Be careful not to move an item more than twice. This is NOT an excuse to procrastinate! Out of what’s left, is there anything that can honestly be just tossed and never done? Do yourself a favor, and let them go. Whatever is left, organize into priorities. Focus on the top three to five. That is your to-do list. Do one at a time. NEVER try to multitask, you will just get confused and flustered. If time allows you to comfortably add one more task at the end of the day, do it! It will make you feel great!

1. Visualize the end result

Before going to bed at night, take a minute to congratulate yourself for all you have accomplished. You deserve to know how outstanding you really are! Then, take another five minutes to visualize what you are working towards. Picture the way your lifeyou’re your family’s life will look like at the end of this process. See it all so clearly you could paint a picture of it! Sigh deeply and believe it! You CAN and you WILL do this, and will be a better person for it.

Balancing time between career and family and graduate school is no easy task, but it is doable. I was working three jobs and managing a family when I went to grad school. I survived, and so will you. Keep on going, and believe in yourself! You are doing Great!

Author: Marcy Amaro