Thursday, June 21, 2012

Pros and Cons of Recruitment Agencies to Businesses

When you're desperate to find the suitable job for you, recruitment agencies can be a great help. Each decision you make for your career has its own set of pros and cons. With several years of experience working with staffing agencies, I have encountered first hand of pros and cons with these agencies and I am certain that this will help you handle any concern that you might have when looking for temporary jobs. Here is a description of the pros and cons to consider when seeking the help of these agencies:
The Pros of Temporary Employment:
The very first benefit of these temporary jobs offered by recruitment agencies is that they provide full range of networking abilities. Every company you will work for offers an excellent chance for you to meet new people, clients or even make new connections. You can meet various people from different sectors in the duration of your work compared to permanent jobs. The second benefit is that you can never find your work boring. The first months of working at a new company can be very exciting because everything is new. The working environment and the scope of your work change frequently and does not become mundane. The third advantage of working as a temporary staff is that you are allowed a shot to work for various companies without long term commitment. If you're not satisfied with a particular temporary job, you can ask a staffing agent to transfer you to another job. IT is easy to change jobs as a temp employee and you are allowed to work where you want to. This is a big factor because you can get to discover which company and the type of job you enjoy for you to find a permanent position in a specific industry. The fourth benefit is that you get to acquire new skills which increases your worth as an employee. There is a dramatic increase in your skills if you get to work several jobs in a short span of time and this can be great for your resume.
The Cons of Temporary Jobs:
The first disadvantage of temporary jobs is that they don't last and there is no real guarantee that you will keep your job for long as a temporary staff. This can be stressful to most people because once your job is done, you don't have any work again. This can be avoided if you ask your staffing agency to find you "temporary to permanent" jobs that will increase your chance of being a part of the company permanently. The second disadvantage is lower pay or compensation. This is the reason why several companies employ temporary staffs because it's less expensive on their bottom line. There are staffing agencies that take a cut of your salary as payment for the services they are providing you. Do not forget to ask the agency about this matter when you use a staffing agency. However, not all recruitment agencies do this. In fact, they offer high compensation based on the type of temp work you're providing. The third disadvantage is the treatment that temporary employees would receive from permanent employees. There are permanent employees who treat temporary staff as unimportant or lower in status. This ostracism can be prevented if you talk to your staffing agent as soon as possible to resolve this conflict. Being a temporary employee does not mean that you deserve to be negatively treated by your permanent co-workers. The last downside of having temporary jobs is the company's reluctance to hire temporary employees permanently. There is the opportunity for you to get hired permanently if you perform your job very well; however, employers are hesitant to hire a temp staff because you are already providing the work needed at a lower cost and they find it expensive if they pay insurance or provide temp benefits. On the other hand, companies who offer temp to permanent employment do not do this.
After reading this, I hope you'll be able to make an informed choice regarding recruitment agencies and ascertain if they can help you with your employment.

Sunday, June 17, 2012

Advantages of Choosing a Career in Law



Choosing a career in law has several advantages. Law is an intellectual stimulus. The lawyer develops the capacity to analyze cases far better than most people can imagine. This requires the individual to have the ability to develop sound arguments and to articulate them in a persuasive and practical manner. A career in law can be exciting and challenging.

Exciting opportunities

Law career offers a wide range of opportunities in different areas of law and in various types of practices. A lawyer or attorney should have a sound knowledge of the law and its legal process. It gives an opportunity to earn handsomely, as well as to start one's own business. But this won't happen at the initial stages. He has to first work with a senior lawyer or firm to get practical experience of working with the system. Practicing law gives an opportunity, to effect important changes in the system and in the client's life. The hours of work put in by members in the legal profession is much more than members of any other profession. Private lawyers work at all hours. Many of them meet clients out of working hours as their clients may be employed. In a law firm, promotions are competitive and based on merit. Associates in law firms bill about 80 to 100 hours per week. It is not a 9 to 5 job, bosses don't ask them to work out of office hours; they are required to do so.

Existing businesses are growing and expanding and new businesses come up each year, opening avenues for making a career in law very possible. Corporate law defines the rules for business corporations. Businesses require corporate lawyers. Corporate lawyers have a strong role to play in a business establishment. Their duty is to advise their corporate clients, draw up business contracts and argue cases in court especially when parties are involved in foul play.

Social aspects

Lawyers are treated with respect and deference after all they know the laws of the country and they deserve it. Dressed elegantly and smart, they ooze confidence. However, there is another side to the social aspect of a career in law. The legal system requires very intricate and highly specialized skills. But the one sad aspect in choosing a lawyer job, especially criminal law, is losing faith in mankind. You will experience real life situations on a daily basis and encounter disheartening examples of human depravity. Betrayal, fraud, back-stabbing and callousness make people hate lawyers and can be extremely difficult to cope with.


Saturday, June 16, 2012

For a Successful Career in Law



A career in law has become one of the most desirable jobs. It is one of the most prestigious as well as lucrative jobs available these days. This has attracted a number of people to take up a career in law. But the fact is that those who come forward to begin a career in this field often turns out to be ignorant about a lot of facts related to the job. Most of the people realize their faults after they start attending the law school or once they start building up a career. So, it is mandatory to know about this field before you prepare to attend the law school.

It is necessary to have a strong educational background that leads you to taking up a career in this field. It's not just about attending a law school. To begin with you should pursue an undergraduate degree in a field that helps you better while at a law school. Accounting, engineering, business as well as health care are good options but those subjects that might help you better would be psychology, social work and social sciences. Along with this you will have to develop your communication skills as well. Your speaking, listening, writing skills as well as vocabulary should be above average. Only a person who can express the thoughts concisely, articulately as well as effectively can draw success in this field.

Anyway to help you with these many institutions take up pre-law courses. Here you will get trained to develop your skills. They will also help you in choosing the related field in which you may like to pursue the law degree. There are many branches in which you can pursue your degree at a law college. These include civil law, criminal law, corporate law, family law, labor or employment law, international law etc. Most of the people find it difficult to make the right choice. A pre-law course will definitely groom you into this field and will direct you towards the right degree considering your interests and demands.

Once you are sure that you have done the right thing by choosing a career in law, then you can go forward and look for different law schools. Law school catalogues as well as reference books will help you through the decision making process. It would be really difficult to get into top rated law schools. It involves a lot of preparation. But once you get into an excellent school you will be able to build up a successful career in the field with ease.


Friday, June 15, 2012

Electrical Apprenticeship - Succeeding In Your Electrician Apprenticeship Interview



The electrical apprenticeship interview can be scary, yet the good news is that you have pretty much gotten over the biggest obstacle, which is to have gotten picked for an interview to start with! By following a handful of easy preparatory steps, you will be all set to ace your interview before you know it.

Generally, your interview will be done by a committee of representatives from the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and also the National Electrical Contractors Association. They will be extremely seasoned electricians, and their function is to look for the top candidates for the electrician apprenticeships you're interviewing for. Interviews normally last 10-15 minutes, so do not be anxious in case the entire thing seems to end really quickly.

Forming A Great First Impression

Almost all of the time, electrical apprenticeship candidates destroy their odds of getting it even prior to opening their mouth in their interview. To make sure that you make a solid first impression, it's essential to look presentable and wear appropriate clothes for the interview.

It's a good idea to depart the house ahead of time so that you are going to have enough time to navigate traffic and cope with any unplanned situations. You do not want to be late for the interview, as this is going to essentially ruin your chances of getting the apprenticeship. Most importantly, smile at the interviewers as you go into the room.

Popular Electrical Apprenticeship Interview Queries

The specific electrician apprenticeship interview queries are a closely preserved secret, but below are some likely questions from individuals who have been subject to the procedure on their own:

1. Describe yourself
2. Why do you intend to become an electrician?
3. What kind of employment experience do you have?
4. Why should we choose you as opposed to another prospect?
5. What are your hobbies?

As you prepare your responses for the queries, remember that your goal is to prove that you will be a great electrician. For that reason, if you are questioned with regards to you and your previous work, point out your characteristics and experiences that are linked to problem solving skills, creative reasoning skills, communication skills and fine motor skills.

Above all, be optimistic and have faith in yourself. Don't worry if you don't know a lot with regards to electric principles or the many trade best practices, since it is not something you are expected to understand at any rate! The crucial characteristics that the panel members would like to observe are that you're focused on becoming an electrician, that you have the critical capabilities to succeed and that you will be willing to get your head down and be trained. When you demonstrate these qualities to the board, then the placement is pretty much yours.

Thursday, June 7, 2012

Effective Communication Is Essential for a Project Management Professional



A certified project management professional, or PMP, is trained in all aspects of completing a task on-time, and on-budget. Sometimes, a manager is charged with overseeing multiple projects, and becomes a manger of managers. The same skills are still needed, but there is an elevated need for communication, both incoming and outgoing, to stay successful at this level.

Incoming communication can best be summed up as reporting. The lead manager must be able to gather information from each job to stay aware of their progress. Further, the professional overseeing all the projects must know the capabilities of each of the other managers, because each will have their own strengths and weaknesses.

Reports are a summary of feedback. The feedback can be technical data, or it can involve interaction with personnel. Technical data is sometimes easier to set up and track. This is usually accomplished with machinery or software. The desired data can be gathered and reported on in a variety of different forms. Usually some kind of visual data is preferred, which is backed up with actual numeric data.

Getting feedback from people can be very valuable, but somewhat more difficult to obtain. Regular meetings are one means of getting this type of feedback.
Electronic devices can also assist in getting communication. Although the feedback is immediate, it can be difficult to capture this type of data and record it. It is only as useful as the person's memory, at that point. Written communication should therefore be preferred, and a plan be put in place for correspondence to be done in this manner. Emails, text messaging, and instant messaging are examples of immediate, written forms of communication.

Outgoing communication originates from the lead manager, and is used as a management tool to achieve the on-time and on-budget goal. Effective outgoing communication should be written whenever possible for the same reasons as the incoming communications. A record of communication can be crucial when problems arise. They can serve as a means of solving the problem, and as a means of preventing future issues from occurring.

Setting benchmarks and measuring achievement toward those standards are important pieces of content to include in outgoing communication. Problem solving and conflict resolution are other important tasks the lead person must be good at. Each project starts off with a certain amount of identifiable unknown events. During the course of each project, an unknown amount of unknown events will also occur. The latter fact is treated as known quantity, and can be planned for by an experienced professional.

One of the most important tasks of a project management professional is communication.


Saturday, June 2, 2012

Electrical License Requirements - AL Electrician Certification Prerequisites

To acquire your Alabama electrician permit and become a journeyman electrician in the state, you must satisfy a number of requirements:
1. Have four years of work experience
2. Send in the electrical accreditation form
3. Take and successfully pass the electrical certification examination
Obtaining the mandatory experience is not a challenge, and may be carried out with any number of apprenticeship programs. It is important to be aware that the AECB will offer you credit for the electrical certifications that you have from any trade college or tertiary level training course.
For one year of instruction you've gotten from an electrician program, you can attain credit for one thousand hours of work experience up to a maximum of 2,000 hours. Simply put, it is possible to do away with one year off the on-the-job experience criteria in the event that you've finished an electrician training course which lasted two years or more.
Doing The Alabama Electrician Certificate Assessment
If you want to undergo the journeyman accreditation examination, you need to complete the electrical certification application which can be found on the Alabama Electrical Contractors Board site. You are going to be required to include a Work Affidavit together with your application as confirmation of your on-the-job experience. Needless to say, you cannot sign your own Work Affidavit.
Here are the individuals who are able to fill in your Work Affidavit:
- HR Department
- CEO
- Qualified Electrician Contractor
- Electrical Engineer
The moment you've done the application and also the Work Affidavit, you can mail them in along with a check or money order for $115.00 to the Alabama Electrical Contractors Board (AECB). You will need to submit the application prior to the due date in the quarter which you will be wanting to take the examination in. Once your application is okayed, you are going to be sent an authorization letter informing you the instructions to set up the certification test.
You will have just ninety days from the day you acquire the notification to schedule your exam, which is why it is really vital for you to be all set for the examination before you submit the application. In the event that you fail to schedule your test during the 90 day interval, then you are going to be required to fill out a "re-take form" and pay out a further fee to receive a new authorization notice.
The Alabama electrical certification test is based around the 2011 NEC and also the relevant local and state codes. The examination has 110 questions and it's five hours long, and you'll need to achieve no less than 75% on your exam to pass.

Friday, June 1, 2012

Are Employment Agencies Helpful?



Employment agencies are organizations that match job seekers with employers. They can be both public and private. The public agencies are usually funded by some level of the government, while private employment agencies are owned by individuals or corporations.

Formation of public employment agencies dates as far back as 1650, when an "Office of Addresses and Encounters" that would link employers to workers was proposed by British Parliamentarian, Henry Robinson. He actually went on to form his own company when his proposal was rejected.

In 1902 after the establishment of Labour Act, the government oversaw the formation of the first agency in London. The program was then expanded across the nation, with the Labour Exchanges Act, enacted by the Liberals in 1909. Public agencies now exist in all developed countries to assist people in finding employment.

Employment agencies can be temporary as well as permanent. The nomenclature can be semantic, and can lead to be misleading. The agencies themselves may not be temporary, but the jobs that they provide may be temporary, where employers need workers for short term work, such as in contract employment for secretarial, bookkeeping or accounting work, or even in technical areas such as Information Technology. This is also common in many short-lived projects.

Agencies may also focus in specific areas, and provide specific services. The decision to use an employment agency in your job search is a wise one, but with the variety that exists, it is even more important to choose the right one. Important questions are should you use a public or a private agency, or should you pay for assistance in your job search. The answers depend on the type and level of service that you need.

If you are using all free or unpaid services, it may be to your advantage, to have as many agencies as possible working for you, but the process should be carefully handled to avoid conflicts. There appears to be mutual benefits to all involved in the agency area.

Employers constantly complain of the difficulties involved in finding suitable employee. Depending on the level of employment, the process can be exhaustive and at times expensive, especially for companies that may be strapped for cash. Job-seekers, may also realize that finding a job, can even be a full-time job that does not yet offer any reward, until your are employed. The employment agency is intermediary that can bring both together, to alleviate much of the pain involved in the search process.

If your business does not have a human resources department, as is the case with smaller businesses, the job of effectively filling a vacant position, can be handled by the agency. It is estimated that filling a vacant position can take up to 45 days, and cost up to 25% of the salary of the position. So paying for the assistance can be seen as money well-spent.