Sunday, August 26, 2012

business psychology/ keys to success/ momentum

Jul. 31: I'm nervous about my job interviews, so I'll do something productive to calm my nerves.  I will read job articles.

Business psychology: Alissa Alvarez sent me this article "The Essential Psychology Books for Business Students."  It has all these good books listed.  Here are a few.  I like the positive thinking/ attitude books:

The Winner's Brain: 8 Strategies Great Minds Use to Achieve Success by Jeff Brown, Liz Neporent, and Mark Fenske: "Your brain is more than just another organ in your body, as it controls everything that you do from breathing to complex mathematical calculations. Yet your brain can also hold you back, as these authors demonstrate that a large part of success is really all in your head."

The Happiness Advantage: The Seven Principles of Positive Psychology That Fuel Success and Performance at Work by Shawn Anchor.

Here are a couple of books by 2 people I have seen TED talks from:

Predictable Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions by Dan Ariely.

Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organizations
by Clay Shirky.

Public speaking: Larry Dignan sent me this article "25 Online Tools to Teach Yourself Public Speaking."  I don't really do public speaking at my job, but this could help me prepare me for job interviews.

I like the "inspiration" section with American Rhetoric, TED talks, Rate Speeches where you can listen to good speeches that can inspire you to make a good speech.
http://www.onlinecollegecourses.com/2012/07/15/25-online-tools-to-teach-yourself-public-speaking/

Aug. 3: I did a mild job search today.  I went to the downtown Staples to recycle batteries, highlighters, and pens that don't work.  I went to Art Works and saw a Help Wanted sign. 

Me: Is it for part-time and nights?
Sales woman: It's for full-time and days.

It wasn't a fit for my schedule.  I see that the store Flurries closed down.  It sold bags and boots.  I saw one at Kingsway last month when I was there.

Keys to success: Here's something inspirational "Billionare's 20 Keys to Success."  I saw this on 20/20 months before and wrote about it on my blog.  But here's the list.

http://abcnews.go.com/Business/20-2020-billionaires-20-keys-success/story?id=14821206#.UBxCA6A_LTo

Aug. 7 Consulting: This consulting research has an effect on me.  I saw the promo for the new reality TV show Hotel Hell, where Gordon Ramsay goes to a hotel and observes on how to improve it.  I then thought that he was a consultant.  Well he is, and he's making a TV show out of it.

Job search: There was a job ad for a dental clinic.  It didn't say where, but I applied anyway.  He called and said it was in Fort Saskatchewan, so I turned it down.

College Pro Painters: I went through my blog, and it turns out I haven't wrote about it.  I picked up their brochure from a U of A career fair.  There is also Window Cleaning.  I did a little research on it there's an article: "Is College Pro a Scam?"

Here's an excerpt that explains it well: “'If a job is 30 hours and two painters are working on the job, they’re both paid for 15 hours of work. If they finish the job in 24 hours, they’re still paid for 15 even though they only worked 12,' Gibson says. 

On the flip side, if they work more, they’re still only paid for 15 hours each and that’s where conflicts can crop up. But at no time can a painter be paid less than minimum wage for their hours worked."

It's a franchise, and how it's not a right fit for everybody.  The brochure and article talked about how it does give real life business experience like recruit customers and painters, money management and scheduling.

http://talentegg.ca/incubator/2010/11/30/busting-the-college-pro-painters-is-a-scam-myths-a-former-franchise-manager-shares-his-experience/

Friends: Here's a way to get myself more on track with my job search.  I have a friend who's also looking for an office job, but she has a car and is more mobile than I am.  She's willing to work out of town like Nisku, so I send her those job ads when I come across it.

Retail: Today I finally set up an account at a store online, and applied for a job through there.  I was hesitant because it's like I'm giving up on my office job search.  If I have 2 jobs, then I won't really have as much time to devote to my office job search.  I signed up for a part-time retail job.

I can scale down my hours at my restaurant job if I feel it's too much.  It could be 20hrs at each job, then it would be 40hrs in total.  It's like a have 1 full-time job.  I'm good with time management and still do my job search. 

Flashback:
I guess my other fear is that, I have worked at this store before a few years back.  I was dismissed after a few weeks.  It's the saying "Last one hired, gets fired."  Three people were to be dismissed.  My manager told me that two were dismissed because they each only work one day a week, which is too little.  I was one of three new people who were to be dismissed.  I had a one in three chance, and I was dismissed.

That's fine.  I wasn't really attached to the job, and I did get some warning that there were dismissals in the air so I wasn't surprised.  It was the person above my manager that made the decision.  After that, it did lead me to the Soup place where I have worked there for 2 yrs.

Momentum: After setting up one account and applying to one job, it then helped build momentum to set up an account at another store.  I found this business card I got a few years ago.

I applied to a big retail store at West Ed mall.  I have applied and done interviews at American Eagle Outfitters back in 2006.  At the interview, the guy said it takes 2hrs to close the store.  The store closes at 9pm, and to clean up and put everything back, it will be done by 11pm.  That's too late for me to work.  However, if I get an interview at this other store, it may be different.

Aug. 8 Stores: I got a call back from both of those stores I applied.  I called one and told them about my availability.  I'm kind of interested in working there.  Then I am more interested in the store that I had worked at before.  One energy company called me.  I was looking for the ad when I typed the phone number in, but it wasn't there.

Aug. 9 Non-profit: There are some non-profit positions that pay well.  I found one for E4C and it's a position that needs someone with 2 or 3 yrs experience.  It pays $16/hr and it has benefits.  The one I read was temporary.

Callback: I got a call from that school.  They didn't hire me, but they'll keep my resume.

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