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Career Change - Warning Christmas Party Could Mean Job Loss!

On 1 October 2005 the Employment Equality (Sex Discrimination) Regulations came into force. Under the new regulations, anything done by an employee in the course of employment is treated as if done by the employer, whether or not the employee does it with the employer’s knowledge or approval.

You must recognise that in the course of employment can apply to events organised by the Company that take place outside of normal working hours including Christmas parties or team-nights out.

Comments made at a Christmas party may be intended as good-natured banter but could be interpreted as offensive by an individual, resulting in a sexual harrassment claim. In one case, a Senior City lawyer admitted mentioning in public that a 29-year-old female solicitor had a “great cleavage” and “great baps”.

The comments were made at an office Christmas party and a claim for sexual harassment went to tribunal. The case was settled out of court for £1 million.

The employer will not be liable if they can show that reasonable practical steps were taken to prevent the harassment from taking place.

No reasonable practical steps are suggested - but limiting intake to one alchopop, doling out 'company' burkas playing - Who wants to be a millionaire? ' DVD-game and continuous chaperoning, spring to mind.

Career Change - Chinese Workers in Longbridge - Birmingham UK Receive A Pound a Day and Eighty Cigarettes!

Rover - Finar Frontier

Down the local, the 'word on the grapevine' is that the Chinese have hidden 500 imported 'slave' workers in the refurbished hospitality suite at the Royal Showgrounds at Stoneleigh, near Coventry, Warwickshire.  They are bussed in every day to Longbridge, Birmingham to work in stripping-out the old MG Rover plant and in addition to the £1 a day they earn they receive 80 cigarettes each!

Is this the deal our government has done? Isn't it enough that the Chinese have the most sophisticated internet censorship in the world and that this is facilitated by the commercial acceptance of restrictions by big search engines like Yahoo? If I have words like 'freedom of speech' and 'human rights' and'democracy' in this article then a Chinese surfer will probably receive an error message announcing "This item contains forbidden speech."

As Brad Adams said yesterday in the Independent "When companies like Yahoo, Microsoft and Google decide to put profits from their Chinese operations over the free exchange of information, they are helping to kill that dream."

If the rumours are true (and I have it on good authority) - it looks like our government have allowed Nanjing Motor Car Company the work 'permits' to import the slaves of a repressive regime literally at our expense! Please someone tell me it isn't true!

Career Change - Be Loyal and Resign?

Another employee of IBM has written to explain why Gaurav Sabnis has resigned, he did it out of loyalty.

It seems he was critical of the Institute of Planning & Management and the Dean of which, threatened Gaurav's employer - IBM (Lenovo) with a student protest where IBM Thinkpads would be burnt in front of the IBM offices in Delhi.

Gaurav wrote "The second thing dear to me is IBM's well-being. IBM has been a good employer to me. I have no complaints about them. Even in light of these events, they did not pressurise me to go against my principles and hush the matter up. Yet, IBM was being dragged into this unnecessarily. It was being made a target of bizarre pressure tactics. If even one Thinkpad laptop was actually burnt, it would cause a lot of bad press and nuisance for IBM. So I did not want IBM's well-being to be compromised in any way."

I guess I think that IBM should not have accepted his resignation. Instead, perhaps they should have burnt some Thinkpads outside their offices as a tribute to Gaurav - Well maybe just one!

Career Change - How Much Work Stress Can You Handle?

How many times have you heard this rationale from a colleague: 'You need a certain amount of stress to be able to operate effectively!'?'

If this statement cause a sharp intake of breath and makes you want to 'bare your teeth' then it is probably because when YOU use the words "I am stressed'' it is because YOU ARE STRESSED!

If your listener is not convinced, then agree with the following questions on a 1-5 scale (5 is high) and then SHOW them to your colleague.

1) Conditions at work often unpleasant
2) You feel that your job is making you emotionally or physically sick
3) I have too much work or too many unreasonable deadlines.
4) I cannot express my opinions or feelings about my job to my boss.
5) My work interferes with my family or personal life.
6) I don't have control over my life at work.
7) I am not given recognition and rewards for my good performance.
8) I do not use my talents to the fullest extent at work.

Your Results:

1 - 11 Stressless: Bordering on the horizontal - you may have difficulty understanding the nuances of events surrounding you - as if you cared.

12 - 19 Mild Stress: You are truly relaxed at work and may have to be asked to 'Shift your butt!'

20 to 25 Moderate Stress: You are coping with life at work. You would agree with your colleague in saying that 'Some stress is good for you'.

26 to 30 Severe Stress: You may still be coping, but life at work can sometimes be miserable. You might benefit from counseling.

31 to 40 Potentially dangerous stress: Seek professional assistance or consider a job or career change.

Career Change - Simply Fired!

Are you spending too much time searching for a job and not enough time reading my enewsletter? First subscribe to me enewsletter (see top line) the use Bloglines to add a personalized job search feed from Simply Hired. Click the Add link at the top of your feed list and then select the Jobs link. If you aren’t job hunting, subscribe to www.simplyfired.com for some great stories like the guy who got fired for eating pizza out of the break room fridge. As the slogan says “If you don’t laugh, you’ll cry.”

Career Change - Promoting Yourself Online

Blogthings is a really good example of how someone - Big Sheba - is driving traffic to her site by offering people what they want.

Notice how 'monetarised' the blog is using Google Adsense. She wants to try adding Pheedo as traffic accelerates.

Career Change - How to Cope with Rejection at Interview

Most of you reading this article can probably remember a time when you were interviewing someone for a new position or job.

I trust you’ll agree with me when I say that MOST of the time you were making professional judgements about the individual in front of you that where fair, objective and unbiased. Won’t you?

No? Why was that? Because the interview is one place where you are SUPPOSED to make judgements about another individual. This is one of those rare situations where you can admit to likes and dislikes without fear of being thought of as a ‘judgemental’ person, sometimes known as a ‘know it all’.

The truth is that you ARE making ASSUMPTIONS about the interviewee that if not exactly CRUEL in themselves, can have a CRUEL affect on the individual’s situation in life.

Let’s face it at twelve feet away from the interview you are making a judgement about the individual – you have decided whether he or she can balance their cheque book.

By the time they have reached within twelve inches of you – you have labelled them. By categorising them you have decided about their age, level of salary, education, income, heritage, status &tc. From the first twelve words that they utter – you have written them off or decided that they are the ONE!

How cruel is that!!

I remember going to an interview in London once and when the not-very-nice man went to make a drink I naughtily glanced at his notes. It said: “She talks too much!”

I’d only asked him “If he had the builders in?” What a cheek. I have got to guiltily -admit that I made his interview thereafter very uncomfortable – refusing to elaborate on answers to questions and allowing long silences to build up.

Another time, I went to an interview for a job at Mars and one of the interviewers confided in me that I was “NOT the sort of material they were looking for’. I cannot tell you how much that HURT even though I later realised that they were NOT the ‘sort’ of place I WANTED to work, either.

The most cruellest of interview blows came when years ago, I attended a case- study interview given by the Finance Manager of accountants – Coopers Lybrand.

(I was attending a one-day assessment centre for a job as a management consultant and at ‘tea-time’. I sort of knew that I was ‘in the lead’ because the other candidates had started talking about me on another table.)

The last hurdle I faced was to role-play (or, pretend) an introductory meeting with a potential client. (As I had never done this before, unlike the other candidates, I was told that they would ‘Make allowances.’ Yeah right.

This auditing-whiz of a finance manager decided to give me a ‘No rapport’ interview and grimly asked me: “If I had ever worked in a unionised environment?”

I blithely replied “Yes, of course. I have worked with the Eu-eu-eu-eu-eu-eu-eu –u-e-u-e. I couldn’t stop! ‘E-U-E-U-E-U’ It went on. No recovery.

My everlasting memory of this moment is of subsequently running down the stairs, passing an open door that revealed a group of ‘Interviewers’ gathered around a CCTV screen, them having watched my performance and all turning to watch my ignominious flight as I raced for some fresh air.

At a follow up ‘feedback’ interview (normally, conducted by telephone) I was reassured that ‘Once I had some experience.’ That ‘I would be welcome to reapply.’

(To add insult to injury the Managing Consultant who had invited me to attend in the first instance – ‘Although, the other candidates will be more experienced.’ Actually bought a ‘necklace and earring set’ (from the small business I ran when my children were little) - for his wife!)

In fact my dedication to showing people how to ‘Win at interview’ can probably be dated from this moment.

Not only were my clients going to win at interview. They were not there to sabotage themselves. They were there to get to the next stage, maintain their dignity and control the situation no matter what obstacles or rejection they might face.

SHARE YOUR INTERVIEW HORROR STORY - GET £10. Everyone loves a scary read. I’d love to hear from you. If your story is used on this site or in my newsletter you’ll be a whole £10 richer!

Career Change - Where in the World Would You Like to Live?

Dear Friend

Paris?

One of the ways I use to help people figure out what they really want to do with their lives is to ask them to spend a moment or two imagining where they might want to live. Is it the seaside? Is it a city? Somewhere like this?

Click on this link to see one of the most magnificent sights ever seen:

Kindest

Margaret