Career Development | Mentoring | Social Networking

Greetings to you all, my name is Willard Draper and I will coming to you several times during the year to give you what I believe to be helpful tips, thoughts and information about the work place, jobs, career development and finding, maintaining and prospering in the career arena.

Finding employment can be a complicated and time consuming enterprise.  It certainly can be costly and frustrating, particularly in this tough environment.  The first question must be; are you ready?   Hopefully, you will not take this question lightly.  Further, many of us will quickly say “Yes” without thinking about the entire question. Your friends, parents, love ones, teachers, bosses, etc., do not make this determination-you do!  Let me be clear; unless you are ready for work, you can not be successful at obtaining and maintaining work; must less a career.  Simply saying “I’m ready”, does not fill the bill.  You must be able demonstrate your skills and abilities with confidence and class.

Those who have been exposed to knowledge, wisdom and ancient text are familiar with this important phrase from the distant past.  Before organized religions, the British, Roman, Greek Empires, the seat of knowledge and wisdom came from the African continent and the great Egyptian civilization. Written in one of the exalted temples and later stored by the great Oracles’ the words “KNOW THY SELF” became the foundation of all knowledge and wisdom. 

Once you have this knowledge you will be well armed to go out and contend for work.  It is not an easy task.  You will need to prepare yourself for some rejection, disappointment, repetitive questions, assessments, judging, waiting, wondering and questioning.  Only if you have a good sense of self, will you be excited and inspired to go further. The following is a short list of the beginning process of knowing self: 

• Disregard the foolish and foolish things
• Move beyond fear
• If you keep doing what you are doing-you will keep getting what you getting
• When you have the opportunity to inform others-do it
• Avoid all people who are “know-it-alls”
• Be Positive and have enthusiasm
• Be Spiritual (religious or  have core beliefs)
• Have focus
• Be true to yourself and your spirit
• Don’t sweat the small stuff (most of what we deal with is small stuff.)
• All these things are already in you -just turn them on! 

These beginning comments should remind you of the power you have.  I believe it is important to start with some philosophical things before we get to more of the basics of job hunting and success.  In the future we will look at communication, vision, resume tips, interviewing skills, problem solving and other powerful job acquisition skills.  Hope you will get to know yourself better and get the position you really need.

Contributor: Willard Draper

Deep in my heart, I believe that success is simple with established moral and realistic guidelines.  I also believe, however, that having the discipline to consistently follow those guidelines is one of the most difficult things one could do.  Back during my senior year of college, I defined what success meant to me and put it on paper.  This same faded piece of paper is still tacked to a board in my room.  Everyday, I consciously (attempt) to think of those guidelines when making decisions and setting daily priorities.  Below are important components, placed in their respective order, of what success means and looks like to me.   

Everyday, it is my goal to exercise:

 Spirituality -

·         Going to church

·         Reading and understanding the Bible

·         Building a relationship with God

·         Living with integrity

·         Patience

Mentally -

·         Be in uncomfortable situations and love it.

·         Love and appreciate the challenge of life.  This is all a fun game.

·         Read

·         Be social and have fun

·         Defend yourself

 Physically –

·         Workout

·         Play basketball

·         Swim

Financially -

·         Save money

·         Look for investments

·         Keep building financial knowledge

 I absolutely believe that if I can do these aforementioned things consistently and effectively, I would be the happiest and most free person I could ever dream to become.  I struggle, however, and make excuses from time to time.  I strive for perfection, but for now I will settle for progress.  What does success look like to you?

Contributor: E. Alexander Gothard

Whether you are a student, employee, parent, business owner, or superstar, we are all human and face an overlooked concept: insatiability.  Contrary to what many believe, nothing is (and never will be) enough for us in our endeavors in life because we will always want more. Accordingly, scarcity occurs because wants are unlimited while the resources of this land are limited and people, businesses, and countries find themselves having to make choices that are in their best interest.

This is such a big deal that there exists an entire field of study for it. Economics is the study of how choices are made under scarcity and facing these insatiable wants. Economics is divided into two levels: macroeconomics and microeconomics. Macro deals with the overall performance of the economy. Such topics covered under this sector include the money supply, inflation rates, unemployment, currency rates, economic policies, interest rates, and the federal budget.

Micro is concerned with the choices of consumers and businesses, and their impact on certain markets. Those who focus on this branch of economics cover price changes of particular goods, bans on immigration affecting the U.S. produce market, seatbelts leading to more deaths, how a company can maximize profits, and the like.

While a person like me gets excited about economics, there are others who may not understand how it relates to them and how exposure to its principles can help them in their everyday lives and better interpret what goes on in the world around them. The goal of this blog is not only to provide insight into the field by showing its relevance, but to also make it interesting so that keen economic intuition may be developed for optimal decision-making on a variety of levels.

Every decision we make in this life comes with a cost that is more than likely not monetary. When one choice is made, another is forgone. This forfeited cost is known as the opportunity cost. Studying as opposed to hanging out with friends and going to class instead of working to earn a paycheck are some opportunity costs involved in going to college to obtain a degree. However, people are willing to pay that price because they feel such a decision will benefit them greater in the long run.

As we travel along this economic voyage, it is imperative to understand that there is more to economics than the happenings at the Federal Reserve and recessions. Economics helps us understand how to get the most value from limited resources as we all face scarcity and unlimited wants.  

 Contributor: D. Simone Devereueawax