An inexpensive PMP Prep Audio Cast

The Project Management Prepcast - $49.99:

I am not affiliated with them whatsoever. However I've listened to other PM Podcast by Cornelius Fischner - I can never get his name spelled correctly.

You can use your MP3 player to study for the PMP ® Exam with this 35-hour, full-featured PMP Audio Workshop.

The claim that their episodes are interesting and engaging. They won't bore you! they will help you understand PMP concepts instead of memorizing them.

Top Ten Ways to Be Happy at Work!

I think this is a great article. Lots of good tips - well, 10 good tips - on how to be happy at work!

http://humanresources.about.com/od/success/tp/happy_work.htm

check it out!
-- Sepi

Google Coaching Series

Take a look at this goldmine in YouTube presented by Google. Simply Fantastic! Some of the topics are:
- Impactful Communication
- What Tech Women Really Want
- Leading from Strength: Making a Difference
- Advancing Toward Your Dreams & Goals

Tough Times Don't Mean Tough Times on Salary

According to this article, by SARAH E. NEEDLEMAN, despite a tough economy, employers are often willing to pay above and beyond the market average for candidates with skills that are in short supply.

Read More

Getting Ready to take your PMP?

Check these sites:

• PM Zilla - PMP Prep
• An overview of PMP Topics - Will be updated continuously
• More to Come!!!
  
  

Hate Your Job?

You may be able to change it!

Take Oprah Winfrey's workshop offered by the well known Marcus Buckingham. Buckingham is the author of Now, Discover Your Strengths & Go Put Your Strengths to Work: 6 Powerful Steps to Achieve Outstanding Performance. The workshop will help you find your strengths and use those strenghts in your job or use those strengths to find a job that makes you happy.

See: Oprah's Workshop

Good luck!

It's Friday! Time for fun

Take a look at these opening lines. So many of them bring back so many good memories... Even the one that says "Hello, Darkness My Old Friend"

Enjoy!
http://www.spinner.com/2007/08/06/best-opening-lyrics-no-25/

Oh Geek Girl where are you?

A professor says he has only one girl in a computer science major class in 2008, down from 40 percent in 2000. What happened? eWEEK gets field experts to weigh in.

http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Careers/Where-Did-All-the-Girl-Geeks-Go/

How to ask for a raise?

A Great Email From "Ready To Hire" ~ Read & Learn!

Once you have landed the job you want in the IT field, how do you go about asking for a raise and what the right amount is to negotiate? Ready to Hire offers the following ten tips on what salary surveys in the field are saying about how much your IT experience is worth and how to go about asking for a raise.

1. Survey Says
Before taking the step to sit down with your boss and have a conversation about a possible pay raise, look into what the salary surveys are saying about how much people are making in your field and position today. A great source is the Global Knowledge Salary Survey, as well as popular trade magazines, such as InformationWeek and CIO. These resources have useful information that will help set realistic goals based on experience, niche, and performance.

2. Certifications Can Help
Surveys have shown that those IT professionals who have obtained some sort of certification generally earn a higher base salary than those without the certification. Example: Since 2004, the average annual salary for those who hold a CCNA (Cisco Certified Network Associate) has gone from $60,000 to $76,000, a whopping 26 percent increase.

3. One of Many
In the United States today there are 3.49 million IT professionals, and a recent survey shows that 7 out of 10 people say their number one reason for looking for a new job is the pursuit of higher pay. In many cases, the desire for a higher salary outweighs the importance of job stability.

4. Setting Your Salary
During your conversation, keep in mind your area of expertise and your level of experience. As with most jobs, your years of experience are a direct factor in your salary. Most professionals in the IT field that have 1-2 years of experience have an average salary around $47,000, while those with 5-7 years of experience can make $67,000.

When Asking for a Raise:

5. Be Aware
Before initiating a conversation, be aware of the state of the economy and how your company is doing financially. Also take into account when the best time might be to have the conversation. Often it is after you have had a great success or after you have been handed more responsibility in your current position. Sometimes the best time to talk can be during a review when you are already in the midst of discussing your job responsibilities.

6. Show You Deserve It
Make a list of what you have accomplished while working within the company, and then have someone else review it before presenting it with your raise request. Reminding your employer of your contributions reiterates your commitment to the company and encourages your employer to believe a raise is a valued investment.

7. Prepare to ask for "It"
"It" is not only about the conversation for the raise, but what you have shown your employer before beginning the conversation. Ask for more work that you know you have the ability to handle and stay late to meet deadlines.

8. Avoid the Simple Mistakes
Once you enter into the conversation with your supervisor, avoid emphasizing why you need the money, instead focus on your worth and contribution to your employer and why you deserve your requested raise.

9. Stay Away from Comparison
Keep your request for a raise specifically to your own needs without comparing yourself to another employee who may have a similar position. Most importantly, avoid threatening to leave the company unless that is something you are prepared to do.

10. Be Confident
Have confidence in yourself and what you are asking. If you have done the research in what salary surveys are currently saying and what kind of positive contributions you have offered to the company, then know that you are ready for the conversation.

Our recruiters are here to help you get noticed by our premier clients. Reach out and let us know how we can help by calling 215-657-4473.

Sincerely,

Your Ready To Hire team

www.readytohire.com

Great Templates for Free!

http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/3-websites-to-get-any-document-for-free/

I've found all sorts of wonderful documents and templates from the three sites on this page. Enjoy!

How much are you willing to pay for a service?

In the recent months I've been looking for the perfect job and I'm sure all the people who interviewed me were doing the same thing. And I always considered their part in the interviews and how much are the willing to pay for my work. Some of the offers were truly ridiculous and I wondered how they are going to find a person to fill that position with that kind of a salary. Demands being high and pay being low...

And then something interesting occurred. On my ew six week contract in DC I started looking for the perfect place to park my car. A car that I'm very attached to. A car that I actually miss on my vacations and long to hear it purr beneath me as we go through short and long journeys and errands in the town. Anyhow you get the point. I love my car.

I looked around for a good parking garage - tried as many as 10 different places in the course of 3 weeks and I was amazed that I actually ended up going to the same place over and over. A parking place that charges $16 a day. Why? Because they took really good care of me and my car. After a few days when the parking attendant learned my daily habits he always had my car ready for me right by the entrance. One day he actually apologized for not having the car ready for me! He didn't waste my time with going and finding the car in the parking lot.

And so I was/am still amazed that I'm willing to pay $16 a day for parking where I can easily find $13. But the cheaper ones did not offer the kind of unexpected service that this parking lot gives me. The smiling faces with the nice greeting I get each day. I come back to it day in and day out and I know once my work contract is over, it's the Parking Lot attendants that I'm really going to miss. I'll miss Omar & Julio.

There is a lesson to be learned. It doesn't matter what kind of business you are in. As long as you do a great job at it you'll be appreciated and no matter what is it you do there is always room for improvement and the improvements don't have to "wow" you. The can be simple things such as just saying hello and remembering your customers. I love these guys. If you are ever in DC you really should park there and see what I mean:

Central Parking
1250 Connecticut Avenue
Washington, DC 20037

The Red Tent

On the get go you may not think of The Red Tent a book written by Anita Diamant as a book to be read by professional woman. I always loved this book and I was pleasantly surprised that while working at AOL, the women's networking group recommended this book for their book club. The discussion at AOL was lively & wonderful, specially since I hadn't thought to see it as a book to help me professionally.

The book's title refers to the tent in which women of Jacob's tribe must, according to the ancient law, take refuge while menstruating or giving birth, and in which they find mutual support and encouragement from their mothers, sisters and aunts.

Take a look at the book on my favorite website, The Wiki!!! See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Red_Tent

The following is from SparkNotes:

The Red Tent

As its title indicates, the red tent is one of the most important and recurring images of the novel and symbolizes the private and magical world of women. It is the red tent in which each of the children in Dinah’s family are born, and it is the red tent where each girl becomes a woman. But it is more than just a place of birth and maturity; it is also a sacred gathering place for women. In the red tent, the women sequester themselves for several days each month, taking time out from their daily duties as mothers and wives to spoil themselves with cakes and rest upon the straw. It is in the tent that they forge, break, and rebuild their bonds to one another, as occurs between Leah and Rachel. Outside of the tent, men rule society and the families. But inside the tent there are only women, and therefore women make the rules. They share special songs and rites that only the sisters of the tent are privy to. In a story that uncovers the bonds between women, it is fitting that so much of the action occurs in the red tent.

For the full article go to: http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/redtent/themes.html

Project Manager!!! Most Wanted Jobs

Jobfox.com ranked project management 12th in its Top 25 most-wanted professions in a March survey tracking more than 4,000 job openings in a 120-day period ending Feb. 28. See this Article posted on PM port.