Professional Women Really Can Be Moms Too!

At the risk of alienating all of the members of the woman's liberation movement, I have to say that I don't think that they have done women any favors. June Cleaver and Mrs. Cunningham had it made being stay-at-home moms. But this is 2008, and most of us have to choose between a great career and borderline poverty if we want to stay at home and raise our children. Is it really possible to be a professional working woman and a great mom too? Absolutely!

Anyone who has tried knows that being a mom is a full-time job. Even if you are the greatest scheduler in the world, there is always someone or something throwing a wrench in the mix. The kids have the flu and can't go to school, the science fair is tomorrow and Billy's volcano won't erupt, so you are up all night before your 9:00 a.m. presentation to the Board of Directors. You have 2 kids in cheerleading that have their first home game today and they really want you there. You know what I am talking about. It never ends and it is really stressful! You have thought about quitting and staying home. But you have a two income budget, years of college education that you paid dearly for, and a need to still use your skills.

The answer to all of this is to work from home. You have to change your perspective a little, but the benefits make any growing pains worthwhile. First of all, you will save tons of money by working from home. You don't have to buy suits and can work in your pajamas. If the baby throws up on you, there are no dry cleaning bills for your pajamas. You will save money on gas and commuting and at $4.00/gallon, those saving will add up quickly. Day care costs used to eat up the majority of my paycheck. Having to eat out on the run is less healthy and much more expensive than cooking real food from scratch at home. So while your initial concern might be how you will live without a full-time paycheck, you will find that your stay-at-home expenses are much lower than your working mom expenses.

Also in the money saving category, is that you will definitely save money on "guilt gifts". When I was working outside the home, I always felt guilty that my children didn't have a full-time mommy, so I was much more inclined to give in to the wishes of my children when we were out shopping. Not only is that bad for the budget, but it is really bad for your children to give them everything that they ask for. Among the benefits of being at home with your children is that they get to have YOU, not a caregiver, putting the Band-Aids on, watching and praising those first steps, helping with homework, sewing their prom dresses and teaching them to cook. The benefits to your children are endless. I don't mean to insult the work-away-from-home moms, but there is NO real substitute (except maybe Grandma) for you in your child's life and development. No one can be a better mommy to your children than you. All the experts in the world cannot take your place.

Okay, so now you are saying, "Sure this is a great idea, but is it really possible." It absolutely is. There are a few things that you have to do to make it successful, but you really can work at home. (Watch for future articles where I will get into the specifics of mommy time-management, budgeting for stay-at-home moms, and wealth building while changing diapers.) My children are all out of the diaper stage, so the new moms may think that I have it easier, but each stage of child development comes with its own set of blessings and challenges. FYI, I am a mother of seven adopted children, so I speak from experience, and have dealt with almost every possible parenting scenario.

Motherhood aside, anywhere that you research making money and building wealth, those who own their own businesses develop wealth much easier than those who work for someone else. Many business do have telecommuting opportunities these days, so depending upon your field of expertise, you may have some very viable work-at-home options through your employer. I never did. I worked for years part-time as an accountant going in very early or very late to work a few hours. But there was never enough money, and child care was ALWAYS an issue. The solution for me and for more and more moms is to have our own businesses. I actually have three businesses, and hope by the end of this year to get to the point where my husband can quit his job also and stay at home to help with my business and home-schooling the children.

Home based businesses are growing by leaps and bounds. The tax advantages to being a business owner are huge. To be successful, you must be organized and diligent. No one is going to pay you for watching soap operas, but you can write an article on your laptop during intermission at the ballet recital, or depending upon your business, network with other moms at the ball game. I listen to training cds in the van while we are traveling to do the grocery shopping, or go to the latest away game. I read motivational books in the 2 minutes a day that I get to be in the bathroom by myself. Three pages a day is over 1,000 pages a year of great reading!

Here is where I give you the call to action. You can keep doing what you are doing and stress over all the time you are not spending with your children, or you can start a home based business, and build wealth while raising really happy, healthy kids. It is possible! You don't have to give up your grownup career in order to play hopscotch with little Suzie. You can have the best of both worlds, and truly have it all. Start part-time if you are afraid to jump in with both feet. But give it a set, regular amount of time and consistently build your business until you can be both a full-time mom and a successful entrepreneur. I will be here cheering for you!

Mary Jo Clancy

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7th Annual Female Board Members Survey Proves Staffing Women Leaders In Business Improves Companies

The Forum of Executive Women, the region's premier organization of influential women leaders in business, today released the research results from its 7th annual Women on Boards survey, a look at how the boards at the 100 largest publicly held companies in the Philadelphia region reflect gender diversity.

Although this year's research shows slow progress in several areas, it will take more than 70 years at the current rate to reach parity in local boardrooms. And Philadelphia companies continue to trail the national average for the number of women leaders in business .

The research, conducted by The Forum of Executive Women's Executive Suites committee in concert with professional services firm Deloitte & Touche USA LLP, entitled "Women on Boards 2007: The Time Has Come," is based on 2006 data reported by the region's 100 largest public companies. Here are key findings:

o The number of female board members here increased less than 1 percent over the previous research year - from 9.73 percent in 2005 to 10.41 percent in 2006.

o The numbers are better for the 15 local companies in the Fortune 500, with 13.77 percent women board members. However, this lags the national 2006 Catalyst figure of 14.6 percent for Fortune 500 companies overall.

o The percentage of women leaders in business serving in executive positions remained stagnant - with 8.7 percent in 2006, compared to 8.61 percent in 2006. This number is tracked because it represents a key "pool" for board candidates. Of those executives listed as most highly compensated, women made up 6.48 percent of those reported as top earners.

o Overall racial diversity on boards decreased by 1 percent, while the number of seats filled by African-American women declined from 7.14 percent in 2005 to 5.75 percent in 2006. The number of Asian-American women holding board seats also dropped, from 2.38 percent in 2005 to 1.08 percent in 2006.

o In 2005, 43 companies had no female board members; in 2006 that number dropped to 40, a positive sign.

o It appears that "early adopters" - those companies which have added women directors over the past few years - are gaining momentum. Published research points to the critical mass or "tipping point" of a minimum of three female board members or 25 percent. In our region, seven area companies - Charming Shoppes, Inc., CIGNA Corporation, Genesis HealthCare Corporation, Harleysville National Corporation, Kenexa Corporation, Penn Virginia Resource Partners, and Mothers Work, Inc., now have boards comprised of at least 25 percent women members.

The report, now available online at http://www.foew.com, shows that despite what is a significant pool of qualified female executives and an acknowledgement of the importance of boards reflecting the demographics of their constituencies, most area public companies are still not making sufficient progress to place women on their corporate boards.

What Does This Mean?

"At the current improvement rate, it will take nearly 50 years for executive women leaders in business to reach gender parity, and nearly 75 years to reach parity in board seats," said Elva L. Bankins, President of The Forum of Executive Women, and Senior Vice President at CEO Resources, Inc. "While there is some encouraging data, the numbers are essentially flat. So we must continue to engage in discussions with our corporate leaders to identify the obstacles and take advantage of all opportunities to make strategic and meaningful improvements. It is essential that we remove the barriers that are keeping our region from reaching its fullest potential."

"There is greater pressure on companies today than ever before," said Bankins. "Times have changed. Having female board members is not just 'the right thing to do,' but is essentially required in today's climate of increased corporate governance scrutiny under Sarbanes Oxley. We can only hope that United States companies will make more rapid progress voluntarily before further regulatory intervention. If not, we may just have to learn from countries like Norway. In 2002, with only 3 percent female representation on boards, Norway mandated that 40 percent of its public companies' board members be female. And that certainly got people's attention."

"Faced with a war for talent and demanding expectations for performance, organizations that promote women into leadership positions will have an opportunity to add diversity, capability, momentum and a strong ethical base to their ranks", said Tara Weiner, Managing Partner Greater Philadelphia, Deloitte & Touche. "We need to recognize that tapping into the full pool of talent makes economic sense in a competitive landscape."

Published research also shows a strong correlation between higher shareholder returns and a higher proportion of women leaders in business serving as executives. A decades-long study of Fortune 500 companies by the Glass Ceiling Research Center at Pepperdine University showed that the companies with the very best records for promoting women tended to be the most profitable. Gender-diverse companies are 69 percent more profitable, according to a study published several years ago in the Harvard Business Review.

"It is often the female board members who raise the most questions about how a company is cultivating a diverse pool of employees to support its succession planning and whether the pool includes women and people of color," says Vicki W. Kramer, co-author of "Critical Mass on Corporate Boards: Why Three or More Women Enhance Corporate Governance," released last fall by the Wellesley Centers for Women. According to the study, three women board members are the "tipping point." Only 76 boards among the Fortune 500 have three or more female members, and only seven in this region meet that threshold.

"It's a mindset among top executives," said Michael Useem, Professor of Management at The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. "But research confirms that when governing board members are diverse, their firms are less likely to break the law and more likely to perform well." A July 2007 study by New York-based Catalyst found that "gender stereotyping" was one of the key barriers to women's advancement in corporate leadership, regardless of leadership styles, resulting in organizations' routinely underestimating and underutilizing women's leadership talent.

As a result of these statistics and studies, The Forum of Executive Women is focusing its efforts on several fronts to increase the number of women on corporate boards. The Forum offers direct support by providing names of qualified female candidates to companies seeking to diversify their boards. The group also continues to work closely with search firms that advise corporations on board appointments; and to mentor and coach rising women to develop their leadership skills. The Forum will also work with women leaders in business who are already on corporate boards to increase the number of boards on which they serve, and work more closely with those "early adopter" companies. A new initiative will help build critical mass by targeting those 40 companies who have no female board members -- requesting direct meetings with each of them over the next 24 months to identify and resolve barriers.

The Forum also continues to share information with a network of similar regional organizations across the United States, all of which work to advance women to positions of power in the business world, primarily to boards of directors and executive suites. All of the regional data, including California, Chicago, Florida, Georgia, Massachusetts, Michigan, Philadelphia and Wisconsin, will be available in Spring 2008.

The "Women on Boards 2007" report is a joint initiative of the Forum of Executive Women and Deloitte, which helped fund and conduct the research. Founded in 1977, The Forum of Executive Women, a network of 300 of the most influential women leaders in business in the region, fulfills its mission to advance women leaders by supporting women in leadership roles, promoting parity and serving as a resource for the corporate world, mentoring young women for future leadership, and providing a forum for the exchange of views, contacts and information.

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Profile of Women Leaders

Leadership is based on two words, "pressure and support"and that the leadership is the power to influence people to move in a direction that you believe in your heart is a good direction for most people" (Fennell, 1999, p. 267). Adams and Yoder noted that "evidence from contemporary studies on sex-roles and leadership indicates that men and women, with similar education, career aspirations and training, have basically identical scores on measures of psychological masculinity and femininity." In other words, the traits we assume are important in good leadership can be found among people of both genders.

What makes a leader is a complex question. It includes factors from the environment in which an individual was raised, his or her family situation, and his or her personality traits. . The following discussion is a summary of my own observations plus some of the conclusions of others

According to an overview of research conducted by me ,women are a fast-growing segment of the business community worldwide. The leadership characteristics required to make a success in this new reality are very much "feminine characteristics". These characteristics include:

1) Self-confidence, an independent mind-set and a willingness to take risks

2) Ability to balance work and family (most are married)

3) Self-confidence, an independent mind-set and a willingness to take risks

4) About 40 to 60 years old

5) Well educated with high skills in management and entrepreneurship

6) Integration of personal and profession

7) Intuition

8) Social skills

9) Direction

10) -Hires competent, trustworthy people (not putting priority on loyalty)

11) -See communication and conflict resolution as key to organizational success

12) Men and women tend to lead in different ways.Namely, women leadership strategy is based on family pattern. It means that

women tend to view solving problems differently than men. Women tend to be more holistic in their thinking.

13) Leaders must be conscious of what is perceived by others and develop strategies that are proactive in building success. Marcano (1997) described this as "know thyself" and further stated that it is important to be honest and objective when evaluating your strengths and abilities, as well as your goals

14) Continual professional growth

15) Leaders need to have a clear sense of their own vision and beliefs

Researching - Case study of Serbia

I presented the latest results of researching related to women leaders and their position in the business world,i.e. how does people look at ( divided into sex,ages and level of education) women leaders and if they trust them. My scientific task was to make some conclusions and to point out some special characteristics of Serbia and Balkan region. We can see different opinions related to our questions :

Do you trust to women-leaders? Could they be equaly successful in business world like men?

o Methodology

o Interviews conducted from 1.476 people ,726 women and 750 men

o Interviewed people were between 18 and 60 years old

o In the whole structure of respondents 30% were owners

o 73 % were married ,19 % single and 8% divorced.

o A few key findings are listed below:

o The barriers to women's advancement in business are remarkably similar across Balkan region and the biggest cities in the Serbia- Belgrade ,Novi Sad and Nis.

o The women respondents trust to women leaders ( 63 %) and most of them prefer to work in some firm where is a woman leader or executive manager.Also they think that the women want to reach the top, and are equaly ambitious like men.

o Most respondents (60%) say that Corporate Culture is the most significant barrier to women achieving top executive positions, while only twenty-nine percent (29%) think work/family balance is a significant barrier to advancement and 36% believe that a lack of self-promotion holds women back from achieving top-level positions

o The majority of men in research had negative attitude against women executives. In other words they expressed stereotypes and preconceptions about women's roles and abilities in business. Men stress that women have lack of general management experience ,lack of skills and knowledge and lack of role models.

Respondents among men almost gave the similar replies related to our questions as a following :

1.We are here Balkan and we are argue for traditional model of society

2. Women have been fighting for equal rights for nearly all of time and now that they have it they expect special treatment because they are females

.

3.I do not trust women in business and I do not accept them seriously

4.I am afraid of those women

5. I hate feminist community and culture

6. Women must stay at home and be leaders in their families but not in business word. Leader position in business is reserved for men

7. Women leaders are actually men dressed like women

It is very interesting that a great amount of men do not make difference between women leaders and women feminists ,who are not very popular in this region. And about 20 % of women respondents in the research share mentioned opinion with the men.

About 10 % of men respondents are afraid of women domination in the business world,because it could change natural balance between women and men and to decrease traditional role of the men in society and family.Therefore, they would not like domination of the business women in the 21 st century.

It is also very indicative that among young women (18-35) exist the great interest for leadership and entrepreneurship and they more than earlier explore opportunities to reach their professional goals. Namely, they expressed their opinion with the following words:

1. Female owners and leaders have more of a struggle because they are females and no one will take them seriously so they have to push and make themselves known to the world and allow the world to see their capabilities while male owners don't have to worry about the struggle of fitting in and trying to live and work up to societies standards because since they are men they are already have the macho man persona and the alterego that men have.

2. Women have to fight harder and be stronger if they want to live and work in a man's world you have to adopt to the surronding don't expect a man to be a gentlmen and hold the door open for you, don't expect him to do anything out of the ordinary that a man would do for a female because in a sense you should be getting treated like his fellow counterparts and not expect differently. In order to fit in with the men you have to in a sense think, work and act like them meaning don't think that they will treat you like the female you are. You have to be strong not every man that you encounter will treat you like this but in order to show off your strengths you should expect this.

3. It's extremely obvious that women have come a long way as successful professionals. Life in the workplace has become much more diversified as an increased number of women have made their presence felt in many industries and professions. The female task force has expanded with exponential strength, and thus has its dire importance in the professional world. Whether they like it or not, men have to accept, once and for all, that women are marching up the corporate ladder confidently and with full speed ahead.

4. Women used to be much more "quiet and passive" in the workplace due to the relatively small number of female employees in comparison to males. Women today, on the other hand, have begun assuming their positions by using all their God given powers of intelligence and organization. Warren Farrell, author of Why Men Are the Way They Are, explains that men are jealous of the "beauty power" that allows women to get certain things based on their physical assets. Perhaps it's less that women use their beauty, and more likely that men judge them based on their physical beauty

5. The reasons that people start and lead business among women is to bring in and focus on a clientele of mainly women. Most times women start business that deal with products that women use, such as clothes, makeup and home products. The most successful companies run by women are ones that use women's special skills. These special skills are style, fiscal sense and public relations. Their strengths as business owners are their public relations and the clientele they bring in. There weakness as business owners is the overcoming of sexism that exists. There biggest fear is finding clientele that will due business with a women.. I think these men feel this way because they are insecure.

6. I simply think that women just became even more smarter. Speaking from a personal point of view, I know that being happy and successful are very important to me. They go hand in hand. Most of the women I know feel the same way. I believe that as the years progress women will be involved in an even bigger part of the economy, because young girls are going to follow their female role models.

7. Personally I feel that some high qualified positions are better suited to a women because men have humungous ego problems

8. I personally think that women can do whatever men do sometimes better. there have always been a glass ceiling for women in the work force however, many women are getting closer to this ceiling and some of them has at least attempted to break through this ceiling. the reason many people think that women are not capable of being in the work force is because of the conotation that has been here for like for ever, "women should stay home and take care of the home".

9. We need to stop complaing about how much work we have or how hard it is and just complete. The more we compain about the work, the more the man is going to say that things should go to how they used to be in the old days, which was The man works and when he comes home he gets treated as if he is something golden and special while tlelign us we are worthless. The woman can not go to work becuase she needs to stay home with the children and cook and clean the house. I am glad i live in this century becuase honestly i do not know how i woud've been able to live up to those expectations

At last we can conclude that the woman are now much more motivated and ready to reach their professional dreams and be leaders ,not only in Serbia and Balkan region , but all over the world then they once were. Until recently, entrepreneurship was considered by many to be the last bastion of male dominance in the business world. This is no longer true. More businesses are now being started by women than are being started by men. However,there are still a lot of men who don't think women should be in these positions and hold no respect for them at all. As time goes on, women are going to be a bigger and bigger part of the business world, and these men are just going to have to accept it and face a reality check, because no matter what they feel and how much they are against it, the world is changing and it's going to happen regardless of how they feel.

Mirjana Radovic, Ph.D.,Program Director of Master Program,"ENTREPRENEURSHIP FOR WOMEN" -Akamai University,USA go to link http://www.akamaiuniversity.us/EntrepreneurshipforWomen.html The topics of the program include affirmative action, access to debt and equity capital, the growth of women-led businesses in non-traditional sectors, work-life balance and the development of resource networks. Thie program is especially suited to women who want to own or assume a management position in a women-owned business. It also is intended for students who are prospective entrepreneurs and those interested in being entrepreneurial supporters (bankers, venture capitalists, lawyers, accountants, private investors, advisers and inventors

Dr. Radovic

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How to Move Ahead in Your Career - 7 Tips For the Woman in Leadership

Today more than ever, a woman leader needs to stick out from the crowd in her own business, on the job or in the nonprofit world. Being a leader means being at the top of your game at all times. These 7 tips provide some contemporary ideas for moving ahead as a leader in your career.

1. Be the Best. Are you working to win ever time you face a new task? If not, start considering how you could go the extra mile to do what you need to do. You want to be accountable, not just to those who watch you work; you want to be accountable to you. That means doing at least one thing each day that goes over and above the basics for you.

2. Be Your Own Backup. This means being able to justify and back up your professional actions. When you take an action, be sure you are transparent and accountable in what you do. Keep a record of what you do and the results. This gives you a record of your steps each day that you can review and creates a record of your actions over the days, weeks and years so you can track your progress.

3. Correct Your Own Mistakes. What if you make some mistakes along the way? Everyone makes a mistake once in a while. In fact, if you're not making a mistake sometimes, it means you're probably playing things too safe. Mistakes let you learn. Think of it this way; after you've made a mistake, you were probably better to self-correct in future situations, right? If you do make a mistake, face up to it, admit it and do what's necessary to make up for the mistake. Then move on.

4. Be Positive. No one likes a negative person so be a woman that has a positive word to speak. That doesn't mean you don't make good decisions or stand up for what's right. It means you can see what has to be done and you do it with good spirits. Your language should be peppered with good wisdom. There will be times when you have to give bad news; that's just a part of being in leadership. But with that, know how to pad that bad news with a word of hope. When you have to say "no" have other options to consider too.

5. Show off. One thing most women leaders need to do better is learn how to speak up for their work. Be ready to say "I did this" and be proud of it. Men don't have a problem most of the time saying this type of thing. They take credit where credit's due. Not doing this becomes a downfall for many strong women who then fail to reach higher goals or miss out on opportunities for lack of evidence of getting something done. Know how to promote yourself to move forward. Learn how to let others see your good work and have the confidence that you can reach the goals you set.

6. Have Superior Business Ethics. There's nothing like stepping above the crowd through the ability to know how to approach others with impeccable American business etiquette skills. Business etiquette is different from social etiquette. This is where you know how to hold meetings, set agendas that work, and great people in the correct manner. You even know whom to seat where and how to shake hands correctly. Take time to study the skills of American business etiquette and it will leave a positive impression in the minds of others.

7. Be a Life-Long Learner. Are you updated on the latest technologies? If you were asked to do a podcast on your business would you know what to do? Do you have a blog and a social networking site? Leaders are learners. With all of the opportunities to take workshops, go to conferences and continue your education at your local university or online there's no excuse to not be up to date on important aspects of your business and work. Learn new things and present these to people you work with and for. Introduce new skills to the people you serve through your leadership to bring them up to date too. Stay cutting edge to be a magnificent woman leader.

Standing out as a woman leader means taking the initiative to be your best and leave a positive memorable impression on others. You have to be sure the right people know what you do and how good you are at it. Make sure you are a valuable asset no matter where you choose to use your leadership. You will succeed in your career and succeed as a women leader when you adhere to the type of leadership tips you find here.

Consuelo Meux, Ph.D.

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Temp Agency Jobs - 6 Reasons They're Great For Unemployed Workers

Temporary employment can provide a big boost to unemployed workers. It may not be your full-time dream job, but temp agency jobs provide advantages that many unemployed workers overlook.

With temp employment, you work at different places for a short time. Some temp agency jobs last a few weeks; others last a few months. Temporary job agencies start by assessing your skills. Usually, you have to take some basic tests so that the agency can measure your proficiency in computer skills, typing, filing, spelling, and math. After that, they can start sending you to different companies. More than 2 million temporary employees head off to work every day!

If you're one of the millions of unemployed workers out there, here are 6 reasons to consider temp employment:

1. Temp agency jobs are a great way to spice up your resume. Being unemployed leaves too many people with stagnant resumes. Many unemployed workers bide their time until they can get a new job. However, with temp agency jobs, you can get experience in several different areas while you apply for full-time work.

2. Temp employment is a great way to get your foot in the door. According to various studies, 75% of people who do temp employment wind up getting a full-time job offer out of it. In a competitive job market, working as a temp can showcase your skills and set you ahead of the pack when a full-time job opens up.

3. Temp agency jobs give you a paycheck while you look for permanent work. Thanks to the 2010 unemployment extension, temp employment doesn't reduce unemployment benefits for workers who are in their second benefit year. Before, all temp work was considered "partial unemployment", meaning that taking a temp job could lead to a reduction in your unemployment checks.

4. Many temp agency jobs offer benefits that are normally reserved for full-time workers. Plenty of temporary job agencies offer their employees paid holidays, health insurance, and even 401K plans.

5. Temp employment can help your mental health. Many unemployed workers fall victim to feelings of worthlessness and depression. But, if you have a job to get up and go to every day, you're going to feel like a contributing member of society, even if it isn't a full-time job. An emotional boost like that can make being unemployed much easier.

6. Temp agency jobs can help you figure out if changing careers is the right move. With temp employment, you get a taste of different jobs - without actually plunging head-first into a whole new industry. With temp agency jobs, you can see if another industry is right for you. If it's not, you've only lost a few weeks, instead of years.

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Skillful Back Office Professionals

Business process outsourcing in India is a booming sector, offering a plethora of job opportunities for various profiles. It involves a thorough knowledge of computer basics, a soft tone of speaking, a calm and patient attitude with an ability to handle difficult situations with ease.

This outsourcing may be in different avenues, for a Multinational banking group, a transnational software company or a Multinational hardware company. These companies offer back office jobs in India for handling their customer queries and various other maintenance jobs.

Therefore, it is necessary that candidates for technical support jobs should prepare themselves with their soft skills as well as gain a detailed knowledge about the genre in which they are seeking a job. Enhancing the customer handling techniques, English or any other language accents and having a detailed knowledge about the field are all equally important.

As a support staff professional, you will have to handle the customer queries, clear their doubts or even troubleshoot their problems letting them have their own time and yet having patience and the same calm and composed attitude. Customer support in IT support jobs is not as easy as it sounds. There are number of problems that may arise anytime during their performance because they have to deal with humans, who have an unpredictable behavior. Dealing with them is no less than an art.

Office maintenance jobs involve the professionals to carry on the customer processing activities at an offshore department with maximum potential for creating satisfied and happy customers. It involves the back office transfers, payments and support to the customers and client queries with dedicated efforts.

These job profiles are largely based on the computer and internet technology. It will also include special knowledge and skills as per the core competencies of the company for which the process has been outsourced. For example, a customer support executive in a multinational bank must be aware of all the banking terms and their functions in normal day to lives as well as special account for larger clients and big corporates.

Initially, these were restricted only to phone calls, both incoming and outgoing. But with greater software inventions and developments, special software's are used for making these calls to the International customers. Often, these support services may be based on e-mails and SMS. This has broadened the responsibilities of the back office executives supporting the customers.

It is very common for these professionals to work in shifts, due to the differences in the time zones of the countries for which they are outsourcing and India. If you are planning to go into this field of professional services, you must be aware of the very different timings and holidays, which will be generally based on the other countries.

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Teens, Jobs, and The Economy

More young teens than ever might be looking for jobs this summer as money is tight in many families. Many teens start looking for jobs when they get around the age of 15 or 16 as they enter high school and need money for dating and cars. This year though, many 13 and 14 year olds might be interested in finding some job or way to make money. How old does a child have to be to get a real job?

The US government has a set of laws that lays the groundwork for what kind of jobs teens can get and at what age they can get those jobs. For instance, any job that is considered dangerous or hazardous cannot be performed by anyone younger than 16 years old. Jobs involving heavy machinery and chemicals would fall into this category. Once you are 16 or older, you might be allowed to do some of those jobs or all of them. Additionally, each state has its own set of rules that need to be followed concerning child employment.

Teens that set out to find their first job are often scared and rightly so. It is uncharted territory for them and in many cases it will be their first foray out into the real world. This year might be an especially bad time to be looking for that first job as the economy is horrendous and they might face an unusually high amount of rejection. It is a bad situation for both employers and job seekers.

Very young teens will probably not qualify for many real jobs and most of them will probably be snapped up very quickly. This year, older teens and even adults may be happy to get any job they can and will take jobs that they might ordinarily have turned down in other years. This means younger teens will have to think of other ways to make money by perhaps doing odd jobs around the neighborhood such as pet sitting and weeding.

Summer is already here and those that started their job search early might already have jobs. If you are a teen just beginning to look, you should be aware that the road ahead might be long and frustrating. Patience will be the key as this could turn out to be one of the worst summers to be looking for a job in recent memory.

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Resume Writing Tip Without Which You Will Fail

The terrible truth is that loads of resumes quickly end up in the waste paper basket shortly after they arrive and the tip you are about to read will help you avoid the trash can from the moment you start writing your resume.

Many people will pay a lot of attention to format and presentation but both are not as important and crucial as this one resume writing tip that you are about to discover. What you must do is to develop the sort of resume that will get them to sit up and take notice of you. There are many things you will need to do to accomplish this, but one of the most important is to quantify your achievements and accomplishments of the past. If you helped improve sales or productivity then put a dollar value to it. Or number of units produced. Or amount of time saved in the process you helped improve.

The most common mistake made when writing accomplishments in resumes is to make sweeping statements that hardly ring true; you can tip the scales dramatically in your favor by ensuring from this day on that you always quantify. The result is that not only will your achievements ring true when you do this, but you will also grab the interest of executives as they compare your figures with their own if not start visualizing what you can accomplish for them on the job. Talk about having a head start on the competition before you have even arrived for the job interview.

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Resumes For Recent Graduates - 5 Great Tips to Organize Your "Education" Section

If you are a recent college or even grad school, law school or medical school graduate, your education section is probably the first on your resume (after your header and possibly a summary/branding statement). Why? Because school what you've done most recently, and it is most relevant to your potential employer. (There may be exceptions to this rule if you have an extensive and relevant work history. If you think you are one of those people, ask an expert for advice.)

The following are five useful tricks for organizing your Education section. Follow these suggestions to pack in lots of information without taking up half the space on your resume:

1. What should the basic format be?

a. List your educational institutions in reverse chronological order, just as you do with your employment history.

b. The most important part of each school section is the name of the school you attended. Put it in bold and/or Small Caps, followed by the city and state. Use the same format you use for your employers.

c. Next put the degree you received. If you are anticipating a degree, write "Candidate for B.A," "B.S. expected," or "M.A. anticipated." Fill in the appropriate degree of course.

2. Do I need a separate line for my GPA and for each of my honors?

To save space, you can combine your GPA and honors onto one line, and even put them on the same line as your major. How much you combine things will depend on how much room you have on other lines. Here are some possibilities:

a. BA in Political Science, cum laude, 2006 (GPA: 3.41)

b. Bachelor of Arts in Political Science, concentration in Psychology, May 2005

Major GPA: 3.73; Cumulative GPA: 3.68

3. How should I list Honors and Activities?

You do not need a separate section for either Honors or Activities. Only create these separate sections if you need to fill space! Instead, put them under the appropriate school entry.

Do you have a lot of honors and/or activities? If you need space, you can group them together. For instance, you can have a bullet that says "Honors:" and follow that title with your honors, separated by semicolons. Then have a bullet that says "Activities:" and list your activities, separated by semicolons. You can put any relevant dates in parentheses after the honor or activity, and before the semicolon.

Examples:

a. Honors: Undergraduate Honors Thesis Research Grant (Honors Program award); Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society; Golden Key International Honour Society

b. Honors: Dean's List (2006-2009); Baylor University Alumni Scholarship (2005-2009); Greek Women's Leadership Award (2009); Midwest Conference Academic All Conference Team (2008 and 2009)

c. Activities: Latino/a Student Association, Secretary (2006-2007), Delegate/Community Service Committee (2005-2007); Mexican Student Organization, Social Chair (2005-2006); South American Student Association, Member (2004-2007)

d. Activities: Varsity Women's Basketball Team, Four Year Letter Winner; Pi Beta Phi Fraternity, Board Director (2006-2007) and Member (2004-2007); University Chapel Choir, Member (2004-2007)

4. Do I need a separate section for Study Abroad?

No! Study abroad is part of your undergraduate education. It can be a bullet, or if you want to emphasize it because of your international interest or language ability, you can bold it. Do not put a space between your undergraduate degree section and the study abroad section, unless you need to fill space.

Example of bullet format:

[end of undergraduate section here]

• Junior-year semester at University of East Anglia, Norwich, England (1993)

Example of bolded section under undergraduate section:

[end of undergraduate section here]

Reid Hall, Columbia University, Paris, France

Summer 2003 Study Abroad (Coursework: 19th Century French Painting, French Language)

5. How long should the Education section be?

Unless you've already earned five different degrees from five different schools, your education section generally should take up a maximum of a third of a page. This means it's important to get Experience to put on your resume and not rely on your Education to get you a job!

Implementing these five suggestions will give you a great start on your Education section, making it both efficient and effective.

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Tips For New College Graduates

A detailed resume is inappropriate for a new college graduate. Rather than unneeded details, incorporate the following tips and you are sure to make a good impression on a potential employer.

For the college student, since they lack experience, the objective section is very important. It shares what you want in a job and what your goals are surrounding that job. Entry level resumes are expected to have this section. Remember you are competing against others of your same experience level so this is where you can stand out.

Make sure the objective section is related to the job you are applying for. Share how you can contribute to the organization and that you understand what the job entails.

Someone who has been out of college awhile will list their experience at the top of the resume. They have a work history. A recent college graduate is not going to have this work history.

Your resume should list academic information first. Make sure you list any honors. This is also where you can put things you did along side your academics like volunteering, extra curricular, and leadership experience. Be detailed in explaining the strong points in your academic repertoire.

A long winded resume is not going to get you as far as a concise and well thought out shorter one. Potential employers do not want to spend a lot of time reading them. They should be one page in length and hit the highlights of your experience, honors and special talents.

The importance of proofreading can not be over emphasized. Check your resume several times then check it again. One mistake can leave a bad impression as to your attention to detail and grammar skills.

If you have mistakes, a prospective employer is likely to toss your resume in the trash. A resume free of mistakes is a sign of professionalism.

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Yes, You Need a Cover Letter

A cover letter should always accompany your resume.

Your goal is to get an interview, and this may be your only chance to get the employer's attention. A cover letter is an introduction and is not a reiteration of your resume. Keep it short, one page should be sufficient to introduce yourself and capture the prospective employer's attention. Communicate your interest in the company. Highlight why you are qualified for the position. Request an interview.

Communicate your interest in the company.

There are often many applicants for a position these days, so companies have a lot of choice. Make sure that you personalize the communication and that your interest shines through. One approach may be to mention where you heard about the position (network contact, press release, article, financial results). If the connection prompted you to further research the company and industry, mention the exciting things that you learned as they relate to your own motivation for employment here. This provides a segue into your own qualifications.

Highlight why you are qualified for the position.

The cover letter allows you to specifically address the qualifications and attributes you have as they pertain to the position you are seeking at a company. Rather than re-writing your resume each time you postulate for a new position or company, use this opportunity to succinctly address the value you offer for the opportunity at hand. Don't simply use the same information as found in your resume, instead detail the most relevant skills and experience that make you not only qualified for the job, but a great asset to the company.

Request an interview.

The point is to capture the reader's attention and secure an interview. Review and make sure you've done this. Now ask for the opportunity to be interviewed.

Style & Personalization

While a business letter format is required, that doesn't mean the tone must come off as lacking personality. Au contraire! Differentiate yourself from the pile of applicants. Show humor, passion, dedication, let your personality be expressed. Companies have a unique culture and your cultural fit within a company will be critical to your success there.

Depending on the position, a table or chart may be worthwhile. For example, contrasting requirements with skill sets on a technical role may be most succinctly demonstrated with a bulleted comparison in a small table. For a sales position, laying out the organization's market segments and your own related experience and achievements in two columns can provide quick identification of how you meet and exceed the requirements sought.

Most communications are electronic these days providing you an opportunity to link to a LinkedIn Profile and Recommendations.

About Redfish Technology, Inc.

Redfish Technology specializes in locating talent in the High Tech and Green Energy sectors. Recruiting since 1996, the company offers nationwide coverage and boasts offices in Silicon Valley, the East Coast, and the Intermountain West. As a full service, outsourced recruiting resource, we will partner with leading High Tech and Clean Tech organizations to source the world's next generation of technical and alternative energy leaders.

Job Seeker Resources 

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8 Ways a Job Applicant Can Screw-up Communication with a Prospective Employer

Many employment consultants write articles that give job applicants high-level resume advice that will, if followed, increase your chances of getting positive notice by a recruiter / employer.

This isn't one of those articles.

I am the first point of contact for all the resumes / candidate messages that come through the S.R. Clarke website and the advice I have to offer you is far more rudimentary and fundamental in nature. Every communication you have with a prospective employer is important and you don't need to give off many negative signals before your application gets tossed aside.

Here are eight ways you could possibly give an employer / recruiter negative "vibes" about your candidacy that might not be obvious to you:

1) Your email address. I do recommend that you create a new email address specifically for your job search and make it map to your desired job position (e.g. "superstar-estimator@"). Most people use their personal email address for their job search, which is fine. But, please don't use racy email addresses. I've seen things like "iluvtofish@" and "vikingsfan@" which is OK. However, nobody is going to hire somebody who has a "drunk-as-a-skunk@" no matter their qualifications (and I've come across more than a few candidates who have used "adult behavior" terms in their email address).

2) Your resume format. Word or Adobe PDF are the only formats you should use for a resume. HTML works if there is a reason to use it (I can't think of one). Rich text format works, but I'm not sure why anyone would use it instead of Word. I would never send a resume in Word Perfect or Microsoft Works...few employers will be able to open your documents. I've seen people send resumes in .txt format and I seriously question their professional judgment. If you can't send your resume in Word or PDF format, either fax it to the employer or copy and paste the contents of the resume into the body of the email.

3) Your resume file title. A small but important point...many job-hunters use a date as part of their resume document title. If that date isn't that recent or the last saved date of your resume isn't recent, you are broadcasting to employers / recruiters that your resume is "old". Savvy people will pick this up. Even if your resume hasn't changed since you started your job search, open and re-save your resume every week.

4) Your spelling. Most people remember to spell-check their resume. However, most email clients have a setting which allows you to spell-check your emails...and I strongly recommend that you do so before emailing your resume. Employers will generally overlook a couple spelling mistakes in an email or a resume, but anything more than this would threaten your candidacy.

5) Your email etiquette. Outlook has a feature that allows you to automatically add each new person you've emailed to your address book. Make sure this is turned off, because if you are sending personal messages to all address book contacts as many people do, your prospective employers are getting your personal messages if you've inadvertently added them. Misguided job applicants have sent me the following via email:

a. Invitations to Poker Night

b. Elks Lodge Meeting Information

c. R-rated Female-Themed Humor (that I still get regularly)

6) Don't use white-list spam control when job-hunting. Spam sucks and we all want to control it in any way possible. However, you don't want to make it hard for prospective employers to contact you via email. If a recruiter emails you about your resume and you force him / her to be pre-approved before receiving their communications, you will likely (and deservedly) be disqualified from consideration.

7) Follow-up with the correct person. The person who answers the email correspondence regarding resumes isn't generally the decision-maker for the position and won't be able to help you. Email follow-up is generally worthless anyway...I would recommend telephone follow-up unless you have already established a relationship with the decision-maker.

8) The dumbest thing you can do. During the course of your job search, you've likely accumulated many employer email addresses. It is tactically smart to resend your resume to employers...especially if you've updated it. People want to save time and send the updated information to everyone at once, which I understand. To do this, put all the email addresses in the BCC field of the email, separated by either semi-colons or commas (depending on your email client). Put your own email address in the To field. Unfortunately, I've seen a few people put all the email addresses in the CC field instead of the BCC field which means everyone on the list knows that that the applicant is resending his/her resume to everyone else. Every CC'ed employer will chuckle at the foolishness of what you've done and make a note to disqualify your application.

9) The dumbest response to the dumbest thing you can do. So, I received one of these "Mass CC'ed" candidate mistake emails the other day. Not 20 minutes later, a recruiter who was included on the CC list spammed the entire list advertising his services, thoroughly embarrassing himself in front of a group of peers...which proves that employment industry professionals aren't immune from making the same mistakes that candidates make.

In closing, there are some good high-level resume advice articles online that I encourage you to read and follow. However, make sure that you've mastered the nitty-gritty aspects of job-hunter communication as well.

Todd Mintz

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Professional HR Consultant Resume For Your Job Application

You may be applying for the job of Professional HR Consultant in an organization, but are you prepared with your job application formalities? Have you drafted your resume? If you have not yet formulated your resume then, you must write down your own resume immediately, because this document plays a major role in any job selection.

It is necessary that, any candidate applying for the HR consultant position in a company, must insert his professional skills, working experience with prior organization and other specific details in his resume document. His interview calls depends largely on his professionally made resume because, any hiring manager or employer gets the required information of the candidate, through his resume.

Efficiently drafted resume with needed HR skills and other information, offer greater chance for his recruitment. Poorly made resume, without proper format and details may deprive him of his employment opportunity.

Any candidate applying for the Professional HR Consultant job must include following skills along with other proficiencies in the resume:

• Excellent Communication and Presentation skills

• Knack for Business Development and professional manner

• Selection, screen and short list the ideal candidates.

• Prepare and train the candidates for the job interview.

• Maintain data base of potential proficient candidates

• Head hunting and cold calling

• Relationship management

• Target achiever

• Maintenance of records and documentation

• Keep track of candidate fees and negotiate for them.

The resume format should provide separate sub headings such as, Contact Information, Summary, Professional Experience & Achievements, Academic Qualification, Certificates & Awards and Technical & Additional Skills.

Well articulated resume with proper format offers, short listing, interview call and selection for the applied HR job.

If you are unaware of writing Hr Consultant Resume, you can view the sample HR Consultant Resume for your own resume preparation.

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Causes Of Infertility - When A Career Gets In The Way Of Motherhood

Not only is it a physical challenge to be pregnant, but for some women it is a huge hurdle just to fall pregnant. Add to that, the reality that men can continue to father children at almost any age, yet women are facing a ticking time bomb. If they do not make the decision early enough, then their age can ruin their chances forever. Women are under extreme pressure to have children and have them young.

So what about when life gets in the way of motherhood?

Most women have a desire to have children. Some women chose not to take the path of motherhood, and that's ok too. The current role of women in society has however made the task somewhat a confusing one

Why are Careers Damaging?

Many women may chose to follow a career path, joining their male counterparts in successful and industrious careers. This can be highly satisfying and rewarding, and women overall are now accepted to be equally capable in any career they chose.

The disadvantages of this, of course are that women have a body clock, and one that ticks rapidly after 30. Assuming that a woman has a partner at this age, trying to conceive in the early 30's if it has not been an option earlier is the best decision. This is not often the case though and some women have to battle the fact that they may be too old for a baby!

If you consider that by the time a woman finishes high school, college and university she may well be in her mid to late twenties. Now armed with the task of establishing herself in her field this could well take a few years placing her in the late twenties to early thirties age group. With the extra task of finding the perfect partner, the entire situation for many women just seems too confusing, or one filled with sacrifice.

Is sacrifice necessary?

In truth, the choice between parenting and career always comes with sacrifice. The most difficult thing in society these days is that with an increase in the average age of a first time mother heading well towards 30, that the perception it is ok to have children at an older age is misleading many women and leading them to a path of fertility treatments.

It is absolutely fine whichever path a woman chooses, but before choosing a path dedicated to her career, a woman needs to consider how she would cope with facing the possibilities of never having children if her career path doesn't allow her to take time off for a motherhood role. Leaving first attempts at pregnancy until age 30 and beyond is seeing many career women placed in this exact situation.

I know your pain and I want to help ease it!! After a 9 year struggle through a journey of infertility, emotional and financial heartbreak I am now a proud mother.

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Nontraditional Careers For Women - Female Jockeys Gaining Ground

The first thing I can remember wanting to be when I grew up was a jockey. Well, that obviously didn't happen, but I do wish there was a "fantasy jockey" camp, similar to what they have for baseball - I'd be the first to sign up!

Being a jockey was a nontraditional career for a woman when I was a kid, and it still is today. About 10% of professional thoroughbred jockeys are women; the Department of Labor defines a nontraditional field for women as one in which 25% or less of those employed are female.

As in other male-dominated fields, the women who pioneered in racing faced many challenges. The first woman jockey to ride in a pari-mutuel race was Diane Crump, in February 1969 at Hialeah, but she wasn't the first to try. When Penny Ann Early attempted to enter three races at Churchill Downs in 1968, she was prevented from riding because the other jockeys boycotted the races. Barbara Jo Rubin faced not only boycotts, but a bricks thrown through her trailer window, when she entered a race at Tropical Park in January of 1969. However, Rubin did become the first female jockey to win a race on February 22 of that year when she won at Charles Town. Rubin was forced to retire about a year later due to injuries; however in her brief career of 89 races she won 22 times and was in the money 20 more times. Diane Crump made history again in 1970 when she became the first woman to ride in the Kentucky Derby. She won over 230 races before she retired in 1985.

Although the number of women jockeys is still quite low, they race in a very different environment than the pioneering women jockeys did. The first women jockeys faced the prejudice and hostility of their male colleagues, who did not want women racing against them. The men would sometimes cut them off or commit other violations, which were ignored by the race officials. They would even slash them with their whips! (The irony of this is that one of the concerns of the male riders was that they felt racing was too dangerous and the women would get hurt!)

Diane Crump was invited to compete in a match race in Puerto Rico. The male jockey riding against her did everything he possibly could to unseat her from her mount, including grabbing her saddle cloth, knocking her foot from the stirrup, and grabbing her reins. Crump fought back by cracking him on the head with her whip, but he wound up winning the race by a length. However, the women in the crowd cheered Diane and cursed and threw rotten tomatoes at the male jockey!

The early women jockeys also faced opposition from the jockeys' wives, who were uncomfortable that the women would see their men in various states of undress, even though dressing quarters were separate. As a matter of fact, there were no women's dressing quarters - the women often had to change in horse trailers and couldn't even shower until they got back to their hotel rooms at the end of the day.

Getting good mounts was also a challenge, as many owners and trainers did not want their horses ridden by a woman. Sometimes the female jockeys were pressured to exchange sexual favors in return for a mount. When they did get mounts, they were often harassed by the fans at the track, or "goosed" as they were given a boost into the saddle by the trainers.

The tide started to turn in the 1970s at the small Eastern race tracks, the "minor leagues" of racing, when the dedication and work ethic of the women riders stood out against that of the men. The women began to gain acceptance, and gain more and better mounts around the country.

The most successful woman jockey is Julie Krone. She began her racing career in 1981, and won 3,454 races before she retired in 1999. At the time of her retirement, she had won more than $81 million in purses and ranked 16th in earnings on the all-time list for all riders. She un-retired in 2002 and continued to win, finishing her career with 3,704 wins and more than $90 million in purse earnings. In 1993, Krone became the first female to win a Triple Crown Race, when she rode 13-1 long shot Colonial Affair to victory in the Belmont Stakes. She is the only female to win a Breeder's Cup race. She accomplished the rare feat of riding six winners in a day. She is the only woman rider in the Racing Hall of Fame, inducted in 2000.

Krone "put the lie" to the idea that women weren't tough enough or strong enough to handle massive animals in a dangerous sport. At 4'10" and 105 pounds, she was tiny even by jockey standards. However, her size didn't prevent her from winning races, from coming back from injuries that would have ended the careers of other riders, or from picking fights and wrestling matches with male jockeys who had wronged her.

Following the path of Krone and the other trailblazing female jockeys, more and more women are racing successfully, and face much less prejudice and resistance than did the women in the early days. (Although it still occurs.) On March 26, 2009 top young jockey Maylan Studart won her 40th race with a win at Aqueduct, moving her from apprentice to journeyman status. Three of the seven jockeys she beat that day were women! Aqueduct currently has five women jockeys competing at the track. John Lee of the NY Racing Association stated that "I don't think we've ever seen so many talented women riding here at the same time. And when they're riding in New York, they're riding in the major leagues."

I look forward to seeing many more women compete as successfully as jockeys. (And I continue to hope for that fantasy jockey camp!)

© Koval Associates LLC

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A Difficult Life for Single Mothers With a Career

We hear how difficult it can be to be a single mother and hold a career. A few fathers may have this problem so it applies equally to all those single fathers out there as well. Few of us know really how many hurdles these woman (single parents) have to go through in order to advance in their careers. Hurdles often include skills, wages and competing interests.

The Department of Labor states that about 69% of all single mothers are working. This number shows some indication of decline as the economy sours. Since such woman have competing interests, have more problems, often less skills, and must balance between work & family they are typically one of the first groups to lose their jobs. Even while working they have some of the lowest income levels. The problems these woman face can be summarized as follows:

Skills

Many of the working mothers have only sporadic prior experience. Since they have been busy raising children many of these mothers have not had the opportunity to attend trade schools or colleges. Furthermore, a career is developed over time and in many cases these woman have moved in and out of the workforce thereby they are unable to maintain a career.

Competing Interests

Businesses love when employees are committed to the company's success. The problem is that mothers sometimes come in late, must leave early and take additional days off to either recover themselves or take care of a sick child. If the babysitter calls off they are required to stay at home to watch their children. The more resources they have in terms of friends and family members the more likely they will be able to maintain a successful career.

Low Wages

Women are generally paid slightly less than men. When we add the lack of education and the sporadic work experience many woman are qualified only for entry level positions with subsistence pay. These low wages must be divided up for housing, food, clothing, children's medical needs, transportation, etc. With a low budget many woman are not able to provide for their children's future, may have chronic car problems because they can't afford maintenance, and may not be able to purchase all the luxuries of others. These low wages causes the next generation to repeat the problems of their mothers.

The next time a single mother makes a mistake please consider the turmoil these woman (and men) have to go through in order to survive. Each and everyday is a struggle to keep all the ends tied together and a problem in one area may cause the whole tightly knit ball to unwind. Companies that offer flexible schedules, promotion from within, job training, medical benefits and child care allotments do these women a great service.

Murad Ali

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5 Fun Corporate Events Ideas - Mixing Work and Play

The experience of 'team islands' forming within the corporate atmosphere is one that is common to many, many companies. This phenomenon occurs when small groups of individuals, usually those that have a common goal within the organisation or similar work function, band together and exclude other employees. The people involved may be very much team players... but only within a small circle. pose both challenges and solutions for companies with a 'team islands' experience. A well-chosen, handled and set up well, can be the catalyst that starts breaking down the inter-team boundaries and fusing them together. Today we look at some guidelines for creating an organization-wide team island through your!

What are team islands and how do they form?

The 'team islands' phenomenon can be summed up very simply:

- Small groups of people work well together

- However there are problems in relationships between the teams

A 'team island' may be as small as three people, and as large as thirty, and they will carry over from the workplace to. They usually form because of differences in work goals, and they can be strengthened by the presence of markers and boundaries in the work environment.

Some examples of the markers and boundaries that help define team islands in the workplace include:

• Differing work uniforms

• Different versions of the company logo

• Pay scales

• The type of language used in performing their job

• Being in different areas of the office, or in cubicles compared to enclosed offices, for example.

• Meeting structures that separate teams

• Separated car parking areas

Preparing to break down team islands with:

A corporate event in itself isn't enough to break down team islands. And in fact, some degree of separation within teams is ideal - it simply isn't possible for people to be especially close to everybody in the workplace. However, your will do the most to help break down island barriers and encourage when:

• You pay attention to removing markers in the workplace beforehand - create communal car parking areas, the same uniform for all staff, etc.

• The removal of markers and boundaries is done at around the same time as the corporate event

Choosing a corporate event to facilitate island breakdown:

Some corporate events are designed to work in small teams, others are designed to work on a larger scale. Some,, such as go-karting, can mix these two approaches depending on exactly how the day is designed. If you're trying to break down boundaries, try to ensure that your staff all have the same experience. You'll need to both choose the corporate event activity carefully, and have a hand in how it is set up.

Should you break up a team for an event?

There is a temptation to physically force these little team islands apart through your corporate event, putting one graphic designer with one journalist, one sales girl and one manager within a group at your event. You'll need to be careful about the way you do this, though! If your staff feel they are being manipulated, the net positive effect of your corporate event will be lost. You shouldn't necessarily pander to existing teams at the corporate event - simply find a different way of mixing people up.

These could be:

• Based on alphabetical order of last name

• Based on month of birth

• Based on a random activity like drawing straws

Corporate events are one of the single most effective ways of integrating the teams within your organisation... but sue their power wisely!

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