personality traits/ productivity/ job lessons

Jan. 15 Personality traits: Lynda Albertson sent me this article "30 Blogs with the Best Self-Help Advice." http://www.nannybabysitter.com/blog/30-blogs-with-the-best-self-help-advice/ I'm reading the Professional Success section and the article "The 10 Most Important Personality traits for Career Success."  It''s by career counselor Tom Denham. 1. Attitude 2. Enthusiastic 3. Ethical 4. Goal- focused 5. Listener 6. Networked 7. Persistent 8. Self-aware 9. Self-confident 10. Self- discipline It goes into detail of why.  There's even more traits after this. Mental health first aid: I was reading 24 and see that Norquest College has this class.  I then went to their website and they totally changed the site.  It used to be blue and green, now it's red, orange, and yellow. It's a 2 day class.  It's: "help provided to a person developing a mental health problem or experiencing a mental health crisis. Just as physical first aid is administered to an injured person before medical treatment can be obtained, MHFA is given until appropriate treatment is found or until the crisis is resolved." The requirement is you have to have First Aid in the past 3 yrs. Jan. 17 Recommendations: Also from the Professional Success section, there was a blog article called "Recommendations from the Recently Employed."  It's a short and easy article to read, and it made me feel more positive. 1. Take good care of you. 2. Network like you mean it. 3. Roll your sleeves up. 4. Get on the leading edge. 5.  Be flexible. 6. Stay positive. 7.  Be prepared. 8. Be courageous. In #5, it says: "Don’t rule out any options -relocation, change of field, change in pay structure, and lower pay. It is important to take a hard look at what you really need salary-wise, not necessarily what you were previously making. Look at the intangibles – less travel, less demands outside of work time, more family time, shorter commute."  It makes you think about taking a job or not. #8 says: "This may sound strange, but don’t be afraid to turn down something that isn’t quite what you want. I was offered a job that I didn’t really want working for someone I disliked in a place far from home and not where I wanted to be, and I turned it down. Yeah, it scared me, but I had confidence I’d find something better, and I had a backup plan just in case I didn’t." That seems like an easy decision because she listed all these cons.  There may be other factors like she was unemployed for months so she might as well take this job. http://www.job-right.com/03/recommendations-from-the-recently-employed/ Productivity: Here's another Professional Success article.  I read an article called "33 Rules to Boost your Productivity."  It starts off with this: "Heuristics are rules intended to help you solve problems.  When a problem is large or complex, and the optimal solution is unclear, applying a heuristic allows you to begin making progress towards a solution even though you can’t visualize the entire path from your starting point." That kinds reminds me of looking at careers when you're in high school.  You don't know where you want to major in, so you take a few classes or research a college programs. There are these tips, most of them I already know about. 3. "Worst first" like do the most unpleasant task first so you can get it out of the way. 20. "Gap reading" like when you're waiting for the bus, or riding on a bus, you do some reading. I didn't really know about this.  It did inspire me: "31. Cross-pollination.  Sign up for martial arts, start a blog, or join an improv group.  You’ll often encounter ideas in one field that can boost your performance in another." Business news: The Zellers at Kingsway Garden mall is still open.  I checked the internet for that one.  I read that HMV in the UK, isn't doing so well, so it's going to close down some stores.  HMV Canada is owned by another company, so the stores in Canada are fine. I read in the Edmonton Journal that two Giant Tiger stores have closed down in Edmonton, but there are still 3 stores open. I read in 24 that Capilano mall is closing down some independent stores like All Star that sells collector's cards.  The store will be moved on Bonnie Doon mall. Career advice: I found this through Linked In.  It was about a career coaching session and analyzing your strengths and interests.  It also discussed your fears. This stood out for me in the article: "Based on my key strengths of editing, content development and packaging, Nemko repositioned me as a "storyteller" who takes dead facts and data, and brings them to life." http://www.bullhornreach.com/article/view/48512?referer=www.linkedin.com&shortlink=1613490 Jan. 19: I was reading in the Edmonton Journal today, that Capilano mall is going to keep Winners and Safeway.  Bill Mah wrote the article, and most of the stores will close down or be renovated. Jan. 22 Job lessons: I have changed a lot in what I think and know about jobs and careers.  In gr. 9, it was one year before I go to high school and I was thinking about careers.  I wanted to write and produce TV shows.  In the summer, before gr. 10, I was in CALM 20.  It was a two week summer school class and I learned all about my careers, jobs, job interviews, job search stuff in that class. In high school, I didn't really think about working because I didn't have a part-time job.  I really couldn't because I really need to focus on school since I wasn't good at it.  After I graduated out of high school, I passed out my resumes and got two job interviews.  One at Carlton Cards at Capilano mall and one at a movie theatre.  This was in 2003.  Later Carlton Cards closed down.  I didn't get the one at the movie theatre anyway, because they needed someone to stay and work night shifts that ended at midnight.  That's too late for me.  I knew the bare minimum of job interviews.  Show up on time, dress nicely, give a firm handshake.  I was 18.  I did a year of upgrading and got accepted into college.  When I was 18, and the summer before college I got a job at the dollar store.  It was the first real job I had gotten on my own.  When I was upgrading,  my mom gave me a job and I worked there once a week, all year long.  This was in 2004. In 2005, at NAIT, there was an assignment towards the end of the year where we learned about job search and interviews.  We had a mock interview where a group of 4 classmates are the Interviewers.  They had to interview 4 other classmates who are the Interviewees.  Interviewers had to choose who was the best candidate for the job. I learned a little bit more about job interviews here.  Then after that I did 2 yrs of Professional Writing in college.  By that time I was 22 yrs old, and I just knew a bit more. In 2010, 2011, 2012, those were the years where I learned everything about jobs, careers, job search and interviews.  I'm 27 now, and to look back that I only knew the basics of job interviews. To compare my job knowledge to schooling: It's like at 22 yrs old, I knew elementary up to gr. 6.  At 27 yrs old, it's like I knew everything up to gr. 12.  It's very substantial knowledge.  I'm not saying I know everything about jobs; I still have a lot to learn.