Career Corner: A Step at a Time
Based on a quick perusal of the business press headlines and the top 10 best seller lists of business books, I have concluded two things are absolutely essential for the move from employee to consultant....
Career Corner: How to Get Hired
As an employee, I have tons of insight on what the job hunt looks like from the seeker’s point of view. But I’ve often wondered what the process is like for the person on the other side of the hiring desk....
Career Corner: A Ready Résumé
Using performance review notes is the best way to keep your résumé ready. Any notes you prepare before a performance review are fodder for updating the current job section of your résumé. After 10 minutes of cutting, pasting and editing, the part of Kostu...
10 Quality Basics
In an overview designed to give quality newcomers a glimpse of the knowledge they need to succeed, ten regular Quality Progress contributors write on 10 basic quality topics that are fundamentals essential to surviving in a quality role. Topics covered...
Career Corner: Get Around the Box
Thinking outside the box can be crucial to business success. But career success sometimes depends on getting around the box - and here I'm referring to the boxes on the organization chart....
Career Corner: Teachers and Bosses I Have Known
Done right, working toward an MBA can be an intellectually stimulating experience. For most people who aspire to be managers, it at least helps them figure out what else they have to learn....
Career Corner: Making Performance Reviews Work for You
With rare exception in the course of my work life, I have been fortunate to have reasonable and fair supervisors. One thing they tended to agree on was that performance reviews should be a two-way communication process....
A Quality Library for a Desert Island
A key skill for any quality professional is knowing where to find the answers to questions. After more than 20 years in the quality business, I find my workday is a healthy mixture of old and new questions....
How To Handle Rough Spots On Your Resume
When I first met Mike, I could tell he was in the right job. He had been a recruiter for more than 35 years. His enthusiastic, friendly but straightforward approach was perfect for introducing potential employees to potential employers....
Computer Careers for Quality Professionals
Quality practitioners are continuing to increase their presence in sectors other than manufacturing....
Column: Career Corner: The Personal 360
I remember the time I volunteered for a 360-degree performance review. That's a formal dialogue in which you get feedback about your job style and effectiveness from peers, subordinates and supervisors. "Normal performance reviews are scary enough," you...
Column: Career Corner: Resumes: Before and After
My friend Deming Juran Crosby (D.J. for short) and I go back a long way. He recently decided to look for a new job and wanted some feedback on his résumé. It looked all right to me, but I suggested D.J. get a more professional opinion....
Column: Career Corner: Is It Time To Go?
The author used an analytical method to decide whether or not to leave his job, while his former boss's decision to leave was based upon relationship needs. Both methods are...
Column: Career Corner: The Benefits of Mentoring
Good mentoring calls for constant cultivation of one's listening skills. A mentor has to be willing to learn another person's strengths and weaknesses in addition to remaining aware of his or her own.
Mentoring means sometimes imagining a person in a...
Column: Career Corner: How To Work With Recruiters
(pages 85 and 87)
[abstract from article]
As quality professionals assume more personal responsibility for developing their careers, asking how recruiters can help is a natural question. Bill, Dave and Paul, three recruiters who place quality...
Column: Career Corner: What It Takes To Be a Leader
Ask yourself 10 questions if you think you'd like to be the boss
Ask yourself 10 questions if you think you'd like to be the boss:How much do I like my job?How often do I have to repeat myself?How do I respond to failure?How well do I put up with second guessing?How early do I ask questions when making a decision?How...
Column: Career Corner: So You Want To Go Solo?
Consulting is not for those desiring routine and low risk. For those with the knowledge, daring, persistence and willingness to listen, however, the rewards more than make up for the surprises....
