You Can Have What You Speak

When you operate in faith you need a vocabulary to support your mindset.
Here are some words to ponder over and some words you can speak into your life.

Abundant
Bless/Blessing/Blessed
Change, Confident, Creative
Determination
Expectation, Excited
Faithful, Fruitful, Fellowship
Grace, Growth
Hopeful
Increase
Joy
Kindness
Love
Mercy
New
Overcome
Purpose
Quality
Respect
Strength
Triumph
Unique
Victorious
Wisdom
Yearn
Zeal

Is Going Back To School An Option For You?

The decision of whether you should go back to school can be tough. The mere thought could spark important questions like:

1. Where do I find the time?

2. How would I pay for school?

3. Would it improve my chances of landing a better job?

4. Am I too old to consider going back to school?

In Part I of this blog series we will review time.

Time is precious because once it is gone you can never get it back. In determining if you will have the necessary time to go back to school I am going to use three components to help analyze your time. Those three components are commitment, time management, and support.

Commitment

Commitment means that you are in union with something or someone. If you are considering going back to school you will have to be committed to school. The commitment you may need could be for several weeks or several years. In fact, that means that you will have to plan everything in your life around school. This may mean that you will miss some parties, vacations, or even some of your sleep time. If this sounds like something you are ready to do then let's look at time management.

Time Management

In addition, to having commitment you will need excellent time management if you want to be successful in going back to school. I am recommending that you start to use a calendar or planner to help you with your time management. This will help you planning your school life and life away from school. Furthermore, you will have to discover which times you study best. Some of us study best when our minds are fresh early in the morning. While some study best when they are burning the midnight oil studying into the late hours of the night. It is key that you to find out what works for you. If you think that you have the necessary commitment and you can effectively manage your time then we will examine your support system.

Support

Finally, you will need support so you can stay committed to school and properly manage your time. Communicate to your family and friends and let them know your intentions and what you will need from them. You may need your family to step up and take on duties you were previously responsible for. Let them know that there sacrifice will enable you to allocate additional time to school. You may want to call on friends to help keep you encouraged when you want to give up and to give you space so you that you can give school your best effort.

Conclusion
In conclusion, careful thought about time will give you insight on whether going back to school is the right option for you.

The Question Behind the Question

How comfortable are you in having a conversation about your career history and career goals? The answer to this question will go along way in determining how well you will do in your next interview. Remember that an interview is an elimination competition held by employers to find the best people. Therefore, you must be prepared to answer many questions and have stories ready as an example of what you are stating. Every question you are asked is designed to give the interviewer a better understanding of you. Let's review some questions now.

Question 1: Tell me about yourself?
You may be wondering why you are being asked this when the employer more than likely has your resume or job application.

Purpose of Question:
The interviewer is asking this to see how you communicate and which career highlights are important to you. You should stick to professional information only when responding to this question. I would not discuss age, marital status, religious beliefs, or hobbies.

Question 2: Tell me about a time when you had a conflict with a co-worker and how you handled it?

Purpose of Question:
This a behavioral based interview question that seeks to discover how you would handle a future situation based on how you have handled similar situations in your career previously. I would use the STAR approach in answering this question. The word STAR is an acronym for situation, task, action, and result. Using the star formula you breakdown your answer into three segments of: description of task, the action you took, and the final measurable result. By using the star approach you allow the interviewer to visualize and record your behavioral responses to specific events and make a better conclusion of your future performance.

Question 3: Are you competitive?

Purpose of Question:
This question is asked to determine how important it is to you to be as successful or more successful than your peers. Being competitive is an important trait for anyone managing a sales goal.

Question 4: Tell me why you left your previous employer?

Purpose of Question:
This question is designed to determine if you are a job hopper or to simply understand the logic you use regarding decisions effecting your career. If you have a job listed on your resume be ready to explain why you left the company.

Conclusion:
Lastly, continue to practice answering interview questions so you can further develop your confidence when you are on an interview. Mastering this task will demonstrate to interviewers who you are and why you are the best candidate for hire.