Diversity is a confusing word, and can mean anything to different people. Thus, there is a compelling need to understand this term for theoretical and practical purposes.

Conducting diversity training can provide far-reaching benefits to an individual’s career in the workplace. Though the initiative can be expensive, however, it can create a meaningful shift in the business resulting to improved employee relations.

In this regard, there is a need to outline the reasons of diversity training for discussion purposes:

-  Mutual respect and cooperation

Mutual respect is a valued work environment with due consideration to differences in culture, race, gender, or sexual orientation. Lack of this usually results to high incidents of legal action due to discrimination and harassment charges.

If conducted appropriately, diversity training can help promote mutual respect among employees in the company’s workplace and the public in general.

Mutual respect can be achieved through a strict anti-discrimination and anti-harassment policy to be implemented by the manager or employer. Understanding various individual similarities and differences helps to see the merits and contributions of individual employees.

-  Good morale and tolerance of colleagues

Through diversity training, people can improve their understanding and appreciation of different cultures and viewpoints around them, and therefore promote tolerance.

In addition, a comprehensive and interactive training helps to improve the morale of people and promote participation among them to efforts on work-related tasks and responsibilities.

Employee satisfaction is important in any company. Without some form of diversity training, there is miscommunication going around. This diminishes understanding and compassion, which negatively results to low morale and productivity.

Diversity training will certainly ensure that everyone in the company, from the managers and supervisors to the rank and file, will think and feel that they are valuable to the company.

-  Building team players

To be really effective, diversity training must be experienced not only by managers and supervisors but all members of the work team in all levels.

Poor diversity training programs, meanwhile, brings to mind the notion that these are just for show, do not really reduce workplace discrimination, and do not truly encourage active participation among all employees in the company.

If the training is conducted among a few people, it projects the impression that the team is divided, which defeats the purpose of the training.

A knowledgeable and experienced training facilitator is needed to get everyone to share their thoughts and opinions on specific issues, rather than merely conduct written exercises that do not mean anything.

-  Formulation of policies

Diversity training programs introduces new policies that help promote an environment of mutual tolerance and acceptance in the workplace.

Such training can trigger the formulation, and consequently the implementation, of new company policies regarding discrimination, intolerance, and harassment.

To reverse the rising trend of harassment and discrimination incidents, employers and managers are beginning to rethink of incorporating the discrimination and harassment policies of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission into their own company policies.

Without adequately explaining or clarifying salient points, these policies can only result to confusion that may lead to employees’ morale to plunge. Rather than arbitrarily impose new policies and regulations, it will be a good option to turn employees into active policy-makers.

-  Mitigation process

Diversity training programs improves the company’s good image and reputation in the community, making it a true supporter of employees’ welfare.

Such training helps diffuse any threat of harassment and discrimination complaints or charges by employees against their managers and employers.

In addition, carrying out such program sends a clear message that the management strongly adheres to the laws and regulations related to equal employment opportunity.

Diane Williams has 15 years of experience mentoring human resource professionals and recruitment agency personnel.

Have you been worrying about your dismal career condition? You were once at the top of your class as an honorary crème of the crop batch leader and you have observed that despite your sterling academic achievements, you find yourself at the sofa waiting for the phone to ring.

If it does ring, it is probably the pizza deliveryman checking out on your order. Corporate America could care less about how meritorious you were back in college. Hiring managers want a professional resume that will clearly speak about you and your qualifications.

Have you reviewed your resume today? Does it feel like your curriculum vitae is barricaded with hurdles and has no direction at all? Perhaps, it is time to revise your resume and remove all the obstacles that hinder it from being an effective job application document.

Remember that a resume is not an obstacle course. Your application should not sound ostentatious or too simple. Do not give hiring managers a difficult interpretation of who you really are. Metaphorically, do not include rubber tires, barbed wire traps, monkey bars, and vine ropes on the resume and give the hiring manager a clear path description to why you are applying for the job.

Here are just some ways to dispose of obstacle course objects on your professional resume:

• Get straight to the point – Explain your objective succinctly. Fill your resume with substance and powerful descriptions. Do not pretend doing something that you are not familiar with. In short, do not pad the application with pretentious statements because hiring managers are smart enough to spot on inconsistencies on the resume. Do not obfuscate the resume with sensationalized dreams of grandeur.

• Arrange all key roles – Applicants who have been working for the past five years should arrange all past roles chronologically. This is a traditional and the most accepted style in writing a resume. Nobody wants to flip a resume with unorganized and messy employment history.

• Start the application on a high note – Hiring managers encourage applicants to start a resume in a positive light. Writing a resume positively on your part gives you an incremental morale boost necessary to ace job interviews or panel discussions.

• Consult professional help – When in doubt, ask a professional resume writer to help you with your application.

Allan Shelton holds a Master’s Degree in Business Administration and a regular magazine contributor on career development.

However, writing your resume is NOT the first step. What you should do first is to look for the most appropriate job for your skills, competencies, and needs. After listing down the job opportunities you found that fits your needs and skills, it is only THEN when you move on to writing your resume.

Always keep in mind that for a resume to be successful and outstanding among all other resumes being submitted for the same position, it should be personalized, specific, and targeted to the job you are applying for. This means, one personalized resume for every job opportunity.

To ensure this, you must first extensively look for the most appropriate job for you AND comprehensively read through the job announcement. As you are reading through the job announcement, there are several things, which you should specifically take note of and consider when writing your resume. These include:

1. Skills, knowledge, and abilities

These are oftentimes always mentioned with specific headings in every job announcement. Once you see these, take note of them and list down your own skills, knowledge, and abilities that are similar or related to the ones in the job announcement.

Do not forget to mention this at the beginning of your resume. It will help the resume reviewer to instantly see that you are fit for the job and place your resume to the piles that are “for consideration/further review”.

2. Qualifications

Similarly with skills, knowledge, and abilities, these are also easily found in a job announcement. However, while skills, knowledge, and abilities are oftentimes included in federal job announcements, qualifications are most evident in regular job announcements. These should also be noted down and compared with your own personal capabilities and competencies. After doing so, include in the resume your competencies that relate with the qualifications in the job announcement.

3. Specific keywords

Unlike the first two, these are very tricky to locate within the job announcement. These are specific words throughout the announcement, which describes the highly specific requirements that the employer is looking for in applicants. Most evidently, however, these words are oftentimes repeated for several times throughout the announcement.

Once located, you could include these keywords and use them throughout your resume and cover letter in as subtle a way as the employer has used them in the job announcement.

Standardized resumes and those written using templates no longer succeed to catch the attention of the primary reviewer of resumes. To make your resume stand out among all the piles of resumes submitted for review of the hiring manager, it has to be highly specific with contents that have not been seen before by the hiring manager.

Applying for a summer job is different from applying for a corporate job vacancy. A summer job is the stepping-stone to a teenager’s journey into being part of the work force in the future. Summer vacation is not all about parties and beaches. Summer is a brief respite away from academics, and it is a time when a student starts to mold his/her young career.

The first thing to do when applying for a summer job is look for directories and job listings that hire teenagers to work at a specific period of day. Buy a local newspaper and browse classified advertisements for any summer job or part-time work in the community.

After finding a suitable job offer, preparing and writing the resume comes next. There is a huge disparity between a summer job and corporate resume. As a student, you need to understand how you should author the portfolio. Here are some tips:

          Indicate the position you are applying for and state why – Put together a series of interesting points why you want to apply for that certain position. Tell the employer why you want to work for them. Include concrete and justifiable means.

          Schooling background – Include on the resume positive impressions about you as a student. Looking for a part-time job need no to be too formal. The goal is to create a favorable impression with the employer and make him/her feel confident on your abilities as a young part-time employee.

          Detail the real you – Aside from providing the employer about your educational achievements, explain to him/her the real you. Open up values why the employer should hire you. The essence of applying for a part-time job is to gain experience. Throw all the formalities away.

          Parental consent – Finally, include contact details of your parents. This will give you security whether the employer turns rogue and starts bossing you around. As a teenager, you are still vulnerable and unfit to work under heavy pressure.

Spend your summer working rather than wasting your allowance stash on recreational activities. Jump-start your career with a part-time job that will sure guide you in the future as a professional.

Linda Roberts is part of a research team providing various resource materials to many different corporate recruitment departments.

It has already been a long overdue debate on whether career objectives are still important in a resume. For some employers, career objectives are necessary to reflect the specific job the applicant is seeking and to know the things that he/she is good at. However some employers perceive them negatively, seeing poorly written career objectives that do not even say anything at all. But given the scenarios, is it still necessary to write a career objective on our resumes?

What is a Career Objective?

Michigan State University Career Center defines Career Objective as a single phrase that expresses the particular type of employment a job applicant is seeking and/or the principal skills he/she is applying. In other words, it is a statement of one’s desired position, interests, and skills.

When does a Career Objective a Yes or a No?

If we are to scan different resume writing books or web sites, we cannot deny the fact that Career Objectives are really part of every applicant’s resume. Aside from it gives companies a summary of the job seekers qualifications, it also gives employers an idea on the specific position that the applicant is rooting for.

Career educator, author, and blogger Katharine Hansen, Ph.D., in her article titled “Should You Use a Career Objective on Your Resume,” states the reasons why Career Objectives in resume are debated among a pool of career counselors.

She states that those not in favor of writing down career objectives on resumes feels that those objectives are “too limiting” and are usually “poorly constructed.” That is instead of using the objective as a tool to let the employers know their preferred positions, most job seekers defeat the purpose of writing one and instead put down “woefully vague” career objectives.

Those in favor, on the other hand sees the importance of career objectives since it aids them to determine in a short time what an applicant wants to do for an organization and what they are good at. For them, a resume that lacks objectives is similar to a person who does not know what he/she wants and what he/she can do.

However, reading where the problems on both sides originate, we can conclude that one main reason that career objectives are discouraged is because most writers do not know how to write one. It may be limiting in some ways, but only if the career objective is not very well crafted and is not written based on its purpose. Hence, if only applicants understand and know how to write effective career objectives, then the question on whether it is necessary or not will no longer be asked.

Nick Woodson has more than 12 years of experience teaching Corporate Communications and Personality Development.

A newspaper report cited a study by a research organization, which found out that Asian Americans report the highest rates of workplace discrimination in the U.S.

According to the study, though about 31 percent of Asian Americans surveyed reported incidents of discrimination followed by African Americans at 26 percent, generally they file fewer complaints to the Employment Equal Opportunity Commission as compared to other racial, ethnic, or minority groups.

Such result of the study seems to reinforce the perceived image of Asian Americans as quiet and docile. This makes them easily susceptible to discrimination by other races.

As enshrined by the civil rights movement, no group should be treated with hostility and contempt.

Frequent occurrence

Asian American women encounter biases more than twice as compared to men. Such biases are apparent in incidents of harassment, current conditions in the workplace, and system of work assignments.

The most frequent type of workplace discrimination cited by survey respondents are the following:

-  Sex bias (at 26 percent)

-  Racial bias (at 23 percent)

-  Age bias (at 17 percent)

Most of these incidents are related to decisions on employment promotion and unequal pay to employees. Other types include favoritism, sexual orientation, and language, but these are not covered by federal law.

Unfair and stifling stereotypes

-  Asians who do not speak up either do not care about, or lack knowledge of, an issue. This is a misconception that other people who belong to other racial groups usually think about Asians.

Actually, in Asian culture, talking excessively is viewed as a sign of weakness. Thus, someone who are the talkative or silent type does not measure if they are capable or not to perform the job.

-  Asians are quiet, passive, and anti-social. This means that they are viewed as less creative or unwilling to take chances or challenges, as if other races are saying these characteristics are not present among them.

-  Asians are non-confrontational yet hardworking and technically skilled. Again, this is like saying these characteristics do not exist in other races.

Cultural customs

In order to break these cultural biases and stereotypes, it is significant to understand the Asian culture and way of life. This is to eliminate any cultural insensitive practices among employers and managements of companies.

-  On management

Due to a relationship-oriented perspective that was ingrained in their culture, Asians communicate indirectly when giving negative feedback to other people. They will rather not argue with someone in public to allow him or her to save face.

The sense of respect for elders and hierarchy of many Asians have an effect on their behavior in organizational or business meetings.

An Asian who nods does not necessarily mean he or she is agreeing with the speaker. He or she may simply acknowledge that the speaker’s statements are heard clearly.

-  Work ethics

Due to their sense of humility, many Asians may understate their qualifications and experiences during job interviews.

Early in their lives, Asians were taught not to brag about their own accomplishments, and the fact that one is pursuing a more prestigious job is seen as bragging itself. They think that being hardworking speaks more about their worth.

Regarding work performance, they may not feel at ease completing self-assessment as a form of appraisal. In addition, however, they will prefer to be rewarded as part of a group rather than be recognized as an individual.

While Caucasian children are taught that in order to succeed in life, they need to work it out on their own, Asian children are taught that their boss will take care of their needs if they are hard working.

Resolute measures

To prevent the possibility of becoming an easy target of discrimination, Asian Americans should speak out and demand equal treatment in accordance to law. Employers and managers, on the other hand, should take extra effort to effectively manage a diverse workforce and consequently gain the advantages of a cross-cultural workplace.

Pam Montero is connected with an international manpower recruitment agency headquartered in Singapore.

Along with the continuous growth of the Internet and the ballooning number of web users all around the globe, more and more people are also embracing the economic benefits of cyberspace, particularly in labor and employment. In fact, outsourcing and offshoring of jobs have increased due to the wide expansion and progress of the Internet. Even housewives and students have found a way to earn money without leaving their homes because of the countless openings available online. This only goes to show how beneficial technology has been to every person of all walks of life, regardless of status or condition.

As how analysts see it, employment is slowly changing its shape. Instead of office-based works, a great number of job posts nowadays are Internet-based. Obviously, these are the jobs that did not exist ten years ago, but will surely exist for the next 10 to 20 years. What is even nicer about these types of jobs is that they are not only practical and cost-saving, they are also among the high paying jobs.

To give you an idea how massive Internet-based jobs are recently, below is the list of careers that are gradually taking the cyber world by storm.

Web Designers / Web Developers

Web designers are the persons responsible for designing and presenting contents for the World Wide Web, while web developers are the ones tasked to undertake programming and web applications development for a web site.

Because a lot of companies, private organizations, and non-profit foundations are slowly appreciating the benefits and impact of the Internet to people, a lot of these institutions are tapping various web professionals to create the most compelling company web sites. Although a number of system-generated tools are available to create simple web pages, most companies still prefer professional services, resulting to the increased demand for web designers/web developers.

Content Writers

Freelance journalists and writers are among the most fortunate in terms of the number of writing opportunities available for them. Since many companies are taking their businesses online, the demand for writers who are tasked to fill in the content of their web sites are also highly necessitated and hired.

Online Teachers

Considering that a lot of students have chosen online education as the most practical way to gain information, a huge vacancy has been provided for professionals and qualified educators who wish to teach, tutor, or mentor students in all levels. Aside from being mostly home-based, these jobs provide higher income given that a lot of professionals and businessmen from non-English nations pay great just to learn the universal language.

Call Center Agents

Popular among developing countries, call center services are also among the jobs that mushroomed along with the advancement of modern technology. Call center jobs, which can vary from customer service and technical support to telemarketing, operate to handle and solve incoming product support or information inquiries from customers.

Flash Designers

Due to increased competition among web sites, web owners are full force in developing strategies that will magnetize viewership from users. It is because of this that Flash designers were born. Flash designers take charge in surprising web visitors with images, presentations, animations, movies, tutorials, and other multimedia tools that help enhance the visual appearance and appeal of a web site.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Specialists

Same with how Flash designers increase viewership, Search Engine Optimization specialists also boomed due to the increased necessity of web sites to get more traffic and earn stronger revenues. SEO professionals are trained with various methods and techniques to optimize web sites and improve its ranking in search engine’s natural search results. They do these by creating site maps, using relevant keywords, and making pages W3C compliant.

Jeff Morrison is involved in many organizational enrichment conventions and forums dealing with employee wellness and development programs.

Summer has just ended but the “summer euphoria” hasn’t loosened its grip on you. While you still love that summer air, you need to start updating your documents, more importantly, your resume if you have just come out of summer without a job.

It may sound harsh but, yeah, you need to update your resume and set the “summer feeling” aside. By clearly letting your time pass with an outdated resume, a lot of opportunities and time can be wasted. So, updating your resume regularly can improve your career success and speed up your job search.

So how often do you need to update your resume? Career experts suggest that resumes must be updated every six months or every time you secure a new achievement or accomplishment. This may be a lousy thing to do, but doing lousy updating is far better than rushing things out.

There are a number of reasons why updating is a must. Here is a little something that may convince you on updating your resume:

1. The big “L” is just around the corner

You had to admit that with today’s economy, stability is something farfetched. Thus, lay-offs and downsizing are nothing new. But, if you think that your company won’t get rid of you because of your “loyalty” or quality, you might have been mistaken.

Downsizing nowadays is often based on your “cost” rather than your “worth” or quality. So, more often than not, quality employees are being laid-off, for one reason: they are being paid more and were considered “costly” by the company.

So, have your resume updated regularly. This way, you are more prepared and ready when the big “L” hits you.

2. Opportunity isn’t going to wait for you

Noticed those job application deadlines are always on a rush? Well, employers don’t have a lifetime to wait for that perfect candidate” that will fill in the position.” Therefore, there is always a faster application turnover for every new job opportunity.

Now, if you have convinced yourself that you can do well even under pressure, suite yourself. But remember that rushing to update a century-old resume can do more damages to your resume than improvements.

That said, update your resume on a regular basis. Aside from updating, always make sure that your files are in the right formats so you can easily grab the opportunities as soon as they arise.

3. The day seems longer than you thought it is

Ever caught yourself staring at the clock hoping it’s already time to leave? Well, that is a proven sign that you are already dissatisfied with the job. So before your dissatisfaction gnaws your remaining determination, better start updating your resume.

Do note that attempting to restructure your resume in the midst of boredom and dissatisfaction can produce a low quality resume that definitely undersell your skills and qualifications.

4. You just have something to put in it

Of course, who wouldn’t want to show-off their achievements? Aside from giving yourself some good boost of professionalism and ability, it can also make you look proficient to an employer.

Updating your resume every time you receive some good commendations can help you go into details when writing your document. It’s because there are tendencies that you will likely forget what you have done in order to get that commendation.

5. Your resume is showing signs of being obsolete factors

Like anything else, resumes also show signs of aging. For one, things that are included before are now being removed. For the purpose of discussion, let us use “personal interest and hobbies” as an example. Before, these are included in resumes. Now, these opt to be removed from your resume to give room to more professional and career-based information.

Aside from that, if you have subsequently gathered ample experience, let’s say 15-20 years, it is already recommended that you leave off achievements that you have gathered during your college days. You also need to remove your first job and other works that are dated beyond ten years ago. This is due to the fact that hiring managers are more interested on the things that you were able to accomplish in the last 10 years, therefore, you must focus on that timeframe.

You also need to keep your job skill updated and use keywords that are relevant and current. For example, instead of having “secretary” in your resume, use “administrative assistant.”

Whether your resume is asking for a total makeover or some simple tweaking, it is a good practice to have a regular update of your resume. As you know, opportunity is just around the corner waiting for the first individual who will see it coming.

Linda Roberts is part of a research team providing various resource materials to many different corporate recruitment departments.

The purpose of your resume is to get you an interview with your potential employer. In addition, once you are invited for an interview, the recruiter will almost certainly use it to find out more about you. Especially if you have less professional experience or no work history at all, your reader will most probably be interested in your educational background.

If you are still studying, just graduated, or have been out of school for less than three years, your education information should be at the top portion of your resume. If you have not been studying and been unemployed longer than three years, it needs to be placed at the bottom. The longer you have been out of school, the shorter your education section should become. If you have been idle from school and have not accumulated impressive work experience, you may consider keeping your education section at the top for a couple more years. But it would be more prudent, of course, to consider garnering more work experience to strengthen the overall effect of your resume.

Just be mindful of what specifications are involved in the types of jobs for which you apply. If there is one skill you gained, a specific course you took, or some training you undertook during school that is relevant to your job search, you should definitely add them to the education section of your resume.

Resume Length

If you are a recent graduate, your resume should have one to two pages. You can have several pages if you many internships throughout school at a broad range of employment venues and if you did a vast array of career-specific duties other than filing, answering phones, and buying birthday gifts. Even if this is true, you should consider editing your resume per search and only include relevant duties done.

Moreover, even professionals with more than 20 years of experience can have a one-page resume because hiring nowadays is becoming quicker, yet tougher. Of course, every recruiter or employer is different personality-wise and works under different professional and personal conditions from day  to  day. But if he or she has a stock of resumes to skim in a short period of time, your one-page resume will more than likely be better appreciated.

What to include in your education section

-  School, university, or college

-  School cities and states

-  Actual or anticipated date of graduation

-  Dates of employment

-  Degree(s) earned

-  GPA

-  Honors and awards

Marie Edwards holds a senior executive post for a reputable recruitment agency.

Have you ever heard somebody say “Work’s a drag; I’m bored.”

Boredom is one of the common problems faced by employees today. This can be attributed to the fact that since they are usually doing the same thing for quite a while, employees tend to lose their interest on their jobs. Boredom can certainly block the employee’s creativity and may further result to poor work performance. Moreover, studies show that increased boredom may result to unproductive practices such as absenteeism, increased tardiness, and work stress. Job dissatisfaction and sleepiness may also result to slow production and hampers success in the workplace.

When left unresolved, job boredom can lead to job exhaustion that can leave employees demotivated from work. Therefore, when boredom happens, you must not feed it. Instead, try finding ways to resolve it.

Causes of Boredom

There are different factors that cause boredom. One, it may be due to some work-related issues that you are not currently addressing. It may be the irregular cycle that you are facing day in and day out. For instance, you have tons of paperwork today that leaves you exhausted and utterly drained after the day. And yet, yesterday, you have spent the whole day making origami using your tissue napkins because there is literally nothing for you to do.

Help!!!

When you find yourself exhausted and completely bored with work, you have to fix it before it ruins you entirely. Ask yourself “what’s making me feel tired and bored at work?” Maybe you find yourself uninspired. Or maybe you start to dislike the routine work that you are currently doing. Well, you can’t avoid such work especially if such routine is integrated to your work.

So what are your options? You may try getting yourself inspired by using your break time to walk around and get some fresh air. If you want, read a book or any interesting article that perks you up. Remember that new ideas come when you least expect it.

Aside from that, overwork can also generate boredom. Meaning, if you don’t do anything except work, work, and work, there is a greater possibility to get exhausted by the end of the day. So, in order to fight boredom you need to give a little something to yourself during work. Allot at least a few minutes to take some time off to recharge yourself. Listen to some music on your iPod.

When there’s nothing to work on

Actually, boredom is not a result of having nothing to do. It is, in fact a result when the thing or task at hand is not appealing to the person in question. Aside from that, boredom is also a result of very low skill variety of work accompanied with less autonomy and feedback.

When this strikes, the best thing that you can do is talk to your superior and discuss this issue with him. Work-related boredom that makes you feel as if “you literally have nothing to do” can be resolved by work assignments that appear challenging and interesting to the worker.

Now, if you feel bored because you think that you are not growing and the company doesn’t offer any possibilities for growth and improvement, then that’s a different story.

The feeling of having no opportunity for improvement and that you’re completely stuck in a rut can be very overwhelming when remained unsolved. Thus, boredom that is left unattended can lead to job dissatisfaction and later on, resignation. This is a tough decision that one must think about.

Do you need to resign now?

Boredom is not difficult to beat. All you need is analysis and discovery of what bores you in your company, you also need to work things out you’re your superiors.

Decided to leave your work? While you might be drafting your resume now and preparing to submit a resignation letter, you need to be sure about it. Remember, resignation is a serious matter and you don’t want to regret it in the future.

Jerry Jackson has traveled to most parts of Europe and Asia giving talks on corporate recruitment and employee management.