Sunny K. Lurie, Ph.D. president of Advanced Performance, Inc., a
business consulting firm in Cleveland, completed her doctoral research
on workplace change and its impact on employees. With rapid change
and advances in technology touching down like a tornado in the workplace,
she says, the ability to succeed requires more than a good resume
and the right degree.
Today’s successful employee needs passion for seeking and
trying fresh ideas. So how do candidates convey to a potential employer
they have a sharp competitive edge and can keep us with industry
change? Lurie offers the following tips to boost your chance for
hire.
When interviewing,
describe your ability to:
- Experiment
and initiate new methods. If you are willing to find
novel solutions for challenging situations and leave your comfort
zone from the tried-and-true, you are more marketable.
- Be
flexible to embrace change.
Give examples of how you have responded quickly to changing business
needs. Adaptable people are powerful resources to companies accommodation
change.
- See
the “big picture” and think broadly about an organization.
This is known as “systems” or “process”
thinking. Understanding how department functions connect is also
process thinking. It tears down wall and promotes teamwork and
better results.
Trends
A new survey by the Association of Support Professionals found that
salaries for most categories of support staff increased between
2000 and 2001, despite shaky financial performance of technology
companies during that period. The study indicated that support and
customer service representatives, along with department managers
and executives received pay increases of 1.1 percent to 8.3 percent,
while field support technicians did experience a reduction in pay
during that time.
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