Alison Doyle

The UPS Guy

I love my UPS guy. He's always happy and cheerful - even when it's 95 degrees out or when the driveway is a sheet of ice and he has to hike in from the road.

He always looks at the bright side.  When the roads are barely passable, he tells me it's not too bad.  When it's hot or rainy, he says it's been worse.

I order a lot of stuff online, so he always closes our brief conversation with I'll see you tomorrow.

If you're interested in a package delivery position or another UPS job, they have lots of information on UPS jobs online, including a job application.

I don't know the FedEX guy. I don't get packages that way as often and I don't think I have a regular driver, but there's plenty of FedEx jobs information online, as well.

Do You Have a Cool Job?

I'm getting some good contributions to my collection of cool jobs articles:

• Alaska Fishing Jobs
• Climbing Jobs
• Culinary Arts Careers
• Disney Employment
• Sales Coach
• Ski Resort Jobs

I'm hoping to be able to create a "top ten" list of cool jobs for an an article on my About.com Job Search site, so I'd love some additions for the list.

If you have a cool job and would like to share your story, you can contribute a guest article here.

Rock Star Moments

My dear friend and colleague, Susan Heathfield, About.com's Guide to Human Resources shared her rock star moment this week.   I was thrilled to hear about how well her presentation went and the accolades it received.

In seems to have been a week for moments, for us.  A colleague told me that my book, Internet Your Way to a New Job, was a big hit at a conference he attended.  Someone else informed me that both my books were promoted at another career event. I've been interviewed and quoted quite a bit over the last week and my In Box keeps getting so full that my head is spinning a little.   

All of which is good. Despite the fact that the job market isn't great, there is still action on the careers/job front, which means that there are more resources available that job seekers can use to expedite and focus their job search.  I'm not quite there yet, but I almost have a top ten new job search sites list and we're only half way through the year!

When It's Okay to Quit Without Notice

I typically tell people who are going to quit their job to give two weeks notice and to not burn any bridges with the employer.

I got a good lesson this weekend in why that doesn't alway work and why it can make sense to say I'm sorry, but I'm not coming in tomorrow.  A young lady I know was working at her first job in a bed and breakfast. Aside from the job not being exactly what the owner mentioned - there was no office or administrative work or helping with the web site - the working conditions were awful. 

This weekend, the temperature was in the high 90s, there was no air conditioning (imagine what the third floor of an old Victorian mansion was like), there were no breaks, and the employee had to ask if she could get her bottle of water to drink.  She was lucky that she didn't faint - she came very close.

When she asked my advice, I told her that it wasn't healthy working conditions and she shouldn't go back. Though I did recommend that she call (which did) her employer to explain why.

Sometimes, despite our best efforts, jobs don't work out - here's more on what to do when the job isn't what you expected.

The Best and the Worst Jobs

I've been having fun this week writing about cool jobs and about the worst jobs in the world.  There actually might be some crossover on the lists. Some people might think that working on a fishing boat in Alaska isn't quite as cool as Scott Coughlin might think, especially when you look at the photo of him and the fish.

I think what it comes down to is your personal preferences and your definition of what's enjoyable when it comes to work, and what it isn't.  I know that I've spoken to lots of people who have jobs I wouldn't want, but they love then.  The reverse is true, as well.  There are people who wouldn't want my job either.

I'm interested in knowing what other people think are the worst jobs in the world.  You can post a comment here and I'll compile a list.

Connecting on LinkedIn

I've written quite a bit about using LinkedIn to grow your career and to job search. It's also a really good way to reconnect with people you have lost touch with.

Scott Coughlin, founder of The Alaska Fishing Jobs Center, wrote a guest article for my About.com Job Searching site more than a few years ago.  We lost touch over the years and reconnected on LinkedIn last year.   That led to another guest article, this one an inside look at Alaska fishing jobs, including the types of jobs that are available and what it's like to work on a salmon purse seiner.

I've also been able to connect with quite a few other people from the past, including one of my college roommates (I was thrilled to find her!) and former colleagues and co-wokers. 

Facebook is another good place to keep connected as well as get back in touch.  I've found quite a few people from my past there, as well.

Here's a list of where you can find me, just in case you're interested:

My VisualCV

Facebook

LinkedIn

Twitter

Image Copyright Scott Coughlin

Checking for Spiders

I read an interesting job description for a housekeeper at a local bed and breakfast the other day. Besides the traditional cleaning rooms, making beds, tidying, etc. the job description included checking and removing spiders.

The young lady whose job description it was hadn't read it that closely and there was no way, she said, that she was going to get close to any spiders.  I can't say that I blame her.

The way we (or at least I) remove them in my house is to take them outside.  I've done that with a few chipmunks and mice the cat has brought it - very much alive and left for me to chase around, as well.

With all jobs there are things like we like to do and tasks that aren't much fun. It's important to weigh them out when you have a job and when the bad outweigh the good, maybe it's time to consider a change.

Breaking my LinkedIn Rules

I had a discussion with CareerDiva Eve Tahmincioglu, on who to connect with on Facebook and LinkedIn (and, of course, I invited her to connect with me because she's very relevant to what I do). I told her that I don't accept every connection that asks. Because, if I did, I'd be inundated  by job seekers who want personal help, that, as much as I'd like to, I don't have the time to provide.

I also said that having good/strong connections that you know and who can help you build your career or connect with people who can, is better than having too many connections who aren't relevant.  I stand by my words, at least most of the time, but, then again, you never know when one of your contacts will be able to help.

When I get a request like the this one, there isn't any way that I could say anything other than, of course and thank you for both your kind words and taking the time to write.

Dear Alison: I am a tremendous fan of your work from About.com. Your advice has been extremely helpful for me. I would be very honored if we could link profiles. 

How does that saying go about rules being made to be broken - or at least bent?

Speaking of Facebook, we have a Job Searching Group that you're more than welcome to join.

So, I Failed

Well, I didn't really fail, but I wasn't successful in doing what I said I was going to do.  I mostly ignored my networking sites and I got a ton of work done today, but I didn't stay away completely.  I was right when I said the messages asking me to connect in my email In Box would do me in.

Tim Ferris' book The Four Hour Week gives the best advice I've seen on managing your time, especially checking email - if you can stick to it.  I tend to do the opposite. Rather than checking my email at certain times of the day, I leave it open and handle whatever comes in when it comes in.  For me, that's more effective than weeding through tons of email messages at once.  The book is definitely worth reading, if you haven't read it already, especially if you spend a lot of time working online.

Time Management

I'm doing something different today.  I'm ignoring Twitter, Facebook, the Forums I usually visit, and even LinkedIn, at least until I get through a good chunk of what's on my lengthy "to do" list for today.

All these sites are really useful for connecting and brand building, but I'm starting to find (and I know I'm not the first one) that they take a lot of time and it's really easy to sit here and click around and not do much constructive.

We'll see how much will power I have and whether I can ignore the new connection emails for a bit!