by Jeffrey Wright

Efficiency and effectiveness is critical for every job; so its really vital to make sure that you find a job that aligns with what makes you efficient and effective. generally speaking, these are factors that will work best when a job aligns with your natural skills.

Remember though that talents for a particular type of job are acquirable, and an individual or a job-seeker can also consequently alter his mind-set in order for him to become suitable for a different role.

But what happens when your skills are inappropriate for the job at hand? You will end up doing something that doesn’t suit you, or you may simply throw your time and effort away. For this to be avoided one should consider an aptitude test; and that career aptitude test should be taken before job-hunting and definitely not after landing a job!

Basically, a career aptitude test is designed with the intention of ascertaining an individual’s skills that are fundamental for success in a particular job or career.

This can be looked at in many ways; mental alertness, handling pressure, insight, and the capability to manage the stress on the job are just a few. Furthermore, this test is often used in companies  to ensure employees are suitable for understanding the basic skills in each department.

There are some skills that are common to all levels, such as dealing with ad-hoc crises and exhibiting team spirit. Therefore the tests to measure up ability are conspicuously seen in the career aptitude test. Intellectual capability is also displayed during the test and the job-seeker is given more counseling to develop his current skills.

Also, training programs indirectly test the job-seeker’s attitude and the points on leadership, progress, knowledge and mental stamina during these meets. The questionnaire for a career aptitude test can also be at the induction level or even when the test-taker is called for an interview. These are fundamental questions that appear simple and yet bring out the innate characteristics of the test-taker’s temperament.

Moreover, a comparative scrutiny about academic background, previous experience and current career during an aptitude test evaluation is very much necessary so that the prospective employee or job-seeker is able to fully justify his position in the current job profile.

Other factors such as hobbies, disposition, age and many other functions work in tandem to produce a personality measurement

The career aptitude test can also be designed for senior positions though the questions have to be geared more towards emotional quotient metrics. This point must be clearly remembered. More often than not, career aptitude tests need to be conducted annually and before an annual appraisal so that the candidate has a useful set of information to compare against the job role.

These are scientific tests and the appraisal is adjudicated by a qualified counselor. The answers are usually based on varying degrees of agreeing and disagreeing with the questions. The evaluation sheet mentions scores that point out the skill set of the prospective employee or the job-seeker. Above all, enjoyment and happiness in the role is vital for success in the career path and progress for the organization. Skills improvement is given by means of training, temporary assignments in other areas, and also coaching in soft skills. Lastly, the role of a counselor and career aptitude tests are mutually beneficial for the organization and the aspirant.

By John Rogers

Thinking of starting a business web-based, but just not sure if it is for you?

Getting a Web company up and running is really very simple. But it does involve a lot of hard work – more than you may have heard - and its certainly not for everyone.

However, the rewards can be there for some, and on the surface it looks very appealing. So what’s it all about?

The first thing to do is to put aside the time that you will need.

Whatever you do, don’t use your sleeping time to work on the company – there are many pitfalls to working online and its critical to be in a fresh and alert state when taking some of the bigger decisions.

So be sure that you have the time to invest before you start. There are many business opportunities that exploit the novelty of the Web, some of which are ‘too good to be true’. However, there are many genuine opportunities as well. One of the biggest challenges is sorting out the one from the other.

An important factor for success in an Internet business could be looking at things that interest you personally. If you want to enter into a profitable internet business then you must take it seriously.

As an entrepreneur business on the Internet you usually find it very hard to get visitors to your website to sell your products to. Most entrepreneurs invest a large majority of their time at the computer. As soon as you can see some good results on a small scale, you can start to throw a portion of your income back into your Internet business and watch it take off.

There are a lot of good resources out there to help you . Visit forums, see what people are advising you to steer clear of, and what seems to be working for others.

Online you will find everything you need about the different topics in Internet advertising. Web advertising is essential to the success of your business website. There is no ‘one size fits all’, because each Internet business has different needs and objectives. Similarly, some of these skills you will already have; others you will need to learn.

Establishing web links for your business is a crucial aspect of the advertising campaign of a person. Social bookmarking is a powerful technique that can help you generate free visitors of your website, especially when your Internet business is brand new or may have been silent for a while. 

Although you never see this in a product sales letter, you will have to work very hard if you want to build a real company online. Understanding how to start an Internet business should not be difficult, its making a long term success of it that will require effort and determination.

By Elizabeth Freedman

Fix your bad career habits

If 2010 is going to be your year, then get serious about fixing bad career and workplace habits that are dragging you down. Here are a few to think about:

Bad Career Habit #1: Not Networking

Let’s agree on one point – most of us would rather pull out our eyelashes than network. If you’re a networking champ, then skip this paragraph. Otherwise, consider the fact that one of the reasons you may avoid networking is simply because you’re not good at it. You’re not comfortable with it. You don’t enjoy it. Makes sense – after all, if you only went to the gym once or twice a year, that would hurt too, wouldn’t it? The only way to be a better networker is to do it more often. Practice. Make networking a habit – which means doing it when you don’t feel like it (kind of like the gym, right?). Make the commitment to have lunch with someone once a week, or attend an event once a month. Whatever the number, pick it and stick to it.

Bad Career Habit #2: Ignoring Social Media

If you’re not blogging, tweeting, or otherwise getting your ideas and expertise out there using social media tools, you’re missing a golden career opportunity. Most of us have no problem sharing the latest on Facebook, but are you using social media tools strategically? For instance, a job seeker looking for networking contacts could use her blog (which she’s already created and updates regularly as a way to showcase her expertise) to reach out to people to interview for an entry she’s working on. And, if you are using tools, how often are you blogging/tweeting? My personal resolution is to get more focused and disciplined about doing this, too – so I’m not blogging periodically, but on a regular basis. Here’s a habit I’m working on: Blogging three times/week. Readers, hold me to this!

Bad Career Habit #3: Mistaking Effort for Output

You and I know people that work their butts off – you may be one of them, in fact. There’s nothing wrong with hard work, but if you’re putting in lots of time and not getting the payoff (in promotions, raises, recognition, or whatever it is you’re hoping the hard work will do for your career), make sure you’re delivering value and real results that will matter to your personal bottom line. And, while you’re at it, avoid this bad habit’s evil stepsister – thinking that being busy is the same thing as being productive. We’re all busy – but how many of us are really getting everything done that we need to? A simple, but effective way to stay on track: Spend five minutes each morning (before you turn on your laptop or Blackberry) to make a list of three priorities for the day. Keep your list short, sweet, and targeted, so that if nothing else happens, you’ve been productive where it matters most.

Elizabeth Freedman is an expert in career and workplace issues. She is the author of Work 101: Learning the Ropes of the Workplace without Hanging Yourself and The MBA Student’s Job-Seeking Bible, and was a 2005 finalist for College Speaker of the Year, awarded by the Association for the Promotion of Campus Activities. Elizabeth runs a Boston-based career-development and coaching firm; clients include PricewaterhouseCoopers, Thomson Reuters and The Gillette Company. To bring Elizabeth to your next association event or workplace meeting, please visit http://www.elizabethfreedman.com.

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