Job Specification Sample: Marketing Manager

By Susan M. Heathfie

Jobs Vacancy, Job vacancies, Employment Jobs

The marketing manager is responsible for the overall management of the marketing department. The following requirements (job specifications) were determined by job analysis and derived from the job description as crucial for success in the marketing manager role. The successful candidate for the marketing manager position will possess these qualifications.

Experience - Marketing Manager:

• 10 years of progressively more responsible positions in marketing, preferably in a similar industry in two different firms.
• Experience supervising and managing a professional staff of seven.

Education - Marketing Manager:

• Bachelors Degree in Marketing or a related field required.
• Masters in Business or Marketing preferred.

Required Skills, Knowledge and Characteristics - Marketing Manager:

These are the most important qualifications of the individual selected as the marketing manager.

• Strong effective communicator.
• Highly developed, demonstrated teamwork skills.
• Ability to coordinate the efforts of a large team of diverse creative employees.
• Demonstrated ability to increase productivity and continuously improve methods, approaches, and departmental contribution. Commitment to continuous learning.
• Expert in Internet and social media strategy with a demonstrated track record.
• Demonstrated effectiveness in holding conversations with customers, customer evangelism, and customer-focused product development and outreach.
• Demonstrated ability to see the big picture and provide useful advice and input across the company.
• Ability to lead in an environment of constant change.
• Experience working in a flexible, employee empowering work environment. Structured or large company experience will not work here.
• Familiarity and skill with the tools of the trade in marketing including PR, written communication, website development, market research, product packaging, Microsoft software suite of products, visal communication software products, and creative services.
• Experience managing external PR and communication consulting firms and contractors.
• Experience in the global marketplace is a plus.

High Level Overview of Job Requirements - Marketing Manager:

The selected marketing manager must be able to perform effectively in each of these areas:

• Researching and evaluating new product opportunities, demand for potential products, and customer needs and insights.
• Overall marketing strategy and execution of plans for the existing products.
• Working with product development teams to manage new product development.
• Managing launch campaigns for new products.
• Managing distribution channels for products.
• Ensuring effective, branded marketing communications including the company website, print communication, and advertising.
• Managing media and marketing staff and external PR agencies.
• Analysis of the effectiveness of all marketing efforts.

Prepare for a Job Search

By Alison Doyle

Jobs Vacancy, Job vacancies, Employment Jobs

Sometimes, it happens by choice. Sometimes, you don't have an option. In either case, it's important to be prepared to change jobs - because you never know when it might happen to you. It's happened to me both ways. I've been laid-off and out-of-work at the end of a business day and had to turn in my company car the next morning. That was a tough one! I've also resigned and managed to stay on excellent terms with my previous employers. In the latter cases, it's been because I've always given plenty of notice, offered to help find and train a replacement, and offered to be available for questions in the future.

Take Care of the Basics

Whether you're about to hand in your resignation or you've just received a pink slip, it's important to prepare to leave and to prepare to conduct a job search. Take care of the basics first and check on eligibility for continuation of health and life insurance benefits, accrued vacation pay, unused sick pay, and other payments terminated employees may be entitled to. Keep in mind, that there may be a lag between when your current health insurance coverage ends and a new policy starts. If you've been terminated, ask your employer about eligibility for continuing cover through COBRA and file for unemployment immediately. You may be able to file over the phone or online.

When your work situation is unstable and you're not sure if you'll still have a job tomorrow, get ready to start, or even get going, on a job search now. Remember, you don't have an obligation to accept a new position if you get an offer. Plus, it never hurts to see what's available and, you never know, you just might get an offer you can't refuse!

How to Prepare for a Job Search:

Resumes and Cover Letters
It's important to have a well-written resume and compelling cover letters. Simply, resumes help get us interviews. A cover letter is often your earliest written contact with a potential employer, creating a critical first impression. Use our Resume and Cover Letter Guide to ensure that your job search correspondence is top-notch.

References
Plan ahead and compile a list of references and some letters of recommendations, so you're prepared when a prospective employer requests them. Get contact information for your co-workers, vendors, customers, etc. so you'll have it for future networking purposes.

Contact Information
Use non-work contact information for all your job search communications. That way, if your access is cut-off at work, you'll still be reachable.

• Phone - have a home phone or a cell phone with voice mail so potential employers can reach you
• Email - use a personal email account, not your work account

Reason for Leaving
If you've quit, or are planning on quitting, be prepared with an answer for interviewers who are going to want to know why you resigned.

Worried About Getting Caught?
Apply confidentially for jobs online. There are job sites that let you apply anonymously, plus will protect your identity from certain employers and recruiters.

Don't Leave Anything Behind...

• Clean-up your computer - delete personal files and email
• Bring home your personal belongings

Finally, if you are resigning, always leave on the best terms you possibly can and don't burn any bridges. Let the company know in advance that you're leaving, let them know why (as diplomatically as possible) and thank them for having had the opportunity to work there.

10 Steps to a Successful Career Change

From Mike Profita

Jobs Vacancy, Job vacancies, Employment Jobs

1. Evaluate your current job satisfaction. Keep a journal of your daily reactions to your job situation and look for recurring themes. Which aspects of your current job do you like/dislike? Are your dissatisfactions related to the content of your work your company culture or the people with whom you work?

2. Assess your interests, values and skills through self help resources like the exercises in What Color is Your Parachute. Review past successful roles, volunteer work, projects and jobs to identify preferred activities and skills. Determine whether your core values and skills are addressed through your current career.

3. Brainstorm ideas for career alternatives by discussing your core values/skills with friends, family, networking contacts and counselors. Visit career libraries and use online resources like those found in the Career Advice section of the Job Search website.

4. Conduct a preliminary comparative evaluation of several fields to identify a few targets for in depth research.

5. Read as much as you can about those fields and reach out to personal contacts in those arenas for informational interviews.

6. Shadow professionals in fields of primary interest to observe work first hand. Spend anywhere from a few hours to a few days job shadowing people who have jobs that interest you. Your college Career Office is a good place to find alumni volunteers who are willing to host job shadowers.

7. Identify volunteer and freelance activities related to your target field to test your interest e.g. if you are thinking of publishing as a career, try editing the PTA newsletter. If you're interested in working with animals, volunteer at your local shelter.

8. Investigate educational opportunities that would bridge your background to your new field. Consider taking an evening course at a local college. Spend some time at one day or weekend seminars. Contact professional groups in your target field for suggestions.

9. Look for ways to develop new skills in your current job which would pave the way for a change e.g. offer to write a grant proposal if grant writing is valued in your new field. If your company offers in-house training, sign up for as many classes as you can.

10. Consider alternative roles within your current industry which would utilize the industry knowledge you already have e.g. If you are a store manger for a large retail chain and have grown tired of the evening and weekend hours consider a move to corporate recruiting within the retail industry. Or if you are a programmer who doesn't want to program, consider technical sales or project management.

Workers' Compensation

By Susan M. Heathfield

Jobs Vacancy, Job vacancies, Employment Jobs

Workers' compensation laws ensure that an employee who is injured as a result of an accident on the job or who contracts a disease as a result of performing his or her job, will receive compensation and medical benefits. Every state requires that employers purchase workers' compensation insurance to ensure that employees, who are affected by illness or injury, and their dependants, are protected against significant hardships in case of injury, illness, or death.

Workers' compensation was created to protect both the employer and the employee from the costs and hardships of employee injury and illness. The employee receives compensation and medical benefits. In turn, the employee signs off on the right to sue the employer. The employer benefits from immunity from law suits, for the most part.

As an employer, make certain that your employees and management staff know that accident reports must be filled out when an employee is injured or claims job related illness. Make available the claims filing forms from your chosen workers' compensation company. Work closely with your workers' compensation agent to ensure that both the employee's medical needs and your liability are covered. Work closely with your employees to make sure the claim is easy, timely, and correctly filed. Follow your insurance company guidelines.

Additionally, many workers' compensation companies offer the services of an occupational health and safety specialist who can audit your workplace and make recommendations about employee safety and ergonomics. This service is helpful as is the training available from most companies about accident reports and workers' compensation claim forms. You can also contact your state workers' compensation office for help.

How to Find Job Search Help

From Donna Marino

Jobs Vacancy, Job vacancies, Employment Jobs

As a professional career counselor employed by a college, I will often receive requests for assistance from "non-affiliates" (individuals not affiliated with my institution). Due to the ratio of staff to client-base, our policy is to limit services to only our own students and alumni. Over the course of many years, my colleagues and I have often helped non-affiliates to realize that there may be a wealth of other local and Internet resources that they’ve not yet tapped, including career counselors in private practice. This brief article is meant to help college graduates and other job seekers identify free, or inexpensive, resources in their geographic areas.

Contact Career Services

If you are a college graduate, be sure to contact the career services office at your own alma mater(s). Many institutions, like mine, offer lifetime career development services for alumni. Others offer limited services; still others offer services at extremely reasonable rates. And much of what is offered may be available long-distance.

One of the most important services to request will be access to your alma mater's version of our Career Advisor Network (alumni who have volunteered to speak with you, respond to your career-related questions, and advise you on your job search).

You may be able to request telephone appointments with the career development professionals at your alma mater(s) for services such as resume reviews and advising sessions on job search strategies or interviewing techniques.

You’ll also want to get any required passwords for access to your alma mater’s online job listing databases.

And it never hurts to ask if your alma mater(s) have existing reciprocity agreements with institutions in your geographic area (allowing you to access the services of the local college’s career services office). But be prepared to hear that your access will be limited to non-password-protected job listings (no counselor contact).

Find Free Job Search Help

Here are some other ideas that are helpful to all job seekers, whether they’ve graduated from college or not.

Check with your local public library to see what they have in their career research and job search collections. Ask if they offer job search workshops or run a job search club.

Look for regional/local branches of professional associations for the field(s) of interest to you to tap their networking potential.

Go online for advice and job listing links. Some of the best sites include:

• The About Guide to Job Searching
• The Riley Guide: Employment Opportunities and Job Resources on the Internet

Check with your local Chamber of Commerce to ask about career/job fairs that may be planned for the near future. Search the Chamber of Commerce International Directory for contact information.

Tap resources and services available through your state’s Department of Labor. You’ll find both online resources as well as in-person options. For more in-depth information on this idea, refer to the previously published article, Departments of Labor: Job Referrals, Training and Other Employment Services.

Locate a Career Counselor

Finally, if you want actual career counseling (rather than just job search advice and resources) and live at too great a distance to make the often-mandatory in-person sessions with career counselors from your alma mater(s) feasible, you may want to engage the services of a private career counselor in your local area. Before doing so, be sure to consult the National Career Development Association’s (NCDA) Consumer Guideline for Selecting a Career Counselor. It provides an excellent overview of the roles of a career counselor, training and credentials information, what you should expect and demand as a client, ethical practices, and more.

Transition to a Career in Human Resource Management

By Susan M. Heathfield

Jobs Vacancy, Job vacancies, Employment Jobs

People take widely divergent paths on their journey to working in Human Resource management. They enter Human Resource management by luck and by design and they stay because they enjoy the work and the people.

Common themes emerge when you listen to the stories people tell about their transition into Human Resource management. People say they:

• Started in an administrative role with a company and gradually took on more Human Resource management work over time.
• Decided they wanted to work in Human Resource management and networked with HR professionals in community organizations and the Society for Human Resource Management until an opportunity appeared.
• Worked in another role in their company, made their desire to move to Human Resource management clear to managers and Human Resources, and applied when an opening became available.
• Worked in a component of Human Resource management, like training or recruiting, grew to like the field, and wanted to learn the whole HR role.
• Decided to try the field of Human Resource management and took some classes or earned the PHR to prepare to enter the field.
• Majored in sociology or psychology, people-oriented subjects, with no career path in mind, and saw a good fit with Human Resource management.
• Applied for and worked in Human Resource management internships.

Advice About Transitioning into Human Resource Management

Readers offered these tips to enhance your chances of moving into Human Resource management:

• Review your prior employment, education, and experiences. Tailor your resume and cover letters to highlight the components that qualify you for a career in Human Resource management. Don't expect your prospective employer to connect the dots; the employer won't take the time and you will shatter your hopes for an interview. An interview will allow you to further emphasize the connection between your skills and interests and the HR job for which you are applying.
• Network with people who post HR jobs and influence decisions about who is hired for a position in Human Resource management. Network also in online social media networks such as LinkedIn, Twitter and the many Human Resources communities that exist at locations such as job boards, SHRM, and Workforce magazine.
• Make your workplace aware that you are interested in an HR role and ask what you need to do to be prepared when an HR opening occurs. If they don't know, they can't help you grow your career in HR.

Stories About Transitioning to Human Resource Management

Pam Sheirer says:

"I am currently trying to transition into a Human Resources field (environmental health and safety management).

"So far, I been able to dust off some long unused experience in chemistry and some peripheral experience in safety, to be able to fill a niche, a temporary need at work. I also took as many classes, as I could find that would help me achieve my goals. I used all of that, and some excellent recommendations to apply for and be accepted to a Masters Program in Safety. I'm hoping that will help me be able to permanently transition into a safety manager's position.

"You have to be open to opportunities that exist where you currently work, express a desire to help, and use each experience as a series of steps leading to your final goal."

Sheila M. Krueger says:

"I made the transition from an R&D/Technical position into the HR area when our expertise was needed to implement their HRIS solution. I learned a lot about the 'business' of HR during the implementation and found a way to be valuable to that department by blending my technical expertise and technical skills. After eight years in that blended role, I was able to move to another company where I use my technical skills again, but in concentrating on the compensation side of HR."

Jeff Bettinger says:

"I made the transition to HR. I reviewed my previous positions and looked at the HR functions within those positions. I then tailored a resume to highlight those functions. I began networking with HR professionals in my community. Within six weeks, I had three offers. Since that time I have been promoted twice. The most important thing you can do is network. The schooling/certifications can follow. You need someone on the inside to help you get there. Many in HR have landed there after working in other parts of the company."

Cathy (Hackney) O'Brien says:

"I'm in my first job in a coporate HR setting. Years ago, I was a recruiter at a staffing service, which actually aided in getting this current position. For many years, I worked in Higher Education, Student Services Administration. Most of these positions included hiring and training student staff. Since moving to California, I wanted to work for Disney, but wasn't sure in what capacity. I checked their on-line job postings weekly, and finally came across a Human Resources position that would use my transferable skills from higher education and the staffing industry. I did not go back to school, and do not have a degree or certificate in HR."

Rob Wells, PHR (LION), says:

"My experience was similar to some of the stories others tell. I was an outside salesman for quite sometime and moved to an agency recruiting position as my product was phased out. From there I began networking in HR circles like SHRM meetings and landed a position in a corporate setting as an Human Resources Generalist."

Maria Clara Whitaker says:

"I transitioned into Human Resources from the academic clinical research field. Specifically, I boarded the main instrument of my dissertation, the MBTI, and headed towards the vast world of HR consulting."

Human Resources Job Prospects and Earnings

By Susan M. Heathfield


Jobs Vacancy, Job vacancies, Employment Jobs

Job prospects for various Human Resources positions vary by position but they range from growing as fast as the average of other occupations to growing faster than average, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics in the Occupational Outlook Handbook.

Sample Human Resources Job Prospects and Earnings

• Human Resources Assistant: expected to grow by 11 percent between 2006 and 2016, as fast as the average for all occupations.
  
  The median of wages paid to HR Assistants was $33,750 in 2006. The range was $22,700 to more than $48,670.

• Human Resources Generalists, and Training or Labor Relations Managers: according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics in the Occupational Outlook Handbook, employment is "expected to grow faster than the average for all occupations. College graduates who have earned certification should have the best job opportunities. Overall employment is projected to grow by 17 percent between 2006 and 2016."
  
  --Compensation and benefits managers made a median income of $74,750 in May, 2006 with a range from $55,370 to $99,690. The lowest paid 10% were paid less than $42,750; the highest 10% earned more than $132,820.
  
  --The median earnings of training and development managers were $80,250 in May, 2006. Salaries ranged from $43,530 to $141,140.
  
  --The median annual earnings of human resources managers in other specialty areas were $88,510 in May, 2006. The range was $51,810 to $145,600. The middle 50% made between $67,710 and $114,860 annually.

How to Research Human Resources Jobs and Careers

You can research any job title at the the Bureau of Labor Statistics in the Occupational Outlook Handbook. Here's a hint to save you research time. While most Human Resources jobs including managers, generalists, training specialists and labor relations specialists, appear under "Human Resources," higher level jobs, such as Vice President and Director, appear in the index under "Vice President" and "Director."

The site provides the most current information about these job occupation areas.

• Nature of the Work
• Training, Other Qualifications, and Advancement
• Employment
• Job Outlook
• Projections Data
• Earnings
• Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) Data
• Related Occupations
• Sources of Additional Information

More About Potential Salary and Earnings in Human Resources

My only cautionary note, as you can see from the above examples, is that the range within a specific occupation for salaries is broad. You can obtain more specific salary information for your occupation, level, years of experience, region, market competition, skills, and education by researching at job boards, in your Human Resources office from salary surveys, and at sites that provide market research and salary calculators.

The pay for Human Resources jobs generally ranges from around $30,000 for an entry-level job to millions of dollars for a corporate executive with leadership responsibility for thousands or hundreds of thousands of employees, and often responsibility for multiple departments.

Summary of Human Resources Career Opportunities

According to the Occupational Outlook Handbook, the three key points for people who want to work in Human Resources include:

• "The educational backgrounds of these workers vary considerably, reflecting the diversity of duties and levels of responsibility.
• "Certification and previous experience are assets for most specialties, and are essential for more advanced positions, including managers, arbitrators, and mediators.
• "College graduates who have earned certification should have the best job opportunities."

Human Resources is a field that offers multiple job opportunities: see these descriptions of the range of jobs in Human Resources. Human Resources jobs also offer the opportunity to make significant income and to contribute to business culture, business strategy, and the overall happiness and motivation of employees.

More About Pursuing a Career or Job in Human Resources

Looking for information, in addition to job prospects and earnings, about pursuing a career or job in Human Resources? Here are the resources you need to take your career development or job search to the next level.

Entrepreneurship Is for All People

By Cakil Mbeling

Jobs Vacancy, Job vacancies, Employment Jobs

Entrepreneurship Is for All People - There are many reasons for saying that. First, everyone has ideals, dreams, or at least hope to improve quality of life as a human. This is a kind of "intuition" that encourages people to work and try normal. "Intuition" is related with one of the potential of humanity, the power of creative imagination.

Humans are creatures of God who endowed power of imagination creative, so he can use it to think. That thought can be directed to the past, present, and future. By thinking, he can look for answers to important questions such as: Where I come from? Where I am right now? And Where I'll go? And what shall I pass on to the world?

Searching for a personal history of the past can give an idea about one's strengths and weaknesses. In it there are a number of life experiences, obstacles and difficulties we've ever faced and how do we fix it, failure and success, pleasure and tenderness, and so forth. However, because everything has gone, then not much else that can be done to change all that. We must accept it and give it a meaning and put it right in a perspective of the present and future.

Tell the real situation today where we are, what we have, what we do not have, what we enjoy and what not can we enjoy is. What are the duty and our responsibility and what who become our birthright as human beings, and so forth? With aware of our existence today, we can be grateful or complain, we can be complacent or determine the next target, and so on.

The future is hopeful, at least not so proper for those who believe. If we had an unpleasant past and still find themselves in situations and conditions that have not been in accordance with the ideals of or our dreams, it is reasonable if we expect future better, brighter, more fun. For as long as Future, all possibilities are still wide open.

It is clear that the past, present, and future related with our imagination. And in the days that all obstacles (Obstacle), difficulty (hardship), and pleasure or joy (very rewarding life) mixed into one. So, if Poppy King, young entrepreneur from Australia said that the three things that faced by an entrepreneur in any field, and then is not it means that entrepreneurship is for everyone? Who is man in this earth who have never faced obstacles and difficulties for achieve the ideals and dreams?

Employee Empowerment

By Susan M. Heathfield

Jobs Vacancy, Job vacancies, Employment Jobs

Empowerment is the process of enabling or authorizing an individual to think, behave, take action, and control work and decision making in autonomous ways. It is the state of feeling self-empowered to take control of one's own destiny.

When thinking about empowerment in human relations terms, try to avoid thinking of it as something that one individual does for another. This is one of the problems organizations have experienced with the concept of empowerment. People think that "someone," usually the manager, has to bestow empowerment on the people who report to him.

Consequently, the reporting staff members "wait" for the bestowing of empowerment, and the manager asks why people won't act in empowered ways. This led to a general unhappiness, mostly undeserved, with the concept of empowerment in many organizations.

Think of empowerment, instead, as the process of an individual enabling himself to take action and control work and decision making in autonomous ways. Empowerment comes from the individual.

The organization has the responsibility to create a work environment which helps foster the ability and desire of employees to act in empowered ways. The work organization has the responsibility to remove barriers that limit the ability of staff to act in empowered ways.

[h3Also Known As:

Employee involvement and participative management are often used to mean empowerment. They are not really interchangeable.

Examples

The manager of the Human Resources department added weeks to the process of hiring new employees by requiring his supposedly "empowered" staff members to obtain his signature on every document related to the hiring of a new employee.

John empowered himself to discuss the career objectives he wished to pursue with his supervisor. He told his supervisor, frankly, that if the opportunities were not available in his current company, he would move on to another company.

Change Management Lessons From the Field

By Susan M. Heathfield

Jobs Vacancy, Job vacancies, Employment Jobs

Change is possible; the need for change is increasing; change capability is necessary for the organizations that will succeed in the future. So say the respondents to my survey about change management success.

In fact, internal and external consultants, and organization development, training, facilitation and human resources professionals responded in a fairly consistent voice. (The one underrepresented group was line managers--I’ll find ways to tap their ideas in the future.) Change is not going away; change is manageable; organizations can do change well. I looked for patterns and trends in the responses, and provide them here for you.

Successful change management requires:

• effective communication,
• full and active executive support,
• employee involvement,
• organizational planning and analysis and
widespread perceived need for the change.

These are the big five when successful change is achieved.

Implementing your change in an organizational environment that is already employee-oriented, with a high level of trust, is a huge plus. Understanding and responding to the range of human emotions during times of intense change, is also cited as critical. All of this may sound straightforward, but your suggestions about how to do each of these successfully are priceless.

This article focuses on the key change management actions recommended by the majority of the change management study participants. A second article provides tips for addressing resistance to change. Another provides “voices from the field" and enables study participants to speak to you with their own words.

Changes Experienced

Change management study participants made their recommendations from their involvement in a broad range of changes. These are too numerous to mention and include downsizing; mergers; department and company reorganizations; implementing every conceivable initiative from the 1980s and 1990s including teams, self-directed work teams, quality, TQM, employee involvement, reengineering, management by objectives and matrix management; new compensation programs; changing work systems because of the Internet; implementing a strategic planning process; implementing new technology and software packages including MRPII and SAP; restructuring jobs; doubling production productivity; relocating facilities; adopting new appraisal processes; and changing work requirements, including doing more with fewer resources.

Change Management Recommendations

Now that you have some context for the changes experienced by the study respondents, these are the factors they experienced that increased their organization’s success with change management. Each participant did not cite all of these; I am highlighting those change management factors most frequently mentioned.

More rigorous studies of change management success and failure are required to assess the impact of each of these actions, but, I believe, the results of my change management survey provide you with great guidance as you embark upon your desired change.

Additionally, each of these factors does not occur separately from the others. They do not occur in a predictable sequence. In other words, portions of “Executive Support and Leadership” are usually happening while “Organization Planning and Analysis” is underway. You will also find overlap across all areas.