Years Experience: 20 years or more (Canada)

One out of every 100 ideas will strike a chord with management, and possibly the market. Always look for new ideas, recognizing that it is a difficult and often unrewarding effort. All you need is for one of the 100 to hit, and this can change your life forever. I am proof of this. After the first idea is somewhat successful, later ideas seem to come easier and the probability for success improves at least marginally. Fame and fortune are truly fickle, and favor only those who are willing to risk and put their shoulder into the effort, sometimes for a very long time. Overnight successes are exceedingly rare, and are almost always the culmination of decades of effort (which is often not obvious on the surface.) Anyway, this is my advice and it is extremely difficult to take what I just said and make something from it. but there it is.

I am a 25 + year Transport driver Canada/US. I have come to love my job due to comprimise. There are a lot of things in my life that I have left behind me. In my experience, family is most important. It's Too late to negotiate when their gone. Money is second. You have to earn enough that when you do get home you can relax. No one (even your loved ones) wants to hear your job woes.

Now, if you can find that Balance, You've got the right job for you.

In a service related Red Seal Trade - there are no set hours and not very good for family life. Life pressures - work loads and work uncertainty cause long hours during summer and demand times. It becomes difficult to find a balance in life. Extensive schooling to be the best in your field - typically 5-10 years of apprenticeship time and multi licensing is required with continual upgrades and mandatory re certification. Money is not as it should be with all of the training and responsibility. What other job can you be fined for by a governing agency - not many.

Until now 2008, you did not need any knowledge about being a security guard or any training, you just applied for a lic and that was it, you got it, there for, an idiot could even become a security guard, even if you had a criminal record yes, until 2007. That changed , no one with a criminal record could hold a lic# or get one,and know 2009, there coming out with testing and training that you must pass with the ministry before you get a security/ or a private investigers lic, and theres no grand-father klause either, That means higher wages , for security officers, you will not be able to classify. Security guard as general help anymore, it will go under proffessional listing and you will see guards making between to start $15 TO $25 DOLLARS AN HOUR, THEIR WILL BE 2 CLASSIFICATION OF SECURITY GUARDS, SG1 AND SG2, SG1 IS A NORMAIL OFFICER/ THAT DOES NOT CARRY ANY WEAPONS OR HAND-CUFFS ETC, SG2 WILL CARRY WEAPONs/ HAND-CUFFS/BATON, AND BE APPROVED BY THE MINISTRY TO USE THEM, AND WILL HAVE TO GO FOR TRAINING EVERY TWO YEARS. So the 60 to 80 thousand officers out there in canada, be prepared to take the test & training because if you dont pass , your history, and a new breed of security officers will emerge !! study hard !!

Be sure you have a job to go to before you relocate.

Downsizing can be a devastating experience for most people. Typically employee performance reports, previously good, deteriorate to marginal or unacceptable; the office culture begins to accept bullying and shouting; and you are kicked off projects where you previously performed well.

It is important to be well-grounded and to understand that the new mood is not personal: it's a corporate technique to make people quit. The management aim is to get the numbers down. So you have to ask yourself if the job is really worth the candle. If you take the severance package, can you get re-employed fairly quickly? If not, soldier on. This too shall pass.

If they let you go anyway, seek legal advice before signing anything.

I started working for a family run business over 20 years ago. At that time there was 3 of us that worked in 1 department. Over the years due employee vancancies I am left to run the dept on my own and has been that way for more than half of my years served.

Since my start at this retail company I have been given more responsibility then you can imagine. I love this but I have never been compensated for the added work load. Now we have 2 stores and I am responsible for that as well.

There is 1 other employee other than myself that has been here for a long time. He is of the male gender.

If I had to be honest I do 3 times the about of work he does. Not to consider, I replace him when he is not here, and take care of my own responsibilities as well.

I am getting the impression as long as I can handle these responsibilities they have no intention of hiring anyone else to replace former personnell.

I am the longest employeed women ever here and for some reason I don't advance or get benefits like my other male gender co-workers.

I would love another job! The only thing I have going for me is that I have a job of 20 + years.

I feel it's like security in a way. Or am I wrong.

Not being fairly paid within the particular organization I work for. Bias: yes, it seems that a very junior individual is being paid 50% more than they should be due to the fact that they are a personal friend of one of the executives and have a personal history with them.

No one will volunteer an increase in pay to you. Think about what you are worth and ask for more. You will be negotiated down and could be surprised at what you end up with.

I tried to negotiate my salary - unsuccessfully - I was told "you really don't want the job"!