Country: United States

Keep your head up and think of customers as your best friend.

5 years ago I was at the same company I am at now, but I was a Customer Service Rep. with not even high school diploma and no experience in the Jewelry Industry. Now I'm a Graduate Gemologist, and head of Estate & Antique Jewelry Research. In order to climb the company ladder in this industry you have to participate in everything you possibly can even if it has nothing to do with your position at the time. This will build trust and confidence with the employer so that when the time comes they will know who they can turn to for the most important tasks. This quality will also give you the leveridge you need to negotiate raises in the future. Always be trustworthy, honest and respectful Never burn bridges because you never know who you will need to call, the jewelry industry is all about relationships make sure to constantly make new ones and sustain the ones you already have! Hope this advice helps someone!

5 Years ago, I was working on my RN in the operating room. I finished my RN, worked on the cardiac floor and returned to the O.R. to finish out my career and retire... or so I thought... after much difficulty with my supervisors in the O.R. I made the very hard decision to start looking for a new posistion. I was hired in a Long Term Care Facility as an MDS Coordinator. I had NO experience not even knowing what an MDS was, and there was NO one there to teach me! The previous MDS Coordinator/ Director of Nursing had left on poor terms. Today- 4 months later, I am running the show. I am so excited at what I have been able to accomplish. Not only am I proficient in scheduling, I am even understanding RUG scores, and Physician Billing. If you are new to this, hang in there... You will be GREAT!

Do not fear my tech writing friend. This article is not to warn you about the job outlook for our kind.

It's to give a simple piece of advice:

Take any tech writing (or related) job that comes your way, at first. I started my first tech writing position when I was 22 and with a year and a half before I graduated.

Work hard on your resume. For tech writers, it is a portrayal of our attention to detail and editing abilities. Take it, and cover letters, very seriously.

5 years ago I was 4 years deep in a B.A. that took me nearly 6 years to complete (I worked full-time). I was working at Circuit City and subsidizing my poverty with student loans. I had the confidence to put my resume on Monster.com, and sure enough I had legitimate interest almost immediately.

I got my start as a contractor with Siemens, the best move of my entire professional career. And I jumped from contract to contract until the year I graduated. I ended up working for (in addition to Siemens) EA Sports, Lockheed Martin, and two other smaller defense companies.

It all started with the first contractor position. I knew I could turn it into valuable experience, I just didn't know that I would be reaping the benefits for the foreseeable future.

I got lucky; Siemens was my first professional interview and I got the job. But I was an average student, went to a public state university, and I hadn't earned any awards or recognition. I was just prepared to jump at the first company that showed interest.

It all started with my confidence to put my resume online and tell employers that I felt I could do the work (in retrospect, that was probably a lie).

Summary:

1) Be confident in your abilities. Sell your skills.

2) Get out there and test the market, you'll never know unless you try.

3) In the beginning, be flexible about what industry or position you start at, you never know where it might lead.

Take it from me who went to a very well known school in north east Oklahoma. That you do not need to pay $40,000 to get your license. I have worked with people on helicopters and large fixed wing aircraft that did the same thing I did and got the same jobs I did and got their license at a state run school for under $10,000. A name is just a name and unless you just really feeling like paying for a name I wouldnt do it. I have been a mechanic for 5 years and still paying student loans for another 5 years. Dont pay big bucks for a big name

Five years ago today my life situation was very different. One day,...I had a great job (for a 48 year old high school graduate) working for a major title insurance company in the midwest making $46,000 per year, with 401K, annual bonuses, fully paid health, dental & vision insurance for myself & my spouse, 4 weeks paid vacation & paid sick leave & 18 of the best co-workers ever to work with. The next, I found myself in a small start-up company making less than 2/3 of my former salary, NO benefits (including retirement of any kind) except a ridiculously horrible major medical plan that SERIOUSLY pays squat & that I have to pay almost $5000 a year out of my own pocket in order to include my self-employed husband on. This turn of events is based solely on our immediate area's economical woes since the onset of the "recession" (which according to financial projectionists we're not in by the way). When the bottom started dropping out of the real estate market a few years ago, so did it drop out of the economy's need for some of us. The only bit of advice I can offer to those of you who seem to be having a rough time of it in the position you now occupy, I'd like to say, "Enjoy it!" It may not be there tomorrow.

Do your job, focus on your career. If you have been in a job for 3 or more years, it has become your career. Want a different career? You must make choices to spend time and money to progress. Wishing, hoping, talking, thinking are not achieving any goals. Get educated. Volunteer. Do more with less. Always be improving. Be self-motivated. Bring something positive to work everyday if only a smile.

If I had only known five years ago at graduation what I know now. I thought I would be a teacher librarian for a school district and had hopes of doing a superb job as a librarian. My prior teaching experience and the lack of school media specialist positions took me in a different direction after graduation and now I'm a p/t academic reference librarian at a university. I love what I'm doing and wouldn't change it. I only wish that I had started at the university level five years ago and not wasted so much energy and time in a major that is slowly becoming extinct. Although, I'm struggling with my bills and mortgage, I love the work environment. I'm still looking for a full time position or more part/time hours that pays a decent hourly salary. I feel as though I'm working for free which shouldn't happen since I acquired a masters degree in the field. Living on Long Island, New York with the high cost of living and high taxes, doesn't afford me the luxury of living a decent lifestyle. After getting an MLIS degree and a handfull of teacher certifications over the past 15 years, I'm in worse shape now, economically, than I was 10 years ago when I didn't have my master's degree.

I'm holding on by a thread and don't see the job market improving on Long Island, NY. My parents always told me and my siblings that education is the key to success. In my heart, I still want to believe that and I'm sure that good possiblities will happen once the job market becomes strong again in the US. My advice to you is to take a good hard look at yourself and be realistic with your career goals. Consider where you live (state and place in US) and what job opportunites will be available for you when you are ready for work. I only hope that you will better luck than I. And, don't give up on yourself.

5 years ago, I started out working in this small chain hotel with 93 rooms, but the rooms were always empty. When the place was packed I'd be literally running the hotel. Got paid lousy, and when I realized I wanted to work for a company that cared about their guests. I quit to work for a Holiday Inn. This Holiday Inn had recently been purchased and they were going through management changes. Within two months I was made Front Office Manager, so once again I was running a hotel. This hotel had 159 rooms. I remained there for 2 years and hated every minute of it. They were paying me really low and the job was way too stressful to be getting paid so low. I asked my manager for a raise, I got one, then I quit two weeks later after I asked him if he would fix any of the problems in the hotel. (broken water heater, a/c didn't work in alot of rooms, leaking roof) He told me he would "NEVER fix those problems because to him, it wasn't worth it and told me if I had a problem with that then I should quit". LOL I had another job offering that day paying me $4 MORE an hour to not even be a manager at another property (140 rooms) and now I get benifits, vacation, oh, and they fix all broken problems. LOL So, if you feel like you're wasting your time on a company that doesn't care, believe me, there are places out there that will pay you the amount you deserve, you just have to keep looking. :)

5 years ago this job could be held with experience and/or a college degree. Now it is almost required to be APICS certified. If you plan on entering this field or staying competetive in the job market it would be very beneficial to get certified.