Horizon Point Consulting

Category: Career Development

Beyond Work is our line of resources for people and community leaders looking for something new and innovative, be it a new job, career change, or personal development outside of work. Read this category specifically for Career Development.

  • CAREER SPOTLIGHT: DIAGNOSTIC MEDICAL SONOGRAPHY

    CAREER SPOTLIGHT: DIAGNOSTIC MEDICAL SONOGRAPHY

    Do you enjoy physics? Do you think medicine and dentistry are interesting? Are you an active listener who enjoys working with people?

    If any of these things describe you, then Diagnostic Medical Sonography may be the career field that would make you tick.

    What do you need to be a Diagnostic Medical Sonographer?

    Education:  Required: Associate’s Degree or Post-secondary Certificate

    If you are a high school student, make sure you are focused on taking sciences including physics and biology.

    Skills:

    Diagnostic Medical Sonographers know how to:

    • Think critically
    • Communicate with others
    • Analyze test data or images to inform diagnosis or treatment

    Is the field growing?

    State and National Trends

    United States Employment Percent
    Change    		 Projected
    Annual Job Openings     1
    2012 2022
    Diagnostic Medical Sonographers 58,800 85,900 +46% 3,530
    Alabama Employment Percent
    Change    		 Projected
    Annual Job Openings     1
    2012 2022
    Diagnostic Medical Sonographers 1,130 1,630 +45% 70

    Source: O*NET

    What’s the Holland Code* for a Diagnostic Medical Sonographer?

    Interest code: ISR- Investigative, Social and Realistic

    • Investigative — Investigative occupations frequently involve working with ideas, and require an extensive amount of thinking. These occupations can involve searching for facts and figuring out problems mentally.
    • Social — Social occupations frequently involve working with, communicating with, and teaching people. These occupations often involve helping or providing service to others.
    • Realistic — Realistic occupations frequently involve work activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions. They often deal with plants, animals, and real-world materials like wood, tools, and machinery. Many of the occupations require working outside, and do not involve a lot of paperwork or working closely with others

    Source: http://www.onetonline.org/link/summary/29-2032.00

    If you are interested in learning more about Diagnostic Medical Sonography, check out:

    US NEWS

    BLS

    Explore Health Careers

    Would you want to be a Diagnostic Medical Sonographer? Why or why not?

    *Holland Codes are a way to classify a person based on their skills and interests as well as jobs based on the nature of the work.  If you have an interest in knowing what your Holland Code is in order to match yourself to careers to pursue, you can read more about our assessment process.

  • What You Pay Does Matter

    What You Pay Does Matter

    “$11.32 an hour,” she said. “That’s what many people can earn sitting on their couch. How am I supposed to encourage them to get off the couch when many of the jobs they qualify for don’t pay that?”

    This statement came from a frustrated state career center worker tasked with getting individuals off federal and state assistance through a job placement program.

    I could turn this conversation into a political post, but I won’t go there.  Instead, I’d like to focus on how it illustrates a basic premise of motivation.

    I’m going to spend the next few weeks talking about how to give people what they really want out of work (motivational factors) through performance management and maximization practices, but let’s face it, when I do this, I’m making the assumption that a basic living wage, or even a wage that is competitive with the wage someone could go across the street and earn with the skill set they have, (a hygiene factor) is provided in all workplaces I’m addressing. I can talk all day long about how meaningful work leads to performance maximization, but if that meaningful work doesn’t meet basic needs, or if basic needs can be met by, well doing nothing, then people are going to turn to being unproductive or turn to walking across the street for the higher wage. They are going to sit on the couch either literally or metaphorically by the way the show up to work and well, do just about nothing, or by taking their skills and going elsewhere.

    It goes back to one of the basic premises of workplace (or well really any place) motivation that drives behavior:  hygiene vs. motivational factors. Thanks to Herzberg, we have this tried and true theory that tells us if you really want to get the most out of people, you need motivational factors in the workplace like challenge, autonomy, creativity, etc.- basically all things that lead to meaningful work- to actually have the power to truly motivate someone.

    However, hygiene factors keep people from being dissatisfied. And a lack of dissatisfaction is necessary for the motivational factors to work. Someone may be overwhelmingly content with the work they do, but if you don’t pay them enough to meet a certain standard of living, that oftentimes they compare to others around them that are doing the same or similar work, the motivational factors won’t work at least in the long run.

    So before you go giving someone autonomy and meaning in their work and assuming that will keep people satisfied at the least or motivated at the most, look at how much you are paying. Get out your local wage survey and examine if your wages are competitive with the competitor across the street and around the world.   Goodness help us all when the competitor across the street ends up being the federal assistance program (okay, maybe I did have to get a little political).

    When was the last time you examined your wage practices?

  • The Mind, Body and Spirit of Job Seeking

    The Mind, Body and Spirit of Job Seeking

    If you are considering a career change or are out of a job, you may consider doing what most people do – immediately begin to update your resume. While this is a great thing to do (whether you are out of a job, are hot on the job seeking trail, or not), sometimes it is important to take a step back and reflect on things before launching into the tactical aspects of job transition.

    One way to look at this is by giving the right side of your brain some exercise. The right side of our brains deal with the mind, body and spirit of ourselves. It is more abstract in its processing than the left side of the brain that attends more to the tactical and concrete aspects of things, like for example a resume or interview techniques or updating a LinkedIn profile, which is what most job seekers focus on.

    (If you want to know more about left vs right brain issues, check out this quiz and this blog post)

    To get in touch with the right side of the brain can mean better long term job satisfaction and job search results. To do so:

    1. Start with career assessment.

    2. Get in touch with your mind by letting go of past failures, creating a list of what brings joy, envisioning what your life looks like, what you want to change, the sacrifices you are willing to make, etc.

    3. Get in touch with your spirit by getting a personal board of directors to help you. Find someone who is more successful than you and begin a networking relationship with them, then, set up your own success timeline.

    4. Get in touch with your body by branding yourself for marketability. Look in the mirror and assess your own personal image –what are you conveying? Does it fit with where you want to be? Create the physical and electronic brand you need to be successful.

    When you can reconcile these two sides of your brain by getting them both to work and work together, you can then commit to an action plan with timelines and deadlines that incorporate both the tactical stuff as well as the mind, body and spirit.

    Need help doing both? Our Beyond Ready Workbook can help you do both things.

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    In the interest of full disclosure, I learned about a lot of these ideas at the NCDA conferencefrom an informative roundtable by Beth Bryce. You can learn more about Beth here:https://www.linkedin.com/in/bethbryce

  • Your Resume Needs a Summary of Qualifications

    Your Resume Needs a Summary of Qualifications

    Creating or revising your resume can be a daunting task. Resumes are often the best and only way to market yourself when applying for a job. It’s your foot in the door. That being said, we believe an amazing Summary of Qualifications is essential to getting noticed.

    What is a Summary of Qualifications? It’s a great alternative to an “Objective Statement.” Truth be told, companies aren’t interested in your objective, they want to know what you can do for them. The Summary of Qualifications should be placed underneath the standard information included in the heading of your resume (name, contact info, linked in address, etc.).

    What should you include in your Summary of Qualifications? Three things are important:

    1. Results (professional or personal as long as it is related to the position for which you are applying)

    2. Key skills (job specific)

    3. Accomplishments (money saved, time saved, money earned)

    Summary of Qualifications Sample:

    Skilled Information Technology professional with 22 years of experience managing the full cycle ofIT infrastructure, including planning and managing system requirements and integration, developingapplications to solve problems, testing, managing upgrades and resolving system issues all with a focus onmeeting user requirements and business needs. Knowledgeable of Healthcare compliance regulations and requirements and how they relate to IT infrastructure. Skilled in designing and implementing financial softwaresolutions.Proven information technology project management experience by managing projects on time and under budget.

    Check out our Beyond Work Workbook for more Job Search tools.

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    If you are needing assistance with your Summary of Qualifications, resume, or preparing for an interview, we offer services that may be beneficial to you. Contact us today!

  • 7 Networking Do’s and Don’ts

    7 Networking Do’s and Don’ts

    Networking is great for business development, but more often than not, it’s key to career development. Whether you’re in search of your first job or seeking a career change, you need to be networking!

    Networking is marketing. Marketing yourself, marketing your uniqueness, marketing what you stand for. – Christine Comaford-Lynch

    The vast majority of job vacancies are never advertised and part of a hidden job market. Experts say at least 75% of job openings are part of this hidden market. To be in the loop, you must network.

    Here is a list of dos and don’ts to help you get started:

    1. Do join professional organizations related to your field.
    2. Do network online. LinkedIn is a great online networking tool. Read 20 Critical Dos and Don’ts of LinkedIn Networking.
    3. Do volunteer (volunteer opportunities often lead to job opportunities).
    4. Do always have business cards or copies of your resume on hand when attending a networking event.
    5. Do keep track of your networking. Use Horizon Point’s Networking Log.
    6. Don’t only talk to those you know at networking events. The entire purpose is to grow your network. Branch out and meet new people.
    7. Don’t overshare – especially in relation to anything negative about your current or previous employer or job.

    Check out Networking Your Way to a New Job for more great ideas and let the networking begin!