Article Check - Tales from the Corporate Frontlines: Finding The Perfect Balance

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  A career is not only your livelihood but must also satisfy a person’s emotional and intellectual wants and needs. Very often, people cannot take up a career of their choice due to financial problems or other constraints. However, after a point of time, it becomes difficult to continue working on a job that you do not enjoy. A job change in the same career stream might not be the right solution. Hence, a change in career may be your only alternative.People tend to change their career when they are bored, fed up, or unhappy with their current one. They prefer looking for a more rewarding profession, one that aligns better with their skills, interests and values.As changing careers is a major decision, one has to seriously look at the possibilities and opportunities ahead before making a change. A smooth transition between careers is essential or else it can become traumatic. Keeping in mind a few tips will make the transition simpler and lead you in the right direction.Make A Self-AssessmentThis is the most important step to establish a workable career plan. Evaluate your experience, skills and interests in reference to work history, hobbies and volunteer experiences. Examine your likes and dislikes, strengths and weaknesses, and areas of interest. This will help you to discover the direction you want to move in the future. Take online career assessment tests that help you discover the area of interests that you might not have been considered before.Reason For The ChangeAfter assessing yoThis article relates to the Work/Life Balance competency, which investigates how your staff feels with regard to the balance between work and personal life. It explores issues such as priority of family and hours on the job, also covered in this competency. Organizations that enjoy a high satisfaction level in this area will normally exhibit a low rate of absenteeism and experience higher employee retention. Evaluating this competency is helpful in understanding issues relating to a workforce that is commonly tardy or absent from work.

  This article, Finding the Perfect Balance, is part of AlphaMeasure's compilation, Tales from the Corporate Frontlines. It illustrates how one employee's evolving life circumstances required him to make some career changes in order to achieve a healthy balance between the demands of work and personal or family life.

  Anonymous Submission

  When I graduated from college and landed my first job within a month, I was understandably thrilled. This was my dream job, at a company I was familiar with that offered plenty of opportunity for growth and success for an ambitious sales associate.

  I was more than ambitious. I worked 12 hour days routinely, hoarded my vacation time and sick days. I operated on a life philosophy that required plenty of hard work initially, with the assumption that when I was ready for marriage, family, home, etc. it would all come automatically. My nuclear family is small and distant, so I could pretty much devote my time to work without conflict.

  Then I met a girl, became engaged. Suddenly I realized that my fianc? might not appreciate my twelve-hour days and absent weekends. She'd been accommodating so far, but how long would it last? She was a career person, but worked a strict 9 to 5 with very occasional overtime. One day, she asked if my hectic schedule would continue after we were married. I could tell from her tone of voice that it wouldn't.

  The first to go was the weekend work. I lost a few accounts and the commissions attached. No problem. My new wife made a good salary so it didn't matter much. When I let go of 3 evenings per week, eyebrows around the office began to raise. My salary slipped from stellar to ordinary, and my boss was ready to transfer some of my best accounts to employees who were willing to work my former schedule.

  My wife suggested I find a new company. I was reluctant at first, but we had the future - buying a home, paying for kids and college, preparing for retirement, to think of. So I searched. Within the year I found a new position with a more family oriented company. The commission structure requires only minimal overtime, and there are options like flex time, childcare savings accounts, retirement programs, and other benefits available. We are planning to start a family next year.

  I discovered that the balance of career/personal life is important, and I need to work for the kind of company that supports my lifestyle so that I'm able to maintain that balance. The change was tough, but it was well worth the effort.

  -------------------------------------------------------------
  © 2005 AlphaMeasure, Inc. - All Rights Reserved
  This article may be reprinted, provided it is published in its entirety, includes
  the author bio information, and all links remain active.
  -------------------------------------------------------------
  

  Measure. Report. Improve your organization with AlphaMeasure employee surveys. Josh Greenberg is President of AlphaMeasure, Inc. AlphaMeasure provides organizations of all sizes a powerful web based method for measuring employee satisfaction, determining employee engagement, and increasing employee retention. Launch your employee engagement survey with AlphaMeasure. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Josh_Greenberg

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  osophy that required plenty of hard work initially, with the assumption that when I was ready for marriage, family, home, etc. it would all come automatically. My nuclear family is small and distant, so I could pretty much devote my time to work without conflict.

  Then I met a girl, became engaged. Suddenly I realized that my fianc? might not appreciate my twelve-hour days and absent weekends. She'd been accommodating so far, but how long would it last? She was a career person, but worked a strict 9 to 5 with very occasional overtime. One day, she asked if my hectic schedule would continue after we were married. I could tell from her tone of voice that it wouldn't.

  The first to go was the weekend work. I lost a few accounts and the commissions attached. No problem. My new wife made a good salary so it didn't matter much. When I let go of 3 evenings per week, eyebrows around the office began to raise. My salary slipped from stellar to ordinary, and my boss was ready to transfer some of my best accounts to employees who were willing to work my former schedule.

  My wife suggested I find a new company. I was reluctant at first, but we had the future - buying a home, paying for kids and college, preparing for retirement, to think of. So I searched. Within the year I found a new position with a more family oriented company. The commission structure requires only minimal overtime, and there are options like flex time, childcare savings accounts, retirement programs, and other benefits available. We are planning to start a family next year.

  I discovered that the balance of career/personal life is important, and I need to work for the kind of company that supports my lifestyle so that I'm able to maintain that balance. The change was tough, but it was well worth the effort.

  -------------------------------------------------------------
  © 2005 AlphaMeasure, Inc. - All Rights Reserved
  This article may be reprinted, provided it is published in its entirety, includes
  the author bio information, and all links remain active.
  -------------------------------------------------------------
  

  Measure. Report. Improve your organization with AlphaMeasure employee surveys. Josh Greenberg is President of AlphaMeasure, Inc. AlphaMeasure provides organizations of all sizes a powerful web based method for measuring employee satisfaction, determining employee engagement, and increasing employee retention. Launch your employee engagement survey with AlphaMeasure. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Josh_Greenberg

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  the year I found a new position with a more family oriented company. The commission structure requires only minimal overtime, and there are options like flex time, childcare savings accounts, retirement programs, and other benefits available. We are planning to start a family next year.

  I discovered that the balance of career/personal life is important, and I need to work for the kind of company that supports my lifestyle so that I'm able to maintain that balance. The change was tough, but it was well worth the effort.

  -------------------------------------------------------------
  © 2005 AlphaMeasure, Inc. - All Rights Reserved
  This article may be reprinted, provided it is published in its entirety, includes
  the author bio information, and all links remain active.
  -------------------------------------------------------------
  

  Measure. Report. Improve your organization with AlphaMeasure employee surveys. Josh Greenberg is President of AlphaMeasure, Inc. AlphaMeasure provides organizations of all sizes a powerful web based method for measuring employee satisfaction, determining employee engagement, and increasing employee retention. Launch your employee engagement survey with AlphaMeasure. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Josh_Greenberg

  Other Recent EzineArticles from the Business:Management Category:

  • Opening a Dollar Store - Where to Find Prospective Employees
  • Motivation Is Free
  • Do Not Turn Off Employment Applicants
  • About Mike Nifong - Taking Eyes Off Long-Term Goals
  • Leadership - A Passion for Vision Statements
  • Enhancing Your Team's Performance
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    From the Eye of the Potato: How complicated does a business have to be anyway? Well, here's how I got started when I was just a snot-nosed kid.Paul Henderson is an old friend of mine.I used to win a lot of marbles at school during the day.After school, I'd go over to Paul's house where he, by his good shooting, arbitrary game rules, and if necessary "cheating," would win all of my marbles.This would make me very angry.He would then give me 5 marbles back so that I could fill my pockets at school the next day and then let him "win" them from me again.Sometimes his brother, Dick, would give me a can of marbles if he felt that I'd been ripped off too much.I saw both of these gents at our 50th wedding anniversary party a couple of years ago. It was great to see them again.Paul was born with "business" stamped in his brain. He was sharp, shrewd, and energetic. He used to tell me about every three minutes, "It's the middleman that makes the dough, Moe. You want to be the middleman."The kids in the neighborhood called me Moe then and sometimes still do. It was because of the haircuts Dad gave me. Like a bowl over the head.After my college teaching and engineering career, I wrote a bunch of novels and started business on the Internet. I'm a middleman right now. I'm the executive representative for a company who handles most of my online orders. I just take the orders and submit them to the warehouse back east.You probably heard Mel Brooks say in one of his mov
  satisfaction, determining employee engagement, and increasing employee retention.

  Launch your employee engagement survey with AlphaMeasure.

  Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Josh_Greenberg