Can Women Hang With the Boys in Construction?
Are women discriminated against in construction? How many women are on a job site? Are they in management? Most women in construction are in the office in secretarial positions. Do they put themselves there or is that where men want to keep them?Most women on a job site are either on a roller or holding a slow/stop paddle for passing traffic. Is this because men believe women don't have the skill or brain to be in management over them or just intimidated by the fact that they can? Now days, having women in management in the construction field is becoming more popular, but it still has a long way to go.I know from experience that it is hard for a woman to get hired over a man in a project management position. To be fair, there are some that look at the person for their skill and knowledge, but for the most part, gender plays a role. I get tired of hearing the statement, "You know a lot, for a woman." Because construction has bee

How To Be Indispensable In Your Job
You might have a strong case in arguing that no one is indispensable in their job, and i would agree to some extent, especially in today's uncertain jobmarket. So how can you indeed become indispensable in your job? Well, it is really about having a certain mindset that if utilised will enable you to distinguish yourself from the crowd, providing you with confidence and security in your long term career.I have said in previous articles that in order to succeed in your career you need to think like a business person and not like a mere employee. This is why the solution lies in your thinking and especially how you think of yourself. When you think like an 'employee' it sought of means you place less value on yourself, you rely upon your boss to do everything, he/she pays your wages after all. But when you think like the boss you become indispensable it means you place higher value on yourself you are self sufficient, self motivated, independent

Referrals - What They Can Do For You!
If you're a Loan Officer these days, you probably were hired as a salesmen/bird-dog hunting down potentials applicants. Spending money ‘Advertising' is the real answer to that task, but since that's what today's Broker/owners think is the primary role of a LO, you need to be careful not to get caught in this ‘referral' trap by an inexperienced employer.One point you need to carefully consider, is just how talented is your employer and the degree to which they train you to be the best you can be(or is he/she merely a former LO and that's all they know about being an owner).Because they don't know any better, far too many broker/owners push their newer LO's to attract potential applicants via the "referral" method. That's where you pester all your friends, relatives, and others to use you themselves, when they have a mortgage need, and to also send you their contacts.The boss – who should already knows better – neglects to reveal t

Living Proof of The Joint Venture Mindset
Frank Schroeder was one of the most successful insurance salesmen I ever met. He owned two Porches and two sets of electric drums and lived like a king. We did some business together and I asked him what the secret to his success was. And at this point I must digress. I have sold insurance very successfully in Canada and in South Africa. I no longer sell insurance; I specialize in Joint Ventures. But I have found very few insurance salespeople who share Frank’s philosophy or his success. Many of them have very strange labels and titles that they have concocted for themselves in order to disguise the fact that they sell insurance, yet they should be proud of their important work. And they are so focused on selling that they are proof of the self-fulfilling prophecy syndrome. But let us not waste time discussing what we should not do.Frank was living proof of the power of what I call “The Joint Venture Mindset”. As far as I can recall, I will tr

Have You Always Thought That The Best Ideas Come From Research Or Management? Think Again
Many entrepreneurs and chief executive officers are unaware that there are many factors that put ordinary workers at a great advantage over R&D and management when it comes to generating useful improvement ideas and even new products ideas for a corporation.The people in research are usually hindered by the fact that it is difficult for them to stay in touch with the day to day running of the business and the problems that arise. Usually they will be following and developing a particular idea. In today’s fast-paced world it is not uncommon for ideas to become obsolete even as they are still on the drawing table or in the development stage in the R&D department.Management has plenty of other things on their plate to really be in the proper frame of mind to develop useful ideas for a business.This in sharp contrast to the ordinary worker who has plenty going for them. It has been proven time and again that the most useful ideas for

Online Public Relations Power
Public Relations DefinedPublic Relations, commonly called PR, is very simply the relationship between your business and the general public. PR is the way you serve your customer, the information you provide to them and any means you use to educate them about why they need your goods and/or services.Online PRAs a subset of public relations, online PR is simply the relationship you build between your business and the public using online resources. There are myriad ways to perform online PR and get your business name known to the electronic, global community. Let's look at some powerful means of performing online PR.Online InformationToday, every business needs to use online PR to provide readily accessible information to potential clients via the Internet. People turn to the Internet to locate firms that provide what they need in the marketplace. Once, directory assistance was used to locate businesses but today, the