Employment Factors

a. Assume you are leaving your current job to look for employment elsewhere. If you do not have a job, assume you will be looking for one soon. 

i. What will you look for that you do not have now?

The most important thing that I will look for is job security. Job security is increasingly hard to find in today’s tenuous economic climate (Wolgemuth, 2009). However, there are a couple of things one can do to attempt to procure job security from a place of employment, although there are certainly no guarantees. The best thing to do in order to ascertain job security is to find out as much as possible about the employer. A good way of doing so is to research any and all information about the employer on the internet. Doing so not only involves thoroughly perusing the website of the employer but also looking for any posts on additional websites, (including social media) that contain feedback about the employer - such as those concerning loss of pension. This type of research should allow the applicant to find out the reputation about the employer, which is a considerable factor when determining what sort of job security one would have with it.

Another critical means of determining the job security one would have with a particular employer is to find out how long that company has been in business. It reflects on a somewhat sad state of affairs to say that any company that has been operating less than 10 years (especially in today’s era of transient internet start-ups) is suspect in terms of the job security it offers. Additionally, it is important to determine in what capacity the business was operating in during the years it has existed. Some companies may specialize in certain areas of business, and then extend their operations to include other aspects. One more than one occasion, companies have then decided to stop doing this latter type of business and to focus on their primary goals—which could mean that an employee who was hired to do the newer practice is then out of a job. All things considered, the number of years that a company has been in business is probably the most reliable indicator of what sort of job security it can offer employees.

ii. What are the most important factors you will seek? 

The most important factors that I will seek from an employer is honesty. All too often I have been in situations in which management and other employees at a particular business are simply not honest. This fact does not necessarily mean that they are dishonest—sometimes they will simply withhold information that affects an employee’s jobs, while on other occasions they are blatantly dishonest and lie, conceal documents and other forms of information, simply to protect their own interests and to alienate their employees. Therefore, the single most important factor I will seek is honesty, followed by a position that allows me to telecommunicate.

b. If a conflict occurred between your self-evaluation and the evaluation given to you by your supervisor or instructor: 

i. How would you respond?

I would initially respond via email in an attempt to solve the conflict. If that failed, I may suggest that we meet in person to attempt to work out our differences. If that approach did not work either, then I would be forced to go higher-level management in order to find someone who could effectively mediate the dispute so that we could resolve it. The worst thing to do would be to have an open conflict between my supervisor and me in the workplace.

 ii. What specifically would you do? 

During these specific meetings and communication with my supervisor and upper-level management, I would restrain myself emotionally so that I could only deal with the facts in a logical, rational manner. Next, I would explain the situation and my point of view. Remaining calm will debunk any attitudes they may have towards my sense of entitlement. 

iii. What have you learned from your supervisor or instructor during the last reporting period?

I have mostly learned the value of both written and oral communication, and how that affects a working relationship.

Reference

Wolgemuth, L. (2009). 7 jobs for job security in a recession. Retrieved from http://money.usnews.com/money/careers/articles/2009/01/07/7-jobs-for-job-security-in-a-recession