Staying Positive While Searching For That Dream Job
Don’t let the media and the news put you down. No matter how bad they say it is companies are always looking to hire the best available staff. If you have the right skills and passion, there will be a job waiting for right around the corner. You just need to remain...
5 Steps to Find a Mentor
It is in our social DNA to want a mentor. As little kids, our parents mentor us on the basics of life. In school, we are mentored by teachers and coaches who want to impart their wisdom to us. Then, suddenly, we’re thrust out into the world of adulthood, and most of...
Three Successful Strategies for Career Advancement in Government
Career advancement is a relative term. For some, it means climbing the organizational ladder until there is nowhere else to climb or you reach the highest rung relative to your area of expertise. For others, it means moving up the salary scale even if it means...
How Can IT Professionals Assist H.R. Personnel?
In today’s organizational environment, human resources (or personnel as it was once referred to) is being asked to do much more than simply recruit talented employees, oversee benefits, and maintain personnel records. They are now responsible for 1) legal compliance...
How Might IT Professionals Help Overcome the Greatest Threats to Local Government?
There are a number of threats that face local government today. The public sector is dealing with spiraling pension costs, annual increases in healthcare expenses for active employees and retirees, and other employee-related expenditures that continue to rise. At...
Given Its Reputation, Why is Government Appealing for IT Professionals?
Virtually every private sector area is focused on the proverbial ROI or Return on Investment. If an entity is going to commit to implementing a technology-centric solution, it has to be financially beneficial in the long run. Typically, the standard is 12 to 18...
How to Involve the Employee in Writing a Performance Evaluation
If you struggle to write annual performance evaluations, you may be overlooking the most valuable source of data you have: the employee. Asking for the employee’s feedback before you begin writing can provide helpful and specific input. Here are some tips for asking...
5 Steps to Improve Performance Expectations
It’s a common managerial dilemma. You ask an employee to do something that seems simple to you. And, what you get is not what you expected. For whatever reason, the employee did not complete the job to your standards. Usually, this frustrating experience happens...
4 Steps to Reinventing Your Resume
Storytelling is making a comeback! Most everywhere we look these days we are seeing the question…”What’s your story?” From advertisers selling their products to talk show hosts featuring segments surrounding storytelling. Why, even the career space is falling in line...
How “Green Tape” Can Create an Effective Bureaucracy
Most people are familiar with the term “red tape.” This term is often associated with bureaucracy and carries negative connotations, referring to burdensome rules that make processes more complicated. Leisha DeHart-Davis, a professor of public administration and...
How to Find the Best Career for Your Major
You have reached your senior year of college, and there’s basically no turning back now when it comes to your major. But what if the career you thought was perfect for you at the outset of college is not really an option anymore? In today’s day and age, college...
Why Most Economic Development Efforts Fail
This is the third article of a four-part series entitled Why Local Governments Fail at Economic Development. The first article addressed how local government officials “fail to define and sell their unique sizzle” - the things that make their community great and the...
Why Follow Up After Submitting an Application Is Essential
Some government job candidates miss a critical part of the hiring process. The step most often skipped is post-application follow-up. There are three reasons to follow-up after you submit your application. The first reason is to ensure the application was received...
Public-Private Partnerships – Essential in Building Community
Public-Private Partnerships is a phrase that is often overused and under supplied. In today’s economic environment, I have found that genuine partnerships are needed to achieve the return of investment, time, and energy for both the private and public...
Public Service – A Rewarding Experience
I have served local governments for over 27 years and I can truly say the experience and opportunity to make a difference in the lives of so many is a rewarding experience and one I would not trade. My passion, which I began to realize many years ago, was in creating...
Managing Through Outsourcing
In times such as these, many people still have a feeling that public sector employees are overpaid, underworked, and (frankly) untouchable. The reality of public service is they are not. Coming from the private sector 12 years ago to the public arena, I vowed never...
How to Make Up Lost Sequester Hours
By now, we’re all aware of the dreaded sequester -- or group cuts to federal spending -- that recently went into effect. According to The Washington Post, although the sequester was originally meant to serve as an incentive for the Joint Select Committee on Deficit...
2013 Public Works Salaries and Benefits
For seven years Public Works magazine has asked readers – city, county, state, special district, and township employees who oversee their community’s infrastructure assets -- how much they’re paid. The latest statistics can be found here. For some communities,...