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Donald W. Mueller Jr., chairman of IPFW’s department of engineering, says the school’s new civil engineering program and retention push may help lure students to engineering careers.

‘Tons of résumés’

Meanwhile, figures at Trine University in Angola seem to indicate a better success ratio.

Trine had 67 engineering students graduate last year and has 87 freshmen pursuing the major this fall.

Engineering Resources Inc. credits Trine for many of its local hires.

“They’ve been great to work with,” said Kurt Heidenreich, president of Engineering Resources, 9835 Auburn Road in Fort Wayne.

“Right now, we have tons of résumés from all over to pick from, but when the economy turns around, we’ll have trouble getting candidates, I’m sure.”

Beggars can’t be choosy, so the choice between working in northeast Indiana and going unemployed is a no-brainer. But when this recessionary era ends, larger metropolitan areas will be the first pick for many students, Heidenreich said.

“Unless you have something keeping you here, like a family, most young people want to go to the bigger markets,” he said. “When they get a little older and settle down, they may look at Fort Wayne because it’s a great place to raise kids.”

Some students might view regions such as northeast Indiana as less cosmopolitan than other places, but “once they get here they’re usually surprised at what we have,” Busse said.

“They’re looking for cultural activities, but they find out we have that and our cost of living is good,” he said.

James Welch is a civil engineer and 2009 graduate of IPFW. He is married and has an 11-month-old son.

“I kind of wanted to go, but my wife wanted to stay here because her family is in Ohio,” said the 28-year-old, also a Buckeye State native.

Welch said some of his former classmates simply didn’t “realize that engineering is lot of hard work” and dropped it for other fields of study. A combination of long hours and demanding coursework results in some students bailing out of the major, he said.

Fort Wayne business and regional advocates don’t like to hear that. During the Vision 2020 Regional Economic Summit in June, about 1,000 attendees tried to flesh out ways to encourage students to take up high-skill jobs.

Steel Dynamics is trying to do its part. The company gave $300,000 to establish a state-of-the-art energy engineering laboratory at Indiana Tech. The lab will provide students with equipment for instruction in alternative energy sources like wind, solar, geothermal, hydrogen fuel cells, ethanol and other biofuels.

Professor Dave Aschliman, dean of the college of engineering and computer sciences at Indiana Tech, said some engineering students are intrigued by the profession because of its potential benefits to society, particularly infrastructure.

“I see a growing interest by students of all ages to do something about the environment,” he said. “They feel they can have an impact as an engineer.”

The financial services industry is a major industry, with loads of different Careers available. For people with an interest in getting work within the financial services industry, they definitely have lots of New careers to look at, to think about taking on full time. Here we are going to just take a look at some of the various different Careers which are offered, and supply examples of the different industries you can get involved with when taking on a New career within finance.

People might not appreciate just how many New careers are available in this expansive and very important industry, so this article is designed to give people an idea of the vastness of this industry. It is not designed to give a complete overview of everything that exists, just provide you with some advice. Financial services are of course significant as businesses today could not operate without the financing options that are on offer. Financial services sor out everything that concerns money, from saving to investing, to borrowing or insurance. All of these things are very important to a countries business market, to help businesses do well and flourish, and generate a good strong economy for a country.

The range of different Careers on offer is huge, with New careers offered in sectors like accountancy, insurance companies, pensions, or businesses which provide financial advice and management for individuals, small businesses and even big, multi-national corporations. You may even get a New career in the organisation which manages the financial services industry, the Financial Services Authority, which intends to protect consumers from unscrupulous people looking to make money quickly. You have many options of different areas you can move into with the financial services industry.

You might go into a customer facing role, where you deal with people face to face. This can include careers such as a personal banker, either personal or business banking, or possibly something like a financial planner, who will help people make decisions on what to do with their assets. There are also more behind-the-scenes roles available, such as an accountant, or maybe an insurance undertaker.

These people work to keep organisations moving, keeping exact records of everything so a company’s finances can be accounted for, and to ensure financial support is available where needed, and to keep waste and loss to a minimum. There are over 900,000 jobs available in the U.K. in this industry, a major portion of which are focused in London, the financial heart of the U.K, however there are still lots of jobs in existence in all of the cities across the U.K. as it is such an important industry.

When hunting for people to employ, employers will mainly be looking for people with great communication skills, a good head for data, and of course with a proven interest in economic affairs. There are loads of different courses on offer for people to take on, and typically employers will do in-house training for professional career progression. This means whichever career you choose you are pretty much guaranteed to be able to develop, as long as you have the willingness to do so. So as you can see there are loads of New careers available within this massive, so anyone hunting for a New career has a great deal to choose from.

In the course of conducting interviews for your book, what did you learn about what women have to do to advance their careers? First, you can’t be naive about the extent to which politics govern the workplace. The women I interviewed found ways to proactively learn the culture and political climate of their organizations, learning how people like to be communicated with, and how and when people launched initiatives that were successful. They solicited information from several parties as they accumulated information, never relying on just one.

Women who make it to the executive ranks also take professional risks before they feel ready for them. The day when we can say “Now I feel ready” is usually too late — others have claimed the opportunity we wanted. Women executives make it a habit to ask themselves, “What do I need to be comfortable enough to do this?” or “What can the organization do to facilitate my success?”

I also learned that women executives communicate in a specific way. They use emotional intelligence to read people and situations, but they don’t use emotions when making a case for something. When building your argument or making a case, said the executives, keep things fact-based, not innuendo- or hearsay-based, using phrases like “The data shows..” and “The facts are…” rather than “I feel….”

Perhaps most important, those women that make it to the top continually ask for what they want at work, rather than waiting to be noticed, rewarded or promoted. They’re not afraid that their requests will inconvenience someone or that they will look pushy for asking. The best way to make a request is to figure out where you have leverage — the value you bring to your employer and the extent to which you’re relied upon for your skills.

How do those things differ from what men do? Boys are reared with more of an emphasis on risk-taking and being brave, whereas young girls tend to get positive reinforcement for being nice. As adults, we bring this into the workplace. And for women, it can mean that we’re less likely than men to negotiate for what we want and to take necessary risks at work.

The IT industry in particular has a dearth of women. Do you have any advice for women trying to distinguish themselves in an extremely male-dominated field? In a field with few women, you need to work harder than most to find mentors you can relate to. First, look within your organization to see who, male or female, has a great brand and reputation. Adopt them as a mentor, ask them how they do it, and look outside the organization as well. I always tell my coaching clients to build a personal board of directors who can help them with different facets of their careers. One might help you with your image, another might help you build your technical skills, yet another may know key contacts in your field. Since so few people actually build a personal board of directors and leverage this team for their advice, experience and breadth of knowledge, doing so will give you an immediate edge on your peers.

IT Job Growth: Down but Not Out

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that all IT occupations experienced a growth rate of 36% from 1999 through 2008, compared with 6% for all occupations in the U.S. Not surprisingly, programming jobs were the one dark spot, experiencing a 25% decrease during that period. The BLS is projecting lower rates of growth for most IT occupations for the 2008-16 period, much closer to overall job growth, but with programming moving back into positive territory. Here are the percentage changes in U.S. IT employment from 1999 to 2008, and projections for 2008 to 2016:

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

What Matters in IT

CIOs were asked which IT roles had increased or decreased in importance over the past two years. Here are the percentages of respondents who said these roles’ importance had “increased” or “significantly increased”:

• Business analysis: 70%
• IT strategy and planning: 66%
• Architecture: 66%
• Project management: 65%
• Security: 62%
• Service management: 60%
• IT financial management: 55%
• Client relationship management: 56%
• Business continuity: 55%
• Portfolio management: 50%
• Asset management: 34%
• IT research: 30%
• Human resources (within IT): 20%

CW

Fighting economic hardship and finding a job is an undisputed uphill battle for many Americans, and the numbers prove it. No career advice is enough to fight the epidemic. In May and June the United States Department of Labor projected that that the national unemployment rate was 9.1 percent, but in actuality, the official unemployment numbers fail to capture the entire story of underemployed and dejected Americans who have left the workforce altogether.

According to some economists, the United States is looking at a more realistic picture with 16 percent of its citizens experiencing severe hardship due to furlough days, pay cuts, or job market rejection. The best career advice that people are hearing? Take what you can get, even if it’s a temporary or part time gig. That’s tough to hear.

Making the job hunt tougher is the stigma associated with not having a job. Just recently, Tom Corbett, the Republican candidate for Pennsylvania governor made the claim that extending unemployment benefits would discourage people from finding job opportunities. His career advice? Cut unemployment benefits. In an interview with reporter Scott Detrow, Corbett explained, “If we keep extending unemployment, people are just going to sit thereI’ve literally had construction companies tell me, ‘I can’t get people to come back to work until – they say, ‘We’ll come back when unemployment runs out.’” Regardless of the factual accuracy of Corbett’s claims, his perspectives capture a chilling trend that some authorities make blanket generalizations that the unemployed are lazy. These decision makers aren’t just politicians. In fact, they are hiring managers, recruiters, business leaders: all people at the ground level with the power to kick-start the stagnant careers of many dejected Americans.

In June, CNN reported a chilling trend: that some hiring managers require candidates to already have a job when finding a job. Companies including Sony Ericsson and Latro Consulting are two example companies specifying that applicants be employed. As if the fine print isn’t demoralizing enough, some recruiters explain that this same policy applies even when it isn’t explicit – if you don’t have a job, don’t bother. Despite unemployment figures, widespread hardship, and an unhealthy American economy, the unemployed – even the hardest workingare wrongfully perceived as lazy. Unemployed job seekers some of the most important career advice for your job search is to understand that people perceive you in this light.

In a competitive economy that’s stretched thin, job seekers are doing everything they can to build connections. For people without a strong network, especially recent graduates, the struggle revolves around looking good on paper to open one door to any opportunity, big or small. In a down economy, more people pursue fewer spots, so any resume-blips can put applicants at an immediate disadvantage. As CNN reported, if you’re unemployed, some companies won’t even look at you, no matter how good you are.

In order for society to see substantial change, hiring managers, recruiters, and decision makers must make an effort to defeat these stereotypes and set their judgments aside. On the one hand, American businesses boast their commitment to American capitalism’s prosperity and pursuit of profit. At the same time, these companies overlook a darker side to the market that is leaving Americans unemployed and dejected in hardship.

In reality, even at the smallest level, every sector and every decision maker has some ability to influence change, large or small. When the unemployed are working as hard as they can to find a job, perceiving them as lazy and as commodities is irresponsible. After all, a common American adage says that finding a job is itself, a full-time jobcareer advice that I have heard since I was in junior high. Employers: instead of asking questions that cast an unemployed candidate in a negative light, assess how hard they are really working by asking about their extensive job search. Instead of asking, “why haven’t you been doing anything for the last six months,” ask a question that is more constructive and tangible – “what kind of work are you putting into your employment search?” After all, good employees are people who persevere, work hard to meet a tangible end goal, and feel grateful to be part of a professional team. Look beyond the stigma, and see people as more than just commodities.

What career advice would you give decision makers and the unemployed? What have you experienced?
JM

Building construction and renovation is becoming increasingly complex with each passing day. It is also subject to a plethora of construction related laws adding to the technical complexities. In such circumstances, all big construction projects require a project manager with excellent construction management skills to enable the project to be successfully completed. Any project manager entrusted with such a job would not only need a specialized college/university degree, but also extensive experience in the industry.
In the emerging scenario creating a need for specialists in construction management, many universities are now offering specially designed courses leading to degrees in construction management. Encompassing all areas in the field of construction such as building codes and standards, accounting, contract administration, value analysis, financial management, project control and management etc., construction management education can provide the desired specialization.
The construction manager is supposed to evaluate and help to determine the appropriate construction delivery systems based on the best cost-effective plan and schedule for completing a project on time. This requires dividing all required activities at the construction site into logical steps and create a ‘time budget’ to avoid missing deadlines. This is done through sophisticated estimating and scheduling techniques that involve the use of computers loaded with specialized software.
Formal university education in project management for construction includes training on the latest construction related software programs and technologies that are used in the construction industry. The course covers the process and techniques of project management for construction that ensure project completion in a timely and cost-effective manner. To optimize performance of some process at a particular level may not be beneficial in the end, if it implies additional costs and delays elsewhere. The course thus includes a focus on costs involved; of which construction costs is just one portion.
There are many universities that provide internships/apprenticeships as part of the degree program and help students of construction project management find a place within live construction projects. This way the student is able to get ‘hands on’ knowledge and experience of the gamut of project management in construction and is able to learn the skills for effectively managing contractors and employees and technical specialists like architects and civil engineers and common construction laborers. This type of experience is preferred by employers looking for suitable construction management employees and very often leads to full time positions being offered to apprentices armed with a degree after having successfully graduated.
There is no doubt that project management for construction offers a challenging career path. Sufficient education and training allows an aspirant to adequately equip himself for pursuing a career in the field. There is an increasing demand for qualified construction project management professionals today. Figures available with the National Association of College and Employers relating to the year 2002 reveal that the average salary for a position in construction project management was approx. ,500. These high salaries are accompanied by bonuses, health benefits, company provided vehicles etc. It is highly rewarding intellectually, economically and socially as well.
AW

Alison Chafe (MBA ’04) wanted a change. The 30-year-old had been working in information technology for nearly 10 years. IT was well aligned with her commerce degree, but, she explains, “A career is a really long haul and I thought ‘OK, for the next 30 years I want to be doing something I really care about.’”

Sound familiar? In 2006, Statistics Canada reported that one in 12 Canadians are unhappy at work. “Most people never really figure out what they really want to do,” observes career transition expert Tim Cork (BA ’81), president of NEXCareer. “To figure it out, you have to look at your greatest successes to date, because success is built on success. Build from a position of strength.”

If you need help, many experts suggest trying a career coach. “Coaches help you figure yourself out. They force you to look forward,” explains Dayna Patterson (MBA ’05), a career coach and a part-time instructor at York’s Schulich School of Business. Most, she says, begin with an aptitude assessment and a discussion of your values and long-term goals. From here, your coach will help you explore good job matches and help you develop tactics to position yourself.

Chafe considered several options before landing on corporate sustainability. “I was trying to change without starting over completely,” she says. “IT gave me transferable skills like project and performance management. Corporate sustainability was a way of using what I had.”

Her transition tactic was accreditation. “I decided to do my MBA in sustainability,” says Chafe. It had some unexpected hurdles: “My first semester midterm grades weren’t very good. I was surprised it took a while to remember how to study, retain information and focus.” To afford school, she cashed in some RSPs and took a job at a pub. “I had to curb my expenses a lot,” she admits, “but it was absolutely worth it. School is a completely different experience when you’re 30 than when you’re 22. You care.”

Little did she realize the hardest part was yet to come: the job hunt.

When you’re looking for work, stresses Cork, you should be focused on your “PFFs” – prospects, face time, followups. “Companies don’t hire people – people hire people,” he says. And you’d better have a 30-second speech prepared to sell yourself, he advises.

Chafe found most postings required an engineering or environmental science degree as well as an MBA, a hiccup that could have been avoided had she enlisted a career coach. After four months, and facing mounting debt, she returned to IT. “I realized opportunities might arise if I effected change from within, so I started to learn more about the company in order to make the case for integrating sustainability,” she recalls.

Over three years, Chafe discussed her ideas widely. Finally, she got a break. “I presented a case to senior executives on how sustainability made sense profit-wise,” says Chafe. This led her to collaborate with the company’s strategy team.

In 2008, she got a job with a member-based sustainability organization. It led to a job with a sustainability consulting firm, but not without sacrifice. Chafe had to relocate, but doesn’t regret it. She’s finally got the job she set out for over six years ago. Despite the long road, Chafe has no qualms about taking a chance in pursuit of passion: “It was the best decision I ever made.”

Advances in technology, changes in consumer habits, an aging population and the increase in offshore jobs, among other factors, result in a dynamic job market. Employment trends are constantly evolving and jobs that are popular one day can quickly become obsolete as these changes occur. Consider the typesetter: the printing press has been around since the mid-1400s, and the people who knew how to work these types of machines enjoyed steady employment until the 1990s when desktop publishing came around.

Both veteran and greenhorn workers are forced to keep up with these changes – or risk being left without a job. Based on expected growth and the number of anticipated job openings from the U.S. Department of Labor, here are 12 hot careers and how much they pay on average.

IN PICTURES: 6 Hot Careers With Lots Of Jobs

Business and Finance

· Accountants and Auditors - $67,430

Accountants and auditors examine, analyze, interpret and prepare accounting records and can work in a variety of settings. The anticipated employment growth indicates that each year 49,750 jobs will be available, with a 30% increase in total positions.

· Financial Examiner – $70,930

Financial examiners ensure and enforce compliance with laws and regulations pertaining to financial, securities and real estate transactions. With increased awareness of fraud and the need for regulatory compliance, financial examiners are set for an estimated 41% increase in total employment, with over 38,000 positions by 2018.

· Personal Financial Advisors – $68,200

Personal financial advisors assist clients by determining and preparing to meet each client’s financial goals, including investment strategies and retirement planning. This field can expect to see a 30% increase in employment, with over 60,000 positions being created in the next eight years.

· General and Operations Manager – $91,570

General and operations managers are responsible for planning, directing and coordinating the operations of public and private companies. While the employment growth is expected to be low, the yearly outlook is good, providing 50,220 job openings. (Find more financial job choices in Financial Career Options For Professionals.)

· Management Analyst – $84,650

Management analysts study, evaluate and implement procedures and policies to help management perform for efficiently and effectively. Because management analysts can help companies operate more efficiently (and therefore, become more cost effective) this position is in demand and should see a 24% increase in employment, with 30,650 job openings.

Education

· Elementary School Teachers – $32,453 – $49,919

Qualified elementary school teachers are in demand for both public and private school settings. Initiatives in certain geographical locations have actually produced a temporary surplus of teachers; however, the overall employment trends for elementary school teachers will increase 16%, with an expected 59,650 job openings. (Teaching salaries and benefits vary from state to state. Find out the best place for an education career in Best States For Teachers.)

· Post-secondary Teachers – $53,150

Post-secondary teachers work in educational institutions such as vocational schools, academies, community colleges and universities, and often perform a combination of both teaching and research. Job growth is expected to increase by 15%, with 55,290 jobs being available.

Healthcare

· Registered Nurse – $66,530

Registered nurses are vital to the success of the healthcare system and often provide the most direct patient care. Due to healthcare worker shortages, registered nurses are, and should continue to be, in high demand, with an estimated 103,900 job openings in the next eight years.

· Physician’s Assistant - $84.830

Physician’s assistants provide similar healthcare services as physicians, while under a physician’s supervision. The demand for physician’s assistants has increased with an attempt to provide timelier, cost-effective patient care. The projected job growth indicates a 39% increase in positions, with estimated openings in the 104,000 range by 2018. (Not all careers are ho-hum. These 10 have a very high percentage of happy employees. Check out 10 Rewarding Career Choices.)

· Medical Scientist – $84,760

Medical scientists work in a variety of settings, applying engineering, biology and biomechanical principles towards the research and development of health systems and products. Medical scientists can expect to see a 40% increase in employment, with 40,000 additional job openings on the way.

Technology

· Network Systems and Data Communications Specialists – $76,560

While many technology positions have been moved offshore, there should still be a demand for network systems and data communications specialists. These workers, who analyze, design, test and evaluate network systems, can expect a 53% increase in job numbers, with close to 450,000 openings by 2018.

Transportation

· Truck Driver: Heavy and Tractor Trailer – $39,260

Truck drivers transport and deliver goods while driving a tractor-trailer or other truck with a gross vehicle weight of at least 26,000 pounds. Already employing approximately 1.8 million people, job growth is expected to reach 13%, with 55,460 jobs available each year. (For more, see 6 Sectors That Are Creating Jobs.)

The Bottom Line
Changes in consumer and employer needs create a continuously evolving job market. Staying on top of current trends and gaining the necessary schooling and/or experience can help workers ensure they will be able to not only secure a job when the time comes, but that their career choice will enjoy some longevity.

Is it Possible to Get Something for Practically Nothing?

Jan 19, 2010 KC Morgan

Even without the Internet, the idea would be compelling, wouldn’t it? Through the ages, people have always had the dream of earning something for doing practically nothing. From hundreds of Web pages and thousands of spam mails, advertisements seem to scream out the possibilities. Touting dream self employment jobs, lots of companies promise untold riches for very small, easy amounts of work. Could any of it possibly be a viable way to work at home?

Is it possible to get something for practically nothing? Find out the real story behind many dream self employment jobs.

Earning with Internet Surfing

Some ads claim to offer money to people who simply want to surf the Internet, which seems to have all the earmarks of being a dream self employment job. But is it a legitimate opportunity?

In many, many cases, it probably is not. However, there are some truly legitimate companies which do offer a small stipend to those who will click on certain ads and view them for at least thirty seconds. Its called Paid to Click, and though it can be a viable way to earn money at home its hardly a highly lucrative one. Sites offering this opportunity will pay generally less than one cent per ad, which means it takes a whole lot of clicking to earn even one Almighty dollar.

Make Money with Online Forums

Is it possible to get money by posting on Internet forums? It may seem like a dream self employment job that just cant be legit, but forum posting is actually a pretty popular work at home gig. There are lots of legitimate companies offering job listings and opportunities for professionals who want to earn with a little online conversation. However, paid-to-post forum jobs are not big money-earners by any means. In the main, these gigs pay less than $1 USD per post.

Taking Surveys to Create Cash

Taking surveys for money is one of the most common dream self employment jobs thats highly-advertised on the Internet. Because the idea is so popular and so very widespread, survey-taking is often the subject of many online scams. However, this does not mean there are no legitimate opportunities in this field.

It is certainly possible to earn money by taking surveys online. Look to consumer research companies to find actual opportunities, but be warned. Like many other so-called dream self employment jobs and easy ways to make money, survey-taking can be a slow process that earn little actual revenue. Many sites claim to offer cash to those who perform very simple tasks – and they really do! The money offered, however, is usually such a small amount that time could be much better spent on alternative self employment tasks.

Help Drive the Next Wave of Innovation
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Locations
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A report published in this month’s Harvard Business Review suggests that even high-ranking executives make elementary mistakes when searching for a new role.

In researching “Five Ways to Bungle a Job Change”, authors Boris Groysberg and Robin Abrahams interviewed 400 executive research consultants, 500 high level executives and the heads of Human Resources at 15 multinational companies.

“It all kept coming down to the same thing,” Robin Abrahams, research associate at Harvard Business School, told CNN.

“Five mistakes came out consistently, no matter who we asked.” she said.

Lack of research

The report identifies four areas which were conspicuously absent in job seekers’ research.

Groysberg, an associate professor at Harvard Business School and Abrahams reveal that executives fail to assess potential employers for financial stability or how they might fit in culturally to a new organization.

Job seekers also assume that official job descriptions accurately reflect the role as well as failing to properly investigate “job-market realities for their industry.”

“They really don’t do their due diligence,” Abrahams said.

“Think for a moment if you were going to invest a year’s salary in the stock of a company. How much due diligence would you do on that company before investing your money? People don’t do that when they are changing their job.”

Leaving for money

Moving jobs for a pay rise is, according to Abrahams, a result of people thinking in the short term and is no guarantee of success in the long term.

“You know when you change jobs that there are going to be some losses involved — moving your family for example — so the money helps people with feelings of loss aversion. It’s also a story that you can tell to other people and they will understand.

Abrahams, a research psychologist, has a special interest in the psychology of narrative. It’s important for people to explain themselves to other people she says.

“If you tell people you’re getting $10,000 or $50,000 more, everyone gets that. But If you are saying long-winded things like ‘it’s for my personal development’ or ‘I’m truly happier doing this’ you can only say those things to your closest friends and even they might not care or understand.”

Going “from” rather than “to”

Executives at the top, as well as people lower down the career ladder are sometimes so desperate to leave their job that they don’t plan their career moves and lurch from job to job instead of waiting for the right position.

“Ask yourself: ‘are there opportunities still left at my old company or do I really need to leave?’” Abraham said.

“It’s very easy for one or two pieces of information — whether its ‘my boss insulted me’ or ‘these people are offering me $25,000 more’ — to overwhelm everything else. Don’t make a job change based on one piece of information,” Abrahams added.

Overestimating yourself

Abrahams says that people overestimate themselves in two ways.

“They generally think they are more competent than they are and tend to have what’s called a self-aggrandizement bias — overplaying the extent to which you saved the day and your own contribution,” Abrahams said.

This “excessively optimistic” opinion of themselves leads them to underestimate how long a job search can take.

“A lot of people aren’t even thinking through the competition,” Abrahams said.

Thinking short term

A short term perspective, Groysberg and Abrahams say, can feed into the mistakes above and many of the headhunters they spoke to cited it as a “serious career misstep in its own right.”

Abrahams say executives should pay attention to all sources of information available to them about a new role.

If you are lucky enough to find the job of your dreams this year, Abrahams — who writes the “Miss Conduct” social advice column for the Boston Globe — has some words of wisdom.

“On-boarding is absolutely crucial. When you start a job, etiquette and good career management tactics are the same really. Find out who you need to know and get in front of them. Do everything you can to start building up your social capital. Definitely come with a listening perspective, no matter how important you are.”

Burning your bridges with your old company has never been a smart move. Even more so now in the modern business world, Abrahams says.

“Globalization and people changing careers will mean that today’s boss maybe tomorrow’s client or vendor, subordinate or rival for another job. You simply never know.”