Things to Consider When Deciding to Join the Navy

Things to Consider When Deciding to Join the NavyThings to Consider When Deciding to Join the NavyJoining any branch of service should not be a decision made on a whim.There are many things to consider such as what type of training you want to receive, or opportunities for advancement and further education. Where do you want to live?Do you prefer land over the sea? There are many other quality of life issues you should consider, so do not just sign up without seriously learning about your future career. Whether you are wanting to just spend 4 years to help pay for college or you want to make it a career for 20 plus years, the same amount of consideration should occur for you to get the fruchtwein of your decision to serve your country. History of the U.S. Navy The Navy was officially established by the Continental Congress in 1775. The Navys primary mission is to maintain the freedom of the seas or as the slogan goes, A Global Force for Good.The Navy makes it possible for the Uni ted States to use the seas where and when national interests require it. In addition, in times of conflict, the Navy helps to supplement Air Force air power. Navy aircraft carriers can often deploy to areas where fixed runways are impossible. An aircraft carrier usually carries about 80 aircraft. Most of these are fighters or fighter-bombers. Additionally, Navy ships can attack land targets from miles away (with very heavy guns), and cruise missiles. And, the Navy is also primarily responsible for transporting Marines to areas of conflict. Job Opportunities in the Navy If you have an interest in sailing boats, flying airplanes, driving in submarines, communicating with all the above, maintaining such equipment, or even special operations that include diving, swimming, jumping out of planes and mastering small arms weapons, explosives, and land warfare, the Navy will probably have a job that is a fit for you. The active duty Navy has more than 300,000 active duty officers and enl isted Sailors. Educational Opportunities in the Navy All enlisted sailors on active duty (and in any branch of the military) are eligible for the G.I. Bill. In addition, the Navy offers a college fund for recruits who enlist in jobs the Navy considers understaffed, adding money to monthlyG.I. Billentitlements. The Navy also gives tuition assistance for college courses taken off duty. Choosing a military service can be a complicated decision. The services differ when it comes to enlistment incentives, assignment opportunities, quality of life programs, deployment rates, promotion opportunities, and more. Enlisted Commissioning Programs There are a few different routes to becoming an officer in the Navy. You can enroll in theUnited States Naval Academy(USNA), with a nomination from a member of the executive or legislative branches of government. Youll first enroll in Naval Academy Prep School in Newport, R.I., where youll receive instruction and prep for the training and curri culum at the USNA. You also can become an officer either by going through the Navys BOOST program, the Enlisted Commissioning Program, or the Chief Warrant Officer program. Theres also Navy ROTC as an option.

Top 10 Ways to Build Trust at Work

Top 10 Ways to Build Trust at WorkTop 10 Ways to Build Trust at WorkYou cant always control the level of trust in your organization as a whole, but you can act in ways that promote trust in your immediate work environment. This environment may include your department, your work team or unit, or your coworkers in cubicle land. Building trust in a smaller unit where you have some control helps to propagate trust in the larger organization. Managers who trust each others coworkers tend to extend their trust to the larger organization as well. This, in turn, evokes trust in others. Destroying then rebuilding trust allows you to look at what doesnt work to create a trusting work environment, but dont go there. Instead, start building trust from the beginning of your relationship with each new employee. How to Build Trust at Work Hire and promote people to supervisory positions if theyre capable of forming positive, trusting interpersonal relationships with those who report to them. Th e supervisors relationship with reporting employees is the fundamental building gruppierung of trust.Develop the skills of all employees- especially those of current supervisors and people desiring promotion- in effective interpersonal relationship building.Keep staff members informed. Provide as much information as you can comfortably divulge as soon as possible in any situation. Act with integrity and keep commitments. If you cant keep a commitment, explain whats happening in the situation without delay. Observed behavior or actions are perceived by employees as the basis for predicting future behavior. Supervisors who act as if theyre worthy of trust inspire more cooperation with fewer complaints.Confront hard issues in a timely fashion. If an employee is frequently absent or spends work time wandering around, its important to confront him or her about these issues. Other employees will be watching and learning to trust you more. Protect the interests of all employees. Dont talk about absent employees or allow others to place blame, call names, or point fingers. Employees learn to trust when they know that their names arent being taken in vain.Display competence in supervisory and other work tasks. Know what youre talking about, and if you dont know, admit it. Nothing builds trust more effectively than managers owning up to bedrngnis knowing something and pledging to find out so that everyone is informed. The worst reaction occurs when a manager pretends to know and offers faulty information. Employees can forgive a lack of knowledge but may never forgive a lie. Listen with respect and full attention. Exhibit empathy and sensitivity to the needs of staff members. Trust grows out of the belief that you can understand and relate.Take thoughtful risks to improve services and products for the customer. When you take risks, you show employees that they may do the same- especially if there are no consequences when a thoughtfully considered risk goes awry. When ri sk-taking isnt penalized, trust is cemented.Keep your expectations high. If youre a supervisor or team member, act as if you believe staff members are capable of living up to your standards. This support encourages your employees best efforts and their trust. If youre a human resources professional or line manager, you have the special role of coaching managers and supervisors in how to build trust at work. You affect the balance of power within the organization by developing and publishing supportive, protective policies. Youre also influential in establishing appropriate social norms among people who are doing different jobs in your organization. Fully commit to team-building activities when the larger organization is invested in creating a trusting, empowering work environment. Engaging in these activities outside the context of a team-focused culture may be counterproductive, eroding trust and negatively impacting everything you want to accomplish with your employees. The Ba sis of Trust As a corporate psychologist and author Marsha Sinetar wrote, Trust is not a matter of technique, but of character we are trusted because of our way of being, not because of our polished exteriors or our expertly crafted communications. You build and maintain trusting relationships and a culture of trust in your workplace one step at a time through every action you take and every interaction you have with your coworkers and employees. Trust may be fragile,but it has the capacity to grow strong over time.

When a Background Check Makes for Tough Interview Questions

When a Background Check Makes for Tough Interview QuestionsWhen a Background Check Makes for Tough Interview QuestionsEveryone faces curveballs in interviews. But when can skeletons in your closet reach out to hurt your chances?Every career guide ever written covers the tough job-interview questions Why do you want to work here? What is your greatest weakness?That advice rarely extends to questions that cut closer to home explaining away the DWI you got on the way back from dinner with a client or the rumors of fraud that painted everyone laid off from the finance department where you worked after the stock price collapsed. There is little to prepare you to answer questions about the well-respected boss who never got along with you and asked you to resign or the sexual-harassment charge leveled against you but dismissed, years earlier.It is not uncommon to have something lurking in your past or left off your resume that might upset your job search or present an obstacle in interview. And it neednt be an Enron-scale scandal to cause you concern. A black mark on your record (like a negative statement in an employment background check or a lie uncovered in an employment and education verification check) can be enough to send a hiring manager on to the next candidate.Recruiters and investigators who conduct employment background checks advise job seekers to know what their records will say to a kompetenzprofil employer and be prepared to correct or explain them in an interview.If they got a degree at a diploma mill, that will be revealed in a respectable background check if they didnt work at an employer they listed, or didnt have the job title they said they had, that will come out, said Les Rosen, former California deputy district attorney president of Employment Screening Resources of Novato, Calif. and founding member of the National Association of Professional Background Screeners.The herausforderung for job seekers is that there isnt a lot they can do to keep secrets under wraps while theyre job-searching or even afterward. If you have a black mark on your record, expect it to surface, Rosen said. When a person with something minor in their background tries to hide it, they are taking a risk.Almost everyone is doing background checks on every hire its the quickest way to get rid of applicants, said Jo Prabhu, founder and CEO of placement firm 1800Jobquest.com of Long Beach, Calif., and an expert on using background checks in hiring. It goes even down to the administrative level someone might be a felon or have some arrests. So they check everyone.What records matter?Most employers arent even interested in your criminal past unless its relevant to the job for which youre applying, Prabu said. Employers usually just want to know that youve done the time or paid the fine and that the whole thing welches resolved at least two years ago, she said.I did have a woman who got a DUI on New Years Eve, but that was easy to explain, Prabu said. If it was something in college or not related to the job, employers arent interested.If youre applying for a financial position, theyll do an additional credit check, and that might be relevant, she said. But they dont check civil suits or other things. Its too expensive, and its not relevant.If during the last five years you were convicted of check fraud, and I was hiring you to do a job where you had access to finances, that would be a concern, said Robert E. Capwell, chief knowledge officer at Employment Background Investigations Inc. of Owings Mills, Md. If you were a registered sex offender and were working with children or with members of the opposite sex, that would be, too. The question is how long ago was the crime and how relevant is it to the job youre discussing.potenzial employers want to gauge their own level of risk or more perversely if your black mark involves the kind of financial shenanigans that made Wall Streeters rich at the expense of regulations and their own s tockholders whether youre still willing to play hardball.Well find out pretty quickly if you said you were the VP of operations (for an entire company) but it was only a department, and by verifying dates of employment, well find out you said you worked somewhere for a year, but it was only six months and you got fired and then didnt work anywhere for six months, Capwell said. Former employers cant say much, but they are supposed to verify dates and titles.Full disclosureAbout the only real solution to a glitch in an otherwise resume-polished background is full disclosure, investigators and recruiters agreed.Derogatory information honestly revealed and discussed by the applicant is much less harmful than if its discovered by a third party, ESRs Rosen said. Even if the companys not really looking, one of the most productive sources of background checks is co-workers.If youre a six-figure person, you have to abflug with the assumption there are a lot of people working with you or und er you who are interested and are going to look you up, he said. Theyre ready to go on the Internet and see if youre a sex offender because that information isnt hard for consumers to find or what degrees youre claiming in your LinkedIn profile or other business connection, and whether you ever went there.Since theres not any real way to conceal derogatory information, its better to know what might be disclosed about you during a background check. Have a background check done on yourself to check that the information is accurate. If you find false information, you can try to correct the inaccuracies, but there is little you can do to hide negative, but accurate items, Prabhu said. The best advice is to be prepared to explain them and you cant do that until you know what someone will find.There are a lot of people with things on their record that arent discharged like a DUI that someone got a long time ago and then moved to another state before the state sent them a notice saying to pay the fine, she said. That would show up on your record looking as if you fled the state, even if its not true.There is a dramatic increase in the number of searches being done and the types of tools that are being used, Rosen said There will almost always be a driving record, for example. Its an inexpensive record to get, and it turns up DUIs or drug incidents that can reveal alcohol or drug problems that way.Honesty is about the only choice, especially when waffling about tough questions would raise enough red flags that a potential employer would either drop you or investigate further, according to Jim Villwock, an experienced financial-industry executive turned career coach and author of Whacked Again Secrets to Getting Back on the Executive Saddle. What (hiring managers) want to know, he said, is, Are you going to do the same thing to me?