Differences in Education of a Draftsman and an Architect

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There may be some similarities in the job of architects and drafters but if you consider the details, you will find a great deal of difference in the fields involved in both cases. Drafting has a much broader field that may include many specialties. But architects, on the other hand, are more directly into construction work and require a full college degree to accomplish their task. Below is a complete discourse on the essential differences in regards to the education and job for both of these.

Educational Differences

• Draftsmen – Employers mostly prefer those with college training. Since there are a whole lot of schools that provide training in this regards, it is always advisable that the students check with the various firms prior to getting enrolled in one. Community college and technical institutes offer diplomas, certificates as well as associate’s degree that can be earned by anyone who has pursued the course and on successful completion go to take the exam.

• Architects – It is a must for these students to earn at least a five years bachelor’s degree in architecture. These are chiefly devised for those students who have no prior training about this. The syllabus may include construction designs, CADD, math as well as technology. Apart from that, they should also be properly licensed. For this, the person has to have a bachelor’s degree, complete the internship in the desired manner and pass the registration test if any. The licence must be renewed from time to time by passing tests and attending workshops and conferences.

Work

• Draftsmen – Their task in many cases is similar to that of the architects and these drafters even collaborate with the engineers in similar cases. They also prepare similar CADD drawings as that of the engineers. But the work, in this

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Do Your Values Match Your Employer’s

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It is normal for a company to have a set of core values, used to aid in decision making and to establish a culture that is developed purposefully rather than by accident. It is normal that the employees of that company will have similar values, in fact if their values are not aligned then it is rare that a person would stay working for a company with very different values than the individual.

“It’s not hard to make decisions when you know what your values are.” Roy Disney

Companies will take time to develop their core values, they will probably have a strategic planning exercise involving key stake holders, perhaps with consulting advice. The process will be structured and given some importance, because at the end of that process the core values will define the very nature of the company.

How often do individuals really think about their “core values’?

I would suggest that most of us come to know and understand who we are as we mature. We may surprise ourselves from time to time, but generally we have a good understanding of what our limits are and what is important to us. It is also fairly natural that these change over time, as we are exposed to different influences, but at our very core (good word) we know what we stand for.

So… do you try to align yourself with an employer that has similar values to you?

“Find people who share your values, and you’ll conquer the world together.” John Ratzenberger

Is one of your core values earning as much money as you can, above other considerations?

Are you content to earn a wage, and receive no training… or is personal development and lifelong learning important to you?

Do you choose to work at the most convenient employer, with no thought to their community involvement…

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Before Taking Advice From Someone

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There’s no shortage of people who will tell you what you should do in your business. The problem with listening to unsolicited (and even solicited) advice is that often those doling out their thoughts have no idea what’s involved with your decision.

Recently, there was a posting on Facebook by someone seeking input as to whether or not she should start a radio program. Apparently, she had been invited by a company to start a show on their platform.

Although hosting a show seems like a fun idea, there are lots of considerations before saying yes or no.

Many people were quick to say, “Go for it.” Only a few responded with questions for considerations.

One woman who has hosted a show responded with, “It depends on the opportunity as not all are worth your time and energy. I have done a lot of online radio and it can be a huge time drain with very little return in the end.”

Most were along the lines of, “If you feel passionate/excited about it – then yes!!!”

Although passion is important, it takes a heck of a lot more than passion to make business decisions. Passion alone does not pay the bills. Strategic planning is a must-do with most choices such as starting a radio program.

Running a business involves careful evaluation as to the pros and cons of decisions you make. It’s easy to get caught up in the excitement of a new idea and yet, that’s how many entrepreneurs stay stuck and get into financial trouble.

Although the following questions were specific to hosting an online radio program, you can just as easily apply these questions to decisions such as writing a book, creating an information product, hosting an event or anything that takes time, money and energy.

1. What is the outcome you hope to achieve?

2.

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Ethical Behavior in Business Dealings

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The word Ethics was coined from the Greek word, ethos meaning “convincing by the character of the author.” In building our character and credibility we must adhere to a certain sense of ethics. Ethics is generally referred to as a person’s aptitude or ability to stay in tuned with their moral compass or their inner understanding of right or wrong. Although, it is commonly used there are various understandings of ethics.

Depending on the context and manner, it may vary because there are all sorts of ethical behaviors and norms. These societal norms are established per social constructs and pre-existing ideals. Those ideals are often harder to live up to due to the realities of everyday life. We continually strive to reach all levels and bounds of ethics to establish our credibility and build the right relationships.

Regardless of how a person choses to phrase it, a sense of ethics is critical to the development of sustainable relationship in business. Although it is engrained in us through our upbringing, through societal norms and demands, we must transfer our inner sense of ethics to the business realm. In this realm, it is not necessarily about the character of the “author “per se, but more so about developing a business brand and credibility for the business. In some instances, where the business brand is tantamount to that of the owner, it is an easy conversion. Where there are two separate identities, that of the business owner and the business itself. There is a much arduous task of establishing the credibility of the business.

In business, whether there is a service being sold or a potential product, the credibility of the owner is of the utmost importance. To establish credibility, we must convince others of our sense of ethics, we must ensure that people’s understanding

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Defining Integrity

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Integrity is one of those personal measures we all aspire to have. For me having gone through so many difficult life challenges like having a business failure and fired from a high profile job I became sensitive to what people were saying. I learned quickly that actions are indeed stronger than words. There is no room for excuses and sugar coating with integrity.

Many of my recent articles came to life from something a friend or colleague said that I found intriguing. This is a joy of being a good listener. It’s also a trait of someone with Integrity. This article is no different. A close friend was sharing with me why he left his job a while ago. He told me the company did not live up to his moral standards. For me it was a conversation with a close friend and she said I know you wouldn’t do that. You have too much Integrity. I was blown away.

I ask if you’re a one person company and you put CEO on your business card are you telling the truth? I believe you are. Does it reflect what and who you are? That is where it becomes a grey area. Be assured, integrity does not hang out in grey areas.

One common term we don’t hear as much of as we used to is ” My word is my bond”. Say’s it all doesn’t it? If we put this into a business perspective people like to deal with people they trust and respect. Trust and respect are both earned. They are a critical part of integrity. Gaining back trust and respect after losing it is one of the toughest things you will ever have to do in your live. It forces you to come clean. To bare all. Fluff is a

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Non-Compete Contracts, Ethical or Not?

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According to Investors Business Daily, the beauty industry is expected to grow from $68.7 Billion in 2012 to $81.7 Billion in 2017, or an increase of 19.8%. This rapidly expanding industry includes several main service platforms to including hair, nails, body waxing, facials and massage. This substantial sales growth will provide countless opportunities for existing business to expand and new business entrants into the market place.

New entrants into this market are often times existing service providers seeking entrepreneurial opportunities. When at work, these service providers spend a great deal of time with their various forms of client – provider relationships are formed, and often times very strong bonds are developed. These strong relationships are the foundation for both repeat clients and new business referrals for the existing businesses.

Quality service providers are heavily sought after and are of great value to a business owner. One of the biggest challenges spa owners face is when talented service providers decide to venture out on their own and their clients follow them to their new place of employment. Another challenge is when a service provider is terminated and they recruit their previous clients. How can business owners attempt to prevent the potentially devastating loss of valuable clients when this situation happens? Non-compete contracts.

According to Wikipedia, a non-compete clause (often NCC), or covenant not to compete (CNC), is a term used in contract law under which one party (usually an employee) agrees not to enter into or start a similar profession or trade in competition against another party (usually the employer). A non-compete clause needs to have the following traits in order for it to be valid. A non-compete:

1.) Must be reasonable.

2.) Should be extremely detailed.

3.) Conform to the laws in your jurisdiction regarding non-competes.

4.) Can only pertain to employees, not booth renters.

The intent behind

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Ethical Engineering Practices

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Engineering jobs are not always solely about engineering. Engineering functions were traditionally focused on building something using different variations of math and science. These jobs have recently transformed into combining more business functions. In John Hooker’s white paper, he states, “engineers are increasingly involved in startup companies in which they make business decisions as well as engineering decisions.” Cross-functional teams include members in engineering, sales, manufacturing, marketing, and warranty. Many engineers today have multiple hats to wear and are even labeled as “project” engineers. Wikipedia defines project engineering as “bridging the boundaries between engineering and project management.” Since the role of the engineering field has changed over the years, engineers face more and more ethical choices and decisions. Engineers must create designs and services to customers in an ethical manner.

There are many different professional societies for engineers to join. Some of these societies include but are not limited to the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), Project Management Institute (PMI), The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), and National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE). Each of these organizations has a similar code of ethics for its members.

A sample of a societies code of ethics from the National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE):

“Engineers, in the fulfillment of their professional duties, shall:

1-Hold paramount the safety, health, and welfare of the public.

2-Perform services only in areas of their competence.

3-Issue public statements only in an objective and truthful manner.

4-Act for each employer or client as faithful agents or trustees.

5-Avoid deceptive acts.

6-Conduct themselves honorably, responsibly, ethically, and lawfully so as to enhance the honor, reputation, and usefulness of the profession.”

Once a person joins one of these societies, an oath to uphold the code is taken. Members must take the code seriously for the professional to be dedicated to his/her employer, customers, vendors, or

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Why We Tend To Resist Change

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We live in a time of globalization and constant technology innovation. The growth in technology rapidly increases our access to information and knowledge. These constant changes result in an ever evolving business environment and a demand for organizations to change and adapt. Although modern organizational changes are more often driven by external forces than internal, change is a wonderful individual and organizational opportunity to innovate, create, and become more efficient and effective. Research shows that organizations that adapt to external changes most quickly will create a competitive advantage for themselves while the companies that are slow to change will be left behind.

While change is an opportunity, anyone who led or participated in an organizational change can attest that the process is not easy. Changing the procedures, technology, and organizational systems is the less challenging part of change management. The most challenging component is changing how people in an organization act and think. Change is uncomfortable and often provokes resistance. It is our natural tendency to cling to the known rather than embracing the unknown. So, what’s behind our resistance? Why may we feel so uncomfortable and defensive even though rationally we may grasp the benefits of change?

Based on our personalities and previous experiences, we all may embrace and deal with change differently. We do though have some common tendencies behind resistance to change.

Status quo bias. People have conscious or subconscious tendencies to stick with in the status quo. When faced with a dilemma, we tend to do nothing. And not just individuals and organizations; biological and ecological systems also fight to remain in the status quo. This phenomenon is called homeostasis.

Fear of the unknown. Behind the fear of the unknown lurks the fear of not meeting basic needs. If we recall Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, we will remember

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Lessons Learned From Top Companies

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Profitable companies must keep changing for continued success. Sometimes it is unexpected, sometimes it is necessary. To maintain normalcy during periods of change, employees look to their leaders for guidance. The key is to get leadership on board with the change and establish methods for helping their teams handle the change. Leaders must possess certain qualities for a smooth transition and to keep momentum in the workplace.

Navigating change is difficult; even the best ideas will fail if they are not adapted correctly. Here are the top three companies that implemented major changes and what we can learn from their successes and failures.

Alphabet

Alphabet is now the parent company of Google and is run by Google’s co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin. The restructure came so that the Google search engine could remain focused on its original mission to organize the world’s information. Among the companies now under Alphabet are the collection of ventures Brin and Page have delved into, including Google, Calico (their quest to cure death) and Nest Labs.

Given that this was a restructuring of a major organization, leaders should have minimized uncertainty among their employees. Instead, they shocked their employees and the world at the same time when Larry Page published a blog post on Google+. They did not give their employees much warning, and it brought the workday to a halt as everyone from interns to senior engineers reeled at the news.

The blog post addressed many of the questions leaders should answer during a time of change, including why the change was necessary and where they are in the process. However, it took employees by surprise when leadership could have been upfront about the changes and how it would affect their teams. As the situation unfolds, we will continue to learn how Alphabet is managing the transition

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The 3 Key Reasons Change Communication Messages Fail

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Given the number of number of times organisations embark on communicating change you think they would eventually get it right. But many things get in the way, not the least of which is thinking that communicating change is easy and that what works in one organisation will work in another. Those of us who develop change communication strategies know that this is not the case, change is difficult, it is different for every organisational culture and the approach needs to be customised each time.

Here are the 3 key reasons change communication messages fail and what you can do about it to ensure that your change messages get traction.

1. The first key mistake is when the focus of the message is on the what, not the why. The key message should not be about the project or the IT system, if that is what the change is about, it is always about the why. You need to explain how the change links to organisational strategy and specifically how what leaders and employees do in their role will change. The important aspect here is that the change is not just because of a new process but due to the organisational strategy behind its implementation. And yes you read that correctly, you need to connect the dots for leaders as well. Never assume that they understand the why behind a change initiative. If leaders are a key part of your communication approach as they always should be, then they must all be on the same page when it comes to explaining and supporting change initiatives.

2. Many times the key message communicated to employees during transformation programs is the need to change the way they do things. Sometimes unintentionally the message is heard that they way they do things is wrong and needs

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How to Influence Leaders When Driving Strategy and Change

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The key to a successful change program is management and leadership commitment to the proposed communication strategy. The greatest challenge for change managers is to ensure that leaders stay on message and do not waiver from the challenges ahead. Change is hard, whether you are at the frontline, or at the executive leadership level. But the most difficult role of all to cope with change is the leader, because pressures come from leadership team members warning against the changes, for many unfounded reasons. And they advise it is always safer to stay with what is known even if it is not the best outcome for the organisation rather than to take a risk to try to innovate and do something new that is untested.

So here’s what can you do to ensure that the focus stays on strategy.

1. Establish a project management team comprised of key leaders that focus on enterprise wide change and dependencies and is chaired by the CEO or department head. This ensures that the silo mentality is broken down as managers are required to adapt to a new process, that is, thinking of their specific project and the impact across the organisation, which in turns changes behaviour.

2. From a change communication perspective it is important to ensure that communication is timely and aligned with progress at each of these change meetings. More importantly it is essential to communicate how each project and strategy execution is aligned with the enterprise wide vision and direction of the organisation. This way employees and managers will understand how individual projects are linked and how the organisational strategy is dependent on them all coming together.

3. All members of the leadership team need to be aligned. They must have consistent messaging regarding the direction they are communicating and that it is linked

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The Role of Leaders During Change

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The critical aspect of any change management program is face to face communication. The role of leaders during change is very different from business as usual. It requires a greater physical presence amongst employees to reassure them that their concerns are being heard at the top of the organisation and conversely that the CEO has the opportunity to find out what is really going on.

This is why leadership competency in communication is so important, because from the top down people model behaviours including leaders on executive teams and right down to team leaders. If the CEO doesn’t communicate then it is likely others will follow their lead. There are two types of change in organisations, the first is the downsizing change, the other is about organisational transformation, and sometimes one follows the other.

Here are two scenarios of how leaders can communicate change and demonstrate their change management skills.

Scenario One: In a downsizing situation staff just want to hear from the leader. If there is nothing to say about the detail this doesn’t matter. In all cases I find employees just want to have access to the person at the top who they attribute to making the final decision whether that be accurate or not.

So what does the face to face communication consist of? This is the easy part, transparency. Employees just want to know why downsizing is taking place and when they will find out if they will still have a job. At this stage very few will be listening to any commentary on strategy, first and foremost they want to know about their financial security. Once this aspect of the change process is over, you need to move to strategy fast so that employees are clear on the road ahead and the opportunities to build on a solid

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Neuroscience and Managing Attitudes To Change

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Is it true that people avoid change? That we prefer the status quo and that’s why so many change initiatives in organizations fail?

Neuroscience has helped to cast light on how people view change – and what organizations need to do to start introducing more successful change initiatives in the workplace.

Perceptions of change

Change and disruption seem to be constants in today’s workplaces; and recent studies suggest that most organisational change initiatives end up in failure.

Our response to change starts in the brain; most of us look for some degree of safety, certainty, and predictability in our lives. It’s no different in the workplace. We tend to avoid anything that will activate a threat response in the brain, which is what happens when we perceive that our job, our daily routine, or our livelihood is at risk.

Not knowing what will happen tomorrow causes most people to expend neural energy on the threat response rather than in more productive pursuits.

Researchers Christopher Musselwhite and Robyn Ingram identified three major ‘groups’ in terms of people’s response to change:

1. Conservers – who prefer the status quo

2. Pragmatists – who accept change if given reasonable time, training, and communication

3. Originators – who prefer the stimulation of ever-changing environments

This makes more sense than expecting everyone to view change in the same way; after all, some people prefer to go skydiving in their spare time for the adrenalin rush, while others settle down with a good book to get their ‘fix’ of what makes them tick.

If we assume that most people fall into the second category (‘pragmatists’), the question for leaders would be how to shape change that allows reasonable time, training and communication.

Undoubtedly, this will help to initiate change; but neuroscience is showing us that, for real lasting change, we need to delve a bit deeper into

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Advantages of Having a Government Job As a Career

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The younger generation has the least amount of interest in government jobs, but it is safe to say that there is still a very large crowd out there that is deeply aspiring for a government job. There might be quite a few disadvantages when it comes to a government job but there are many advantages on the contrary that make these jobs all the more attractive in the long run.

Get your pay/salary on time

It doesn’t matter whether the country you are in is going through depression or recession. You will get your salary on the due date without any delay and this is followed each and every month. It is one of the important things to consider.

You are pensionable until death

You can avail your pension until you die. This means that there is a complete and a full proof insurance your entire life. This is not available in a private job.

Free time

It is easily understandable that the workload in a government job is near to negligible. This can give you a lot of free time to do other lively activities and enjoy your life. Activities like reading, writing and other physical activities are not always possible in a private job.

House

In a government job you do not have to pay rent. Your company will provide you with housing facility and this is at a time when the mortgages and land prices have reached the next level. You can live in government quarters without going through the ordeal of paying rent. These quarters are as good as an apartment in a post locality.

Health care is free

Health care can also be termed as extremely expensive when the treatment costs kick in. All this will be free if you are working for the government. All the expenses of you as well as your

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The Peace Corps Application Process

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The Peace Corps Resume

The resume is the single most important part of your application. They expect it to be 2-3 pages of all of your work and volunteering along with and skills or languages you know. One of the hardest parts for me was that they wanted to know exactly how long you did each thing for, how many times a week, and for how many hours each time. The resume gets attached to your application and reviewed to see if you even qualify for the first round of cuts. My biggest tip for the resume is to make sure you know what positions you are wanting to apply for.

The Peace Corps Motivational Statement

The other big section of the application is the motivational statement. This is your chance to explain to the Peace Corps why you want to be a volunteer, why you would be a good one and how you will overcome challenges your service may present. They want it as concise as possible. They say that your motivational statement cannot help you but it can hurt you. So make sure to put some effort into it.

Health Form and Skills Assessment

After submitting your application you are prompted to fill out a heath history form. The information you provide needs to be accurate and it is in your best interest not to lie to them because eventually you will have to provide your medical records and if it shows you lied to them, they can revoke your invitation. After the form is filled out you are sent an email where you can pick your top three country choices or say you will go anywhere, along with your sector preferences if any.

Next is the soft skill questionnaire. This was actually extremely stressful. You have a list of terms and statements

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