Ladies and gentlemen, this week I'm going to elaborate a bit about one of the most demanded professions in most countries: the female oriented field of dental hygiene. This profession which looks simple at first glance, requires prolonged training and years of experience and unsurprisingly demands a lot of manpower. I'm going to answer a few questions:
1. What are the responsibility fields of a dental hygienist?
2. Is this a feminine field?
3. What are the job & wage prospects of this field?
4. What is the proper training for this career?
What are the responsibility fields of a dental hygienist?
1. Performing a basic scrutiny to the patient's mouth and observing basic problems.
2. Observing basic gum issues.
3. Basic instruction for quitting smoking.
4. Instruction for mouth issue prevention by proper nutrition.
5. Tooth scaling removal.
6. Polishing the teeth using Fluoride.
7. Removing stitches (after mouth surgery).
Is this a feminine field?
Well, if 90% - 98% female employees in this field implies it is, so it is. Traditionally, para-medical professions have been identified with females in the last 100 years or so. So I guess that if you are male and don't see yourself in a feminine field, you better skip this article..
On the other hand, even if you are male and find this field as attractive to you, maybe you'll be able to overcome the gender issue in order to enjoy the benefits of the profession.
What are the job & wage prospects of this field?
It's hard to find an unemployed dental hygienist because of a few reasons:
1. There's always a demand for this service, as people tend to have tooth problems.
2. This profession needs a prolonged training. You can't work without a license and you can't have a license without a 3-4 years studies & training period.
3. It's not a million dollar career: you can make a decent living but generally not more. Thus the masses aren't attracted to this field.
What is the proper training for this career?
Generally speaking, dental hygienists need to study 3-4 years in order to get a degree and a license of a professional in this field. The academic and professional tracks reach about 2000 hours of study and practice. The profession is taught in universities and academic colleges, which means that you need to meet the admission criteria of academic institutions.
Friday, August 29, 2014
Thursday, August 21, 2014
Technical Support Representative - What is it All About?
"This is Brad, technical representative. How can I help you?". We all know this phrase, whether we hear it on the phone, on email or on a chat. Most of the time we hear it when we contact a phone or an Internet company, but also a credit or insurance company. With your permission folks, I'll elaborate a bit on the technical support world of the Internet and phone industries.
I'll try to answer the following question:
1. What does a technical support representative do?
2. What are the promotion prospects of such a professional?
3. Does this occupation give professional satisfaction to its members?
4. Why does this occupation suffers from a high burnout rate?
What does a technical support representative do
Putting it simple, a technical support representative is responsible to maintain a technical service. As simple as that. Whether it's the Internet service we all have to make us browser the web, the cell phone we use every day or the hosting service for our site or blog. Even a slight technical problem may cause our site, phone or web browsing stop functioning and our day get spoilt.
Technically, the technical support representative is responsible for the following:
1. Understanding the problem which the user is facing.
2. Figuring out how to fix the mentioned problem.
3. Going step by step with the user to solve the problem.
4. Transferring a report to the superiors for statistical analysis and archiving.
What are the promotion prospects of such a professional?
Most people think that technical support representative don't have many promotion prospects. This belief isn't necessarily true. Let's have a look at some of the promotion prospects for them:
1. Team leader - running a group of technical support representatives, usually of 5-10 people.
2. Technical support engineer - with a degree in the respective technical field (electronics, software etc.), the representative can work as an engineer for supporting customers i.e understanding a technical system and advising the customers about the proper use of them.
3. Running an independent technical laboratory - many niches of technical support enable their employees to run their own businesses. For example, a representative in the cellular industry may open a small business dealing with fixing and modifying cell phones.
Does this occupation give professional satisfaction to its members?
"In the eyes of the beholder" - if you have support & advice for others, you may find your home at this field. For people who are suitable for this niche, giving guidance and help to other people in fields they master can be definitely fulfilling.
But the issue is that people tend to get into this field because they have no other alternatives. Many employees in the field come from technical backgrounds (engineers, technicians) with no job prospects in their professions. This leads to unsuitable technical representatives who tend to burn out relatively fast.
Why does this occupation suffers from a high burnout rate?
I can count 2 main reasons:
1. The meager payout - most technical support jobs offer wages about 1/2 as high as engineering jobs. This figure leads to unserious regards for this profession. Employees just can't relate to their jobs very seriously when they earn 1/3 to 1/2 the sum the engineers at the same company earn.
2. Lack of compatibility - most technical support representatives don't have the tendency for giving assistance and advice. They're just not for this sort of a job. They're mostly technical nerds having to put up with this kind of a job because they have no other option.
I'll try to answer the following question:
1. What does a technical support representative do?
2. What are the promotion prospects of such a professional?
3. Does this occupation give professional satisfaction to its members?
4. Why does this occupation suffers from a high burnout rate?
What does a technical support representative do
Putting it simple, a technical support representative is responsible to maintain a technical service. As simple as that. Whether it's the Internet service we all have to make us browser the web, the cell phone we use every day or the hosting service for our site or blog. Even a slight technical problem may cause our site, phone or web browsing stop functioning and our day get spoilt.
Technically, the technical support representative is responsible for the following:
1. Understanding the problem which the user is facing.
2. Figuring out how to fix the mentioned problem.
3. Going step by step with the user to solve the problem.
4. Transferring a report to the superiors for statistical analysis and archiving.
What are the promotion prospects of such a professional?
Most people think that technical support representative don't have many promotion prospects. This belief isn't necessarily true. Let's have a look at some of the promotion prospects for them:
1. Team leader - running a group of technical support representatives, usually of 5-10 people.
2. Technical support engineer - with a degree in the respective technical field (electronics, software etc.), the representative can work as an engineer for supporting customers i.e understanding a technical system and advising the customers about the proper use of them.
3. Running an independent technical laboratory - many niches of technical support enable their employees to run their own businesses. For example, a representative in the cellular industry may open a small business dealing with fixing and modifying cell phones.
Does this occupation give professional satisfaction to its members?
"In the eyes of the beholder" - if you have support & advice for others, you may find your home at this field. For people who are suitable for this niche, giving guidance and help to other people in fields they master can be definitely fulfilling.
But the issue is that people tend to get into this field because they have no other alternatives. Many employees in the field come from technical backgrounds (engineers, technicians) with no job prospects in their professions. This leads to unsuitable technical representatives who tend to burn out relatively fast.
Why does this occupation suffers from a high burnout rate?
I can count 2 main reasons:
1. The meager payout - most technical support jobs offer wages about 1/2 as high as engineering jobs. This figure leads to unserious regards for this profession. Employees just can't relate to their jobs very seriously when they earn 1/3 to 1/2 the sum the engineers at the same company earn.
2. Lack of compatibility - most technical support representatives don't have the tendency for giving assistance and advice. They're just not for this sort of a job. They're mostly technical nerds having to put up with this kind of a job because they have no other option.
Thursday, August 14, 2014
Love or Money - How to Choose a Career?
Ladies and gentlemen, Nice to have you here again! This week I'm going to express my thoughts about how should people choose their careers: by what they love or by what should give them them a decent standard of living. This is the main question young people ask themselves in the western world. This is the question most of young people in the developing world don't ask themselves because they don't have the luxury of choosing their career. I'll discuss the following questions:
1. Who needs to ask this question?
2. The advantages of choosing a career by its job prospects.
3. The advantages of choosing a career by your passion.
4. What do I really think about the issue?
Who needs to ask this question?
Do you have to ask yourself this question? it depends on another basic question: do you really care what you actually do at work? If you don't really care, it's quite obvious that you should choose a career by the vocational prospects it should give you. By "Vocational Prospects" I refer to the difficulty of finding a job, the wages level it gives on average and the work environment (physical condition, stress level and human quality) it offers.
On the other hand, if you have a dream of what you would like to do in your career, you shouldn't really ask yourself this question, but you should make modification to the dream to meet reality. For example, if you have a dream to be a painter, you should consider going for a career in architecture or in interior design. By this way, you would satisfy both your desires and your pocket.
The advantages of choosing a career by its job prospects
A famous criminal attorney once said: "I've never had a dirty conscience because I've never had one". The most profitable decision you could make is choosing a career by the job prospects it gives: the ability to find a job, the wage level you could get, the work environment it could give you and the vocational security. I've never met a person who made a career decision solely based on the job prospects complaining about his/her fate.
On the other hand, not everyone can be so benefit oriented: people usually have tendencies, likes and dislikes and other aspirations. It's good to choose a career by its job prospects but only if you don't really have a conscience regarding the issue.
The advantages of choosing a career by your passion
Donald Trump is really for this attitude: he believes that in order to be successful in a career, one must be in love with it. Otherwise, there wouldn't be a great success throughout a 30 year career. If people dislike what thy do on a daily basis, they would suffer from an early burnout and a sharp decline in productivity and eventually quit their career.
So as Trump puts it, you should first get along well with a career and then think of its job prospects.
What do I really think about the issue?
There are 3 possibilities:
1. You don't care about what you do at work - in this case you should choose a career by its prospects.
2. You have a dream - in this case you should choose a career as close to your dream which can provide for you.
3. You care about what you do t work and also care about the job prospects - hopefully for you would find a career interesting and also beneficial.
1. Who needs to ask this question?
2. The advantages of choosing a career by its job prospects.
3. The advantages of choosing a career by your passion.
4. What do I really think about the issue?
Who needs to ask this question?
Do you have to ask yourself this question? it depends on another basic question: do you really care what you actually do at work? If you don't really care, it's quite obvious that you should choose a career by the vocational prospects it should give you. By "Vocational Prospects" I refer to the difficulty of finding a job, the wages level it gives on average and the work environment (physical condition, stress level and human quality) it offers.
On the other hand, if you have a dream of what you would like to do in your career, you shouldn't really ask yourself this question, but you should make modification to the dream to meet reality. For example, if you have a dream to be a painter, you should consider going for a career in architecture or in interior design. By this way, you would satisfy both your desires and your pocket.
The advantages of choosing a career by its job prospects
A famous criminal attorney once said: "I've never had a dirty conscience because I've never had one". The most profitable decision you could make is choosing a career by the job prospects it gives: the ability to find a job, the wage level you could get, the work environment it could give you and the vocational security. I've never met a person who made a career decision solely based on the job prospects complaining about his/her fate.
On the other hand, not everyone can be so benefit oriented: people usually have tendencies, likes and dislikes and other aspirations. It's good to choose a career by its job prospects but only if you don't really have a conscience regarding the issue.
The advantages of choosing a career by your passion
Donald Trump is really for this attitude: he believes that in order to be successful in a career, one must be in love with it. Otherwise, there wouldn't be a great success throughout a 30 year career. If people dislike what thy do on a daily basis, they would suffer from an early burnout and a sharp decline in productivity and eventually quit their career.
So as Trump puts it, you should first get along well with a career and then think of its job prospects.
What do I really think about the issue?
There are 3 possibilities:
1. You don't care about what you do at work - in this case you should choose a career by its prospects.
2. You have a dream - in this case you should choose a career as close to your dream which can provide for you.
3. You care about what you do t work and also care about the job prospects - hopefully for you would find a career interesting and also beneficial.
Thursday, August 7, 2014
NBA? DBA!
Ladies and gentlemen, this week I'm going to tell you a bit about a profession that has been gaining influence and might in the last 2 decades: the database administrator. I'm going to elaborate a bit about the following points:
1. What is included under this title "Database Administrator"?
2. What benefits can this profession give its occupants?
3. What are the drawbacks of this profession?
4. How can you become a database administrator?
What is included under this title "Database Administrator"?
Database - is a virtual set of tables. As simple as that. Imagine a set of thousands of tables packed together and placed on a computer: this is a database. Why is this so important? because any website you visit stores its data on a database. For example: when you log in to Facebook, all the data on your personal account are originally stored on a database, and when you log in, the data gets imported from the database into your personal account so you can view it.
A database administrator is the professional responsible to develop and maintain databases: create new databases, securing them from viruses and other threats, help staff use them adequately or even performing data retrieval for other people in the organization.
What benefits can this profession gives its occupants?
1. Relatively high occupational security - because this position gives a wide knowledge of the organization's inner data (including confidential data) which makes the organization think again and again before sacking such an employee. In addition, this isn't a research & development job (i.e it doesn't involve directly in product development) thus the employer always needs the employee for maintenance of the information assets.
2. Not a small screw in the machine - everybody knows the database administrator. Everybody needs the database administrator. This is because everybody needs data thus everybody needs the DBA. Kapish?
What are the drawbacks of this profession?
1. Most people don't dream often of a day in front of a computer. Such a job is commonly perceived as geeky and boring. Women seldom get attracted to such a career because they're inclined to interpersonal jobs like healthcare or teaching positions. Thus, most people aren't inclined to computer oriented careers.
2. There aren't relatively many positions of database administrators. They get hired to deal with large database and most businesses don't need large databases. In contrast, for every little aspect in a software there's a need of a programmer or for every small issue in a local network, there's a need of a system administrator.
How can you become a database administrator?
As in every computing profession, there are 2 main tracks to follow: the academic and the non-academic.
1. Academic - study 3-4 years of computing related degree (mainly Computer Science or Information Systems) and then start as a apprentice in the databases field. Advantage: getting great learning skills which would be beneficial in the day to day demanding routine. Disadvantage: long and hard studies and sometimes also expensive.
2. Non academic - study a certification course (like: SQL Server Database Administrator or Oracle DBA) and then start as a newbie in the industry. Advantage: short studies (not more than a year). Disadvantage: weak learning skills and non existent theoretical background.
1. What is included under this title "Database Administrator"?
2. What benefits can this profession give its occupants?
3. What are the drawbacks of this profession?
4. How can you become a database administrator?
What is included under this title "Database Administrator"?
Database - is a virtual set of tables. As simple as that. Imagine a set of thousands of tables packed together and placed on a computer: this is a database. Why is this so important? because any website you visit stores its data on a database. For example: when you log in to Facebook, all the data on your personal account are originally stored on a database, and when you log in, the data gets imported from the database into your personal account so you can view it.
A database administrator is the professional responsible to develop and maintain databases: create new databases, securing them from viruses and other threats, help staff use them adequately or even performing data retrieval for other people in the organization.
What benefits can this profession gives its occupants?
1. Relatively high occupational security - because this position gives a wide knowledge of the organization's inner data (including confidential data) which makes the organization think again and again before sacking such an employee. In addition, this isn't a research & development job (i.e it doesn't involve directly in product development) thus the employer always needs the employee for maintenance of the information assets.
2. Not a small screw in the machine - everybody knows the database administrator. Everybody needs the database administrator. This is because everybody needs data thus everybody needs the DBA. Kapish?
What are the drawbacks of this profession?
1. Most people don't dream often of a day in front of a computer. Such a job is commonly perceived as geeky and boring. Women seldom get attracted to such a career because they're inclined to interpersonal jobs like healthcare or teaching positions. Thus, most people aren't inclined to computer oriented careers.
2. There aren't relatively many positions of database administrators. They get hired to deal with large database and most businesses don't need large databases. In contrast, for every little aspect in a software there's a need of a programmer or for every small issue in a local network, there's a need of a system administrator.
How can you become a database administrator?
As in every computing profession, there are 2 main tracks to follow: the academic and the non-academic.
1. Academic - study 3-4 years of computing related degree (mainly Computer Science or Information Systems) and then start as a apprentice in the databases field. Advantage: getting great learning skills which would be beneficial in the day to day demanding routine. Disadvantage: long and hard studies and sometimes also expensive.
2. Non academic - study a certification course (like: SQL Server Database Administrator or Oracle DBA) and then start as a newbie in the industry. Advantage: short studies (not more than a year). Disadvantage: weak learning skills and non existent theoretical background.
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