Our week at work, August 16-22
CareerOne looks at the week’s news from the world of work.
By Josephine Asher
Beware. Your next email could be a dismissal notice from your boss. That’s what Kevin Rudd’s daughter, Jessica Rudd, describes in her new book Campaign Ruby launched this week.
In a bizarre coincidence, her fictitious book features a prime minister overthrown by his female deputy.
What would you do if your your career was instantly redirected though the contents of your inbox? In this case, character Ruby Stanhope drafts a “To do” list… Read it in the link to the extract below.
If you are hit with that crushing email, or been sympathetically told the company is letting you go, perhaps it’s time for a clean start anyway – and a clean Facebook page.
We all know it’s not acceptable, but how many potential employers are screening candidates’ social networking pages to gather information about your personality?
Well, you can put a stop to that. Under the existing Privacy Act you can apply to an employer or a recruiter to see notes made about you during the recruitment process.
However, there is nothing to stop a savvy line manager or recruiter from using social networking as a screening tool but then omitting that fact from their notes.
Find out more about the process below:
READ MORE: What are reference checkers being told about you?
Snooping on the internet for personal details is bad enough, but spreading gossip in the workplace has come under fire.
“Talkative co-workers” were nominated as the top distraction for office workers, according to a global poll by recruitment specialist Robert Walters.
Only eight per cent of respondents nominated social-networking sites as a source of distraction, according to Robert Walters managing director in Australia James Nicholson.
“Dialogue with colleagues can fuel productivity, but a lot of the time professionals are engaging in conversations that are not relevant, productive or strengthening corporate relationships and networks.”
READ MORE: Small talk a big problem
On a more positive note, when you do snag the job you’ve been chasing, we have your first day covered.
Proper preparation can make all the difference to those initial impressions. This week we compiled ten top tips for nailing that frightful induction process.
READ MORE: Top 10 tips for the first day
In the employment sector this week, opportunities in the engineering sector have taken a dive.
According to a survey by the Association of Professional Engineers, Scientists and Managers Australia (APESMA), as much as 90 per cent of the up-front design work for the large oil and gas projects is being sourced abroad.
Local engineers are missing out on the most innovative and interesting work in the sector, according to the association’s Paul Davies.
READ MORE: Bigger benefits for engineers abroad
It’s also been revealed this week that the mining and resources industry has been experiencing a mass exodus of skilled workers once employees in the sector lost their jobs.
Right Management carried out research amongst redundant mining workers attending its career transition programs between January 2009 and June 2010 to find a massive 50 per cent were leaving the mining sector altogether after losing their jobs.
Talent management practice leader at Right Management Rosemarie Dentesano said many organisations were not canvassing opportunities between sites around the country before letting trained staff go.
READ MORE: Mining companies wasting workers
But doctors are enjoying incentives and demand across Australia. And their lifestyles in the rural and remote areas are ranking just as highly as in major metropolitan areas.
GPs in outer regional, rural and remote Australia earn 11.5 per cent more than GPs working in major cities with average annual incomes of up to $213,200, according to new research.
Rural and remote GP pay packets are set to grow even bigger after the July 2010 introduction of federally funded incentive payments to doctors of up to $120,000 over two years on top of their actual earnings as a GP.
Rural Health Workforce Australia CEO, Dr Kim Webber said rural doctors generally worked more hours but often found their roles more varied and rewarding.
READ MORE: Rural GPs out earn city doctors
That’s definitely the case for Tasmanian GP Dr Angela Retchford.
She doesn’t battle peak hour on the way to work. She takes a scenic drive through the lush wilderness of Tasmania’s Huon Valley with her dog, Ratu.
Dr Retchford provides ante natal care, ultrasounds, minor surgery, joint injections and palliative care with patients in their homes.
“That’s outside the scope of your average urban GP,” she says.
READ MORE: There’s more variety in the country, says rural doctor
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