Successful Flexer Series Finding a Full-Time Telecommuting Job

Successful Flexer Series Finding a Full-Time Telecommuting JobSuccessful Flexer Series Finding a Full-Time Telecommuting Jobwork-at-home job first to supplement my reduced income, and eventually a new full-time career. says Nadia.Keep reading to learn more about Nadia and her new job as a telecommuting interpreterSo, Nadia signed up for in the spring of 2010 hoping to find a part-time telecommuting job. After only a few months of searching, Nadia found the perfect fit a one-year contract working as a part-time Ads Quality Rater for Google Ads, through WorkForceLogic. Nadia is a native of France and was able to put her fluency in French and English to good use by reporting and tracking the visual quality and content accuracy of Google advertisements, and examining text, web pages, images, and other types of information. I was able to work in the evenings and weekends on these projects, keep my day job, and continue to look for a full-time telecommuting job. she says.Because Nadia ha d signed up for a year-long membership to , she was able to keep searching for jobs, and in the fall of 2010, she was hired by Language Line as a French Telephone Interpreter. Working from her home office, Nadia answers in-bound calls from a variety of clients who work with Language Line for interpretation services. Nadia admits, A few years ago, I never would have considered a telecommuting job because I love to be around people and work as part of a team. But because I interact with people all day long, from places like Africa, Europe, and North America, I love it. Whats a typical day like for Nadia? It turns out, anything but typical. I work 900 am to 530 pm Eastern Time, Monday through Friday and I have scheduled breaks. Throughout the day, calls come in from Language Line clients from industries like finance, travel and tourism, government, hospitals, and 911 call centers. All I need is my land-line phone and a computer, and I can assist people from financial professionals work ing in the stock market to doctors discussing rare conditions with their patients. Sometimes I use the internet to research the correct vocabulary because the industry jargon is so varied. Every day is different and exciting.In terms of starting a family, Nadia says that telecommuting will allow her to stay at home to be close to her child. Nadia likes the idea of having a job that can travel with her, too. My husband is applying for Ph.D programs for next year, so in case we need to move, I can take this job with me. It allows him to expand his applications to more places to better his chances of being accepted.Flexible work is important to Nadia for so many of the same reasons that we all know. Because I live up in the mountains, where you cant even see another house in the area, commuting was too expensive with gas prices and the wear and tear on my car. Now, I am home every day while communicating with hundreds of people from all over the world.ur sincere congratulations and tha nks to Nadia for sharing her story with the community. We hope stories like Nadias inspire other job seekers to find their own ideal flexible job. Stay tuned for the next installment of Successful Flexers, and if you are a Successful Flexer yourself, please contact us if youd like to share your story

Josiah Hornblower

Josiah Hornblower Josiah Hornblower Josiah HornblowerBy the time Josiah Hornblower (1729 1809), the man who built the first American steam engine, welches born in Staffordshire, England, in 1729, his father, Joseph Hornblower, was already a pioneer in the field of steam-engine construction. The elder Hornblower travelled to Cornwall, England, in 1725 to assist blacksmith-inventor Thomas Newcomen with the erection of his atmospheric steam engine at the Wheal Rose mine. Newcomens engines (then called fire engines) were used in the coal mines of Englands Black Country and the tin mines of Cornwall, pits in the earth too deep to be reached by horse power where miners often labored waist-deep in the cold water that filled the recesses that contained the coal.Into this world of innovation and industry, Josiah came of age. As a youth, he quickly learned mathematics and the engineering his father taught him and his brother Joseph. Both of the brothers went on to careers building steam engin es, heavily influenced by their fathers work with Newcomen, who built the first atmospheric steam engine in 1712 near Dudley Castle in Staffordshire. Combining Devon engineer Thomas Saverys vacuum pump technology with a cylinder and vertical piston, Newcomens steam engine used boiler-supplied steam, which condensed when the cylinder sent cold water upward, to create a vacuum. Atmospheric pressure would then force the piston downward, pull on the end of the beam it was connected to above, which then tilted the long vertical pump rods, penetrating the shaft upward to power the pumps that removed the water.Newcomen, an ironmonger who unlike the scientists and engineers of his day had no formal scholarly training, made a good professional match with Joseph Hornblower, a self-made religious man who passed on the practical know-how he gleaned from building Newcomens engines to his sons, both of whom entered the family business. When the elder, Jonathan, an esteemed mechanical engineer, wa s hired in 1745 to supervise the erection of a steam engine at a Cornwall mine, he took Josiah, then 16, along as an apprentice.But it was across the Atlantic that Josiah made his mark. The Schuyler family, owners of the Schuyler Copper Mine in Belleville, NJ, built in 1719 and said to be the oldest mine in America, ordered a Newcomen steam engine from Jonathan. Josiah was tapped to deliver the parts then build what would become the first steam engine in the New World.Josiah arrived in New York after a treacherous 12-week voyage on September 9, 1753, and proceeded to Schuylers Second River Mine, where, lacking experienced workers, he struggled for some time to get the engine up and running. In all, it took nearly a year and a half, which, as it turned out, was bedrngnis long enough for the memory of his horrible crossing to fade. That wretched 12-week ordeal, an offer from Colonel Schuyler to supervise his copper mineand the charms of the beautiful Elizabeth Kingsland, daughter of S chuylers neighbor Colonel William Kingsland, ultimately induced him to stay and settle in Belleville.Complementing Josiahs engineering acumen was a gift for public service, which ultimately made him a venerated member of the Belleville community. In plus-rechnen to his work at the mine, and a general store he opened in town, Josiah began a career in public service, working as a clerk in town meetings. When New Jersey established a Revolutionary government, he was elected to the states Assembly in 1779 and again in 1780, when he served as Speaker. Over the next four years he was tapped to represent Essex County in the Council. In 1785, Josiah was selected as a delegate to the Continental Congress, where he served one year before retiring from public life.He returned to focus full time on running the mine, where during the Revolutionary War, the steam engine, which had been damaged by a 1768 fire, had lain dormant. Hornblower got it working again. In 1794, he built an ore-stamping mil l, the first to operate in the U.S., to take the commercial grade ore extracted from the mine and crush it for further processing. The mill was established outside Belleville, where the mines current owners, Messrs Roosevelt, Mark, and Schuyler, also built a foundry and a machine shop. There, the first steam engine to be made in America was built, based on the scheme of Newcomen that Hornblower brought with him.Ending a long and productive life, Josiah Hornblower died in Newark, NJ, in 1809. He is buried in the yard of the Dutch Reformed Church of Belleville. In 1994 Congress designated Belleville The Birthplace of the American Industrial Revolution, by virtue of the fact the first steam engine was built in the Roosevelt-Mark-Schuyler foundry from Hornblowers designs.Marion Hart is an independent writer.In addition to his work at the mine, and a general store he opened in town, Josiah began a career in public service, working as a clerk in town meetings.

How to Source and Interview Retail Sales Representatives

How to Source and Interview Retail Sales RepresentativesHow to Source and Interview Retail Sales RepresentativesHow to Source and Interview Retail Sales Representatives CleaverRetail sales representativesexpect to be trained in the details of your company. But ultimately, they are primarily interested in what the service or product can do for customers and where their success may lead within your company.To successfully source retail sales representatives, keep in mind that youre looking for people who like selling and people who like peoplenot people who are already technical experts in the product.Sourcing Retail Sales RepresentativeFocus on individuals who have transferrable experience and soft skills (such as an ability to communicate and engage customers.) Sources to tap might includeHospitality industry veteransTeachersMidlife career-shiftersRecruiting TipIf someone has worked in hospitality, if they have spent three years or more at one hospitality employer, preferably a midma rket or upmarket hotel or restaurant, they already understand that the general public expects a lot, says Peter Radizeski, president of Rad-Info , Inc., a Tampa-based sales consultant who specializes in telecommunications and technology sales.In hospitality, upselling is important. You get to know how to read people. That translates well to service sales, where much of the profit is in add-ons.What to titelblatt in InterviewsAsk the candidate interview questionsthat reveal their ability to work well with others, as well as their customer serviceawarenessHow the candidate handles conflict with co-workersHow the candidate handles demanding customersAsk the candidate to explain a function or benefit to you as though you were a customerRecruiting TipLook for them to carry you through the interview as though you were a sale, says Radizeski. At some point they have to ask for the job. In sales, if theyre not always closing, they cant do the job. If he thinks its a good opportunity, hell a sk for the job. If he doesnt ask for the job, how will he make the sale?Recruit to Retain your Retail Sales RepsCustomers are motivated by whats new and different. So are retail sales reps.Potential retail sales rep career advancement may includeStore managerSales coach or sales trainergeschftliches miteinander to business sales, if the employee can adapt to a longer sales cycle, process and payoffRelated jobs includeMarketing support staffSupplier or vendor account managerRecruiting Tip Candidates want to envision where their success can take them. Industry tools such as NACTELs VividFuture career map makes for great follow-up.More ResourcesHow to Hire a Retail Sales Representative Job SkillsRetail Salesperson Sample Job DescriptionHow to Hire Top Sales PeopleRetail Store Manager Sample Job Description