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Posts Tagged ‘Getting’

Getting an Entry Level Intelligence Job

Friday, September 10th, 2010
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Many people are drawn to careers in intelligence because they are portrayed as being filled with intrigue and excitement. In truth, not all intelligence jobs are like those you see in the movies – especially entry level intelligence positions. Because the intelligence community is so broad (seventeen separate organizations) and the jobs themselves so varied, the work settings are also just as diverse. A person in an entry level intelligence role could find themselves in a lab, in an office, in the field, or even on Capitol Hill.

What this means is that no matter your background or your interests, you have the opportunity to be hired for an entry level intelligence job if that is your goal. The key is figuring out where you would best fit in and then pursuing the education you need to stand out among other applicants.

Entry Level Intelligence Opportunities

Many of the intelligence organizations have special entry level intelligence programs for new graduates. This includes internships, fellowships, scholarships, recruitment events, and special programs for ex-military. Here is a list of a few of the entry level intelligence opportunities that are offered:

– State Department: The Stay in School Program allows students to work part-time during school terms and full-time during periods of vacation.

– Defense Intelligence Agency: The DIA conducts many recruitment events around the country including at job fairs and colleges.

– Federal Bureau of Investigations: Outstanding students interested in becoming special agents can apply for the Presidential Management Fellows (PMF) Program.

– National Security Agency: For those transitioning from the military, the NSA has a program that allows you to keep your benefits and apply time served towards retirement even if you are hired for an entry level intelligence position.

– Department of Homeland Security: The Office of Intelligence & Analysis participates in the Pat Roberts Intelligence Scholars Program (PRISP) which offers entry level intelligence professionals with certain educational backgrounds $25,000 stipends.

The above are just a few of the many programs that the federal government has for individuals who are motivated to become intelligence professionals. Many of these are competitive, however, so it helps to earn a degree that shows your determination to join the intelligence community. Even if you already have a degree in a certain field, going back to school to earn an intelligence specific degree will greatly increase your chances.

When Only the CIA Will Do

Even though there are 16 other players in the intelligence community, some individuals have set their sights on getting a job at the CIA. If you are one of those people, then an intelligence degree program may help you achieve your goals. A high quality bachelor’s or master’s degree in intelligence or counterintelligence is what many people may call “going to a CIA school.” There are a few colleges that offer these types of programs, but you have to make sure that the curriculum is on par with what a CIA school would offer if there were such a thing.

Examples of courses that are essential to you receiving the type of training to prepare you for a career in the CIA include:
– Intelligence Collection
– Counterintelligence
– Propaganda and Disinformation
– Clandestine Communications
– Protection Studies and Counterterrorism Studies

Once you are enrolled in a CIA school – type program, you can increase your chances of getting a job at the CIA by applying for one of their internship programs. They have several student positions such as the National Clandestine Service Internship Program. If you are accepted this CIA school program, you will have the opportunity to work at the CIA making a competitive salary while still working on your degree. Additionally, once you graduate, you will be considered for full time employment.

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Getting the Job Done: Careers in Project Management

Monday, August 23rd, 2010
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Do you have a take-charge personality? Can you handle a wide variety of complex tasks? Are you good at seeing the big picture? Can you get the job done right, even on a tight deadline? If so, a career as a project manager may be right for you.

In today’s workforce, teamwork is more important than ever. But team projects have a tendency to run over-schedule and over-budget. According to a 1998 Standish Group survey, 56 percent of projects failed to meet their deadlines, and cost overruns averaged 189 percent.

As companies focus more and more on the bottom line, efficiency has become of the utmost importance. Cost overruns and missed deadlines are no longer tolerated. That’s one of the reasons why project managers are in such high demand. Project managers are team leaders who have the management skills necessary to coordinate complex projects. They are responsible for bringing the project in on time and within budget. Project managers may work in a variety of fields, including computer and information systems management, engineering, and financial management. They typically earn salaries in the high five figures, depending on the industry, according to Vault.com.

Project managers help develop the scope of the project and then monitor the progress at every step. They generally work with diverse groups of people at every level within the organization, so diplomacy and strong communication skills are a must. Project managers must also motivate team members and keep them focused on the task at hand. Finally, project managers analyze information and are responsible for decision-making.

Often, project managers start out as members of a project team and advance by demonstrating leadership skills. They may ultimately become consultants or partners in project management companies.

Most project management positions require at least a Bachelor’s degree and some business experience. That’s why American InterContinental University Online (AIU) has developed a specialized course program for those interested in this lucrative, rewarding field. And for project managers looking to further advance their careers, AIU Online also offers an MBA in project management.

AIU Online’s programs allow students to make a career change or climb the corporate ladder without giving up the security of their existing position. Distance learning is also perfect for students who do not live near a traditional campus or who have family obligations that prevent them from attending regularly-scheduled classes. AIU Online offers a number of resources to its online students, including a “Cybrary,” or virtual library, that’s accessible around the clock. Students have lots of interaction with their peers and instructors through message boards, online chats and email. AIU Online also has programs in place to assist students with career planning. And at AIU Online, students can complete their studies quickly. A student who already has an Associate degree can earn a Bachelor’s degree in project management in as little as 13 months. An MBA in project management can be earned in just 10 months.

AIU Online has designed its project management courses to be readily applicable in the real world. For instance, the framework developed by the Project Management Institute is the accepted industry standard, so AIU Online uses that framework in its classes. Also, AIU Online’s instructors have years of experience in the field of project management, so they can share their practical knowledge with students.

Students earning a BBA in project management can expect to take courses in project management, managing project risks and opportunities, and project cost and time management. In the MBA program, students take courses that focus on the integration, scope, time and communication aspects of project management, as well as in cost, quality, risk and procurement.

AIU Online students gain hands-on experience through individual and team projects. They must develop a project scope, budget and timeline, and they must also identify areas of risk and create a risk management plan. The team projects allow students to build their leadership skills.

With a degree in project management from AIU Online, students are prepared to start a new career or advance an existing one. Project managers can seek careers in a number of fields, including general management, human resources management, advertising and marketing, logistics, computer and information sciences, and financial management. Put that take-charge personality to work, and take charge of your career with AIU Online.
To learn more about AIU Online, visit http://aiu.searchforclasses.com/. To learn more about online education visit http://www.searchforclasses.com or to read other related articles visit http://searchforclasses.blogspot.com/

Interested in learning more about a degree in project management?
Learn more

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Save My Marriage Or Relationship – Getting to the Core of Relationship Problems

Thursday, August 12th, 2010
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Many people search on my website because their relationship has run into difficulties and they are looking for help or ideas. The truth is that sustaining a successful romantic relationship is one of the hardest things we will ever do in life. After falling in love and the ‘honeymoon’ period, we all have to work on our relationships. This is because relationships bring up our deepest fears and insecurities. We can even think of relationship problems as our best opportunity to heal our personal issues – that is why we have come together with our partner.

I could offer you some temporary fixes to an ailing relationship, but if we are really going to save it and turn it into a lifetime partnership we must learn how to work on the negative issues that come up between us and a partner. To save a relationship and make it sustainable into the future we must be willing to heal the core issues that have caused it to run into difficulties in the first place.

Unexpressed Fear and Needs

All relationship problems arise from a breakdown in the loving connection between two people. There will always be some negative emotions that have not been expressed in the relationship – it is the fear associated with these, usually unconscious, feelings that destroys the relationship. The unexpressed feelings cause us to separate from our partner because we do not want them to see our negative side in case they reject us. Ironically, this is exactly what our protective strategy brings about!

Out of our fear comes our needs and these create demands on our partners. If there is a problem in a relationship, one or more significant need is NOT being met. Interestingly this will be the same need that your partner also feels is lacking in the relationship. By identifying your unmet needs you can give this same thing to your partner and they will automatically begin to give this same thing back to you. It is even better if you can talk about your fears and needs with your partner in an emotionally mature way. Honest and heartfelt communication is the best way to save a relationship. It can take courage to express your feelings but this is the way forward in a relationship problem. Sometimes it takes time and the help of a third party to do this, so you might consider some counselling. As you communicate about your unmet needs and fears you will find that your partner shares them and any problems will then fall away.

Arguments and Rows

Relationship fights are about who is going to meet the needs of the other person. Given that they are always shared by both partners, you can see how futile this is. To end an argument and prevent others occurring you must be willing to stop the fight over needs and think about what you could give to the relationship to make it better. Such leadership only comes when we recognise the cause of the fights and gain sufficient emotional maturity not to be triggered into anger and attack.

Judgements

Our judgements about our partners are really our self-judgements. We project out the parts of ourselves that we do not like on the people around us. What are you judging in your partner? What annoys you about them? Perhaps they are always busy at work and you don’t feel they value you. If so, how much do you value yourself and how much quality time do you give to yourself. By working on your own self-esteem (see my website for more ideas) you will become more attractive to your partner. After all, they fell in love with you because of the positive qualities they saw in you – find these again in yourself, embody them with all your senses and start giving them once again.

Spirituality

If you have a spiritual or religious belief you can ask for help and guidance from God (or however you know a divine or spiritual presence in your life). At the core of all relationship problems is a loss of faith in our own spirit and divine, loving connections. In fact we are afraid of this much connection – afraid of a spiritual oneness where there is just love for ourselves, everybody and everything. It seems that we create our relationship problems to avoid accepting our true loving destinies. Any spiritual practice will help with re-connecting with our spirit and help us to find peace and love in our romantic relationships.

Love

I assume you first got together with your partner because you felt so much love for them. At that time you both put aside your fears and needs and discovered unconditional love. Being human means that those fears often return but we can heal them best with a partner providing we are willing and brave enough to go into those areas of pain in our mind that we have hidden away. We avoid expressing our pain because we don’t want our partner to see what we perceive as a weakness – we fear they will reject us and leave us, and yet if we don’t express them the relationship is at great risk. Therefore a willingness to open our hearts and just become more authentic will always reveal the truth in a relationship and allow both partners to grow and take their lives forward.

So what is it that is holding your relationship back? Now is the time to grasp the nettle and open your heart. Feel into your own pain and hidden insecurities and realise that these are also in your partner, but probably cleverly hidden by compensatory behaviour. Your partner needs your help and you currently have more emotional awareness. They need your forgiveness for any failings and your emotional courage to inspire them to heal their own insecurities. Pour your love, appreciation and gratitude onto your partner and re-discover all those things that you adored about them in the beginning.

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How to Avoid Getting Banned by the Search Engines

Saturday, May 15th, 2010
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Before you hire the services of a particular search engine optimization (SEO) company, you have to find out whether that particular service employs black hat tactics or not. As the owner of the website, you have to decide whether you would want to include any black or not white hat SEO techniques or not. Remember, if you prefer to get a ranking based on the quality of content on your webpage and intend to keep a good rapport with reputed search engines like Google, then you should strictly stay away from black or not white or negative tactics.

In case you’re not seeking the help of SEO service providers to push up the ranking of your website but instead you are using alternative techniques, that too unknowingly, then your site runs the risk of flouting the rules followed by the search engines. You can stick to the rules by knowing all about alternative techniques, some of which are discussed in this article, and by staying vigilant about it.

1) Keyword stuffing is one of the most popularly used techniques that is wrong to do. It is a ploy where a large number of keywords are included in a webpage hoping that the web crawler will consider it to be relevant. Those who employ such tactics do not necessarily maintain the quality of content for the webpage but instead just use keywords to top search engine results. You should definitely avoid such mean practices.

2) Sometimes hidden texts are used in web pages to get good ranking in search results. Such are placed at the bottom of the pages in small characters and sometimes these texts are same as the background color of the web page. If you resort to such techniques, your web site will surely be banned by reputed search engines, so it’s better if you don’t try it out at all.

3) Another alternative technique is cloaking where the webmasters provide totally different information about the website during search results. It gives the website a better ranking but give misleading description to the people who end visiting sites which are not similar to the content they are looking for. This can also get you into trouble and fast, so don’t do this.

4) Many a times doorway pages are used on a website which target certain keywords and phrases but they actually don’t offer any related contents which are useful to the user. Such practices are not acceptable by search engines and the webpage which carry such ploys will be banned if someone lodges a complaint against it.

5) Redirecting is also not acceptable by search engines. This type of technique is often used with doorway pages. When an individual opens a doorway page, he is immediately redirected to the actual page which includes the matter which he is looking for. If your webpage carry such features then it will put off from search engines.

Don’t develop a wrong notion that by employing any alternative techniques your website will get a good ranking quickly. There is no evidence to prove that the use these will actually help to get better ranking all the time, or even part of the time versus having your site banned. Above all, if such practices are not acceptable by the established organizations like Google, then why take such risks? Try to provide quality material on your website and you will automatically earn a good ranking on search engines.

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