Professional Associations

http://www.wef.org/about/

Water Environment Federation (WEF) a non profit technical and educational organization was formed in 1928. WEF is involved in all areas of water quality in our world.  They are well organized and commited to staying in tune with todays top engeneering, scientifical, and technical practices to ensure quality practices for the sustainability of our water.  WEF publishes more than 190 technical publications along with some peer revied pieces that report on evolving technical topics.

http://www.enviro-engrs.org/

Environmental and Engeneering Geophysical Society (EEGS)  The Organization helps in assesing the possible problems that may accur down the line.  Many years earlier the organization was called upon only when the problems were at critical staus.   The subsurface site characterization of the geology, geological structure, groundwater, contamination, and human artifacts beneath the Earth's surface, based on the lateral and vertical mapping of physical property variations that are remotely sensed using non-invasive technologies.

informational Interview

http://www.quintcareers.com/informational_interviewing.html
http://www.career.fsu.edu/experience/information-interviews-guide.htmlhttp://www.best-job-interview.com/informational-interview.html

I want to know how the person got started in the field. What is most rewarding from the field.  Is the person happy and how long she/he has been working with the company.  What is the starting salary, bonuses, raises, vacation time?
What kind of skills are needed, or education.  What are the daily tasks, what are the toughest problems one may experience on the job.  I would want to know how strong is the field in this tough economy (job security)?   I would want to know how much the job requires from me after working hours (how much work does one take home), how flexible it is with vacation, sick days when my child is sick.  Does the company hire within and are there people I can speak with that have progressed to higher positions.  I would want the person to give me feedback on my skills and where else they may be applied within the company or other related fields.   

Interview

http://jobsearch.about.com/od/sampleinterviewanswers/Sample_Interview_Answers_Share_an_Interview_Answer.htm
http://career-advice.monster.com/job-interview/interview-questions/common-interview-questions-1/article.aspx
http://www.wisebread.com/how-to-answer-23-of-the-most-common-interview-questions
Q.Tell me about your self.
Relevant facts about education, your career and your current life situation are fine.
Q.why are you looking for work.
Looking to advance your career.
Q.If your previous co-workers were here what would they say about you.
Stay positive, always, and maybe have a few specific quotes in mind.
Q. what is your biggest weaknes?
give a small, work-related flaw that you're working hard to improve.
Q.Tell me about any isues you have had with your bosses.
 you've never had any issues.
Q. why should I hire you?
 Focus on yourself and your talents, not other people's flaws.
Q. Do you have any questions to ask me?
 Always have questions ready, inquire about the benefits, how your role with the company will play out in the progress of the company, or how soon are they looking to fill the position. also ask if you have answered all of there questions.

Resume writing

http://www.rockportinstitute.com/resumes

http://www.rockportinstitute.com/resumes

http://www.how-to-write-a-resume.org/

These three sites are good to look at, they all go into detail on what an employer is looking for, how long your resume stands a chance of getting you that interview you so want, we are talking about seconds, and the best wording to use(action words), always aim to have the reader see the kinds of words that describe the psoition he is trying to fill. You want the reader to pick up the phone and set up an interview with you before he/she puts your resume down.  Rockportinstitute goes futher in detail on what you should take into consideration when planning and outlining your resume. Be prepared to do a lot of reading and it may seem like there is much more work to do in writing your resume than there really is. Very informative good to go through and then take a look at another site. This will help in digesting all the information.

 All agree that the look of your resume should be appealing to see with proper oranization, yes the work experience is important and ultimatley what they are interested in but organizing your resume so that it stands out in the first second is important because of the hundreds of resume employers look at these days.
  One of the things that stands out in how to write a resume. org is they have a section on cover letter writin, which most jobs want. It also give you a section on tips for job interviewing, it is like a one stop shop for writing both a cover letter and resume along with interviewing tips and tools.  This is my favorate of all its simple to the point and will help you produce a sample to compare with on a nother site like rockportinstitute.com/resume.

Best resume tips

http://www.worktree.com/tb/CL_tips.cfm

http://www.fastweb.com/college-jobs-internships/articles/242-top-ten-cover-letter-tips

http://blogs.hbr.org/silverman/2009/06/the-best-cover-letter.html

All of these sites have the same thing in common except for the last one, he suggests no cover letter for most jobs. Sounds like this guy sees a lot of cover letters. He does share, what he calls "the best cover letters he has read". I liked it, it is simple to the pint ( which the other sites suggest) He offers upfront the years of experience, companies, and which talent will best fit the job he is seeking ( the other sites also cover this) and lets him know he looks forward to speaking with him, on one of the other sites she suggests to let them know you will call, sort of a follow up, I feel this is too pushy, if I got across to you, you will make it a point ot get in contact with me, after all the person hiring is weeding out the bad and only focusing on the good (pile A and pile B).
All in all start the letter out addressed to a specific person, let them know your interested and what qualifies you.  Try not to bore some one with a story.

chapter 1 & 2

The pressure of the Linear path.  "From the time you played with fire trucks and people asked you if you wanted to be a firefighter" This is interesting to me because I recall people asking me if I was going to be a lawyer because I would always persuade my parents into things. Now that I have a son and he plays with cars people ask if he is going to be a race car driver.  I always interfere by saying he can be what ever he wants.  I agree with the book of the twenty century linear style of career paths.  It works for doctors and lawyers, but in todays world people need to be more open minded to what their options may be.  Still though it may be not as simple for some to know from a young age what career they want to excel in.

"The butterfly effect states that a small incident at he beginning of a process (such as a butterfly flapping its wings or a graduate speaking at a career event) can produce a large variation in the long-term outcome (ultimately causing a tornado or a new career)"p10.  Chaos theory, for me stands out very strong.  This is so true in everyday life, what one does that seems of little to no importance can have a meaningful impact in that person or on another in ways unimaginable by either people.  Sometimes the things we do, places we visit, and people we meet have simple but ultimately lasting effects on our lives down the road.  The example the book describes of the person majoring in psychology to become a professor but takes a class in anthropology and out of a summer internship in a museum (suggested by her anthropology professor) likes the work he/she did, in-turn attends a career program at the smithsonian institute where the person did the internship is motivated to introduce his/herself to the speaker, they stay in contact, the speaker later offers her a job as a fund raiser, is a good example of butter fly effect. This person never thought he/she would have been offered a job and have completely different career goals from a class in anthropology.

The exercise in chapter two keep you thinking of things to write down. Still feel I have more to put down,  I feel I am good with people and getting things done, I put honor before all and I am pretty hard on myself, I am my own worst critic. family is important to me, telling a loved one how much they are appreciated, loved and how I my be proud of them now in present time is important.  I want to make money but not a millionaire status. I would have been happy to be a fire fighter, I wasted time and have past the age limit to apply.  The job combines my love of helping others and adrenaline rush.  

Portable Skills

I liked this link because it explains portable skills and non portable skills. http://jobsearch.about.com/od/careerdevelopment/a/portablecareers.htmthis link is helpful because it is explains the need to have portable skills by human resource person http://community.elearners.com/all_blogs/archived_blogs/b/bellevue_university/archive/2010/02/25/portable-skills-why-you-need-to-know-this.aspx
this a link on how to sell your self on the resume with some marketable skills. http://www.buzzle.com/articles/skills-to-put-on-a-resume.html

The one thing these links have in common is the importance in portable skills whether you are beginning or you have been in your career for some time now, apparently no one is safe from the ever so rapidly spreading disease of  money hungry corporations looking in their best interests for power with employees as recyclable objects.  I have always heard that as long as you do what you love you will never work a day in your life. Now I think this means one should have more than one love.
I believe one of the best assets to posses is to be personable,friendly, forgiving,open minded,and most important be able to work with your hands. A person that can work well with his or her hands will always have work, no matter the economy. for example: If you work in construction, then classes in blue print reading will propel your career. a person that can sew can open up his or her own business either making his/her own clothes or altering others clothes, especially with fashion expanding beyond the known brands.

My portable skills include the ability to use the power within my company as a manager to creatively resolve customer issues without hurting the company and in turn creating positive word of mouth experiences which have a big impact on future business.  There was a situation when we as a company failed to deliver a customer her seats for her dinning table, she called my showroom very upset complaining that she gave us the money and customer service was not helping her and she had a dinner party on the weekend. We could not have a truck out to her area in time so I had the chairs delivered to my showroom and I personally delivered them to her in my car. This was not the first time I had to do something like this, you see our company had independent contracting company doing their deliveries. Needless to say the customer was very happy and it was not the last time we saw her. I started out in sales and within six months my manger promoted me to assistant manager.  I implemented policies within our showroom that were not necessary for other locations.