In many ways it defines you, can mean the difference between feast or famine, employment or joblessness, and sometimes tells more about you than you ever know or would have ever intended. It’s not your DNA, it’s your resume. In your professional life, your resume is more than a summary of your key career accomplishments [...]

Do you get nervous when you’re not over-worked?  I have a tendency to go that way and I don’t think it’s healthy.
I do, however, think it’s a common problem.
Maybe I’m projecting, but these days it seems that if you’re not over-booked, you don’t rate.  Our mantra today is, to paraphrase Descartes, “I multi-task, therefore I [...]

Although most of the methods of avoiding job stress are developed and supported by the organization, there are some things that workers can do to manage job stress.

Here are 10 tips to help you deal with the stress from your job:

1. Put it in Perspective

No Job remains forever. It is important to set your priorities. If your employer expects too much of you, and it’s starting to frustrate you, then start looking for a new job.

2. Modify your Job Situation

If you feel comfortable with your employer and like him, but the job has become too stressful, then ask about a job rotation. And if you are feeling stressed out because you got promoted into a more stressful position, then you can ask for a lateral transfer, or even a transfer back to your old job.

3. Get Time Away

Taking a break will help you to relax. It’s not necessary to take a long vacation. Just walk away from the situation. Exercise can also do you good. But if you just want to relax, find a quiet place and listen to your iPod to reduce stress.

4. Fight Through the Clutter

Arrange your desk and get rid of unnecessary things. Seeing a clutter on your desk can also cause you to get irritated. Make a list of things to do, and cross things off it.

5. Talk It Out

Sometimes talking out your problem also helps. Simply share your stress with someone close to you. By talking it out and getting support and empathy from someone else can blow out your steam and reduce stress.

6. Make Some Allies at Work

You will feel less stressed out when you know that you have one or more co-workers who are willing to assist you in times of stress. Just keep in mind that you will also have to help them when they are in need.

7. Find Humor in the Situation

Find a way to break through when you or your co-workers start taking things too seriously by cracking a joke or sharing a funny story.

8. Have Realistic Expectations

Try to set attainable and realistic goals. Having unrealistic expectations for what you can accomplish can increase stress.

9. Nobody is Perfect

It is better to accept that no one is perfect. If you are a perfectionist, try to ignore the minute details. Change your goal to performing your best, and leave perfection to the gods.

10. Maintain a Positive Attitude

Negativism and criticism drains out all energy and motivation out of any situation, therefore, it is better to avoid it whenever possible. Instead, try to develop a positive attitude and learn to reward yourself for little accomplishments to boost up your spirit.

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We all face job stress at some point in our lives. There is no way to get rid of it, as long as you want to keep your job. Not all stress is harmful, and it is important to learn about how to manage stress in order to maximize your job performance.

Some jobs are more stressful than others, for example jobs that are dangerous such as firemen or policemen, and jobs that have demanding time pressures such as in healthcare. But stress cannot be limited to any one particular job or industry, as every job may have phases of greater stress.

Symptoms & Warning Signs of Job Stress

There can be many causes of job stress depending upon the individual and the job. Here are the some of the most common symptoms and early warning signs of job stress:

• Anxiety
• Frustration
• Fatigue
• Apathy
• Negativism/cynicism
• Low morale
• Boredom
• Depression
• Alienation
• Anger
• Irritability
• Physical Problems (headaches, stomach problems)
• Absenteeism

Causes of Job Stress

Although there can be many causes of job stress, there are two main schools of thought on the causes of job stress.

One theory illustrates that the differences in individual personalities, such as coping style are best at predicting what will put stress on one person but not another.

And according to the other theory, certain working conditions are inherently stress inducing, such as the fear of job loss, excessive workload demands, lack of control and poor or dangerous physical working conditions, inflexible work hours, and conflicting job expectations.

There can be many ways to overcome and reduce stress. Some organizations also help their employees to fight stress by offering training on stress management. But the important thing is to keep a positive attitude, talk the problem out if you are feeling really frustrated. You can also take some time off if you think you need some time out. Hopefully, you will be able to adjust better to the working environment.

People who liked this Post also read

• Strategies for Managing Job Stress
• Why You Should Never Do a Job? Part – 1
• How to Respond to a Job Performance Review
• 10 Steps to a Successful Career Change
• The Dreaded Interview Question-What’s Your Greatest Weakness?
• 3 Steps to Jumpstart a Career Change
• 15 Things To Avoid At Your Job Interview
• What to Do After You are Laid Off
• 7 Ways You Can Put Emotional Intelligence to Work
• Avoid These 7 Interview Blunders

It is true that job performance reviews can prove to be stressful for employees, especially if you feel that you are being criticized for your work methods and manner.

But it is possible to change the job performance review to a positive experience by responding in a thoughtful, objective and proactive manner. You can surely improve and excel in your job if you take the performance review positively with a good attitude. Remember that the way you respond to a performance review will depict your character and influence the next review. Here are some things to keep in mind while going through the performance review process.

1. Read your Review Carefully

Most probably, you will be allowed to review your copy after your manager has gone over it with you. Some managers may also give you a copy to read prior to the performance appraisal. The performance review will indicate areas of your excellence as well as those that need improvement.

2. Try to Read it Objectively

Anyone can feel offended when they are told that they need to improve their working style. But instead of feeling offended, recognize that a performance review is supposed to be a constructive exercise, and is not aimed at discouraging you at all.

3. Remember that Everyone has Areas that could be Improved upon

The way you react towards recommended improvements will show what kind of an employee you are. Therefore it is important that you listen carefully, and if there is some misinformation, which you don’t know about, tell your manager that you would like some time to digest everything that has been said and request a time to meet again.

4. Accept what you Already Know deep down

Most probably, your review will not be a complete surprise. If you are sensible enough, you will already know about the areas you do well in and the areas that you need to improve upon.

5. Respond if Required

Performance reviews do have a section for you to respond regarding your thoughts and feelings about the review. But remember to remain calm and cool. This way, you can show how cool minded and mature you are. Show some acceptance for constructive suggestions.

6. Ask Questions if you Need More Information

Think of the performance review as a way to improve your skills. Ask positive questions to know more about how can you improve your current proficiency .

7. Consider Asking for Training in any Areas that you were Rated in Need of improvement

You can contact the Human Resources Department to ask them for guidance and information about training in the areas that you lack in. If your company decides to train you, take it as a positive sign that the company is willing to invest in you.

8. Move On with an Eye to the Future

If you show anger and lurch over the negative aspects of the performance review, you will get nowhere. It is better to accept the review and work on it in order to improve your performance till the time for the next performance review comes.

People who liked this Post also read

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Click on the image below to view a copy of this week’s edition of The Employment Guide in Portland.

At the Orlando Job Fair, I gave 2 presentations on looking for jobs online. The first was focused on job boards and looking for jobs in new places. The second looked at marketing yourself to land your dream position. Luckily we filmed the session and have broken it up into 6, easy to digest videos with the main points from the talk. Below is part 2, Who Are You Online.

The central theme of this video circles around the concept of how people perceive you. You need to be able to answer the following questions:

• How do my friends introduce me?
• Do I like that?
• What does Google know about me?
• Do I like that?
• How do I want to be introduced?
• What do I need to do to get there?

Leave your feedback, questions and ideas in the comments.

-Greg

After reviewing over 150 resumes in a three day time span I decided that there is a serious epidemic out there.  A plague so harmful it is costing millions of people thousands of dollars every month. It is called the responsibility virus and it is infecting millions of resumes all across the nation. Think I’m [...]

I’ve written before that, if you want to find a job in today’s Great Recession, it makes sense to study what got people hired in the Great Depression, when times were even tougher.
So I dug out a job-search book published in 1938.
Titled, “We Are Forty And We Did Get Jobs,” it’s by C.B. Thompson and [...]

Along with many other questions, a typical job interview often includes some annoying interview questions like What’s your greatest weakness? or what’s your greatest strength? Most probably, you will be asked about these questions when you sit in the interview, trying your best not to get confused or nervous.

Give the Summary of the Weakness

When you get a question like this, it’s better to give only the summary of the weakness. But after you explain your problem, you should follow-up by saying that you are aware of the problem and have been learning how to handle the issue.

It is also a good idea to have a great real life story from one of your jobs, to back up whichever weakness you choose to answer this interview question with.

Keep your Answer Short

It is best to keep your answer as short as possible. You will get a chance to explain your good points in some other interview questions. But this is usually not one of those questions unless, you have a good real life story to tell about how you overcame your great weakness.

For example, if you previously had a fear of public speaking, and you ended up becoming a lecturer on some topic, by working on that fear, it would be a story that an interviewer would like to hear. But be sure that you don’t lie and if your story isn’t that strong, then keep it short and sweet when answering the weakness question.

Come Prepared

Even though there is no one right answer to this interview question, it may help if you come prepared with something good based on who you really are. Also, give your weakness a natural positive spin by telling about how you turned some weakness around.

Te best way to answer this question would be to keep it short and specific and try to give it a positive turn.

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