Another student has as a main career goal to become a consultant in the area of change management. He feels that to assist in that goal he will need to get a Masters degree. He would like to get his Masters in Organizational Development (MSOD). He has looked online for programs but most are in other states. He would like to get an online degree from a reputable University but most require on campus classes only. He is hesitant about a degree from places like University of Phoenix and Capella University because of the diploma mill stigma these places carry, whether these stigma’s are justified or not.

He asks if there are any reputable online programs for Master’s programs in Organizational Development. Also, he wants to know of any other advice for an aspiring consultant. 

Here are three top schools that are currently offering online Master’s Degrees. All three can be geared towards the study organizational change and development.

Master’s Degree in Organizational Leardership from Gonzaga University

Colorado State University has a Master of Education (M.Ed.) in Education and Human Resource Studies, with a concentration in Organizational Performance and Change

Hawaii Pacific University offers a Master of Arts in Organizational Change that gives a multidisciplinary perspective with the objective of creating leaders who can create sustainable change for their organizations.

Popularity: 14% [?]

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A student attending a top-20 law school has job experience that includes consulting a CEO/President of a privately held real estate investment group with 400 employees. Currently, he is in his law program’s Employer Legal Advice Clinic. He find the work very stimulating, and have decided that I would like to pursue my career in business by exploring positions in HR management. Eventually, he would like to attend a top-five graduate school to obtain his MBA in management. Would making this career choice be illogical? Should he practice employement law in lieu of working for a consulting firm before an MBA? What is the best career path that this individual can pursue to become an HR Executive and eventual CEO?

(more…)

Popularity: 7% [?]

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Have you ever noticed that every Florida employer posting an ad on one any of the major job boards wants an “experienced” employee, albeit an Administrative Assistant or my favorite, a “dynamic” Office Asst. When you look at the compensation that they are offering, it is in the range of $7 to $10 per hour.  Yet, when a job seeker gets offered a job, they are offered at a rate $7 to $10 per hour no matter how experience that job seeker happens to be.

So you want your new employee to be”proficient” and know every software program known to man.  In addition to doing every mundane task that you don’t want to do, you then make an offer of $10 per hour to someone who has 5 plus years experience in the field that you are seeking. Are you joking? There are many candidates out there who have been working in an office environment and have tremendous amount of experience to fulfill the job duties.  What makes an employer think that a qualified job seeker will want to waste his or her time and expertise and bust their ass for a measly $10 per hour? Florida employers need to get a clue!

Florida employers, big and small, need to do their research into how much the salaries for a particular position is. An entry-level, unexperienced Admin. Asst. (or Legal Secretary) should be making $10 to $11 an hour. Two years experience - $13/hr - $14/hr. Four to five years experience - $15/hr to $18/hr. Five or more years experience - $18/hr+. 

There are many employers out there that do the right thing and pay a fair wage. So kudos to all the fair and just employers. I know there are some out there that pay top dollar salaries for top dollar employees.

My favorite ads are the ones that offer $7 - $9 per hour and say, “GREAT FOR COLLEGE STUDENTS.” I just love these ads. In this technological age where distance education is growing at a rapid pace, everyone is a college student. I also happen to be a graduate student at Liberty University pursuing an MBA.  No qualified candidate should be desperate enough to work for peanuts and still have to answer to your every whim. It is time that Florida employers begin to wise up.

Popularity: 18% [?]

Files under Organizational Behavior, Recruiting, Workplace | Leave a Comment | No Comments »

If there is anything that all employees can usually agree upon, it is that favoritism in the workplace drives them all crazy. An anonymous poster at Jobswill.com describes a co-worker who made an “honest mistake” and was convinced he was going to be fired. Meanwhile, a female co-worker who “misses work constantly, dress inappropriately” and “talks trash about the powers-that-be,” is allowed to get away with anything. Why? Because she is a favorite of upper-management at this company.

This is an all too common form of favoritism in the workplace. Not to mention, but managers have been showing favoritism in the workplace since the dawn of the industrial revolution. Perhaps the reason that management won’t do anything to this woman is because they are scared that the woman will turn around an sue for sex discrimination. So management becomes pussy whipped.

This type of favoritism in the workplace can have devastating effects on morale and productivity on the workforce. For starters, does this company have an employee orientation program? If they did, this would not have happen as employee orientation is designed to orient the new hire to the policies of the company. Since it is already going on, document everything that the favored employee does that would normally earn a reprimand. Carry a small pocket digital camera and take pictures of the favored employee to act as well documented proof. If management still does not want to do anything, then leave and find yourself another job.

Popularity: 23% [?]

Files under Employee Retention, Organizational Behavior, Performance Management | Leave a Comment | No Comments »

Have You Forgotten?
(Darryl Worley/Wynn Varble)

I hear people saying we don’t need this war
I say there’s some things worth fighting for
What about our freedom and this piece of ground
We didn’t get to keep ‘em by backing down
They say we don’t realize the mess we’re getting in
Before you start your preaching let me ask you this my friend

Have you forgotten how it felt that day?
To see your homeland under fire
And her people blown away
Have you forgotten when those towers fell?
We had neighbors still inside going thru a living hell
And you say we shouldn’t worry ’bout bin Laden
Have you forgotten?

They took all the footage off my T.V.
Said it’s too disturbing for you and me
It’ll just breed anger that’s what the experts say
If it was up to me I’d show it everyday
Some say this country’s just out looking for a fight
After 9/11 man I’d have to say that’s right

Have you forgotten how it felt that day?
To see your homeland under fire
And her people blown away
Have you forgotten when those towers fell?
We had neighbors still inside going thru a living hell
And you say we shouldn’t worry ’bout bin Laden
Have you forgotten?

I’ve been there with the soldiers
Who’ve gone away to war
And you can bet that they remember
Just what they’re fighting for

Have you forgotten how it felt that day?
To see your homeland under fire
And her people blown away
Have you forgotten when those towers fell?
We had neighbors still inside going thru a living hell
And you say we shouldn’t worry ’bout bin Laden
Have you forgotten?

Have you forgotten all the people killed?
Some went down like heros in that Pennsylvania field
Have you forgotten about our Pentagon?
All the loved ones that we lost and those left to carry on
Don’t you tell me not to worry about bin Laden
Have you forgotten?

Have you forgotten?
Have you forgotten?

Popularity: 6% [?]

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RankQuest WatchRank is a very powerful, and one of the top search engine ranking tools out there on the web. WatchRank collects website position for keywords or phrases for a specified URL from Google . It is a top search engine ranking tool because it monitors the position of URL, displays variation in position and provides overall performance.

Using RankQuest WatchRank can make you more efficient at checking your website rankings. Anyone who has ever checked their website rankings will type in their search term into a search engine, and go page by page trying to find their listings. RankQuest WatchRank will only display the ranking for your keyphrase if it is in the top 10. position website optimization tool.

Key Features of RankQuest WatchRank

• Graph to view the weekly trend for a particular keyword
• A performance scale, to judge the performance of the page.
• Better installation experience.
• Ability to monitor multiple keywords for a web page
• Import keywords from a site and analyze it before configuring.

This is a top search engine ranking tool because it will make it easy for you to optimize your website so that you can improve search engine rankings. Best of part of it all is the consitency. The rankings that are displayed are the same when you confirm it in Google. Other tools don’t have that consistency.

Popularity: 7% [?]

Files under search marketing, seo | 1 Comment | 1 Comment »

Free Spam Blocker Software Akismet is a WordPress plugin which identifies and blocks comment and trackback spam on blogs with integration to various blogging systems. Akismet checks your comments against the Akismet web service to see if they look like spam or not. You need a WordPress.com API key to use it. You can review the spam it catches under “Comments.”

I downloaded and installed this free spam blocker software in HR Horizons blog, and it caught over 3,500 comment spam. Two hours after I installed the software, I logged back in and I was amazed at how much comment spam it caught. As a result, I noticed a drastic reduction of crap in my inbox. Even though I don’t care about my HR Horizons blog, since I’m only keeping it live for traffic purposes. It just goes to show that the more traffic your site generates, the more comment spam it attracks, but there is a tool out there to fight it.

To get the WordPress API key, sign up for an account at WordPress.com. During the sign up process, it will ask whether you want to create a blog or just get a password. If you have your own WordPress blog, then choose the “just get a password” option. Your API key is located under the profile tab.

Then to configure the Akismet Free Spam Blocker Software, follow these steps:

• Just copy this API key,
• go back to your blog administrative panel,
• select “plugins”,
• select “Akismet Configuration”
• paste the API key in the textbox provided.

That’s it! You are on your way to fighting comment spam.

Popularity: 7% [?]

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Organic Search Traffic is 85% of all internet traffic. 76% of all consumers do research on products and services on the internet before they buy. Organic traffic is consumers and potential clients typing in specific search terms into the Google Search Engine and finding the results. 98% of all internet users who are searching for something on the Internet will stop on page 2 and go no further. If you appear on page 4, 5, 6, etc. you will not be found as people will not search beyond page 3 (unless they are really digging). It is no wonder why organic seo is becoming a key success factor in having a web site.

As a Florida Organic SEO Specialist, I can get you to page one of Google and keep you there. I use a suite of White Hat techniques that produce results that almost no other company can give you for the price I charge. My optimization packages includes on page and off page optimization, back linking, article submission, blogging and additional social media techniques that would be specific to your website. I can integrate a PPC campaign along with Organic Optimization.

Who will work on my website?

I’m Nick, an Florida Organic SEO Specialist located in Fort Lauderdale, and I’d like to work with you on your next website project. I own a home-based SEO consultancy. I have SEO packases that can fit within your budget and let you know exactly what I can or cannot do (and there is little I cannot do when it comes to website design). I understand that each client is different, but the time frame for each project is important. Because of this, I like to work fast and deliver the goods on time. I value honesty in every business relationship and will work hard to accomplish your project requirements.

If you are looking for a Florida Organic SEO Specialist, contact me today to discuss your next project!

What this Florida Organic SEO Specialist can do for you is:

• - Edit an existing website
• - Design your website from scratch
• - Java Script; interactive web-menus reminiscent of Flash (transparency effects, etc), but more elegant, faster to load implementation
• - HTML; site-layout with div blocks and/or tables, web forms, CSS (Cascading Style Sheets)
• - Google SEO; modification of site content and site linking to improve Google page rank
• - Google PPC; I am now a Google advertising professional
• - Flash Actionscript versions 2.0 and 3.0
• - Flash animation & aesthetics

My organic SEO experience with includes:

• Keyword research
• SEO tools
• social media optimization
• Source code optimization
• Link building
• creating and setting up blogs
• cleaning up folder/URL structure of a website;
• optimization of metatags, H1 tags, alt tags, image naming and interior linking architecture.
• Enhance organic traffic flow for a number of key search terms within major search engines
• Incorporate new information into the site through content development
• Running Google PPC Campaigns.

My hourly rates are an affordable $35/hr. Regardless on the project scope. Many Florida Organic SEO Specialists charge $100 per an up.

If you are looking for a Florida Organic SEO Specialist, contact me today to discuss your next project!

Looking forward to earning your business.

Popularity: 10% [?]

Files under Social Media, search marketing, seo | Leave a Comment | No Comments »