10 Signs of Career Burnout

OVERWORKED AND STRESSED OUT

A misconception exists that careers in social service or postal work are the only fields that experience worker burnout and stress. This notion could not be further from the truth because the fact is every profession is susceptible to mental strain and exhaustion.

Learning to distinguish normal stress from the deeper issues that lead to career burnout is important in order to effectively deal with the problem. Also, recognizing that any job can have this issue can empower you to make positive changes in your own workplace.

RECOGNIZE THE SIGNS OF BURNOUT

The signs can vary from individual to individual, but the following are some universal indicators that one can use to determine if career burnout is occurring.

1. Depression
Feelings of despair and sadness that last for weeks or months usually signal that something in your life is not working like it should and is cause for an investigation into the cause – potentially your job.

2. Lack of energy
If you find yourself struggling to get out of bed in the morning to go to work or experiencing constant fatigue throughout the day, your career could be the culprit.

3. Lack of desire
You used to be motivated to work your hardest and achieve the goals you set for yourself. But lately, you find that you just don’t care if you are successful or not – a telltale warning that you may have become burned out.

4. Decreased productivity
Your supervisor and coworkers used to praise you for the work results you produced; however, lately you have missed several important project deadlines and have become undependable because these things just didn’t seem that important to you.

5. Increased absences and/or tardiness
There used to be a day when you would rather have cut off your left hand than be late or miss a day of work. Nowadays, you find yourself looking for every opportunity to skip out on work.

6. Abuse of alcohol/drugs
Requiring alcohol or drugs to get through a workday is a definite red flag that you are experiencing a tremendous amount of work-related stress.

7. Boredom
Occasional boredom in one’s career is completely normal; however, pervasive feelings of weariness and dreariness are not and are an indicator of potential burnout.

8. Anger/resentment in workplace
Frequently lashing out at coworkers and/or supervisors is unacceptable under any circumstance. This behavior deserves immediate attention due to its potentially abusive nature.

9. Sleep problems
Insomnia or occasional fatigue can happen to anyone but are a cause for concern if they become constant and a part of your everyday life. Sleep disturbances are your body’s way of saying it is overworked.

10. Inability to relax
If you find that you no longer enjoy your favorite non-work activities or that you are constantly tense with headaches, your career could be harming your health and happiness.

I THINK I’M BURNED OUT – NOW WHAT?

The first step to getting help is acknowledging that you need assistance. The second step is to seek out professional help and guidance through a partner, trusted friend, therapist, or workplace employee assistance program. The road to finding your perfect work can be challenging, but it is also empowering and life changing.

Career Change Mistakes to Avoid...

Are you considering changing your career? Are you bored, fed-up, lost, or otherwise unhappy in your current career? Are you facing a crossroads at which you need to decide between staying in your current field and moving to a new one? Do you have skills that you are not using in your current career? Have you been promoted to a point where you are no longer doing what you love?

Changing careers is one of the biggest decision job-seekers face, and with many possible outcomes and consequences. Before you make that jump to a new career field, consider these common career change mistakes so that you can avoid them as you make the transition from one career to your next.

--Making a career change without a plan. Probably the biggest mistake you can make is attempting to change careers without a plan. A successful career change can often take months to accomplish when you have a strategy, so without one, you could end up adrift for an even longer period.

---Changing careers because you hate your job. Don’t make the mistake of confusing hating your current job with hating your current career. Take the time to analyze whether it’s just the job/employer/boss that you hate, or whether it’s the career/skills/work that you dislike. The same goes with if you are feeling bored or lost with your job; review whether it’s the job/employer or the career. Whatever you determine, it’s best not to leave your job -- if possible -- until you have a plan for finding a new job/career.

---Changing careers because of outside pressure. Don’t let your parents, significant others, or anyone else influence your career choice. They don’t have to live that career every day; you do. If you love what you do and earn a reasonable living, why is it anyone’s business but yours? If you switch careers because of outside pressure to have a “better career,” and then hate your new career, you’ll end up resenting the person(s) who pressured you to make the switch......hope before changing the job one can keep these points in mind

Control of Records

S.No.	Record
Management Review
1	Agenda of MRM
2	Summary Report of MRM
Control of Documents
1	QMS Feedback Form
2	Master list of QMS documents
3	Master list of projects
4	List of Documents of External Origin
Corrective and Preventive Action
1	Corrective Action Report
2	Preventive Action Report
Internal Audit Process
1	Internal Audit Plan
2	Internal Audit Schedule
3	Nonconformity Report(NCR)
4	Audit Summary Report
5	Auditor’s Checklist
Human Resources Development
1	Human Resource Requisition Form
2	Interview Report Form
3	Employment Form
4	Skill Matrix
5	Annually Training Need Identification
6	Annual Training Plan
7	Individual Training Record
8	Performance Appraisal & Development Plan Form
9	Employee satisfaction survey Form
Control of Records
1	Master list of QMS Records
Project Management & Execution
1	Requirement Tracebility Matrix (RTM) Form
2	Requirement Tracebility Matrix (RTM) Checklist
3	Software Change Request (SCR) Form
4	Product Quality Matrix (PQM) Form
5	Post Implementation Evaluation Report (PIER) Form
Marketing and Sales
1	Conference feedback form
2	Demo-Workshop feedback form
Customer Relationship Management
1	End of Month Matrix
2	Service Performance Report
3	Customer Satisfaction Questionnaire
Operation & Infrastructure Support
1	Resource Requisition
2	Purchase Order
3	List of approved products and vendors
4	Vendor Evaluation Report
5	Preventive Maintenance Record
6	Preventive Maintenance Record
7	List of Software & Hardware
8	Records of CD’s
Measurement , Analysis & Improvement
1	Quarterly Report – Metrics

The following documents are also covered under this process

S.No.	Document
1	Project Development Plan (PDP)
2	User Requirement Specification (URS)
3	Software Requirement Specification (SRS)
4	Software Configuration Management (SCM)
5	Software Quality Assurance (SQA) Plan
6	Project Test Specification (PTS)
7	Software Design Specification (SDS)
8	Deployment Plan
9	Software Process Improvement (SPI) Plan

Checklist: Testing

Checklist: Unit Testing

Is the number of input parameters equal to number of arguments

Do parameter and argument attribute match

Do parameter and argument unit system match

Is the number of arguments transmitted to called modules equal to number of parameters

Are the attributes of arguments transmitted to called modules equal to attributes of parameters

Are global variable definitions consistent across modules

Are constraints passed as arguments

File attributes correct

Open/Close statements correct

Format specification matches I/O statement

Buffer size matches record size

Files opened before use

End of file conditions handled

Any textual errors in output information

Check for inconsistent data types (if any)

Check for incorrect variable names (misspelled or truncated)

Check for underflow, overflow, addressing exceptions

Check for default values

Has the component interface been fully tested

Have local data structured been exercised at their boundaries

Have all independent basic path been tested

Have all loops been tested properly

Have data flow paths been tested

Have all error handling paths been tested

Checklist: Integration Testing

Interfaces

Communication protocols

Files and their Formats

Call pairs, Argument list

Event list

Use and flow of global data

Checking consistency between interfacing parts

Synchronization of parallel processes and transactions. Especially queue handling

Multitasking: Capacity of shared resources

Handling of failures in other components and recovery

Special cases at interfaces (not existing data, bad data, empty files, network down etc.)

Database connectivity

Typical defects found in Integration Testing

v Wrong module or function called v Wrong state of a called object when it is called v Wrong boundary values v Wrong data type v Speed problems: Too fast or slow transmission v Format inconsistency v Conventions and restrictions misused v Wrong interpretation of names, codes, data etc v Transfer and output files: Too large, empty, missing v Data flow problems: Data not found, disappear, never written v Problems with synchronization and queues v Problems with shared resources v Wrong use of communication channel (not connected, disconnect, wrong port) v Problem across platform v Are reserved things freed, superfluous data deleted etc v Communication bugs

Checklist: System Testing

Have the business context and justification for the system been properly developed

Have all stakeholders been identified and polled for agreement

Have the overall function and behavior of the system defined

Have system processes been adequately and consistently defined

Is system output and input adequately defined

Have system level assumptions, limitations, constraints, preferences been explicitly and unambiguously stated

Has an application architecture been defined

Has the required technology infrastructure for the system been adequately defined

Has the scope of the system been bounded

Have usage scenarios been created at system level

Has a requirement management process been established for the system

Has allocation occurred for all system elements

Is the allocation for the software reasonable and well defined

Have appropriate traceability tables been developed

Has a system model been designed

Internal Project Deliverables

Planning Stage	Project Plan Software Configuration Management Plan Software Quality Assurance Plan Software Project Risk Factor
Requirement Stage	User Requirement Specification Software Requirement Specification Requirement Traceability Matrix Form
Design Stage	Software Design Specification UML Designs
Development Stage	Source Code
Integration & Test Stage	Project Test Specification Test Plan Test case & conditions Test Strategies (Unit test plan, Integration test plan, System test plan, Validation test plan) Test Report
Installation & Acceptance	Deployment plan Release Note User Manual

Wonderful definitions of designations at office

1. Project Manager is a Person who thinks nine Women can deliver a baby in One month.

2. Developer is a Person who thinks it will take 18 months to deliver a Baby.

3. Onsite Coordinator is one who thinks single Woman can deliver nine babies in one month.

4. Client is the one who doesn’t know why he wants a baby.

5. Marketing Manager is a person who thinks he can deliver a baby even if no man and woman are available.

6. Resource Optimization Team thinks they don’t Need a man or woman; They’ll produce a child with zero resources.

7. Documentation Team thinks they don’t care whether the child is delivered, they’ll just document 9 months.

8. Quality Auditor is the person who is never happy with the PROCESS to produce a baby. And lastly……………..

9. Tester is a person who always tells his wife that this is not the Right baby.

Meaning of HR

After 2 years of selfless service, a man realized that he has not been promoted, no transfer, no salary increase no commendation and that the Company is not doing any thing about it. So he decided to walk up to His HR Manager one morning and after exchanging greetings, he told his HR Manager his observation. The boss looked at him, laughed and asked him to sit down saying. My friend, you have not worked here for even one day.

The man was surprised to hear this, but the manager went on to explain.

Manager:- How many days are there in a year?

Man:- 365 days and some times 366

Manager:- how many hours make up a day?

Man:- 24 hours

Manager:- How long do you work in a day?

Man:- 8am to 4pm. i.e. 8 hours a day.

Manager:- So, what fraction of the day do you work in hours?

Man:- (He did some arithmetic and said 8/24 hours i.e. 1/3(one third)

Manager:- That is nice of you! What is one-third of 366 days?

Man:- 122 (1/3×366 = 122 in days)

Manager:- Do you come to work on weekends?

Man:- No sir

Manager:- How many days are there in a year that are weekends?

Man:- 52 Saturdays and 52 Sundays equals to 104 days

Manager:- Thanks for that. If you remove 104 days from 122 days, how many days do you now have?

Man:- 18 days.

Manager:- OK! I do give you 2 weeks sick leave every year. Now remove that14 days from the 18 days left. How many days do you have remaining?

Man:- 4 days

Manager:- Do you work on New Year day?

Man:- No sir!

Manager:- Do you come to work on workers day?

Man:- No sir!

Manager:- So how many days are left?

Man:- 2 days sir!

Manager:- Do you come to work on the (National holiday )?

Man:- No sir!

Manager:- So how many days are left?

Man:- 1 day sir!

Manager:- Do you work on Christmas day?

Man:- No sir!

Manager:- So how many days are left?

Man:- None sir!

Manager:- So, what are you claiming?

Man:- I have understood, Sir. I did not realise that I was stealing Company money all these days.

Moral - NEVER GO TO HR FOR HELP!!!

Have a Nice Day.

HR = HIGH RISK

Solid Business Plan

Getting into business is costly, and that is the bare truth. There are many entrepreneurs in this sea of people around us, but only with ideas in their head. Nothing in terms of actual businesses!

But then, they do not know where to look. If you see carefully, there are a lot of investors out there who are looking out for just some entrepreneurs like these – entrepreneurs, who have good ideas for business, but do not have the capital to make the required start. If you can manage to catch their eye, you will get the capital you want for your business, and then there is no saying to what heights you can reach.

But it is important to impress these investors. You can very well guess that there will be hundreds of thousands of entrepreneurs wanting to forward their business plans to investors, so that they can get the break in life that they want. Do all of them get it? Hardly! The success ratio for getting a business investment is about 1 in 1000, or even less, as the number of prospective business investment applications is piling up. So where do you stand a chance? The truth is, you have to have a very powerful business plan – something that will impress the investors so greatly that they will consider your application and keep it on top of the heap in their 'IN' tray.

If you strategize carefully, you can really achieve that singular glory. Getting considered by investors for starting your business is no mean achievement, and is possible only with long hours of work. And a power-packed business plan. But before you even start out with making a business plan, you must know about the different kinds of business investors out there. They are of two main kinds – the angel investors and the venture capitalists.

Angel Investors – Angel investors are usually individual people, or sometimes groups of people, who have so much wealth in their coffers that they have nothing better to do with it than take risks by investing in business. In the very least, they get someone to manage their money. At the most, they get a share in a future corporate business. Though the name suggests so, there is nothing divine about angel investors. They will want a share in your company, and will want a part of the profits too. But, since angel investors usually operate individually, there can be many differences here in the way they operate.

Venture Capitalists – Venture capitalists are the more common type of investors for businesses, since angel investors are few and far between. Venture capitalists, or VCs as they are endearingly called by potential business investment seekers, operate in forms of organizations. They adopt businesses of a special kind, and rarely venture out of the genre. They will also want high stakes of ownership in the business they are investing, and will want minute reports of progress. It is much more difficult to catch a VC's eye than an angel investor's. But your business plan can do the trick. Here are some expert ideas on making a very effective business plan that could catch the eye of even the most discerning of investors.

Tips on Making a Successful Business Plan

Tip # 1 – Be perfectly sure of what your business is set out to do

You will be surprised to know the large number of people out there who want to enter business and even have a germ of an idea in their mind, but do not know what exactly they want to do with their business when asked. Such are the people who fail terribly when they submit their proposals to the investors. VCs are highly trained to weed out such vague proposals. When you are making your business plan, begin with the Executive Summary. The whole success of your business plan will depend on this, because it is here that the initial impressions will be formed. In this section, you should mention clearly what the intent and purpose of your business is. Make a very clear mention of why the market needs your business, and who your target market will be. If the investor gets convinced there is a market out there for your business, it is half the battle won.

Tip # 2 – Make clear projections

It is actually funny to see sometimes how some entrepreneurs put in their profit projections in their business plans. Reading something like 'If we have about 1000 customers in the first three months, we could surely be touching be 50 million mark within the year' makes for interesting reading; but it is surely not going to hold any water with the ever-so skeptical investors. When you are making a projection, be realistic. How did you arrive at the conclusion that you will get 1000 customers in the first three months? What are your marketing plans for achieving that? Will you have production enough to meet the sales if they come up? Write clearly about all these factors. And avoid using conditional sentences that begin with 'if' in your projections.

Tip # 3 – Be realistic about the risks

There is no business without risks and venture capitalists know this only too well. When proposals come to them, they are the ones to first assess the risks of the proposals. So, you will do very well if you mention the risks beforehand in your business plan. That will give a realistic flair to your report. Otherwise, it will appear like a fantasy novel, nothing else. That will not go any good when your VC is considering all the potentialities of your business plan. In fact, you must keep a separate section, perhaps in the Marketing Analysis topic to mention all the risks that are associated with your business. Make it also a point to clearly elucidate what resources your business has, or will have, to counter these risks.

Tip # 4 – Keep your language simple

You must remember that your business plan is not a blueprint you are going to hand out to your engineers. This is a business plan, and it will be read by an investor. The investor, though quite wealthy, might not be very proficient at language. You must know that a large number of business plans are rejected just because the investors fail to understand what the proposer was getting at. So, you need to be very clear-cut in your language, and not use any difficult phrases. It is better to use points and bulleted formats wherever you can.

In conclusion, being frank and honest with your business plan always works. Come to the point directly, and do not beat around the bush. Investors have very little time, and chances are that they will only skim through your business plan. You have just about a few seconds to impress them into making an investment for your business. Keep that in mind, and you will probably be setting a date for inaugurating your business venture!

The 5 Most Common Mistakes Made By Startups

Entrepreneurs are no strangers to mistakes. Mistakes will happen - with considerable frequency - and the value in making those mistakes is learning from them and avoiding them in the future. You can also study the mistakes of others that came before. Plenty of successful entrepreneurs are quite open about mistakes they’ve made, why they made them and what they learned. We don’t need to keep repeating each other’s mistakes over and over.

But, that’s quite often the case. When it comes to startup mistakes you’ll see many companies making the same ones over and over.

Here are 5 of the most common mistakes made by startups:

1. Staying in Stealth Mode Too Long. New startups seem quite fond of stealth mode (or its newer cousin “ninja mode”), when they’re hiding under the radar but still hyping just enough to try and pique interest. But stay in stealth mode too long and you run the risk of disappearing off the radar. Never mind the fact that you can’t sell your new product or service while in stealth mode and therefore can’t generate any revenue. There are plenty of reasons why startups launch too slowly; really you need to force yourself to launch and get past all the excuses.
2. Not Focusing on the User. Who are you building your new product for? Who is the precise target? Many startups can give a generic answer to that question, but very few of them are really honed in on the specific wants of their “perfect user.” This is a combination of too little research and too much enthusiasm for what they think is “the next killer idea.” This mistake is compounded if you’re building something that you wouldn’t use yourself. Building something you would use makes things easier - you’re the target user. Otherwise you need to take a much more pragmatic approach.

   As well, many startups take the approach of “being everything to everyone.” That strategy never works. You end up being nothing to anyone.

3. Trying To Do Everything. If a task isn’t core to your business try and outsource it. Entrepreneurs are extremely fond of saying they wear many hats (which is true!) but there’s a limit to what’s reasonable in the hat-wearing department. Lots of things can be outsourced, and although you’ll be paying someone else to do the work, you’ll be freeing up precious time of your own. That time will be infinitely more valuable than the money you spend.
4. Not Having Enough Infrastructure. Many startups don’t have the proper tools in place to start their business. Primarily, money and time. It’s getting cheaper and cheaper to start companies nowadays but it’s never free. Lots of people start companies without realizing how much money it’s actually going to take. When they clue in, and decide they don’t have the money to invest (or they’re not willing to part with it), they’re in trouble.

   Startups face similar challenges with time. People often start companies while working full-time jobs. It’s doable but damn hard. And as soon as the startup gets a bit rocky or other interests come into play, the startup company gets shelved or delayed. Paul Graham comments on this beautifully in The 18 Mistakes That Kill Startups. His theory is that people get into startups half-heartedly and that’s what kills them. I think that’s part of the answer. The other side of that coin is that people truly do care and believe in what they’re doing, but they don’t have the infrastructure and bandwidth in place to make it happen.

   Infrastructure issues are also related to a startup’s lack of connections and resources to find good vendors, good hires, mentors and people to rely on. A couple guys in a garage may have a great idea and tons of talent but when they need help securing a loan or handling a business-related task they may not have the network or foundation in place to support them.

5. Forgetting About Branding, Marketing and Sales. I know there are examples of companies succeeding with a “build it and they will come” approach. Some people argue if you build something people want they’ll find it and plunk down their hard-earned money. It happens. But more often than not you need to develop real, actionable and savvy branding, marketing and sales strategies. You might have a great product and the wrong message. Or a killer software application that no one knows about. It’s rare to have a startup where the founders (or one of them) has real experience in branding, marketing and sales. The result is either all the founders do it (and often poorly) or they all pass the buck.

   You can take a “build it and they will come” approach and hope for the world to pick up your scent and fall in love with you, or you can figure out how you’ll get the message out, what that message will be and how you’ll generate leads. Go with the latter.

The good news is that almost every mistake can be undone, and it’s rare that one mistake kills a startup completely. So feel free to make them - but skip those listed above…

Top 10 Steps for Success

Logically, every business owner or executive manager strives to succeed. For the benefit of the company, the employees, the product and last but not least, for themselves. Certainly, sometimes the order that i listed changes as little. I ran into a listing of the top 10 steps to succeed in business. Evaluate yourself, does your company do what's described below? Do you have room for improvement?

Here we go:

1. Develop a strategic plan. Many business owners measure their success by how hard they work and whether there is enough money to cover payroll, but in reality they operate best with a strategic plan and methodology for measuring and executing that plan.

2. Stay flexible to changes in the strategic plan. A strategic plan should be a work in progress that evolves in accordance with long term goals. Although flexibility is important, it does not mean that a business should be run without a strategic plan.

3. Transform yourself from company expert to master strategist. Focus on planning the future business success by creating a leadership team and delegating duties. This strategy might require an extensive role change, but will help to obtain more control for the future success of the company.

4. Focus on short-term growth. Key company goals should be monitored daily and weekly rather than monthly. By focusing on business growth in the short term there will be far less concern over the long term.

5. Develop reporting systems. Strategies cannot be implemented without reporting systems that track critical numbers. A daily review helps to measure and clarify where company efforts need to be enhanced as well as holds each employee accountable for performance.

6. Hold a daily management meeting. A daily meeting creates the intensity and focus needed for business owners to identify problems and issues before they get out of control. Meetings should focus on one key issue.

7. Control costs by budgeting percentages. Control costs by measuring a percentage rather than an absolute basis. Daily or weekly percentage increases and decreases should signal change and help to determine why inconsistencies might exist.

8. Offer incentives to key business drivers. All employees have the ability to drive or stall the business. Creative incentives that drive should contribute to both the profitability and mission of the company. Fair incentives should be tied to specific measurable items that each employee has control over.

9. Create a new management model. Creating a new management model allows for updating as well as preparing the business for positive change. Incorporate all levels of employees in both the thought and implementation process.

10. Play to win. These guidelines are easier and more enjoyable to adhere to when a company aims high and plays to win. A business that survives is the one that plans to innovate, allows for constant change and plays to win.

Found something that you're already doing? Anything that you're doing that leads to consequent success but is not mentioned here? Add it to the list, the more tips we can compile in this thread, the better it is for the community.