Career.VI is the Virgin Islands’ leading job portal with more than 20,000 registered job seekers looking for job openings posted by hundreds of the Virgin Islands’ employers and continues to grow everyday. Career.VI offers free services for both employers and job seekers. Employers are able to notify the Department of Labor of their available position, post on the territory’s leading career platform and receive applications from job seekers. Featured tools for employers are also available to increase visibility, manage job applicants, and help in talent hunt through Top Job feature. Job seekers on the other hand are also offered a multitude of features to better their job search including Resume Builder, Job Agent, Competitor and much more.

Career.VI also has the #1 online Job Magazine, CareerPost. CareerPost gives users the opportunity to seek labor market advice and read articles pertaining to career development, even allowing them to participate in discussions, state opinions, and submit their own articles for others to view. With helpful tips visible throughout the site to easily identify with accessible options, Career.VI brings together a succession of job resource tools in an effort to improve the islands’ job market.

About BIZVI LLC
BIZVI provides unparalleled technology-based business solutions and under the umbrella of its parent company, TABS Group International (TGI), it has been serving private and government organizations in the territory for many years. TGI continues to expand its services in the sectors of labor, education, law and order, civic services, and economic development amongst others.
www.tabsinnovations.com

About Virgin Islands’ Department of Labor
The Virgin Islands Department of Labor’s mission is to administer a system of effective programs and services. This system is designed to develop, protect and maintain a viable workforce requiring partnerships with government agencies, businesses, community organizations and other stakeholders. It also requires a commitment to continuous improvement, reducing costs, improving business processes, technological efficiency, developing staff through training/mentoring/education, improving compliance with regulatory mandates and being a catalyst for positive change.

The strategic goals of VIDOL are to develop a talented workforce, to protect the workforce system, and to provide responsive fail-safe programs that support the workforce system. These goals support the Honorable Governor John P. deJongh’s directive to “provide workers with the assistance and encouragement they need to develop new skills and competencies over time, both to seek greater opportunity and to adapt to a rapidly changing employment reality and world economy.”

The Virgin Islands Department of Labor (VIDOL) receives its authority pursuant to Titles 3, 24, 27 & 29 of the Virgin Islands Code; the Workforce Investment Act of 1998; the OSHA Act of 1970; and other Federal laws which require the development of administrative structures that govern and enforce fair labor standards and the protection of the people of the Virgin Islands from any threat to health, morals, and general welfare.

 Some golden rules that can help you in becoming an effective team leader are:

 Eliminate Competition

While healthy competition is good for any work environment, too much competitiveness among the team mates can be negative for the productivity of the team. If the team members become obsessed with out shining one another they might end up making serious mistakes which might cause problems for the team as a whole. Make sure that the team members work well and try to curb unhealthy competition let your team members know that you value quality more than quantity so that they work harder on achieving important goals rather than working on more thing than they can handle just to score a point.

Deal With Conflicts

Conflicts and disagreements tend to inhibit the team spirit and create differences among the team mates. Sometimes petty conflicts are blown out of proportions to such an extent that the team members refuse to even work together, which his hazardous for the team manager. Even if they are forced to work to together, there are little chances that the estranged team members will be able to work at their maximum potential. An effective team leader would know how to deal with such team members effectively and efficiently. Try to make sure that no major conflicts among the team members arise and even if they do, jump in and try to cool them off before things get ugly. You have to address the underlying cause of such problems so that the conflicts do not keep on surfacing from time to time.

Delegate Properly

An effective team leader must be able to delegate his work properly and efficiently. For this to happen, a team leader must know all his team members well. He must know their strengths and weaknesses and must use this knowledge to delegate the work properly. If, as a team leader, you fail to distribute work load evenly and according to the specialties of all the team members, discontent is bound to arise. Team members might feel that they have been given undue work load and you come off looking like a bad team leader who is incapable of accomplishing the tasks that were assigned to him. Remember, the team members should not under any circumstances feel like you are putting your burden on them.

Communicate

Communication is the most important aspect in any professional environment. As a team leader you must be open and communicative with the team members, so that they can come to you if they have any issues. If the team members feel like the team leader is not listening to what they have to say and what problems are they facing, they will lose focus and their work is bound to suffer. If you are a team leader, make sure that your team mates are able to communicate with you whenever they have a problem. Listen to what they have to say and do not dismiss their problems lightly. Try to find a solution and redress the problems as soon as possible so that the team members feel valued.

Make Quick Decisions

Being a team leader, you must be prepared to make quick and practical decisions so that the team members do not lose their focus. If you stall and make excuses when the team members are relying on you for a decision, the team members will feel that you are not a suitable person to guide them and hence are bound to fail them. This will make them lose faith and will jeopardize your entire projects. So at all times, remain focused, sharp and calm so that you can make a quick decision when needed.

Motivated Others

Keeping the team members motivated is one of the most important tasks that a team leader is supposed to accomplish. Team members need to be constantly revitalized as they are bound to lose enthusiasm and motivation as the project lingers on. Keep reassuring them that they are working well and praise them when it is due.

Be Assertive

A team leader has to be assertive, if nothing else. Team work is a difficult arena and tem members often get so caught up in work that they completely lose focus. As a team manager, it is your duty to make sure that the team keeps working on the goals and keeps delivering jobs on time. As a team leader you cannot afford to miss deadlines and if most of the times you have to be assertive to make sure that you get the work done. However, keep in mind that there is a difference between being assertive and bossy. You must be forceful, but remain polite and amiable all the while as this approach will bear more fruitful results.

Take Responsibility

An effective team leader must realize that his job is not only to guide the people in his team but also to take responsibility if anything does not go according to the plan and the projects suffers from some kind of setbacks. The team leader must act like the captain of a ship, who never abandons the ship even if it is drowning. Remember if you try to pin the fault on some of your team members, it will not only alienate you from the team members but also create a bad impression on the boss who expects you to act like a professional and take responsibility the failure of your team.

Be A Team Player

A good team leader must also be a team player who does not antagonize his team members by acting bossy. Moreover a team player always gives credit where it is due. Snatching the lime light from one of your team members is a very ill advised move as it is not only unfair but will also be perilous for the team spirit. Make sure that when a team member performs well, he gets his due credit so that others also get motivated to perform at their level best.

Conclusion

An effective team leader is one who can steer his entire team to success while keeping them motivated and on the right track. Being a team leader is a lot of responsibility and a lot of people fail to perform their leadership tasks properly. While it is true that some people are born leaders, it is also true that strong leadership qualities can be established with a little hard work and dedication.

Improving Public Speaking Skills:

Speaking in front of a live audience is a scary thought for most of us but it does not have to be that way. These tried and tested pointers will not only help in improving your public speaking skills but also assist you in giving presentations during staff meetings.

Learn From The Best:

The best way to improve your public speaking skills is to learn from those who are considered great public speakers. They can be your superiors, colleagues and even famous personalities such as leaders, politicians and other icons. By keenly observing their style, you can learn a lot about what to do and what not to do when addressing a large gathering of people. Try watching the videos of famous people delivering speeches and observe their method. You do not have to exactly copy the style of one single person since the purpose is to achieve a sense of different styles of delivering a speech or addressing the audience.

Look Your Best:

It is very important to look good when you appear for public speaking or a presentation. People do and will notice what you are wearing and how you are wearing it. If you are dressed improperly or lack neatness in your overall appearance, the audience will notice and the fact that they are criticizing your wardrobe or dress sense will serve as a blow to your self confidence.

Know Your Material:

When you are supposed to address a public meeting or a gathering the worst mistake that you can make is not being fully appraised of the material. As a general rule, if you do not know the subject inside out you must not engage in speaking in front of an audience. The audience is bound to ask all sorts of questions at the end of the presentation or the speech and if you fail to answer even one of them you lose all your credibility.

Keep Practicing:

The best way to deliver a good speech or put up a great presentation is to keep on practicing. The more you practice the more easily you will be able to accomplish the task as you will iron out the kinks in your speech and polish it off nicely. You can practice alone, in front of the mirror or even better if you can get your family and friends to sit as the audience and ask questions. This will help you get better prepared for the question and answer session.

Stay Calm:

The most important thing is to remain calm when delivering a speech or giving a presentation. Even if you forget a sentence don’t panic. You don’t have to say the exact words and you can always substitute with something right there and them. It is important that you maintain a calm facade and do not let the crowd know that you are nervous. If you act calm and controlled, soon you will actually start feeling calm and composed.

Maintain Pace:

The pace at which you talk plays an important role in ensuring your success or failure. Try not to talk too slow or too fast as the audience will lose interest in both cases. If you are talking too fast the audience will face difficulty in understanding what you are saying and if you talk too slow they will get bored and stop paying attention to what you are saying. The key is to maintain a pace at which you can keep the listeners engaged and engrossed.

Make Eye Contact:

It is pertinent to make eye contact during the presentation or speech. Looking at the back wall of the auditorium or avoiding the eye by focusing on other things fails to do the trick. When you are speaking you need to look into the eyes of the audience to engage them. If you fail to do that the audience soon feels that you are nervous and are not well prepared for the task. Make sure that you do not keep looking at one or two individuals only but try to a large number of people in the audience. It is also important to keep the eye contact short, but not too short and certainly not too long. 

Be Concise:

Keep it short and to the point. Long presentations and speeches not only bore the audience but they also fail to make the point. When you start talking you get the attention of the audience and you have the chance to engage them right then and there. If you start blabbering and talk about things that have little of value to add to your speech, the audience loses interest. Keeping it short and concise lets them retain the information you just provided and hence is more effective.

Know Your Audience:

The most important part of speaking in public is to know your audience and then cater to their needs accordingly. If you are speaking to a group of executives your tone, style and vocabulary would be different to that you use when addressing a group of interns. So, know your audience and then prepare accordingly.

What To Avoid When Speaking In Public:

There are a few things that you should avoid when speaking in public as they can be fatal mistakes. Some of these are:

Self Praise & Bragging:

Nothing offends the audience more than self praise and bragging. If you are good you will receive praise and the success of your speech or presentation will be a testament to your capabilities.

Stammering:

Nothing can be worse than stammering during the presentation or speech as it completely ruins the overall effect and ruins your confidence. So keep practicing the speech till you get it right.

Trying To Be Someone You Are Not:

This can be the worst mistake ever. If you are not good at cracking jokes do not try to do so during the presentation. Sometimes a light hearted comment helps the presentation by breaking the ice but if you make a bad tasting remark it can do irreparable damage. So just try to be yourself rather than trying to be someone that you clearly are not.

Governor shed light on the importance of the YouthNet program and hailed it as one of the major initiatives introduced by his administration and VI Department of Labor. Commissioner Bryan stressed on the importance of helping the islands’ at-risk youth which is now around 400 students every year across the territoriy. He hoped that the Virtual Online System introduced for this program will work as a one-stop resource and as a data management tool for the department’s career counselors.

Syed Gilani, President of BIZVI, gave a tour of the system explaining the features of the YouthNet system. According to the press conference, YouthNet online system will provide job hunting, managing and training programs shoping and managing tools to the youth. Career Coaches will be able to keep a close eye on the progress of the users and will be able to provide prompt services whenever needed.

Details of the YouthNet program can be found at www.youthnetvi.org

Read more about this on Lily Garcia’s Article on The Washington Post

Difficulty handling pressure situations
In today’s globalized, competitive, cut throat business world, there is no place for scared individuals that are unable to handle pressure situations or multi-tasking. If you are unable to do either of the two things, you are not an asset to the organization you work for and could be at a greater chance of losing your job. As an asset to the company, you must be able to complete your work within time, meet all deadlines and stay calm while doing all this. If you panic while doing a project or start delegating too much work on others , you may come into your bosses eyes, and not in a good way.

Considering yourself irreplaceable
If you think you cannot be replaced, think again. No person is irreplaceable in the corporate business world. All it takes is one mistake and/or bad attitude and you are done in. even very hard working employees that may start to show a bad attitude could be replaced before they realize it. No one is free from error, however. Everyone makes mistakes and everyone has flaws and weaknesses. But never let that turn you into an arrogant person because that is what triggers downfall.
Making unnecessary excuses and consequently failing to deliver
When you can not deliver what you are expected you, you are immediately labeled in competent. Likewise, if your boss come to you with an assignment at the end of the day and you make excuses just to get out of it, you are making yourself highly susceptible o being laid off. Never think that your superiors are fools and are unable to distinguish between a real problem and a lame excuse. So keep your excuses to a minimum and do not try to use them as a tool to get out of work assigned to you or soon you won’t have any work left to do.

Having outdated skills
If you think you can accomplish the same amount and quality of work without updating your skills or improving yourself , then you may find yourself in deep waters. As mentioned before, no one is irreplaceable, so if you want to be better than those around you, and want to improve your chances of career enhancement, you need to constantly keep improving yourself. Not updating your skill sets is the most common mistakes that the employees are making nowadays. Everyday new technology and software is being introduced and every new batch of fresh employees is more adept to them than the ones before them. Don’t be left behind.