Idaho Society of Professional Engineers
Friday Update – 10/13/06
UPCOMING EVENTS:
• October 17, 2006 – ISPE
Southwest Chapter Noon Meeting
• October 27, 2006 - PE and PS
Examinations - Boise, Idaho
• October 28, 2006 - FS (aka
LSIT) Examination - Boise, Idaho, Pocatello, Idaho, Moscow, Idaho
• October 28, 2006 - FE (aka EIT)
Examination - Boise, Idaho. Pocatello, Idaho, Moscow, Idaho
• February 6 – 10, 2007 –
Idaho Society of Professional Land
Surveyors Conference - Coeur d' Alene Casino - Worley, Idaho
• March 10, 2007 – State
MATHCOUNTS Competition –
Boise State University, Boise
• March 22 & 23, 2007 – ISPE 2007
Annual Meeting – Oxford Suites, Boise
• May 11, 2007 – National
MATHCOUNTS Competition –
Convention Center, Fort Worth, Texas
STATE
LICENSURE REQUIREMENTS (PDF file)
DO YOU KNOW THE ABC’S OF
CAREER CHANGE?
Making a career change is one of the toughest job-search challenges. For
clarification, “career change” means much more than “job change.” A career
change means choosing a completely new profession or industry. A “job change” is
simply changing employers within the same industry and profession.
Why do people change careers? The two main reasons are:
• The industry or occupation becomes obsolete (or is outsourced overseas)
• Job dissatisfaction (If you dread going to work on Monday morning, you’re
probably in this category.)
What makes a career change so difficult? After all, most job seekers attempting
a career change know exactly why they would do well in a new profession or
industry. The problem comes down to communication. Most job seekers have
difficulty communicating in their resume their ability to excel in a new career.
Resumes, by definition, focus on career experience (history), but career
changers need employers to see their expertise (current skills) in order to be
viewed as a viable candidate.
If you are attempting a career change, it becomes easier when you understand the
ABC’s of career change:
A: Assess
B: Bridge
C: Communicate
Assess what you want changed.
Before you can make a successful change, you must decide what needs changing. Is
it the duties you perform? Your overbearing boss? Your current geographic
location? The industry you work in? The size of company you work for? The level
of responsibility you hold? Once you pinpoint your exact source of unhappiness,
you’re on your way to making the correct choice for change.
Bridge the gap between what you’ve done and what you want to do.
The key to selling yourself based on your expertise rather than your experience
is transferable skills. Transferable skills work like bridges to help you cross
over from one industry to another or one occupation to another. Transferable
skills are those skills you now possess that qualify you as a viable candidate
for your career change.
Communicate your ability to excel in your new profession or industry.
Your resume is your front-line communication tool to prospective employers. No
matter how well you interview, if your resume doesn’t sell you, there won’t be
an opportunity to convince them in person. Use your accomplishments to prove the
strength of your transferable skills, and you’ll get interviews faster and with
more enthusiasm.
An experienced career coach can help you apply these ABCs to your current resume
and your interview skills. Once you practice the ABCs of career change you’ll be
on your way to changing your career and changing your life—for the better!
Deborah Walker, CCMC
Career Coach ~ Resume Writer
Find more job-search tips and resume samples at:
www.AlphaAdvantage.com
Email: Deb@AlphaAdvantage.com
MATHCOUNTS PROBLEM OF THE WEEK
Can you solve this MATHCOUNTS problem? The answer will appear in next week's
edition of the Friday Update!
A Cord of Firewood
Firewood quantities are sometimes difficult to estimate. Stacked firewood
frequently has spaces between the pieces of wood. The official unit of measure
for firewood is a cord. A “full cord” of firewood is the amount of wood that can
be tightly stacked to minimize the space between the pieces of wood in a
rectangular prism that measures 4 feet high by 8 feet long by 4 feet wide. Wood
pieces 4 feet long don’t fit in most woodstoves so firewood is frequently
advertised for sale and sold in units that are not a full cord.
Woodstove Fuel Company advertises a “face cord” of firewood for $75. The
measurements of their “face cord” are 4 feet high by 8 feet long by 16 inches
wide. Light and Burn Fuel Company advertises a “stove cord” of firewood for $60.
The measurements of their “stove cord” are 4 feet high by 8 feet long by 12
inches wide. What is the cost per full cord for each company? How much is saved
per full cord by purchasing the firewood from the company with the best rate?
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Uniform-sized mill ends in the shape of rectangular prisms each measuring 2
inches high by 12 inches long by 4 inches wide are stacked in a cord container
so there is no space between the pieces. How many mill ends are needed to
exactly fill the 4 foot by 8 foot by 4 foot cord container? What is the wood
volume in this cord of wood, in cubic feet?
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Frontier Firewood Company sells pressed wood logs in the shape of a cylinder
measuring 4 inches in diameter and 12 inches long. The logs are stacked so that
the circular bases of the logs are parallel to the 8-foot long face of the cord
container. What is the maximum number of these logs that can be stacked in a
cord container measuring 4 feet high by 8 feet long by 4 feet wide?
Answer to last week’s MATHCOUNTS problem:
The parking lot is a rectangle. Sides AB and CD measure (7 ×8), 56 feet. Sides
BC and AD measure (15 + 20 + 15), 50 feet. Area of a rectangle is length times
width,
56 × 50 = 2800. The top surface area of the parking lot is 2800 square feet.
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The first car can be assigned any space 1-14. There are then 13 spaces available
for the second car. 14 x 13 = 182 gives the number of possible ways the two cars
can be assigned. A table will show the favorable outcomes.
If Car A is in space 1 then the
only space for car B is space 2. However, if Car A is in space 2 then Car B can
be in space 1 or 3. Counting the possible spaces for car B given the space for
Car A gives the 24 favorable outcomes listed above. The probability of the two
cars being in adjacent spaces is 24/182 = 12/91.
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50 cars × 2 hours × ($1.50/Car-hour) × 30 days = $4,500
($5.00/car) × (8 cars/night) × 30 nights = $1,200
The total projected income for 30 days is $4,500 + $1,200 = $5,700.
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Option A: 20 full days (($1.50/hour) ×10 hours) + 20 overnights ($5.00/night) =
$300.00 + $100.00 = $400.00
Option B: $250.00
Option B is the better buy with a savings of ($400.00 – $250.00) =$150.00.
If you want to see last week's problem again, click
http://www.mathcounts.org/webarticles/anmviewer.asp?a=907&z=107
Idaho Society of Professional Engineers
PO Box 170239
Boise, ID 83717-0239
208-426-0636
Fax: 208-426-0639
E-Mail: ispe@idahospe.org
Web Site: www.Idahospe.org
Idaho
Society of Professional Engineers
