LETTER: Commissioner replacement
Tim O’Connor should not be on the James City County Planning Commission. He is qualified, but he works for an organization that in its process of further development in Kingsmill is and will be extremely controversial.

Read more on The Virginia Gazette

Mover: Janes Livingston
What is your new title? SBA business development officer, U.S. Bank, Minneapolis

Read more on Pioneer Press

Making Career Development Pay
Treating your career development education as if it were part of a stock portfolio can help you increase the return on your investment.

Read more on New York Times

The Friend Zone.Tv presents Gene McNaughton, Film Star and Motivational Speaker. Gene will talk about strategies for success and specific goal setting. Go to www.TheFriendZone.Tv.

You know how sometimes you tend to find yourself in the right place at the right time? Well, mine was in April 2000, at a motivational speaking presentation.
With a career in retail banking in London behind me, I’d known for a long time that I’d passed my ‘sell by’ date in the industry.
I was looking for something to change in my life. Even though others had always viewed me as a go getter, and even if I had achieved things in the passed, now I felt on the edge of a void. I wanted change, but was tired, hungry for new challenges and routes to success. I felt de-motivated, tired, stuck, and out of ideas as what to do next to get out of my lethargy.
However, on that night whilst listening to that particular speaker I began to see light at the end of the tunnel. Suddenly, I began to think out of the box for the first time in such a long time.
After realising it was my present job that had become stale, rather than me, I began to get excited and confident again, realising I still had a future in what I loved!
I realised that I’d just been treading water, running my own story for such a long time, and that story needed refreshing. In short, I needed to express myself as the person I wanted to be, or needed to become. It was time to re-invent me!
So began a journey that would take me into the world of personal development, gaining knowledge and certifications in Personal and Business Coaching, Neuro Linguistic Programming, Clinical Hypnotherapy, and most recently Sport Hypnosis.
I am not simply attempting to impress you with my CV, but rather impress upon you how you too can reconnect with your essence and create a whole life relevant to who you are and what you expect today.
Now my life is changed more than I ever thought possible, and it’s been surprising how I’ve managed to facilitate those changes without resorting to drastic action. Nowadays, I’m the guy giving the motivational talks to other people.
I’m sharing my excitement, educating others to the health benefits of being true to their essence, usually beginning with the questions, ‘what would you do if you knew you couldn’t fail?’
These past few years have been a tremendous experience and I now feel that my destiny is in my own hands and that I can make the changes I want to see happen in my life.
For me it was about having the confidence to dream the dreams I didn’t dare to dream and having the support to keep going when things didn’t seem to be going so well.
Now I know that the person people see when they see me, and it is the one I’d want to see too if I could step outside my body and look back. Still very much a work in progress, and a vital, effervescent one at that.

Its now an economic and statistical reality that we’re living in a recessionary environment. With large corporations recruitment departments shrinking and some even making redundancies, career prospects have never looked so bleak.
This is why Leadership is becoming such an important skill for job seekers to have. Leadership is the key driving force that keeps businesses alive and even profitable during economic turmoil. Great leaders increase motivation of workers, encourage free flow of ideas, and improve the atmosphere of the working environment. The effect of a phenomenal business leader can be felt right from shop floor workers up to the board. Its an incredibly desirable trait in any employee. So here are 3 ways to boost your leadership skills for a potential employer.
1. Take opportunities to lead teams. Leadership isn’t a characteristic you can simply claim to have, and hope nobody will call your bluff. It is such a self-evident trait, that a veteran interviewer will be able to smell it on you when you walk through the door. You need to gain experience as a leader, so grab every opportunity you can to direct, coach and lead teams in your organisation or in local clubs and societies. I suggest you have 5 varied experiences to talk about confidently with an interviewer, where you demonstrated the skill of leadership.
2. Read leadership literature. Books are commonly put-down as a ‘useless’ resource for personal development simply because you don’t gain practical experience. This is such a mis-conception. Some of the greatest leadership minds of this century have put their ideas and beliefs on paper, and they have served generation after generation for inspiring and giving new people the courage to lead. Leadership books generate useful ideas that you can implement practically in your day-to-day experiences. So you see, leadership literature is a brilliant companion to your actual work, and will help improve the effectiveness of the techniques you use. I suggest reading ‘How to Win Friends and Influence People’ by Dale Carnegie to start. This is one of the most popular books of all time, and delivers brilliant advice on how to handle all types of people in life.
3. Just say yes. More often than not, people take the safe option and say ‘no’ to choices that perhaps look to only carry mediocre benefits and plenty of risk of embarrassment or humiliation. What also is often the case however, is what these people are actually doing is instantly sensing the risk, and then not bothering to really see the inherent bonuses that could come from completing such a task. Next time you’re presented with a public speaking opportunity for instance, or a chance to organise a charity event within the office. For your career’s sake, say yes. The benefits to your CV will more than justify the risk of embarrassment.
So there you have it. If you make sure you incorporate these 3 tips into your working life, you will boost your leadership skills and be able to present these effortlessly to an impressed employer. I wish you every success in your future carrer.

Being a pilot or an air hostess could be anybody’s dream career. The job involves lot of traveling, glamour and lot of money. It is a well-paying job so youngsters dream to pursue a career in aviation. In fact, all jobs related to the aviation sector are lucrative. However, it is also a rigorous job and demands a lot out of you and involves a certain amount of risk on daily basis. The work hours are generally long but the perks are high. One also gets to travel the world while on the job and meet interesting people. All these things make a career in aviation a very sought after option. Also, with the upcoming travel industry and the upgradation, liberalization and privatization of airports, there is a huge demand for the people who have done career training in aviation.

Today, there are many state-run and private training schools that provide pilot training and air hostess training. Different schools offer aviation courses of different duration.

It is always advisable to take up courses related to the aviation industry from a recognized and prestigious career institute. Aviation courses mainly include training about flying operation, aircrew, aircraft, air traffic management, technical aspects of flight, aviation safety, regulatory policies and economics of airport.

The Indian Institute of Aeronautics based in Delhi offers 3-year AME Licence Training Programs, as approved by the Director General of Civil Aviation. For enrolment in the course, one has to apply as per admission notice displayed in newspapers. The courses usually commence in July every year. For foreign students, admission is subject to security clearance from the Government of India.

Indian Institute of Aeronautical Science based in Jamshedpur offers a course in Aircraft Maintenance Engineering. The course usually commences in January and July every year. The admissions are done on the basis of merit list prepared on an entrance examination. The duration of this course is three years and it is divided over six months, which includes six months on the job practical training on flying aircraft. The eligibility for this course is that the candidate must have passed Intermediate Science, 10+2 (or its equivalent) with 50% Marks in Physics & Mathematics or a 3-year Diploma and degree in any branch of engineering with minimum 50% marks. Foreign students shall have qualification equivalent to any prescribed above or “O” level of U.K. or equivalent.

Another good institute is Avalon Aviation Academy, which is an enterprise of Aptech Limited. It offers the following courses: Diploma in Professional Cabin Crew Services, Diploma in Professional Ground Staff services, IATA / UFTAA- Foundation Course, Certificate Course in Fares & Ticketing Virgin Atlantic/ GTMC Courses and Personality Development courses. Avalon Aviation Academy has centres in Delhi, Mumbai, Pune etc.

The state owned institutes include: Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Udan Akademi, Rae Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh Aviation Academy, Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, Amritsar Aviation Club, Amritsar, Punjab, Bihar Flying Institute, Patna, Bihar, Bombay Flying Club, Mumbai, Maharashtra, Gujarat Flying Club, Vadodara, Gujarat, Government. Flying Training Institute, Bhubaneshwar, Orissa, Government Flying Training Institute, Kolkata, West Bengal, Government. Flying Training School, Bangalore, Karnataka, Haryana Institute of Civil Aviation, Karnal, Haryana, Haryana Institute of Civil Aviation, Hissar, Haryana, Haryana Institute of Civil Aviation, Pinjore, Haryana, Ludhiana Aviation Club, Ludhiana, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh Flying Club, Indore, Madhya Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh Flying Club, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, Madras Flying Club, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, Northern India Flying Club, Jallandhar, Punjab, Patiala Aviation Club, Patiala, Punjab, Rajasthan State Flying School, Jaipur, Rajasthan, UP State Flying Training Institute, Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, Andaman & Nicobar Flying Training Institute, Port Blair, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Assam Flying Club, Guwahati, Assam, Banasthali Vidyapith Gliding and Flying Club, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, Aviation Training Academy, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, Delhi Flying Club, New Delhi, Kerala Aviation Training Centre, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, Nagpur Flying Club, Nagpur, Maharashtra, Jamshedpur Cooperative Flying Club, Jamshedpur, Jharkhand.

There is wide ranging scope in India for those who successfully complete courses in aviation. One may find jobs in aerospace / aviation engineering, aviation maintenance, flight crew, management aviation, civil aviation department of India, avionics, cargo management, reservation sector, cabin crew, operation executive, air hostess etc. The major companies in aviation include Sahara India, Kingfisher Airlines, Indian Airlines, India International Airways Ltd., Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd., Deccan Airlines, Trans Asian Aviation, Bird Group, and many others.

To be a pilot the basic prerequisites are that you must have completed your Class XII under the 10+2 system or its equivalent with a minimum of 50 per cent marks in Mathematics and Physics. Minimum 16 years of age is required to be eligible for a Private Pilot License and 17 for a Commercial Pilot License. The vision in one eye must be perfect. General physical fitness is also mandatory.

Before going for the plunge, one must remember that however glamorous and exciting it may sound, the job requires intensive training and risk. A pilot is responsible for the lives of passengers as well as the aircraft itself.