College Graduates Job Search Going Bad

College Graduates Job Search Going Bad Heres a great post from Thom Singer about a recent grad in a not-fun job search.  Thom has some good advice (6 points, including 1. Dont get discouraged, 4. Ask your friends how they found their jobs, 5. Network like your life depends on it because it does!). One thing that jumps out at me from this story is this: I never heard from her again. She did not have business cards, so I had no way of reaching out to her to see if she has made any progress in finding a job. Do you have a business card?  People WANT TO HELP YOU.  They really do.  Thom just met this person but he was interested in following up.  And Thom is on track to know about 1/2 of the people in the U.S. this decade wouldnt he be someone you want in your corner? She missed out on an opportunity because she wasnt ready with a business card it really takes just a few bucks and a few minutes and you can get your own. I get mine from Vistaprint. College grads need to step up they are out of the institution where their demands and expectations are artificially driven by professors its time to be a professional. At the very least get a business card. (and call on your career center to get some coaching/help) College Graduates Job Search Going Bad Heres a great post from Thom Singer about a recent grad in a not-fun job search.  Thom has some good advice (6 points, including 1. Dont get discouraged, 4. Ask your friends how they found their jobs, 5. Network like your life depends on it because it does!). One thing that jumps out at me from this story is this: I never heard from her again. She did not have business cards, so I had no way of reaching out to her to see if she has made any progress in finding a job. Do you have a business card?  People WANT TO HELP YOU.  They really do.  Thom just met this person but he was interested in following up.  And Thom is on track to know about 1/2 of the people in the U.S. this decade wouldnt he be someone you want in your corner? She missed out on an opportunity because she wasnt ready with a business card it really takes just a few bucks and a few minutes and you can get your own. I get mine from Vistaprint. College grads need to step up they are out of the institution where their demands and expectations are artificially driven by professors its time to be a professional. At the very least get a business card. (and call on your career center to get some coaching/help)

Six critical traits show your entrepreneurial potential - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

Six critical traits show your entrepreneurial potential - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career The most successful entrepreneurs  aren’t narcissistic. They acquire lasting and loyal followers because they invest energy in understanding their customers needs  and  wants. Theyre also aware of the many other factors that influence a persons decision making, from their job security to their confidence in the economy.    These  highly effective  leaders have a keen attunement to their audience’s values, biases  and core struggles and are better at (or merely lucky) when it comes to  timing the launch of an idea. These winning entrepreneurs  have great ideas, great marketing strategies, competent  people to execute their plans and are blessed with good timing. Become an active listener and seek feedback Entrepreneurs  who are great listeners have a competitive edge in the marketplace. They demonstrate their effectiveness at processing information with potential customers, suppliers and employees. They assure others that they are remembering what others say, summarize points of agreement and disagreement, and capture the major themes and key messages from the conversation.   Sample phrases might include the following:   Here are a couple of key points that I heard from this meeting; here are our points of agreement and disagreement; here are a few more pieces of information we should gather; here are some suggested next stepsâ€"what do you think? I like your idea about xyz, can you elaborate on your critique. The active  listeners focus on the person and allow them to fully express their ideas. When  they  interject in a conversation, they make sure it’s to get the other person  to clarify his/her  points and then encourages  him  to return to his  narrative. If you want to become an active listener try mirroring back the other  person’s thoughts combined with asking astute questions. This will increase your understanding of that person and his/her idea. How to listen with more empathy? Slow down Engage with others rather than endlessly debating Take the time to hear and learn from others Ask brilliant questions Try to understand from their angle Put your own biases aside while listening Is your audience ready to hear your idea? According to Bill Gross who started over 100 start-ups and founder of IdeaLab he says the failure of many companies comes from stretching its resources, taking on too many things and eventually losing focus. But more than any other factor, he says the main reason many good business ideas don’t take off is that their timing is off. The ones who make it have great ideas, well thought out marketing strategy and great timing. So the next time you try to launch a business, focus your attention on your customers needs and to the entire economic landscape that could affect your target population’s buying decisions. This could make the difference between having a successful start-up and business dud.

List of UK Employers Posting Jobs on Twitter

List of UK Employers Posting Jobs on Twitter Britain is  definitely lagging on the Twitter job posting front so I will do best to  stimulate some employer tweeting in the realm. Here is a list of the major British companies  doing it already (no 3rd party recruiters). By following these Twitter accounts you will get jobs  straight from the source and possibly quicker than anyone else: Accenture Allen Overy Arcadia ASOS AstraZeneca Atkins Barclays BBC BBC Future Media BooHoo Boots Boots Pharmacy British Army BT Centrica Deloitte Enterprise Foreign Commonwealth Office Freshfields Grant Thornton GSK HSBC HM Harrods Mars Graduates IBM ITV Jagex Jaguar Land Rover Intel KPMG LOreal Linklaters Live Nation LV= Macmillan  Cancer National Trust Nationwide Nestle Network Rail New Look Next PepsiCo Primark PwC Royal Air Force Royal Navy Siemens Skanska Sky Sodexo Tesco Unilever Warner Music Yahoo Yell The list is short but growing so please let me know if you find any other tweeting UK employers! RELATED: Which Employers Post Jobs on Twitter? [140 Accounts]

How Allowing Employees Creative Freedom Can Boost Engagement

How Allowing Employees Creative Freedom Can Boost Engagement We all know that employers want to foster employee engagement and we’d all prefer to enjoy our work. Employees who are micro-managed and not trusted to work independently are likely to be less motivated; studies show that flexibility at work improves productivity, whereas ‘presenteeism’ stifles creativity. When we are trusted to work to a high standard, without intrusive supervision, we deliver optimum results. The problem is that, as a 2014 Economist article pointed out “Because knowledge workers have few metrics for output, the time people spend at their desks is often seen as a sign of productivity and loyalty.” If leaders want to encourage innovation and creativity, then designing a workplace that caters for the preference for autonomy and flexibility that employees value, leads to real engagement throughout the organisation. ”You’re not your job” A quote from the film Fight Club. More and more of us work as freelancers, contractors and consultants and there are obvious advantages to working this way. Contractors pick up new ideas and inspiration from each work environment and from a range of work groups and professional contacts. This negates the risk of becoming typecast in a particular role or bored to distraction through the repetition of similar projects. Encouraging staff to explore and experiment pays dividends for the same reasons. Some large companies allow employees to spend time working on projects that are outside the scope of their assigned role; these initiatives are used to attract high quality applicants, and to encourage innovation. Sometimes described as bootlegging, 3M Corporation’s policy is to allow employees to spend 15% of their time working on their own ideas. I prefer the term ‘daylighting’ by which an organisation encourages employees to choose some of their own projects to work on. Freeing time for staff to work on side projects autonomously, offers the opportunity to explore, to learn and to be creative, with the hoped-for aim of improving morale and increasing work output. Dan Pink says that motivating employees with new ways of working are well worth considering: The old motivational techniques have run their course. Weve oversold the carrot-and-stick and undersold quieter forms of motivation, he says. Daylighting is about zoning out and exploring the possibilities, ultimately creativity and innovation arise from what Mary Catherine Bateson describes as “weaving fine threads of novelty” into the fabric of life. Broadening the scope of our work affords the opportunity to re-examine assumptions, to reinvent procedures and reimagine potential, thereby enhancing our capacity to adapt by exploring novelty and serendipity. Project management is a key skill When employees have the freedom to choose their own projects and design their own work then they need to be accountable for their productivity and personal project management, with leadership providing the necessary tools and encouragement. Jonathan Feinstein, professor at the Yale School of Management says: I think its a good idea in general to give people that opportunity to explore a personal interest, with the thought that, eventually, it will intersect back with things that the organization is interested in. In essence by encouraging “daylighting” in working hours, organisations make an investment in well-rounded employees, whose growing knowledge and experience increases their value to the employer. Obviously, daylighting needs to be transparent in terms of team responsibilities, there remains an obligation to meet and exceed the expectations of the job description. Off-piste projects should not be pursued at the expense of other responsibilities, ideally they should interest the individual while meeting organisational objectives in the long run. Tobias van Schneider, designs and builds new products for Spotify and he suggests these non-work projects work best when people give themselves permission to “think simple, to change their minds, to fail basically, to not take them too seriously,” he thinks that if you don’t put too much structure around it, you can enjoy different types of success. Changing the way you think about failure is important for successful side projects. If you don’t depend on the outcome, if they are outside the scope of your job description, you have the luxury of failing; you can call ‘time’ or start over when things aren’t going so well, or re-envision the whole project without recrimination. We all know that we learn from failure, at least as much, as we learn from success. Key to working this way is to focus on the work for its own sake, not the end-product. It works because we liberate ourselves from the constraints of the day job and consider things from an oblique standpoint that, hopefully, opens new horizons. Non-work projects are meant to be low-pressure; work that you do because you love the work, to satisfy your curiosity or to experiment, not to meet a deadline.

What Employers Look For In Your Social Media Profiles

What Employers Look For In Your Social Media Profiles When employers are looking to fill in an open position they go through a wide range checks of including resumes, references, and even personal social media accounts.Surprisingly, studies have shown that over 60% of employers look at social media accounts such as Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. This makes it even more important for job seekers to make sure their social media accounts help them in their job search rather than hurt them.Common spelling mistakes in your statuses can be a huge red flag for many potential employers and having inappropriate content will scare them off even more.evalMany people already use LinkedIn to help represent them appropriately in their job search, but do not think to tweet about relevant business topics. Joining in on Facebook conversations relevant to their industry can also that can showcase their knowledge and talent.Take a look at the infographic below to see exactly how social media accounts can help and hurt a job seeker.Infographic Credit â€" https://www.slideshare.net/stevensonuniversity

Are you ready for Blue Monday - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog

Are you ready for Blue Monday - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog Some researchers have sat down and crunched the numbers and figured out that there?s a day called Blue Monday in late January which is supposedly the unhappiest day of the year. They even have a formula for calculating when it is, so you KNOW it?s scientific :-) And when is Blue Monday 2014? Why it?s next week on January 20. So if you woke up this morning tired and wishing you didn?t have to go to work, maybe that?s why. What?s bringing you down at work? We?d love to know, so click this link and tell us all about it. Is your boss a jerk? Are your co-workers mental? Are your clients demanding and unreasonable? Is work hectic and stressful or maybe incredibly boring? Thanks for visiting my blog. If you're new here, you should check out this list of my 10 most popular articles. And if you want more great tips and ideas you should check out our newsletter about happiness at work. It's great and it's free :-)Share this:LinkedInFacebookTwitterRedditPinterest Related

Help on Writing a Resume

Help on Writing a ResumeEveryone knows that it is better to have more than one option for a resume, but not everyone knows what type of free help on writing a resume should be included. It is not enough to just have a well-written resume as the employer will want to see your experience and achievements. You have to make sure that your information is correct and well-organized.To make it easy for your potential employer to find your experience, you must include your career and education history on your resume, even if they do not use the term 'career experience.' You need to also list your work experience and any job training that you may have received. Using that to show what you have done in the past will add more credibility to your resume.When you begin your job search, remember that you must be professional when speaking with an employer. This is your first impression, so you should be polite and courteous. In this way, you will create a positive first impression and get hired fa ster.Don't touchy or too bold, when answering questions about your resume. Just answer the question as you would answer a question about yourself. However, if the employer asks you to elaborate on something, say the information you feel is appropriate. Do not embellish on an experience or a career for the sake of embellishment.Write the cover letter very carefully and precisely. You should write it first so that it shows what you are trying to accomplish and who you are. The cover letter should also show how much the employer is going to benefit from hiring you. You can take a cover letter and simply delete the introduction if it is redundant and help the employer see what you have to offer them.Do everything you can to make your business look professional. One way you can do this is by printing a business card and making sure to keep it in good condition. Keep your card in a place where it is visible and do not forget to sign it. If you sign it, be sure to also have your telephone number clearly spelled out.Always remember that your resume is not only for the employer. You should have a resume for your friends and family as well. If they have seen your resume, they may refer you to a friend and those people could benefit from your experience.Writing a resume is something that is best learned in the classroom, but it can also be learned at home. There are many free resources available on the Internet that are designed to teach you how to do this.