Out With The Old, In With The...Well, You Get It!

Out With The Old, In With The...Well, You Get It! Oh. My Gosh. Becky. Its a New Year! I get pretty excited about the New Year, mostly because it means NEW (Hint: its in the name). Here in the middle of the United States, we had new snow, which only underscored the illusion of a clean slate. Lets talk about NEW. New Stuff In 2017, you get new stuff. You know what I mean: a new calendar, a fresh desk, a new set of books. I, like a lot of people use this time to get organized. Label your folders (on line or offline), create more organized to-do lists or assemble a calendaring system youll actually use. My resolutions are that I will actually use Evernote (for white papers and in-depth articles) across all my devices and that I will use Shoeboxed to keep track of my traveling receipts. New Processes You know whats hard? Change. Especially when you are working within a team. If everyone goes around changing their processes all the time, it makes for a very disorganized team. Thats why the first week in January makes everyone a little nuts; everyones personal goals are either not aligned or vocalized with corporate ones. What if you called your (virtual or in-person) team together for a bit of accountability and support? Is the manager going to work out over lunch instead of hearing complaints? Is Becky trying to have a no-email zone from 7:00-10:00 am? When you share your new processes with others you work or consistently interface with, you increase your chances of success. My new process for the year is no phone calls after 4 pm. When I take these calls, my children are often home from school and I either forget what was said or am worried about noise on the line. When I take calls early in the day, I remember to send notes and really focus on the call itself. Ive already notif ied my coworkers and clients. New Tech Even if you arent one of the lucky ducks that received a new phone, computer or tablet this year, you can still take advantage of the new tech 2013 has to offer. In fact, much of it isnt really new at all. I have found that I dont really adopt new tools at the rate I used to and I believe that is to my detriment. Voice to text apps while Im on my morning walk? Yes, please. With constant upgrades on software, new consumer and enterprise apps being developed daily and constant must-have lists, there is surely one new tech change you can make to your daily routine. I have been trying to incorporate Google+ into my sharing routine and took the last day in 2012 to go over the software and systems I am using and make all the updates. I also decided to print out and laminate shortcut cheat sheets that have saved a great deal of time. Need some ideas? Check out followup.cc and IFTT to automate likeeverything.  Make sure you check out the user manuals for your enterprise software or ask your rep to take you through a fresh demo, I bet there are new features youre dying to try. New Space Clean, clear desktop. Fresh lines of notebook paper. Even my Facebook timeline somehow seems clearer. Even if you didnt have a chance to de-clutter before 2012 was over, you can still organize your space and get rid of detritus post haste. The obvious tidying up has to do with real life but what about creating a new and organized Dropbox folder or using unroll.me to tidy up your inbox? Is your desktop looking cluttered with screenshots and to-do items? If so, take 15 minutes to de-clutter so that you can start 2013 with a clear mind (and PC). My number one item? Begin syncing my project management tool of choice, Asana with Dropbox folders. They offer the integration now and its a no brainer. New Ideas Ill be the first to tell you that the predictions lists are kind of meh this year. That is, they say the same things as last year, basically. However, there are some gems out there. Jobcast has an interesting one, as do I (yeah like Im not gonna put mine in here) and Ihrims, while long, is good.  New ideas are everywhere and as a cutting edge recruiter (which you are right?) you should want to pay attention to these. I work with a ton of vendors. Their primary goal in life is to get you, yes YOU, on a demo. So call up employee referral vendor Zao or Video Interviewing platform Wowzer or ATS vendor RecruiterBox or RMS provider Skillstream. Dont get gamification? Call Badgeville. Confused about social sourcing? Check out Entelo. Need CRM tips? Ping Avature. My point is, all these companies (and many, many more head to Software Advice and Capterra for list after list of HR Tech Products) are interested in educating you. Sure, they want to sell but they also want to get their concepts o ut to market and if you understand them you only bring valuable knowledge back to your firm or organization. Carve out 20 min a week for a new product demo. At the very least, it will give you questions to ask your OWN vendor community. New Goals I know that its a bit passe in some circles to create goals, but its my favorite part of the New Year. If you believe, even for just a few days, that you can radically alter something about yourself, thats still pretty impressive! Its a childlike feeling. So give it a shot. Cant lose 20 lbs? How about 10? Dont want to make 40 new calls a week? Maybe try for 15. Scared to attempt to learn a language? What about planning a trip to that country instead? My point is, goals have the inherent, beautiful quality of giving you new faith in yourself and that will impact your work positively for sure. Im trying the  Daily Burn. Happy New Year!

Personal Branding Interview Jodi Glickman - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

Personal Branding Interview Jodi Glickman - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career Today, I spoke to Jodi Glickman, who is the founder of communication training firm Great on the Job, a regular contributor to the Harvard Business Review Blog, and author of Great on the Job: What to Say, How to Say It, The Secrets of Getting Ahead. In this interview, Jodi talks about technical skills versus soft skills at work, how to get help from your manager, tips on asking for feedback from management, and more. How do you weigh technical skills versus soft skills in the workplace? Technical skills are obviously important. I consider them the “check the box” skillsâ€" i.e. what you need to know to do your job well.   You need to be technically proficient in your job no matter what.   But that’s your baseline, not your endpoint. What technical skills won’t do for you (unless you’re in a highly specialized field) is set you apart from your peers or help you get ahead.   Technical skills can only take you so far.   Communication and people skills, on the other hand, are the ones you’ll need to differentiate yourself, to build relationships and ultimately to help you become a leader. Equally important, you can buy technical expertise (take classes, study, get mentors) but, as Roberto Goizueta, former Chairman and CEO of Coca-Cola said, you can’t outsource communicationâ€"you’re going to learn to have master it on your own. What is the best way to ask for help from your manager without looking dumb? Asking for help in a smart way shows that you have good judgment (I get worried when I give someone an assignment I know they don’t know how to do and they don’t ask for any guidance).   The key to asking for help is to acknowledge that you’re enthusiastic or excited about a task or project and then ask for some additional resources or guidance to do a great jobâ€"a recent or good example of a report, or a recommendation of someone to speak with who’s done something similar before. If there are no resources available, create benchmarks or milestones to assess your performance along the way.  Involve your manager by asking her to sign off on a rough draft, key bullet points or an initial outline before handing in a final document.    Get her involved and invested in the processâ€"there’s nothing worse than handing in a final document that totally misses the boat.   You’ll just have to go back to square one and start all over againâ€"it’s an absolute waste of time and resources on everyone’s part. Why are people so afraid to ask for feedback in the workplace? What are your tips for getting feedback and who should you ask? American Idol’s Simon Cowell captured the country’s attention by speaking his mind freely and doling out harsh criticism regularly. But people don’t like to hear they’re not doing a good job and ultimately, the fear of bad news keeps people from asking for feedback. The real goal of feedback, however, isn’t to make you feel good, it’s to make you better at your job.   The best way to get meaningful feedback is to plant a seed in advance with your manager instead of asking for it on the spot (“Hey Jonathan, how’d I do?”)   No one can be expected to give constructive, insightful or helpful feedback on the spotâ€"you simply won’t have the time to think about crafting your message in constructive way. Instead, let your boss know that you’re going to want some feedback as you work through an important project.   Go ahead and schedule a feedback session in advance.   Get in on the calendar and give your boss specific areas that you’d like feedback on.   That way, he can plan his comments thoughtfully and give you constructive feedback. Planting the seed in advance and asking for specific areas of improvement will avoid the awkward and uncomfortable on-the-spot conversation that will leave your boss feeling pressured to sugar coat the truth or fail to give you constructive pointers. When constructing an effective elevator pitch, what should you include and how long should it be? Your personal pitch should be short and sweet. The goal is to pique someone’s interest and then have them ask you questions to clarify or dig deeper into your background once you’ve reeled them in. The most important thing about your pitch is to start off with your destinationâ€"where are you going, what do you want to be when you grow up, what’s the next career move you’re trying to make?   Most people start off by reciting their resume in reverse chronological order, which is pretty boring. I don’t care so much about where you went to school or what you did right out of college.   I’d rather know what your current career goals or objectives are then have you pick out relevant pieces of your background to show me that you’re qualified to do what you want to do.   Tie it up by connecting the dots for meâ€"the future, past and now the presentâ€"how does it all fit together and make sense? Is it possible to succeed at work without being a good communicator? Why or why not? It’s probably in limited circumstancesâ€"but it’s a lot easier to be successful when you’re a great communicator. Business is, and always will be, a personal thing.   If you can’t connect with others, how are you going to close the deal, get the promotion, talk your way out of a mishap or just generally advance your own cause?   No one cares more about your career than you doâ€"you’ve got to be the one advocating for yourself. Great on the Job talks about four key conceptsâ€"generosity, initiative, forward momentum and transparency.   They are the GIFT of Great on the Job.   If you’re generous and you share credit and information readily, you consider other people’s agendas and you try to make your colleagues’ lives better or easier, people will want to work with and for you.   If you’re transparent people will trust you.   And if you take initiative and always think about forward momentumâ€"moving the ball forward, thinking two steps ahead so you’re boss doesn’t have to, following up with a client after a big win to see what else they need, you’ll be the superstar people will come to rely on. All of that boils down to good communication skills.   If you’re holed up alone in your office producing stellar work but not creating, building and nurturing good relationships with people, it will all be for naught. Jodi Glickman is a former Peace Corps Volunteer (Chile) turned investment banker (Goldman Sachs’) turned communication expert. She is the founder of communication training firm Great on the Job, a regular contributor to the Harvard Business Review Blog and the author of the upcoming book: Great on the Job: What to Say, How to Say It, The Secrets of Getting Ahead (St. Martin’s Press, May 2011). You can follow her on Twitter at @greatonthejob.

The Cover Letter Format to Use to Get Your Resume Read

The Cover Letter Format to Use to Get Your Resume Read The job of the resume is to get you an interview, but what if your resume doesn’t even get read? One way of increasing your chances is attaching a great cover letter, as the job of the cover letter is to entice the reader to learn more about you and read that resume. A well written cover letter will help your resume or CV stand out from the crowd. A hiring manager, recruiter or HR person will be snowed under with applications such as yours and therefore you had better make yours be special. The key question/problem the cover letter should answer/solve is “Why select you?” This means you have to clearly state what you do better than others, what makes you unique and how the reader would be making a mistake by not considering you for the position. Here are a few guidelines on putting together a killer cover letter today: Details: Make sure you put the typical details at the top of the page, get all the details right and check them a few times before sending off: Your Address Date Mr. /Ms. (Name of Employer) Title Company Name Their Address Dear Mr./Ms. (Their Name Again) First paragraph: We begin with stating our business, basically telling the reader what job you are applying for and why. Let’s keep this short and to about three sentences, cover these points: Reason for writing and which role you are applying for. Drop any names of people you know in the organization here, e.g. “John Smith in your department encouraged me to send an application as he thinks I have the required skills to succeed.” Give any compelling reasons you have applied for the position or company. Keep it short and sweet, with the view to inspire the reader. Second paragraph: Here’s your chance to tell the employer why you are the man/woman for the job. Bring out some of your most relevant skills and experiences and mention how they will be applied in the new position. Pick out three examples of major achievements and provide the story to back these up: Start out with a short introduction focused on your achievements and how your skills and experience will be a good match for the new job. Use the rest of the paragraph to support and back up your introduction. This is where you exhibit your evidence in terms of specific positions/roles/responsibilities and so on. Keep this paragraph punchy and designed to impress, not to bore anyone. Don’t write too much about one accomplishment that you are the most proud of as you don’t know what the reader will think. Wrap things up with the final sentence, repeat the job title and company to further position yourself as the right person for the job in the mind of the reader. Last paragraph: A short paragraph that simply mentions your attached resume, tells the employer you are looking forward to an interview and let them know you will be in contact by a specific date. Don’t forget to thank the person reading your cover letter for their time and consideration. Sign-off Sincerely, Your Signature (scan this) Your Name Attachment(s) Word of warning A classic mistake is to use the same cover letter for all applications. This is counter-productive and the employer can spot it a mile away. The one size-fits-all cover letter will result in your resume being deleted before even opened. Image: Shutterstock

Four Ways to Organise Your Team

Four Ways to Organise Your Team Running a team can be hard work, with multiple people to manage along with sometimes hectic and demanding workloads there’s a lot to consider. If you’re looking for some ways to help improve how things are currently done, below are four ways which might help. Sometimes implementing small changes can often help the most, from introducing more face to face time with staff and managers, to opening more lines of communication which they do say is key. Get the team together Whether it’s daily or weekly, getting everyone in the team together can be really beneficial as it allows you to come together and get a face to face run through. If your team is small enough then a quick daily catch up first thing in the morning to run through tasks and deadlines can be the best way to kick start your day. If you’re running a larger team then a once a week meeting to go through tasks, concerns or highlights might be a better option and help you stay on top of things. Get the right tools There are plenty of tools available to help you manage your workloads and team resource so investing in something to help with the day to day management can help. Tools such as Resource Guru are designed to help you keep an eye on all tasks and workflows which can be a big help, especially if you have multiple clients or projects on the go at once. Automating as much as you can or using internal tools to communicate with each other helps you stay on top of things and can allow you to get a great overview of the whole business. Delegate They often say that the best leaders delegate, so if you’re getting to the stage where you’re able to delegate tasks, projects or deadlines to other people within your team, make use of the opportunity to do so. Freeing up some of your time from doing some of the daily tasks will allow you to step back and see where your team needs support or where you need to implement changes. This also allows you to spot opportunities or gaps within your team, to help with resource or skills set. If you notice that someone might be better suited to a different role, or might need support then you’ll be able to help with this. Ask for input Whilst you might think you have all the best solutions when it comes to organising your team, it’s often worth asking the people who work for you to offer some feedback. Someone who’s delivering the work and working on the day to day tasks and processes might have some valuable feedback or suggestions on how things could be changed so it’s worth listening to their opinion. Sending around a feedback survey allows your employees to offer some insight and allows them to do it anonymously if they want to.

Expert Roundup - Top 5 Articles on Productivity (Nov 9 to Nov 13)

Expert Roundup - Top 5 Articles on Productivity (Nov 9 to Nov 13) In case you missed these posts this past week 4. Eight Secrets Smart People Know about Time Management by Ann LathamThis post was originally posted on Forbes, and has received more than 8000 Social Media Shares this weekTime Management is very misunderstood- you can only managed yourself and not timeToo many priorities makes it difficult to accomplish more. The more things you set out to do , the less you will actually get done.Narrow your priorities to 2-3 items, schedule them , and devote energy to complete those tasks.5. The Ideal Workspace for Optimum Productivity by OLX PhillipinesThis post originally posted on OLX Phillipines website, has received more than 7000 Social Media Shares in one week.Instead of focusing on tips,ideas on improving productivity â€" this post is unique since it talks about the actual environment you work; and the external factors that can help you boost productivityThe importance of natural light â€" if you have endured the cold dark winters, how know how much of a difference having access to sunlight can have.If you have ever walked into any modern office, you will see a stark contrast in the colours on the wall, furniture,etc. Having blue and green wallpaper can reduce stress levelsHaving the right height for your computer monitor can be ergonomically advantageousHope you find the above list useful. If you find them resourceful, feel free to comment, and also share !! Stay tuned for similar content next week.

NEW Career Video Series (Parts 1-4) Setting Motivating Goals

NEW Career Video Series (Parts 1-4) Setting Motivating Goals Maggie Mistal WebinarEarlier this month, I blogged about how SMART goals  can  increase your chances of actually achieving your New Years Resolutions.  (See How SMART Are Your New Years Resolutions?) Now I have a video series you can watch to set SMART goals!SMART is an acronym for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Timebound and is based on success research by Locke and Latham.One of the keys to setting SMART goals is to make sure your goal is positive and forward-looking not focused on whats wrong.  Forward-looking goals create a mental picture of what youre going after which can motivate and excite you to make your goal a reality.WATCH PART 1 of My NEW SMART Goals Video Series set goals this year that motivate you!  Check out my YouTube Channel for:Watch Part 2 (a real-life  SMART goal example),Watch Part 3 (keys to setting your own SMART Goal) andWatch Part 4 (example action steps to reach your goal) of this new SMART Goal Series.If you dont know where you are goi ng, you will probably end up somewhere else. Lawrence Peter

Why You Should Hire a Resume Writing Service in Waterbury, CT

Why You Should Hire a Resume Writing Service in Waterbury, CTWhen hiring a professional resume writing service in Waterbury, CT you will find that they can offer a number of different types of writing services. A number of companies even specialize in writing resumes for individuals who are just entering the workforce and trying to make the first few steps towards building a business.When people think about starting their own business, they tend to focus on their skills, and experience. One thing that is great about using a company such as this is that they will assist you in developing your resume, or working with you on your resume. Many businesses who provide this type of service focus specifically on helping business owners to develop their resume.Another service offered by these professional resume writing services in Waterbury, CT is focusing on marketing your business. You will find that many companies offer marketing professionals who can help you create a professional market ing plan to help get your business off the ground. These professionals can help you plan marketing campaigns that you can use to capture more clients and customers for your business.When hiring a resume writing service in Waterbury, CT it is important to note that these professionals do not write the resumes themselves. They use an algorithm to go through your resume and help you craft a plan to write your resume. This is an important thing to consider when hiring a professional resume writing service.A final benefit to hiring a resume writing service in Waterbury, CT is to use their services for clients who are just starting out and need assistance in building their business. It can be challenging to make it in the business world without experience. These professionals can help you avoid having a difficult time finding employment when you do not have the experience to show employers.A professional resume writing service in Waterbury, CT can also help you create your custom resume. They can take your existing resume and use the same techniques to help you craft a resume that will help you stand out from other business owners in your industry.When you need help writing a resume you should look no further than a professional resume writing service in Waterbury, CT. These professionals will focus on helping you craft a resume that is right for you. Your resume will need to tell a story about your skills and experience, so you will want to hire a professional that will help you craft a resume that will stand out from all the others.Hiring a resume writing service in Waterbury, CT will allow you to focus on a particular area of the business, while also helping you create a professional resume. When you know that you can rely on professionals to help you create your resume, you can turn to them when you need help with any part of the process.