Being Happier At Work: 5 Ways To Get You There Now

Manager meeting with employee on the job. Photo courtesy of Shutterstock.

Do you feel satisfied with your job?  If not, you might want to consider talking to your boss about how to make things better.  The following post offers five ways for becoming happier at work. Continue Reading

When is the Best Time of Year to Ask for a Raise?

Jim Hopkinson, Salary.com contributing writer

Employees often ask, when is the absolute best time to ask for a raise? It’s an interesting question, because sometimes finding the “best” time to do something can be backed by research and science.

Most fitness professionals say the best time to drink a protein shake is within 30 minutes of a workout to help speed recovery. Modern automatic transmissions are programmed to shift gears in your car at the optimal time to provide a smooth, powerful ride and fuel efficiency. Planning a Fall wedding? You could go through historic weather data to find the day with the least chance of rain.

Unfortunately, finding the perfect time to ask for a raise or promotion is more art than science, but mid November might be a good place start. Here’s why.

Continue reading:

http://salary.com/best-time-for-raise/?scm=s-n-112012

Article by Jim Hopkinson and courtesy of Salary.com

10 Colleges Going All In On Instagram

Social media has made a big splash on college campuses, but some schools have taken things beyond the usual Facebook and Twitter to include the popular photo-sharing service Instagram. With Instagram, they’re able to drum up school spirit, show off what their campus is all about, and get students involved in events in a whole new way. Read on as we explore how 10 different colleges are making great use of Instagram. Continue Reading

Filling the Void

“Success is where preparation and opportunity meet.”—Bobby Unser

When I was in college I worked part time as a teller in a bank. The Head Teller (which is only like one level above teller) had been working in the bank for 40 years and was about to retire (at 65 years old). So if you are thinking that it seems like a really long time for a person to be in mostly one job (without promotions), you are not alone. Anyway, at the retirement party, one of the bank employees asks the branch manager “How come John was never promoted?”, to which he answered “Because he never asked”.  Now I know it is never as easy as just asking to be promoted, but there is a point here (as usual). Doing a good (or even a great job) may not not be enough to get promoted. You need to be ”out there”, push the envelope, you need to fill the void. What is the void? The void is all of the space left by people who will wind up retiring at a fairly junior level (not that there is anything wrong with that). So this post is a bit of a mix and match, a little about filling the void in your career along with a few job search tools that fill the void. Continue Reading

Who Gets Promoted, Who Doesn’t & Why

If you’re a fast-tracker striving for career advancement like a heat-seeking missile then this is a podcast you can’t afford to miss. On this week’s episode of Salary Talk, Aaron flies solo in this interview with Donald Asher, author of “Who Gets Promoted, Who Doesn’t and Why” and “Cracking the Hidden Job Market,” who deals exclusively with career professionals who aren’t happy unless they’re earning a promotion every 12-18 months.

You’ll find out why raises aren’t about past performance, being indispensable isn’t a good thing and discover why talent is a distant second to timing. Asher’s insight into the corporate culture of raises and promotions could have you earning more in no time.  Continue reading . . .

Article by Wendy Ryan and Aaron Gouveia and courtesy of Salary.com&reg

How to Get Free PR on CollegeRecruiter.com for Your Product, Service or Opportunity

The re-launch of CollegeRecruiter.com earlier this week has provided employers, consumer marketers, schools, and even job seekers with the ability to promote their products, services, or other opportunities for free on our site. How? Post a blog article. The process for posting a blog article is quite simple.

First, either login to your existing account with CollegeRecruiter.com or click the Sign-up link on the right side to create a free account:
Then, click the links to Settings:
Then, click the Save button near the bottom of the page:
then My Page near the top center of the page:
then Blog Posts about halfway down the left side:
then post your blog article!

Note that blog articles should not be self-serving and we reserve the right to remove any blog article for any reason but expect to have to remove very, very few. Don’t write an article primarily about your product, service or opportunity. Instead, write something that is likely to be of interest and somewhat related to your product, service, or opportunity. Then, include a byline at the bottom in which you tell the reader a little about yourself and the product, service, or opportunity you want them to consider. A good rule of thumb is a sentence or two about yourself and then a sentence or two about the product, service, or opportunity. Feel free to link from the mention of the product, service, or opportunity in your byline to the web page that to which you want the reader to click through. The byline will look a lot better if you italicize it as the reader will understand that it is somewhat separate from your article.

The staff of CollegeRecruiter.com will regularly feature on our home page and other prominent locations the blog articles which are likely to be of most interest to our readers. The less the article is about your product, service, or opportunity, the more likely it is to be of interest to the reader and the more likely it is that it will be featured. Having your article featured will drive a huge amount of interested eyes to your blog article and therefore to your byline. Your byline will also be more credible to the reader if they haven’t just read through a bunch of self-serving drivel.

Want an example of a great blog article? Carole Martin, the Interview Coach, posted a great one shortly after our re-launch. It is entitled Cut to the Front of the Interview Line.

Questions? Please contact our staff writer, William Frierson.

Use Your Resume to Help You Move up the Corporate Ladder

So, you’ve been working in the same position for several years and now feel the time is right to elevate your level of responsibility along with your title and salary. However, with this being your first time attempting to move into a more prominent role, you have no idea where to start.
Many people are in your position and also wonder what steps they should take to move up the corporate ladder. One thing you can do is stay on top of current trends and educational requirements in your field. But once you’ve fulfilled these tasks and are ready to apply for a job, you’ll need a great resume to get your foot in the door. Let’s look at some ways to create the right resume to match your accelerated career goals.
Try a Functional Resume Style
One recommended way to create a resume that appeals to higher-level recruiters and hiring managers is to shine a light on the skills you’ve acquired. You can get this done by using a functional resume format.
For example, if you were to use a functional format to describe your skills as an IT tech, instead of listing each job you’ve had year after year, you would focus on specific skills. By creating headings for each skill (ex. Software Development) you would be able to describe in detail all of the software you’ve developed for each company you’ve worked for. Using a functional resume in this way can help you expand on each skill you possess and show the employer your versatility as an employee.
Highlight Your Outside Achievements and Awards
Another great way to make your resume appeal to upper-level recruiters and hiring managers is by using a section to highlight anything you’ve achieved outside of your hired role. This works especially well if you focus on roles that have required you to act as a supervisor or manager of others.
For example, let’s say at your current company you have worked as a training coordinator for 5 years. However, in your spare time you founded and led a diversity awareness group that consisted of 10 volunteer employees. With this group, you used presentations and focus groups to demonstrate the need for diversity awareness in a work setting. By noting such a huge accomplishment on your resume, you show the hiring manager that you’re able to successfully develop and manage projects outside of your hired role.
Staying at Your Current Employer?
If you want to move up the corporate ladder while remaining at your current employer, it is a good idea to create a resume similar to one you would create for an outside employer. Why? Because it is very likely that the hiring manager won’t have any idea what you’ve accomplished on the job. But don’t feel bad about this duty as there are benefits to applying in-house, including being able to use respected employees for recommendations, and noting in-house training programs that are very relevant to the company.
Working your way up the corporate ladder can be an exciting ride – especially when you come equipped with the right tools. By showing up with a great resume and even better attitude, you’ll see in no time that your ride to the top will move smoother than you could ever imagine.
Heather Eagar is a former professional resume writer and owner of http://www.ResumeLines.com who is now dedicated to providing job seekers with resources and products that promote job search success from beginning to end.